Influencers Strike Again! Peach Momoko Overwhelmed at NYCC 5 5

[Ryan.]

Here's Rich Johnston's minimal summary:

Peach Momoko - Too Popular For New York Comic Con? (bleedingcool.com)

Additionally, from what I'm hearing:

-The crowd was comprised heavily of WhatNot sellers and other social media-centric vendors

-Some fans were wilin' out both in line and directly to Peach herself, creating security concerns

-Peach eventually had enough and cut the signing short

-She has no plans to return to a convention here possibly ever again*

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Update: this appears to not be the case, as she mentioned on her Facebook page that she will still attend conventions in North America again albeit with some new rules and restrictions in place

Edited October 11, 2022 by Ryan.

[Jaxxon]

Greedy people.

[WolverineX]

On 10/11/2022 at 3:40 PM, Ryan. said:

Here's Rich Johnston's minimal summary:

Peach Momoko - Too Popular For New York Comic Con? (bleedingcool.com)

Additionally, from what I'm hearing:

-The crowd was comprised heavily of WhatNot sellers and other social media-centric vendors

-Some fans were wilin' out both in line and directly to Peach herself, creating security concerns

-Peach eventually had enough and cut the signing short

-She has no plans to return to a convention here possibly ever again

Good for her.  

[darkstar]

Crazy how this whole WhatNot company seemed to come out of nowhere and remains complete trash. 

[MAR1979]

No Surprise given the types who comprised the line. Sadly their ilk is far too representative of the hobby as a whole.

It is amazing how many Reed-POP permits in ahead of the 10am show opening. Its high time they do something to actually govern Exhibitors, Exhibitor "helpers", alleged Press, Sellers, Artists "helpers",  the way they do attendees. 

Its reached the point where anyone assisting in carrying a box before 10am for the factions I mentioned above is permitted early entry.  

 

One day I'll write up the 2022 sleazy greediness I saw at display (front of the counter not CGC folks) just in the 7-10 minutes I spent on the submission line at CGC.

 

P.S. I've never heard of  "Peach Momoko" but i'm out of touch with pretty much everything post copper age. Sounds like a great name for a cocktail.

Edited October 11, 2022 by MAR1979

[revat]

On 10/11/2022 at 12:56 PM, MAR1979 said:

No Surprise given the types who comprised the line. Sadly their ilk is far too representative of the hobby as a whole.

It is amazing how many Reed-POP permits in ahead of the 10am show opening. Its high time they actually do something to actually govern Exhibitors, Exhibitor "helpers", Sellers, Artists "helpers",  the way they do attendees. 

Its reached the point where anyone carrying a box before 10am for the factions I mentioned above is permitted early entry.  

 

One day I'll write up the 2022 sleazy greediness I saw at display (front of the counter not CGC folks) just in the 7-10 minutes I spent on the submission line at CGC.

 

P.S. I've never heard of  "Peach Momoko" but i'm out of touch with pretty much everything post copper age. Sounds like a great name for a cocktail.

I think Peyton Manning used to yell "Peach Momoko" before the snap.

[speedcake]

awful. I hope she does come back, and I hope she charges for autos to discourage this crud. Stinks, but the reality is what it is until conventions crack down on it if they can

[NoMan]

I think I know what an “Influencer” is. I fail to understand what an influencer does to ruin the experience of the young woman signing for free. If someone would link to an influencer doing this I would appreciate it

[ThatNerdyCanuck]

There's a real simple way to solve this nonsense. 

Personalozed autographs ONLY. 

"To ________" 

The flippers, resellers, and influencers will right off 

[revat]

On 10/11/2022 at 2:28 PM, NoMan said:

I think I know what an “Influencer” is. I fail to understand what an influencer does to ruin the experience of the young woman signing for free. If someone would link to an influencer doing this I would appreciate it

I think theoretically, most normal signings go like this:

I bring my book or picture, lay it in front of the guest and say, "I love your work", and the guest signs and the line moves.  Possibly, the customer might take a picture of the guest signing.  Every so often, someone (if the line is fairly short or they paid extra or its a child) will ask to take a picture with the guest, and the guest may or may not comply with that guest.

With influencers, they might be trying to video the entire thing, talking loudly or making a video in front of the signer, or wearing a stupid costume, or doing a stupid stunt that may involve props or loud noises, or require extra room, and might take active participation from the guest.  Not to mention getting multiple signatures.  So they waste a lot of time and it feels like the influencer monetizing the situation more than the creator signing something for true fans.

[NoMan]

On 10/11/2022 at 5:54 PM, revat said:

I think theoretically, most normal signings go like this:

I bring my book or picture, lay it in front of the guest and say, "I love your work", and the guest signs and the line moves.  Possibly, the customer might take a picture of the guest signing.  Every so often, someone (if the line is fairly short or they paid extra or its a child) will ask to take a picture with the guest, and the guest may or may not comply with that guest.

