QuadCon 2022

So the next show I was attending was QuadCon, located over in St. Charles, Missouri.

I placed an order for brand new issues of my comic through Kablam printing, and they came in the same day. I was going to leave for Saint Charles.

This is a show me and my brother love going to, and the reason we went the very first time was to meet YouTube personality and toy enthusiast, Pixel Dan.

After so many shows, it’s just nice to get out, and just relax, and maybe find some cool things to add to my studio collection.

Saint Charles is out near St. Louis, so from Kansas City it’s about a 3 to 4 Hour drive. Which means an early departure time.

We pulled in right around 10:30 AM, and cover was five dollars entry, I believe there are other discounts available. 

Lot of families attend this show.

For those that have not been to QuadCon, it’s a pretty defined toy, Collector event, with some comic book, dealers, and a few local artists selling things.

Always nice to see what sort of transformers and robot sort of items show up.

If this sort of show is in your wheelhouse, this is thankfully one of the shows that still caters to vintage items pretty religiously. 

For the life of me, I don’t know where I’d seen this before, but I know I never owned it.

There’s kind of a rush doing the shows because the earlier you get there the better the selection. I made my first purchase of the day within the first 15 minutes of walking in the door.

Seeing carded Rock Lords, in person is a rarity indeed. But also seeing carded M.A.S.K. and Dinoriders items really surprised me.

I never had this Horde Playset as a kid, but seeing one still sealed in the box with a little shelf wear, and encased in acrylic for about $1200 was pretty astounding.

Occasionally, you’ll see something so rare you can’t help but stand and stare at it.

The cosplayer you see below was hands-down, the best cosplay effort I have seen all year long. It’s a pretty impressive, Batman costume, but my brother and I quickly noticed he was carrying some thing. I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud because as you can see... 

He had applications for a new Robin in hand. Take a good look. THIS is perfection.

Batman was carrying the skeletal remains of Jason Todd and was holding applications for a new Robin. I’m not much of a DC fan, but I think like anyone who is into comics and pop culture, you can’t help but not know about the series arc, "A death in the family", when Robin dies at the hand of the Joker.

This cosplay idea was so well done on many levels, I sincerely hope he won the cosplay contest. If anyone reading this knows the name of this cosplayer, please let me know so I can add it to this blog update!

Quite literally a shop that sold fantasy themed items.

After a few hours there we decided we seen everything we could and had bought the items we really wanted. So we decided to see what else was in the area, and also wanted to scout out a food location. For food we found a Smash Burger’s restaurant. Pretty good food, but little bit pricey.

In the same shopping center was a comics and games store simply named "Fantasy Shop".

It was an impressive store, filled with miniatures, sculpting tools, role-playing items, action figures, graphic novels, and a good handful of people playing war games. They also had some sort of painting competition going on, and we were asked if we’d like to put our vote in for the best painted beholder miniature.

I think my brother picked up a couple of graphic novels, I immediately went over to the miniatures, and found some excellent sculpting tools to purchase.

After leaving the store, we noticed a nearby half price books, and decided to check it out. I’m a bit of a bibliophile, and I’ve never been to one of these bookstores before.

Out of my budget items, but still cool to have found these!

There were a lot of used books, that covered a wide range of subjects, but they also sold DVDs, records, music CDs, a few random video game systems, and some odds and ends in action figures.

For some reason it reminded me of an alternate dimension Hastings.

Show Overview.

QuadCon 2022 was held October 22nd, 2022, from 10am to 4pm.

Location: Olympia Event Center - St. Charles, Missouri

Entry Fee: $5 (free after 2pm)

Is it worth it?

As a vendor? If you’re a toy or collectible vendor, and you’ve got items that are outside of the well-known intellectual properties from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, I have no doubt you’d have a killer show.

If you happen to be one of the visual artists set up at the show, I imagine unless your work specifically caters to toy, or pop culture in general with a retro aesthetic, you might not be as successful. I haven’t done the show myself, so I’m only speaking to what I’ve witnessed as far as interactions at the show.

As an attendee? Yes absolutely. This is now my fourth or fifth time attending the show, and I plan on coming back next year.

Again, as you can see from the photos above, and the videos on my TikTok account, this show is very much a toy collectors event, and there is a wide range of prices on everything.

