JoeCanuck
General Section => General Joe Talk => Topic started by: morgardee on April 07, 2013, 06:01:14 PM
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Awesome time. Traveled with great guys and spoke with lots of great collectors.
But time to unpack and play with my son. :D
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Give more news... please, please, please.
I never went to a US joe con. Would you recommend it?
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Martin, you should go at least once to experience it. This was my third one (2004 and 2006 were the other years I went).
My experience this year: never go unregistered as I did. Due to the club's web page, I couldn't sign up to register in time. But I still decided to go down as it was around a 9 hour drive one way from Toronto. Because of this, I couldn't do anything until on Saturday. By then, the carded Iceberg, the carded Lady Jaye, the figure two-pack and Steeler were sold out. Only the Boomer jet was available for purchase, at 145 US without a figure, that was a steal ::). In the end, I had to pay scalper prices to get Lady Jaye and the two-pack; Jon S hooked me up with a carded Iceberg at cost.
Compared to my previous experiences, the line-up for picking up the convention sets went fast. However, the line-up for buying the extra convention exclusives remains a joke. Lining up to at least 10 PM with no dinner for most is the joke. As such, this should have been done on Friday during the day. Thursday was a travel day for most.
I tried to go onto the show floor when the doors first opened Saturday morning. But the club wanted $50 for "early bird" admission, it was $15 if waited until 10 AM. Sigh. The sales floor was already opened on the Friday for club members and anything that I would have wanted would been picked over. So I wasn't going to pay early bird for stuff already picked over by high end collectors and dealers.
As for the sales floor, if you take away the Joecustoms and Declassified booths, the space that the vendors took up couldn't have been more that what I have observed at the past couple Canadian conventions. It was bigger in the past two club conventions I have gone to. Plus most of the stuff seemed to be overpriced.
Mary McDonald-Lewis and/or Bill Ratner would be awesome guests for coming up to Canada. Mary was just awesome. Even talked to her about the amount of times I have sworn at her in my car due to Onstar (it's her voice) while in the elevator. Both laughed over it.
At least I got to see some old faces and some new ones. That helped to salvage the trip. Even though I didn't do much convention related events, I did get to enjoy downtown Indianapolis and take in a Triple A ball game.
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Thanks for the info Pete, did you get to talk to Kirk Bazigian? He was one guy I hope would show up to a Canadian Joe Con, he is such an interesting guy and his no holding back is a breath of fresh air.
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Thanks for the info Pete, did you get to talk to Kirk Bazigian? He was one guy I hope would show up to a Canadian Joe Con, he is such an interesting guy and his no holding back is a breath of fresh air.
Never had a chance.
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Jon S hooked me up with a carded Iceberg at cost.
*ahem* I also hooked you up with a bagged set at cost! :)
The panels were fantastic. Not unlike what one would see at TFCon. Having Hasbro USA involved instead of Hasbro Canada meant getting to chat with people who have an actual effect on the product that reaches stores. John Warden gave a presentation on the Eaglehawk that showed the amount of attention to detail that he pays to the product. Having people like him involved are a big reason why we've been getting such good stuff ever since the 25th line launched.
I also got a kick out of the cosplayers. This probably ties in to Halloween being one of my favourite holidays.
It was a four day trip that went by really quickly. I would have liked a bit more downtime and a chance to enjoy my haul. I guess I have that now. I'm going to completely redo my Joe display setup at home with Night Force figs.
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Jon S hooked me up with a carded Iceberg at cost.
*ahem* I also hooked you up with a bagged set at cost! :)
True. But I didn't have to go to the sales floor to buy it.
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Thursday:
Pete and Jon picked came by my house just after 8:30, we hit the road about 8:45 and got to our hotel around dinner time.
Jon and I went to get in the 7:00 line to pick up our stuff. That wasn't bad. I had to go back in line again because I was picking up a set for Bryce and for some reason they split my pick up times and the second pickup was 8:00. Since the 7:00 line moved so fast I was back in and out by 7:30 for both passes.
Then we went to the nightmare line for souvenir stuff. Thankfully Pete stepped out and brought us back a Turkey Sub each. We were done that I think at 9:30.
Jon and I went back to our room and Pete was gone so we went for a walk, looking for a place to get a beer. That's when things got interesting.
That city is uber beautiful. Seriously, I loved it. I left my coat in the hotel and just wore a shirt. We totally felt safe walking in a place neither of us had been before. We found a pub and both Jon and I got carded. I thought she was kidding and I told the girl she was awesome for asking a 40 year old for his ID. Then she didn't like Jon's ID and wouldn't server him. They had beer on tap to go so I picked up 2 pints and Jon and i went back to our room, stopping for some silly pics and laughing.
I ran into some of the Joe Customs guys in the lobby and sat with them for a bit until they went out for a bite to eat and meet back up with Pete and Jon. We all crashed around 1:00 am.
More later.
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You left out the part where I used to universal greeting to make new friends while in line for the club store.
Bah weep granna weep nini bong!
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2 1/2 hours in line isnt so bad...2 years ago at SDCC it was like 7AM - 2 PM for the Hasbro Booth, with maybe an hour in between the line up for the ticket to get in the line and the real line. :)
Glad to hear you guys had fun, I want to go one day.
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Man, if I wasn't way out in the North Atlantic I might be able to go. You guys are really blessed to be able to make it to one, let alone a few over the years. Is there going to be a Canadian Con this year? I think I read on here that there is not....if so any reason?
My fave would be the Canadian one for sure! Being biased and all LOL
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^ there's no CanaJoeCon this year because of expenses and stuff.
