G-Fest 2010

[MouthForWar]

[MekaGojira3k]

[Cookie]

[MouthForWar]

Still super bummed that I cant go this year. It wouldn't be so bad, but I just can't afford the hotel this year.

Have fun, all.

[KaiserGhidorah]

[Destroysall]

[Reaper G]

[Flame of Udin]

I knew Takarada was going to be nice, but wow. This guy is amazing!

[Reaper G]

Takarada-sama ranks up there with Don Frye in sheer awesomeness.

[heroforhirerob]

[Zombiezilla]

I just got home from the fest. I agree with all great things said about Takarada. I absolutely loved how he did seem to be so touched by the showing of the fans, and actually seemed more impressed with us, than we were with him. If somebody mentioned any of his non-Kaiju work, he instantly started beaming with admiration and pride. I also spoke with Martin Arlt (Mad Scientist magazine), and Martin was telling me about his trip to the city with Takarada, and he had nothing but the best things to say about him.

As for the convention itself, I am sure we will be hearing plenty of bad things in the days to come. But, all things considered, I think J.D. and gang pulled it off pretty well. From day one, from all I have heard, J.D. spent the entire time putting out fires. I was a victim of the hotel switch, but speaking with people who ended up not switching, I should be quite thankful to have been removed from the construction zone.

The walk, the LONG walk to the convention center wasn't horrid, but it did take some time, and if you ran into problems (such as the hotel switch), you could easily expect to lose a lot of time. I lost a good 1 1/2 due to all the running around I had to do when I first got there. If I had come in on Friday, it wouldn't have been so bad. I came in on Saturday though, and lost a good chunk of the afternoon. Again, this was not G-Fest's fault, and they did everything they could to still pull off the convention.

I was thrilled to see the G-Fest TV station was playing in the Double Tree. Very nice addition, and showed some care for what was going on with us. One of my buddies, who stayed at an off-site hotel was bragging about how he was watching Godzilla flicks in his room (brought his own DVD player). I simply told him it would NOT be G-Fest if I was actually able to watch Godzilla films. G-Fest tradition has become watching Gamera films, Sentai, and maybe the odd Godzilla trailer now and then. Why on earth would I want to see a Godzilla flick, for crying out loud?

The dealers felt like a warehouse, which it was, more or less. We need a new 'Zilla flick. Those prices in that place are getting ridiculous, and the amount of dust is getting pretty nasty. It's pretty amazing seeing the toys I remember once being all the rage in their newness, now looking like antiques! The price of high priced Bandais now outweighs the affordable Bandais by a landslide. My son, looking for a Monster X, was devastated by not being able to get one. The dang things were priced at $90 everywhere!

There were some good deals to be found, if you looked though. At the end, one gentleman marked all his stuff down to 1/2 price, and went even lower than that. I got the Iron King set for $6. So that was nice. Plus, some of the tables did have certain "G-Fest Specials" set up. Some were great bargains, other were clearing out the junk, and nothing moved.

I did hear from some of the dealers that if next year looks anything like this, they might not be back. I think some of them didn't sell much, and the dealers room itself never seemed too packed. This may have been from the size of the room though. It was pretty big, with some massive aisles.

All in all, I had a decent time. My buddies who came into town for it, though, say they might not be back, as they were VERY disappointed in this year. I am going to let my previous 14 (15?) G-Fests be my deciding factor, and realize this year was plagued by problem from the beginning of January. I am also convinced 2010 will go down as the crappiest year, in general, that I have ever encountered, so G-Fest gets all the benfit of the doubt as far as I am concerned.



I apologize to Scott Field for this pic, and for every single one I took of him. I just couldn't get a decent shot for the life of me. In fact, in most of them, his left eye gave off some weird yellow glow. I'm thinking he could very well be an android.



(Sorry about the angle, it seems these did NOT rotate in my computer, or photobucket is just stupid) This is probably my favorite costume of the con. Just too dang funny. Ignore my kids.



Best model there. Cool to photograph.



Rotation problem, sorry.



Although I say Mommagon was my fave costume, there is no denying this was the best on display over the weekend. The eyes moved, and the mouth moved.



It even killed people!!!



Artists Alley. The convention was laid out in a big square. This was the hallway along the video room, Minyas Place, and the dealers room. Dealers on the left side of this pic, everything else on the right.



This is, what I am sure will become infamous in G-Fest folklore tales, the Sky Bridge. No, you can not see the opposite ends from the ends. About a 1/4 of the way into the walk (from the garages), you encounter the Rosemont Hotel walkway split off. As of this weekend, the a/c was not working in the Rosemont section. A glass enclosed walkway, in the middle of summer? can you say "toasty"?

