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HSM strikes again

Started by AlexH,

188 posts in this topic

langur88

langur88

Posted
Posted

 

This is the same trend that happens in any major city in Canada or USA that has multiple con organizers. The larger promoter bans any retailer, swap meet vendor or hobbyist that supports the competing comicon. Aman is exercising his clout & forcing vendors to choose sides.

 

 

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Mephisto

Mephisto

Posted
Posted
I just noticed this on The Blazing Ones convention info for his site

 

That's why I love Bob's candor. Nothing sugar coated...just Bob!

 

I love comments that he'll put next to lower grade issues on his site like.

"Original owner book. He must have read the [embarrassing lack of self control] out of this one.LOL"

and

"You name the defect this books got it!"

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AlexH

AlexH

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I just received a new email in regards to this issue that was sent to several news outlets here in Toronto. From the sounds of things, people have had enough. I am omitting the original message that follows this email, as it has already been stated:

 

Subject: Open Letter to Hobbystar Marketing

 

Dear James and Aman,

 

Below is the text of an e-mail that is circulating the Toronto comic

book community right now. If it's claims are accurate, then you have

sunk to an unreasonable and unacceptable low in your efforts to

undermine the community-minded efforts of Paradise Comics in staging the

Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon. It has also recently come to my

attention that you intend to stage your "one-day fan appreciation"

attempt at sabotaging Paradise on the same weekend as that show in 2007

instead of your usual one week in advance. I know your pockets are deep,

but one cannot maintain a successful endeavor in the long term if that

endeavor is not founded in a win-win spirit of harmony and respect for

others. Word is spreading fast about you guys, and I'm only trying to

help you when I ask you to please knock this [embarrassing lack of self control] off.

 

There is no competition between you guys and the Paradise show. They're

not trying to do the same thing you're doing. So why do you care if they

want to throw a party? The only reason to try to sabotage them is if you

feel that they can put on a better show than you. If you believed that

no one could put on a better show than you, you wouldn't care who else

wanted to put a show on. If you do feel like the Paradise show is

competition, then why not put time and resources into throwing a better

party, being nicer to the guests, and earning a better reputation than

anyone else? You attack the Paradise show and if you win, there isn't

one. I'm working my butt off, hustling to live off of my art so if you

win and there isn't one, it's much more difficult for me to pay my rent

that month. So by attacking them, you're attacking me and everyone else

trying to earn a living as a comic book creator in Toronto. How do you

fail to understand that seeing Paradise flourish means the community

flourishes, and means YOU flourish because there are more fans to

attract to your show?

 

This letter is being fowarded as far and wide as I can reach with it. To

those reading this who are unfamiliar with the scene, Hobbystar

Marketing is the company that puts on the comic book, sci-fi, anime,

gaming, and horror Expo that goes on at the end of every summer at the

Metro Convention Centre. Paradise Comics is a small comic book store on

Yonge Street that puts on a smaller, exclusively-comics-centric

convention in April called Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon. Each year,

Hobbystar Marketing stages a one-day "fan appreciation" event one week

prior to the Paradise show. They call it Toronto Comicon, and it goes on

for no reason other than as an attempt to sabotage the Paradise show by

confusing comic book fans about when and where Toronto Comicon happens.

Hobbystar increasingly enacts measures to punish those who support the

Paradise show, from kicking people out of their Expo for leaving posting

anti-Hobbystar messages to bulletin boards on the internet to now

telling exhibitors that if they take part in Paradise's show, their

exhibitor's fees will be refunded and they will be banned from the Expo.

Hobbystar has a reputation for lying to their big-ticket guests, being

rude to their exhibitors, sabotaging every other remotely similar event

in the city, and treating artists like cattle. It is no wonder that

Paradise, a show with a growing reputation for excellence in all areas,

raises alarm in them.

 

I encourage everyone reading this who is involved in the comic book

community in Toronto, and those planning on attending the late-summer

Expo, to immediately join the growing ranks of retailers, creators, and

personalities boycotting the Fan Expo put on by Hobbystar Marketing at

the end of the summer (the one the teenagers call Nerd Prom). The good

people at Paradise Comics have made this extraordinarily easier by

putting on an alternate late summer comic book convention, the Toronto

Comic Book Fan Super Show, which will take place on Sunday, August 20 at

the Toronto Hilton (Richmond and University) in Ballroom I and the

Varley Conference Room. My good friend Liana K from Ed's Night Party and

I have committed to doing whatever we can to make sure that the August

20 SuperShow is the comics event of the summer. We're not entirely sure

at this point what's going to go down, but you can be sure that the

silliness, theatrics, and impromptu performances of April's Toronto

Comicon (see www.seanward.net/gallery/photoalbum.html for more on that!)

will have been just a small indicator of things to come.

 

My fellow creators, we all agree that Hobbystar [embarrassing lack of self control] on us, but we all

keep doing their show. Everyone, spread the word about this far and

wide. Talk about it in your blog, tell your friends, get your reporter

friend to write about it in the newspaper, this has to get out there.

Hobbystar, you guys play dirtier and dirtier all the time and we are all

just trying to play nice. This has gone too far for too long, and enough

is enough. On behalf of all of the retailers, creators, exhibitors,

artists, and celebrities who are continually put out and inconvenienced

by your unfair tactics, I demand that you immediately cease the

enactment of policies that would have exhibitors promise not to take

part in Paradise's shows, and that you cancel any and all plans for any

event of any kind anywhere in North America within thirty days of the

Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon. Failure to comply with these demands

will reveal yourselves to be some punk-[embarrassing lack of self control] [embarrassing lack of self control].

