Lake Count-I-Con Oct. 20-22 2017 Grayslake IL (Chicago Northern Suburb) 1 1

[KolmarAvenue]

Hi,

Mixed results from all accounts but most agreed that attendance and sales were down. Like most shows there were deals to be found if you were willing to look. For me it was quite a few low ticket sales, some medium and a few higher.  I had a great time chatting with fellow boardies and dealers as well as some regulars that buy from me here up north.

Friday was slow and spent the time pricing books and hoping that my Astros would extend the playoffs. I still don't know why they dim the lights over the vendors when there's 9 people dancing to music but....the Astros forced a game 7!

Saturday was a bit better and, when not being asked by fellow vendors if I'd like to have a free sample of an energy drink I was able to make some sales and wonder why there was a Sailor Moon concert on the sales floor.

An evening dinner with friends at Tang's Chinese here in Grayslake was a highlight with drinks, laughter, and us taking turns making up sinister back stories for both the energy drink guys and the sailor moon singer while ribbing each other when we found out what each of us bought! It ended with my beloved Astros clinching a trip to the World Series!

Sunday was strong, felt great riding the wave of a world series berth and did steady sales throughout. It's a small hall, so easy to check out the floor quickly and pick your spots when you take a break. I picked up a few items and got a sketch while talking shop and catching up with the usual suspects.

Closing time came and finished loading out in a steady drizzle. The lady chose BWW for dinner and signed off with a beer!

Picked up a WWBN32 from James at First Aid Comics (always a great guy!), a coverless DD1 along with a 35 center from Horcrux (he also had an AF15 I would have bought if I had that kind of money lying around), and a Doctor Aphra sketch from Ashley Witter. At least those are the ones that stick out. 

Edited October 23, 2017 by KolmarAvenue
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[jsilverjanet]

James is a great guy, cool!

[celluloidbuff]

LOVE that Witter sketch.  Her Doctor Aphra covers are gorgeous.  Color me jealous.  Wish I could've found the time for this one.

[W16227]

the show report - part 1!!!!

I run this show every year - this is my third. Like others have said, this was a down year for attendance. The past 2 years - they ran the week after wizard world. This time - much later. I was hoping for more "comic" people because of this - but no... Even the casual looker ( last couple of years had a lot of the kids buying) was down..... 

My goals for this show - generally are to move lower end books. I do not need to move the high priced items here. I still bring a selection and some decent high end items, but I would rather take in less overall $$$ and clear dollar bins.

Loading..,

 

Part of the plan to make load/unload and storage easier was the use of dollies. Got a good deal on them - and they can roll straight into the storage unit when done.  Only 2 problems...stcaking 4 high ( as seen here ) - is tough to manage even with the pallet wrap. The comic boxes are slick - so even wrapped they shift a lot. Also - I got the ones with the smaller wheels.... I did not need the large wheels for the weight - so I decided to save the $5.. bad idea - as the smaller wheels are tougher to get up and down the ramp. Especially for one person ( load in of the truck was just me,,,,) ,

I did manage to make it work. Used strapping with the pallet wrap to prevent shifting.  Here is the loaded truck....

 

About 160 shortboxes full. Just a tad to much for my booth size - ended up not being able to bring out ~ 6 boxes total ( after reloading).

 

 

Had help for the unload - but with the wheeled stacks - was very quick. Everything out and the truck outside the building in less than an hour.

getting stuff set up....... The front was back issues - one side with sets and trades - back wall and other side was all "dollar" and $2 bins. Majority of the low tier stock was from a  single large purchase. I had already pulled any value books out - so into the digging bins....

Friday night - the show runners call this a preview night. Last year, they had some vendor backlash as many complained they were not allowed to open ( only about 20 of us were open last year). They should have talked to those of us who were there... Not a lot of business during a dance party with the lights down. I adjusted my spots to give people some light.  I made more money from dealers before the "preview" started. Since I was set up last year for this, I was prepped with flashlights for people so not a total loss.

