Mile High Leaves SDCC 3 3

[Robot Man]

Kind of an end of an era. Not sure if Bud Plant and Terry Stroud are still there. They were the only ones left that had been to every one. My first was 1974. I went to every one except two or three until I quit 3 years ago. I just couldn't justify the expense, hated the crowds and found less and less to buy which was the only reason I went in the first place. I would save up for months and bring $1,000's to spend. Last few years, I saw most of the smaller guys drop out and a lot of the bigger guys, combine/share booths.

Sure, there were a lot of comics there but a lot less to choose from. Because of the expense, sellers would usually bring mostly their super high end stuff. Going home with maybe 3 or 4 books just didn't seem worth it for me. 

The best part of SDCC was always the social part anyway. Getting to see folks once in a year and getting out in the city. SD is a wonderful town for a show. I suspect that many dealers don't really go there to make much money anyway. They go for the experience. Call it a vacation and write off their losses. As a comic con, this show is on life support. Like most big shows now days, the only people who make any real money are the promoters. And SDCC is raking in the dough. The vintage comic book crowd is going, going gone...

I couldn't care less about Mile High being there or not. I never bought anything from them anyway. I would always take a minute and talk to Chuckles for old times sake but that was it.

I can say I don't miss it but I'd be lying. I miss what it USED to be, a lot...

[greggy]

12 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Kind of an end of an era. Not sure if Bud Plant and Terry Stroud are still there. They were the only ones left that had been to every one. My first was 1974. I went to every one except two or three until I quit 3 years ago. I just couldn't justify the expense, hated the crowds and found less and less to buy which was the only reason I went in the first place. I would save up for months and bring $1,000's to spend. Last few years, I saw most of the smaller guys drop out and a lot of the bigger guys, combine/share booths.

Sure, there were a lot of comics there but a lot less to choose from. Because of the expense, sellers would usually bring mostly their super high end stuff. Going home with maybe 3 or 4 books just didn't seem worth it for me. 

The best part of SDCC was always the social part anyway. Getting to see folks once in a year and getting out in the city. SD is a wonderful town for a show. I suspect that many dealers don't really go there to make much money anyway. They go for the experience. Call it a vacation and write off their losses. As a comic con, this show is on life support. Like most big shows now days, the only people who make any real money are the promoters. And SDCC is raking in the dough. The vintage comic book crowd is going, going gone...

I couldn't care less about Mile High being there or not. I never bought anything from them anyway. I would always take a minute and talk to Chuckles for old times sake but that was it.

I can say I don't miss it but I'd be lying. I miss what it USED to be, a lot...

Terry is still there as of last year but his booth has been a mess since when I first started going in 2001.  I remember in my early years that Terry wouldn't even bother being there on Preview night.

Bud Plant is still there but a few years ago, they downsized significantly from their massive multiple booth area to maybe around 2-3 booths.  Not sure if they are just sub-leasing their former space.

[jsilverjanet]

It's a good show. Like most comic shows, it is what you make it. Plus I get to see Greggy and enjoy the wonderful weather and the California Gurls

[greggy]

Just now, jsilverjanet said:

It's a good show. Like most comic shows, it is what you make it. Plus I get to see Greggy and enjoy the wonderful weather and the California Gurls

[Robot Man]

10 minutes ago, greggy said:

Terry is still there as of last year but his booth has been a mess since when I first started going in 2001.  I remember in my early years that Terry wouldn't even bother being there on Preview night.

Bud Plant is still there but a few years ago, they downsized significantly from their massive multiple booth area to maybe around 2-3 booths.  Not sure if they are just sub-leasing their former space.

I remember when Bud downsized. I used to love to go to his "personal" section and dive through his boxes. I would find wonderful stuff.  Part of the benefit of being a lifetime collector. He was always cool and would give me great deals.

Terry, well just Terry... He's always been a bit of an "odd bird". Cool guy, just beats to his own drummer. If you were willing to dig and he would let you, I would find some cool stuff. Last time I was there, I got two Centaurs that were stuck in a Dell box. One year, I spent about an hour working his mess and had a small but growing pile of misc stuff. He asked me if I could "come back later" because he wanted to go some where. I wanted to just pay up for what I had but he seemed in a hurry. He said he would hold the pile under the table. About an hour later someone came up and showed me some stuff he bought from my pile! Terry just forgot.

Glad to hear they are both still there though. I can't imagine either of them make enough to make it worth their while though...

[Robot Man]

10 minutes ago, jsilverjanet said:

It's a good show. Like most comic shows, it is what you make it. Plus I get to see Greggy and enjoy the wonderful weather and the California Gurls

I see 'em all the time. 4th of July at the beach was pretty epic...

