DCON?

I'm not very excited about the move to Vegas. For me, it's a place I really only needed to visit once. I've been able to turn my previous DCon trips into two week tours of California, visiting friends throughout the area, hiking, visiting museums, toy hunting, etc. Now that won't be as easy.

I am also wondering if the move is also going to make it less enticing for toy makers from overseas. For the Japanese makers I know, any show in NYC or LA is instantly appealing because they want to see things in those cities. I don't know if Vegas is going to have the same appeal.

I would expect having a show the weekend before Christmas is going to have an impact on attendance and sales. I offered a bribe to the Blessed Exchequer hoping that all of my friends selling at the show this year do well. Please let us know how it was.

 

Totally agree. I'm not sure I've seen any sentiment of anyone who was excited, much less neutral that it was going to Vegas, other than NV locals. I don't think the toy/art scene there is nearly as active as in the cali area, and will be curious if they have an about face after a year or two in Vegas. Or if they'll continue on in a slowly decreasing sized show and smaller shows pop up in SoCal to fill the void.

 

personally im excited to have more fun pre and post con days. i dont go to disney during dcon and there aint poop else to do thats walkable. maybe just hang out with the female bodybuilders from the hotel next door

 

I’d rather go to the punk rock museum and play some black jack than go to Disney, that’s for sure. That being said, I still don’t know if I could see myself going…

 

$100 round trip from LA to LV, anyone complaining from here can buy just two less convention center hot dogs and youll be within budget still lmao

 

The cost of flying is more than just the money you spend on airfare.

 

I will probably still try to end up going to LV to see how it turns out, but for me it has a much less diverse and less appealing set of things to do outside the con. In SoCal I had friends I could visit, and a range of inexpensive asian food to try. I never even bothered with Disney.

 

all in for Vegas, traveling to so cal yearly for about 17 years... it will be nice to hop on a $140 round trip flight, and be there in 45 mins versus 4 hours. plenty to do if you dont gamble or drink also. not to mention can stay and eat on the cheap side, or luxurious side also... start playing MyVegas slots on your phone... get you some free rooms.

 

i guess im comparing to my 2 annual east coast trips. $400-$500 flights. $100-$150 a night airbnb or hotel. just to be in the ny equivalent to silverlake, all to support my favorite artists

 

With your last couple figs, brother, you’re in a place people should be flying to support you.

the whole mega con thing is seeming like such an antiquated concept. NYCC dead, SDCC dead, 5 points…meh, in decline, Dcon- in decline. The problem is we are only interested in a very small percentage of it, so the rest is just clutter. And what’s become the 3 or 4 day event is just exhausting and excessive. I’d rather just do focused gallery shows. Have a couple hour opening and everything is curated properly and fits together.

 

i agree that the small show scene is coming back in full swing starting with all the gallery group shows. waaay more enticing as a collector than having to do a huge con where im only interested in one corner lol

 

once you're established or have a niche, the gallery show makes way more sense. but i can see if you're emerging or are trying for a broader appeal, the bigger con could help you expand and reach an audience who would normally not find you.

I do think social media has really change the balance though, and in theory does allow for someone smaller to get more exposure before vending at a larger con.

 

its also played out so many times before where someone is huge online and its crickets in person. but as an artist you have to put yourself out there. personally im not doing dcon this year because, although being 45mins away, it landed on such a hectic weekend for me.

but traveling for sofubi was always part of the appeal for me. fun to go to a new place and automatically have a group of friends there

 

definitely different audience potential of online targeted vs in-person expansive. and for some people, the ROI just isn't worth it.

the time/money could be better used investing in relationships with galleries or other artists to expand the tent, than just sit in a huge room knowing that 98% of people aren't going to bother to stop for a second. but also being beholding to the black box of algorithm can be a cruel mistress as well.

