Power Girl Represents 2
Letters, we get letters. Chris T. asks us:

Hello Heidi, I was wondering if you might address this in your blog.  I have seen all of the pictures of the cosplay at DragonCon and the stars at the panels, but I never hear anything about the Dealers.  How were sales for things at Dragon Con.  At the other cons, there are always articles about how the exhibitors did, whether sales were up or down, but with DragonCon, I have seen nothing.  Why is that?


Well, Chris, to be honest, when there are half naked chicks with giant hooters walking around, who cares about sales? First things first.

But maybe someone stopped contemplating how to apply handcuffs to a giant pikachu long enough to look at the dealers tables. Buehler? Anyone?

Photo by S. Bunche

1 COMMENT

  1. I can’t say that seeing a replica of Power Girl’s costume on a real person dissuades me from thinking that only an exhibitionist would wear it.

    SRS

  2. There were two dealer’s rooms and both were stocked to the gills with the usual assortment of gaming supplies, t-shirts, weaponry replicas, toys, anime, and suchlike that one would expect from a con. The big difference this time around was that they were definitely making a concerted effort to cater to the growing female audience, especially those who like to dress up. There were several kiosks and spaces devoted to all manner of fantasy dresses and accessories, and each was well-attended by potential buyers.

    The most surprising thing that I noticed was that with the exception of a few dealers selling graphic novels en masse, there was virtually no comics presence to be had. I may have missed them, but i didn’t see even one stand with individual comics or back issues. Which is not to say that the wares available were not of interest; I came away with a number of books, t-shirts, and a couple of hard-to-find DVDs, so I was satisfied.

  3. That woman is extraordinarily beautiful. She has my permission to be an exhibitionist. Make me wish I had attended DragonCon. Steranko said it’s like attending Mardi Gras — I’m definitely going next year!

  4. I can’t imagine any dealer strolling up with a set of longboxes doing very well unless he was pushing the classic stuff. No point in trying to sell Blackest Night or Dark Reign comics to a bunch of guys at a panel called “Where have all the heroes gone?” However, there were one or two dealers selling nothing but graphic novels who seemed to be doing quite nicely. And I had a hard time weaving through the crowd to find the book I wanted, so the set up was drawing fans.

    At the moment, the convention doesn’t cater to your modern Marvel zombie. They are more than welcome, but they don’t rule the roost at Dragon*Con, and wouldn’t unless DC or Marvel came down with Bendis or Johns in tow. We’re talking about a convention where Hellboy, Buffy and Dawn are running things where comics are concerned. Weird and wonderful.

    But I guess any dealer who had comics to sell to fans of classic superhero stuff, the Corset Crowd, or those more drawn to horror and humor would do just fine.

  5. The last time I was at Dragon*Con, Sam Raimi’s brother Ted was stocking up on Silver Age “Amazing Spider-Man” comics. I think this was about a year before Sam announced he was going to make the 1st “Spider-Man” movie.

    HINT: Pay attention to what the celebs are buying!

  6. To respond to what Bunche posted: You did miss them. There were actually THREE dealer rooms, one on the bottom level of the Hyatt, and two more on the level above that. I didn’t notice the bottom level room until the second day of the convention, and it was on this bottom level that you had dealers selling back issues of old superhero comic books (several different vendors, in fact, although the prices were much higher for a Silver Age “Fantastic Four” than what you could get on, say, ebay.)

    The only large publisher with any kind of booth presence in the dealer room was Dark Horse – and they were mostly there to push Buffy/Star Wars etc. Dark Horse’s Scott Allie showed up at a Felicia Day panel (Felicia Day was the MVP of this con) to hype an upcoming comic of her Web series, The Guild.

  7. that girl was also at SDCC this year. Seen an interview with her on Youtube and much like the character Powergirl, she’s no ditz! :)

    Even if one tends to concentrate on her, physical qualities.

  8. Joe Pruett at Desperado complained how slow sales were for him while one of the bigger dealers told me he was running ahead of last year. There certainly seemed to be a lot of buying going on whenever I was in one of the rooms.

  9. There were at least four booths selling back issues: two were local stores (Titan’s, Odin’s), and there were two others that I don’t remember the names of, one concentrating on bronze and silver age stuff, and the other specializing in high-grade/mint issues.

    There was certainly no lack of foot traffic in the dealer rooms and exhibitor hall, but I’m guessing it varied wildly from dealer to dealer who did well and who didn’t. The folks at the Midnight Syndicate table told me they had done pretty well, the Steve Jackson Games booth seemed to be doing brisk business, and the folks who were selling discount graphic novels and TPB’s (don’t remember their name) also had no lack of customers.

  10. A friend of mine has a custom prop making company and has had a booth for a few years at Dragon Con. Dunno about this year, but the said DragonCon in particular was a good con for him. He finds there are older and more serious fans with more money to spend at it. This is usually where he can sell bigger ticket items and get some good orders done. If someone wants a space trooper armor or a detailed death ray -and- actually has the cash to back it up, he’ll find them at Dragon Con.