[king_ghidorah]

The costumes look great! Sorry to hear this year was plagued by problems...makes me thankful I didn't make this year my first one..0 I can't wait to go next year's tho...really hope there will be a Gamera film on the big screen...life long dream of mine to see a Gamera movie in a theater....

[Destroysall]

Was it really that bad? I thought since because it was at the convention center it was going to be amazing, but I guess not. If it didn't go too well this year, I hope they have it at the hotel next year. Did the hotel have any meeting rooms like the Crowne?

[Zombiezilla]

Don't get me wrong, IMO it was fine this year. If you had been to maybe one or two in the past, this could have been a deal breaker for some. If this was the first you attended, you could still be swooned by the whole spectacle of being amongst "your kind". If you were a longtime attender (as I am), you would than likely be accepting of the problems. If you were looking to complain, there was plenty there to take advantage of. You know? It was a rough year, that was made the best of, and most people were going to enjoy themselves no matter what.

There was absolutely NO place to gather at in the Rosemont. The whole thing was still under construction. I saw one table, and two chairs in one area, and down a hall there were maybe three more tables with a few chairs. That was it.

The Double Tree had plenty of gather spots in the lobby, but no place to hang out until the wee hours of the morning as the Crowne had. But, from what I was told, the Crowne doesn't even have that anymore. The gathering spots there have all been turned into a bar.

Again, this was far from a nightmare, but it was also a weekend that could be an easy target for those looking for some target practice. I know that by the people I was with, who are voting to not return, and a few others I spoke with. But I also spoke to some first year people, and they were loving every aspect of it.

[Destroysall]

I see what you mean. I've been to three so far, the last one back in 2008.

Hopefully next year construction would be cleared up and finished and that they would have it at the hotel. I like the idea of it being held at a convention center, but I prefer it in a hotel for convenience.

Any news on when it will be held next year?

[Zombiezilla]

My kids were bugging me to leave, so I left just before J.D.'s ending bit. I actually left in the middle of Death Kappa.

From what I have heard, the convention rooms in the Rosemont aren't big enough, that is why the convention itself was moved to the convention center. So I am expecting J.D. to look at a different hotel. I am not too sure what the convention rooms in the Double Tree are like, if there are any. Ideally, since the two hotels are linked in a way, it would be cool for the same thing again next year, but with the option of which of the two hotels you book with.

I do have a question for the people with some knowledge of the usual folks at the convention. Who is the gentleman who is always there, in the wheel chair? He is always there with his wife (blonde, curly hair), or whoever she is that helps him. She was there, with her usual people, but he was absent. Did something happen to him? I have never known their story, and never found it my business to ask. But he has become such a usual person to be seen there, and she, that not seeing him this year seemed a little odd, and I just had a little bit of an "oh no" feeling, and with 2010 being such an incredibly "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" year, my mind instantly is going to the worst.

[Legion]

[TripMasterMunky]

[heroforhirerob]

My G-fest review....

In short, a mixed bag, but they can't all be perfect. That said...I had a good time...which I usually do.

The schedule: Seemed like a lot of stuff conflicted...and the schedule seemed incomplete. there was nothing in the schedule about Mr. Takarada's autograph signing times and Dealer room hours didn't match the listed times(at least for Saturday). I wanted to participate in G-Pardy, but the schedule didn't mention that they eliminated the qualifier rounds that they had in years past. Granted, Jay or Skip probably would have thrashed me...again, but I'd at least liked the option. "Shrugs"

The Sessions: Some interesting sessions, but due to the schedule and me being on two panels, I missed some of the more interesting ones. Having volunteered for panels many years now...my only gripe is that I'd prefer a little more prep work, while the convention planners prefer a more off the cuff approach. Often, I don't even know my fellow panelists before the session starts. My first panel, Misunderstood Monsters, had about a third of a room full. Not bad. Mostly a lot of younger G-fans, but I enjoyed the enthusiasm of the youngsters even if we veered off topic a bit. My second panel was on the Legendary Godzilla film and that had a very good turnout. The crowd was remarkably calm and there were no " Flame Wars" on the topic, which given the thread on the topic on the boards, kind of surprised me. Of course, most of what was said was speculation, but the general consensus is that as a fan base, we're flexible on some of the details as long as the movie is good. For the record, if anyone was at these sessions and trying to figure out who I am...here's the basics...Rob Dwyer...skinny...thinning hair...glasses...sometimes wear a hat. Don't be afraid to hit me up for conversation at the con. I love to talk kaiju. I didn't get to see many other presentations besides the Akira Takarada one.

