HeroesCon Charlotte 2024 Show Report From A 1st Time Attendee (Partial with pictures) 0

[grendel013]

I love looking at comic books. I know dealers are looking to make sales but I wanna just stare and drool for a bit.

[JollyComics]

On 6/17/2024 at 6:03 PM, grendel013 said:

@MrBedrock

Feelin' Rival?

On 6/17/2024 at 6:04 PM, ChiSoxFan said:

It was.  I'm glad I took everyone's advice and submitted it.

[blazingbob]

On 6/17/2024 at 7:03 PM, grendel013 said:

@MrBedrock

I think he copied that look from me

 

[silverseeker]

Awesome report...thanks for sharing!

[Terry JSA]

Great repeat! Glad you enjoyed the show as well.

[jimjum12]

On 6/17/2024 at 11:01 PM, blazingbob said:

I think he copied that look from me

 

The only known picture of Smiling Bob, in his natural habitat. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Cool Ghoul]

On 6/16/2024 at 9:44 PM, ChiSoxFan said:

So, as is no secret, this weekend was HeroesCon in Charlotte, a show that I had never attended, but one that I'd only heard nothing but good things about in the past from people who'd been.  It was a show that I'd thought about attending, but living in the New Orleans metropolitan area made it somewhat of a challenge to get there.  It's a ten and a half hour drive, not including stops for food and gas, and flying would be out of the question, due to my (yes, I know, irrational) fear of flying.  But good shows near me are hard to find (i.e., the show in New Orleans at the start of the year, which I did a report on), and I thought about going this year, except for it being the weekend of Father's Day.  My father's health is not the best, any time with him is precious at this point, and there was no way I was going to not be with him for Father's Day.  Add in my own health woes (which revolve around muscle and nerve issues, coupled with a lower threshold of endurance before I find myself tired/exhausted), and driving to Charlotte would mean multiple days getting there and getting back, and I thought there would be no way I would be able to make it.

And then I saw the announcement that CGC was doing on-site grading for the first time in four years, and suddenly, I was hell-bent on making the trip, somehow making it to Charlotte and back.  I've had some books I'd wanted to get graded, but my paranoia and fear of books getting lost on the way to CGC had left these books sitting in my boxes for years.  Now, with the chance to potentially get them graded in a single day and bring them back with me pushed me to make the call to make a go of it.  I bought my pass ahead of time, filled out the online forms for my submissions (also deciding on bring some books to drop off with CGC to get graded in Florida), made my arrangements, and waited for the time to arrive to make the journey to Charlotte.  What could go wrong -- right? 

The Trip itself:

New Orleans to Charlotte actually turned out to be a pretty easy drive, all things considered.  I left very early on Thursday morning, dodging any early-morning traffic in New Orleans, and I made good time down 1-10 East to Mobile, Alabama, where I turned north onto I-65 towards Montgomery.  I had planned to snack in the car on the way up to save time, and assuming quick stops for refueling, if everything went well, I was looking to get into Charlotte and checked into my hotel sometime around 6-7 PM, giving me ample time to eat and get some rest before what I presumed was going to be a VERY long day on Friday, the only day I planned to be at the show.  Then, I would leave early Saturday and repeat the process, arriving home in the early evening on Saturday.  

Thankfully, the weather, while hot, was nice.  No rain or inclement weather of any type to slow me down, and my car -- which very recently had undergone extensive repairs, was good to go for this trip.  The traffic only really got bad in and around Atlanta, and a little bit around Spartanburg, South Carolina (where it was the height of rush hour), and there wasn't as much construction as I'd experienced on some of my past car travels.  My legs, which in the past on trips to Florida, would leave me in pain that made walking around difficult, was held off, maybe due to my pushing the seat as far back as it could go and allowing my legs to fully stretch out.  All in all, the trip there went quicker than I expected.  I got into Charlotte around my target time, and after a brief mix-up with the hotel I was staying in (there's TWO Hyatt hotels with walking distance of one another, and my GPS was sending me to the wrong one at first), I checked in and got settled.  The hotel was within easy walking distance of the Convention Center, and I had a plan -- take advantage of the complimentary breakfast, get in line as early as possible (looking at 9 AM for the 11 AM opening), and get to the CGC booth ASAP to get my books graded.  While that would be going on, I'd look around the show, see if there were any specific books I might be looking for, shop around, then pick-up my books sometime late in the afternoon (most of my books were High-Value/3 hour grading time), and then head back to the hotel to rest up for the long day Saturday.  Or at least, that was the plan on paper, but I'd have to adapt along the way ...

Friday (Before the snag hit ...)

