FX review

[KingOfRulers]

Well, I can at least give my review on the first two days.

 

Even though sales have been slow, it has been a lot of fun. I have chatted with just about every comic related friend I have that is in the region. They all showed up, so that was nice. Although it was a major pain to start out the show.

 

Thursday: This was the "setup" day for all dealers, and being this was the first convention I would attend under the "Astonishing Comics" name, there was a lot to do...a lot of which was not yet prepared. By Thursday I had not built the racks completely that hold the wall books. So I had to build those quickly during setup on Thursday. I was able to get my boxes in the convention center only because some friends helped me (thanks mcmiles). Thursday just became an extremely exausting day for everyone. A mess basically.

 

Friday: The first day of the show was on Friday. We started out strong with some sales in the morning, but then it waned as the day went on. A lot of the special guests were also not present. The attendance was pretty bad--I heard it was about 300 people. So this was the day where you go from booth to booth checking out what is for sale in the hall. I think the best book in the hall was an early Human Torch which went from JiveTurkey's hands to another friend. There is a picture below of the book.

 

Saturday: The big day, supposedly. It got pretty crowded. It was fun, but frustrating at times. For some reason people like to set their kids loose on our high grade books. Even the adults don't know how to treat the books. Everytime they pull one from the long box, they seem to like to bend the book backwards as to leave the book a personal touch of love on the spine. It was so frustrating watching some people not respect the books. I of course went on a quest to find Hayden Panaterrie (sp?), and to my complete BEWILDERMENT, I have to BUY a ticket for $30 to meet her. Are they crazy?!? What's even crazier is that she had a huge line all day long. People were ready and willing to give up 30 hard earned dollars to get 15 seconds of her time. This whole thing stunned me. Having to pay to meet somebody. A business transaction The same thing goes for Kristen Bell, who is in Veronica Mars. So I did the best I could and took my own free pictures from a distance. Then starting at 9pm FX had a party going on at a hotel not too far away with Cori Yarken perfoming. She's just a B-list singer, but she was good, nice looking and polite. The party was fun. A lot of people showed which I didn't expect.

 

Here are some pictures:

 

Most of our rack books...

 

 

Best book in the hall...

 

 

The best picture I could get of Hayden...

 

 

The FX party crowd...

 

 

Cori Larkin performing...

 

 

Me and Cori Yarkin...

[Sonofpromoterman]

Cool report ! Sorry to hear attendance was so low for a 1500 table event but at least you got your picture with that fine mamasita "cori yarkin".

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Dude, sorry to hear the show sucked for sales. I think the promoter is 100% to blame because of the minimal information on the website regarding the show location. All it says on the home page is that its in the Orange County convention center, no mention at all about the North Concourse or the Hall #. Pi$$ poor planning if you ask me.

 

I can imagine how many people arrived thinking it would be at the same location as Mega-Con is, only to find that Golf convention going on. After braving all that traffic, paying for parking, and hiking over to the convention center, they probably got ticked and got back in their cars and left.

[djpinkpanther67]

Sorry sales sucked man...People may still be recovering from the Holidays..... hopefully it'll turn out better in Spring or Summer

Cori Yarkin IS kinda fine...

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

For some reason people like to set their kids loose on our high grade books. Even the adults don't know how to treat the books.

 

At some point, you guys are going to have to buy a thousand or so 2 mil SA/GA Mylites and fullback boards for that collection. Bringing $20-$50 high grade books to a show in plain bags and boards will insure only one thing: that you won't have high grade books for long. With the wider Mylites and more rigid boards, that won't be a problem.

 

From the sounds of it, I'm glad I picked up that Captain Marvel # 22 & # 24 from you when I did.

[KingOfRulers]

Well, my Sunday review isn't much better then the other two days. We had some stronger sales, but not enough to compensate for what I would like to have made this weekend. I sold a few books from my personal collection which was nice--a Strange Tales #102, 115 and my last copy of ASM #300. As a whole, comic dealers took a hit. I did not hear any happy figures from anyone. Basically, it was a competition to see if you could break even. Its terrible really. The convention itself, its activities and venue were all very nice. You can tell they really tried to bring it to the next level with the big name guests they had come this year, and the fun FX party they planned out. Overhearing two guys who were partnered dealers really explained it all, and it was so funny to hear because it just sounds so off the wall. They were walking down the aisle and one guy said to the other, "Who is watching the booth", and the other guy just shrugged...and they kept walking. That's how dead it was sometimes. Dealers were free roaming The convention itself was great though. To sum it all up, it was not a comic show. I made some money, made some contacts, and hand fun too...so I'll say that it was worth it going in the end. But needless to say I didn't sign up for next year.

 

Only took a couple pictures today. Here is a picture taken of me and mcmiles doing the Superman pose...

 

[KingOfRulers]

Cool report ! Sorry to hear attendance was so low for a 1500 table event but at least you got your picture with that fine mamasita "cori yarkin".

 

You got that right

[KingOfRulers]

Sorry sales sucked man...People may still be recovering from the Holidays..... hopefully it'll turn out better in Spring or Summer

Cori Yarkin IS kinda fine...

