Five Points Fest

K - SOMEBODY ought to study up on the English language a bit.

Yes - martian toys in an idiot and should be canceled from the scene - period. But not just for the stickers. Had ANYONE ever said a nice thing about the guy in general discourse??? With that in mind - due time for a call out indeed.

also:

Yes - the blog post read like someone’s kids had been put in a sack and thrown in a river.

Not mutually exclusive points here.

But, honestly, I know why YOU in particular are making a scene, so no biggie, mister. Everyone can’t be friends with everyone.

 

So um, who's gonna show off their hauls?

 

The Instagram-to-Xenforo connection seems busted right now but I got a lot of fun stuff including two toys I never thought I would hold again, you can see it at my Instagram.

Overall I had a lot of fun at the show. It feels like everything is back in gear with it again.

 

The Kotorimark battle set and Sunguts mech are gems. Also, as someone who hated on the full sized version, the mini tank dino is actually kinda charming.

 

you've got to be kidding.

 

Just to clarify, the big Sunguts Xabungle figure was a gift from a friend, I meant to show it to Mr. Sunguts (feel so bad I cannot remember his name) but I left it at home. I did get to give him a little SD Xabungle as a gift.

The mini Tank-Dinos were 3D resin printed, and there were mid-sized ones that I believe were also resin prints in various colors.

 

No, I'm not kidding, it's a fucking sticker. Just like you always tell people not to get butt hurt over toys, it's just a toy.

 

ok... so let's get this clear then...

The fact that Benny took time out of his day to write a blog post about how someone violated his personal space is overly dramatic...

Yet writing a forum post telling forum members to go spit on fellow staff members of your former employer because they did not send you to a Convention and pay the way... is not overly dramatic?

glass houses again...

 

'Violated his personal space'

 

I'll share my take on the actual show. Maybe it was the success of "One of Those Sofubi Guys" and the chatter that Five Points was back to it's original glory, I think I got overzealous. Sales wise it kind of sucked. I think I probably sold 1/5 of what I sold there pre-covid, I actually left a few hours early Saturday because I don't think I had sold anything in like 3 or 4 hours. Putting stuff online unannounced, I sold as much in an hour as I did at the convention. I don't know what I would attribute to this, there wasn't the overseas crowd this year. and it's hard to say if they will come back, when there are so many options closer to them now.
The hall did seem a little small and the position of all the sofubi stuff felt a little claustrophobic. There were some log jams with other things gong on around, things like the Ron English signing at Toy Tokyo were annoying because the table was getting bumped and people were kind of pushing in behind the table, but I think everyone who wanted to make their way there would have at some point.
Of course it was nice to hang with the boys at the booth and see some faces I haven't seen in years and meet some new collectors, but it was all kind of overshadowed by the loss of Amy. I lost it once, and almost a second time. Hard to say how much better the vibe could have been under different circumstances.
I only picked up a few things, the Big Kotorimark dolphin and the little clear one with guts drawn by Michael. There was some other stuff I would have liked to grab, especially from Marusan, but I didn't feel like I had made enough to justify the spending.
In hindsight, I didn't even make my way around the convention and see everyone I had wanted to, so apologies to those I missed. I don't know if I'll go back as a vendor next year. I think I would rather just attend and maybe sell a few things out of the back pack to make some spending money.

 

Wow dude. You’re gonna keep rehashing that shit forever aren’t you? In a couple years, it will literally be a decade since that happened and here you are still flapping your gums about it. I can’t believe you even brought that up, it’s like you’ve been waiting to use that as ammunition, haven’t you? What a prick move. I should’ve figured you’d pull some thing like this, you’ve literally been nothing but an asshole to me since I’ve met you. I’m still questioning why I wanted to be friends with someone like you anyway.

I made a mistake, it cost me my job. Let me guess, you’re perfect and you’ve never made a mistake?

I’m over it, maybe you should get over it too.

