Heroes Con 2011, my report, reboot

[G.A.tor]

(will try this again)

hello all...

 

Bridget and little dude and I just got back from Char. NC where we set up for our 3rd consecutive Heroes Con. Shelton runs a pretty nice show, and we enjoy the trip and the folks...

 

I don't take many pictures, though I will post a few of our booth, and present some observations, some sales highlights , and some general commentary...

 

gator

 

[jimjum12]

.....thanks, Rick GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus) (thumbs u

[greggy]

[G.A.tor]

I just drank your coke zero, so rules smules

[G.A.tor]

So, I get our rental van on Tuesday (always a mystery with whether or not enterprise will have one for me ) and load up our 2/$1 and $1 modern stock, as well as ALL of our display racks/hardware ...

 

Wednesday morning I go to get the cgc boxes of books, my wife and son and we hit the road about 7am , heading due north!

 

by 5pm we are actually in Gastonia NC....normally, I can only drive about 5 hours before my knee and/or back give out ,but my wife loves to drive, so we split the trip up and made is 95% of the way on Wed......checked into the Hampton Inn, got dinner, priced some books and hit the hay, getting ready for Thursday load in!

 

[greggy]

I just drank your coke zero, so rules smules

You never told me about it. I"m going to drink extra in SD.

[G.A.tor]

Get up Thursday morn, head to the convention center, get into the Load in line about 10:45 and "wait"... see Jeff and Steve (hotflips) and just kind of hang out till noon...

 

Load in time rolls around, the vans/trucks start to move, and we are 7th in line, get a good spot next to the gate our booth is near, and within 2 hours, we are up and running!

 

I had heard that Rickie muchin had a pep 34, so I "anxiously" waited for him to produce for me, but decided that the copy I already had was just as nice, so passed (a good friend did pick it up a little later!)

 

 

One observation I like to make on set up day is "where is the action at"...

 

this year, as every year at heroe's, Earl Shaw seems to debut "new" and fresh stock... he always has a mass of folks around his table on set up day, and many, many books leave his booth to other dealers... MH Chuck also seems to almost exclusively buy long boxes of "$1" type books from Earl...

 

the other "frenzie" this year (besides Earl and his Friend's collection) was down at Guy's (sorry if I have mis named)... he seemed to bring about 30 short boxes of lower grade golden age, and I saw folks with big stacks...

 

my problem, is that I am too "lazy" to go after some of these books... whether pressable or just good "fresh" books that I might be able to offer at resale later... My wife encouraged me to "get in there too", but it is just not my nature, and I don't like to battle Harely and Dale and such... those guys "are" the convention stalworts, and I am only too happy to stay out of their way (for the time being )...

 

though, at some point, if I really want to get serious about convention selling, I to will have to dig through boxes looking for 9.0's that will press to 9.6's, and hitting "new" stock hard... just not yet

[G.A.tor]

I just drank your coke zero, so rules smules

You never told me about it. I"m going to drink extra in SD.

re-read your pass PM, surely I mentioned it, or you did (thumbs u

[G.A.tor]

Spent a little bit Thursday afternoon greeting and chatting with folks... walked the floor looking for a few books for me (like Punch 12, and apparently I missed one in the room, that was later found by a friend that I "hope" is selling it to me )

 

we went to the hotel, checked in, unloaded the cgc books in the room, got some dinner, priced a few books, watched a little TV, little dude and I had our nightly wresting match, and hit the sack by 10pm!

 

Woke up early Friday (I never seem to sleep at cons), loaded the cgc books onto my cart, and headed to the con hall... I like Friday mornings because there is still load in, so I can back door right into the hall, right next to my booth...Sat and Sunday the haul is quite a bit longer, going all the way around to the front of the con hall, enter, elevator, etc...but, it is what it is!

 

here is our "new" set up, at least for this show (generally, we only display slabs on the gridwall, but this show, I had bought some books to display raw)...

 

[G.A.tor]

Ok, so in truth, Friday morning I tried a new layout for our "wall books" ...

the tables were $1 moderns on the top of the table and 2/$1 on the floor under the table (gotta get on your knees for the cheap stuff )

 

on the other table (90 degree) I put $5 trades, and $2, 3/$10, 2/$10, 3/$25 and Price as marked Silver age and bronze (nothing over $50 or so)

 

here is my Friday wall set up:

On the wall that faces the main walk way, I positioned our GA and SA cgc slabs, in alphabetical order (for the most part)...

 

 

on the 8ft wall that faced the cross walk, I put, for the first con ever, pretty much all raw books (war, SA, GA, even some HG modern slabs!)

 

[3319comics]

Nice Hulks

[G.A.tor]

By Sat/sunday, I had changed my set up strategy , to try to generate a "fresh" look and see if it was affecting sales strategy

 

The reason for this is, since SDCC 2007, I have set up at every major comic book show that I could (this was my 17th), and for the first 16 cons, I had always had at least one "big" 5 figure (or even 6 figure) book sale (some cons, multiples)...

 

well, that streak ended this con...I didn't sell a single "big" book ...lots of tire kickers, and I guess the streak had to come to an end, but when you have 16 straight shows kicked off with a "BIG" $ sale, it really changes your outlook on the rest of the con... so, needless to say, I thought long and hard (probably too long and too hard) about "why"

 

so, adjusted my strategy after friday, keeping in mind I had never before offered raw books with this much display space (but, as I will recap in my sales post later, they sold and sold pretty well)

Initially, I thought about putting the "wow" books on the bottom...

 

when that didn't "feel" right, I changed them to the prime eye level

 

 

 

 

[G.A.tor]

also got some advice that maybe it wasn't a good idea to put out 5 copies of AF15, or 5 copies of Hulk 1, etc, but to put out the lowest and highest graded copy, and then keep rest under the table ... thought process/reason behind this is 2 fold...

1)seeing all those copies of , say AF15 , might have a "wow" factor, but it has a numbing factor as well, as in "nothing rare about that book"

2)allows folks that might see a 3.5 Hulk 1 say "I was really looking for a 5.0" and then being able to pull a 5.0 out from under the table to engage with the customer, rather than them just glancing and passing by

 

I also moved the Superhero GA down to bottom (folks looking for that, "look" for that, and moved the cool, but non superhero type books to the top/eye level)

[Bio-Rupp]

Might I ask what your best one book sale was sir?

[G.A.tor]

Might I ask what your best one book sale was sir?

a showcase 4, cgc 4.0 (will be in my sales recap post, when I make it )

[G.A.tor]

Now, there are always lots of "ooh's and aah's" and can I take my picture with your copy of (insert Batman 1, tec 27, marvel 1, superman 1, etc etc), and while I don't necessarily expect to always sell one of the "big boys" at a con, (though lots of potential leads are made by displaying) I have come to expect to sell a bigger type book, especially a silver age key...

 

maybe I shouldn't expect this, but I always had, and quite honestly, had as good of, if not better assortment of books this go round, so I kept waiting Friday for that "big" sale...

 

as mentioned, never happened... and while it shouldn't have put a damper on the con for me, it initially did (I am over it now, but human nature to be dissapointed when expectations are not met)...

 

all along, my wife and son were fairly busy selling $1 books and sub $50 silver age, and even a few smaller raw and slabbed books...

 

the one "big" sale (relative term) on Friday was a Showcase 4 in cgc 4.0...so, that was nice, but I have to admit (and it is not vanity, just reality), it fell short of my expectations...

[VintageComics]

also got some advice that maybe it wasn't a good idea to put out 5 copies of AF15, or 5 copies of Hulk 1, etc, but to put out the lowest and highest graded copy, and then keep rest under the table ... thought process/reason behind this is 2 fold...

