Wizard World Pittsburgh- September 11-13, 2015

[spideysenses78]

I've been going to this con for the past 15 years or so. This year will be my last. Wizard World taking control of it was the final nail in the coffin for me. The number of dealers keep decreasing each year and the guest haven't been that great except for Stan appearing for a couple of years. The new convention center was supposed to breathe new life into the con but that didn't happen. I don't think moving it downtown and charging 3x the rate that it has been will help any.

[Doktor]

IMO, MurderCon was going down hill since leaving the ExpoMart (not like they had a choice) and moving a traditionally spring convention to the fall. Their guest list has been dwindling for years. And the exclusives that they did offer have long since vanished. It was only a 1/10th of a step above Steel City Con with a CGC submission table as recently as last year.

 

Moving to an actual convention center (sorry, Monroeville is bad, has awful parking, worse lighting [at least for comics], atrocious choke-points for moving around, a bad layout for vendor-centric conventions and all of like 2 rooms for panels) might help. But the 3X price hike offsets a lot of the improvements of the larger space with easier movement.

 

Either way, Renee George needed to go. I don't necessarily think it needed to become a Wizard World show, but it needed a spark of something to give it some life. And it definitely did need to move downtown.

[spideysenses78]

The Pittsburgh Con's exclusives have been a joke for the past several years. The last real exclusive that they had was a b/w Ultimate Spider-Man #1 when Stan Lee was there. Since then, they've been giving them away each year in their gift bags. Now they just have t-shirts.

 

I agree that the parking there is pretty bad. I'm glad that I stayed at the hotel next door last year so I didn't have to drive back and forth. I don't know if Wizard World will be a good thing for it but it does need something. For too many years its claim to fame was the zombie movie that was filmed at the mall across the street from it.

 

Each year it feels like its getting smaller and smaller with less vendors. I don't know if the prices were going up or vendors didn't feel that the trip was worth it but it needs something to survive. If Wizard World can't breathe new life into it, then this will probably be the end.

[MultiSig Mike]

Are any facilitators here attending this Con?

 

WW Pittsburgh

 

As stated earlier in the thread, it's in the downtown area of the city, minutes from the Strip district and also the North Shore area where the Pirates play baseball.

One day admission goes for $35-$45, which is higher than the old $10-15 we paid a year or 2 ago.

 

Mostly interested in meeting Rob Liefeld as well as some cast members from The Walking Dead, although I don't think there's a exclusive comic for Pittsburgh like they had for other cities...I could be wrong.

 

[Loukayza]

It looks like McDevitt is trying to do a bigger con in may. 3 Rivers Comic Con. It had promise until he said it will be in the Century 3 mall. I know he's getting a hec of a rate there, but still seems bush league when you have comic cons in malls...

 

 

[mysterio]

David Duchovny added.

[youmechooz]

Ill be there, first time.

[wizstephen]

Hey all,

 

This is Stephen from Wizard World. We need approximately 200 X-Files assorted comics (any issue) in high gradeable conditions (9.6 or better) for our David Duchovny appearance next week.

 

They only need to feature David on the cover.

 

We can pay cash (around $1 or so) per issue or we can trade for signed copies (CGC will have witnesses there at the signing).

 

We would do those around 2:1 ratio..

 

So, if you sent us 100 books, we would send you 3 or 4 signed copies back or leave with CGC. If you need anything signed (more than 10 pieces), just email me - stephen@wizardworld.com - and we can discuss price.

 

This is a very rare appearance and not too sure you'll get another opportunity, especially with the new X-Files series airing.

 

Thanks, -Stephen

[mysterio]

Hey all,

 

This is Stephen from Wizard World. We need approximately 200 X-Files assorted comics (any issue) in high gradeable conditions (9.6 or better) for our David Duchovny appearance next week.

 

They only need to feature David on the cover.

 

We can pay cash (around $1 or so) per issue or we can trade for signed copies (CGC will have witnesses there at the signing).

 

We would do those around 2:1 ratio..

 

So, if you sent us 100 books, we would send you 3 or 4 signed copies back or leave with CGC. If you need anything signed (more than 10 pieces), just email me - stephen@wizardworld.com - and we can discuss price.

 

This is a very rare appearance and not too sure you'll get another opportunity, especially with the new X-Files series airing.

 

Thanks, -Stephen

 

Can you explain the math in the bolded section? I've got 2:1 at 100:50, not 100:3-4.

[wizstephen]

Sorry, what I meant was that we are selling the premium autographs at $150. For every $150 worth of books, we'd give you two autographs not one. I got 75% of what I need so far, let me know if you can fill the rest.

