Comic Convention question

[The Blockbuster]

^ Thanks. This should be a pretty exciting event. I'll make sure to bring a full wallet because I think I'm going to end up buying everything. Hahaha.

 

[Temple Fugate]

Some tips I've learned about buying stuff at a weekend-long con:

Don't buy anything the first day unless it looks like it might sell out quickly or you absolutely know you want it. Vendors typically lower their prices or make 2-for-1 specials on the last day of the con because they want to get rid of their stock. Also, if you go purchase-crazy too early in the day and your hotel room isn't close to the con, you'll find yourself loaded down with merchandise all day long. Lugging it all around with you in lines, in panels, and especially into bathrooms is a burden you don't want to deal with. Either take a lunch break and drop everything off at your hotel, or if that's even more trouble, wait until that night or the next day to buy it.

Again, make exceptions if the circumstances call for it. I once put off buying a great-looking bust from one vendor and it was gone only a few hours later.

The cost of food is always higher inside the con than outside. Stake out the surrounding area for eats and you run a good chance of saving some money.

Bring tons of cash. If you run out of cash, ATMs may be available inside the con building, but the lines are guaranteed to be LOOOONG. My spending budget is never less than $200 no matter how small the con is.

Finally, just because you brought a lot of cash doesn't mean you NEED to spend it all. If you still have $50 on Sunday afternoon and you can't find anything you really want to buy, don't blow it at the con. Go back to your hotel and treat yourself to a nice meal at a restaurant or something.

 

[The Blockbuster]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'm really glad I brought the sketchpad. I talked to Dave Bullock at the very beginning and he put me on a list of pictures he would personalize. I originally thought they would just spend 5 minutes and give a rough pencil sketch, but he was spending a ton of time on each person's and inked it and put tons of detail into the character. Anyway, Mr. Bullock was so cool that when I told him that I was not able to come back at the time he told me to, he quickly did a great sketch of a B:TAS-New Frontier hybrid Batman that looks so much better than anything I was expecting. He also charged me only $30 which was about $20-40 less than a lot of the other artists that I was considering.

I also bought the complete series of a TV show I've always liked. It was a lot of fun for me.

 

[adoptedBatpuppy]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'm really glad I brought the sketchpad. I talked to Dave Bullock at the very beginning and he put me on a list of pictures he would personalize. I originally thought they would just spend 5 minutes and give a rough pencil sketch, but he was spending a ton of time on each person's and inked it and put tons of detail into the character. Anyway, Mr. Bullock was so cool that when I told him that I was not able to come back at the time he told me to, he quickly did a great sketch of a B:TAS-New Frontier hybrid Batman that looks so much better than anything I was expecting. He also charged me only $30 which was about $20-40 less than a lot of the other artists that I was considering.

Also, I was glad to see there was a bootleg DVD seller. I finally got all the episodes of a show that I've wanted for years that has never been on DVD or rerun in a while. It was a lot of fun for me.

Good for you! Sounds like you had a great time.
It's hard for me to get out and go to Comic Convention, but I'll try.
Is there a chance that you could post images from your sketchbook?
What show is not available on DVD nowadays? With so many releases there are many DVDs on the market.
Thank you

 

[Dudley]

I've never been to a "geek" convention in the the States before, but I went to a manga convention in Japan, and the Tokyo International Anime Fair four times, since I was there.
The latter was more awesome.

I plan on going to Otakon this year. And once I experience that, I plan to get a table at future conventions.

 

[Antiyonder]

What show is not available on DVD nowadays? With so many releases there are many DVDs on the market.
Thank you

Alvin and The Chipmunks and the Adam West "Batman" series to name a few. Plus you have some Disney released Marvel toons that I hear were made from the censored copies on TV.

And then there are shows which are on DVD, but exclusive to a certain region which I fail to see the purpose of. I mean I'd think that making them compatible worldwide would ensure higher sales.

 

[Cyporiean]

Its not that hard to region mod a DVD Player, nor is it very hard to import a DVD.

 

[The Blockbuster]

I will see if I can load the image of the drawing, but it may take a day for me to figure out.

 

[Ed Liu]

We're getting too close to breaking the "no discussion on how to subvert copyright" rules here, so I'd appreciate it if everyone would kill off the discussions on how to do that at comic book conventions. It's an open secret that it happens, but I don't want someone (or Toon Zone) to get nailed with a copyright infringement lawsuit because of something more specific than that posted here.

Thanks.

-- Ed

 

[The Blockbuster]

We're getting too close to breaking the "no discussion on how to subvert copyright" rules here, so I'd appreciate it if everyone would kill off the discussions on how to do that at comic book conventions. It's an open secret that it happens, but I don't want someone (or Toon Zone) to get nailed with a copyright infringement lawsuit because of something more specific than that posted here.

Thanks.

-- Ed

I understand. I was a little hesitant when I posted it, but now I've re-edited the posts. Everything should be okay. My apologies for even bringing it up.

 

[Ed Liu]

Minus the bits that deal with San Diego specifically, this gigantic post by Tom Spurgeon has a lot of really good advice about going to comic cons and maximizing your enjoyment at them. The section labeled "Zack Smith's 10 Rules For Getting Con Sketches" is generally good advice on approaching pros for sketches.

-- Ed