Help a Comic Con Virgin

[Holocause]

Hi, this weekend (oct.08.10) is the New York Comic Con and Anime Festival. A friend of mine was good enough to get me a ticket to this thing and I'm kinda excited as I've never been to one of these things. I've been to other expo's and trade conventions before related to work and boring stuff but I've never been to a Comic Con which is something that may actually be fun.

But again I've never been to one of these things so I don't know what to expect. Seeing as some of you here have actually been to some of these or even previous New York Con ones hopefully you can provide some insight.

So my primary objective going into this thing is to grab as much stuff as I can from this thing. Any strategies on getting cool shwag? The ticket I got was for opening day on friday. It says that it won't open to the public until 1pm. So should I show up at the specified time, a little bit later or earlier? How's the shopping in one of these things? In general are things sold in these events cheaper or more expensive than retail and by how much on average? What would be a realistic budget to allocate coming into one of these things? $100 $200 $500? Is haggling accepted or should one just go for whatever sticker price they put on items they sell there (I have no idea if its gonna be a flea market environment there or not)? Stuff I'm interested in are Transformers, Gundams, McFarlane and of course Yammie Valks so would you think they would be in abundance there? And what's the deal with "exclusives"? I've looked at the website and there's like an NYCC 'exclusive' Gundam model, are these priced higher than what a regular variant be in this event? Are they worth their 'exclusivity'?

Would appreciate the insight.

[Dangaioh]

Hi, this weekend (oct.08.10) is the New York Comic Con and Anime Festival. A friend of mine was good enough to get me a ticket to this thing and I'm kinda excited as I've never been to one of these things. I've been to other expo's and trade conventions before related to work and boring stuff but I've never been to a Comic Con which is something that may actually be fun.

But again I've never been to one of these things so I don't know what to expect. Seeing as some of you here have actually been to some of these or even previous New York Con ones hopefully you can provide some insight.

So my primary objective going into this thing is to grab as much stuff as I can from this thing. Any strategies on getting cool shwag? The ticket I got was for opening day on friday. It says that it won't open to the public until 1pm. So should I show up at the specified time, a little bit later or earlier? How's the shopping in one of these things? In general are things sold in these events cheaper or more expensive than retail and by how much on average? What would be a realistic budget to allocate coming into one of these things? $100 $200 $500? Is haggling accepted or should one just go for whatever sticker price they put on items they sell there (I have no idea if its gonna be a flea market environment there or not)? Stuff I'm interested in are Transformers, Gundams, McFarlane and of course Yammie Valks so would you think they would be in abundance there? And what's the deal with "exclusives"? I've looked at the website and there's like an NYCC 'exclusive' Gundam model, are these priced higher than what a regular variant be in this event? Are they worth their 'exclusivity'?

Would appreciate the insight.

During my days at the Chicago comic con, (I had a 3 day, early special), I would generally arrive about 1.5 hours early.

• If you are getting autographs, research the con site, and work from there. If you have any works by that person, bring in that item for autographs. Line up for that person almost an 30 to 45 min early. Since this is New York, probably an hour. If getting autographs for a poster that's rolled up initially, make sure they are rolled up at the spot you wanted signed. It's quite hard for the artist/writers to sign a poster when layed out openly, when it's trying to curl back up... unless it's flat to begin with. For figures, in card, signing the back is much easier than the front.
  Bring a digital camera for pictures when getting autographs. Take snapshots as they are signing and (if time permitted) after. These shots were taken at the Orlando Comic Con.
  
  
• Most of the shwags are for early ticket and all weekend ticket holders. You are given a goodie bag at the counter. I'd check with the persons running the counter if any are available for regular attendees. There will be cool shwags at some of the booths, just go up and ask or check the surrounding area. Most of the time, it's a game of 'hide and seek'.
• The only company I know that gave stuff away (Entertainment Earth, www.entertainmentearth.com), they had a huge booth advertising their store. At the last day, last minute, they did not want to ship things back to their store, they literally gave everything on display away.
• From what I recall, most vendors will not lower prices till the last day, since they are not interested in bringing so much back home. If the items you want are available at the last hour, haggle away.
• Be prepared to spend money on movie/tv personality autographs... I believe it's about, $25.00 to $50.00 per signature.
• If carrying a bunch of stuff, I'd recommend using a rolling utility cart, http://tinyurl.com/rollingutilitycart, no, don't use a shopping cart.
• Don't eat to much prior or during, nothing is worse than having to use the restrooms at the convention... unless you have relieved yourself before attending.

Edited October 4, 2010 by Dangaioh

[Funkenstein]

Hey, my friends and I are going to NYCC too! I think one of them is going to be dressed as the Deepwater Horizon.