C2E2 vs Baltimore Comic Con 1 1

[serling1978]

Trying to plan ahead to either go to the Baltimore Comic Con later this year or C2E2 next year.  I probably won't be able to save up enough to do both so just wanted to get some opinions on which is better.  To help clarify on what I would consider "better"..... I'm not interested in cosplay, meetings artists, getting sigs, or anything I would consider "extra".  Personally the only thing I care about is buying back issues, primarily Silver and Bronze Age Marvel.  I normally only go to shows within the state of Ohio and I've noticed lately the prices on books are becoming pretty ridiculous with very little deals to be had and also the dealer tables are limited to about 10-15 total dealers anymore.  So from a pure collecting standpoint, can anyone say if they have a preference of C2E2 or Baltimore?  I'm sure both are great shows, but I do wonder with C2E2 being in a city with a higher cost of living like Chicago if that also means higher price of collecting    To be clear I'm not expecting to get AF15 for $500 or anything, I just want fair prices (not ebay hype prices) and a large selection.

I appreciate any info that anyone can provide.  Thanks!

[1Cool]

I'm from Ohio also and I feel your pain about the lack of new dealers at Con's in our area.  The same 10 guys buy up pretty much the entire room at every Con which doesn't give much room for new smaller dealers.

But to your point - from a book buying perspective I'd say Heroes down in Charlotte is a great one followed by Baltimore and I wouldn't forget about Motor City Con over in Detroit.  C2E2 is a huge Con but more so from a cosplay and artist standpoint then comic book selection.  I'd put Chicago Wizard over C2E2 in terms of books in the room.  Baltimore is a really fun Con with just a ton of big and small vendors so if you could pick one and don't want to drive down to Charlotte I'd pick that one.

[Raze]

I love C2E2 and have never been to  Baltimore.  The vendors in Chicago are pretty reasonable and there’s a lot of silver and bronze books to be had at fair prices.

 Unfortunately this year for me the Chicago show was a bit of a letdown because I was hoping to get one of three books and no one had two of them and the other book everyone had but had almost double eBay prices .

 I don’t know if the price of living in Chicago would correlate with a vendor changing all of the price tags in their books I feel like most of them have the books priced  before going to a show and it seems like a few of them do multiple shows throughout the country.

 I have heard that the East Coast shows have some smaller vendors which would be cool but I can’t speak to going to Baltimore. I would love to it would be cool but I am in St. Louis and it’s easier to go to Chicago.

[serling1978]

29 minutes ago, 1Cool said:

I'm from Ohio also and I feel your pain about the lack of new dealers at Con's in our area.  The same 10 guys buy up pretty much the entire room at every Con which doesn't give much room for new smaller dealers.

But to your point - from a book buying perspective I'd say Heroes down in Charlotte is a great one followed by Baltimore and I wouldn't forget about Motor City Con over in Detroit.  C2E2 is a huge Con but more so from a cosplay and artist standpoint then comic book selection.  I'd put Chicago Wizard over C2E2 in terms of books in the room.  Baltimore is a really fun Con with just a ton of big and small vendors so if you could pick one and don't want to drive down to Charlotte I'd pick that one.

Thanks for the info.  I hadn't considered Chrarlotte.  I agree about the same 10 guys at all the shows around here.  Whether it be in Akron or Cincinnati I feel like I'm always seeing the same dealers over and over.

[DjMartini]

I have not had the pleasure of going to C2E2 (hopefully next year) but I have been to Baltimore many times. I can come away from that con with a good deal every year. There are definitely a lot of vendors. I do recommend it as a con to visit at least once, as it has more of the old school con feel with more vendors and lots of writers and artists and less celebrities. Obviously it's not as crowded as NYCC but a lot of East Coast vendors make their way to this con. 

As I said, I can't speak for C2E2 though, as I have never been. Hopefully this helps and you can make it out to Baltimore!

[mysterio]

I’d second considering WW Chicago if you want to shop for books. It’s always an amazing show. 

[serling1978]

I didn't realize WW was a good show in Chicago.  I've gone to WW in Columbus twice and the first time (about 7 years ago) it was pretty decent, but the 2nd time (3 years later) I was really disappointed.  They had basically squeezed out the dealer tables to make room for toys, shirts, clothes, and all kinds of other merchandise.  It definitely wasn't my idea of a comic con. It was more like a general pop culture event that had some comics available.

[Robot Man]

32 minutes ago, serling1978 said:

I didn't realize WW was a good show in Chicago.  I've gone to WW in Columbus twice and the first time (about 7 years ago) it was pretty decent, but the 2nd time (3 years later) I was really disappointed.  They had basically squeezed out the dealer tables to make room for toys, shirts, clothes, and all kinds of other merchandise.  It definitely wasn't my idea of a comic con. It was more like a general pop culture event that had some comics available.

SDCC...

[mysterio]

51 minutes ago, serling1978 said:

I didn't realize WW was a good show in Chicago.  I've gone to WW in Columbus twice and the first time (about 7 years ago) it was pretty decent, but the 2nd time (3 years later) I was really disappointed.  They had basically squeezed out the dealer tables to make room for toys, shirts, clothes, and all kinds of other merchandise.  It definitely wasn't my idea of a comic con. It was more like a general pop culture event that had some comics available.

WW Chicago has plenty of that non-comic stuff too, but inbetween are a bunch of excellent national and regional dealers. I never have trouble spending my entire budget any time I go, and I always come home with great books. It's my favorite way to close out the summer before the semester begins.

[___]

For comic books, heroes con by far is the best Comic Book convention and best comic book related guest selection each year. I hadn't considered it for years but now it is an annual stop and I can only do so many.

[shortboxed]

I went to Baltimore for the first time last year, and it was so good for comics that I'm flying cross country from San Francisco to attend again this year, which isn't cheap, plus the cost of hotel. 

[Agent 007]

Baltimore Con is ok.  Awesome Con in DC is better and only an hour away from Baltimore.  C2E2 is good.  Awesome Con has a lot of stuff for kids and Science stuff, NASA is there.  I actually prefer SDCC, WonderCon and Awesome Con.

[Logan510]

I live in Chicago and I would choose Baltimore every day of the week and twice on Sundays