Wall-Crawler

Well, if it there is one problem you guys' don't have, its VARIETY! The one item that did not sell, were hardcovers for me...Specifically, the larger Omnibus editions. No one even wanted to look at them but I don't really care as I only brought a few for a local customer who asked if I would mind taking a handful on commission. They were priced very fairly but zero interest. I will buy pretty much anything to improve the variety I can offer...Basically, if it is superhero or pop culture or somehow related and the price is right, in my area, unless it is complete junk, I will usually buy it. ...The trick is finding it :)

Thanks! Yes, I have had people make one or two lame comments but never anything that rude to that degree. Lesson learned, if there is a next time, I will shut it down much earlier. I think I tried to be a little too "accommodating" given the fact he had been a decent customer. The lists have worked well, sometimes you bring stuff and they don't show and other times it works out great! Regardless, it helps motivate me to price new stock to get it into the rotation. Lately for Gold Key/Dell, Cartoon books and Westerns have even come up a few times, so I think my super hero stock is decent enough so I may concentrate on adding those to the mix. I think it is because the demographics here skew a little older.

The wear problem was due to the boxes having been through several shows and being loaded and unloaded into the back of a pick up truck. One show, it was also horrible weather so they got a little wet in spots, which did not help. I don't attribute the wear to thievery but thanks for the tip! I never would have thought that and I don't think I have had any books stolen but wow...The things people will do to lie, cheat and steal...Definitely good information, thank you.

Sudbury Graphic Con 2018 Sales Report The previous show from last year was my biggest show of the year. This is likely my last show for several months and based on last year, I had the expectation or hope that this would be also be my best show of the year. Customer Conflagration: Unfortunately, I had my first truly negative experience with a customer this show. One of my "regulars" showed up and for some reason he was "in a mood". He is a bit of a character/know it all, but always buys X-Men comics from me. This time he picked out a stack and wanted WAY too much off the sticker price. I proposed a counter that I thought was still a very good deal for him. He initially agrees, then recants. He then goes off on me saying "he always buys from me" and that he "knows X-Men better than me" and these "books are not worth this much" and became rude and caused a scene when I would not go down in price any further. He acted like I have never given him a deal before too, despite always giving him a discount off the sticker price. So, as I am standing there, after trying to be polite for several minutes and wanting to tell him to take a hike along with a few expletives of my own, my wife can see that I am starting to get tense and steps in (who had years of retail experience) and was able to shut him down. She basically says to the guy (paraphrasing here): "We are not in the business of giving books away. We have given you discounts before and we are offering you one now. We are as low as we are going to go and arguing with us is not going to change that so you can either buy the books at this price or please move on". He bought them and left in a huff. As far as I am concerned, he has burned a bridge with me and if he thought I didn't discount enough this time, well, I won't be so generous with discounting him in the future. If I lose him as a customer, honestly, I can do without that kind of so no great loss. CGC Books: Again, I was one of the few sellers who had CGC books...I might have been the only seller with CGC books as I did not see any others, but then again, I don't have a ton of time to go and check out other vendors. Last year, I sold 5 CGC books that accounted for about 30% of my sales total. This year I brought a bigger and more varied selection, including some books I thought for sure would sell, like a Amazing Spider-Man #361 in 9.6 and New Mutants #87 in 9.4 but nope, lots of interest but no one was buying them this year. This year, I only sold one CGC book...Avengers #196 (newsstand edition) in 9.4 I like to think I price fairly and I brought some "hot books" so I am not really sure why CGC sales were down. About halfway over the show I took one row of CGC books off the wall display and replaced them with some cool raw books in the $20 to $60 range as I thought maybe the price might have been a factor. Keys: The only other key books I sold were raw...They two biggest were high grade copies of Amazing Spider-Man #194 and Uncanny X-Men #128. Biggest seller: Sets, once again, reigned supreme, followed by random run books. The "biggest" sets that I sold were Batman and the Outsiders #1 - #32 + Annual #1, Grimm Fairy Tales Presents: Wonderland #1 - #36, Ultimate X-Men #1 - #78 + Annuals #1 and #2 (I was glad to move that one, it had been in the boxes for awhile). The rest ranged from nice sets of various price points of your typical Marvel and DC titles with a few independents in the mix. The fact that sets continue to sell so well for me in my area is another reason to add information on the top of the sets to make them even more "sellable". Run Books: Run books did fairly well, but not all titles. There were several titles that I did not sell a single issue of. The usual books performed well and there were a few surprises, like run books of Marvel Team and Two-In-One. Various DC horror books did OK too. Surprise Sale: The biggest "surprise" sales were actually Lois Lane comics. At the previous Sudbury show that I did (Northern Game Expo), I had a young woman approach me if I had any Lois Lane comics, I said that I did but not at that show but that I could bring them for Sudbury Graphic Con. I know you can never "count on" people to show up but I said I would bring them and I did. Well, very close to the end of the show, she showed up! She ended up picking up nearly $100 worth of random and mid to higher grade Lois Lane comics. I keep a list of what customers ask for and next show, believe it or not, I am going to try to bring some Cartoon/Disney books and Westerns. Misc. Items: This show I sold one treasury (Fantastic Four), Star Trek Motion Picture magazine (Marvel), a 1977 Shazam Pepsi glass, one X-Men action figure and some Archie digests. I like to have a variety, something to offer everyone but my action figure stock is pretty much non-existent now as are some other misc. items. I hope when I go antiquing with the wife in late summer I can start to find a few more things. What people asked for that I did not have: Alien/Predator and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I'm starting to wonder if it is the same small group of people who keep asking... Overall Assessment: Despite the initial "showdown" with the customer mentioned above, I had a very fun show. People were nice and happy to be there and the show definitely has a family vibe. I remain very impressed with how well this show is organized and how friendly the organizers are. Again, this show is put on by staff and volunteers from the Greater Sudbury Library and they do an excellent job. In speaking with other comic vendors though, they said that their sales were all down from last year. I am not yet 100% certain but it did feel like this show was a little less busy than last year. While I did not sell as many CGC books and keys, I did "better" this time around as I made a little more money selling less CGC books and keys and the bulk of sales were sets, runs and 'cheapies'. I definitely think being able to offer a wide variety of books was my key to success this show. I was the only comic vendor to have a premium booth as they are limited. One really local vendor (lives/operates in Sudbury) was 'upset' that I got a premium booth and he did not as he had been "supporting the show" longer, etc. I am not sure what swayed the organizing committee to grant me a premium booth over others but all I can say is that I provided a detailed account in my application why I wanted one and what I could offer as a vendor. I never just "assumed" I would get one. Overall, my profit after all expenses was very satisfactory and I will look forward to participating again in 2019 again with the hopes of again getting a premium booth.

