JiveTurkeyMoFo

It was quite polite, up until the last week. And we maintained our composure in the face of some nasty commentary and in many cases, outright lies.

Right, because in a small room that barely fit 24 dealer booths, dozens if not hundreds of extra bodies walking around was a problem we would've had to address one way or another...the simplest way was to sort out out the casual fan. A simple dress code and higher than usual gate was the best way to do it. Next time you are dressed up at a major con, feel free to occupy some valuable real estate with your cosplay friends in front of a dealer's booth who paid good money to be there. Be sure to give him attitude when he politely asks you to relocate so paying customers can actually get to him.

Imagine, for a minute, that you were both a serious collectibles collector AND a cos-player (yeah, I know, play along here for a minute). A convention that focuses only on comics and other collectibles priced $50+ (right up your alley) is coming to town, and their only stipulation is that they politely ask that you leave the cosplay at home. If you can't leave the costume at home for one day, when literally every other convention in the country is okay with you wearing it, you really need to ask yourself if you are a serious collector or not and whether you should be at this Convention or not. Do people dress up as Batman or the Power Rangers to place bids at the Floor Session of a Heritage Auction? For the record, I didn't speak to a single person, attendee or vendor, that didn't appreciate the stance we took and the subsequent flak as well. We did it for them, and they knew it.

Wow...thank you for the kind words. Still hard to believe the perception was that the show was well run, since from our perspective there were so many areas to improve upon and so many mistakes made. As an example, we had a dozen really nice lawn signs that we failed to get out onto Fowler and the Embassy parking area that should've helped people find us, but the volunteer responsible for that never showed, and so no one else picked up the slack to get the job done. I think next year we will pare down the offerings. Legos didn't do well at all, and we failed miserably in reaching the Lego buyers. It's also a bit of a different animal, in that most Lego collectors are used to buying online to begin with, so traveling to a convention to buy what you want when you can find them online in two dozen different outlets may explain our results to some degree. Some art changed hands, and I think I'd like to keep pushing that part of it since it's often lacking at small shows. Toys, overall, did okay, but there are lots of places for improvement. Comics and Pops! were definitely the kings of the show. I will definitely work harder on getting a broader range of comic dealers lined up for next year. Vintage Comic Investments were those two gentlemen in the middle of the room with the CBCS slabs, and they reportedly did well, so I'm glad to hear you were one of their customers. I also failed to adequately communicate that my stickered slab prices were prices in my eBay store, and I'm generally flexible on those prices 15%-20% because of the lack of fees/shipping costs. Might have made more sales if everyone looking through them were aware of that cushion. Lesson learned for next year. Really appreciate the feedback...we promise to be back and even better next year.

We had a few Boardies for sure, including a number who don't really post here anymore. It was a good start to the day crowd-wise, and things petered off around 2pm. We had vendors who did real well, some that did okay, and some that didn't do well at all. Not being a full-time promoter, I'm not going to paint a rosy picture when it isn't warranted; the fact is we need to do things better next time around. However, there were a lot of positives as well. We think the buyer's survey definitely helped our vendors better identify what they should bring, including specific items that people were looking for. Many people loved the Swap Meet area, and while not everyone 'killed it', a few people did real well buying and selling there. I spoke with several dealers and buyers, and they were relatively happy. I know money was spent, but I think it tended to gravitate toward maybe 40-50% of the vendors. There were also vendors who didn't really comply with the $50+ mandate on their items, and I think it hurt them. Some dealers also priced things very...um....optimistically. And while I may have been one of them, my nosebleed prices tended to be on high grade Golden Age key books that you rarely see outside of a major auction. Many reminded me that for a first time concept show, it was a good effort on many levels, with potential to grow. We received a number of compliments, including a genuine one from one of the dealers that didn't do too well; he said this was the most professionally run show he'd ever set up at. A great compliment to be sure....my heart goes out to him that he didn't do better. As for photos, we actually did have someone taking pictures and filming the event, so we should have some soon. My display of items was pretty awesome, if I do say. I know I would have loved to have drooled over a few of my own items if I walked into a small show. Sadly, I was so consumed with promoter issues, I didn't really take the time to take pics of it or the wall display. In fact, this show reaffirmed what I've always known about smaller shows...slabs don't sell well, which is unfortunate when slabs are 90% of what I brought to the show. My three short boxes of raw Copper/Bronze keys at 30% off was a hit though...lots of stuff sold there, probably two dozen books in the $50-$200 price range. I did sell a package deal of 7 slabs to another dealer, but only had one other slab sell all day. Lots of looks, some trades, a few more contacts, and overall, a good day. I think next year, and we are 90% sure there will be a next year, my time can be better spent buying. There was lots of quality material that went home simply because I didn't get to make my usual buying rounds. Did pick up at least one great book from David Kapelka, Emerald City, and a bunch from Randy Lawrence. Again, a lot of books went home that I normally would've bought, and I was very pleased with the spread that many dealers laid out. There was a lot of "quality" in the room, and that was a positive.

