mattn792

The X-Patriots...starring Rob Gronkowski and Tedy Bruschi, with special guest cameo by Titans head coach Mike Vrabel.

Surprised you've never heard of Sven, been a staple of Chicagoland TV for decades. And he still draws a good crowd at C2E2.

And then it comes full circle -> the Foil Authority Immortalizing Labels launches. Fat $tack$.

Think foil kav. Foil everywhere...

Pattinson as Batman, Kristen Stewart as Superman...

Lord help us if they start offering blank labels... ”Dude, this one came back a 2900.0! Gem Mint got nothin’ on me.” ’You wrote that in crayon.’ ”Blank label bro, all legit!”

Seconded. A “new” (rip-off) character that debuted a little over a year ago is featured on the one and only custom label you offer for a 5+ decade icon? Pass.

I've never heard Avatar summed up so succinctly, bravo sir. And yes, I too thought the movie sucked. But whoever James Cameron sold his soul to in exchange for smashing box office success, he clearly found a good buyer.

Maybe in theory, but its easy to argue that Wizard is too far gone as a viable concern to turn things around. Philly isn't going to go from 4 to 40 comic dealers in a years time just because the booths are half off. Dealers talk and comic buyers talk. And bad word of mouth is not going to be overcome quickly. Meanwhile, Wizard's underlying business is in tatters, that's why they'll sell a booth in Chicago to Danley's Garage World (not sure if that's true, just the first local business that came to mind, Building your garage with quality -- D-D-D-D-Danley -- that's why we're number 1!, catchy commercials for decades...I digress). Maybe Paul Kessler has some grand master plan to turn things around, but I doubt that's going to be revealed until he wipes out the rest of Wizard's shareholders in bankruptcy court. Or he's just using Wizard's continual losses to help offset his hedge fund's capital gains. No one knows for sure but him, but all signs right now are pointing to Wizard's impending doom.

Natural follow-up question - what insufficiently_thoughtful_person(s) and or insider(s) are bidding up certain books based solely on the generic “Comic Viewed Apace” sticker being affixed to the slab?

Dark Phoenix

Looking at kelly’s other items, seems they’re big into forged signatures as well.

Well, not the original direction I was going with it, but yes, spot on!

I completely agree, ACE would need to tweak their business model for it to become a major attraction for comic vendors, and I doubt that will happen. They’re probably doing just fine as is by booking all the major superhero movie celebrities. And the move to Rosemont should only increase attendance.

ACE is showing their prowess by moving the show away from Navy Pier and out to Rosemont. Navy Pier is an awful venue for a comic show. One boardie reported they were short on dealers last year, but if they can start attracting them in significant numbers, they could give Wizard a beating. The Revolution show is hard to take serious when it’s only 2 days.

-And by getting out ahead of the orthopedic shoe possibility, I’ve now saved money which in the long run can be put toward a future comic purchase! I sincerely and thoroughly look forward to doing business in the future most gracious sir.- ebayexcusescreatedforyou.com — brought to you by kav and matt.

Absolutely! This thread is basically our only respite from eBay’s policy of screwing sellers at every turn.

You’d think the Wizard people would be happy that C2E2 is succeeding since it shows the area is a robust market for comics and entertainment (not that big of a revelation since Chicago has millions of inhabitants in and around). The shows are far enough apart (4-5 months) that Wizard should be angling to attract those same fans.

Consensus is that they’re a__holes.

And the cat promptly started seizing. Out of the goodness of my heart I covered the veterinary and ER bills for these perfect strangers but am now out the $4000 I had planned to pay you. I thought about setting up a goFundMe to cover the cost of the books I planned to buy, but they wanted a Social Security Number and I loaned that to my neighbor’s 6 year old last week. I am epically apologetic and apoplectic.

The guy is full of it, he got caught thrill bidding. You can tell by the length of his apology.

I’m sure it would’ve made a billion if we all weren’t such haters. What could have been...

Wizard's stock (Ticker: WIZD) has been trading in the $0.05 to $0.20 range since last October. Today is June 24th, and they still have ZERO guests listed on their website for WW Chicago. In years past the website would be overflowing with confirmed guests two months out from showtime. And its not just Chicago, just about every CY 2019 show has not had its guest list posted until the last minute. To echo @mysterio, this newfound price drop isn't some stroke of marketing genius. Wizard and its parent company are absolutely, 100% DESPERATE. Word of mouth over the past few years has been that their shows keep getting worse, and the last time I went to WW Chicago (2017), I covered the comic dealers in the span of four hours. About three of which I spent between Metropolis, Dale, and the Reeces. By comparison, the dealer aisles at C2E2 could consume all three days. Clearly we're at a point where a significant number of people aren't buying into what Wizard selling.