SDCC vs WWChicago

[Ivanko]

It seems as though more people here picked up great GA books in Chicago than San Diego. Was this due to a much better selection, people more willing to deal, or something else entirely?

[TheWatcher]

I had always heard that Chicago was better for books, but I've never been to SD so can't comment personally. The fact that Chicago will be moving to the end of June next year will probably mean a better selection of inventory.

[innocuous]

It may be that more people took the time to post their purchases.

[CAP Freak]

I've never been to Chicago but I've been to Wizard World LA. SD is better.

[Scrooge]

The only year I've gone to both SD and Chicago Cons, I wished so bad I had spent no $$ at SD to spend it all in Chicago. In my single experience, buying in Chicago was tons better. The only advantage I saw going to SD is that I was able for the first time to delve in some West Coast dealers (A-1, So Cal, ...) boxes that I've never seen before.

[snitzer]

Only been to Chicago, about four times, but was always impressed with the GA comic selection the dealers brought. Guys like Bedrock, Graham Crackers, Harley Yee, Redbeard, Bob, Metro, etc., always delivered the goods. Heritage even had a strong presence a few years back with an on-site Signature auction.

 

From what I've heard/understand Chicago WW has it's roots in what was the original Chicago comic convention, which typically attracted GA material. I'm sure other forum members can comment on this further.

 

Personally, I'd just like the opportunity to compare the two

[Moondog]

It seems as though more people here picked up great GA books in Chicago than San Diego. Was this due to a much better selection, people more willing to deal, or something else entirely?

 

Wizard World is facing a crisis: How to stay meaningful and relevant in the world of popular culture. They are going through an identity crisis. Mixed martial arts? Comic books. Movies and TV? Their particular mix of media and entertainment has no focus. Luckily for us comics are still bringing in the largest percentage of revenue so they still attract comic book dealers and collectors. San Diego is so far removed from their roots that comics are continually being squeezed out. The cost of selling there precludes many dealers from attending. I didn't hear of anyone having fun regarding comics in SD. All the news reports focused on the TV and movie announcements and the costumes that the fans wore.

 

We can only hope that comics remain an important part of WW's makeup. and hopefully as long as there are collectors attracted to the dealers' wares, they will continue to exhibit.

 

 

[Ze-man]

I bought 4 GA books, but saw plenty others I wanted. I imagine since SD had less dealers then Chicago, ...Chicago was the better place to buy books by default no matter the era.

 

Here are my GA/Pre Code pickups.

 

 

 

 

 

Ze-

[CAP Freak]

Nice

[Scrooge]

I

 

Now, that's a comic book!

 

Oh and that Mask # 1 ain't shabby either (thumbs u

[Ze-man]

I know this is a tweener for this forum but even with a little rust this one caught my eye, inks are insane.

 

[shiverbones]

Gee Whiz Kenny! I am impressed!

[adamstrange]

And the pages peeking out from under the cover look very nice as well!

[tabcom]

Chicago was my very first Comic Convention!

 

I only spent about 4 hours at the show on Sunday. I probably could have used another 4 hours to inspect all the GA comics that were there. I did buy four comics (see my other thread for cover scans). I bought a Wings, Planet, Rulah, and Fight Comic. I was able to get 20% off on them. The way the dealers were willing to accept my offers so quickly, it left me with the feeling that they made a lot of money throughout the show.

 

I probably will not go back next year. It takes 4 hours to drive there. Also, the way I like to troll for comics, I can find the comics I like for much less.

[G.A.tor]

It seems as though more people here picked up great GA books in Chicago than San Diego. Was this due to a much better selection, people more willing to deal, or something else entirely?

 

Wizard World is facing a crisis: How to stay meaningful and relevant in the world of popular culture. They are going through an identity crisis. Mixed martial arts? Comic books. Movies and TV? Their particular mix of media and entertainment has no focus. Luckily for us comics are still bringing in the largest percentage of revenue so they still attract comic book dealers and collectors. San Diego is so far removed from their roots that comics are continually being squeezed out. The cost of selling there precludes many dealers from attending. I didn't hear of anyone having fun regarding comics in SD. All the news reports focused on the TV and movie announcements and the costumes that the fans wore.

