Dealer's Room Scores?

tetsujin · Post by **tetsujin** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:25 am

Most of the time that I was in the Dealer's Room I was looking for model kits and feeling pretty disappointed with both the selection and the pricing. (Some of the pricing was at least reasonable, items that were more expensive to begin with mostly... Like $100 for a Mega Size Gundam isn't a terrific deal but it's about the going rate, and there were a few 4500 yen kits in the neighborhood of $50-$60... But then there were pricing decisions worthy of war criminal status, like Real Grade Gundam for $70...)

However, on Sunday I did find one thing that made me real happy: old hobby magazines for $3.50 each. In particular, Dengeki Hobby of March 2001, which is one of the issues that includes the Suku Suku Scratch articles covering Mitsuaki Misaki's Zaku FZ scratch build - articles that had a big impact on me when I was just starting in the hobby... Plus a couple Hobby Japans from the late '90s (early MG stuff!) There were points where I was feeling ready to give up on the dealer's room entirely, but finding the magazines really made my day.

Badonkadonk · Post by **Badonkadonk** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 4:36 pm

Yes! I was also excited on Sunday to find some issues of Hobby Japan for $5 each. I don't build models and I don't even really know Gundam but I love the high-quality photos of all those gorgeous models, so whenever I get a chance to pick up a Hobby Japan (last time was ~7 years ago) I jump on it.

I got some discounted t-shirts - A Foxhound shirt that I'd been looking for for a long time and a Marvel vs. Capcom shirt. I wanted a NERV shirt, but by the time the discounts kicked in they were all gone in my size.

I learned a little bit about the value of shopping around - one vendor had this nice looking Rei statue in a pretty beat-up box for $30. He said that since the box was messed up he'd sell it to me for $25. Later I found a vendor selling the exact same figure in a perfectly fine box for $24. I collect tokusatsu and Transformers but I always said that I would never have an anime girl on my track record - she does complement my S.o.C. SPEC EVA-00' nicely, though.

Fyrii · Post by **Fyrii** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:31 pm

For some reason, I can't exit a con without buying dice, so I found some pretty ones for myself along with 2 unicorn erasers..

I was disappointed by the lack of 1-3rd gen pokemon merchandise, but I guess it's expected since 5th just came out. Still, I would have killed to have found Vaporeon related merchandise other than stickers and such.

I made out with a really cute bunny hat that has ears that trail to my waist- it was at 30 dollars, but I saw hats around that were of less material and around the same price so I think it was worth it.

Sayoria · Post by **Sayoria** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:43 pm

Anime Boston Bag
Anime Boston 2011 Blue Drink Bottle
Anime Boston 2011 T-Shirt
Misuzu Kamio Plushie
Giant Frog Plushie
Full Moon O Sagashite Vol 5-7

Staren · Post by **Staren** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:46 pm

I got myself hooked on advertising / promo posters at this con. There was a dealer that had great older ad posters running tween $12 and $40 each. I got a poster from the release of the second Tenchi movie, Mezzo, Card Captor Sakura, and a couple of Rayearth posters. Ya, I went a little poster crazy. I'm happy though.

Staren · Post by **Staren** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:53 pm

[quote=Yukito Kunisaki]Anime Boston Bag
Anime Boston 2011 Blue Drink Bottle
Anime Boston 2011 T-Shirt[/quote]

Ya, the AB swag is actually a pretty good deal. I'm now in the habit of getting the water bottle, t-shirt, and pin each year. The bag was a pretty good deal this year as well.

meerkat · Post by **meerkat** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 6:11 pm

I generally have a specific way I go about my purchases:

1. Find a table with grab bags. Buy three or four.

2. Go through and find what I want. These items I take home Friday night and put aside.

3. Go to the swap meet and attempt to trade up for either something I want or something that is worth more than the item I have.

4. Late Saturday night and early Sunday I walk the halls with my excess looking to make a sale/trade. Typically I wind up making all of my money back and this year I actually wound up with a net increase from what I started with.

I spent $40 at the convention. I wound up with:

1. five figurines
2. two DVDs
3. three sticker sets
4. five keychains
5. three manga
6. two gundam models
7. three posters
8. a wallscroll

I also sold two figurines to some girls for slightly below the price stickered on the box and wound up making more than the $40 that the grab bags costed.