Ha! They are pretty good but no, they were special guests and later performed at the after party (which I did not attend). https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/5gqkqq/these-people-dress-up-like-transformers-and-cover-the-transformers-soundtrack

Thank You!!! Yep, all new nice looking boxes. I also applied white duct tape to the very bottom of the front and back and underneath to hopefully help give them some additional longevity. The plastic dividers had computer printed labels, all titles organized alphabetically. On the front of the box that may not be clear in the photo's it would say what "range" of titles were in each box, for example "C- D", "W - Z", etc. ...One thing I may do is also print the titles on the back of the dividers so when I am behind a booth and someone asks if I have something (because either a) they are too lazy to look or b) still can't find it if there is a crowd), I can identify where that title may be from behind the booth. "Premium" Comics were singled out in a specific long box, organized alphabetically as were my variant cover boxes and those were kept in the middle of the booth to help keep an eye on them. Sets were divided alphabetically by title (A - Z) but unfortunately ran out of time so not all of them had top labels, but will in the future. Cheapie boxes were also just organized alphabetically (A - Z) I was also glad to get more stock priced and available for the show, so bonus all around. I am quite pleased with where I am at now, organizationally speaking.

Says who?

Sales Report incoming later in the week...

SUDBURY GRAPHIC CON 2018 PHOTO PARADE PART II I wanted to support some local artists, some of these guys I have had great conversations with and starting to form some friendships. Auric of the Great White North "Starter Pack" Canadian Independent Press comic book by Davis Dewsbury and Andrew Thomas. Have to support our locals! Got em signed and remarked! Venom sketch on a blank cover by Loc Nguyen - A "whopping" $45! Pre-show commission by local zombie master, Rob Sacchetto...I asked for a homage to Web of Spider-Man #32, one of my favourite covers, but zombiefied on Walking Dead blank. I asked for Spidey to be in his traditional red and blues.