We actually have someone recording everything all day, and we'll have them edit a nice 10-20 minute video that we'll use for promotional purposes next year. And yes, there will be pics.

Yes sir, we are absolutely having ticket sales at the door. $25 for Silver, and $50 for Gold...with Gold badges allowing the attendee to bring up to 2 boxes of material to vend in our Swap Meet area.

They just couldn't accept the fact that a convention didn't want them cosplaying. We are happy to accept them, in normal attire, if they are there to buy and sell collectibles. But the idea that a Con didn't want them there in their full regalia was something that set them off. It was an epic meltdown, and thankfully, a lot of boardies and other collectors came to our defense. But it was very ugly for the first two days.

Now that CosPlay Armageddon is slowly unwinding, next year is looking more and more likely.

No, not much feedback from Steve. I guess we'll find out Sunday.

For the record, I'm HUGE on dollar boxes and cheap boxes where people are selling $50 books for $5 because they "don't want to be bothered". I'm a big fan of "value-buying". That being said, when we set up the show, we did it with a certain collector in mind, and it wasn't specifically to exclude low dollar items, so much as to put the focus on our vendors bringing quality material in that $50+ price point. Since we are a cross-over show, with toys, action figures, Legos, Original Art, die-cast collectibles, Pops, and of course, comics, we thought to separate ourselves from the crowd, and let's be honest, the "Con" space is becoming very crowded, we wanted to put that emphasis on high quality items that people aren't seeing at every show, and that they often have to resort to an online site to find. If we had half of our dealers with low end stock, and the rest with high, we'd be...well, a smaller version of a good comic show like Heroes or Chicago. Which is great, but not really a unique niche in the space By saying..."hey, regardless of what you collect (Comic, toys, Legos, etc.) if you are looking for better ($50+) material, you will find it here with us"....we now set a floor that no one else is bothering to set. BTW, our Gold & Platinum attendees can bring in what they want to the Swap Meet area...but considering the crowd, a box of dollar books probably is a waste of time.

Sunday is a traditional day in Florida for one day shows, and the availability of the venue was more open (more weddings happen on a Saturday), so it became Sunday. As it stands, we have reserved a weekend for next year's function, which should make our show more accessible to those traveling, including Dealers from out of state who will want to set-up.

That's great! The Buyer's Survey seems like such a natural thing to me, and something I've been pondering for a while now. I'd love to exchange ideas to help improve ours.

Honestly, check out our Facebook page if you can. The Hate has gone viral for our "No Cosplay" rule. Amazing stuff.

I'll be sure to coordinate with Matt next year, and make sure the two events coincide.

Thank you for the kind words. We've formulated this concept over the course of the last year after many discussions with dealers and collectors alike, and it's evolved into its current form. I think it will continue to evolve as we get more feedback. We are also the first show (that I know of) that is sharing part of its gate directly with its vendors, the first to utilize a buyer's survey that is shared with it's dealers so they know exactly what the attendees are looking for, and the first to outright ban cosplay in any form...which is causing us a fair amount of flak on Facebook, but whatever. Our focus is on the collectibles, and nothing else. Hopefully, enough like-minded collectors will see the value in what we are trying to do and come give us a try.

$25 for Silver Buyer's Pass, and $50 for the Gold, which lets you bring in up to two boxes to sell/trade in the Swap Meet area. Sadly, our pre-registration promotions are over, but we believe the quality of the dealer's room is well worth the drive for anyone. The comic and comic art representation is going to be very strong and diverse.

Well, hopefully we will see you in Tampa next weekend Joe. I'd be willing to bet the buying will be better, relative to the miles you travel, and you won't have to fly 6k+ miles round trip either. And Greggy won't be there, so there's a plus.