 

Thanks! -Stephen

[wizstephen]

Ok, thanks everyone, we got filled on what we needed. If you feel that you have something very important, then shoot me an email. -Stephen

[Dale Roberts]

I will be in attendance this year, with a full set up of Silver and Golden Age, as well as some moderns and some cheap stuff.

 

My booth # is 725. Please stop by and take a look.

[amuro1-migration]

I just checked the floor plan for this show. I have last year's program, and most of last year's actual comic dealers are not returning this year. There are also many vacant booths. Is it because of increased table rates? I'm kinda surprised at the number of non-returnees.

[Dale Roberts]

I just checked the floor plan for this show. I have last year's program, and most of last year's actual comic dealers are not returning this year. There are also many vacant booths. Is it because of increased table rates? I'm kinda surprised at the number of non-returnees.

 

I think Wizard has just been a little lax about updating the floor plan. I will be there. I think Harley Yee is coming. Northcoast Nostalgia (Dave Kapelka) will be there. New Dimension is setting up. Comics World. And there are always some smaller dealers there as well.

[Doktor]

I went today & the attendance looked OK. Not great by any means, but ok. However, I really didn't find a single thing I was looking for at a reasonable price. Second straight show I've been to that I didn't buy a single book. Only thing that made it worth it was dropping off books for CGC in person to save on postage & worry about USPS borking my books in the mail. And the girlfriend snagged a few prints & toys cause that's what she was there for (art & toys) but I barely even opened my wallet this time around.

 

Seemed to be only a handful of dealers there this time around tho. Roomie didn't get her registration in on time so she wasn't vending. So I pretty much just roamed & window shopped. Oh well. Maybe next time.

[amuro1-migration]

Went Friday and yesterday, and just came back today.

 

Pluses: the guests yesterday were great and it was easy to get a seat in the ballroom to see them. I saw Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, William Shatner, David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi. The venue was awesome too. I had forgotten what an amazing piece of architecture the David Lawrence Convention Center is. The coolest thing for me was being able to go up one floor and look down on the whole exhibitor floor.

 

Minuses: Only one, but it was a biggie. The vast majority of dealers from last year's show did not return. There were maybe 6 dedicated comic dealers. Their place was taken by some toy dealers and way too many "non-genre" exhibitors like State Farm and the Air Force.

 

It looks like Wizard is trying to turn comic cons nationwide into pop culture experiences instead of actual comic book conventions.

 

I may return next year, but it will depend entirely on the guests. It's not worth going if you're primarily hunting comics.

[Dale Roberts]

Went Friday and yesterday, and just came back today.

 

Pluses: the guests yesterday were great and it was easy to get a seat in the ballroom to see them. I saw Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, William Shatner, David Duchovny and Mitch Pileggi. The venue was awesome too. I had forgotten what an amazing piece of architecture the David Lawrence Convention Center is. The coolest thing for me was being able to go up one floor and look down on the whole exhibitor floor.

 

Minuses: Only one, but it was a biggie. The vast majority of dealers from last year's show did not return. There were maybe 6 dedicated comic dealers. Their place was taken by some toy dealers and way too many "non-genre" exhibitors like State Farm and the Air Force.

 

It looks like Wizard is trying to turn comic cons nationwide into pop culture experiences instead of actual comic book conventions.

 

I may return next year, but it will depend entirely on the guests. It's not worth going if you're primarily hunting comics.

 

From what I was told, Wizard is concerned about this, and trying to figure out a solution to get more comic customers into their shows, and more dealers as well.

[Doktor]

Maybe not doubling table rates from the previous iterations of whichever convention they take over. Or doubling admission in 1 year. Or generally trying to use a 1-size-fits-all-shows pricing model for their conventions regardless of the city.

 

And in the meantime, maybe they should consider cutting table rates, cutting back on the C-list guests, offering some incentive to primarily-comic retailers like a rebate or something

 

I've got a whole rant I could go on about knowing their markets, but that's a whole different topic (that's semi-related)

[RCheli]

If they have 30 booths available with a week to go, Wizard won't drop their prices. It's $1000 or $1100 or whatever for the weekend no matter what. They'd rather cut off their nose to spite their face than bring in new dealers.

 

And that's just a ridiculous amount of money for a dealer to have to spend on a 3-day show. If I were to do that show, it's $1100 for the booth plus hotel plus food plus paying my help plus renting the van plus gas plus what I had to pay for my stock.

 

That's a mess ton of money you have to make before you earn one cent of profit.

 

And because a large percentage of people going to Wizard shows don't care one iota about buying comics, the potential market is not as big as you think.

[mysterio]

$1100 for a three day show is marginally cheaper per day than the $800 they're charging for the two day (Fri-Sat, not even Sat-Sun) Austin show. That's actually more expensive per day than Chicago was this year, where you'll see many more comic booths and buyers.