Anyone go to local shows in the Chicago area or in Illinois?

[october]

I was thinking about going to this one in Peoria....anyone been to one of the shows put on by this group? Are they worthwhile?

 

http://www.midwestcomix.com/

[blazingbob]

I've never done these shows, however I will be doing the Motor City Chicago show at the Ramada O'Hare

[october]

I've never done these shows, however I will be doing the Motor City Chicago show at the Ramada O'Hare

 

In March? I will be there and hopefully I will remember to stop by your table....

[blazingbob]

Look forward to seeing you

[chrisco37]

 

In March? I will be there and hopefully I will remember to stop by your table....

 

You won't have to remember. Bob's booth is pretty hard to miss. Killer stuff.

[october]

I've never done these shows, however I will be doing the Motor City Chicago show at the Ramada O'Hare

 

Have you done Comicfest before? I have been to the last 2, maybe I bought some things from you....

[Sharkey]

I've been to the Arlington Heights show. In fact, I used to do a lot of shows that this guy and some of his former cohorts promoted in Peoria, Bloomington, and Springfield. I haven't been to any of those shows in a number of years though so I can't speak to their quality. When I was doing them, I was typically the only person who had a decent selection of Silver Age, so I tended to do well as a dealer. But the attendance was not huge. They are small shows, in one room with a handful of dealers.

 

The Arlington Heights show last month had 6 to 8 dealers. John Hauser was there. I don't know if he does these regularly or not or if he did well or poorly. I stopped in because a guy I know wanted to buy some books from my web site and I delivered them to him in person. I didn't buy anything from anyone at the show. Here's my recollection of how it broke out:

 

Moderns: ok selection, mostly "hot" books

Bronze: spotty, mostly low or mid-grade

Silver: pretty much all mid to low grade. John and another guy had some DC which is a nice departure from these small shows that normally are mostly Marvel

Gold: very little

Overall, mostly Superhero, though John Hauser and one other guy did have some other genre stuff

 

A few of the dealers are local shop-owners so if they don't have it on-site you can sometimes go to their Chicago suburb store to see larger selections.

 

Very little CGC graded stuff at the last show.

 

There was no entry fee, so it was worth it to stop by because I'm local. If you have to drive a ways, it's probably not worth the time to hit the Arlington Heights show. At the next show I may try to share a table with the friend who bought stuff from me just to see if any Silver Age collectors hit the show.

 

Most dealer prices seemed high. But the show was pretty slow while I was there, so my take was that if you wanted to make an offer, it'd probably get considered.

 

There was the standard "50% off all prices" guy and one dealer who had $3, $2, $1, and 50-cent boxes.

 

Chicago ComicFest (organized and promoted by Motor City) this spring is well-worth driving to. Bob does that show, and sometimes Ted VanLiew, and others. There's usually a nice selection of stuff.

[october]

Thanks for the input. I live in the Chicago suburbs , so Arlington Heights isn't all that far. I do go to Comicfest both times a year, and I manage to find decent stuff, but the $10 entrance fee and $8 parking is pretty steep for a medium sized show.