Wizard World 2004

[aka DaBigKahuna]

Anyone planning on going this year?  I noticed that this is going to hit So Cal I believe in March and was considering going.  I believe it hits a few more cities later on in the year.

I noticed that the Gentle Giant Clone Trooper Pilot is going to be up for sale here.

For those that have gone in the past, how is the show?


-Fish-

[jokabofe]

oh no, is the clone pilot bust going to be another convention exclusive fiasco?  

i hope not, since that damn blue clone is the only one that i'm missing, outside of that - dare i say it - ridiculous looking vader. the vader i could care less about adding to my collection, but the blue clone i want. my collection won't be "complete" until i get the blue clone...   and i'm not about to drop $200 for one on ebay anytime soon...

[Nicklab]

Well, there are 4 Wizard World shows in 2004.  The first is in Long Beach, CA in March.  There are also shows in Philadelphia, Chicago and Dallas later this year.

[Boba Binks]

I try to plan on going to the one up in Chicago.
I want the Gentle Giant Clone Trooper Pilot!
Also I want the Sergeant Clonetrooper (Green)!

If anyone can help me out in acquiring one of each of these it would be most appreaciated.

[Famine]

I plan on hitting WW when it goes to Phillidelphia, and it will be my first convention. Maybe I will run into some of you there!

Kevin

[BigDumbWookiee]

I wont be going, but I do plan to nag JediMAC a bunch, until he will pick me up a Clone Pilot bust  

[dustrho]

I'm more than likely going to go the one in Chicago since I live in Chicago.  

[JediMAC]

Unless something unexpected comes up, I plan on hitting up the L.A. show.  Should be fun going to the inaugural Wizard World convention out here on the west coast.  'Bout time!  Looking forward to it...

I wont be going, but I do plan to nag JediMAC a bunch, until he will pick me up a Clone Pilot bust  

No nagging necessary, but some serious begging might do the trick Adam!    Nah, I had you lined up for one of the busts the moment I heard about the show, before you ever dropped me a line about it.  Hopefully I can come through and pimp ya' another exclusive bust, but obviously I can't guarantee anything...  But I'll do my best!  

I'm a little nervous though, 'cause now that everyone's discovered how insanely hard it was to get the Blue Clone at the Comic Con last year, I fear a seriously mad rush for the GG booth this time around...  

[BigDumbWookiee]

Ah, I love Matt!

[Rod]

I was wondering if after all of us seeing how poorly Wizard handled the distribution of the CLone Trooper pilot mini bustif anybody will be changing their plans to attend Wizard World East or Wizard World Chicago.

I know that they lost me as an attendee with this poorly handled distribution.  I had made plans to go to Wizard East with the sole purpose of getting this bust.  I know I might have had to fight for it once I got there.  But I at least expected to have a shot at it....now i don't.

I want to take an informal poll here and at other SW collecting sites and then I will be sending the results to Wizard in an e-mail I intend to write to them.

Many people were planning on going to these 2 shows to get this bust.  Since Wizard is sold out of them, you still gonna go?

[Morgbug]

Well I don't live anywhere near where a wizard world event ever occurs, but I do have an opinion on what I would do with the opportunity.  

Truthfully, my attendance would be based on other events at the Wizard World show.  But my first priority would have been to get the bust.  That said, if the show was weak (IMO) and my only reason for attending was to get the bust, then likely my answer now would be 'no'.  

As I understand it they mishandled the blue clonetrooper bust prior to the pilot bust.  Not only did they screw up, but they seem reluctant to listen to the fans.

While I thoroughly enjoy selling stuff on ebay and making money, that's not what these things are made for.  They should be ending up in the hands of the collector for the price they are charging.  It is generous to offer two per person to allow other collectors to help each other out, but pretty clearly they need to institute some sort of draconian policy whereby only one per person or organization is allowed.  Allowing local display booth staff to gather them is ridiculous.  90+% of these are destined solely for ebay.  That will drive away more collectors than anything else.  

Only my opinion though.

[JediMAC]

Well, I actually went to WWLA, and from a Star Wars standpoint, the convention totally sucked.    The Pilot bust was another fiasco, with them giving out 2 per person to EVERYONE on Friday's preview night, leaving a very small handful of them for the first 10 minutes of the show on Saturday morning, which of course caused my ass to miss out on them, like everyone else who couldn't make it to Preview Night.

But if you're a fan of comics in general (and the movies therefrom), then the show's probably still worth the trip.  But the Star Wars stuff was few and far between.  Only a couple dealers in the entire show had any SW items for sale, and of course they were marked up quite substantially.  Jared and I only spent 2-3 hours total in the show, so it was a pretty serious waste of time and money (other than a cool SW DVD we luckily stumbled across as we were leaving the show).

As I understand it they mishandled the blue clonetrooper bust prior to the pilot bust.  Not only did they screw up, but they seem reluctant to listen to the fans.

Well, Gentle Giant was solely to blame for the Blue Clone bust fiasco last year at Comic Con.  But this time around, GG actually gave their busts to Wizards to handle as they saw fit, and apparently gave them no guidelines or suggestions whatsoever, based on what they learned last year in San Diego.  So in that respect, I still hold GG partially responsible, but it's Wizards that is mostly to blame this time around.

But the bottom line is that the GG bust line, especially when it comes to their exclusives, is not a line that's tailored to it's respective fans and collectors.  It disgusts me that the GG exclusives do nothing but perpetuate and support the scalpers market, and it doesn't look like GG cares about that fact one little bit...    Thank God I don't collect this line.  A Star Wars licensee like this company will never earn my business.

Not to say that they're not great looking collectibles though.

[Boba Binks]

I usually go to the one in Chicago. But I do not think I will be going this year. The only reason I would go is to get the Clone Pilot bust which I know will sell out before I could get there on the weekend. So unless plans change I do not think I will be attending.