There is a cosplay contest, and I believe some sort of gaming contest/competition held as well. But this is primarily a shopping event. It’s extremely family friendly, and thankfully, because the price points range from dollar items to upwards of thousand dollar items, there is literally anything for any family member to possibly find. I would recommend getting there early, as each time we’ve done the show I’ve managed to find items that I feel would’ve sold fairly quickly.

Expense/Earnings

1. Show Entry Fee: $5.00 (Free after 2pm)
2. Fuel/food: $60.00
3. Purchases from vendors and other artists: $70.00
4. Parking: Free

Total Expenses: $135.00

1. Just attended the show
   
   Total Earnings: $0.00

Pros

• There's a lot to see and do for attendees.
• Show floor layout was large and spread out.
• Attendance is good.
• The vendors so far have had a wide range of items.

Cons

• Nothing comes to mind.

The Final Evaluation

I’m going to approach this as an attendee/collector. QuadCon is not a large show, but it is a good show.

I’ve never been disappointed with the quality of the vendors that show up, and I have my favorites that I consistently look to buy things from. You will find vendors who understand the vintage aspect of what they are selling, and may genuinely understand the history, scarcity, and modern state of an item. There aren’t too many shows that you’ll find that.

This is one show that happens twice a year in this location. QuadCon holds a multitude of other shows, that I imagine fall within the same sort of show organization and feel as these, at least according to what I’ve seen posted online.

I’ve managed to find finishing pieces for my collections, and I sincerely have been collecting since I was 15 years old so I have a lot of lines to complete. I would recommend a budget of no less than $50, and if you can help it shoot for around $250.

I can speak first hand to the fact that there were items I saw the first couple of shows that had I had an extra hundred dollars, I’d be in possession of some really unique and hard to find items. I’m not saying having a lot of money is necessary to attend the show. I am saying that you never know what you’ll find, and that’s an exciting prospect for any pop-culture or toy collector, especially in a day and age of a lot of shows having the same old run-of-the-mill items consistently showing up for sale.

QuadCon 2022 Show Haul

This was probably the lightest grouping of items I picked up at quad con. Not because there weren’t other items, but my budget was still reeling from all the other shows I’ve done. So I gave myself a spending budget of no more than $150, to cover purchases, food, and fuel to get up there.

I picked up a vintage 1982 Hercules Remco figure, a GoBots "Crasher" figure, and a cobra Hiss III tank.

The drive back home was nice and pretty relaxing. It helped take a bit of the edge off of how shows have been for me. I’m glad the Kansas City Japan festival turned out as well as it did, but to attend a show just for the hell of it, was cool.

I have two weeks until I have to be in Wichita for my next convention Air Capital Con. Gotta get to bagging the new Ardor comics that came in, and check to see what new art reproductions I need to make as well.

There’s two more events coming up this weekend that I will review.

They aren’t normal shows, but they are artistic style events, of them are late night light events, one held at the Kansas City zoo, and the other one at Powell Gardens.

Looking forward to both of those, hopefully they'll be cool!

Thank you so much for reading, I am Mario, the Artisan Rogue, and until next time, remember to support artists and local businesses. And if you liked what you've read, and want to support the blog, there's a donation button just below.

Be kind to your fellow beings and always take the path less traveled. We all may live in times uncertain, but kindness, understanding, and believing in the good that is in most each and every one of us is what can bring about better days!

LINKS

QuadCon

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Voice Actor, Writer, Animal Rights Activist

-All photos, editorial content, created by me. One dude. Thank you for reading.-

www.theartisanrogue.com

Freestate Comicon 2022

When I think of a favorite show, I have two that always come to mind. One of them is Freestate Comic Book Convention. After the last few shows I had done, I was really looking forward to doing this.

Didn't get as much photography as I thought I would.

If you've not been to Freestate, Craig Klotz (the owner) puts on a great low key show, the kind that's not stressful, and allows for a measured pace that allow people to show, browse, and talk.

It was also the first show I ever made money at. That's always kept it as a special event for me.

The show focuses on comic creators, but also has vendors with comics and toys.

