C3 Sandtrooper bust distribution....thoughts?

[Rod]

Well C3 has come and gone.........I was wondering of those of you that went to Celebration 3 and experienced first hand the havoc that was the Gentle Giant line for their exclusive mini bust.....what did you think?

In regards how the distribution was done, what are your thoughts?

[Morgbug]

Mayhem, for the most part?  Lunacy?  Absurd?  Ridiculous?  Poorly thought out? 

I don't know of too many people that weren't able to get into the building early (pre-fan club) that were able to get one.  Dave spent 7 hours outside in the rain and manged to get one.  I think Nick may have been in line outside?  Beth too?  But without being really early in that line (i.e. across from the Marriott) I think you were out of luck. 

We were nowhere near getting one on Thursday, we didn't get into the building until 1:15 or so.  Tuesday we got in early enough to score.  Saturday as I understand it was pure madness and I believe most of the alotment was taken up by exhibitors that were in line before the door to that hall even opened up to anyone else.  No idea what happened Sunday though. 

In Gentle Giants defense this was better run than past efforts.  They were giving out tickets so you could come back later in the day, so that was good.  I opted to not come back and they yelled at us/me (Hi Amanda ) because we were blocking the corridor   Based on past history there was no way I wasn't picking it up immediately.  But GG did make it possible to come back later (and I heard no one being screwed by that).  They did break up the total and distribute some each day.  They did control their line, for the most part, better than almost every other line I saw at C3.  I think they did just about everything they could to make it better, but they were hampered by the organization of the event itself. 

I'm not sure how they can go about denying exhibitors or if it's even fair.  Punching badges may be a way, but you can get around that anyway with a little effort.  I do think that's the best option though. 

I guess I learned that if you really want it, you'll pay for it either in time, dollars or creativity.  That was my first con and I learned a lot about asking for exclusives from people and the effort they may have to go to. 

[jokabofe]

Since I've never experienced any of the "other" Gentle Giant fiascos, I can't compare them to this one. But here are my thoughts anyway...

Even tough I waited online, outside, in the cold and rain, for about 6 hours, I almost didn't get one. Being one of the first 50 or so people through the door at 9am, I was feeling pretty good. But when I ran into the wall of Volunteers/Press/Exhibitors that were already on line to get into the dealer room, I nearly passed out. There must have been close to (if not more than) 200 people already on that line. Which I thought was pretty, excuse my English here - ****** up. If I knew that I was going to have to wait that long outside in the cold and rain and possibly still not get one, I might have opted not to wait. Luckily for me I ran into Brent and Matt who were a little (okay, a lot) closer to the front of the line than I was, and I kinda snuck in next to them. Otherwise, who knows what may have happened.

But I do think that they should have come up with a better system than just getting on line and getting one. I'm sure some of the Exhibitors that were there that had multiple employees  were able to score a few each day of the con (cough, cough Brian's Toys cough, cough) which they will no doubt be selling at insane prices (if they haven't already). Punching badges could work to a certain extent, but we all know ways around that one... don't we?

[Nicklab]

Getting this piece was certainly easier than getting the blue Clone Trooper in Chicago in 2003.  Even though it meant lining up at 4:45 in the morning, those of us on line at that time were pretty well assured of getting the piece. 

Compare this with Wizard World in Chicago, 2003.  That was insane.  Because Gentle Giant let just about anyone at Comic Con in San Diego get one, in Chicago you got a raffle ticket and had to check back at the booth every day in the hopes that you might get lucky and win a mini-bust.  The last day of that was like some kind of bloodsport.  There were only about 40 pieces left, and the numbers were called out with an angry mob around the Gentle Giant booth.  If you didn't claim your mini-bust inside of ten seconds it was gone!  And then you had to line up to get the piece after all of the commotion, while people were offering you money for your winning ticket.

After having been through that, yeah, I think Celebration 3 went a bit more smoothly.

