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awe4one's "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" Con Review

Started by awe4one,

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awe4one

awe4one

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lol ---------- THIS GUY?? hammer.jpg Think I used to watch him and Brutus the barber beefcake back in the 80's when I was 7 or 8 years old.

 

Yep...that's him. Just imagine him 50lbs heavier with a serious migraine...

 

Jim

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awe4one

awe4one

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The story from http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=13 :

 

The Orlando Comic Con just put on its second year show this weekend, talking it up and boasting of 3000 pre-registration attendees. They also advertised such guests as Peter David and Stuart Immonen.

 

Peter David had his own take as to why he wasn't there. The organisers never got round to sending him air tickets.

 

Same with Stuart Immonen.

 

David Lloyd, it appears, had requested a return ticket to take him home the Thursday after the con, so he could attend a signing at local store "AComicShop." The organisers agreed. But he got a Monday return instead.

 

That same shop had paid for an ad in the convention guide book. It didn't get printed.

 

The show was advertised as three days but shrank to two.

 

Artists' Alley only filled ten out of fifty seats and gained the nickname "Artists' Back Alley Abortion."

 

Apparently around 600 people turned up, including dealers, guests and staff.

 

With inflation like that, maybe these guys should work for Wizard World?

 

Still, that meant a rather high pro to fan ratio, so the fans who did turn up probably had a great time.

 

Well that explains what happened to David...

 

As far as Artist's Alley, other than Cardy, and Yu, I had no idea who any of these guys were. I don't even know who Lloyd is (but I did see him there). Must be completely out of it concerning the Modern market...

 

Jim

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icefires

icefires

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Here's my first crack at a comic show review. Orlando Comic-Con was the 1st real American con I've attended since 2001 so take that into account when you read my comments and observations. Some of it isn't pretty...

 

My day started at 4 AM Central Time after getting about 4 hours sleep. Had to get going early since I would lose an hour due to the time change. I also didn't want to arrive at the con late and not have time to get a thorough walkthru of the dealer's room before closing (6 PM). So I grab a change of clothes, jump in the Charger, set-up the nav system for the con, and off I go.

 

My nav system tells me to go on RTE 98 (main road along Gulf Coast) towards Panama City. I thought this kinda odd as most anytime a person leaves this area to go east or south, you first have to travel about 20 miles north to hit I-10. I must have been half asleep as I thought "great, the system is probably taking me to a shortcut and save time". Unfortunately I quickly find out that was a major mistake as the system takes me about 70 miles total miles just to go north and hit I-10 about 5 miles from where I usually do. An hour of traveling wasted... :mad:

 

That wouldn't be the only problems I have with the system. Upon finally getting to Orlando, it takes two circuits doing U-turns near the Disney parking lot until my nav system finally takes me to the hotel. I'm going to call the nav people tomorrow to see if there are any upgrades to the system that I haven't received...

 

By the time I check in to the hotel it's 12:30. I run up to my room to drop off some things (and a very nice room it was--suite with a separate living room and bedroom) and make my way down to the con.

 

The con was set-up in a large ballroom in an adjacent building to the tower I was staying in. There were no lines to pick up my ticket and off to the dealers room I go.

 

I was immediately surprised at how uncrowded the room was. All the con pictures were taken around 3 PM local. There were even less people then but I'd guess it wasn't that many less...

 

occ1.JPG

occ2.JPG

occ3.JPG

 

My first stop was at the CGC booth to drop off my first submission. Gemma was the only one manning the booth. I drop off the comics, have a quick chat, and go on my way. Submitting at the con was extremely quick and efficient. Was done in a couple minutes...

