The San Diego Comic Con 2008 Thread

[dockingbay97]

I think it is more than a bit unfair to throw all the blame on Hasbro. First it Hasbro Toy Shop which is a slightly different entity than Hasbro. Second there are literally hundreds people trying to smash their way into that booth at any given moment. When you are dealing with an attendance of around 150K, you have to expect some snags. It wasn't perfect but it is never likely to be in the eyes of all fans.

Plus there was no precedent for a Joe exclusive to sell out like a SW or Transformer one. Joe product wasn't selling very well in stores for several years up to that point. I can guarantee the limit will be much more controlled this year.

However, as long as you have people buying multiple badges, they will continue to get around the limit.

[dockingbay97]

hasbrotoyshop.com might have extras after comiccon but personally i wouldn't count on it.
my similar question is: would it be possible to get an exclusive even if i go?
seriously i was one of many who went last year to arrive on thursday only to find out the joe exclusive were sold out on wednesday -preview night (i believe) i thought preview night was a can look but can't touch thing.

There were some available on Thursday - I bought some that day as well as other people. I think it depended on what time you got to the booth. I think they were allotting only so many for sale per day after some point on Weds night.

[electrikwarrior]

I got my regular attendee badge when they opened thurs morning then went directly to the hts booth... rude lady gets irritated at me and says "got to have random ticket to get into the line in the first place" to buy something that she crossed out in red- sold out. I walked briskly since i'm too proud to run, so they must have sold out early on thurs. I can understand putting daily limits on them but i checked periodically throughout the day and they were never for sale again. Comiccon lasts from weds to sunday and to sell out thurs is still nothing but lame. Oh, wait we're not sold out, they are available on the website. Blame? i only blame myself for not getting there early enough. Upset after a whole year? yes. Mad at Hasbro? No. Thants like staying mad at my brother. I can't stay mad.

[YELSEW]

Could it be Destro's IG vehicle...ah what is the name!

Despoiler!

And another exclusive I have to locate!!! LOL.... Sounds good though whatever it may be.

[dockingbay97]

It was ugly and the HTS employees weren't always exactly friendly I fully agree. I don't know how friendly I would be after I had been yelled at by the umpteenth customer.

I have been there are going to be changes for the positive this year which I will be mean stricter limits and line control along with a high production run for the Joe pieces.

I think the real villians in this are the "packs of scalpers." I hate to use that term and this may be about the only time you will see me accuse someone of being a scalper on this board. I think it is a tired and over used word. I just don't know how else to describe it.

There were several large, organized groups of individuals (both onsite dealers and people off the street) that were highly organized to gobble up as many exclusives as they could. A couple of these "packs" were pretty impressive if you consider the amount of time, planning and money they spent. They all had multiple (and I mean multiple) badges. They would break up and disperse hitting all the hot spots first. Once they were done with exclusives like the Hasbro, Gentle Giant and high dollar vinyl pieces, they would move on to the other exclusives. Once they completed that round, they would go around swarming ever last booth for the rest of the weekend that was passing out anything free. The precision of these "packs" was down right scary. You would see them leaving the HTS with literal piles of toys. I can't imagine the money they spent or the money they got in sales in return.

For those who are attending this year, keep an eye out for these people. They are truly the real enemy here.

[YELSEW]

Is there anyone going that would be willing to pick whatever the exclusive is up for me?

email me please! yelsew1979@aol.com

[Jay West]

I could be wrong but with the success of the toyline and the marketing machine gearing up for the upcoming movie whatever the Joe exclusive is it maybe the most sought after exclusive toy at SDCC.

[Jbluez]

It was ugly and the HTS employees weren't always exactly friendly I fully agree. I don't know how friendly I would be after I had been yelled at by the umpteenth customer.

Well, I sympathize with that. However the only yelling I saw was from the HTS people. From the time that it opened on preview night to the time the show closed it was nothing but yelling from them about how we shouldn't line up and to come back later.

I have been there are going to be changes for the positive this year which I will be mean stricter limits and line control along with a high production run for the Joe pieces.

I think the real villians in this are the "packs of scalpers." I hate to use that term and this may be about the only time you will see me accuse someone of being a scalper on this board. I think it is a tired and over used word. I just don't know how else to describe it.

There were several large, organized groups of individuals (both onsite dealers and people off the street) that were highly organized to gobble up as many exclusives as they could. A couple of these "packs" were pretty impressive if you consider the amount of time, planning and money they spent. They all had multiple (and I mean multiple) badges. They would break up and disperse hitting all the hot spots first. Once they were done with exclusives like the Hasbro, Gentle Giant and high dollar vinyl pieces, they would move on to the other exclusives. Once they completed that round, they would go around swarming ever last booth for the rest of the weekend that was passing out anything free. The precision of these "packs" was down right scary. You would see them leaving the HTS with literal piles of toys. I can't imagine the money they spent or the money they got in sales in return.

For those who are attending this year, keep an eye out for these people. They are truly the real enemy here.

Well, I hope those changes work out. As far as looking for enemies, I'm not sure how helpful that is. Seems like it's just spreading panic and paranoia. It's not like we can do anything about them.

[dockingbay97]

I am not trying to spread panic but those packs were a large part of what people were reporting on when they saw people walking away with stack of exclusives. And they are a large reason why they sold out so quickly.

[Jbluez]

I am not trying to spread panic but those packs were a large part of what people were reporting on when they saw people walking away with stack of exclusives. And they are a large reason why they sold out so quickly.

Ok. Still, I'm not exactly sure what we can do about them.