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This week's poll!
Apr. 15th, 2007 03:28 pmIn last week's poll, the majority of you agreed with Papa George that Joey Fatone should've worn a Jedi outfit on "Dancing With The Stars."
[Poll #967100]
[Poll #967100]
Apr. 15th, 2007
Celebration IV: The dark side
Apr. 15th, 2007 03:30 pmSome of you will likely think it's a bit unfair to prematurely complain about some aspects of the upcoming convention. Shouldn't I at least wait until after the actual con to make a few pointed observations?
Maybe so. Let me be clear that if things turn out to be a lot better organized and a lot more fair for paying conventioneers, I'll be happy to be wrong. But I probably will be right to some degree and if you're coming to the con with dreams of buying all of those cool exclusives to add to your collection, maybe this will make your expectations more realistic.
I've come to have a real love/hate relationship with the concept of convention exclusives. "Love" in the sense that on occasion, I'll buy one if I really want it or if a friend unable to attend the convention really wants it. Or if I'm able to attain it easily. After all, I pre-ordered one of those Comic Con Holo Leias two years ago and got last year's 501st figure as part of the Fan Club Breakfast giveaways.
But I "hate" how the concept of convention exclusives has spun out of control and sucked a lot of the joy out of going to a convention. Who, besides a dealer or someone hoping to make a few bucks on eBay, wants to spend half or a whole day, every day, standing in line at a booth? The smaller the run (and the daily allotment), the more of a headache it is to get. You all read about my woes trying to get one of those Darth Sidious key cels at Comic Con last year.
There are two different "exclusive" figures at Celebration IV, one sold in the convention store, one sold only at Hasbro's booth (it's not clear if it's exclusive only to CIV or if this is the exclusive figure Hasbro will sell at conventions all summer). You know, I'm not going to camp out in front of the convention center all night every night (I paid for a roof over my head) just to get a stupid action figure from Hasbro's booth. But hundreds--if not thousands--of people will. The daily allotment will probably run out five minutes after the con opens because the dealers and the lucky few able to sneak in through an unlocked, unguarded door, will go and snatch up whatever they can before the rest of you can even get inside. Everyone else will be angry and frustrated because they will have to do it all over again tomorrow or pay Scalper Sam $75 to save themselves the trouble. What sucks is that collectors who want the stuff right now instead of waiting 6 months or so to find it at a reasonable price on eBay have to play the same game as the homeless guys hired to buy up as much stuff as possible. It seemed to me a significant number of attendees at Celebration II five years ago were there only to buy convention exclusives--especially the Jorg Sacul action figure. You never saw these people doing anything else. I'll bet it'll be the same deal at CIV.
Convention exclusives aren't gifts to the fans no matter how many times we're told that. They dangle these things in front of us like raw steak in a starving lion's face and we fall for it every time. Which is the reason why they keep making them.
The only companies that try to take the stress out of exclusives, at least to some degree, are Gentle Giant and Sideshow Collectibles. Sideshow allows you to pre-order the items, so all you have to do is pick them up at your convenience during the show. Sure it can be annoying trying to order the things online at 10:00 a.m. PST, but at least it's a few minutes of aggravation versus long lines in a crowded hall. Gentle Giant had a system at ComicCon that limited its exclusive to one per attendee. As I found out, it's a nuisance if you have more than one buddy who wants the item. But it cuts back on the hoarders--or at least makes it more difficult for them--and it takes longer for an item to run out.
I know some of you are going to say, "Well, that's just the market and these guys are just trying to meet demand." Be that as it may, what market are licensees like Hasbro are really serving? You or the scalper? Think about it and figure out if your life will really be for the better if you leave Los Angeles with that exclusive figure.
Maybe so. Let me be clear that if things turn out to be a lot better organized and a lot more fair for paying conventioneers, I'll be happy to be wrong. But I probably will be right to some degree and if you're coming to the con with dreams of buying all of those cool exclusives to add to your collection, maybe this will make your expectations more realistic.
I've come to have a real love/hate relationship with the concept of convention exclusives. "Love" in the sense that on occasion, I'll buy one if I really want it or if a friend unable to attend the convention really wants it. Or if I'm able to attain it easily. After all, I pre-ordered one of those Comic Con Holo Leias two years ago and got last year's 501st figure as part of the Fan Club Breakfast giveaways.
But I "hate" how the concept of convention exclusives has spun out of control and sucked a lot of the joy out of going to a convention. Who, besides a dealer or someone hoping to make a few bucks on eBay, wants to spend half or a whole day, every day, standing in line at a booth? The smaller the run (and the daily allotment), the more of a headache it is to get. You all read about my woes trying to get one of those Darth Sidious key cels at Comic Con last year.
There are two different "exclusive" figures at Celebration IV, one sold in the convention store, one sold only at Hasbro's booth (it's not clear if it's exclusive only to CIV or if this is the exclusive figure Hasbro will sell at conventions all summer). You know, I'm not going to camp out in front of the convention center all night every night (I paid for a roof over my head) just to get a stupid action figure from Hasbro's booth. But hundreds--if not thousands--of people will. The daily allotment will probably run out five minutes after the con opens because the dealers and the lucky few able to sneak in through an unlocked, unguarded door, will go and snatch up whatever they can before the rest of you can even get inside. Everyone else will be angry and frustrated because they will have to do it all over again tomorrow or pay Scalper Sam $75 to save themselves the trouble. What sucks is that collectors who want the stuff right now instead of waiting 6 months or so to find it at a reasonable price on eBay have to play the same game as the homeless guys hired to buy up as much stuff as possible. It seemed to me a significant number of attendees at Celebration II five years ago were there only to buy convention exclusives--especially the Jorg Sacul action figure. You never saw these people doing anything else. I'll bet it'll be the same deal at CIV.
Convention exclusives aren't gifts to the fans no matter how many times we're told that. They dangle these things in front of us like raw steak in a starving lion's face and we fall for it every time. Which is the reason why they keep making them.
The only companies that try to take the stress out of exclusives, at least to some degree, are Gentle Giant and Sideshow Collectibles. Sideshow allows you to pre-order the items, so all you have to do is pick them up at your convenience during the show. Sure it can be annoying trying to order the things online at 10:00 a.m. PST, but at least it's a few minutes of aggravation versus long lines in a crowded hall. Gentle Giant had a system at ComicCon that limited its exclusive to one per attendee. As I found out, it's a nuisance if you have more than one buddy who wants the item. But it cuts back on the hoarders--or at least makes it more difficult for them--and it takes longer for an item to run out.
I know some of you are going to say, "Well, that's just the market and these guys are just trying to meet demand." Be that as it may, what market are licensees like Hasbro are really serving? You or the scalper? Think about it and figure out if your life will really be for the better if you leave Los Angeles with that exclusive figure.