I’ll start the Otakon 2010 posts with the easy post first, the loot post.
When making the rounds of the dealer’s room, two item types have priority, pins (and by pins I don’t mean those crappy can badges) and art books. After that it’s a search for random junk that will never be used — I love getting things I don’t plan to use. Actually, there is something else that holds high priority, a Cinnamoroll (a cute Sanrio character) item. I most often see this at the Media Blasters booth and they always seem to put it right next to Bible Black and other hentai. It’s sort of an Otakon tradition for me to get something Cinnamoroll. I did not acquire the dog at Otakon, but she wouldn’t get off the couch, which is annoying in and of itself since every other time I try to get her picture she runs away or jumps around like crazy. Today, Icchan wouldn’t budge.
To waste money this way becomes easier if there is a budget for it. Every year I create an Otakon junk fund. At the end of the day I toss whatever coins I have in my pocket into a ziploc bag. This year, the junk fund was $330. As far as the useless junk spending, I went a little over the $330.
Pins
New pins from shows/games that interest me were sparse this year. Actually, about 98% of the pins I saw, I’ve seen in previous years. I did manage to get another Mai Tokiha (My-Hime) pin and an Arika Yumemiya (My-Otome) pin. I know pins aren’t a marquee item, but I used to be able to get a number of pins every year for the past four or five, but I had to really look to find something that I wanted and didn’t already have it.
Art Books
Kinokuniya got the lion’s share of the junk fund. This time all I got were fanservice oriented books. I wanted to get the Tekkonkinkreet book, but I sort of lost track and didn’t pick it up. My rule for buying is to walk away before purchasing anything. On the other hand, each of the four books purchased are fantastic.
The book by Shimada Humikane is amazing if you’re into either mecha masume or low-cut panties on anime girls — and wow the paper-stock the book is printed on is tasty thick. 100 Masters of Moe is a good primer, connecting me to the names of many of the artists I admire. Each artist is given a small space to talk, which are all translated into English by the way. Most of the comments weren’t as interesting as they could have been, but I like the idea and having it translated. Also got books from Noizi Ito and Kantoku.
Apparel
I got three t-shirts, an FLCL shirt and two Cospa shirts, Lucky Star and Evangelion. The Cospa shirts are interesting for a couple of reasons. They are imported from Japan and are superior in the printing department vs. the domestic shirts you see at every other booth. On the downside, Cospa shirts are almost twice as expensive as the normal anime shirts you see about the con. I don’t know if the better printing would be worth the price for most people, but I thought it was. What kind of made me laugh is Cospa decided to make some of their shirts size appropriate for fat Americans, going up to XXXL for a few of their shirts instead of their normal habit of cutting off at XL. Of course, these are Japanese sizes, which are tighter than our size charts. I normally get XXL for a nice roomy fit, since I only wear t-shirts for sleeping in. For a proper fit, I should wear XL. I got the XXL, thinking this would be like an American XL. It is in length and the sleeve, but man the fit is snug around my belly. I really hope they don’t become unwearable after the first wash.
The convention lighting threw my sense of color off. The purple of these shirts is a bit more vibrant than I thought. Anyway, I bought two Cospa shirts, a vote with my wallet to encourage Cospa to print more shirts in these large sizes for big guys like me. I don’t mind paying a premium.
Other Things
There were about a dozen Cinnamoroll things I could have grabbed, but I kind of liked Cinnamoroll shaped into a pair of scissors, so went with the rather large pack above. It’ll go into my container of junk bought at Otakon that I had no intention of ever using, but I wanted to buy it anyway. Picked up an Eminence CD “Promise”, School Rumble and Soul Eater wallets (also going in the never to use bin), a key chain of The Kid and The Thompson Twins (Soul Eater), and a Disgaea 2 coffee mug (no pictures since I already brought it to work).
No Figures
Usually, I wait to see a Kotobukiya figure in person before buying it, which means I buy most of my Kotobukiya figures at cons. Most vendors were way overpriced on their Kotobukiya figures. While their prices were about the same price as online + shipping, I couldn’t get over it. I almost picked up Eila, but I’m still holding out hope Alter makes more of the Strike Witches. Kotobukiya figures tend to be available longer than other manufacturers, so I can wait and see.
Dealer’s Room
About one in four dealers carried interesting items that others didn’t have, but then everyone else basically carried the same things. Part of the reason it seems like most dealers carried the same thing is that several dealers had multiple booths, which weren’t specialized from one another, just copies of their main booth.
Half of me thinks the dealer’s room would seem more interesting if it had half the number of dealers, but the room needs to be huge just to accommodate everyone milling about. Two dealers I encountered complained about the cost of booth space and how they don’t make enough to consider the trip profitable, trying to guilt me into buying something? Perhaps if they sold something a little more interesting I would, my wallet is easy to open at Otakon, but both were nothing special stores. Actually, I remember one of the same dealers gave me the same pitch last year. Dealer space probably is very expensive, but still. A number of dealers just look grumpy. I mean, I understand it’s grueling to work a booth on a weekend in a dingy subterranean convention hall, but I don’t stop at grumpy booths and I’m probably not alone in that. Some booths, every person working was slumped in a chair. Seriously? I guess bad salesmanship catches my eye in a bad way.
A couple of dealers were selling cute Japanese stationary. Paper was something I used to collect and these were calling to me, but I resisted. I liked that they were there and enjoyed looking at what they brought for sale even if I no longer collect paper.
Sweet loot ^^. I pass on the figures too since just about everything is overpriced. Instead, I go for items I normally wouldn’t buy like wallscrolls, posters, little knick-knacks, etc. Basically stuff that is best critiqued in person and can be impulsed purchased xD. Also, usually lots of manga!
I do like those artbooks you selected. I don’t have any of them but they’re all on my super-long wishlist. Nice picks!
.-= anonymous_object´s last blog: Gwendolyn & Mercedes by Alter =-.
I definitely go for knick-knacks at cons. For one they have more appeal in person than when I see them online and two, shipping for them often costs just as much as the item.
I love that 100 masters artsbook — I bought it earlier this year and its one of my favorites I have ever seen.
I like that your dog made it into the header shot. If I had seen him in the dealer’s room I wouldn’t have been able to pass him up ^__^
My dog is such a cuddle hound. She would have loved being carried off.
Didn’t realize those shirts went up to XXXL. I was like, “oh it only goes up to XL like every other cospa shirt and since it’s JP size it’s more like a L so w/e” but man, I liked a couple of those. Should’ve asked. Would’ve bought this Summer Wars King Kazuma shirt they had.
The Summer Wars King Kazuma Shirt was cool. I should have gotten it, but decided to get stuff from things I’ve seen. Not all of the shirts went above XL, but the Kazuma shirt definitely did. From what the person at the booth was saying the larger sizes aren’t regular product and that the batch of import shirts at the con would be shipped back to Japan after the con season. I was sort of half paying attention while talking and looking, but I think that’s basically what they were telling me when I expressed surprise over the XXL and XXXL sizes.
Nice loot! Have those Shimada Humikane and Kantoku artbooks as well and they are simply gorgeous, you’ll love them, they’re well worth it. ^^
.-= Smithy´s last blog: Sono Hanabira Ni Kuchizuke Wo- Anata To Koibito Tsunagi OAV review =-.
They are both excellent books. I’ve actually gone through them a few times. While many of those images I recognize and have seen online, there’s always something appealing about seeing them in print form, particularly when the printing is very good as is the case with a good number of these books.
I often buy stuff that I never use as well. I have a couple of t-shirts, anime cups, dakimakura covers, art books, and other things I just want to have. I like your FLCL shirt. Our convention also had dealers who complained about not turning a profit, it’s possibly due to the economy so nothing we can do about it. Plus, I agree with you about the booths selling the same thing as other booths and when that happens there’s price comparison and the cheaper booth wins.
.-= AS´s last blog: Japan Trip January 2010 Part 5 =-.
There was another FLCL shirt I wanted to get, but only had the cash left for the Cospa shirts. I figure I could get the FLCL shirt online easy enough, though I probably won’t, lol. As for the one I did get, I had to break my rule and wear it out yesterday…I neglected to do laundry before the con and had no other clean short sleeve shirts to wear. It was very hot, so I wasn’t about to put on long sleeves and long pants. I had to go to the post office to pick up Momohime, and the woman behind the counter wanted to know what the text said.
Shirts that have Japanese writing on it are pretty popular where I live. The shirts are often accompanied by translations on it, like on the back or front in smaller print than the Japanese writing. Usually they’re just one word things like baka, kakkoi, kirei, or something like that. Though when I’m in Japan I notice Japanese have complete sentences on their shirt in English that make no sense at all with word choice and grammar lol.
.-= AS´s last blog: Meeting Kago Ai =-.
Hey! i got the 100 masters of moe book too <3 great buy is great =3
Was I the last person on earth to buy it? ^^; It’s cool though. I’ve been reading/looking at 5 artists at a time to try and remember them all.
haha~ naw doesnt matter when you buy it as long as you get it and enjoy it =p…im still searching for headphone shoujo gahou =( but theres wayyyyy too many good artists to remember em all lol~
your dog is so cute, I have one of the same size at home ;D
I own the 100 masters of moe, too. its very popular these days.
the artbooks of Noizi Ito and Kantoku are very nice, but I prefer the style of Kantoku a bit more.
mhh I’d like to have this Evangelion t-shirt,too
.-= Fabienne´s last blog: I’m off – at least for 7 days =-.
They’re just the right size for mischief. They can get to things big dogs can’t and are so adorable you can’t get mad at them when they do.
This is my 4th Noizi Itoh book and it’s kind of interesting to see the slow change in her style over those four books.
100 masters and Kantoku are great artbooks. I picked them up a while back. I agree though the translated material left much to be desired. I guess the artists aren’t that interesting in speech.
Dam im so jealous about the artbooks you now have =)… =(
Cute dog XD out of all this the one thing I would want most is the Shimada Humikane book. It’s on the list of must-find items in the future. I don’t know if I’ll ever attend a con though. Not really feeling the urge to get out and go to one, I guess I’m too anti-social XD
.-= Persocom´s last blog: Ioryogi Plush Doll by Chara-Ani =-.
It can be a little much of a hassle if there isn’t a convention nearby, but they can be fun. I’m pretty anti-social and at a large convention there’s so much going on that I don’t find myself without anything to do all that often. Also, if you’re into buying junk it’s a good place to see the stuff in person.