 

-Sean D. Ward

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Mephisto

Mephisto

Posted
Posted

Well it seems to me the strong arm technique is back firing and many dealers are simply saying FOAD. If you are [embarrassing lack of self control] off dealers like Bob, who I feel is one of the better dealers around, I don't see how enticing it would be for consumers to attend a show with fewer and fewer quality products being offered.

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Sal

Sal

Posted
Posted
Well it seems to me the strong arm technique is back firing and many dealers are simply saying FOAD. If you are [embarrassing lack of self control] off dealers like Bob, who I feel is one of the better dealers around, I don't see how enticing it would be for consumers to attend a show with fewer and fewer quality products being offered.

 

apparently Hobbystar did not learn from the Wizard Atlanta / HeroesCon brouhaha.

 

or they don't care.

 

either way it's inexcusably bad business

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comicwiz

comicwiz

Posted
Posted

When I first heard what Aman was doing, I advised everyone involved to seek legal advice because Aman's/Hobbystars tactics were clearly actionable.

 

Now retailers like Daryl are lamenting about the strongarming tactics Aman is using to force retailers to choose between his show and Paradise.

 

This doesn't surprise me one bit. What surprises me is that retailers like Daryl didn't see this coming.

 

The retailers in Toronto could have jumped ship years ago, and the Expo would have been a distant memory.

 

Why didn't they?

 

Because they wanted to have their cake and eat it too.

 

Meaning, they knew Aman was playing dirty, but it wasn't really affecting them as much as it was Paradise, and the Canadian Expo (which is the crapiest show I ever made the mistake of attending) is still a guaranteed profitmaker for many local retailers like Daryl.

 

As much as they might not want to admit it in public, most retailers in Toronto, if polled even as recently as 2 years ago, and if asked to choose between the two shows would sooner back out of the Paradise show because the Canadian Expo was a bigger money-maker. Even retailers that didn't bankroll as well at the show knew that their customers would never let them hear the end of it if they didn't see them at the Expo.

 

So when desperate times call for desperate measures, what do you think Aman's going to do?

 

Of course Aman is going to use the same tactics he used on Paradise with any of the participating retailers because the only reason why he does things the way he does is because he knows the Paradise show is a threat.

 

He also knows that the last Paradise show kicked ! So of course the next step would be for him to start working the smaller retailers that have supported the Paradise show year after year.

 

The answer I have for retailers like Daryl is simple.

 

Stop doing the Canadian Expo.

 

Daryl, if it matters to you or any retailers in your position, I couldn't be paid enough money to attend Amans/Hobbystars Expo, and if purchasing power is a determinant for dealers, I'd sooner spend my money at the Paradise show because I know the quality of dealers and comics are going to be a thousand times better than anything Aman can put together.

 

In my mind, the best protest local retailers can wage in this situation is to boycott the Canadian Expo.

 

Get the word out, band together at an upcoming show or at a bar, and give this guy a taste of his own medicine.

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AlexH

AlexH

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I just received another email from from Darryl:

 

"July 18th

I am Daryl Collison

First let me say that I am not surprised that no less than 4 threads relating to the issue that I brought up on the weekend have been closed. I am disappointed, but not surprised.

PLEASE DO NOT THNK THAT I AM TRYING TO ALEINATE ANY OF THE SUPPORT THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME AND THE OTHER RETAILERS IN MY POSITION. And rest assured there are other retailers that got the same call that I did. But I should address some issues that were brought up in some of the threads.

If you run your thread, you can make your rules. Fine. But I would hope that you would have taken into account the genesis of the issue this time. This is not Paradise VS Hobbystar - it is Hobbystar threatening to take away my RIGHT to do a show I paid for almost a year ago IF I decide to do a competing show.

If Aman wants to institute new rules for exclusive retailers next year, that is his right. BUT he should not threaten to take away what I have already paid for.

Capitalism. Yes, we all saw Wall Street and we know that Greed is Good. But again this is not about that.

Hatfields vs. McCoy’s and re-visiting the same thing over again. NO, it is not. I was s never a part of that fight herein and now I am drawn into because I wish to do the things I am entitled to do – right here and now.

Again I ask that you continue to get the original letter I sent out in the ether. I respectfully request that your refrain form inflammatory comments about Aman and Hobbystar and please do not try and introduce the letter onto boards that have taken the threads off. They have the right to do what they want with their boards and I respect that.

I am not a rabble rouser. I simply need people to know that what is happening to me and other small retailer’s is not fair. Some people think that we all have short attention spans and this will become an old newspaper soon. PLEASE keep this going.

Respectfully yours

Daryl Collison

3rd Quadrant"

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aardvark88

aardvark88

Posted
Posted

The bottom line is greed.

Ppl used to complain when it cost a $5k appearance fee to get Jim Lee to attend a comicon. Aman has got BOTH Wm Shatner & Leonard Nimoy to attend his comic/anime/sci-fi con. U better believe it costs much more than $10k US funds EACH to get those 2 Star Trek megastars to appear.

 

Aman spends big $$ to make bigger $$$$ for himself as he is entitled to as Canada believes in Capitalism also. Still it is unfair for him to force dealer/retailers to choose sides or be banned for all eternity from his $$$ making cons.

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