Advice for first-time "dealer" at a local Con?

[sckao]

 

hmm.. Nice initial job. (thumbs u

 

You're kind of wasting a lot of space in between though You could get 2-3 more rows of comics. Just allow about an inch in between rows- more room between rows for slabs. Also, the A-Frame should probably take no more space than 2.5 FEET at the bottom when spread out.

 

You won't get that much space in between tables in the typical convention space so try to get your stand in a 2.5' x 6' footprint. The side crossbars add a lot to the rigidity so replacing the cord with a piece of metal or wood piece will add a lot to the structural integrity.

 

Pop a line across the rows as well to hold the comics in place. (Just tie it to the ends of the rack shelving.)

 

 

 

 

[SharpComics.com]

hmm.. Nice initial job. (thumbs u

 

You're kind of wasting a lot of space in between though You could get 2-3 more rows of comics. Just allow about an inch in between rows- more room between rows for slabs. Also, the A-Frame should probably take no more space than 2.5 FEET at the bottom when spread out.

 

You won't get that much space in between tables in the typical convention space so try to get your stand in a 2.5' x 6' footprint. The side crossbars add a lot to the rigidity so replacing the cord with a piece of metal or wood piece will add a lot to the structural integrity.

 

Pop a line across the rows as well to hold the comics in place. (Just tie it to the ends of the rack shelving.)

 

 

 

 

 

You might also consider constructing an "x-brace" for the back of the display. If you go to Home Depot and purchase 1/2 to 3/4 remenant boards, line them up on top of each other, drill a hole directly in the middle then place a bolt through the hole, attaching a nut from the other side. Once tight enough, turn the boards to form an "X", then attach with 4 bolts/nuts to the back of your board. Much stronger it will be.... (thumbs u

[Schmakt]

thanks again for the suggestions.

 

To brace the thing, I actually just put some hooks in the bottom corners of the top and bottom rows, and that keeps it from moving from side-to-side quite nicely... The X would definitely help as would the some stronger braces b/t the legs, but I only have my car, so I need to be able to disassemble this as much as possible...

 

These shelves just pop off, and then the legs fold up, so I'm left with very little to stick through my trunk.

 

As for the spacing... I definitely thought about doing more, but I'm not sure how many books I'll actually have that are deserving of the space... if I can find enough stuff, I'll definitely add more shelves.

 

And the footprint info is priceless. I just emailed the guy who runs the Con to ask about that, but I haven't heard back yet. It's just under six feet wide, but well over 2.5 feet deep. While it would be simple to fold the legs in a bit, I don't want the thing to be too high. The 2x4's I bought were eight feet long, so pulling the bottoms to only 2.5 feet across would make the thing rather tall... It seems like I need to cut some length off the bottom of the legs. Any suggestions as to how tall the thing should be? I don't wanna be the only guy with an 8' monstrousity showing off my handful of decent books.

 

(going to attach the pretty purple cross-strings right now!)

[Real Elijah Snow]

Bringing a cute girlfriend can be good and bad. It does draw the nerdery to your table but the key is whether or not they are buying or just gawking.

When i did Heroes Con this year 6 different guys came up and asked for a picture with my girlfriend while i was away. 6!!!!(She was NOT in any costume) Not one of these goons asked while i was there. It's like they were waiting for me to go to the bathroom to strike.

Obviously being the ultimate super cool bad-azz that i am i was not mad at these poor schlubs but i did have to tell a few guys to gawk from across the aisle since they were taking up booth space. The capper was when Jason Pearson(Body Bags) made sure to wait till i was outside loading up to hit on her and try to talk her into modeling for his artwork. If anyone knows Pearson's artwork they know that there is probably not a real use for any figure models considering how cartoony his artwork is. What a sleezepop. He's really the only one that was annoying since we have met several times, and he made sure to stop by when i was going to be gone for a while.

To sum up with some advice: Some of these guys don't see live girls very often. If you have a pretty girl with you and she is friendly they are going to want to stick around for a while. Don't be rude, but let them know that if they are blocking your boxes for an hour that they are going to hurt your sales.

If they are Jason Pearson, punch him in the stomach and tell him that was for me.

 

so you're saying i shouldn't have given her number to Jason, then. my bad dude

Expect a punch in the stomach the next time i see you. I might just have my suited henchmen do it after they carry my boxes into a show. Kim said to stop calling her pretending to be Jason Pearson by the way. It's sooooo obvious when you say that you wanna paint tastefull nude oil paintings. Just shamefull.

[Real Elijah Snow]

We talk about Display Racks here in this thread...

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1648873/site_id/1#import

 

The Beyonder is also designing a custom modular one which is pretty interesting.

 

Cheapest would run you about $50 I guess if you build your own.

 

I own a couple of different display racks and they have their uses (depending on whether you're showing CGC books or not.)

 

Also.. the nice book on the front isn't really a draw for me. What catches my eye are signs on the front that may say stuff like

 

"NEW COLLECTION - 50% off"

HIGH GRADE BRONZE AGE

HIGH GRADE SILVER AGE

50% OFF

25% OFF

SUNDAY SALE - additional 25% off, etc.

MODERNS - $1

 

etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

I read that thread, went to Home Depot, and built it... (sorry for the cross post in the other thread... I'm kind of proud I pulled it off tho )

That rack looks awesome! I agree though that you are just wasting space by not having those 2 rows in there.

[SharpComics.com]

thanks again for the suggestions.

 

To brace the thing, I actually just put some hooks in the bottom corners of the top and bottom rows, and that keeps it from moving from side-to-side quite nicely... The X would definitely help as would the some stronger braces b/t the legs, but I only have my car, so I need to be able to disassemble this as much as possible...

 

These shelves just pop off, and then the legs fold up, so I'm left with very little to stick through my trunk.

 

As for the spacing... I definitely thought about doing more, but I'm not sure how many books I'll actually have that are deserving of the space... if I can find enough stuff, I'll definitely add more shelves.

 

And the footprint info is priceless. I just emailed the guy who runs the Con to ask about that, but I haven't heard back yet. It's just under six feet wide, but well over 2.5 feet deep. While it would be simple to fold the legs in a bit, I don't want the thing to be too high. The 2x4's I bought were eight feet long, so pulling the bottoms to only 2.5 feet across would make the thing rather tall... It seems like I need to cut some length off the bottom of the legs. Any suggestions as to how tall the thing should be? I don't wanna be the only guy with an 8' monstrousity showing off my handful of decent books.

 

(going to attach the pretty purple cross-strings right now!)

 

 

If you are doing a small show, anything you can do to attract attention to your table is a plus, not a negative. I say go with it.

 

Last September, I did a small show with around 30 dealers in the room. I had 2 tables with around 40 longboxes and set up my display....trust me, I was the first one they saw as they entered the room.

 

8 ft high tall is what my boards turned out to be. I can hold around 85 books comfortably on a 4ft wide stretch, with 7 shelves across. I also have a 3 1/2 ft wide board and I am in the process of constructing an additional 7ft wide board for this years con totaling 14 1/2 ft of showstopping goodness . Once I finish building the newest display this weekend, I'll post a pic of all 3 together...should be interesting

[sckao]

 

Most of the big dealers go 8' high.. And higher when they put their banners up.

 

The big conventions have height restrictions (and side wall restrictions) generally... but 8' tall is pretty much the standard. (As are 10' x 10' booths.)

 

Smaller conventions may not give you a 10'x10' space, and may just sell you the space by the table length. (So you should get there early to make sure you have enough rear space for your display rack.) If you're in the middle of an aisle, you'll have another table behind you facing the next aisle and you'll be sharing the same space for your racks.