As for “nobody spending money at anime cons”, you obviously haven’t attended the anime cons in the Midwest. We do very well out here.

You saw people walking away with their swords or cute anime toys, but to see someone walking with a stack of mangas let alone comics was a rarity.

Heidi has one point right, that for the more trafficked anime shows I’ve been to, the attitude of ‘buying from fans’ is a strong one. This show felt like a bad comic book show dressed in poorly fitted anime clothing.

I’d like to do this show again, but I would definitely need to be convinced that the crowd is going to be stronger.

I had hoped to find even one table with merchandise that was geared towards adults with real discretionary income - rare vinyl or model kits (like MA.K. reissues) or uncommon imported media; the generation of people like myself who were the vanguard responsible for popularizing anime (and Japanese culture in general) would like to see. But as I passed table after table of Naruto headbands and other embarrassing, well, crap, it became clear that the internet (and trips to Tokyo) make these sorts of events a huge anachronism.

Gone are the days when fans go to the dealers’ hall to find things they’ve never seen or had access to before. Dealers unsatisfied with their sales have to find a way to offer something new or give people a reason to immediately buy from them (e.g., as opposed to Amazon. eBay, etc.). Anime cons (especially small ones) seem worst at this. I’d rather spend my money in artists’ alley than pay top dollar for a DVD or manga I can get anywhere, anytime, for less. (This is another reason I would like to see more space given to artist alleys, which most cons seem to treat as annoying but necessary evils.)

Show me the dojinshi. Show me a T-shirt every other booth doesn’t have. Don’t show me another spinner rack full of Death Note or Naruto headbands and then complain about low sales.

I understand that’s a challenge, but it would make cons more fun for fans and more profitable for dealers.

Oh, SNAP.

I agree with you that a Dealer’s Room is never a guarantee of profitability but if the vast majority of retailer’s aren’t doing well than there’s a problem. Cons need attendees and retailer support to thrive.

Early December is a bad time for con sales. Even January would be better because at least then the target market would be flush with Christmas cash from their relatives.

Anime shows are different from Comic Book shows. Only NYCC or SDCC have the number of programming tracks of an Otakon. You can say SDCC has amongst the most programming of any event out there. That is one of the big differences between an Anime con and a Comic Book convention. I know Baltimore Comic Con has only two panel rooms besides the show floor. Baltimore Comic Con is also a show that has comics as their only thing.

I’m not going to admit how I know that.

I’m shocked that you could call the first day of the show “busy”. Attendance on day one was pitifully small and every retailer I spoke to expressed serious fears at the slow sales and overall malaise of the show.

Even now, in the midst of Saturday, it’s a busy show attendance-wise but brutal for sales. Take a good look at the actual booths; people are filling the aisles but few are actually buying anything. They’re gobbling up free promotional material, taking photos and moving on. Every retailer I’ve spoken to today is disappointed at the browsing-vs-sales ratio so far.