SUDBURY GRAPHIC CON 2018 PHOTO PARADE Just a few pics of the show that I was able to snap or have sent to me from friends. Set up day before the show...I love being able to set up the day before, makes day of con so much less stressful. I secured a "premium booth" this year, or a 16 x 8. My shelving units, banner and 'wall' of CGC books...I switched books around to help keep it seeming 'fresh'. This pic was taken a few minutes after the Con opened... Customers starting to browse our wares... Members of Cybertronic Spree checking out some comics I have mentioned it before, but I can't thank my wife enough for helping me out so much with my side hobby. Couldn't do it without her! This pic was taken by a representative from local radio station (92.7 Rock)...They were kind enough to share it with me

Pretty basic...I did not have time to put set info on top of all of them, just did the larger ones but I want to have that info on the top of ALL sets going forward...Basically, I put the Title, Issue #'s or Series and Price. All of this info was also on front of set. Totally stole this idea from @Artboy99 and @thehumantorch

I think just a poor decision regarding "promotional images"....

Sudbury Graphic Con just wrapped up. I had a very good show (by my standards). I have to prepare to leave for Toronto for work so will be posting a summary later; but in the meantime, here is the local news coverage...My booth and I am on there at the 42 second mark for like a second LOL https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1414340

Yes, it is interesting how different people see things differently based on their own perceptions and maybe if you eased up on the attitude you could read that I wasn't being rude towards you, I just happened to disagree with why you even bothered to say what you did. Your past experience means zilch to what has been transpiring here and does nothing to assuage fears, so why bring it up? Paradise had many, many opportunities to make things right and failed to do so and it took intervention from CGC to actually get my books back to me. Are these the actions of someone you would find respectable? Was Paradise trying to rip me and others off in the traditional sense? I personally doubt that but it is a really crappy way to treat your customers and to this day, many of us still don't know what was *really* going on. I can't say if things have improved as I have not done any business with them since and they may have cleaned up their act or there could be more outstanding cases. Time will tell. I agree with you that some posts have been uncalled for (which is why I think you made the "bloodthirsty mob" comment) but to lump everyone with a legit complaint or negative experience who posts as part of a "bloodthirsty mob" is a tad over the top.

Just under one week before my biggest show of the year and last one until late summer/early fall. I have got a lot done so it won't be a mad scramble. I am pleased with how things are organized and I have more product priced. I have also been hitting social media more than usual so we will see if that bears any fruit. I also found out that my "premium" space is confirmed (16 × 10) and I did get an end row. I will be close to the stage though so I could be in for a loud day but maybe a good thing if it attracts more people to wander over?

I have been active here because I was one of those who had to jump through hoops to have things made right by them and in the end it wasn't them that made it right either. By saying "I will just say that Peter is known as being a very good person in the near 20 years that I've known him and not a con artist, so whatever the problem was I hope (and think) Pete will straighten it out" you are defending them and minimizing what they have (or have not) done to their customers. The only reason why some are getting their books back has been because of constant pressure. Also, your past experiences are not a factor in this discussion, nor were mine. I was a customer for years and they still gave me nothing but the run around and it should not be you to "allay people's fears"...That should be on Paradise. Yet somehow, because I took issue with you being "empathetic" towards Paradise, I am part of the "bloodthirsty mob"? I do agree with one thing though and that yes, this thread should just be about the subject of the thread and not turn into a pee pee match.

I'm sorry but I have to say your original post was unnecessary. Saying "this could have been handled better (duh)" but he is a "good guy" and will "straighten it out" is undermining the impact Paradise customers had to deal with. Being or knowing someone to be a "good guy' is irrelevant here. For many and likely many more, this was an outright failure to "do the right thing". Never mind the fact that they have been SILENT on this thread or even offered up a "real" apology. The hoops that I and several others (that we know about) had to go through to get our books "straightened out" and for the "right thing" to happen has been a painful process and basically had to be forced out of them, so I am not so sure why you would even bother to post what you did. If you heard this exact same story from a retailer or another facilitator you did NOT know, would you be coming to "defend" them?

Did they compensate you for the lost book?

Also just saw on their Instagram page they already have like a zillion signed CGC copies of ASM #800...I was wondering how they have so many copies already? They thank CGC for the 24 hour turn around time...And say "CGC is always good to us"... I wonder how many other customers still have outstanding books but they are getting the latest "hot book" slabbed in 24 hours for themselves...Interesting...

Wait, so did you get reimbursed sig fees? Would you even want it graded w/o the sig? ...What do you mean you never got the book back?

I might send in a few more of my Dell'Otto covers...

The foil covers do not scan all that great on my scanner...

per PM

First of all Secondly, how many comics/slabs can each drawer hold? Also, I don't know how I could ever actually watch the TV in that room, all I would want to do is stare at those great covers!