Are We Done with New York Comic Con?

Originally Created On October 9, 2018

As many of you know, Tony and I have been to New York Comic-Con several times over several years and we have had different experiences. Each year there have been Celebrities from our favorite fandom meet and greet the public at large. Different booths, panels with the latest and greatest in the movie, tv, comics, and toy industry. Cosplayers from all over who take their time to design, prep, and display their hard work. Fellow collectors who meet to buy and swap stories, merch and just interact. While each person will always have a different experience, I did notice something that happened when we traveled to the Javits Center this year and it made me a very important question…. Do we want to keep going to New York Comic-Con?

While Tony has done the convention in years past, my actual first time going was back to NYCC in 2013. I remember that year so vividly in my mind, from the process of standing in a 10-hour line at Midtown Comics downtown Manhattan for our 4 day passes, to the anticipation of waiting for the day to arrive and revel in the overall excitement that was the Comic Convention experience. When I walked into the Javits Center on that day, I was so overwhelmed but also so pumped. I was able to walk the show floor, take pictures of the many people in cosplay, see more of the exhibit and displays, take pictures with celebs. Heck I can honestly say some of the highlights of that first con were me buying the Dragon Ball Z scouter, Meeting Jason David Frank for the first time and really bonding with Tony and sharing our love of all things fun and nerdy

2014 rolls around and it pretty much the same experiences, Same Midtown comics line, same four-day pass, just different group of friends and new experiences. That year, we went with Tony’s brothers and my friend Shauna. While the Vasquez Boys were having a good old funky time, I once again, went to go get more things signed by Jason David Frank. Learning from last year, I made a break for the autograph line and only waited two hours for his signature and it was well worth it. Shauna on that Sunday cosplayed as Poison Ivy and did a really good job of it for her first major con.

As the 2015 convention came, there was a new practice being implement when it came to purchasing tickets. Gone were the 3- and 4-day passes, now all passes were single days only and no longer being sold at outside vendors. Also implemented was the Fan Verification process to try and crack down on the scalpers. I can see what they were trying to accomplish but in the eyes of a fan, this made it harder to get the ticket day you may have wanted.

Fast Forward to the 2017/2018 con season. Last year, at the last min I decided that I would go with some buddies to NYCC on that Thursday since that was the only day available. The layout for the center had changed some. Artist Alley was no longer in the bigger part of the center due to construction and all the artist were crammed into a very hot area. I was able to meet the original Power Ranger Actors at their booths and Batman himself Kevin Conroy. I was also able to procure of the Funko Pops exclusives thanks to friends.

And then, NYCC 2018 rolls around. There are a lot of new factors for us in that we would be going once again only one day, Sunday, Oct 7 and it was my little brother Andre’s first convention. This year was a bit of a game-changer for us as this is the first time we are going to the convention not just as fans, but as business owners. When we decided to create NRG Comics, we knew there would be some slight drawbacks as we were trying to take in the atmosphere of the convention as well as embrace the entrepreneurship that comes with it. This year we had the good luck of winning the Funko Lottery which afforded us the chance to purchase con exclusive figure from that booth. You know how they say your first interactions can set the tone for the rest of your day, well that happened to us. No sooner than when we first got to the line to when we left the booth, we had people coming to us asking if we were going to sell any of the products. Suddenly having that big light blue bag was a badge of honor and a target. As we tried to enjoy the reset of the convention, we noticed that it more crowded than it was previous years and it felt like a lot of space was not being utilized… or maybe because we weren’t there all four days, we were overwhelmed by everything.

And maybe … just maybe that’s the issue. New York Comic Con for us at least has gotten too overwhelming and cramming as much as they can to keep up with their West Coast Counter part. We would one day like to go to San Diego to do a comparison of the two shows. But sadly I think as for New York, we will be taking a hiatus and try venturing to other medium-sized cons in different states to get a sense of how other states do it. We hope to be back soon but it would be a wait and see.