I love that I have a chance to talk to people that want to invest in what I create. That's a luxury I don't get at other shows. The wild part is this show, and NakaKon are the two shows that people come out at see me at. That's never happened at any other show I've ever done.

[Left] This Ring Wraith cosplay is stunning. [Right] I love when I see generations of families out at the show.

As the show wound down, and I started repacking my table set up, I could feel a wave of relief and good feelings wash over me.

The sales had been good, and during the show, I got an email from someone at NakaKon asking if I wanted to take part in the KC Japan Festival. I promptly said yes, and just like that I had one more show on the schedule, which was great, but I was starting to feel the crunch on time.

The drive home was in and out of yet another rainstorm, and I felt like I managed to get my mind back in the game.

Show Overview.

KC Retro Gaming & Collectibles Show was held September 10th, 2022, from 10am to 5pm.

Location: Douglas County Fairgrounds - 2110 Harper St. - Lawrence, Kansas Costs for participating in Freestate

• 6′ Creator Table = $45
• 8′ Wall Table = $90
• 11′ x 11′ Booth, single 8′ table = $120
• 11′ x 11′ Booth, two 8′ tables = $200
• Additional 8′ tables for use within any booth = $40

Is it worth it?

Yes. This is from the perspective of a buyer specifically. The next time the show happens, I'll do the artist table option.

The vibe was laid back, but also very energetic in conversation in the main vendor room. If you want a show that had a pretty good selection of vendors, creators, and a wide spectrum of items to purchase, this show is exactly that.

Expense/Earnings

1. Attendee Entry: $5.00 / Kids 13 years and younger are free / Bring Postcard, Entry is Free
2. Fuel/food: $35.00
3. Purchases from vendors and other artists: $0.00
4. Parking: Free

Total Expenses: $35.00

1. 2 13"x19" art reproductions: $50
2. 8 comic books: $20
3. 2 sets of button/sticker packs: $10
4. 2 8"x8" art reproductions: $20
5. 1 custom t-shirt order (after show, from business card pickup): $35
   
   Total Gross Earnings: $135

Pros

• The show has a long legacy, Craig Klotz really cares about the creators and vendors at his show.
• It's got a relaxed overall presentation, but is really well organized, and advertised.
• A good number of great comic artists, writers, creators, and assorted vendors.
• Great family friendly event
• Lots of parking

Cons

• None

The Final Evaluation

Freestate is a show I'll always recommend. It's a great all around show, and it's been the start for so many people in attending shows, and it also functions as a social circle setting for a lot of people, including myself.

FreeState Show Haul

No additional picked up items this time, but I did trade comic issues with the amazing artist, Baldemar Rivas!

Baldemar was nice enough to sign this issue for me.

There's a couple of links to find out more below!

Thank you so much for reading, I am Mario, the Artisan Rogue, and until next time, remember to support artists and local businesses. Be kind to your fellow beings and always take the path less traveled. We all may live in times uncertain, but kindness, understanding, and believing in the good that is in most each and every one of us is what can bring about better days!.

LINKS

Freestate/Fancon/Collectorama

Baldemar Rivas 

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Voice Actor, Writer, Animal Rights Activist

-All photos, editorial content, created by me. One dude. Thank you for reading.-

www.theartisanrogue.com

KC Retro Gaming & Collectibles Show 2022

2022 turned out to be the year that I was going to be attending as many shows as I worked, a few for the first time.

The Kansas City Retro Gaming & Collectibles show was a great surprise. I found out about the show through a Facebook post, so my brother and I purchased early bird tickets to get in and see what sort of hidden treasures would be available at the show.

One major draw for me was that YouTuber Adam Koralik, (who is the current holder of one of two very rare Prototypes of the Sega Pluto system) would be in attendance. I'm a fan of his channel and his approach to collecting games.

My brother and I got there for the early bird access hour and some free games were available.

I know that there has been a lot of shows in the Midwest happening. Every other show seems to be some sort of pop-culture themed event to attend. And I don’t mind that, it’s nice to have somewhere to go where people have similar interests and hobbies, and that I can break into conversation with people about many different subjects and pursuits.

We got there before 9am, and there was already a small but growing line of people. Those of us that did get in early were offered a box to reach into to grab one game for free out of. I ended up with the Burger King game for the Xbox, "Sneak King". As I recall, there were three games released for Burger King.

