I'd like to thank everyone again who was picked before me, and left this guy waiting to be picked up.
The one and only dcon I’ve been to. I remember remaining punk drunker hooded full size figures on sale for like 70 on the second day. After giving Mori all my money on day 1, I Regret not pulling the trigger on those drunkers to this day...
I'll be there with a booth again. But fuck this Friday night VIP badge thing, I'm not selling anything on Friday, 2 days is bad enough.
Saw your booth on the map and looking forward to it Joe. And, I totally understand where you are coming from. However, out of my own selfishness, I will say I hope this approach does not become the norm. I saw a thread from the organizers a few weeks back where they were saying something to the extent of "We know that many of the popular Sofubi sellers did not provide any advantage to VIP ticket holders, and this year [2018] we hope to work with them to secure better product availability for VIP ticket holders." They went on to mention the Friday night opening. At the same time, if the options for VIP were so good, it just means a lot of flippers would try to do all their shopping on Friday night. So I am a bit conflicted.
I get that its an extra hassle for the vendors to sell on friday..... but it's frustrating as a collector to hear that so many vendors don't want to sell for the preview night or the extra hour in the morning. I get that maybe they don't want to give an advantage to flippers, but they're also fucking with the fans who are desperately trying to find any way, or advantage, to get things from vendors who the flippers are ruining. It's not like they can vet the whole line, so I don't have a solution. The idea of a preview night isn't a new one, sdcc has been doing it for as long as I can remember. I know Dcon isn't supposed to be the scale of sdcc but its heading that direction, much to the dismay of toy collectors everywhere. I guess just chalk it all up to frustration with the opportunistic assholes looking to make cash on the flip and messing up the whole experience for actual collectors, who are making an extra effort (and in this case, spending extra money just for a tiny advantage) to collect things they love and appreciate. Hearing that vendors are unwilling to sell to fans, compounds that frustration. I can't be the only one feeling this way. I apologize if your booth location is the reason for this and I just launched into all of this shit when there is a valid reason for not wanting to sell friday, but I'm unaware of that issue.
You worded it better than me @DrMadness At the same time, i understand that at the end it is the decision of the artist. @JoeMan gets more points for me than most in this situation, as he had an excellent method for handling the sales of his most popular run at 5 points. He put in the extra work to make it a smooth experience for all. If more artists did this, it would be a much more relaxing weekend overall.
Don't think the vendors are trying to fuck up anything. I know some dont want to bother with doing anything on Friday since it was already a work out trying to setup at Pasadena. It's got to be hell of a worse time in Anaheim doing it. The vendors are always thinking of the collectors but there is only so much they can or want to do. Having worked a couple dcon's, setting up and breaking down is tiring. Plus I'm sure all the vendors want to come out and do other stuff besides toys and listen to a bunch of sweaty people complain.
I agree with most of what you said but not this last part. To group everyone into a bunch of sweaty complaining people, when many people are traveling from across the world just to go and see their favorite artists just seems a bit unfair. I don't want to speak for anyone, but is it not safe to assume that most artists going specifically to sell toys and talk about their craft?
Just to clarify, Im not trying to attack anyone, just voicing frustration about it (not that anyone said I was..). Yeah, I bought vip passes for the first time since I started going in 2012, even though I think they were just available starting last year maybe? Just letting this roll around in the back of my head, makes me appreciate the whole coin idea Rich started, or is starting, to use. I know not every vendor is going to go through the time and effort to create a token system like that but it seems like a great solution. But again it would take a lot of time and effort to possibly end up with a similar problem a year later. I'm on the outside, not being a vendor, but I can entertain the idea that maybe the powers that be didn't really let the vendors know this friday night business was happening, and that would further validate not wanting to sell on friday night. But if the vendors were aware, it seems like something that they could plan ahead understanding friday was going to be a rough night. Again not trying to be argumentative
I don't use purple text since im on a phone, didn't mean for your sweaty feelings to get hurt. Whatever you have to say is fine, but sure as hell vendors that aren't from around here want to do local stuff. Have you heard of Disneyland before?
That's actually part of it, the Dcon organizers didn't clarify what was happening with Friday until a couple months ago. Now that the whole factory issues are out in the public, it's a bit hard to plan for more product when it needs to be ordered and given some time to be finished, plus maybe painted. Some vendors also don't want it to turn into the whole sdcc preview night. As a collector and a vendor, I don't see the need for Friday. But whatever.
