Hey guys, just got back from Preview night at SDCCI tonight on Wed. 7-25. The HasbroToyShop booth was really crazy, staff working for the booth had to constantly fan off people lining up because of Fire Marshal rule; apparently the people are NOT allowed to line up just next to the booth, which is not even in the isle. Many people were upset at this policy and finally they have enforced a ticket policy for lining up purchasing.
When they handed out the tickets, it was insanity as everybody tried to get one to purchase something; I felt very sorry for some of the kids that tried make it back out when they get a ticket for purchase, everyone was trying to get it. I was lucky to get a ticket to make a purchase tonight. Surprisingly, when I got to the register at 1 hr before closing, Alt Rody was still available, while Titanium Menasor (Titanium Rodimus repaint) sold out for the night. Also, they were selling voyager Prime and Megatron at 9.99 each. That was good deal.
Each person were allowed 4 copies of a particular con exclusive item, so I got 1 Alt Rody for me, 1 for a friend, and 2 for sale and / or trade. I'll be listing it in the End Cap section.
Guys, the line for HTS was such a bad joke that people wanted to massacre the people in charge. First they cut the line off within 3 mintues of the doors opening. Second, they told those who didn't make it on time to come back in 30mins and perhaps they will begin letting people in. Third, after telling people that they cannot hang around waiting for the line to open they let a few people in somehow and act stupid when people asked them what the hell is going on. They expect us not to get pissed about it and say I'm sorry as if that is going to solve the problem. After being told a second time to come back in 30mins. they supposedly started giving away tickets to line up for the next day. WTF is that? They should be glad that people didn't smack the **** out of them for their stupid way of running the line. And for once it seemed Gentle Giant Ltd. had a better line running than HTS. Stupid pieces of s^&*!! Now I have to waste my time again trying to nab my stuff. They seriously put a damper on my day.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
Hmmm . . . big difference in reporting the news, much?
Well, if they manage to have Roddy available at HTS, I'll probably end up grabbing him. If this turns into another situation, like Nemesis Prime, then I'm at least glad I got KISS Rodimus.
Basically, you had to show up at either 10am (when the show opened) or at 2pm. They had a guy with a bucket randomly giving out tickets. To get a ticket you had to SHOW UP at that time, if you were waiting there already they wouldn't give you a ticket.
Now, once you got your ticket, they had a board. This board had a list of ticket numbers. You had to compare your ticket number with those on the board and come back at the time your ticket matches to, even if it is for the next day (yeah...)
So, you go back to the line at your time...and got to wait in line to pick up what you wanted.
This was the absolute only way to purchase ANYTHING AT ALL from them.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
Probably the only way to establish crowd control, while still abiding by firecodes. Yeah, a few people are going to be bitter about it, but what choice does hasbro have? Fire marshall could come down there, and shut down the booth, and then no one would get their figures.
Well..I sent money with a friend so he could pick me up a Rodimus because I wasn't able to go because of work and the kids ect. I just hope he is patient for me....sounds like I may not get one after all if it is that much of a hassle.
It definitely seems worth noting that there are LOTS of booths at Comic-Con, and if the complaints are to be believed, Hasbro's the only one (or one of few) that has this problem. Why is that (if for any reason other than incompetence)?
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
Interesting. Are the other booths drawing as much of a crowd, as Hasbro?
Certainly, I'd expect them to have one of the largest crowds to deal with, seeing as they're pretty much the largest toy company out there, and they've pretty much got a line to appeal to almost anyone there (transformers, GI Joe, Star Wars, Marvel Legends and aren't they also supposed to be taking over the WWE line soonish, or was that a rumor?).
Of the top of my head, I'd hazard a guess that most of the other booths are going to be much more high-end and/or niche-oriented. I don't have a list of booths, or anything, but I'm assuming that most of the companies with booths are nowhere near as huge as Hasbro, in terms of their customer base or range of offerings.
Okay, I am officially confused as to the whole "Ticket per day" idea. If you are handing out tickets for shopping times, make them for THAT DAY. This is the second story I heard about people with 1 days passes having next day tickets. And that i feel bad for.
Looking for a complete Energon Sky Shadow (from Superion Maximus).
Offering: Binaltech Hound, Swindle, Ravage (Corvette), Skids.
Can buy in stores: Robot Heroes Tigatron/Inferno, Ricochet/Predaking.
I would think at a Comic Con some of the Comic Book companies would actually draw a larger crowd. I have never been to this one though, so I could be wrong on where the focus has ended up recently. The last anime convention I went to Geneon had a whole room to themselves but barely managed to pull in a crowd past the first few hours because of poor line management and over charging. Even though they were giving away posters and such freebies people were unwilling to wait in line for half an hour when they could go see a panel without wait time, get an autograph in about ten minutes or get into the dealers' room in less than five minutes.
Without knowing more about the situation first hand I would hazard that this year's Hasbro booth organizer was inexperienced at this sort of thing and overestimated certain types of difficulties without really understanding how customers would react to such policies. Disallowing lines for receiving something at a specific time and handing out shopping tickets for a different day seem out of the ordinary.
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