Potential Wizard bankruptcy???

[lizards2]

I will go to WW St. Louis since it is in my backyard...

Well that is one way for them to save on the convention center rental fees.

Good thinking and bravo to Wizard.

Can you post your address? They haven't updated the website yet.

 

701 Convention Plz, Saint Louis, MO 63101

 

 

 

All I have is dog mess in my backyard...., but it sounds like I might have more to offer than these Wizard Cons......., :think:

[WoWitHurts]

I will go to WW St. Louis since it is in my backyard...

Well that is one way for them to save on the convention center rental fees.

Good thinking and bravo to Wizard.

Can you post your address? They haven't updated the website yet.

 

701 Convention Plz, Saint Louis, MO 63101

 

 

I wish I was that thin!

[october]

I will go to WW St. Louis since it is in my backyard...

Well that is one way for them to save on the convention center rental fees.

Good thinking and bravo to Wizard.

Can you post your address? They haven't updated the website yet.

 

701 Convention Plz, Saint Louis, MO 63101

 

 

 

All I have is dog mess in my backyard...., but it sounds like I might have more to offer than these Wizard Cons......., :think:

 

WW Chicago is the best con I have ever been to. It's a tossup whether I would rather go to WW Nashville again or pick up dog mess in your backyard.

[Mike's Rack]

"Amazing" is cutting two shows from 2017.

 

http://www.amazingarizonacomiccon.com/newsite/

[revat]

"Amazing" is cutting two shows from 2017.

 

http://www.amazingarizonacomiccon.com/newsite/

 

I'm not surprised. There's just too many shows now with too much competition from other promotions. If you can't keep quality in all facets when you add quantity for whatever reason, you won't be competitive in those markets where you haven't been able to provide the consistency.

 

Better to step back and produce quality and generate better profits and improve your reputation with less volume.

 

If you're the best chef ever but you can't handle 40 table restaurant and keep the quality, there's no shame in that at all, probably better to have 15-20 tables and give those customers the best meal ever.

 

[VintageComics]

WW Chicago is the best con I have ever been to. It's a tossup whether I would rather go to WW Nashville again or pick up dog mess in your backyard.

 

Chicago is still a shadow of it's former self.

[october]

WW Chicago is the best con I have ever been to. It's a tossup whether I would rather go to WW Nashville again or pick up dog mess in your backyard.

 

Chicago is still a shadow of it's former self.

 

It's not as good as it used to be, that's true.

[the blob]

"Amazing" is cutting two shows from 2017.

 

http://www.amazingarizonacomiccon.com/newsite/

 

I'm not surprised. There's just too many shows now with too much competition from other promotions. If you can't keep quality in all facets when you add quantity for whatever reason, you won't be competitive in those markets where you haven't been able to provide the consistency.

 

Better to step back and produce quality and generate better profits and improve your reputation with less volume.

 

If you're the best chef ever but you can't handle 40 table restaurant and keep the quality, there's no shame in that at all, probably better to have 15-20 tables and give those customers the best meal ever.

 

Surprising Houston is being dropped unless there are a ton of other shows coming through there?

 

Or do Houstonians not show up for conventions like they didn't show up to Oilers games when they were good?

[jimjum12]

WW Chicago is the best con I have ever been to. It's a tossup whether I would rather go to WW Nashville again or pick up dog mess in your backyard.

 

Chicago is still a shadow of it's former self.

 

It's not as good as it used to be, that's true.

 

....this is kind of inevitable.....with the market shifting to a focus on keys and scarce GA Icon books.....that type of material tends to get snapped up and buried in collections.... sooner or later availability will begin to either diminish, or price itself out of the range of the casual collector...who is the backbone of the hobby. GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

.... Wizard's fatal error I think was two fold...... an unsustainable market expansion and a focus on a niche market..... celebrity autographs..... which is not the type of thing that will keep the same consumer coming back year after year to pay 50 bucks to get in and then another 100 to stand in line for an autograph that they already got the previous year

[blazingbob]

WW Chicago is the best con I have ever been to. It's a tossup whether I would rather go to WW Nashville again or pick up dog mess in your backyard.

 

Chicago is still a shadow of it's former self.

 

Well so are you but we don't start a thread about that

[Logan510]

WW Chicago is the best con I have ever been to. It's a tossup whether I would rather go to WW Nashville again or pick up dog mess in your backyard.

 

Chicago is still a shadow of it's former self.