 

I then walked the floor. I'd guess there were 9 total dealers there with anything approaching Bronze or Silver comics. Most all the dealers, with the exception of "Mike's Collection" (Mcmiles and kingofrulers?), Tom Gordon, Tom's Comics, and Astonishing Comics (more on them later), had mostly low-mid grade comics for sale. They were primarily overpriced as well. One of the dealers, Crazy Ed, told someone looking through his boxes that the affixed prices didn't matter and they would work out a price. Why even bother looking thru his boxes then? As a buyer I don't want to have to guess on a price for an item I want. If I like a comic at the price affixed than that's a basis I use to determine whether I want to purchase. If I don't like the price, I either put the comic back in the box (most common) or ask about a possible discount (sometimes). But don't advertise that your listed prices are notional. I didn't buy anything from Ed but that's because he didn't have anything I needed or wanted...

 

I did buy a couple comics from Tom's Comics though. In my opinion, he had the best variety of late-Silver/Bronze issues available at the con. He had everything from Superheroes to Romance. Mostly mid-grade but there was the occasional HG in the boxes.

 

My Love Special #1 - Even with the distro ink it was an upgrade from my other copy...

 

mylovespecial1.jpg

 

Phantom Stranger #18 - Really like the cover...

 

ps18.jpg

 

Our Love Story #26

 

ourlovestory26.jpg

 

Next, it was over to "Mike's Collection". Had some great wall comics as well as some HG Bronze in some boxes behind the counter. Regretably, I only found one comic to buy...

 

Iron Man #49 - Portland Copy? - Really like this cover...

 

ironman49.jpg

 

Moved on to Tom Gordon's booth. This was the only booth that I found anything on my want list. Really nice guy who was giving me the hard sell on traveling to the Tampa Show in Nov. We'll see...

 

Adventure Comics #416

 

adventure416.jpg

 

DC Special #4

 

dcspecial4.jpg

 

Finally, I moved on to the Astonishing Comics booth. I bought a couple comics but I'll save that for later...

 

Also met and shook Nick Cardy's hand. Very nice man with a wonderful wife. Reminded me of the Nodells. Also saw Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. Didn't speak with him as I'm not a real big wrestling fan and he looked like he was working off a serious binge...

 

The biggest crowd I saw around any comics booth was a guy selling "hot" recent issues. :gossip: We old-time collectors must be doing something wrong... :o

 

Green Lantern #76 was the most common wall issue noted. I probably saw 6 total copies available...

 

So overall... The Good...

 

- Very nice facility.

 

- Met some new dealers.

 

- Nick Cardy

 

- Ease of CGC on-site submissions.

 

The Bad...

 

- I overheard from multiple dealers their displeasure at the way the show was going. Disorganization seemed to be the watchword. Evidently, people were just walking into the con without paying (they finally put a guard at the door). Also, there was major grumbling about the lack of attendees...

 

- Where was Peter David? I take it he did not attend? If he was there I missed him...and based on pics I've seen of the man I doubt that's possible.

 

- Was there any panels? From what I could tell there wasn't despite the website implying there would be...

 

- For all those people who must come to these cons dressed up as their favorite hero or villain...you don't look as good or as cool as you think. I'm not sure who's telling you how great you look but they're lying. There's nothing that turns me off quicker than seeing mildly overweight males and females trying to wear spandex. And please protect your child's dignity and not include them in your dress-up. They'll thank you later...

 

The Ugly...

 

- This is primarily my fault for not checking better but the last dealer I bought comics from was Astonishing Comics. It was right before leaving the con and I was pretty tired due to the trip and general boredom. AC had comics labeled as HG on the box and priced aggressively as well. I found a couple romance issues that looked at first glance to be pretty solid issues. The dealer was even hyping the fact that he was selling these HG copies cheaper than they should be. So I bought them...

 

Secret Hearts #146 - looks nice from the front...

 

sh146front.jpg

 

...until I looked at the back later that night. Pen or grease marks go thorugh the last couple pages of the book. The staples are rusted as well leaving stains on all pages...

 

sh146back.jpg

 

Secret Hearts #148

 

sh148front.jpg

 

Rust marks throughout the issue...

 

sh148back.jpg

 

GS Avengers #2 - I just plain missed the chunks along the right edge. It was priced at guide...

 

gaavengers2.jpg

 

Again, I blame myself...but ugly it is...

 

One final item...I saw a couple dealers with numerous comics held out from their inventory that were on hold for other dealers. I assume they were getting payment after the con was over. Well, I would have bought a couple I saw immediately if they were available. I only spent a quarter of my budget at the con. I'm not sure how this is working out for you dealers out there but bet not all of these comics were sold unless sales improved greatly on Sunday. Personally, I'd put the comic out there for sale and if it was still available at the end then it's a bonus. But I bet some of these comics traveled home unsold...and that kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think?

 

Well this has gone on long enough. Overall, I enjoyed myself...but I doubt I'll be making the trip again next year. If there is a next year...

 

Jim

 

Would you like to make some money? PM me with a price for My Love Special no. 1!

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Darthdiesel

Darthdiesel

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thanks for the great report Jim - I know you've been into bronze for a while now and I see you picking up stuff that I've been accumulating slowly off the boards' sellers from cd4ever, greggy, like the dc 100 pagers, romances - very nice my love special 1 and I too share an affinity for that particular iron man cover - I think it's the "modern" figured blonde at the bottom :applause:

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Lazyboy

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As far as Artist's Alley, other than Cardy, and Yu, I had no idea who any of these guys were. I don't even know who Lloyd is (but I did see him there). Must be completely out of it concerning the Modern market...

 

Jim

 

doh!

 

Does this help?

 

 

 

Too bad about those few damaged books and the show in general, but at least you got something out of going.

45083-V1731_400x600.jpg.7b404ac468a70284a3976019181e4e18.jpg

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sckao

sckao

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Jim, nice report.

 

The new Peter David column in the CBG I got yesterday shows that he's lost 100 pounds and is pretty unrecognizable from before (I think he's also gone shaved head and no beard).

 

Speaking of Peter David and the Orlando Comic-Con:

 

From his website: http://peterdavid.malibulist.com/

 

Follow up to Orlando Comic-Con

 

I'm told that the convention had about 350 people in attendance and that the organizers are claiming that my failure to attend was entirely my own fault due to my refusal to commit and my constantly changing my mind. It supposedly had nothing to do with lack of communication and no one booking flights (the same problems that prevented Stuart Immonen and Tad Stones from attending). They did, however, insist that they were on good terms with me and that I'd be attending next year.

 

No. I won't be. Fool me once and all that.

 

PAD

 

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awe4one

awe4one

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Jim, nice report.

 

The new Peter David column in the CBG I got yesterday shows that he's lost 100 pounds and is pretty unrecognizable from before (I think he's also gone shaved head and no beard).

 

Speaking of Peter David and the Orlando Comic-Con:

 

From his website: http://peterdavid.malibulist.com/

 

Follow up to Orlando Comic-Con

 

I'm told that the convention had about 350 people in attendance and that the organizers are claiming that my failure to attend was entirely my own fault due to my refusal to commit and my constantly changing my mind. It supposedly had nothing to do with lack of communication and no one booking flights (the same problems that prevented Stuart Immonen and Tad Stones from attending). They did, however, insist that they were on good terms with me and that I'd be attending next year.

 

No. I won't be. Fool me once and all that.

 

PAD

 

Link to Comments Thread

 

 

It's probably not the case here...but back in the USENET days, David was rumored to be a "high maintenance" guest for con promoters...

 

Jim

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sckao

sckao

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Found the original blog post:

 

http://peterdavid.malibulist.com/archives/005676.html

 

Apparently, they didn't send him any tickets... or communicate too well. doh!

 

Lower down in the comments section, someone mentions that Stuart Immonen had the same problem.

 

http://www.immonen.ca/news/archives/date/2007/09/21/

 

Stuart will not be in attendance at the Orlando Comic-Con as previously announced.

 

As of this posting, no information regarding flights, connections or travel times has been received– nor do we know if they ever existed.

 

Sorry.

 

 

 

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