If I heard right, this was the first time that the show had an artist alley area, outside of the vendor room.

Once 9 o’clock hit, they scanned our tickets and we headed in. It was really nice to see an artist alley line up in the hallway, leading down to the main vendor room.

I’ll be totally honest, even as an artist I still made a beeline for the vendor room. The whole feeling of fear of missing out was pretty strong.

I had specific things I was looking for. I found SO MUCH MORE.

Once we entered the main vendor hall, it was almost overwhelming to see how densely packed everything was in there in a good way. I’ve been to the Stoney Creek Hotel location prior for other shows, and this one was surprising in the sheer amount of variety of vendors. I didn’t realize that at the time, but toward the end of the day, it hit me how much this moment was very much lightning in a bottle.

Let me explain.

To attend a show that is pop-culture themed, and meet vendors, who specifically have traveled to Japan, to bring back collectibles, who have traveled in from other states with large vintage collections, to find vendors, selling comics, graphic novels, and art books, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Add in the YouTube personalities in attendance, and it was great chemistry.

Most larger shows never hit that once they get too big. A lot of smaller shows don't always get that mix right. This one did.

Was super happy seeing vintage game laid out on table like this for sale.

I scoured each table. Looking for Sega items, Action Fleet ships, so many things. I keep a list of items that I’m looking for on my phone specifically for shows like this.

Most of the time I can’t remember if I actually purchased something before or not. Thankfully, the first table I found was stacked with a myriad amount of import Japanese games for the Famicon systems.

Prices were fantastic, anywhere from one dollar a cartridge to five dollars a cartridge.

Another vendor had a sizable amount of Sega Master System games, including two that I had never seen in person. One being Ghouls N' Ghosts, and the other being Galaxy Force. Both in wonderful condition, but unfortunately, would have devastated the budget I had allotted for myself for the day.

These were two grail items for my collection, and I really hadn't planned on finding them at the show.

I did appreciate that leading up to the show, many vendors posted to the KC Retro FB page, and were showing off the items they were bringing to the show. I try to remember to expect the unexpected when I go to shows because I have found some amazing deals and finds this year that I never thought I was going to.

After watching my wallet take a beating, and filling up my Mandalorian themed shopping bag, now it was time to go check out the Sega Pluto Prototype.

I don’t know why, but usually meeting somebody who has a large following on social media will make me a bit nervous. I always feel like I’m gonna waste their time by talking to them. I think that’s more an insecurity issue with myself than it is with anything else.

Nonetheless, I made my way back to the far corner of the vendor room and stood in awe of the Sega Pluto system.

For context, those of you that don’t know, I am a fanatical Sega collector.

The second arcade game I ever played was Zaxxon, the first video game system, I received as a gift for Christmas was the Sega master system, and my first table top miniature arcade game I got was Zaxxon. I still own the Sega master system and that table top arcade cabinet in my collection to this day, the original ones I had as a child. So yeah, I was having a moment. A good one.

Bucket List Goal achieved! This is one of two prototypes of the Sega Pluto system.

I meant to ask Adam, if this was the prototype that had been discovered at a flea market in California. It was kind of trippy standing 5 feett from the system. I took photos, video, and then I got to play on the system.

Adam talked about the system as I played Virtua Fighter 2 on it, how the outer case is spray-painted black, how the internals worked, was great.

It certainly was a bucket list goal for me, now completed.

[Left] Me and the Sega Pluto [Right] The show Haul

When he offered that I could hold the system, it certainly gave me pause.

I’m smiling in that photo you see above.

Internally there were two voices.

One and a monotone droning voice repeating "don’tdropitDon’tdropitdon’tdrop.". And then another voice that echoed all the way back to my teenage years thinking, "oh my God this thing is real and you’re holding it dude. You’re HOLDING it."

I made a few more rounds through the show, talking to the fellow I bought the Exo Squad figs from about Game Gear repair, and picked up an issue of Old School Gamer magazine.

The items pictured on the right seem almost super random, but they all hit the wide spectrum of my interests.