Siefl · Post by **Siefl** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 6:28 pm

I'm low on budget but I got ennough cool stuff for myself.
On the other hand my friend didn't know how the hell to get around the dealers room. He bought stuff that was waaaaaaaay overpriced in one stall but in the other stall it was the same thing but 75% lower price. Dude didn't know how to just take time and look around. I scanned the room at least 10 times before buying stuff. I ended up getting shirts, a dvd,a velvet choker, Goggle accessories, and pins for under $50 which isn't so bad.

I also got %50 worth of artist alley stuff which was a nice top hat, head band, pins and prints. I haggled before in the dealers room. It was in the rules in 2009 or something so I thought why not? (Correct me if I'm wrong too). A gloomy bear was $25 and I ended up paying $15 which was an awesome score for a 20" doll. Life is good man.

I spent overall $110 including food for the weekend and brought stuff home. Hopefully I'll be saving for next year and buy figures I want and other dolls.

pasttheshy · Post by **pasttheshy** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:30 pm

Even though it was annoying not finding the few things I really wanted, I was able to find some things I wanted but could never find before. Case in point, the entire TV series of CLAMP School Detectives. I'd only ever seen it for sale on Amazon, but don't have a credit card. I have the manga, and its super cute. Also both albums for the L33tStr33t Boys, a DVD of Uncle Yo's standup routine, and pictures of rare and unusual cosplays.

Dancingkat888 · Post by **Dancingkat888** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 9:32 pm

I found the most beautiful maid outfit EVER for only $45. I was so happy~

Master of NERV · Post by **Master of NERV** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:12 pm

My rule of thumb is to take one complete lap around the dealer's room before purchasing, unless there's something very specific I'm looking for (like a recently-released manga).

This year's list...

Anime:
El Cazador de la Bruja, Ga-Rei-Zero (Blu-ray), Air (TV with OVA), xxxHolic, Rurouni Kenshin (seasons 1-3), Gun x Sword, Texhnolyze, Colorful (gift for friend), Trigun (gift for friend), Princess Minerva (gift for friend)

Figurines:
Margery Daw (Shakugan no Shana), Revi (Black Lagoon), Yurika (Martian Successor Nadesico) -- it was amazing to find such an old figure so cheap ($12)!

Manga:
Ooku 3-5, Excel Saga 22

AB merchandise:
Lanyard (Yes! Always wanted to be able to buy one), Bag (Really useful in the dealerâ€™s room)

$50 for Japan earthquake relief

The only thing I missed is the dealer who handles production cels and other studio artwork; I didn't notice his booth until Sunday when I had no time to really look.

DevilAcolyte · Post by **DevilAcolyte** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:24 pm

I got two adorable cell phone charms as gifts for friends, and a large D20 purchased thanks to an aggressively friendly sales pitch that left me thoroughly amused, and violated in the most pleasant way possible ^.^ I don't even know what to do with the twenty-sided die, but that girl earned me as a customer

stray-x · Post by **stray-x** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:36 pm

I bought about $100 worth of Sanrio/San-X/Gloomy Bear plushes in the Dealers Room. I also got some pins in the Artist Alley for my friends who couldn't make it this year.

Yammark · Post by **Yammark** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:19 pm

I got manga for a dollar a peice, nothing real good cause I is poor that year ;(

Kusuguru Usagi · Post by **Kusuguru Usagi** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 12:11 pm

This year I bought the following:

AB-related items:

necklace (blue version w/A-Chan)
water bottle
sewing kit
2011 T-shirt
college-style shirt

I also bought from Comicopia:

"Pet Shop Of Horrors: Tokyo", volumes 6, 7, & 8 manga

I'm not sure the name of the place I got these 2 items from, but they were behind Neko-jin Designs:

a navy blue folding hand-held fan w/sakura blossom design

a Death Note notebook that came w/a CD

I also bought from Neko-jin:

2 hooded sweatshirts

a scarf

5 pins

a rainbow flag

1 original artpiece

2 pillows

tetsujin · Post by **tetsujin** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 1:56 pm

Oh, I forgot the other thing I managed to snag this year: volume 6 of "Futaba Kun-change"

I guess that one's kind of dropped off the map at this point... Several years back I was collecting the series and I think that was the only volume I'd failed to get.