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aw bummer...sorry to hear that, I'm sure we'll have one in the future that will make up for it all :) Mike most of been just drove crazy doing it, and then BHTs and everything else...the dude is a machine and is super professional!
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^ there's no CanaJoeCon this year because of expenses and stuff.
Lack of product to be used for the con set is he number 1 reason, actually.
....and, thanks CrazyLegs. ;)
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^ there's no CanaJoeCon this year because of expenses and stuff.
Lack of product to be used for the con set is he number 1 reason, actually.
....and, thanks CrazyLegs. ;)
Welcome bro! Keep it up!
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One day I will make the trip, maybe with family or with some of you :D .
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I did hitch hike back in 97 from central newfoundland to halifax but there was a ride back....it was a fun thing doing it, but being ill now that's not something i'd even try.
so instead of being able to get to the CON i can use the funds to get there to by stuff from all my buds on here.
I'm in the process of curating my collection at my new apartment with awesome shelves and all. When It's all done I'll be sharing pics....it's everything I have all in one spot! 85% is vintage ARAH from the 80's and I have a smaller shelf for all my modern era stuff, I have the renegades stormy and the POC low light....anyways, this ain't bragging just wanting to share the excitement of JOE.
I know this is all totally off topic! LOL
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Friday:
Woke up early and looked around the hotel. Nothing happening before 10. I talked to some early rises like myself and made friends. Around 9:00 I went for a walk down to Subway and picked up breakfast for Pete, Jon and myself.
I saw a sign saying "volunteer's for parachute drop sold out" or something like that. The sign up was suppose to be at 9:30 am Friday morning. I was there just after 8:00 so I'm guessing there was a sign up earlier for Gold Members or people that did the early Thursday stuff. Either way it was advertised for Friday morning at 9:30 and it was already sold out before then. Meh.
Jon and I went down for around 10 AM to watch the parachute drop. Just like every other year it was anarchy. The adults were told to stand back so the kids would have first crack. Of course just before it starts they left the adults onto the field and have them about 10 feet behind the kids. Kreos were throw and the adults lasted about 30 seconds before they broke the line. So now it's 5 year old vs 40 year olds. :o I hung back and tried to film it and when what looked like the final wave was thrown I went into the mosh pit. I almost had one but some guy went plowing into my outreached arm to grab it. At first I was saying "Yeah, your a kid, have at it" then he turned around and it was a thin guy in his late teens. I'm not about drama or making a scene so I let it slide. Then a guy I met that morning saw what happened and asked me if I caught one. I said no and he gave me the 2nd one he caught. I guess it pays to be nice and make friends. :)
After that the shopping area was open. Pete compared it to the Canadian GI Joe convention once you remove things like the dioramas, customs tables, autograph lines, club store, and fan projects like Joe Customs table and Declassified booths. I think there was more vendors myself but what was really noticeable was the volume of product was far greater. It just felt like things were stacked higher. There was so much more stuff and something for everyone. Adventure team stuff, Sigma Six, ARAH, 25th, it was all there and in greater numbers. Cheap figure bins were huge. Mint complete figure were 3 for $20. It was all there. The only thing I didn't see was a Super Joe figure.
I spent most of my time at the Club store. MOTH sets were $15 each. That's $7.50 a figure and they are great figure. I bought 2 more desert MOTH sets to go along with my desert bootleg army.
They had the "Lets make a deal" table and I picked up a few 3 3/4 pieces like the yellow helicopter from the mini adventure team set. It was missing the propellers when I bought it but I was fine with that. 5 minuets after I bought it they found them and 2 rockets and just gave them to me. ;) I also bought about eight 12 inch figures, 6 extra fuzzy heads, a 12 inch size tent (my cats have claimed that) a bunch of clothes and other smaller things. I went back 3 times and spent about $114 I think on Lets make a deal.
The sales floor I didn't buy that much from. I have almost everything but it's nice to soak it all in. I bought a few things but right now I can't even recall what I purchased.
I spoke with Mary and Bill. Both of those guys are excellent. When I approached Mary I had a story for her about Zack Hoffman from the Canadian event and I think because I was able to talk to her on that level I made an impact. When Pete, Jon and I ran into in the elevator later she said "Hey Mister D, how's Dalton doing now?" so she pays attention. SHE IS SUCH A NICE LADY AND SO EASY TO TALK WITH. Mad respect for Mary. Bill is also awesome but because of the interaction with Mary she stands out a bit more for me. This was her first convention ever and she had a good time.
Jon and I also went for a walk in the daytime. We found a gas station that was like a 7-11 so we bought some junk food, I grabbed Pete an Ice Tea and then we went to the baseball stadium to buy tickets for the Friday night game. $15 a ticket for a AAA game and we were close to being behind home plate. Basically we were at the very edge of where the mesh was behind home plate.
That evening the three of us went to the ball game. It wasn't as warm as Thursday night and by the end of the game it was down right cold. At one point they were throwing T-Shirts into the crowed. Of course all the kids / teens go rushing to where the girl is and jump up and down in front of her. I was sitting in my chair, I honestly don't follow baseball but was there to absorb the atmosphere with by buddies who are huge baseball fans. It was funny that I almost got drilled in the face with a T-Shirt. I got my left hand up just in time to deflect the shirt and in bounced to the empty chair in front of me. I picked it up and have a nice reminder of a cool night out with Jon and Pete. I gotta say this, those T-Shirt girls have one heck of an arm. ;)
After that we went back to our room, drank a few beers, looked over our haul and crashed around 1:00 am.
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Not sure if this was mentioned.
Some vendors were selling bootlegs (aka Black Major figures) right in the open, with Hasbro's presence in the house. Considering what Hasbro brought to the show, I am not sure whether they care anymore.