The guests: Without beating this into the ground, Takarada was great. Animated...friendly...a perfect guest for a show like this. Nuff said. Robert Scott was his usual self. Time constraints kept me from talking to the author...so I have no opinion on him.

The Hotel: I didn't like the way the convention was set up. With both the split hotels...and then the convention center, it felt like the convention goers were more separated than in years past...and IMO the goal of conventions is to bring people together. The Rosemont was especially bad...I barely saw anybody beyond the elevator. I imagine the convention center was chosen for the bigger space, but I'd rather have just had them choose a hotel with bigger convention space. As is...G-fest a a very disjointed feel this year. In fairness, things seemed to run smoothly...so I have nothing but respect for the G-fest planners, as they certainly did a better job than I could, just expressing my thoughts.

The dealer's room: I'd say A+ for organization. No overcrowding...and everyone seemed to have enough room to display their stuff. Also, there seemed to be more dealers here. But...and this is a BIG but...the product selection was pretty mediocre. And an earlier post suggested dealers were disappointed with their take and saying they might not show up next year. Well...you'd do better if you'd actually bring stuff anyone wanted to buy. Now...I work in retail....so I'm more that aware of the costs involved in doing business and overhead and so forth. But...my major gripe is that many of these dealers didn't seem to know squat about the market, their customer base, or their product. For example, I was looking for Revoltech stuff..primarily Baragon. Several dealers had no idea what I was talking about. Most of the rest were out saying "oh..we didn't know they'd be popular...so we only brought a few". Really? Do these dealers not keep up with customer requests or make any effort to get some insight on what customers want? People were going ga ga over Revoltech Baragon for...what..months before the con. I don't know how many posts I saw saying they hoped some would be at the con. Did dealers really think they weren't going to sell that many...seriously? None of them suggested that they brought all they had and sold them all...which would have been a different story. I did get lucky and find a Revoltech, but...sheesh. I also had at least two dealers tell me...when asked about Xplus stuff....that not only had they not put out anything recently...but they hadn't in several years. WTF? Again....you sell this stuff for a living. I saw very little new popular product there. I did see a lot of 6" bandais and other stuff that clearly isn't strong movers. I also saw one dealer that was selling a Kumonga figure for 60 bucks, which was fine..except he had a flyer on his table that said the figure was 54.99 Granted, this may have assumed an online sale where the purchaser would also pay shipping, but at a con...I'm saving the dealer the hassle of shipping it...I shouldn't be paying extra. And much of the stuff was overpriced beyond what would be reasonable. And most of the higher prices were on items that weren't big movers...go figure. Now...on the plus side....there WERE deals to be had, but you had to look for them...hope it was on an item you wanted. On the service end, Chibi goji Toys and Reel Arts had polite attentive people at the table. Several dealers made no attempt to engage me in conversation...or introduce themselves. I left the con and I still didn't know who exactly was running some of the table. With such a small fan base, I'd expect a little more personable treatment...especially given that kaiju collecting is expensive in general. And...I don't want this to be perceived as me not appreciating kaiju dealers or anything like that. I do...I'm simply reporting my observations. This was by far the most disappointing aspect of the show for me. I brought a grand to spend...and spent barely 20% of that....as I wasn't given much incentive to spend it. No new product..nobody really attempting to sell me anything(the lack of conversation aspect) and lack of product/market knowledge. And to then complain about their poor showing. Well...it was what you made it IMO. Again, this doesn't apply to every dealer I dealt with, but it was a general trend I percieved at the show. And perception is everything....especially in sales.

The fans: Good turnout this year. Takarada brought them in I think. G-fans are a friendly bunch...and this year was no different. I'm an introvert...and I have trouble starting conversations..so a big shout out to all the fellow fans who talked to me or who even said hello. I appreciate it...seriously.

A perfect con? No. But as with past G fests, the important thing is whether everyone had a good time....and the general perception is that they did. Can't wait for next year.

[TripMasterMunky]

[Zombiezilla]

[Cookie]

[Zombiezilla]

[brianfett2]

[Flame of Udin]

You people thought the dealers room was over priced? I got the GMK Blu-ray for $20! I don't think so.

The standard Bandai figures, especially from Final Wars have gone up in value over the last 2 or so years. Final Wars is very popular with children so I can imagine there is a huge demand when it comes to the baddies like Monster X and Kaiser Ghidorah, monsters that have no Bandai Creation domestic release.

If you want a standard Bandai and don't want to spend alot of money get the characters from Kiryu and SOS. They can't give those away.

On a side note I wanted to point out that Rick Baker's Godzilla costume was stunning. It even had blinking eyes!