 

I could be a combo of the holidays and other things. Its always tough to pin down. It seems that this show there was strong interest in the more estoteric titles from the 40's and 50's which was stocked fairly light at the show from what I saw. Also, being it was mainly a toy show. Plus its Florida where it is not known for being a high dollar convention state anyway. So, probably a bunch of possible reasons.

[Foolkiller]

That's a sucky show --

 

but hey -- I enjoyed looking at the pictures of your wall. Nice stuff.

[adamstrange]

I give your review 4 stars.

 

Too bad you couldn't say that about the show.

[arexcrooke]

If there is a piece out that affects the story, how did it grade an 8.0?

[MutantKeys]

Hey KOR,

 

At least you got a pic with a hot chick!!!

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

If there is a piece out that affects the story, how did it grade an 8.0?

 

One of the reasons I was glad I was able to move it.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

King, I think the FX show has good potential, for many reasons:

 

1). Excellent venue. Once people know its there, they'll start coming.

2). Reasonable rates on dealer tables...much better then Mega-Con.

3). The combination of toys, games, and comics is a good one as long as it doesn't become saturated with customed Manga people who just show up to show off (ala Mega-Con).

 

However, the promoter really screwed the pooch with the website and failing to specify where exactly the convention would be.

 

Also, the fact its so soon after the holidays and so close to Mega-Con makes it less likely people that are 100+ miles away will make the drive.

 

If the show was moved to a April, May, June schedule I think it would do much better.

[underthebigw]

Jive and KoR--wish I knew where you guys were.

 

Anyway, here's my take on the show--not good. Not only did the concourse issue scare off guests, but the admission process, which required all attendees to buy tickets, then register, then apply a temporary tatoo, apparently po'd several of those who came to my table. They described it as annoying and time consuming, and some had friends that decided not to deal with it.

 

On top of that, it wasn't just comics that were slow. Everyone I spoke to, from DVD sellers, antique toy dealers, and myself were very disappointed. The crowd, especially on Sun., was full of attendees who either came to get autographs or just sight-see. I have never had so many people swoon over our 'Toon TumblersR but not pick them up. An odd experience.

 

As for the show's potential, I agree that the promoters have done a great job of upgrading it, but a large number of dealers were vowing to not do the show next year--don't know if this was just big-talk, but not promising regardless.

[john h.-migration]

Here's my take. This is my 4th or 5th FX show. The attendance was the worst

 

I've seen since they started to bring in celebrity signers. There were probably

 

25% - 30% less dealers than last year (Last year's fairgrounds with multiple

 

buildings caused many to not re-up). On the admission process, I can

 

understand 'why' they did it. (1. register - that way they can bolster their

 

mailing list and hope for repeat business. 2. tattoo - so that a person just can't

 

hand off a badge to another person.) Maybe a paper bracelet would be better.

 

And $1 off admission for people registering (optional) would be a better

 

solution. The low attendance was primarily due to the 3 week gap to MegaCon.

 

MegaCon has creeped closer to FX in the past few years. Before it was in

 

Mid-March, last year it was at the end of February. And now it's Mid-February.

 

I know a LOT of people that wasn't doing both (and chose MegaCon). And the

 

people that did show up to FX halved their budget between both shows.

 

It was bad that the promoter didn't explain the location very well. They mentioned

 

that it was in the North/South building (but MOST people don't realize that that's

 

the new building East of the 'normal' convention site and on Universal Blvd.).

 

I actually thought it was nice to park closer to the venue. And parking

 

was discounted at $6 rather than $10 at the 'older' convention area.

 

Pros for the show:

 

1. One building and NOT the fairgrounds.

 

2. Close parking

 

3. They are trying to put more emphasis on Comic books.

 

4. Celebrity signers

 

 

Cons for the show:

 

1. Too close to MegaCon

 

2. website wasn't too helpful

 

3. Attendance was so poor that guests/dealers might bypass this show in the

future.

 

4. With signing guests, the fans usually spend all their money there and not

with the dealers. At least the celebrities were only charging $25 or less.

 

 

John Higashi

[KingOfRulers]

Jive and KoR--wish I knew where you guys were.

 

Anyway, here's my take on the show--not good. Not only did the concourse issue scare off guests, but the admission process, which required all attendees to buy tickets, then register, then apply a temporary tatoo, apparently po'd several of those who came to my table. They described it as annoying and time consuming, and some had friends that decided not to deal with it.

 

On top of that, it wasn't just comics that were slow. Everyone I spoke to, from DVD sellers, antique toy dealers, and myself were very disappointed. The crowd, especially on Sun., was full of attendees who either came to get autographs or just sight-see. I have never had so many people swoon over our 'Toon TumblersR but not pick them up. An odd experience.

 

As for the show's potential, I agree that the promoters have done a great job of upgrading it, but a large number of dealers were vowing to not do the show next year--don't know if this was just big-talk, but not promising regardless.

 

I saw you. You were close to my booth. I was in aisle 800, and I think you were in 700 right?

[MCMiles]

John H,

 

Welcome to the boards. Did You stop at my booth at the show by chance? I agree with your points about the show.

[Givemeyourcomics-migration]

 

I'm sure with MegaCon only a few weeks apart was another reason for slow sales.

[Tiziano]

I had a great time at the con Friday & Saturday.

Got some great books and some wicked deals.

Kudos to all the dealers for being ultra helpful and very nice.

Nice place Orlando going to have to come down and check it out again.