Any tips for my first convention?
 

I'm going to Wizard World Chicago with my brother in law and I'd appreciate any advice. I'm only going for one day, and I skimmed through the people attending so I'm pretty excited. For starters, I'm not sure how much money I'll should bring, what I might find myself spending it on and what to bring, or even how to plan lol. I'd appreciate any feedback.

I would suggest bring more money then what you think you will need. When you don't bring enough, going to tap MAC could lose the figure you could be after. If you don't spend it, put right back in the bank.

Bring some bottled water and get lunch before hand, food and beverage can be kinda pricey, you need that money for your plastic crack lol.

Also, wear a backpack. You can put all your stuff and your hauls as well as keep your hands free to do other things.

Thanks alot BlackMagnus!

NP buddy, hope you have fun! Be sure to update your thread after the convention.

Gonna go to NYCC in October first time so this was helpful thanks!

Any updates now that the con is over?

I haven't gone to many toy conventions, but I have been to play card/coin shows when I used to collect Hockey cards. Same type of principles apply though.

1) bring $$ lots of it, as much as you can afford to spend, if you know you can pay it back borrow extra because if you get there and find a rare item(s) and lack the funds, you'll be kicking yourself the entire ride home.

2) Remember who your dealing with, this ain't walmart these are guys and girls who know what the collector wants, what it's retail and collector value is, and be prepaired to pay mark up prices. You may find some great tables with granny selling off her son's toys for $$ and has no idea what she has, but on average it's people like you and me who bought the item are retail, kept it moc and is reselling to double their $$.

3) Haggle, just because there's a sticker price doesn't mean it's the final price, it's not like walmart where $9.99 is not negotiable. These people lugged this merchandise took the time and effort to set it up, their goal is to sell as much stuff as possible to have as little clean up and effort to put back dragging the unsold stuff back home to sit to the next convention. There's tactics to apply, 1 is know what you want, make a list of what you want more then anything, then sub list, etc basically you need to know exactly what you want to add to your collection a rough idea what you want to pay and go from there. You can easily get side tracted and spend excess $$ elsewhere ie drinks,food, souveniors, etc. Aside from that, bulk deals usually work best, " sell me this for $10 and I'll pay full price on this guy, or what's your best price for all 5-6. SHOP AROUND!!! if you can get there early so you have time to get a good look around, last thing you want is to blow all your $$ at the first table and see some unbelievable stuff going for cheap at the last table. Pokerface, you see something rare and underpriced, shut the fuck up, give them the $$ and walk, now breathe! Your eyes buldge out of your head and drool comes from your mouth that Iron Man figure just doubled.

So to recap, bring lots of $$, check out all the tables before committing big bucks, haggle and barter with pricing as best you can, when applicable buy more as you save more, lay off vender food and stupid ass merchandise, have a game plan of what you want to add, what it's worth, and have back ups, because if you go in there looking soley for 1 figure and don't find it you'll get pissed off and forget about all the other awesome stuff around you to substitue your $$ with. Hope this helps, take pics of the convention if u can, and your haul afterwards! Have fun!

I should have packed a lunch to take with.
Not only were they scalping toys but also food. :rolleyes:

...Still nothing?

Great advice Behindthemask. These conventions can be a lot to take in. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the spectical and pagentry of it all. Knowing what you want and having lists are great. Don't forget to grab all the swag you can. I also like to hit up the artists alley and get an original commission or published piece of art. If you travel be sure to pack extra bags for the return trip. Put on your poker face and we'll see you out there.

wait what,the convention is over?
crap,now I cant share my advice!

It's cool, dude never updated his thread so nobody will know if the advice helped or not lol.

I was told while in Chicago that there is a big comic convention happening there in March. I'm seriously thinking about checking it out, depending on if my buddy is willing to go with me. That would be a sad journey alone, haha.

My only tip would be to make it back to your computer after the convention.

Bring lots of money!!!!

If you're looking for toys, WWC is not the place to go. Go to the Kane County toy show chicagotoyshow.com That's probably the biggest toy show in the midwest and it's October 23. If you're just looking for strictly Marvel and DC stuff, you can find a lot more at a comic show, but you will find a lot better deals at the toy show and for a cheaper entry.

Nope that is April not March.
Chicago's Pop Culture Event - C2E2 - Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo