2013 Calgary Comic Expo Thread ! 3 days of Nerdom! - Page 7 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

speede5 · 02-25-2013, 11:13 AM

Cause they don't make enough money from their day jobs.

Just because it's standard doesn't make it right.

Popularity increases their value when it comes time to negotiate contracts, build your fan base and increase your value.

The venue is covering their costs, no one comes for free.

I think charging a fee if it's going to charity is fine.

Charging a fee if the auto is going for resale is fine.

Charging a 10 year old to get an auto is bush league.

MrMastodonFarm · 02-25-2013, 11:31 AM

If you don't like it, don't pay. For a lot of these guys this is the only way they make a living now. Giving away free autographs isn't going to get them on TV ever again unfortunately.

speede5 · 02-25-2013, 11:52 AM

Oh, good point. Sorry, I was thinking current stars.

I'm not trying to be pissy, I hate that don't like it don't pay attitude, like that makes a bad practice ok. I just think that as a star there are certain things that come with the territory and this practice of charging for photos or autos is really cheesy.

There have to be boundries, I don't think stars should give up their lives for the jobs. Does it really make an impact on their bottom line to do this?

I remeber when this practice started in the 90's and it was really just to curb the collector/resale market. Now it's standard accepted practice.

SebC · 02-25-2013, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by speede5

I remeber when this practice started in the 90's and it was really just to curb the collector/resale market. Now it's standard accepted practice.

Well, it charging also curbs demand to make the lines and whatnot more manageable. It ensure the people who get the autographs are those who value them the most (kind of).

Yeah_Baby · 02-26-2013, 09:28 AM

I think it funnest part of the autograph signed was last year. Garrett Wang was sitting at a table right by Vulcan, Alberta booth. He didn't have official signage or anything. Just a little name plate and sign saying he was signing.

My buddy and I walked around the isle, And said, "Hey look, it's Garrett Wang." Garrett smiled expecting us to come over and get something signed. Sadly for Harry Kim, we just kept walking.

MrMastodonFarm · 02-26-2013, 09:41 AM

Yeah, I think Bertuzzied mentioned he pays his own way to these things and just asks to set up shop. Something to that effect anyways.

Hack&Lube · 02-26-2013, 09:43 AM

I felt sad for him last year, he wasn't officially invited as a guest and got there by renting his own vendor table to sell t-shirts, etc.

But then again, since he was there, they ended up using him as MC/Interviewer for Stan Lee and also for the ST events.

chemgear · 02-26-2013, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SebC

It's false, though probably not far off... I'd guess CCEE is at least top 10 in North America.

Definitely bigger than CCEE:

San Diego Comic Con (130,000)
New York Comic Con (116,000)
Fan Expo (Toronto) (91,000)

And those numbers are just those who manage to actually get a ticket/pass. The first two sell out VERY quickly, not sure about Toronto. They'd have even bigger numbers if not for ticket restrictions. I think Calgary has been running ticket sales for months now. Weird Al is still only half sold as well.

I think they were saying San Diego sold out in an hour and a half - though it was literally seconds for people to max out the lobby room and then the 90 minutes for those people to fill out information to check out. If you want to be amused by thousands of whiney entitled tears, go check out the Comic-Con facebook page.

As a smaller Con, Calgary is almost certainly better for autos and pics though.

Yeah_Baby · 02-26-2013, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Yeah, I think Bertuzzied mentioned he pays his own way to these things and just asks to set up shop. Something to that effect anyways.

I almost wish I would have taken a photo op with him then. Then maybe he could afford a hair cut. Too bad I hate Voyager, otherwise I would have.

Bertuzzied · 02-26-2013, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Yeah, I think Bertuzzied mentioned he pays his own way to these things and just asks to set up shop. Something to that effect anyways.

..... are you kidding me? I'm paying like $5k for my booth this year! hahaha.

i wish i could just ask to set up shop... hehe

MrMastodonFarm · 02-26-2013, 12:54 PM

Yeah, I don't know if I meant he did it for free, I said he paid his own way to these things.

Bertuzzied · 02-26-2013, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Yeah, I don't know if I meant he did it for free, I said he paid his own way to these things.

Oh crap. you were talking about the star trek guy. i thought you meant me! hahaha

All the major guests get paid for sure to come. Not sure about the minor guests but i think they get free flight and hotel.

BlackArcher101 · 02-28-2013, 10:22 AM

Excellent, Nathan Fillion was announced this morning.

FlamesAllTheWay · 02-28-2013, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Excellent, Nathan Fillion was announced this morning.

Awesome! Too bad San Diego already beat us to the punch or maybe he could have tried to recruit some other Firefly cast members for a big panel.

Bertuzzied · 02-28-2013, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Excellent, Nathan Fillion was announced this morning.

Are you sure it wasn't Jason Bateman?

MrMastodonFarm · 02-28-2013, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Excellent, Nathan Fillion was announced this morning.

Shiny!

chemgear · 03-13-2013, 07:53 PM

They posted the panel schedule now. Looks a little skinny versus the usual big conventions but should be much easier to get into obviously. Sunday looks to be the day with the more popular items I think.

http://www.calgaryexpo.com/programming/

Still selling passes for all days and tons of tickets for Weird Al still available. Photo Ops are also for open sale, nothing sold out yet.

photon · 03-13-2013, 07:57 PM

My sister was a big Weird Al fan when she was young, trying to convince her to go to the show, then I'll get her a photo op maybe.

chemgear · 03-13-2013, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by photon

My sister was a big Weird Al fan when she was young, trying to convince her to go to the show, then I'll get her a photo op maybe.

That's pretty cool of you. Normally I'm all for jumping in and spending the money for experiences that you enjoy but there are still a ton of available tickets.

You have a good chuck of time to convince her.

The photo op might be different though.

chemgear · 03-14-2013, 08:37 PM

Looks like MacGyver is in.