Screw all of you!!!! Im going to sit at a empty booth Friday night and sell my Custom Japanese things.....
I get that. Unfortunately it feels like its going that way regardless. I guess sofubi makers and the like could pull out of dcon all together, but sadly it feels like the train has left the station towards an sdcc style convention, (sans Pop vinyl, as long as you don't look at the "prizes" inside the saturday morning boxes... ). Its also fucked up the organizers didn't communicate their plans to the vendors so they could prepare accordingly. Best intentions or not they just grabbed up that ticket money. Fuck yeah!! Thats the spirit!
I can definitely agree with most of this. It was definitely frustrating having to wait an extra hour just to purchase toys as some one that paid extra. But at the same time I also have to respect how the booth handlers sell the toys. But as shown in my previous post with pic I always keep what I get as I love the toys that they make. There is no hidden selling agenda with me. This is coming from me as a fairly new collector to the scene. I hope vendors will find a way to have a good time this year without stressing out to much over these situations.
I'm just going to say, even with VIP badges the first people in line always have exhibitor badges. Speaking for myself, the past 5 years I've been able to get in as an exhibitor even though I only had a table 1 of those years. So the reality is, VIP doesn't matter as much for the most sought after stuff. That said, there are so many toys it's tough to go home without something. My hope is that Friday will see a few releases, but the majority will be Saturday, like past years. The last few years that gargamel was at sdcc is a good way to do it. They dropped 20-30 customs each day, similar to how they've done it at dcon. I understand this is tough as a lot of vendors have limited stock and want it to get in as many hands as possible. Releasing everything on 1 day or at a specific time with limits on purchasing does this best, so I understand why vendors prefer this sales method. It also gives them more down time to talk to friends, fans, and other artists.
Personally don't think Friday is even necessary. When it comes to the overseas artists... Some are going to sell out in a matter of hours anyways. You have to think, they can only bring so much over in their luggage. Some go the route of shipping it in, but some for the most part are selling from a few checked luggage. While I might be wrong, it seems your only reference to a convention would be 5 points. I have not been to 5 points, but I know its still on a very small scale as compared to D*Con. PK has perfected his method on how he handles his entries, actual lotto, as well as queuing up for purchase and payment. Gargamel really has blown up in "flipper" popularity. back during the SDCC Run, it would be 10-15 of us at the table when doors opened, and we all were pretty damn civil about it, some would even help each other out to make sure everyone was good on what they acquired. Now there is a abundance of releases at cons depending on what you're into. Some are into a crazy amount of artists/brand etc... so i imagine they are running around from lotto to lotto, event to event. While others are only there for a few things and the friends. I could be wrong. but based on what i heard, The exhibitors this year only have friday to set up. while before it was friday to setup but the con was sat and sunday... I personally loathe the idea of having to setup on friday, as well as be ready to sell to VIP for a few hours. seems like a headache. Ben has said this year is going to be almost 3 times as big as last year. great more space and more to see. I don't think another half day is necessary to do it though. my .02 cents
I don't disagree with anything that you said. It seems that there was some disconnect between the organizers and the artists, though. As mentioned above, no sufficient notice about the Friday evening, and no additional time to set up definitely hurt. Meanwhile, you have the organizers who specifically told people they were going to go out of their way to make sure that some more of exclusive sofubi would available during the VIP exclusive times (like I said above). I'll make do with whatever happens. And I know regardless I will be leaving there with some killer toys. Still, it begs the question of why organizers told collectors that from the start.
There very well might be. Medicom is going to have one huge as booth, and if you look on the map, they have both space strictly for the standard and VIP line. but if you're thinking the hot indie artists are going to do this, I doubt it. If I was an exhibitor, I paid for my booth space, I will handle my product release how I choose/see fit. It is poor of organizers to state that, but its a slippery slope. When DCON was only 2 days, some sellers would sell out like I said in a matter of hours Saturday. Some collectors would only go saturday and gripe some raffles they wanted were happening sunday... and vice versa. Raffles really aren't so bad at D*Con anyways. RealxHead/Punk Drunkers, are usually the craziest as its just a FCFS. if raffle is involved, its pretty civil. I also love that some artists will flat out tell flippers no, they aren't getting a raffle ticket.