[Artboy99]

14 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

"The final straw, however, was the utter indifference of the San Diego Comic-Con management to the fiasco that we endured at the beginning of last year's show, when the freight handlers that they hired failed to deliver our comics to our booth.   So how could this awful thing happen? It beats the heck out of me. Our trucker was in line at the convention marshaling yard at 6:30 AM on Tuesday morning. At 9 PM that evening, with almost all the other vendors around us unpacked and completely set up, we still did not have our 40,000 lbs of freight. I had twelve workers scheduled to help us set up that day (included Will, Lynne, and Norrie who flew in from Denver that morning...), but all we could do was to sit around all day in our totally empty booth."

To be fair, if I flew in and flew in a bunch of staff and we waited all day for my inventory and got no explanation from con organizers I'd be pretty upset.  This would speak to organizers being focused on nothing but maximum profit and no appreciation of long term partners/vendors or relationships.

agreed.

 

[greggy]

1 hour ago, Bumble Kitty said:

How come nobody complained about SDCC when Robert BeerBong stopped exhibiting?

He got booted after he ran over someone's foot with his scooter and broke it while going through an area that he wasn't supposed to.

 

[thehumantorch]

2 minutes ago, greggy said:

1 hour ago, Bumble Kitty said:

How come nobody complained about SDCC when Robert BeerBong stopped exhibiting?

He got booted after he ran over someone's foot with his scooter and broke it while going through an area that he wasn't supposed to.

Your foot has been beerbonged....

[Artboy99]

10 hours ago, kpaqu1 said:

Maybe the problem was buying 70 feet space. Why not get a smaller space to display your high-end product and keep a presence?

The problem is rising cost per foot and paying for it. I have not looked it up but doing the simple math I assume a 70 foot booth means 7 10x10 foot booths which means he is paying over $2500 per 10x10 booth. That is an outrageous cost.

The most expensive show I attend as a vendor is the Calgary Expo. I attend with 3 friends, and the 4 of us split up an endcap.  The cost keeps rising each year, the next show our endcap costs $2100.00, or $525.00 per table. SDCC is 5 times that. Why "give away" thousands of dollars worth of your product just to attend the most expensive convention? Let alone the costs of hotel/ food/ employees/ travel.

[Buzzetta]

Was the video explanation released on YouTube yet? 

[Mike Bray]

... has there been a special codeword sale announced yet to make up for the loss of SDCC income ?

[lizards2]

2 minutes ago, Mike Bray said:

... has there been a special codeword sale announced yet to make up for the loss of SDCC income ?

I thought Chuckles said he lost money on SDCC?  Maybe the codeword should add 10% to the total. 

[sacentaur]

2 hours ago, Bumble Kitty said:

How come nobody complained about SDCC when Robert BeerBong stopped exhibiting?

 He was banned as an exhibitor - everyone I've spoken to was glad they didn't have to endure him (and his endless shenanigans) any longer.

[sacentaur]

2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

The best part of SDCC was always the social part anyway.

While the stack of books I bring home every year continues to shrink, the social camaraderie remains high.

I only bought from Mile High once at SDCC (and once through the mail), never again.

[greggy]

9 minutes ago, sacentaur said:

 He was banned as an exhibitor - everyone I've spoken to was glad they didn't have to endure him (and his endless shenanigans) any longer.

I still liked the last year he was there where he confronted Dale at the end of the show about accidentally selling some random Wonder Woman to Dale at the beginning of the show.  Apparently it was previously sold on eBay.

When he approached Doc Watson about it initially, Jim just calmly stated that maybe he shouldn't have brought it to the show if it already sold.

I didn't bother to peak when he then went to Dale to complain.

@Dale Roberts

[sacentaur]

1 minute ago, greggy said:

I still liked the last year he was there where he confronted Dale at the end of the show about accidentally selling some random Wonder Woman to Dale at the beginning of the show.  Apparently it was previously sold on eBay.

When he approached Doc Watson about it initially, Jim just calmly stated that maybe he shouldn't have brought it to the show if it already sold.

I didn't bother to peak when he then went to Dale to complain.

@Dale Roberts

Ah, I had forgotten that - I spoke with Dale about it, and of course he confirmed what a knucklehead Beerbong is. 

[paperheart]

1 hour ago, greggy said:

He got booted after he ran over someone's foot with his scooter and broke it while going through an area that he wasn't supposed to.

 

was probably trying to hide from someone he'd stiffed

[greggy]

Just now, paperheart said:

was probably trying to hide from someone he'd stiffed

Sure

[Robot Man]

12 minutes ago, sacentaur said:

While the stack of books I bring home every year continues to shrink, the social camaraderie remains high.

I only bought from Mile High once at SDCC (and once through the mail), never again.

I'm not a 1%er in the comic book world. Problem is I just can't justify $500-$600 a night for a hotel $100-$150 a night for food and drink, The hassle of maybe getting tickets and parking. Endless swarms of the un-washed geeks just to see my buddies. For that kind of dough, I can go to Hawaii and make some new friends.