I picked up the following:

• a Lego R2-D2 Star Wars pen
• was given a boxed Japanese game that had some water damage on it
• some Famicon disc games
• cartridge games for the Famicon
• the Japanese version of Virtual On for the Sega Saturn
• a few instruction manuals for the Sega game gear
• an awesome boxed import version of Mazinger
• a Power of the Force storm trooper
• a lot of great comics for really good prices, I think they were all a dollar.
• 2 Exo Squad action figures from the original owner in fantastic condition

Show Overview.

KC Retro Gaming & Collectibles Show was held August 21st, 2022, from 8am to 4pm.

Location: Stoney Creek Hotel - 18011 Bass Pro Drive - Independence, Missouri

Is it worth it?

Yes. This is from the perspective of a buyer specifically. The next time the show happens, I'll do the artist table option.

The vibe was laid back, but also very energetic in conversation in the main vendor room. If you want a show that had a pretty good selection of vendors, creators, and a wide spectrum of items to purchase, this show is exactly that.

Expense/Earnings

1. Show Entry Fee: $10.00 (kids under 12 were free I believe)
2. Fuel/food: $40.00
3. Purchases from vendors and other artists: $165.00
4. Parking: Free

Total Expenses: $215.00

1. The option was open to have brought items to swap and shop. I didn't partake in that aspect.
   
   Total Gross Earnings: N/A

Pros

• The show seemed well run and organized
• Space in both the vendor room and out in the artist area was pretty open

Cons

• Only thing I could think of was more emphasis given to the artists in attendance online

The Final Evaluation

Evidently this show has been around for a few months maybe a year or two. I’m not sure. I think this was the first time at this specific location for Kansas City retro.

I often talk about the vibe or energy of a show, and this one had it in spades, the weather was good, it’s a bit on the hot side. But inside the hotel, I had a blast. There were so many things I didn’t get photos of, so many other items that I just didn’t even think would be there. Again, if you follow me on TikTok at the Artisan Rogue, there’s some videos in my timeline from the show. All of the vendors seem to be in a great mood, and a few of the artist that I spoke to and picked up business cards from seem to be doing OK.

I would recommend the show, if you’re looking for a good introductory show for your kids or for yourself it’s a great show here in the Independence area. It's not expensive to get in, and kids under 13 are free admission I believe.

I don’t know how many times they plan on doing this during the year, but I hope it’s not more than once or twice. The truth is, this was a show that showcased exactly how much overlap does occur in the pop-culture hobby crowd. There were a few cosplayers, a few people there specifically looking for anime based items, some diehard comic guys, vintage toy collectors, vintage gamers, gunpla enthusiasts, and more than a few people that I spoke to, that had never been to any of the other shows in the area and this was their first one.

C2E2 Show Haul

I have a lot of hobbies and points of collecting, and I can't remember the last time I went to a show with such a wide berth of variety in vendors. I believe many came from out of state, and there was a lot of import items!

Lego, Exo Squad, a Stormtrooper, Famicon Cartidges.

Instruction booklets for Sega, Comic books, a boxed import Mazinger.

If you’re from the Kansas City area, do you know that we have multiple large ones on the horizon for 2023, and a slew of smaller shows that exist within a 1 1/2 hour drive of Kansas City proper. I do worry about the oversaturation of the market, but again, if the energy that showed up at this show is something that becomes the norm and future shows for others that’s not a bad thing.

Thank you so much for reading, I am Mario, the Artisan Rogue, and until next time, remember to support artists and local businesses. Be kind to your fellow beings and always take the path less traveled. We all may live in times uncertain, but kindness, understanding, and believing in the good that is in most each and every one of us is what can bring about better days!.

LINKS

KC Retro Gaming & Collectibles Show

Adam Koralik

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Voice Actor, Writer, Animal Rights Activist

-All photos, editorial content, created by me. One dude. Thank you for reading.-

www.theartisanrogue.com

Fountain City Con 2022

New badge holder in full effect and ready to sell some art!

There are some blog entries that take me a long while to write, then edit and revise. This one for Fountain City Con, and the upcoming one for C2E2 have taken me literal months to get through (the entry date is backdated for chronological sake of the blog).

I did my best to be open minded about how I was approaching this overview of the show.

But I feel I have to be fairly honest and forward as I have been in all my previous writeups about shows. That means from what I earned, to what foot traffic was like, to how the show environment felt.

