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Today is getaway day. Saturday and Sunday always turn into frantic catch-up adventures with little posting time, and I won’t be able to get my final con thoughts up until tonight, but it was a pretty good show. No one lost an eye. The big question was whether the time economy of con — people coming just for the entertainment stuff — and the economy of the Real World — it’s a recession! — combined to slow sales on the floor.

For a show that gets “bigger and bigger” every year, no publishers we talked to were experiencing bigger and bigger sales. That’s the real problem.

Odin’s throne at the Marvel booth was a real hit, however. The actual prop taken from the film, the great doors opened to reveal the Destroyer armor behind it. The display was so popular that even the Teamsters and convention personnel who were quickly breaking down the hall wouldn’t let the throne get taken down until they all had their picture taken with it. It was a new benchmark for a comics publishing booth at Comic-Con — in an environment that is one big theme park, it’s getting to be the only way to stand out.

More later from the road. BIG, BIG ups to Kate and Torsten for manning the home internet.

1 COMMENT

  1. Time–that sliver of a limited attention span–is the new currency. Turning attention into immediate sales…there’s the rub for retailers.

  2. A $ MIX: I signed in both Small Press (where buying was heavy, breaking even before Friday began) and Artist’s Alley (where the vibe was more chill and chat).

    PLAN AHEAD: If I had set a meeting in advance, I made it — but negotiating the floor to connect with colleagues on the fly was a challenge.

    BEING THERE: If you only care about media news, images and videos, stay home and web it. If you want to collide with fellow fans and creators in the flesh while movie propaganda is shoved in your face, hit the floor (or the four city blocks adjacent to the entrance.)

    PULSE: The site, the staff and security were stressed beyond capacity, but I still had a great time.

  3. Hey… it was a pleasure, Heidi.
    We had some tornadoes here yesterday, but the gardeners are fixing the topiary at Stately Beat Manor, and everything should be back to normal before your return.

    Speaking of Thor, what did you think of the Infinity Gauntlet?

  4. The weird part about this post is the show may be getting bigger in scope but not in attendance. Wasn’t it was the same attendance number this year as it was last year, and I think the year before that. So why should publishers be making more money?

  5. “The weird part about this post is the show may be getting bigger in scope but not in attendance. Wasn’t it was the same attendance number this year as it was last year, and I think the year before that.”

    I may be wrong, but I believe that several years ago SDCC put a maximum cap on attendance based on what the convention center can accomodate. So if it’s sold out at maximum capacity year after year, attendance can’t get bigger unless the venue physically expands somehow.