With influencers, they might be trying to video the entire thing, talking loudly or making a video in front of the signer, or wearing a stupid costume, or doing a stupid stunt that may involve props or loud noises, or require extra room, and might take active participation from the guest.  Not to mention getting multiple signatures.  So they waste a lot of time and it feels like the influencer monetizing the situation more than the creator signing something for true fans.

Thank you. I’d still like a link to this idiotic behavior to see it in action if anyone has one. 
 

my guess is this will all come crashing to the ground one day and all that will be left is us crazy about the story and art. I don’t think this hobby (world) is in a healthy spot. 

[MarkMoon]

Peach's line was the longest in Artist Alley every day of New York Comic Con, I waited over three hours on line to get an amazing remarque sketch from her which I was more than happy to do, because I just love her artwork.  She is so sweet and humble that I don't think she was prepared for just how popular she was and how long her line would be.

The article correctly notes that on Sunday there were exhibitors and "influencers" who lined up before Artist Alley opened to the public and began to push and shove each other to claim the first spots on the line.  This was obviously and understandably stressful for Peach and her husband.  

I also think that there was a lack of fan etiquette throughout the weekend as well.  When Peach wasn't signing and just painting at her booth there were crowds of people shoving cameras in her face while she was trying to work.  I don't know if this specifically bothered her, but it seemed very aggressive.  Also during the signings, there was a lot of people video recording their interactions with her for their Instagram reels.  Again, not sure if this specifically bothered her, but she is not a native English speaker and her husband translates for her a lot of the time so I can't help but feel like it was in poor taste to record a conversation with someone who does not necessary speak the language as well without first asking if it was okay.

I cannot emphasize enough how kind and patient both Peach and her husband were throughout the weekend with fans.  She tried to have real interactions with her fans and was more than willing to pose for pictures with anyone who asked even though it dramatically slowed down the line at her booth.  She wasn't charging for her signature and was offering the remarques at a price so low, she was basically doing them for free.    

[Sigur Ros]

On 10/11/2022 at 3:45 PM, Jaxxon said:

Greedy people.

Whatnot mentality.

[Dave2739]

On 10/11/2022 at 3:56 PM, MAR1979 said:

No Surprise given the types who comprised the line. Sadly their ilk is far too representative of the hobby as a whole.

It is amazing how many Reed-POP permits in ahead of the 10am show opening. Its high time they do something to actually govern Exhibitors, Exhibitor "helpers", alleged Press, Sellers, Artists "helpers",  the way they do attendees. 

Its reached the point where anyone assisting in carrying a box before 10am for the factions I mentioned above is permitted early entry.  

 

One day I'll write up the 2022 sleazy greediness I saw at display (front of the counter not CGC folks) just in the 7-10 minutes I spent on the submission line at CGC.

 

P.S. I've never heard of  "Peach Momoko" but i'm out of touch with pretty much everything post copper age. Sounds like a great name for a cocktail.

Nothing beats a good, stiff Peach Momoko after a stressful day at work.

[atomised]

I've heard about WhatNot but I'm not on the platform.  Out of curiosity, why is it garbage as people have pointed out here?

[warden5523]

On 10/11/2022 at 7:18 PM, atomised said:

I've heard about WhatNot but I'm not on the platform.  Out of curiosity, why is it garbage as people have pointed out here?

I thought the platform itself, or the concept anyway, was just fine. And then it immediately got overrun by the most annoying "this is fire" people on the planet. And now it seems like all of comic hyping has found a central hub there.

[Dr. Balls]

On 10/11/2022 at 5:47 PM, warden5523 said:

I thought the platform itself, or the concept anyway, was just fine. And then it immediately got overrun by the most annoying "this is fire" people on the planet. And now it seems like all of comic hyping has found a central hub there.

It's the ICP version of comic collecting. That was my impression after watching auctions for about an hour on there. But, it fills some sort of need for buying out there. The comic book hype machine is running at full bore - this old man of 49 years can't - and probably doesn't want to - keep up with it. 

[mysterymachine]

On 10/11/2022 at 4:18 PM, atomised said:

I've heard about WhatNot but I'm not on the platform.  Out of curiosity, why is it garbage as people have pointed out here?

I think of it as the LuLaRoe of the comic collector community. A gang of sellers competing with each other in a race that never ends.

[oldmilwaukee6er]

There's a video or two I've seen depicting the line at opening and I follow Peach on Fb... she really did internalize a lot of the pain felt by her fans. She owned it to a fault IMO. 

[Greengiant]

Saw it first hand on Friday and it was the case the entire show. Peach is a professional and handled it well. This incident are the same issues with the industry and sketches/remarks. People want to take advantage of a popular artist and get extra money in their pocket.

Edited October 12, 2022 by Greengiant