• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Any Dealer Reports from WW Chicago?

Started by Foolkiller,

41 posts in this topic

Foolkiller

Foolkiller

Posted
Posted

I can't speak specifically to who had a good show or who did not, but overall I did hear that many dealers were suffering and that the show was not meeting expectations -- for many it was simply "ok".

 

I do know that Harley was saying he had a fantastic show and was thrilled with his numbers.

 

Most of the dealers seemed to be enjoying themselves, but I even heard a few dollar guys saying their show was modest. With a few of the dealers, I was able to get some fantastic deals because their shows were not putting up the numbers they'd like.

 

I'd love to hear the dealers' impression on WW Chicago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ze-man

Ze-man

Posted
Posted

I remember talking to Moe of Moes Attic about traffic and sales.

 

He had several observations about WW.

 

#1- He talked at length about wishing there was a teir system for Comic dealers based on location. As he put it, the big dogs want the best spots they can pay a certain price, the smaller dealers who dont mind being stuck between toys and DVD's can pay less..etc. To hear him talk about it made me realize how much a small dealer must weigh his options when deciding whether or not to attend the Con. For that matter I imagine every dealer big or small weighs goes through this thought process.

 

#2- Were his comments about what was selling best when I asked how his show was going on Saturday. He said his discount SA/GA VG/F 50% off bins were getting picked through, the stuff on his wall was being looked at, but passed over for the most part. While I was standing there I saw him make deals with two different people who brought books to trade. All of the books he got in trades went into the discounted long boxes. He said that was what sold for him all day long.

 

So I of course asked to see several books on his wall. He had a Superworld #1 , Sampson #1 and several other GA classics. Among them a Mask #1 which I liked right away but was not ready to dump big dollars into a low grade book. I said thanks for letting me look at his books but I was not going to insult him with a low ball offer.. he said.."go ahead and insult me" I offered him less then half sticker on the Mask #1 and to my surprise he said " if you got cash..sold"

 

Aside from that all I kept hearing was how much was traded before the show and how that made some dealers show successful before the doors even opened.

 

Ze-

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Moondog

Moondog

Posted
Posted
I can't speak specifically to who had a good show or who did not, but overall I did hear that many dealers were suffering and that the show was not meeting expectations -- for many it was simply "ok".

 

I do know that Harley was saying he had a fantastic show and was thrilled with his numbers.

 

Most of the dealers seemed to be enjoying themselves, but I even heard a few dollar guys saying their show was modest. With a few of the dealers, I was able to get some fantastic deals because their shows were not putting up the numbers they'd like.

 

I'd love to hear the dealers' impression on WW Chicago.

 

I had a monster show. Half of my business was with dealers who swooped down on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning. I thought the crowd was down a bit from last year, but it's hard to tell.

 

Sold TONS of box stock at $3-5 a pop.

 

I think Brad did well too, but we haven't discussed.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GACollectibles

GACollectibles

Posted
Posted

Small dealer report:

 

Left the Boston area on Tuesday around 2pm after loading up my boxes, picked up ToonTumbler product and hit the road with my trusty hunchback helper Dug. Drove a bunch, ate, refueled (twice), stopped for the evening, slept, got up and got on the highway to drive west. No major delays(though there was a slowdown once we were into Chicago) and got to the convention center around 2:30. Load in was easy as we parked 100 feet from our corner booth. Had dinner with the Superworld dudes at an ok Mexican restaurant not far from our hotel.

 

Thursday was finishing set-up, Dug was overwhelmed with giddiness as this was his first major con, he had been out of collecting comics for almost 20 years until he started helping me out this past winter and got re-involved. He was like a kid in a candy store and I had to confiscate his cash, ATM/credit cards & wedding ring(in case he decided to trade it away) after 1/2 an hour as he was ready to remortgage the house(even though he doesn't own one) to pick up all the cool stuff he was seeing. He reported back about the feeding frenzy at Moondogs.

