CCEC

You are so right. Given the incredibly shrinking Gold Silver area, you could see everything in an hour or less. I do agree with you about supporting live comic events. No amount of online can match the experience of talking face to face with dealers.

I went back again on Sunday afternoon. Both parking garages were closed and I was directed to park across the street in the Disney overflow parking lot outside in the rain. The convention did not seem as crowded as Saturday, but yet the parking garages were closed. Go Figure. Dealers I talked to said the traffic on Sunday was lighter, but the purchases were larger. In some cases, total take for Sunday outpaced Saturday. I guess the explanation was the 3 day passes show up in the last couple of hours to pull the trigger. The Gold Silver area seemed like it had the most traffic in the final hours compared with the rest of the emptying exhibit hall.

I was there Saturday. I agree about the scarcity of deals. When I was at MegaCon last month in Orlando, dealers were asking close to GPA values. From what I saw at WonderCon this year, the ask was generally higher. Maybe it's a West Coast thing. As you eluded to, I guess the major difference is that WonderCon had many more super keys on display. The traffic was fair, not empty, but not packed out. It was nice and easy enough to get around. You could talk to the dealers without feeling rushed. Ideal from an attendee point of view. Talking to the dealers, the impression was there were more serious buyers on Friday compared to Saturday. The dealers were the usual mix from super arrogant to super nice.

I went Sunday afternoon. The exhibit floor was absolutely packed. There were some areas that were super congested; you were shoulder to shoulder trying to get by. Some dealers told me Saturday was even worse. They pointed to the restroom about 3-4 aisles away and said it took them 10 minutes to get there through the Saturday crowd. The pricing seemed much more realistic. In the past, average prices I've seen were quoted much higher than GPA. At this convention, the dealers were very close to GPA pricing. My impression is the market is starting to stabilize for the vintage keys at this convention. Very refreshing.

I was there Saturday. The A-list celebrities combined with the moderate crowds made it a nice experience. It was easy to get into most of the panels. The exhibit hall was not overcrowded, talking to the vendors was more relaxed. As mentioned before, there were just a few comic book dealers, not an overwhelming number. I was impressed by the number of cosplayers, about 50% were in costume. Pretty high compared to other cons I’ve been to. I agree about the attendance numbers, but I also think people are reluctant to go to SF. We were also reluctant, but our relatives assured us it wasn’t as bad as people say. It was actually pretty normal/safe going from BART to Moscone.

Thanks for the feedback! The guy who made the comment was in one of the panels on Sunday. Since I am relatively new to the game, my observations are made from a newbie point of view. That is a good tip about getting passes from dealers.

I was there on Sunday. The Exhibit Hall was packed; even 1 hour before closing it was hard getting thru the aisles. People were saying because of the strike and panel cancellations, everyone went to the Exhibit Hall. For the 4 panels I went to, the lines seemed smaller and there were fewer people in the rooms and in the hallways above the Exhibit Hall. There was tons of people in the aisles at the Gold and Silver area; a mass of humanity. But, thinking back, there really wasn’t a lot of people searching the booths. Many of the dealers had no customers. It was almost like driving on a major street at rush hour, but hardly anyone stopping along the way. My experience may not reflect the rest of the week, since I was only there for Sunday. But, does anyone else see what I saw? At a panel, one expert collector said he saw many $100 deals going on in the booth, but no real big deals on the floor ($50-100k). He said those deals were between dealers themselves, quietly done. All in all, I did thoroughly enjoy the one day I spent there. I hope to get tickets for next year!

Very very nice report. It was almost like having a live tour guide. I went Sunday, but being quite new, it was a bit overwhelming going from booth to booth, or shall I say, wall to wall. I seemed to have missed many of the dealers you highlighted. Or maybe I just don’t remember due to the overload. I only wished I read your report before I went!

Most of the dealers I talked to said Saturday was busier than Sunday. But overall, they said the business wasn’t that great. As an attendee, I enjoyed it. I got to spend more time interacting with the dealers, didn’t feel rushed like other cons. There were deals to be had.

I tried to go Saturday around 1230pm, but the parking garage was full; they were waving cars away. I’m hoping to give it another shot today Sunday.

Do you love it?

I am seeking advice. I’d love to join the AF 15 club; I heard one dealer strategy was to buy a lower grade book now as a “placeholder”. As the market changes, sell the lower grade and upgrade into a higher grade later. What do you think?