Fountain City was a show I'd heard good things about, and this year was to mark the first time it was going to be a two day event. I sat on the fence about doing it, because I had already made a massive investment that I was nervous about, in just having paid for C2E2 (from waitlist status). But it wasn't a lot for a table, so I gave it a chance.

Friday - Show Setup Anxieties

Friday night had set up time from 5 PM until 8 PM. I was unable to make it out there until well past eight o'clock, but thankfully the staff onsite were extremely nice when I called explaining that I was late getting off of a contract job and was now gridlocked in traffic on 70 highway. The route turned into what would’ve been a 35 minute drive into an hour and a half.

Really hoped it was going to stay overcast through the weekend, just to stave off the heat.

Thankfully, when I arrived, there were still plenty of others, mainly vendors still setting up. I pulled up the map that had been sent out prior via email with loading and load out instructions, just to make sure I didn't need to check in with anyone.

When I got in through the corner entrance, I was surprised by how large the show floor space looked at first glance.

The show layout looked really sharp.

My table set up was roughly an 8 x 8‘ area, with plenty of room behind my table and the other line of tables behind me. Thankfully that meant I could set up my full display, but I only had a window of about 30 minutes to get things set up before the hall would close up for the evening.

I managed to get the walls the table and display rack set up, and decided to wait until Saturday morning to get everything else set up.

About halfway setup, just had the artwork left to hang on the walls.

I drove home that evening, thinking about the possibilities and what else I still had left to set up. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit worried, that naturally happens when it’s a show that’s brand new to me. I was happy to see that plenty of artists were at the show.

For some reason, after getting home, about 10 o’clock that night, I was still really nervous.

As I got ready for bed, I laid there awake, just thinking. Insomnia bouts aren't fun, especially before a show. Somewhere in between random thoughts, I fell asleep.

Saturday - Day One, One Sale

As you all may know, I love getting into shows early so I can walk around a bit, maybe do some shopping and a lot of visiting before the public gets in.

The marketing had quite an eventful show day planned out, with a cosplay contest, and enough vendors, artists, and other things that led me to believe it could be a very well attended show.

In the email they requested the people get there by 9 AM although the show is to start at 10 AM on Saturday. This was to accommodate the VIP ticket holders that would get in for early shopping. I am not new to this, as NakaKon does this very thing as do many other shows.

I believe my brother (who was my booth assistant for part of the day) and I, got there about 8 AM.

After catching up with a few people, I quickly finished setting up my artwork, the table, and got my square reader fired up, business cards laid out, and checked to make sure that I had all the things I needed to get through the day.

All set up and ready to sell!

We wandered around for about 40 minutes after that, looking at future possible purchases and checked out the Lego builds from a local group.

I may join up with this Lego group at some point in the future.

I also picked up a few vintage video games. By then, it was time for me to go back to my table, as it was time for the VIPs to start coming into to the show.

The Japanese Atari was a true sight to behold.

I love that there are more video game vendors at shows these days, especially with import game versions for sale.

WHY does Japan always have the best graphic design for packaging?!

So back I was at my table. The energy around me was filled with people talking between one another at the tables, waiting for customers to come by.

There are times when you do enough artist alleys, enough shows, that you can start to feel that something is off. It didn’t really seem like there were many early attendees coming in.

I tried to reassure myself that the anxiety and fear I was feeling was unfounded, "it’s a new show for you", I reminded myself. "it’s a brand new location just chill out man".

Ever since I started writing these review blogs, I write down metrics, count how many business cards I hand out, record crowd density throughout the days, note the types of sales made around me, and build up reference notes for accurate review of how I can work a show if I come back for future selling efforts. For instance, I handed out 38 business cards, spoke in depth to 26 of those people, and of those 26 people I made 11 sales, consisting of 10 comic books, and one art reproduction I sold with a $5 discount applied. I also spoke to 14 vendors, and purchased items from 5 of them. I spoke to 10 creators/authors/artists, and bought from 4 of them.

A good number of people showed up between the hours of 11am till around 2:30 PM. This was also around the time the cosplay contest was happening. Which was a great highlight of the day for many people. The rest of the show time was quiet enough that I was able to visit a multitude of creators I knew at the show, I’m talking at least 5 to 20 minute conversations each.

