Hey Shad,
The shows with the type of talent and the size and scale we have are expensive to run. Also, up to 2 Kids (10 & Under) are free with a paid adult, a rarity these days. This encourages families, and we have had a lot of success with this in the past. If you look at the vendor list, you will see a robust list, and the programming is pretty exceptional as well.
http://www.aceuniverse.com/events/long-island/exhibitors.html/
More will be added with each passing day. The Artist list is very robust as well. We have a special exclusive we will be announcing shortly as well.
http://www.aceuniverse.com/events/long-island/creator-spotlight.html/
Many of these folks do not make many East Coast appearances ad we tailored the Creators with the Celebs. So, you can get a Superman book signed by Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, and Henry Cavill. We did this across the board. We have Jenny Frison and Liam Sharp and Wonder Woman. It's a curated experience. And although we are a new company, I have run more shows than any showrunner in the history of Comic Cons, having run over 175 events. So, it's a first time event in name only.
None of these celebs are appearing at anyone else's shows right now, so this is really a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially for Photo Ops. Please note JSA, CGC and CBCS will all be taking submissions and Authenticating, it's a Signature Series dream.
Happy to answer any more questions, but it's going to be a unique, special event.
You can see all the current goodness here -