This was going to be my only day at the show, so I had to make it count.  I made it to the Convention Center around 9 AM, and I was surprised at the number of people already there.  When I checked in my ticket, I was herded into a line that had already formed to get in.  I had originally purchased a 3-day pass for the show, planning to spend part of Saturday there, before deciding to only go the one day, so that looked to be a bit of a waste -- but fate would end up being that it would work out in my favor in the end.  The one advantage one that 3-day pass holders were let in after the VIP holders were all admitted, and before any single-day ticket holders were let in, and I had started to worry about the "same-day" grading actually being something that might not occur.  I had assumed that a lot of people would be taking advantage of the on-site grading, and I was concerned that, depending how many people ended up ahead of me, my books might not get done by the end of Friday, which would potentially cause MAJOR issues for the rest of the weekend.  I had studied the map, made plans to book it as fast as I could manage to CGC's booth, and kept my fingers crossed.  By the time the doors opened, the people waiting to get into the show behind me was pretty substantial, and I saw a LOT of people with short boxes or bags that I assumed were filled with books that might be headed for grading.

Once I was on the floor, there was already a line starting to build up to drop books off.  After a little bit of a wait -- the gentleman in front of me had a LOT of books that were either getting re-graded, re-holdered, or just graded in particular, I was assisted by CGC reps who were nothing but courteous and helpful to me, a first-time ever submitter.  (And I'm not being a shill for CGC -- as I'll detail, the process wasn't without some hiccups, but the people involved treated me well and went to every length to help me, so in that aspect, I couldn't have asked for more).  I handed off my books, both the stack I planned to have back by the end of the day, as well as those going to Florida, then I headed onto the floor to see who was there and with what.

As much as I would have liked to have gone to the Artist/Writers/Etc. tables, my tight schedule wasn't going to allow for that.  But the guest list was MASSIVE, and there was a veritable "Who's Who" of people who were there.  Anyone who does Signature Series, or who just wanted to meet an amazing group of comic creators, must have been in heaven, because there were some huge names in the industry there.  

As far as the dealers went, all of the major dealers I've bought from over the years (and some I know of, even if I hadn't yet made purchases with them) seemed to be there, and I made my way through the huge hall, I was in awe of the sheer VOLUME of books that were there.  To everyone who has said in the past that HeroesCon is THE show to go to if you're a pure comic book collector (and aren't interested in celebrities or media annoucements or whatever), then I have no disagreement at all with that claim.  I saw so many great books, and so much to choose from, I was almost in an "overwhelmed" mode.  To name just a few -- I saw Alex Reece at their booth (after first meeting him with his father years ago back at a New Orleans show, I stopped by Bedrock's booth (I don't think I've bought from him before, but I know of him from his time on the boards), I talked with Dale Roberts for a bit (I've done business with Dale for years, again, dating back to the New Orleans shows), I saw Bob Storms at his booth, but I didn't get a chance to talk with him (he was assisting someone when I was there), and I stopped by Worldwide (whose people were busy with helping people at their booth).  I also saw Superworld (who I've never seen at a show in person), and New Force Comics (who I knew from here on the CGC boards).  I passed Harley's booth, but I didn't see the man himself at the time. Metropolis was there with some massive keys (and pushing their auctions services), and the other major auction houses were there as well (C-Link, MCS, and Heritage all had booths, though for at least one of those, I'm not sure why, as the people manning it didn't seem interested in interacting with the people passing their set-up).  And there were a host of other dealers, with wide selections of books to choose from.  There were a lot of slabs -- more than I'd ever seen at a show I'd attended -- and a low of raw to go with them.

This was a ironic case for me.  At the New Orleans show, I bought two pretty nice CGC'ed books, even though the selection was sparce.  In this case, I picked up a few raws from a dealer and spent hardly anything -- despite all of the fantastic books that were available, I passed on everything not from a lack of wanting, or even a lack of funds, but from the inability on my part to make a decision due to the overwhelming (I'll use that word again) amount of great books I had to choose from.  I knew I'd already spent a good bit with CGC, and I decided on passing on what I'd looked at in favor of revisiting those dealers and those books (if they made it through the show) at a later point in time.  

Overall, the prices were actually pretty solid, or at least for the stuff I was looking at.  There were some books that looked like they were sitting at prices that probably would have been more suited to 2021 than today, but those tended to be with the dealers I didn't mention above.  My regular "go-to" people all had more-than-reasonable prices, and again, my passing on anything they had was in no reflection on them.  I did see some major transactions happening around me while I perused the floor, and there seemed to be decent activity at a lot of the booths I was at, so my hope is that all those at the show did well during it.

I went back to the CGC booth at 1 to meet Matt, since I've known him since the early 1990's in New Orleans.  He and I hadn't seen each other in what is probably 25 years+, and haven't talked (via email) in more than a decade (at least), so it was a great opportunity for me to say hello again to him and for us to do some catching up -- I would have loved to have talked at length more, but I didn't want to monopolize the limited time he had available, and other people were waiting behind me to talk with him.  

