Whether you are a experienced or novice collector, “The Convention” is the time to shop and mingle with other collectors, talk with comic acim dealers about the hottest news, or meet comic and entertainment guests. Its enough to make your eyes and brain explode!
When I first attending my first convention my mind went every where, along with my eyes, there was so much I wanted to buy, talk about, and do that my brain was swimming, by the time I left the convention I was broke and exhausted from all the information I received.
While I had a great time it was just overwhelming, so here is a small Survival Guide To Comic Book Conventions that can be helpful to the new comic collector.
Budget
Conventions And Comic Book Budget – Remember to factor your spending at a convention with your regular comic book buying during the month, remember you want to have money to buy your regular purchases from your comic book store, or have enough to buy your subscriptions at the end of the month.
Its a good idea to start saving at least a month or at least two weeks before the convention to ensure that you can pay for both convention books and your store books.
Spending – Before going to a convention determine how much money you want to spend, check the price guides for prices and also check with the convention website to see if their is an admission fee, also factor in food and drinks, many conventions and/or convention centers will offer food, these are usually not cheap so put that in your convention budget as well
if possible leave your bank debit card behind, this could be a temptation to use and it could put you over budget, if you can not leave it at home give it to a friend or family member to keep it safe.
Shop Around
Be sure to make a couple of rounds of the convention room first, checkout what dealers are there and look at the prices of the books you are looking for, never buy the first book you see on your list, take your time and get a feel for the convention, if this is your first convention look at the $1.00 and 1/2 boxes you could find some bargains there.
Admission
Before going to the convention find out if the convention has admission, if there is a fee be sure to factor that into your convention budget, look for online coupons located on the convention website.
Guest Attendance – If you are going to a convention to meet media and comic book guests be sure to check the convention website first, make sure there are guests you want to meet, and also check and see if guests have canceled their appearance
Dealer Attendance – Also see how many dealers will be attending you do not want to arrive with a low dealer turn out, this could not only be a waste of your time but also money.