 

Preview night was ok, some people through but not spending too much time at booths as they seemed to have other agendas(specific wall items or other priorities/freebies, etc). After we teamed up with the Superword dudes for dinner and were supposed to meet up with some other peeps at the burger/beer joint(Ram) but never saw the other guys there.

 

Friday morning was quiet(insert chirping crikets here) over in our portion of the con, picked up Fri afternoon and saw more traffic as the weekend wore on. Went to ok family Italian joint (with the Superworld dudes) that was far enough away from the con that there was no wait.

 

Sat was decent, flucuated between slow to very busy. Sat night had dinner(again) with guess who plus Bob Storms joined us, then three of us (Bob, Ted and myself) moseyed on over to the CGC dinner and I had some great conversations, meet some boardies I knew by name but not face, and saw lots of cool books.

 

Sunday was over sales wise for the most part by 2pm or so, a few last minute deals came. We packed up, loaded up and were out of the convention center by 6:30 pm, drove til midnight and finished the rest of our uneventful drive on Monday. Well, almost uneventful. Dug was behind the wheel at some point in NY on Rt90 and witnessed some biker type guy hanging out the passenger window of a car throwing stuff at cars in the slower lane, screaming/swearing at them and flipping them all off. Not sure what precipitated the whole thing, I missed it as I was napping. Dug backed off and was grateful when the car exited the hoighway about 10 minutes later(he said the action occured for a full 10 minutes plus).

 

Overall I would say the show was ok for me, I heard a bunch of other dealers say it was at best ok for them as well, though I know a few had a decent con! There were comments from a couple of boarders I talked to and a couple of other customers that they weren't aware of the dealers in our area of the room, one even thinking that Superworld(set up next to me) wasn't even there! The traffic seemed to be focused more to the concession side of the floor and near the artists area as well, it was odd.

 

Highlights for me were putting faces with the board IDs of the guys I had not met before and seeing the ones I did know- good group of guys. The list of people I saw/met/talked to this weekend includes(in no particular order!):

 

october

The Watcher

Scrooge

143ksk

arexcrooke

nik

the dude

flying donut

foolkiller

mutantkeys

r1970d

wasonff

TomG

skypinkblu

ciorac

mrbedrock

restoman

ze-man

silverandbronze

detective27kid

nochips

 

and probably a few more, I'll add them as I remember.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MrBedrock

MrBedrock

Posted
Posted

One dealer's abreviated sales report....

Got in and unloaded Wed. from 2pm to around 6pm. Sold nadda.

Thurs. sold a couple of big books (Journey 83, Detective 90 double cover) to other dealers before the show opened at 4pm. Did exactly $30 during preview night.

Fri. average sales. Nothing spectacular. (vg Action 51, gd Journey 83, fn X-Men 4) Most of the forum folks showed up though and we had a blast. Poker tourney Friday night was a bust for me but my manager Mike split the pot and was declared winner! (He got to pay for gas on the ride home. I got to listen to "I am the Champion, my friend!")

Sat. we took a ton of books off the wall and made and heard tons of offers. Mostly followed by, "Let's see how much money I have left tomorrow." Did get a commitment on a Marvel #3. Actually sold quite a bit of inexpensive stuff. It just seemed like a ton of work for a little return. The forum dinner was an awful lot of fun. As tired as I was, I was still able to last into Sunday morning.

Sun. Some of those offers came through! Sold a Young Allies #1, All Star #33, Master #7, two high grade Atlas Sub-Mariners, and a bunch of assorted silver and gold. By far my best day.

 

Chicago may not be as big as SD, and sales may not be quite as good (at least for me), but it was about a thousand times more. If for no other reason then that it is much less hectic and therefore easier to actually talk with friends, both new and old.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Annihilus

Annihilus

Posted
Posted
Yes, (:

 

mask1.jpg

 

Annihilus would love to have a Cole cover someday. The very first OSPG he bought was the one with the L.B. Cole feature. Cole's covers were works of art. Kinda out of the current price range though, unfortunately.

 

Very very cool book though!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing