EAST COAST COMIC CON - APRIL 11 & 12, 2015 - SECAUCUS, NJ

[Boba]

Awesome pics. More pics the better.

Ok, I didn't really take a lot of photos, just wanted to capture the overall feel,

but here's some of the other shots I took and some bracketed images.

 

PRINCESS

 

 

BATMOBILE

 

ART ADAMS

 

 

STERANKO WORSHIP

 

 

 

NEAL AND MARILYN

 

[SuperBird]

I went, nice selection of artists, but not much in the way of comics.

[Boba]

Agree there wasn't a giant array of wall books, but there was some nice stuff if you were willing to dive into boxes, which is usually not what I do - but I dove in and found it fun and even picked up an upgrade Showcase #62. But yeah, not tons and tons of comics. I was surprised to see so many creators - and I don't know all the new names - as evident by my photos - but I was impressed by the number of them that came.

[AnkurJ]

I went, nice selection of artists, but not much in the way of comics.

 

Agreed. With so many major retailers in the tri state area, I am surprised more were not invited. Admission wasn't cheap for the show either which may have kept some people away.

[Aweandlorder]

Happy anniversary Longshot. This, by Ann's own admission, is a once in a lifetime reuinion. Left to right: Whilce Portacio, Ann Nocenti, Art Adams

 

 

Photo couresy of Luigi Novi

[thecopperagekids]

I gotta say that I, as a vendor, in relation to the past 3 shows put on by the ECCC promoters , this show was a big disappointment.

 

 

Before I begin my tirade, consider this qoute from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secaucus,_New_Jersey

 

"New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Secaucus as its 182nd best place to live in its 2010 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey, after ranking the borough 11th in its 2008 rankings.[33]"

 

The area directly surrounding the Meadowlands Expo Center was on par with every joke that you hear about New Jersey, being the armpit of the USA.

 

This show needs to be held at a different venue next year, read on to see my reports on the other shows the ECCC promoter(s) have put on, in relation to their Secaucus show, and some more relevant insight.

 

This is not meant to be a negative review of the show, just the experience and observations I have had.....I spoke with a few of the vendors....some did pretty good while some didn't make out very well....I was in the latter group, to put it lightly.

 

Their first show in Asbury Park was a home run....which every dealer I know who did that show, has said.I missed out on their first show.

 

I did their second Asbury Park con, which was decent but apparently not as good as the first Asbury Park con, which is what most vendors at the show told me.

 

I also set up at their White PLains Comic Fest.....which was great, for my partner and I, and all of the vendors I knew there and spoke with did very well, too.

 

Going up against the NY Comic Con at the Javitts Center (not to be confused with Mike Carbo's Big Apple Con, which is always great, or Carbo's and Frank 's Eternal Con and Winter Con (both of which are outright homeruns)....those 2 guys hustle and promote their show very well (thumbs u ...and they charge fair prices for exhibitor tables/booths, as well.....I can't say enough nice things about Mike and Frank

 

Anyway, nearly all the bigger name dealers set up at the Javitts NYCC show that weekend....table/booth expenses were high and from most accounts, vendors did not do all that well........so the White Plains show was not oversold, which helped dealers like myself.....a LOT.The promoters even had the Bat-Mobile at the White Plains show, which drew in a lot of customers, as well.

 

At the 1 day long White Plains show, I grossed about 200% of what I grossed at the Secaucus 2 day long show.I had a 10x10 booth at both shows, but at White Plains I split a 10x10 booth with a buddy of mine, but we had a corner spot so we had a few feet of leeway to better position a second table that we brought with us...and 2 flex-sell 6 foot display walls.So....ugh, the White Plains show cost me $200 or so, to set up at and I grossed TWICE what I grossed at Secaucus, and my expenses for the 2 day Secaucus show were doubled....PLUS it was a 2 day show so I had to cover an overnight hotel stay.

 

Since that last White Plains show, the two promoters had a falling out and Rob Bruce (who co-promoted the Asbury Park and White Plains show with Cliff....whose last name I don't even know...backed out of the partnership with Cliff (current promoter) and I dunno what their disagreement was over but the change of venue to Secaucus may have had something to do with the falling out.I spoke with Rob Bruce several times about his prior shows over the phone, while Cliff never gave me his cell number.I'm not slamming Cliff, he seems like a nice enough guy but Rob Bruce striked me as a the savvier of the two.

 

Cliff promoted the show Meadowlands/Secaucus show pretty well, he had a decent chunk of bigger name comic artists there but with the surrounding area in Secaucus being pretty rough and bordering ghetto-esque.......the word "meh" sums it up, succinctly.

 

My single biggest sale was a $100.....from a guy in his late 20's, with 2 kids with him.

 

And it would not have happened if I had not been a nice guy, either.....

 

 

His kids pulled out a book from my $10 boxes on Saturday and the father told his kidsthat he can't spend thousand of dollars over the weekend (which made absolute sense to me).......

 

so I offered both of his sons a free comic each......they couldn't decide so I told them that they each could take two free comics.I pulled out a pile of 1970's Archie, Richie Rich, Popeye's which I use as giveaways to kids at shows....so the kids were happy, the father was relieved....and he said he'd come back later to buy some older books off me.

 

On Sunday, he came back to my table and I sold a raw ASM 41 (1st Rhino and it was a solid fine 6.0) and three books out of my $10 boxes, for $100 altogether.

 

Afterwards, he told me that since I was so nice to him, he had to come back and buy some books because he hadn't had the chance to buy much of anything on Saturday, and was a genuinely nice guy who appreciated me hooking up his 2 sons.

 

So yeah, there is my anecdotal take/market report and.....also, another compounding reason why I likely will not be setting up at Wizard Philly, nor the AC Boardwalk Con next month....Wizard Philly is so close to the AC Boardwalk Con so both shows will be watered down, and for those booth prices......if they are signifigantly as watered down as they may prove to be, and I walk away with a gross sales figure of less than $2000........

 

I may as well drive up to the Ben Franklin bridge, throw a few boxes of my stock over the bridge and save myself the time and preparation involved for either of those shows.

 

 

[youmechooz]

I gotta say that I, as a vendor, in relation to the past 3 shows put on by the ECCC promoters , this show was a big disappointment.

 

 

Before I begin my tirade, consider this qoute from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secaucus,_New_Jersey

 

"New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Secaucus as its 182nd best place to live in its 2010 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey, after ranking the borough 11th in its 2008 rankings.[33]"

 

The area directly surrounding the Meadowlands Expo Center was on par with every joke that you hear about New Jersey, being the armpit of the USA.

 

This show needs to be held at a different venue next year, read on to see my reports on the other shows the ECCC promoter(s) have put on, in relation to their Secaucus show, and some more relevant insight.

 

This is not meant to be a negative review of the show, just the experience and observations I have had.....I spoke with a few of the vendors....some did pretty good while some didn't make out very well....I was in the latter group, to put it lightly.

 

Their first show in Asbury Park was a home run....which every dealer I know who did that show, has said.I missed out on their first show.

 

I did their second Asbury Park con, which was decent but apparently not as good as the first Asbury Park con, which is what most vendors at the show told me.

 

I also set up at their White PLains Comic Fest.....which was great, for my partner and I, and all of the vendors I knew there and spoke with did very well, too.

 

Going up against the NY Comic Con at the Javitts Center (not to be confused with Mike Carbo's Big Apple Con, which is always great, or Carbo's and Frank 's Eternal Con and Winter Con (both of which are outright homeruns)....those 2 guys hustle and promote their show very well (thumbs u ...and they charge fair prices for exhibitor tables/booths, as well.....I can't say enough nice things about Mike and Frank

 

Anyway, nearly all the bigger name dealers set up at the Javitts NYCC show that weekend....table/booth expenses were high and from most accounts, vendors did not do all that well........so the White Plains show was not oversold, which helped dealers like myself.....a LOT.The promoters even had the Bat-Mobile at the White Plains show, which drew in a lot of customers, as well.

 

At the 1 day long White Plains show, I grossed about 200% of what I grossed at the Secaucus 2 day long show.I had a 10x10 booth at both shows, but at White Plains I split a 10x10 booth with a buddy of mine, but we had a corner spot so we had a few feet of leeway to better position a second table that we brought with us...and 2 flex-sell 6 foot display walls.So....ugh, the White Plains show cost me $200 or so, to set up at and I grossed TWICE what I grossed at Secaucus, and my expenses for the 2 day Secaucus show were doubled....PLUS it was a 2 day show so I had to cover an overnight hotel stay.

 

Since that last White Plains show, the two promoters had a falling out and Rob Bruce (who co-promoted the Asbury Park and White Plains show with Cliff....whose last name I don't even know...backed out of the partnership with Cliff (current promoter) and I dunno what their disagreement was over but the change of venue to Secaucus may have had something to do with the falling out.I spoke with Rob Bruce several times about his prior shows over the phone, while Cliff never gave me his cell number.I'm not slamming Cliff, he seems like a nice enough guy but Rob Bruce striked me as a the savvier of the two.

 

Cliff promoted the show Meadowlands/Secaucus show pretty well, he had a decent chunk of bigger name comic artists there but with the surrounding area in Secaucus being pretty rough and bordering ghetto-esque.......the word "meh" sums it up, succinctly.

 

My single biggest sale was a $100.....from a guy in his late 20's, with 2 kids with him.

 

And it would not have happened if I had not been a nice guy, either.....

 

 

His kids pulled out a book from my $10 boxes on Saturday and the father told his kidsthat he can't spend thousand of dollars over the weekend (which made absolute sense to me).......

 

so I offered both of his sons a free comic each......they couldn't decide so I told them that they each could take two free comics.I pulled out a pile of 1970's Archie, Richie Rich, Popeye's which I use as giveaways to kids at shows....so the kids were happy, the father was relieved....and he said he'd come back later to buy some older books off me.

 

On Sunday, he came back to my table and I sold a raw ASM 41 (1st Rhino and it was a solid fine 6.0) and three books out of my $10 boxes, for $100 altogether.

 

Afterwards, he told me that since I was so nice to him, he had to come back and buy some books because he hadn't had the chance to buy much of anything on Saturday, and was a genuinely nice guy who appreciated me hooking up his 2 sons.

 

So yeah, there is my anecdotal take/market report and.....also, another compounding reason why I likely will not be setting up at Wizard Philly, nor the AC Boardwalk Con next month....Wizard Philly is so close to the AC Boardwalk Con so both shows will be watered down, and for those booth prices......if they are signifigantly as watered down as they may prove to be, and I walk away with a gross sales figure of less than $2000........

 

I may as well drive up to the Ben Franklin bridge, throw a few boxes of my stock over the bridge and save myself the time and preparation involved for either of those shows.

 

You should do both cons then, philly and ac boardwalk con. A first year show against a show that pulled in over 45,000 attendance. Philly wont be watered down, ac boardwalk con might be, as far as attendance goes. If you are scared of losing money, i would do philly over atlantic city. First year show and all.

[NelsonAI]

I went to the show Saturday only. Price for walk up ticket sales were very steep for a small show at $35 for the day. I realize that they paid guys like Arthur Adams to show up to help increase attendance. But when you charge just as much a NYCC you won't get me to show up for day 2.

 

What also pizzed people off was moving the lines around 4x. No one was in charge.

 

I didn't find anything of interest to buy so perhaps dealers might want to re-think what kind of inventory you bring. Friends of mine easily dropped $1K buying different things.

 

Let's see - Art Adams is showing up? Maybe bring in some books that he drew?

 

Secaucus, NJ is fine for a small show. It's not ghetto. If anyone lost $, you brought the wrong inventory.

 

Cheers!

N.

 

[thecopperagekids]

I gotta say that I, as a vendor, in relation to the past 3 shows put on by the ECCC promoters , this show was a big disappointment.

 

 

Before I begin my tirade, consider this qoute from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secaucus,_New_Jersey

 

"New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Secaucus as its 182nd best place to live in its 2010 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey, after ranking the borough 11th in its 2008 rankings.[33]"

 

The area directly surrounding the Meadowlands Expo Center was on par with every joke that you hear about New Jersey, being the armpit of the USA.

 

This show needs to be held at a different venue next year, read on to see my reports on the other shows the ECCC promoter(s) have put on, in relation to their Secaucus show, and some more relevant insight.

 

This is not meant to be a negative review of the show, just the experience and observations I have had.....I spoke with a few of the vendors....some did pretty good while some didn't make out very well....I was in the latter group, to put it lightly.

 

Their first show in Asbury Park was a home run....which every dealer I know who did that show, has said.I missed out on their first show.

 

I did their second Asbury Park con, which was decent but apparently not as good as the first Asbury Park con, which is what most vendors at the show told me.

 

I also set up at their White PLains Comic Fest.....which was great, for my partner and I, and all of the vendors I knew there and spoke with did very well, too.

 

Going up against the NY Comic Con at the Javitts Center (not to be confused with Mike Carbo's Big Apple Con, which is always great, or Carbo's and Frank 's Eternal Con and Winter Con (both of which are outright homeruns)....those 2 guys hustle and promote their show very well (thumbs u ...and they charge fair prices for exhibitor tables/booths, as well.....I can't say enough nice things about Mike and Frank

 

Anyway, nearly all the bigger name dealers set up at the Javitts NYCC show that weekend....table/booth expenses were high and from most accounts, vendors did not do all that well........so the White Plains show was not oversold, which helped dealers like myself.....a LOT.The promoters even had the Bat-Mobile at the White Plains show, which drew in a lot of customers, as well.

 

At the 1 day long White Plains show, I grossed about 200% of what I grossed at the Secaucus 2 day long show.I had a 10x10 booth at both shows, but at White Plains I split a 10x10 booth with a buddy of mine, but we had a corner spot so we had a few feet of leeway to better position a second table that we brought with us...and 2 flex-sell 6 foot display walls.So....ugh, the White Plains show cost me $200 or so, to set up at and I grossed TWICE what I grossed at Secaucus, and my expenses for the 2 day Secaucus show were doubled....PLUS it was a 2 day show so I had to cover an overnight hotel stay.

 

Since that last White Plains show, the two promoters had a falling out and Rob Bruce (who co-promoted the Asbury Park and White Plains show with Cliff....whose last name I don't even know...backed out of the partnership with Cliff (current promoter) and I dunno what their disagreement was over but the change of venue to Secaucus may have had something to do with the falling out.I spoke with Rob Bruce several times about his prior shows over the phone, while Cliff never gave me his cell number.I'm not slamming Cliff, he seems like a nice enough guy but Rob Bruce striked me as a the savvier of the two.

 

Cliff promoted the show Meadowlands/Secaucus show pretty well, he had a decent chunk of bigger name comic artists there but with the surrounding area in Secaucus being pretty rough and bordering ghetto-esque.......the word "meh" sums it up, succinctly.

 

My single biggest sale was a $100.....from a guy in his late 20's, with 2 kids with him.

 

And it would not have happened if I had not been a nice guy, either.....

 

 

His kids pulled out a book from my $10 boxes on Saturday and the father told his kidsthat he can't spend thousand of dollars over the weekend (which made absolute sense to me).......

 

so I offered both of his sons a free comic each......they couldn't decide so I told them that they each could take two free comics.I pulled out a pile of 1970's Archie, Richie Rich, Popeye's which I use as giveaways to kids at shows....so the kids were happy, the father was relieved....and he said he'd come back later to buy some older books off me.

 

On Sunday, he came back to my table and I sold a raw ASM 41 (1st Rhino and it was a solid fine 6.0) and three books out of my $10 boxes, for $100 altogether.

 

Afterwards, he told me that since I was so nice to him, he had to come back and buy some books because he hadn't had the chance to buy much of anything on Saturday, and was a genuinely nice guy who appreciated me hooking up his 2 sons.

 

So yeah, there is my anecdotal take/market report and.....also, another compounding reason why I likely will not be setting up at Wizard Philly, nor the AC Boardwalk Con next month....Wizard Philly is so close to the AC Boardwalk Con so both shows will be watered down, and for those booth prices......if they are signifigantly as watered down as they may prove to be, and I walk away with a gross sales figure of less than $2000........

 

I may as well drive up to the Ben Franklin bridge, throw a few boxes of my stock over the bridge and save myself the time and preparation involved for either of those shows.

 

You should do both cons then, philly and ac boardwalk con. A first year show against a show that pulled in over 45,000 attendance. Philly wont be watered down, ac boardwalk con might be, as far as attendance goes. If you are scared of losing money, i would do philly over atlantic city. First year show and all.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

I am not afraid of losing money, so to speak....but really, typically speaking, you don;t see a worthwhile profit margin on shows til you cover 5 times table costs.

 

I have other shows booked/paid for where I know I will make good profit margins, in relation to expenses....doing both Philly Wizard & AC Con back to back weekends, eh....not so much.

 

That would such up too much good inventory and I strongly think that a lot of PA/NJ collectors will not be attending BOTH shows as they are timed a week apart, so they will save their money and just go to one of the two.

 

That said, I gotta believe that both Philly and AC will be negatively impacted.

 

Looks like I'll be doing Philly, spoke to a Wizard rep earlier today........and with luck I'll be able to split a corner booth with someone.

 

......IMHO the only big positive the Boardwalk/AC con has going for it is Stan Lee will be there............so that may force collectors to opt to wait for the AC show but with luck more genuine collectors, will go to Philly Wizard b/c it is an established Wizard show and it is scheduled before AC and they know that if they want a CGC SS Stan Lee book, they can get one off of eBay via auction for around $125.They go off cheaply on eBay, I think mostly b/c Lee signs sooooo many books so the market value for a CGC SS Stan Lee book isn't all that high.Of course there are a lot of exceptions to that statement, contingent on what the book that Lee signs actually is.