 

It's not as good as it used to be, that's true.

 

In what way? I've been going to Chicago Comicons since the 1980's, so I'm just wondering what your point of reference is.

[mysterio]

WW Chicago is the best con I have ever been to. It's a tossup whether I would rather go to WW Nashville again or pick up dog mess in your backyard.

 

Chicago is still a shadow of it's former self.

 

It's not as good as it used to be, that's true.

 

Very true, but are any of these shows?

[blazingbob]

Not as good from a collector's perspective or buyer from a dealers perspective since that is what I think you are.

 

 

[october]

Not as good from a collector's perspective or buyer from a dealers perspective since that is what I think you are.

 

 

It's worthwhile from a collector's perspective, less so from a dealer's. I think rising booth costs have forced out some of the smaller time dealers and collectors, which is where the best buying opportunities usually are. It's a hard balance to strike. Booth costs high enough to afford a large venue and good advertising, but low enough to attract vendors other than medium and large size national dealers.

 

The amount of money spent at WWC, and the numbers of dealers I spend it with, has shrunk over the years. It's still worth it, just not what it used to be. I find regional conventions to be a better bet for buying at a discount.

[mysterio]

Not as good from a collector's perspective or buyer from a dealers perspective since that is what I think you are.

 

 

It's worthwhile from a collector's perspective, less so from a dealer's. I think rising booth costs have forced out some of the smaller time dealers and collectors, which is where the best buying opportunities usually are. It's a hard balance to strike. Booth costs high enough to afford a large venue and good advertising, but low enough to attract vendors other than medium and large size national dealers.

 

The amount of money spent at WWC, and the numbers of dealers I spend it with, has shrunk over the years. It's still worth it, just not what it used to be. I find regional conventions to be a better bet for buying at a discount.

 

From the perspective of buying for resale, WW Chicago definitely has fewer of those opportunities than it used to. They are still there, but you have to work harder and are likely to hit more singles or doubles than home runs.

 

WW Chicago is the one show on my calendar that I go in expecting to pay "collector" prices to add quality books to my collection. I come in with the largest show budget of the year (usually by a factor of 2-3x what I would normally take to a show) and unlike all the other shows in a given year I will spend 90-125% of my budget at the show (with the magic of credit cards allowing for a little slush fund if my cash runs out).

[VintageComics]

WW Chicago is the best con I have ever been to. It's a tossup whether I would rather go to WW Nashville again or pick up dog mess in your backyard.

 

Chicago is still a shadow of it's former self.

 

Well so are you but we don't start a thread about that

 

I regularly reinvent myself. Like Madonna.

[the blob]

I feel bad for the small local people who have a couple of tables at NYCC (which is nowadays the only show i go to because i get passes from a buddy) who bring a bunch of ho-hum stuff and then try to charge full imaginary retail for it. i can see them finishing up a saturday with $127 in sales.

 

On the other hand, katz comics takes up a big space at NYCC selling 90% dollar books, virtually no bonafide wall books, has 4 or 5 people working the tables, and when i spoke to him he said that business model was working for him. i have a tough time comprehending how many dollar books he needs to sell to pay for that space. he gets me for $50-$100 at every show, but you need like 100 of me for that to work.

[blazingbob]

Oh we all know. No brown MM's for roy

[revat]

I feel bad for the small local people who have a couple of tables at NYCC (which is nowadays the only show i go to because i get passes from a buddy) who bring a bunch of ho-hum stuff and then try to charge full imaginary retail for it. i can see them finishing up a saturday with $127 in sales.

 

On the other hand, katz comics takes up a big space at NYCC selling 90% dollar books, virtually no bonafide wall books, has 4 or 5 people working the tables, and when i spoke to him he said that business model was working for him. i have a tough time comprehending how many dollar books he needs to sell to pay for that space. he gets me for $50-$100 at every show, but you need like 100 of me for that to work.

 

I'm not accusing this specific seller of doing this (or any other seller), BUT this seems like a pretty good way to launder money. Nobody can possibly track how much cash is coming in at a con when you have tons of customers, all cash sales, many workers, etc. Especially if you're the owner and the one doing the books, would the IRS or any government agency really be able to question it? Would they really question an extra $100-$300K of cash deposits after a comic book show in NYC? Especially if they had similarly big (though maybe not quite so big) deposits after other comic shows?

[blazingbob]

Hold on, let me ring up some of my IRS posters on the boards for input on this one.