Last week was the Baltimore ComicCon and it was a blast! As always I spent an entire day meeting creators and agonizing over what to buy.
Let’s start with the business side of things and talk about retail. Overall, it appeared that attendance was down from last year. I base this observation upon the fact that I was always able to walk down the retailer aisles without much problem. Usually you have to muscle people out of the way to move about, but not this year. It could have been because the space was bigger so there were more places to go but I don’t think so.
Most of the retailers were doing good, but not great, business and again, it wasn’t as big as last year. The best quote I heard was, “Last year change was king because everyone (the buyers) had $20’s. No one had singles. This year everyone is showing up with $5’s and $1’s.” If that isn’t a sign of the economy I don’t know what is!
One booth was selling new books, new within the past 3 months, for a dollar. He always had a steady stream of customers and he was selling books at a good pace. His comment was even more interesting. He stated, “When books were $3, I could come to the Con, and dump overstock for $1. I would at least get my money back. Now with books at $4, when I sell for $1, it’s at a loss.” I know that Jim has complained about it, but $4 books just aren’t good for the overall health of the hobby.
I managed to get some good buys for myself so I was happy. I didn't go Sunday but I heard drastic price reductions were in effect for those that did go.
More, later today about the fun side of the Con. Adventures with Creators!!!
I was there on Sunday. Big sales. I got the first 6 issues of Blue Beetle (the new version) for $.50 each. In fact, that retailer had a lot of books up for $.50.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I thought it was pretty crowded on Sunday. I wonder if Saturday's traffic wasn't affected by the Baltimore Running Festival to some degree. The marathon closes off a lot of streets and could have kept some people from going to the Con. Though the Ravens played at home on Sunday, I didn't have any trouble getting to the Convention Center. Well, other than limping because of my herniated disc in my back.