After a quick bite to eat, I continued checking out the massive amount of books available for the remainder of the day (it may seem like I'm overstating what was there, and to those who go to the show every year it might be old hat, but for me, considering what I've seen in person over the last 10 years, this was a bonanza of riches available).  I kept checking my phone for the email telling me that my books were ready to be picked up, and checking the status of my submissions online ... but that wasn't coming, and it was getting closer to 7 and the show closing for the day ...

The Snag

So, as has probably been mentioned already, a LOT of books were submitted.  Dealers on Thursday had been able to drop off books (I know this because someone in line late in the day said he had brought 300+ books by himself alone the day before), and there were a lot of books being brought for onsite grading before mine were accepted, and when I'd left the line during the morning, there were a lot of people behind me still.  If I had to guess, no one expected the volume of books to be submitted that were, and the staff that was there, while professional, courteous, and helpful, were probably not enough to meet with that demand, and not for a lack of effort on their part.  When I went back to the pick-up area between 6 and 7, there were a lot of people who were in my boat -- waiting on books that they'd expected that day but that weren't ready yet.  My Walkthrough (3 hour) books were listed online as being in "Quality Control". while my High-Value (end of day) books were still in the "Grading/Encapsulation" stage as the show wrapped up.  A CGC rep talked with me, I explained my situation -- that I either needed the books in the morning before it was time for me to check out of my hotel and head back home, or at the least, I needed to be told that they weren't going to be done and accept that they'd have to be mailed back to me.  The rep told me that I should come back in the morning -- which is where having the 3-Day pass turned out to be exactly what I needed, sparing my having to find a way in to the show for the additional day -- and that CGC planned to have people still working after the show closed, and that people would be back at work early in the AM.  Without any other options, I could only cross my fingers ... and hope that in the morning, my books would be ready, and I could start the trip back home.

The Unexpected Saturday

One more complimentary breakfast, and I was back in line to get in at the Convention Center.  I was pretty much at peace with everything -- I knew I had a hour and a half to work with before I needed to go back to the hotel to check out, and I figured I'd have to play things by ear as things progressed.  I went straight to the pick-up line, where I saw some familiar faces from the night before waiting.  A large hand cart of boxes filled with slabs rolled its way into the area, the CGC rep that had helped me the night before recognized me in line, walked over to me, and said the magic words I was hoping to hear: "Your books are in what was just brought down".  Pretty quickly, my books were in my hand, we were double-checking the list, I was signing off on receipt, and I was headed out the door.  I stopped at Dale's table on the way out, but pressed for time, tired, and ready to head back, I booked it to the hotel, loaded up, and hit the road.  With less traffic than the trip up to deal with (other than Atlanta -- ugh), I made great time coming back, and I was telling my dad hello and an early Happy Father's Day around 10 PM CT.

The Verdict (On the show, and on the grading process -- your mileage may vary)

The show was fantastic.  It's the best show I've ever attended for quality of dealers, books available, and guests, even if I didn't have enough time to sample all of it.  I plan on going back in 2025 and making a longer trip out of it, going all three days and making an overall vacation out of it and not rushing on the going/coming back part (next year's show doesn't conflict with Father's Day, so that will make that easier to do).  My only regret about the show was that I hadn't gone before this year.  Hats off to the people who organized it and to everyone involved -- it reminded me why I love this hobby so much.

As far as the grading process went, despite the delay, it all worked out in the end, and I have 11 books slabbed I didn't before, and I'm not comfortable enough that I suspect I'll end up submitting more down the road.  My guess is that there were some notes taken by CGC as to how to improve the experience the next time they do onsite grading.  As far as the books I actually had graded on-site, of the 11, 8 came back with comparable grades equal to or higher than I had them graded at, 1 was a mystery (I had talked about it in a thread in the Grading section of the boards), and two came back much lower than I'd thought.  When I typed in the cert numbers on the books, none are showing up as in the database (which I'm guessing has to do with the on-site nature delaying it -- if anyone can comment on that, I posted in the "Ask CGC" section, but would love to get clarification here), so I have no idea what I might have missed on them and won't until I can see the grader's notes.  Overall, though, my percentage on those were good, I'm VERY happy with the overall results, and I consider the time and money I invested to be well spent.

Next year, I hope I'll be able to meet some boardies there!  Pictures of dealers to follow!

Love reading this story.  Great detail and glad your trip went well.  I'm personally spoiled, living only about 80 minutes north of Charlotte.  I will say that 15 years ago I was afraid to death of flying -- a white knuckler all the way.

Then my doctor gave me somethign that changed my travel plans forever: prescription sedatives.

Now I fly comfortably all over the world.  Glad you enjoyed your time in Charlotte.  It really does take the full three days to see everthing.

[Cocomonkey]

This is one of the shows on my list of ones I still want to hit up at some point or another, though it may be harder to justify now that I don't have any family members within a few states that I can use as an excuse to head in that direction. Looks like a great con though...one day!