 

Come on guys. We’re all perfect replicas of some dude from a few thousand years back. Read all about it in that book you find in every motel in the country and get learned.

Dinosaur are also a hoax.

facts.

Anyway, Joe’s read on Fivepoints is similar to mine. The northeast is a sofubi bottleneck - everyone fighting over each other to get the same stuff - cannibalistically. Unless the international crowd returns, or cross country teleportation becomes a thing, it’s easier to focus on the west coast and abroad. Plus - despite the perennial overpricing of EVERYTHING there - New York is a cesspool both on the surface and through to it’s core. So, not much draw for vacationing either.

All that said, I’ll be there next year I’m sure. I’ve been close friends with the Clutter folks for ages, and they do try to put together the best show on the east coast, and generally succeed at doing so. The only worthwhile game in town.

 

It was a tough/busy few weeks leading up to FPF for me. I really needed some retail therapy. I haven't bought toys at this volume in a long time and it felt great to support the artists I love and also to make new toy friends.



Sales at my table were pretty good and more than justified the trip for me. That was certainly not the case for everyone based on some conversations I had on Sunday. Honestly, I'm just glad there was A/C this year. My only real regret is I always forget to take photos.

 

That Megalodon is amazing. Thank you for letting me play with it!

Sales-wise it was a good show for Marusan, but it was interesting how the interest shifted in what was offered compared to the 2022 show. In 2022, it was most of the mid-range figures in the $80 to $120 range that sold out the quickest. This time around, it was most of the giant size figures in the $160 to $200 range, and as you can see in my videos, nearly all of them were gone by the end of the first day. I think the $10 and $30 gashapon sold as well as or perhaps a little better than they did in 2022.

As to exactly why this shift occurred, it's hard to pin down exactly. Maybe it was the fact that most of the giant-size figures this time were multiple Ultra characters in very low quantities, maybe it was that the mid-range offerings were made up of only three characters and were mostly one-offs from Kubo-san. Overall, though, there were definitely fewer leftover toys at the end of this show than last year, which we felt good about.

Being across from Punk Drunkers and MVH made things a little difficult when people were congregating for lotteries, but on the flip side it also probably attracted more people to our table that wouldn't normally have come, and maybe some sales were generated from that. We were thankful that we weren't in the room with the painting or the stage. Too loud, too fume-y.

I miss the 2018-2019 venue with the outdoor area but unfortunately there's no going back there. There are three hotels close to the current venue, the closest one is good but unfortunately very pricey, and the other two are shitholes.

 

My pick ups

 

it hasn't even been 5... so in a couple to be a decade...
wasn't waiting to use it as ammunition, however it is funny to read someone who was overly dramatic protagonist in asking board members to assault people... state someone was overly dramatic about someone in their personal space. that's all i'm saying.
I make mistakes everyday and learn from them. anywho...

Five Points was fun I wish we had more haul pics posted... but it seems IG continues to playin its part at making the forum less and less frequented for most parties

 

There was an overall melancholy that floated over the event. I’m grateful to have broke even but, I couldn’t pick up much.

It was so good to see my friends and colleagues. Even those people I don’t necessarily get along with… it was good to see they came out. Like there was a since of equilibrium.
Wish I could have spoke and said hello to a lot of people I haven’t seen in years. That’s a big downside to boothing, not being able to get out and see folks.

I got a Marusan 450 red king and a Knave Kanagon

 

This is the reason i did backpack sales. I could just do my thing as a collector and see all my friends that i havent seen in years. I didnt bring too much, but it was really fun.

 

that is a good idea!

 

it was sarcasm, clearly you're too dense to understand that..

 

got me there.

 

Tickets are on sale: https://www.eventeny.com/events/ticket/?id=7325

 

Already done.

 

Going to my first Five Points Fest this year! About time.

 

I’ll be there - hosting Akamatsu for his first time back in NY since Destroy All Monsters (2019). Should be a big booth packed with all manner of monster toys.