Fanimonday
Jon decided I should review Monday at Fanime since I am the only one (of snowulf fame) that attended Monday.
Let’s see… Monday was useful this year in that I got to watch Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: The Sacred Star of Milos, which I had been wanting to see. Other than that, it went just like the last two years… 2010 — get up, pack, cruise halls, and head out; 2011 — get up, pack, cruise halls, and head out.
There does seem to be one good reason for showing up on Monday… you can pre-register for Fanime 2013! I have no clue if it costs less, or if it just makes you one of the first to be able to register. I presume it is something like $5 off, which doesn’t excite me enough to go wait in
another line at Fanime. I will happily wait until I can register online from the comfort of my own home.
Last year, on our way home from the convention, we decided to eat at Johnny Rockets. We did so again this year. There were more people there and we ended up in a booth next to a group that all had Staff badges. We spoke a bit and they asked what we liked about the con (Swap Meet!) and what we didn’t (horrific lines at registration). The male asked what we thought could be done. I told them what Jon and I had discussed (during our long wait in line): they need more people handling registration; 8 people in 4 booths is not enough. If they had doubled the number of people at registration the line would have moved much more quickly. As I said this, the older female chimed in and said, “That’s exactly what I said!” The gentleman indicated that that was definitely something they would be working on for next year.
I really hope that is true, otherwise the line for registration is only going to get longer.
As for the rest of Fanime… the Swap Meet is still my favorite event. This year I got a Voltron (the Defender of the Universe) for $5 and 13 Gundams (of varying series and varying stages of assembly/disassembly) for $25 (total). One big change to the swap meet this year was a change of location. Previously it was in the Game Room and it was always a mob scene as they let everyone in at once and people swarmed each vendor. This year it was in the Imperial and Regency ballrooms at the Fairmont. There was a long line (as only so many can fit in there at a time) to get into the primary room (Imperial), so I went to the overflow room (Regency) and checked out the vendors there (which is where I got my Voltron). Jon mentioned that he disliked having the swap meet in 2 rooms, and I agree with him; it would have been much better if it was in one giant room. I wasn’t super excited about the line initially, but after I got into the main room, I realized why it was necessary and why it was wonderful. I could actually reach each vendor and didn’t have to fight my way forward just to see what was on display. I hope that they decide to moderate the influx like this next year as well.
While we are on the topic of the Swap Meet, I’d like to point out something I’ve noticed over the last few years. There are two types of vendors at the swap meet: the “Let’s make a deal” and the “Let me check my price list”. The former are the kind of people who want you to make them an offer or are willing to haggle. The latter… they should just hawk their stuff on ebay. The swap meet is where fans go to get rid of stuff they don’t want/need anymore. If you have an uber figure MIB, I understand that you want more for that, however the swap meet is not really the best place to hawk said ware (yeah, I’m talking about you, guy with the $200+ figures). As you might have guessed, I only patronize the “Let’s make a deal” vendors, when I want list price, I go to the Dealer’s Hall.
All in all, Fanime 2012 was a great experience and I am looking forward to attending again next year. While we were there we noticed some postcards for SNAFU Con, which will be hosting Sonny Strait (aka the voice of Krillin from Dragonball Z and illustrator of Elfquest), so there might be a decent reason to go back to SNAFU Con. If I make it, I’m sure there will be a followup blog post.