 

the game is like 50% gamble imo. but at some point most folks try everything at least a couple times to make sure they give it a fair shot. ive done cons where i sell two toys and some where i have a line, but being consistent is key

 

all the vegas hate is so weird to me, but i get it if you are thinking strip or how the rest of town was a decade ago or something buts its grown and grown and we have tons of cool shit now.

i dont know cool art scene stuff, so maybe we're a bunch of nerds or whatever, but LA is so big and such a pain in the balls ( driving to studio city from anaheim to see friends one year took 2.5 hours... its 4.5 to vegas for fucks sake) and this place is so tiny and easy i am glad we will have dcon. you can rent a bicycle and go literally anywhere in town and pick from a zillion rad restaurants.

give it a shot, skip the strip, stay at a la quinta or something, wander main street

 

Various thoughts on this topic. Unorganized Loose thoughts.
I'm super looking forward to my last DCON. It's been such a good event to me. The very first time I went it was just one room. I showed up late, and Emmet Potter was running the table I would vend at. I set up, and immediately a nice group of people came by and bought a good clutch of stuff, then I literally watched they made a circle around the track, and that was it. I could see the few same people in that little room.
I came back a few years later, after it moved to it's bigger location in the same city... maybe the same block even, just that bigger convention hall in Pasadena, and showed my Star Wars paintings, had a blast and I think from then on I was going almost every year.
Pasadena middle size was the perfect years. not too big not too small.
I was bummed about the move to Anaheim... but that's when I got to know Quang and Brandon CB so much better. Quang lives on the same street in Santa Ana that I spent my first 4 years of life on, so although I didn't know the place well, being there and soaking it in fills my whole brain and heart with Joy.

The move to Vegas could be really good... if maybe Ben shrinks the event back down a bit. Just two days. It could be really awesome for locals.
But I won't be there. You would need to literally pay me to go to Vegas.

Gamjam. I don't have the date yet. But it will be early October and just one day again. The idea for Gamjam is to have baller makers there, and have fun. It's a very casual event. People have been really kind to each other, and come away with some pretty magical toys and art. I'm only mentally committed to three years, and the 2024 one will be year three. It's not that I won't do it again, it's just a SH*TELOAD of work, and running a growing convention is not exactly what I want to do with my time. So maybe 50% chance there will be a year 4 Gamjam. Will see.

Big conventions where 98% of people don't even look at your stuff. I did SDCC for 13 years straight before calling it a day. And although it can be a grueling money suck, it was worth every penny. That 2% of curios peoples really counts for something. I've made sooo many lifelong friends, and fans at these events. Gallery shows and tiny events are fantastic, but what other way are you going to have a chance for that many eyeballs to potentially see your arts. Whatever arts that is. No amount of IG algorithms or paid ads could do the same.

See you soon DCON. Less than a week away

 

I hear that ToyConUK is the next big thing!

 

Maybe if it moved to Vegas?

 

People need to give up this idea that just because YOU can manage the travel, regardless of distance, that everyone else should, too. It’s none of your business. Vegas sucks for a variety of reasons for many, has far less appeal than majority of California in comparison, and it’s only moving there because Ben himself is moving there(from what I was told). I don’t remember a single person stoked when DCon moved from Pasadena to Anaheim, and this is quite drastic comparatively. Let people be bummed. Let people be stoked. The fact that artists and patrons want to drop, for whatever their reasons, should bum everyone out, Ben especially. The drive will be a couple hours shorter for me, but aside from that and the phenomenal Vegas hardcore scene, I’ve nothing else to be stoked on participating in there, but I will show up.

 

No idea how close the timing or actual venue is, but that's pretty close to the F1 weekend which caused some mayhem this year (closed streets and impacted infrastructure).

 

Good and bad. I think that with the huge collector base in California, hopefully a new toy event will happen in the area. Sad to see Dcon move.

 

Since it was the first year in Vegas, there was way more infrastructure that needed to be put in place. My hunch is next year it'll be not quite as disruptive.

 

Here's my haul from tonight. I am a lucky duck for sure. Had nice chats with Bwana, Jon Rampage, and Quang from Creature Bazzar. I got the sense it was pretty dead this year compared to last. Hope all the makers make enough sales for it to be worth it this year.