Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Comic Con 2017 (1 of 5) -- Stuart Ng Books Booth

From my estimation... 2017 was Stuart Ng Books 20th year exhibiting at SDCC. We've been attending even longer. Longtime SNB fans know to look for Stuart's 50' space at Booth 5012.

Few people see the hard work behind the scenes to build a bookstore booth from scratch.
It starts back at the store in Torrance.. pulling and boxing stock and loading it onto a truck. Once the truck gets to the convention center... the boxes are hand loaded onto pallets and forklift drivers take them to the SNB booth location...
Stuart and Jim are assisted by a team of local colleagues who have helped with the logistics, set-up and tear down for many years now.
 Stuart and the team assemble the shelves... unbox the books.. and Stuart prints labels throughout the show to help patrons and team staff locate the treasures!
 Stuart spends weeks ahead of the show... organizing maps to lay out the booth.

 Set-up begins on Tuesday....


 And continues on Wednesday morning....
 as more signage is added...
 and the shelves are filled with books..
 Getting everything ready for the opening on preview night...


Shelf below featured vols. 1-3 of Harpy Gee by artist Brianne Drouhard. Since Brianne wasn't able to attend SDCC, she used social media to let her fans know they could find her signed copies of her books -- with a sketch -- at SNB.
http://stuartngbooks.com/harpy-gee-chapter-1-signed-with-a-drawing-en.html
 Thanks to our team of friends and colleagues ... Stuart gets the booth up and running.. with a smile!


 Our rock star cashier Selana is a familiar face to Comic Con patrons!

Stuart is known for rare items... like these exhibition catalogs below from the Art Ludique Museum in Paris.
 Photo below shows shelf of kids books....from artists like Steph Laberis.
http://stuartngbooks.com/grumpy-cat-a-is-for-awful-little-golden-book.html
Annette Marnat  http://stuartngbooks.com/moana-and-the-ocean.html
and Claire Keane http://stuartngbooks.com/little-big-girl.html
 Another shelf featured English Language editions of popular French graphic novels/Bande Dessinee.
Titles here included volumes from the Valerian Series http://stuartngbooks.com/valerian-2-the-empire-of-a-thousand-planets.html
 The end cap location of the booth help feature stock like statues, prints, best sellers, and a few boxes of sale books...
On Saturday..photo below shows Stuart with guest artist Tony DiTerizzli signing at the booth.
Another photo at the signing.... this one taken by Stuart
50 feet of books is a large space.. but it's still only a fraction of what is in the store and on the website.

After Comic Con closes at 5PM on Sunday.. the clock starts ticking for tear-down and load out. Again, our local helpers arrive to get the job done
This means packing boxes, tearing down the fixtures, securing all the items onto the pallets so they can get forklifted back to the loading docs.. Then even later in the evening... the SNB crew packs the truck for the trip home.
Thanks to the support of con attendees, we are grateful to take home fewer boxes than what we bring. And the boxes we do bring back include new items. Stuart's customers who can't make it to Comic Con, count on him bringing back the best selection of sketchbooks from his many artist contacts. 

San Diego Comic Con has exploded in growth and popularity over the years. While this is good news overall.. it does bring challenges. Logistics for doing the show... and expenses for both attendees and exhibitors.. have become more complicated. A full schedule of activities on the convention grounds... and the many FREE attractions surrounding the convention... all compete for the time and budget of attendees. 

Indie artists and other small vendors appreciate the attendees who are making the choice to find new art.. and shop at small businesses.

Comic Con 2017 (2 of 5) -- Blade Runner experience (updated 7.29.17)

This hit attraction was across the street from the Convention Center and Free ... provided  you could wait in the long line! In fact, there were two lines.. one on each side of the tent... your choice for either the VR or non-VR viewing during the "ride" portion, which re-creates a tour of Blade Runner's Los Angeles...
This posts has photos of the event area.. and 3 You Tube video tours...

 Here's the entrance the day before it opened...



 Not sure if these white "Blade Runner" umbrellas were freebie souvenirs, or just handed out to folks in line to help deal with the heat while waiting...


UPDATE -- LA Times story about Blade Runner.. also mentions the interactive Blade Runner Experience at Comic Con

Comic Con 2017 (3 of 5) - Exhibit hall booths

Everything you hear about Comic Con is true! The crowds. The events.





(Blade Runner Experience was in the large white tent below..)
Post here on the blog has links to videos with views from inside the tent
http://stuartngbooks.blogspot.com/2017/07/comic-con-2017-2-of-5-blade-runner.html
Comic Con today is perhaps best known for long lines. And those elusive exclusives.

Are there even still comics at comic con???
well, yes....
But most attendees today are here for other sights from around the Convention grounds..
And seeing what's on the Exhibit Hall floor.,,
Tiki hut booth of art by Shag
All days of the show featured attendees in long lines for exclusive items...
DC booth...
featured costumes from Justice League characters...


Sideshow Collectibles booth with detailed figures of popular characters...





Always lively at Walking Dead booth... 
the Zombies never break character!





Old School Star Wars always popular...

And Old School items for the new era...
Here's a video showing the landspeeder in action...
Photo op below allowed Jedis to pose with a lightsaber. Fan below brought his own (in his left hand)
Star Wars inclusive for fan girls too!


Super hero bathrobes...
Ghost in the Shell suit at the Weta booth...
Interactive experience....entrance
and exit..
Popular photo op outside the Warner Bros. booth allowed you to pose with giant wings!

Booth of costumes.. an entire wall of Wonder Woman..


Dr. Strange costume for scale...and for sale!
Long line for the t-shirts and tote bags at... 

The Outlander booth..

Popular booth of Peanuts items... from Japan!



Auction items from a sentimental estate sale coming up later this year...




Epic lines at the Hasbro booth
More toys at the Mattel booth... 
with sold out exclusives.. 
Classic Batcave
Photo ops at Nickelodeon...

and a Pineapple house interactive walk through..
Booth below featured a drawing panel  -- all ages welcome to participate
Loter Inc location.... always popular indie artist designers... http://www.loter.com/
They were recently artists in residence at WonderGround gallery in Downtown Disney.
Booth of figures from Laika animation films
Some booths sell prop replicas.

So many action figures all around the show...
"Aliens" action figures.. 
with a new team member..






With so many attendees on the hunt for exclusives...
 there are booths that sell out..
Tickets and wristbands are distributed to try to even out the odds. So you stand in line twice.. once for the ticket/band.. and once to try to nab the item....

Lots of media covering all the stories.
Here's a peek at an MTV crew .. with talent getting into costume...








Quite possibly my favorite new amenity... this oasis of rarely unoccupied comfy chairs in the main lobby! (photo below during  Exhibitor hours, prior to convention open)

I've tracked my daily mileage at this convention... between 8 and 11 miles a day!
It's Comic Con!