 

We can only hope that comics remain an important part of WW's makeup. and hopefully as long as there are collectors attracted to the dealers' wares, they will continue to exhibit.

 

gary hit the nail right on the head...

SDCC is no longer a "comic" con...it is a culture and media event...it is hugely crowded, and difficult to manuver, and always seems to be at too frantic of a pace...

 

SDCC Advantages: I only know of 2: WC dealers stock to view (most that don't travel to Chicago) and for "first" shot at new GA books via the "big boys" that do travel to all shows (metro, HY, bedrock, etc), to the true comic collector, SD would be better only in the fact that it has preceeded WW Chicago, so "first" pickings...that will all change next year, as Chicago moves to end of June!

 

adv of Chicago: they are many: 1) FUN with your friends...truly was fun to experience the show, which was not a body rubbing experience just to walk from point a to point b (unless you are ciorac, he tried to rub any body he could get away with!), digging through boxes, and relating funny books stories with friends, new and old...2)nice dealer selection of GA (far exceeds SD, 2x at least, the number of comic vendors there that I saw, that had a nice selection of GA material)...many mid west dealers (moondog, etc) and even some EC dealers I met for the first time, set up, and some had some nice "fresh" stock...3) ease...so much easier to traverse the hall, it is set up nicely, and not as many bodies....4)cost...was MUCH cheaper than SDCC, and, as mentioned, was a lot more fun!

gator

[EJR]

I agree SDCC is no longer a "comic con". It's all about money so whatever venue generates the most will increase and squeeze out the competition. Hope Chicago doesn't go the way of SDCC.

[aardvark88]

How was artist alley set up? I guess the crowds were more manageable in Chicago compared to SDCC? I liked NYC comicon where they put most of the artist/inkers upstairs on the mezzanine except for the corporate booths (Marvel, DC, Top Cow, Image) downstairs. Better crowd control.

[Robert Beerbohm]

It seems as though more people here picked up great GA books in Chicago than San Diego. Was this due to a much better selection, people more willing to deal, or something else entirely?

 

Wizard World is facing a crisis: How to stay meaningful and relevant in the world of popular culture. They are going through an identity crisis. Mixed martial arts? Comic books. Movies and TV? Their particular mix of media and entertainment has no focus. Luckily for us comics are still bringing in the largest percentage of revenue so they still attract comic book dealers and collectors. San Diego is so far removed from their roots that comics are continually being squeezed out. The cost of selling there precludes many dealers from attending. I didn't hear of anyone having fun regarding comics in SD. All the news reports focused on the TV and movie announcements and the costumes that the fans wore.

 

We can only hope that comics remain an important part of WW's makeup. and hopefully as long as there are collectors attracted to the dealers' wares, they will continue to exhibit.

 

 

Hi Gary,

i beg to differ - SD is STILL a HUGE comicon any way you slice it

 

SD has something like 2000 booths these days

 

iffen you boil away all the movie studio & toys stuff, there are still 100s of comics booths

 

it is just there is soo much more of the other stuff, it just looks like the comics are not well represented - but i think they are

 

and SD the last few years still brings me in the bucks off sales far superior to Chicago Wiz shows

 

The WizKids are still riding off the remnants of the coat tails the previous owners built up when you guys were bringing in all kinds of GA & SA artists - WizKids idea of an "old timer" is the likes of JimLee or Frank Miller

 

[Robert Beerbohm]

It seems as though more people here picked up great GA books in Chicago than San Diego. Was this due to a much better selection, people more willing to deal, or something else entirely?

 

Wizard World is facing a crisis: How to stay meaningful and relevant in the world of popular culture. They are going through an identity crisis. Mixed martial arts? Comic books. Movies and TV? Their particular mix of media and entertainment has no focus. Luckily for us comics are still bringing in the largest percentage of revenue so they still attract comic book dealers and collectors. San Diego is so far removed from their roots that comics are continually being squeezed out. The cost of selling there precludes many dealers from attending. I didn't hear of anyone having fun regarding comics in SD. All the news reports focused on the TV and movie announcements and the costumes that the fans wore.

 

We can only hope that comics remain an important part of WW's makeup. and hopefully as long as there are collectors attracted to the dealers' wares, they will continue to exhibit.