One of the two judges for the cosplay event, Folxy Cosplay, with one of her amazing creations.

For those of you that have done shows, you know what I’m getting at. A good portion of the show's hours, it did not seem that there were more attendees then there were vendors or artists at the show. This is based on the count of people that walked down through the particular artist alley row I was in. Yes, I kept track of that. 112 on Saturday, and 72 on Sunday.

I say this having taken video and photos for TikTok and Twitter over the course of that day and hesitating because there was no foot traffic in our particular road in artist alley. It was slow enough for me to also go all the way across the show floor to make transactions with various vendors take the time to dig through containers filled with toys and look up some comic books, exchange money and come back and nothing had changed.

At some point from what I understood, there was a soccer game occurring in the other half of the arena. The Outside situation was that the parking lot was already pretty filled by the time this show was beginning to pick up steam by 11 o’clock. I had a few acquaintances that had attempted to get out to the show that informed me there was no where to park which was really unfortunate. I had looked up the game schedule for the venue, and did find a game that was scheduled for that day, but I'm not sure how much parking had to do with attendance either way. as I was pretty sure the parking lot was large enough to accommodate busy events.

Anytime I see someone cosplaying a Jawa, it brightens my mood.

I don’t believe it was a lack of advertisement, I don’t know if it was a new location, I don’t know if it was the weather, but something didn't quite work out in favor for me at this show.

I tried my best, I engaged with people, caught up with friends, did trades, sold a few things and was grateful for everyone that came by and picked up stuff.

But with such low sales, I had to turn this into essentially a marketing and self promotion event, and just accept the loss. Which is never easy.

I did have time to do some small sketch ideas throughout the day.

As the day wore on, there was a lot of hope that Sunday would be a better day. I ended that evening by 6 o’clock, worn out, my voice practically gone and looking forward to dinner.

So I went to sleep with the thought I had a possible chance at making a comeback the second day of the show, since I thought I had from 10am till 5pm to sell.

But as it turns out, I had overlooked a small detail in the email that truncated that hope for me.

Sunday - Day Two, Ten Comics sold

I always try to support any show, even if it doesn’t go well for me. I figure if I’m having a bad day, I’m gonna try like hell to make sure other people don’t.

When I got in there the mood was weary, people were quiet. I'd picked up some coffee energy drinks to fire up my energy. After readying my booth setup once again, I quickly drank my canned energy, and went to start buying things.

Was not prepared for the spectrum of rarities on this table...

The day was filled with a lot more conversation interactions and business card trades. I even had enough time to go shopping yet again right after 12 o’clock. There was nothing particularly outstanding about the day that made me think I want to come back and do the show again.

This also marked the first time since the 80s that I had seen the USS Flagg in person. This one fully assembled!

I did try to stay upbeat, I worked on my standup routine (no seriously, I may not do stand up comedy anymore, but I still work on material for telling stories at my table during shows).

Throughout the day I had enough time to tell long winded stories previous experiences at shows, even at one point explaining how I made a recipe about chili. But I did manage to sell 10 copies of my comic book to people.

Right around 1:45pm, something odd happened. There was a little bit of flurry of action over on the other side of the arena floor. I didn’t really paid any heed, thinking, "ok somebody decided to start breaking down early".

As it turns out, in the email there was two facts that I had overlooked one was the show would end at 3 o’clock but if people wanted to start tearing down at 2 o’clock they were fine with that I believe is it how was it was worded. We had to be out by 4 o’clock and no later because of an event that was happening immediately after the show.

I'm being frank in saying that I'm not the only one in my area that had to have missed that breakdown time on the email. The arena event workers took any spare tables that were in the vendors area and started stacking them and putting them away along with accompanying chairs.

I don’t know the exact order of events that happened, but one of the people in artist alley in my row was friends with a vendor who was told that if he had the opportunity to start tearing down, to do so. So that they could take the tables and chairs. Information went back-and-forth and I’m certain some misinformation may have happened, or at the very least misunderstandings.

I get that there was a note in the email, but I was also a bit surprised that there was also no direct communication from anybody running or working at the show, who might have come around maybe at 1:30pm to remind everyone what was happening.

