Wizard World Austin -- November 22-24, 2013

[Gsims718]

Back at the hotel for a quick break. The lines to get in are still EPIC. I think there are as many people in the lobby as in the actual show, which is already crowded. Big crowd today.

 

So far I got a few things signed by Guillory and a few more raws by O'Neil, both of which were very cool. Chatted with Chuck Rozanski, who said he was having a terrible show, but the other dealers I've talked to are happy. I've been taking plenty of photos and will get them posted when I can on Sunday.

 

Chuck's display was huge, but lacking.

[JorgeRR96]

Awesome show! Thank you to all that say Hi! The photo op crew treated me like a "super VIP" since I get along with them and did 6min at the Reedus line. Awesome show...Wizard for the haters!!!

[LanceTX]

For something billed as a comic show, I've never seen so many walking dead 1 show variants getting rolled up, folded, and just destroyed. I find it's funny that people continue to come to "comic cons" and just don't care about comics. In a few years there probably won't be any comics at a wizard "comic con".

 

I noticed this too. I ended up just asking people that I could tell didn't care if they wanted theirs and I ended up with 8 copies. We didn't get a copy because we had press passes and you had to be a paid attendee.

 

Had a great time. Bought a few books. Talked to Rob and Joe Eisma. Also got to talk to my favorite hometown guys, Dan Price and Bonne Adame. Latex Avenger!

[Low Grade Guy]

I went yesterday, this was my first con and will probably be my last unless they move it to a different location. Downtown Austin just sucks which is why I never go down there. Took over 45 minutes to find parking. Once we got inside there were no clear instructions on what to do. Waited in line over an hour to get in. Once inside it was just a madhouse of people. Isles were too skinny they should have made the isles on the artist side smaller since there weren't near as many people on that side and the isles on the celebrity side bigger. Prices for goods were outrageous. Popcorn and a Coke was around $7 and they poured half a can of Coke in cup for you and kept the rest. T-shirts were almost $30 after tax. Only cool thing about the day was seeing all the people in costumes and seeing the celebrities from from a distance.

[mysterio]

I went yesterday, this was my first con and will probably be my last unless they move it to a different location. Downtown Austin just sucks which is why I never go down there. Took over 45 minutes to find parking. Once we got inside there were no clear instructions on what to do. Waited in line over an hour to get in. Once inside it was just a madhouse of people. Isles were too skinny they should have made the isles on the artist side smaller since there weren't near as many people on that side and the isles on the celebrity side bigger. Prices for goods were outrageous. Popcorn and a Coke was around $7 and they poured half a can of Coke in cup for you and kept the rest. T-shirts were almost $30 after tax. Only cool thing about the day was seeing all the people in costumes and seeing the celebrities from from a distance.

 

Yeah, the line on Saturday was epic. I was amazed at how many people were still crammed into the lobby at noon when we ventured out for a bit. I couldn't have handled standing in that line.

 

I posted a short con report in Comic General if anyone wants to see some pics.

[Drakeprimeone]

I went yesterday, this was my first con and will probably be my last unless they move it to a different location. Downtown Austin just sucks which is why I never go down there. Took over 45 minutes to find parking. Once we got inside there were no clear instructions on what to do. Waited in line over an hour to get in. Once inside it was just a madhouse of people. Isles were too skinny they should have made the isles on the artist side smaller since there weren't near as many people on that side and the isles on the celebrity side bigger. Prices for goods were outrageous. Popcorn and a Coke was around $7 and they poured half a can of Coke in cup for you and kept the rest. T-shirts were almost $30 after tax. Only cool thing about the day was seeing all the people in costumes and seeing the celebrities from from a distance.

 

As this is Wizard World the location in Austin will most likely not change. It's a central location that has the ability to hold as many people as it does. The only other viable options are either Palmer (which is also downtown) or The Travis County Expo Center (which is out of the way). This convention was a prime example of the patrons vastly out numbering the vendors. Its the only comic convention in Austin and it happens just once a year so the crowds come en mass. The set up of the floor was pretty typical but maybe they should have spaced everyone out more to allow for more foot traffic.

 

I didn't mind the crowd, you just need to get there early and be prepared ahead of time. It was definitely more of a pain if you just decided to show up and buy tickets in person. Things were a lot smoother if you bought online and arrived early to get your wrist band. Yes the food prices and lines were crazy I found myself starving Friday and Saturday because I didn't want to buy food there.

[Trev]

I went yesterday, this was my first con and will probably be my last unless they move it to a different location. Downtown Austin just sucks which is why I never go down there. Took over 45 minutes to find parking. Once we got inside there were no clear instructions on what to do. Waited in line over an hour to get in. Once inside it was just a madhouse of people. Isles were too skinny they should have made the isles on the artist side smaller since there weren't near as many people on that side and the isles on the celebrity side bigger. Prices for goods were outrageous. Popcorn and a Coke was around $7 and they poured half a can of Coke in cup for you and kept the rest. T-shirts were almost $30 after tax. Only cool thing about the day was seeing all the people in costumes and seeing the celebrities from from a distance.

 

Wow. Glad I went friday then. Almost no lines anywhere, plenty of space to walk around, and reasonable concessions. I paid $4.50 for a bottle of Heineken.

[mysterio]

I went yesterday, this was my first con and will probably be my last unless they move it to a different location. Downtown Austin just sucks which is why I never go down there. Took over 45 minutes to find parking. Once we got inside there were no clear instructions on what to do. Waited in line over an hour to get in. Once inside it was just a madhouse of people. Isles were too skinny they should have made the isles on the artist side smaller since there weren't near as many people on that side and the isles on the celebrity side bigger. Prices for goods were outrageous. Popcorn and a Coke was around $7 and they poured half a can of Coke in cup for you and kept the rest. T-shirts were almost $30 after tax. Only cool thing about the day was seeing all the people in costumes and seeing the celebrities from from a distance.

 

Wow. Glad I went friday then. Almost no lines anywhere, plenty of space to walk around, and reasonable concessions. I paid $4.50 for a bottle of Heineken.

 

Friday was definitely better crowd-wise, but still well attended I thought. I would have liked to go for a bit today but we had a long drive, and I feared more bad weather, so we needed to get an early start.

 

I was a little surprised to see folks walking around with beer, I've never been to a comic show that sold beer at the concession stands (and I've been to a few). If they sold it at this show last year I missed it.

[Boren]

Yeah it did get busy. Luckily I headed out of Dallas at 3:00 pulled up about 7:00, was the 3rd group to get in through general admission. But was not able to accomplish what I came to do . CGC people were cool and extremely nice to work with, this was my first Con so did not know what to expect. Only disappointment was that apparently if you weren't VIP Reedus, you did not get an auto.

 

Soon as I got there went to CGC -> picked up Haverlands commissions (which are amazing and totally recommended) -> Reedus's line was told to come back later -> Got Rookers auto (great guy) -> Back to Reedus's line, told to leave again if I wasn't ViP and to come back at 2:30-> came back at 1:45 and told it wasn't going to happen.

 

Was curious if this is the norm or did they over sell VIP passes? Just thought if I got there early enough I could get a signature from him and not pay for a 3 day VIP pass and only be there for 1 day.

 

[mysterio]

Reedus' line was always nuts the whole weekend, and every show I've seen him at has been that way. My brother got him in Chicago only because we had dealer passes and thus were able to get in line before the doors opened up, and even then he was about 60th in line and had to wait 3 hours all together. If you really want Reedus you have to be persistent, be willing to pay VIP, or have an angle to get into the line early and wait it out.

[Trev]

I went yesterday, this was my first con and will probably be my last unless they move it to a different location. Downtown Austin just sucks which is why I never go down there. Took over 45 minutes to find parking. Once we got inside there were no clear instructions on what to do. Waited in line over an hour to get in. Once inside it was just a madhouse of people. Isles were too skinny they should have made the isles on the artist side smaller since there weren't near as many people on that side and the isles on the celebrity side bigger. Prices for goods were outrageous. Popcorn and a Coke was around $7 and they poured half a can of Coke in cup for you and kept the rest. T-shirts were almost $30 after tax. Only cool thing about the day was seeing all the people in costumes and seeing the celebrities from from a distance.

 

Wow. Glad I went friday then. Almost no lines anywhere, plenty of space to walk around, and reasonable concessions. I paid $4.50 for a bottle of Heineken.

 

Friday was definitely better crowd-wise, but still well attended I thought. I would have liked to go for a bit today but we had a long drive, and I feared more bad weather, so we needed to get an early start.

 

I was a little surprised to see folks walking around with beer, I've never been to a comic show that sold beer at the concession stands (and I've been to a few). If they sold it at this show last year I missed it.

 

I know! It was awesome. There was a concession area inside behind the Mile high booth where all the clubs were that was selling beer, wine, and mixed drinks. At least it was there friday night.

[LanceTX]

I went yesterday, this was my first con and will probably be my last unless they move it to a different location. Downtown Austin just sucks which is why I never go down there. Took over 45 minutes to find parking. Once we got inside there were no clear instructions on what to do. Waited in line over an hour to get in. Once inside it was just a madhouse of people. Isles were too skinny they should have made the isles on the artist side smaller since there weren't near as many people on that side and the isles on the celebrity side bigger. Prices for goods were outrageous. Popcorn and a Coke was around $7 and they poured half a can of Coke in cup for you and kept the rest. T-shirts were almost $30 after tax. Only cool thing about the day was seeing all the people in costumes and seeing the celebrities from from a distance.

 

As this is Wizard World the location in Austin will most likely not change. It's a central location that has the ability to hold as many people as it does. The only other viable options are either Palmer (which is also downtown) or The Travis County Expo Center (which is out of the way). This convention was a prime example of the patrons vastly out numbering the vendors. Its the only comic convention in Austin and it happens just once a year so the crowds come en mass. The set up of the floor was pretty typical but maybe they should have spaced everyone out more to allow for more foot traffic.

 

I didn't mind the crowd, you just need to get there early and be prepared ahead of time. It was definitely more of a pain if you just decided to show up and buy tickets in person. Things were a lot smoother if you bought online and arrived early to get your wrist band. Yes the food prices and lines were crazy I found myself starving Friday and Saturday because I didn't want to buy food there.

 

What about Staple? One of the best cons in Texas.

 

Next years is going to have Francavilla and Chip Zdarsky.