 

gary hit the nail right on the head...

SDCC is no longer a "comic" con...it is a culture and media event...it is hugely crowded, and difficult to manuver, and always seems to be at too frantic of a pace...

 

SDCC Advantages: I only know of 2: WC dealers stock to view (most that don't travel to Chicago) and for "first" shot at new GA books via the "big boys" that do travel to all shows (metro, HY, bedrock, etc), to the true comic collector, SD would be better only in the fact that it has preceeded WW Chicago, so "first" pickings...that will all change next year, as Chicago moves to end of June!

 

adv of Chicago: they are many: 1) FUN with your friends...truly was fun to experience the show, which was not a body rubbing experience just to walk from point a to point b (unless you are ciorac, he tried to rub any body he could get away with!), digging through boxes, and relating funny books stories with friends, new and old...2)nice dealer selection of GA (far exceeds SD, 2x at least, the number of comic vendors there that I saw, that had a nice selection of GA material)...many mid west dealers (moondog, etc) and even some EC dealers I met for the first time, set up, and some had some nice "fresh" stock...3) ease...so much easier to traverse the hall, it is set up nicely, and not as many bodies....4)cost...was MUCH cheaper than SDCC, and, as mentioned, was a lot more fun!

gator

 

Having been selling at every San Diego since #1 in 1970 as well as many a Chicago Comicon since the first one there in 1972 at the PickFord Congress Hotel (Russ Heath Guest), i can say both shows have the separate merits

 

SanDiego still does the Eisner Awards - for new stuff - and the publishers who show up are in much fuller force at San Diego - a gathering of the tribes

 

weren't you tied up in your booth at San Diego and not at Chicago which might have played into "fun" concepts?

 

I would say San Diego Comicon is a zoo - then again, success breeds the geeks like tribbles

 

[G.A.tor]

 

Having been selling at every San Diego since #1 in 1970 as well as many a Chicago Comicon since the first one there in 1972 at the PickFord Congress Hotel (Russ Heath Guest), i can say both shows have the separate merits

 

SanDiego still does the Eisner Awards - for new stuff - and the publishers who show up are in much fuller force at San Diego - a gathering of the tribes

 

weren't you tied up in your booth at San Diego and not at Chicago which might have played into "fun" concepts?

 

I would say San Diego Comicon is a zoo - then again, success breeds the geeks like tribbles

hello all...

as always, Robert makes some good points, that probably apply to many ....and yes, I was tied up at my booth for the majority of the SD show (have to sell some Star Trek figures to pay for my comic habit!)...

that said, all points are still valid for me....1)my comic geeking brothers do not attend SD, they attend Chicago...so, the "fun" is relative to the company (which I would not have had in SD without them)...2)all the "major players", with the exception of Robert, were in Chicago too, in an atmosphere that lent itself more, in my opinion, to comic buying...and, to be honest, I can't recall a single WC dealer outside of SoCal and A1, that had any books that were of interest to me (GA) in SD , so next year, when Chicago preceeds SD, I can't imagine the point of even going to SD (again, just for me, I am not there for the Media shows, or Eisner awards, etc, I am there to buy GA comics)...3) even though the GA/SA has it's own "pavillion", many many dealers were scattered throughout the hall (like Dale Roberts, etc), and traveling to and from was extremely difficult, at best...a walk from one end to the other was 20 minutes minimum with the crowds...where as in Chicago, I litterally could get from Brent (at one extreme of the building) to Ritter or Metro (at other ends) in a matter of 2-3 minutes...to me, the ease of hall traveling is a HUGE advantage to the experience...4)cost was about 1/2 of SD (from Florida, air fare considerations, food costs, hotel costs, etc), which leaves litterally thousands of extra "disposable" $'s to spend on comics!...

 

so, if it were not for the fact that SD is so huge, and we do sell a ton of action figures there (which, I admit, I don't think we would ever come close to in Chicago), my personal conclusion is that Chicago will be far superior to SD in terms of GA comic geeking in 2008....now, that said, if all my buds headed to SD, then that would certainly change the experience for me (though, I would still be manning the ole booth, so my fun would still be very limited!)

thanks

rick