By the time the tear down dust has started to settle, I was sweaty, sitting outside in my truck, with the A/C on full blast.

Maybe there was a miscommunication between Fountain City and whatever volleyball tournament event that was happening at three or 4 o’clock, I really don’t know. But it was an awkward and very clumsy end to a show that certainly seem to have had a lot of promise going for it.

My stuff on my little hand truck, over to the side of volleyball nets going up.

I do feel bad for the people that had come in to attend the event around the 1:30pm to 1:45pm mark.

I distinctly remember speaking to one such a woman who had brought her four children. I remember this because I and another creator in artist alley had spoken to her about what anime would be appropriate for her now teenage daughter. My neighborhood recommended Fullmetal Alchemist, and I had recommended the Netflix anime Komi Can’t Communicate. The woman was grateful for the input and was looking forward to wandering around till 5pm at the show because they had just gotten there. Not one of us corrected her, I also was of the mindset that the show ended at 5pm. I'm not sure why.

Mind you that was moments before everything started being taken down and the show and it’s entirety was for the most part packed up and shut down by 3 o’clock.

So...I really wanted to be positive in this review. I gave an honest and open look at what it was like for me to have done this show. The negatives I posted and talked about are not without example. You can look at the photos, and I'm brutally honest about my earnings.

Fountain City Con Haul

I hope the show continues to grow and finds incredibly greater growth and success next year if they hold it again. But I can’t take the gamble of expense to attend a show that I didn’t even cover the cost of the table I purchased. And that’s an unfortunate thing, because there was quite a bit that I did enjoy about the show. But enjoyment does not equal making a living. And this is a discussion that anyone that does the show should have with themselves if they decide to proceed with making a professional career effort out of what they do and showcase at conventions.

Show Overview.

Onto the breakdown points of Fountain City Con.

Is it worth it?

For me, it was not. I'm basing that on my earnings and expenses.

The cosplay contest appeared to have been run really well, and people in attendance seemed really happy with the show as a whole.

The show has a lot going for it, and is very family friendly, and any families I saw looked like they had a great time.

This was the first time Fountain City had a two day show. I had really hoped it was going to be a new show I would look forward to doing. But even before the money I spent of my own accord at the show on fellow vendors and artists, I had only barely made back my table cost. I can't justify doing the show again unfortunately.

Expense/Earnings

1. Artist Alley Table price: $56.12
2. Fuel/food: $44.89
3. Purchases from vendors and other artists: $137.00

Total Expenses: $238.01

1. Friday Sales: 30.00
2. Saturday Sales: $26.75 
   
   Total Earnings: $56.75

Pros

• The show has a positive energy, and from years past, clearly people have enjoyed attending
• Show layout and variety was very good, from vendors to artists, gaming to collectibles
• Cosplay contest was held, and many of the people seemed to enjoy it
• Email communication for setup was clear and timely
• Show attendance rates were $20 Adult Wknd Pass, $15/$10 single day, and more options

Cons

• Didn't see staff members during the show on the floor or making rounds, that I could see.
• Abrupt/hurried end to show for event space to set up volleyball nets
• Told by friends attempting to attend on Sat, that there was no parking early in the day

The Final Evaluation

I don't know what form the show will return in for 2023, but for those that enjoyed it, I hope it returns and is a great experience.

It's reputation when it was a one day show was stellar from all I'd heard previously.

Attending is affordable and very family friendly. It's another good, lower cost experience before one tries going to shows like NakaKon or Planet Comicon.

I can't speak for other creators or vendors, but the low sales and sporadic seeming attendance over the majority of the weekend didn't work out for me financially.

Thank you so much for reading, I am Mario, the Artisan Rogue, and until next time, remember to support artists and local businesses. Be kind to your fellow beings and always take the path less traveled. We all may live in times uncertain, but kindness, understanding, and believing in the good that is in most each and every one of us is what can bring about better days!

LINKS

Fountain City Con

Folxy Cosplay

L. David Hesler - I traded for a great Zombie book from him!

1313 Mockingbird Lane - Amazing toy store in Lawrence, KS!

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Voice Actor, Writer, Animal Rights Activist

www.theartisanrogue.com