Badmike wrote:
Yeh, I've already got over 100 items listed, it's very easy to set up and print out.  Here's the link:

http://www.livegameauctions.com/

Mike B.

Prufrock wrote:AdderMcOne,

No wife to worry about.  I have recieved my badge.  I have not recieved the badge(s) of those people who used my address.  I will pm those involved as soon as a badge for them arrives.

Martin

AdderMcOne wrote:Are they actually badges or are they wristbands? Gencon Oz used a different coloured paper wristband for each day. Pain in the butt if you wanted to keep them.

If you missed out on visiting San Diego this year, I have to tell you that the news isn't all bad. First of all, the hotel owners in San Diego have all come to realize that they can raise their rates to astronomic levels during the convention, as there are simply not enough rooms to handle all of the attendees. When even the very mediocre Howard Johnson's in Hotel Circle is charging $299 a night (as compared with the $84 regular rate), you know that comics fans are being totally hosed. Another negative consideration is the hassle of eating out. With more than a few publishers and Hollywood wheels in town, you can forget about a reservation in a nice restaurant. Thanks to the "suits," we've become beggars at our own banquet. Finally, transportation in and out of the convention center is a complete fiasco. When they built the huge expansion of the convention center a couple of years ago, they added no new underground parking. That decision was made because they have to run pumps 24 hours a day to keep the salt water from San Diego Bay from flooding the existing underground parking. As an alternative, they built a single multi-story parking structure to the south of the convention center, with room for about 500 cars. As of last year, however, they were building a huge new Hilton (?) hotel directly adjacent to this only place to park. I'm hoping that they have something else built for this year's parking, but I am not optimistic. As a result, over 100,000 comics fans will be needing to use public transportation into the convention center on Saturday. As nice as the San Diego trolley system and the Amtrak LA to San Diego Coaster might be (and the fact they double the number of trains for Comic-Con), the needed capacity is simply not there. As a result, the traffic jams on the I-! 5 freeway from La (it can take 6 hours to drive from LA to San Diego on Saturday morning...), and in the area around the convention center, are legendary. Completing the picture of this litany of misery are the lines to pick up tickets. The San Diego convention team keeps getting better each year at crowd management, but it is inevitable that trying to hand out hundreds of thousands of tickets will result in significant lines, oftentimes requiring hours of standing in the hot sun. Not fun.

Just in case you were wondering, the convention is darn near as much of a hassle for us, as it is for attendees. As of this year, comics dealers are no longer allowed to unload our freight in the actual convention center. We now have to stage our merchandise in an uncovered open-air parking lot miles away, so that it can then be driven into the convention center by the union truckload. Why? Because the convention committee has become so successful at attracting Hollywood studios and other entertainment companies (with their astoundingly massive displays), that there is simply no longer the time for our ragtag assemblage of cars, vans, and trailers packed full with comics and trade paperbacks to be unloaded in the loading docks. Once again, we have become beggars in our own home. I cannot even express to you how bitter this all makes me. Do not be at all surprised if this is our last year of exhibiting in San Diego. Of course, I do have to say that I contemplate that every year, and then still end up renewing our booths on Sunday night. That having been said, however, this whole progression of letting Hollywood take over our convention peeves me beyond words. For those of you who can remember the old ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell, this is certainly turning into a case where the convention committee is acting just like the hogs who took over the farm, and eventually sold out the rest of the animals to the humans. "Some animals are more equal than others..."