[DSJ™]

IMHO, it was a complete cluster **** and lack of communication. On the first day we waited inline outside at around 4:30am right smack dab across from the Marriott, had my family passes ready. The doors open and away I go right to the exhibitors hall.

I get to the exhibitors doors with my family pass inhand and I'm stopped by a Stormtrooper saying there not accepting the family passes to get in early, you'll have to wait till 10:00am to get in. WTF! I was fumming and explaining what's the sense of the family passes if we can't get in to the halls.

As this was going on, a friend was waiting inside for me as he is a volunteer in another area holding a spot for me. We had 2 way radios and I was trying to get ahold of him but I was getting other people on the channel, ******* great. Then he comes out and says lets go and I explain whats going on.

Other people that had family passes were waiting to get in and the Stormtrooper was waiting on a confirmation about the passes. Then a few minutes later he looks at us and says go. What a relief, we run in and my friend places me in the spot being held for me and takes off to do other things.

Then we were handed out a ticket for the bust and you could come back anytime to get it and I just waited as I was not far from the till. Then Jeff came up to me and we just waited which did not take long then after we paid, we took off for our Vaders which was another nightmare!  

I went back the 2nd day and there were no problems getting in, heck they didn't take my family passes this time.  

I got a second bust and I was not far behind Brent and Matt and I saw Dave there. 

[JediMAC]

Well, I've seen their previous efforts down at Comic Con and Wizard World L.A. the last couple of years, which were total fiascos for the most part.  It's kind of tricky to compare, since Gentle Giant really only seems to have a couple choices for distribution:

First come, first served   *or*   Raffle ticket system

I guess I can at least say this: They made their plans known from the start (First come, first served), and stuck to it.  Was that the best method?  Maybe not.  It basically sucked for the average fan/collector, since by the time the Fan Club was allowed into the Convention, the GG line was already a few hundred people long from the folks with Press, Volunteer, Exhibitor badges, etc.  Worse, yet, GG wasn't punching badges, so many of the aforementioned people hopped in that same line day after day after day.  So really there was no limit on the number of busts (outside of one per day) the "inside" people could get over the 4 days.  So that was pretty weak.

I got mine with the early admittance of the Press, but had I not had that badge, it's doubtful I would've scored one, since I refused to wait in line over night to have a shot at one.

Another thing is that I think the production number was just way too low on this piece, at 2,500.  Most of the 30,000+ people in attendance wanted one, but only about 3% of them actually scored one (considering the many duplicates people got).

It's just going to be a no-win situation no matter how you slice it.  But I don't like seeing the same "inside" people being the only folks with a decent shot at them.  That's just not fair to the rest of the people.

But at least Sharon kept the GG lines in order! 

[Morgbug]

I got mine with the early admittance of the Press, but had I not had that badge, it's doubtful I would've scored one, since I refused to wait in line over night to have a shot at one.

I was in the same boat, but had I not had the press pass, I'd have been in line with Dave to get this thing.  I wanted the bust more than the Vader figure so I would have headed to that line.  Now, had Matt not been in line for Dave (and potentially me) to find closer to the front, I don't know if I'd have succeeded. 

Not just Gentle Giant wise, but without that press pass I'd have had an absolutely miserable weekend, GG would only have been part of it. 

[Darthshader]

 
Good times.
 

[Famine]

I was in the same boat, but had I not had the press pass, I'd have been in line with Dave to get this thing.  I wanted the bust more than the Vader figure so I would have headed to that line.  Now, had Matt not been in line for Dave (and potentially me) to find closer to the front, I don't know if I'd have succeeded. 

Not just Gentle Giant wise, but without that press pass I'd have had an absolutely miserable weekend, GG would only have been part of it.

How did you get a Press pass

Kevin

[JesseVader08]

I think he slept with someone high up.  That's how he gets everything else.   

[Famine]

I see. Berry won't bite, thats how come he's not staff, eh?

Kevin