1)seeing all those copies of , say AF15 , might have a "wow" factor, but it has a numbing factor as well, as in "nothing rare about that book"

2)allows folks that might see a 3.5 Hulk 1 say "I was really looking for a 5.0" and then being able to pull a 5.0 out from under the table to engage with the customer, rather than them just glancing and passing by

 

 

Noob.

 

[Bio-Rupp]

I agree totally. It feels great to pay all show expenses with one sale.

 

That Showcase 4 was still a four figure book... I sold my 3.5 about two years ago and regret it to this day. I've had two copies at 3.5 in the last 10 years and should of kept them both.

[G.A.tor]

also got some advice that maybe it wasn't a good idea to put out 5 copies of AF15, or 5 copies of Hulk 1, etc, but to put out the lowest and highest graded copy, and then keep rest under the table ... thought process/reason behind this is 2 fold...

1)seeing all those copies of , say AF15 , might have a "wow" factor, but it has a numbing factor as well, as in "nothing rare about that book"

2)allows folks that might see a 3.5 Hulk 1 say "I was really looking for a 5.0" and then being able to pull a 5.0 out from under the table to engage with the customer, rather than them just glancing and passing by

 

 

Noob.

 

I always like to put all my cards on the table... what I didn't want to do was have 6 copies of AF15 in various grades available, and only display 2 and potentially have a buyer for say, a 5.0, look at the wall and see a 3.0 and a 6.5 and just keep walking by without inquiring...

 

at least if I have the 3.0, 3.5, 4.0,4.5, 5.0 and 6.5 all displayed, if there is someone looking for a specific grade, they might be more inclined to inquire...

 

I think the internet has made it readily apparant that AF15, or hulk 1 or SC 22, etc are not "rare " or scarce by any means...

 

but, I was willing to give it a shot...will toggle back and forth between the two...

 

however, this was hardly the first time I employed this tactic...SDCC 2009 I had many many copies of SC 22 and sold them all, but never displayed more than 2 at a time, so "been there, done that "

[G.A.tor]

I agree totally. It feels great to pay all show expenses with one sale.

 

That Showcase 4 was still a four figure book... I sold my 3.5 about two years ago and regret it to this day. I've had two copies at 3.5 in the last 10 years and should of kept them both.

to be honest, even one big 5 figure book sale hardly pays for all expenses (or even a portion)...my markup margins are typically only 10-15%...so even on a , say 20K sale, I might only make 2K in profit before taxes if I am lucky ($1500 or so after)... it is more of the "gross" that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy

 

this is something I am not opposed to breaking down for folks that consider setting up at a show...

Heroes and Mega con are the 2 least expensive shows for me to do, but consider the "costs" (and these are just avg, might not be exact, but for illustration purposes, help to make my point)

 

booth $800

van rental and gas..$700

hotels and parking $700

Food and incidentals $500

 

and I don't even consider labor, etc... I am typically $2700-$3K in the "hole" before we even make a sale... So, if I don't do about $25,000-30,000 in sales, I don't even break even...and, given that Mega con and Heroes are shows I use to try to sell my overstock new comics at 50c to $1.00 each (typically purchased from diamond at $1.50-2.00 each) , I can, in reality, "lose" another $1000 + in cost of goods

 

compare to SDCC or NY

 

Booth 1800

travel $2500 (air fare, etc)

Hotel $2500

food $700 (2 extra days)

 

We have to do $100K+ just to make trip a break even prospect...

 

Now, this only applies to my cons...guys like Harley and Dale, etc all have TONS of sellable inventory (box and wall) that I don't...I am still a "baby" in terms of quantity, though I do like to have quality... problem is I am buying that quality from the same sources as everyone else... auctions, or private buys, etc...

 

there are no buy at 20c on the dollar opps for me...I generally pay 85-90% of my asking price...

 

but, I do it because I love comics, and love the interaction with folks, and sometimes do get "lucky"... not to mention I would likely goto the cons to try to buy comics for my collection as well (thumbs u