I would think that next year, things may shift again to a lower amount of vendors setting up for Friday..... I think they had about the same amount of people there Friday night as last year, but they were much more spread out as the entire fairground was opened up.....

 

 

On to Saturday.

 

 

 

The "wall" books. For me - basically $15 and up comics - some keys, mostly smaller keys.

Slabs - had a mix with some higher end.

Decided to go with the dollars at 2 for 1 pretty much from the start. The booth next to me had 0.50 bins. I had a lot more stock - but enough of it was similar I did not want to turn box diggers away.

SLOW start.  Last year - they had a line to get in at the open. Not this year......  Not a lot of action until ~ 2:00.  Say people digging through my neighbors bins - nobody at mine.... Some tire kickers looking at the slabs ( X Men 50 and my ASM 2 were looked at several times) ...

Mental note for next year - show the dollar bins up front ( or have large signage) ...

At ~ 2 - had a big sale. This is a person who has been at the other shows - comes in with a lot of cash and will deal on big slabs. He also will chew you don in price, lol.... Sold him my ASM 2 ( purple label - trimmed) and a lower end Marvel Boy ( purple label) .. I could have made the same $$$ in many places, but a good kick to the weekend.

After that - things picked up. Sold a total of 5 slabs Saturday ( none Sunday) - but the others were lower tier. Silk 1, a 9.8 DC bombshell variant, and..... Punisher Meets Archie!!! (9.6),,,, The dollar bins ( or 2 for a dollar bins) ---- were being searched by many people pulling stacks for the rest of the day.

Interesting conversation with on of the comic diggers. He came in late - and gave us some insight as to why the crowds were down. He is a dealer at other shows - apparently this weekend had a Saturday comic centric show close by (Milwaukee??)  - as well as toy related shows. He also said that Count-i-Con was not known for being a comic selling show (no idea on that one, but I do know that one of the local comic shops sets up with only games and pops -- so there may be something to this) ...

In any case - glad to get books moving out the door.

 

The big three - me in the middle, on the left is a friend who helps me every year (big props - he is the reason why I actually started doing this show)  - and artist Chuck Fiala. Chuck has been sketching at my booth all three years.

 

Chuck in action - he was making a quick sketch for a fan. Was a cool moment for us watching - someone came by and was looking at the portfolio. She recognized ( and loved) his work - but did not realize he was the artist right away. When she found out - FANGIRL!!!!!  ( was so cool to see him make her day like that) ....

 

 

A sketch he did for my daughter - going to be a Christmas gift for her boyfriend.  He did a Harley sketch cover for me - that and another he did for me are at voldy for slabbing. Voldy - had a setup there with a couple of people - they actually were pretty happy with the weekend. Several boxes submitted - along with sketch covers.  Glad for that - I did not really think this show would be that good fro them, but the dealers there probably gave them enough business to make it worthwhile.

 

cosplay winner - we have away a couple of gift certificates for the contests. She spent like an hour at the booth looking for comics for her and her friends.

 

Sunday... Started slow again. Picked up at ~ 2:00. Dropped out prices across the board to clear items out ( and we were reasonable to start) ... Sets were 2 for 1, bins 4 for a dollar, back issues buy one get one free.... They were only open noon to 5 but we did manage to do about 50% of Saturdays haul ( and half of Saturday was the ASM 2)......

 

 

 

 

This is the prize we donate every year to the kids cosplay winners - a sketch of the kids in their costume!

 

 

That is about all!  teardown went smooth. Only issue with offloading back to the storage unit was the rain. Not pouting --- but enough to make the ramp slick so I had to go slow....

 

 

All in all a good show. Many repeat customers - and many questions about where my "store" is. I like that - I want to have the professional look even if I do not have a B&M. Also a lot of questions about when and where I will set up next....

 

The only disappointment is that I did not beat last years tally. My layout and stock was better this year - just the shopper count was down. The issues are now a lot more organized and packed - so it will be easier for me to pick and choose smaller local shows and run a single table efficiently.

 

Later!!!!!

 

Dave