One week left to go....I'm almost done prepping for the show, just have my art and a box of misc. raw golden age left to price. Otherwise, I have six boxes of certified toys done, an entire 6' wire rack of retired Legos, 3 boxes of raw Silver/Bronze/Copper keys and over 700+ slabs from $60-$20k+ ready to go for the show. We are getting lots of good feedback, and know we'll have attendees from all over Florida next weekend. If you are anywhere within 500 miles of Tampa, and you want a show that is 95% $50 and above premium items from the last 60+ years, give us a try...you won't regret it. Thanks!

Okay everyone...tomorrow is the final day for pre-registration. After that, admission will only be available at the door on the day of the show, and you lose all the great benefits of pre-registering, including the free raffle ticket and Con Exclusive t-shirt for Gold & Platinum members. You also lose the ability to get in an hour before everyone else (9am), since Platinum Passes are not available once pre-registration closes down. In case you need a breakdown of benefits, here is what you stand to gain if you purchase a Gold ticket trough the website before 3/1 with the cgcgold Promo Code I gave out earlier in the thread: Gold Ticket ($50) Minus 20% or $10 from cgcgold promo code. Plus EliteCon Exclusive t-shirt (otherwise available for $20 at the door). Plus (1) Raffle ticket in your choice of two Deluxe Giftbaskets worth $500+ each, (otherwise available for $5 each the day of the show) So, in reality, you are paying $15 net to get into the best one day Dealer Room in Florida, and you can bring two short comic, or medium storage, boxes worth of material to sell/trade in our Swap Meet area. The math looks pretty favorable to me....hope to see some Boardies out there.

We are doing our last Facebook Live event tonight at 8:30 pm EST on the EliteCon page. We will be doing some giveaways, but you have to have purchased your ticket(s) to qualify to win. I'll be giving away a Signed Limited Edition Hardcover of Chroma: The Art of Alex Schomburg tonight on the feed. There is one on Amazon for $99, and another for $165, with none that I can find on eBay. It's our way of saying thanks and rewarding those who are taking a chance on this new convention concept. The winner can pick it up from me directly at the show. This is the final days of pre-registration, and we encourage everyone who is thinking of coming to purchase their tickets early. I really hope a Boardie comes away with this great giveaway. If you need the link to register for the show, it's right here. Alternately, we will be signing people up for the show at the Annual Emerald City Comics Yard Sale this Saturday, the 25th. We'll have some high end collectibles on display that will also be available at EliteCon. Neil Johnson, the Owner, has supported our show concept from the beginning, and if you sign up for the show in-store, we'll give you a $10 gift certificate to spend at Emerald City. Its one of the ways we go out of our way to support the people who support us. Thanks guys!

Well, I don't know if we qualify for the term "low admission cost". In fact, we went the other direction specifically to weed out the casual fan, and we think most serious collectors, once exposed to all the benefits our show offers, will willingly pay more to attend.

Ever the Wordsmith my friend. Looking forward to seeing you guys again. I appreciate all the support from the South Florida crew.

Thanks Greg. Looking forward to seeing you guys again, hope you've been enjoying the Florida "Winter" (ha!). We thank you for your support of the show and am optimistic you won't be going home empty handed.

Less than three weeks to go, and we've added a few more comic & comic art dealers. It really is shaping up to be a terrific dealer room. Also, don't miss out on our Facebook Live event this Thursday night, where we will be doing a couple of giveaways, but only those who have registered for tickets are eligible to win. It's our way of thanking those who are coming out to support the show, which, again, is focused entirely on one thing: high quality collectibles and the collectors who pursue them. If you are in Florida, or heck, anywhere within 500 miles of Tampa, this show is going to have more great comics, toys, art, action figures, Pops!, retired Legos, and other comic-related & Pop-Culture-related material than any one day hotel show has a right to. 22+ dealers and private collectors set up in a room where 95%+ of everything being offered is $50 and above. But hurry, pre-registration ends in one week (2/28), and so do the benefits of registering early (a free con-exclusive t-shirt, a $20 value, for Gold and Platinum ticket holders, early entry into the room (9am) for Platinum attendees, and the 20% discount via Promo Code mentioned in a previous post on Gold and Silver tickets, etc.). If you are pretty sure you are attending, it only makes sense to pre-register. Thanks in advance to everyone coming out, we are working very hard to make sure this show serves the dealers who set-up at it, and the collectors who come out to support it. We appreciate the support of everyone who is "buying in" to this niche concept and is committed, as we are, to seeing it come to fruition.