Auto Presales at Cons 0

[Robot Man]

On 5/26/2023 at 8:28 PM, KCOComics said:

 

When I was younger... 18 - 22 or so, I went to local cons and the NYC comiccon once. But Cons were very different back then. This was the late 90s - early 2000s and even the big events like NYC were geared toward buying and selling comics. 

Over the next 16 years, I went to the Boston Comiccon once with my brother.  The highlight for me was spending over an hour talking to Allen Bellman.  By then shows had changed a ton. Prices were sky high and they were much less geared toward collectors, so I had no desire to really go back.

When my oldest son turned 6, he got really interested in my collection and that really reinvigorated my collecting. 

Over the last 5 years, him and I have driven far and wide to go to shows.  Mostly smaller shows, but we've gone to a few big ones.  He likes the Cosplay and Funko and for as much as I enjoy the comics, I really just enjoy going on road trips with him and now his younger brother. Exploring New England towns and coffee shops...  

I never really considered standing in a long line to get a signature or meet anyone until last year, after we lost Adams and Perez and a host of other creaters I really liked. And I realized if I'm going to these events and standing in the same room with guys like Jim Sterenko and Klaus Janson, I should take the opportunity to tell them how much I enjoy their work. Because they aren't getting younger.

 

 

 

Experiences with just you and your children are priceless and things that just happen for a short time. Those memories last forever.

My kids have never had any interest in my hobby. But we have shared other things. My older daughter was with me at the 1988 World Series. She was 9. We both got to see Kirk Gibson’s home run that won game one. We still talk about it. I spent a day in NY city with my younger daughter when she was young. Doing all the tourist things. She still remembers the Empire State Building.

I recently spent a day at WonderCon with my two young grandaughters. They have minimal interest in comic books of characters other than what they see on TV. But they are “girly” girls and love to dress up like the Disney princesses. They were blown away with the cosplay and all the visuals at the show. The 3 of us had a blast.

Treasure those moments they pass quickly…

[NP_Gresham]

For OP

So reality has come to cons. If you and your kids want spend endless hours at the ballpark ‘hoping’ for a Mike Trout signed ball, then have at it, but don’t expect anything.

Go to the show with your appointment and get your ball signed there if you want the trip to be fruitful.

And comic celebrities are different how?

[TheCollector2016]

On 5/27/2023 at 2:13 PM, NP_Gresham said:

For OP

So reality has come to cons. If you and your kids want spend endless hours at the ballpark ‘hoping’ for a Mike Trout signed ball, then have at it, but don’t expect anything.

Go to the show with your appointment and get your ball signed there if you want the trip to be fruitful.

And comic celebrities are different how?

I've done all these things actually.

I've waited for players at the ballpark. Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn't. The fun was waiting with other baseball fans and not knowing who might show up.

I've also gone to player signings. However it doesn't work the way you described - a signing might be announced from 10-11am. Line starts at 6-7am. You cross your fingers that the line doesn't get cut off before you get to meet the player - nothing is prebooked in advance. Still all in good fun.

Comic celebrities weren't different - it was the same situation. You show up, bring your cash, wait in line, and hopefully get your autograph. I never had an issue with this or missed anyone I waited in line to meet.

NOW, some cons are pre-selling autos online for the celebrity guests, and because there's a "reserve" of autos, they can sell out months before the con. Someone established a limited number, something that didn't exist before, and now it becomes impossible to meet the guest after that number is reached. Meanwhile, the cons still promote the guest appearances on social media to get people to buy tickets to attend, even though they're well aware that it's impossible for anyone seeing this advertising to meet them because all of the photo ops and autos have completely sold out.

 

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 5/26/2023 at 9:32 AM, TheCollector2016 said:

Maybe this has been going on a few years now and I haven't noticed it, because generally I happily wait in line and pay cash, but this year I've noticed celebrity autograph presales at cons...presales that sell out sometimes months in advance.

Is it me or does this seem a bit corporate and soulless? I always thought part of the fun was waiting in line for your autograph, and hey if you didn't manage to get one, that's part of the game. Also seems to take away a bit of the fun as I'm sure lots of people buy tickets to go to a con to wait in line to meet their favorite celeb, only to learn that there was actually a limited number of autos that were for sale online and they're all gone.

Some current examples....Hayden Christensen autos are "selling out" months in advance for Fan Expo shows while for another show in TX (in July!) I'm seeing guests' auto AND photo ops sold out (have never seen sold out photo ops before).

It seems like everyone's trying to get all the money out of everyone early....having to refresh your browser like you're getting Hamilton tickets but for a comic show guest just seems unnecessary...am I alone here?

Also something else I've noticed this year is some celebrity guests charging 1 auto fee for 8x10 photos, while charging a higher auto fee for any other item. This is ridiculous.



 

A few more Hayden auto sigs just went up for sale at the con, they made announcement on Facebook