Artists Alley Information Thread

Selling at Cons is best during the...

Spring	12.0%	[ 80 ]
Summer	30.2%	[ 201 ]
Fall	6.8%	[ 45 ]
Winter	5.4%	[ 36 ]
Any time!	45.6%	[ 303 ]
Total Votes:			[ 665 ]

[Vicemage]

Oh heck no... the fans of the "oldies" are more devoted to them than the average Narutard. (I really feel that most of those "fans" are more just being told what they should be watching. "Hey, kids! This show about pirates is REALLY COOL, we promise!" "yaaay pirates!" "Hey, kids, pirates aren't cool anymore, now it's all about NINJAS!" "Yaaay ninjas, pirates suck!" Most of those kids are also mainly interested in the Dealer's Room anyway, not the Artists Alley, as I've observed. Those who actually like the show instead of being told to like it, tend to be browsing the AA, asking, "Hey, can you draw Slayers art? Got any Outlaw Star prints?" wink

[InstantOatmeal]

I still have a guilty pleasure in the form of Yu Yu Hakusho... But let's not speak of that. XD

(And pirates are still WAY better than ninjas. pirate )

[Seijaku_Ishida]

(Pirates <3)

Also for an old yet well-loved series, it's hard to find art for anymore. I'd probably snatch up Slayers or Kenshin art in a heartbeat. X3

[Yume Kitsune_rei]

Its feeling like this year convention attendance and sales are down. Do others feel the same way or am I just having a bad year?

[Fiammetta Rey]

Vicemage

Most of those kids are also mainly interested in the Dealer's Room anyway, not the Artists Alley, as I've observed. Those who actually like the show instead of being told to like it, tend to be browsing the AA, asking, "Hey, can you draw Slayers art? Got any Outlaw Star prints?" wink

I don't think it's because the fans of older series are more devoted... I think if the companies that made the anime still did merchandise for the older shows, they'd buy that as much as the Narutards buy Naruto stuff.

I don't think the Artist Alley should be thought of as in competition with the dealers room. They have completely different purposes. I don't think people who go mostly to the artist alley are better than those who only go to the dealer's room (if anything, the dealer's room is actually better because this stuff we're all there to talk about won't exist anymore unless people buy the books and DVDs in the dealer's room).

I mean... I don't like Naruto... but just because I don't like it doesn't mean I think no one really does.

I think, if it's true that Narutards avoid the AA, it's because the group known as Narutards overlaps with the "is sucks if it's not 100% Japanese" group more than any other group does, and they don't think people at an American con have the right to draw comics. They also tend to think that Americans shouldn't cosplay, and tend to avoid cons at all. That was my high school's anime club...

Edit: those people also hate the legal products, since they're translated by professionals. So they wouldn't be in the Dealer's Room either.

[Vicemage]

Blaaah... I've been misinterpreted. sweatdrop

I absolutely do not think that there are no people who truly love things like Naruto. I know some who do. And I don't think that it's fans of only older series who are devoted, my personal fandom of choice is a newer one.

I'll try to explain myself better... Narutards still tend to be the best representative of the group that really is only interested in "ZOMG ANIME!" and not specifics of it. They're the ones who basically only take what's readily available, and are most interested in whatever is the flavor of the month. They're less mature fans (I don't mean younger here, age and maturity don't correlate) who are probably very new to anime, haven't even encountered older or "better" series, and just don't know there's more than the latest stuff on Cartoon Network or whatever other channels may be airing it. They obsess over whatever's big now, but they're fickle, and when something else comes around, it won't take long for them to forget about their prior obsession and move on to the new one instead. Their main interest at a con is to find boatloads of overpriced stuff at the dealer's room, get a bunch of autographs, and act truly obnoxious for about three days.

I'm sure you know which ones I'm talking about by now. smile They make the occasional appearance in the Alley, but often with the attitude of, "This place is stupid, they don't have any manga or DVDs!"

Those who are dedicated to the "oldies" tend to be a more mature fan overall, who are interested in specific series and specific elements of anime and/or culture. They've matured from that "ZOMG ANIME!" stage, encountered more, learned to seek things out, learned their favorite series might not be all that popular, and learned that there's more to anime than what's on Cartoon Network, and there's more to life than anime. They've usually but not always been to more than one con, and they're less obnoxious and better behaved while attending. They'll visit the Dealer's room, too, of course, but they'll spend longer in the Alley, with a better idea of what it offers, and are more likely to get excited over something older or more unusual than "yet another pinup of Naruto and Sasuke." They'll probably like newer stuff, too. Some of them may even like Naruto, but they're generally not going to be the ones dressed like goth!Sasuke letting their friend dressed as catgirl!Naruto drag them around on a chain while making "nya" sounds.

(This is just kind of an overall look at things, there's way more groups than this, but these are two major types of people I tend to see at conventions, and how interaction with them tends to go; the older and more experienced congoers tend to approach the tables more readily than those who are younger and/or at their first convention. The first group also tends to be more familiar with series beyond what aired last week.)

And the group I'm classing as "Narutards" is very much an overlapping group of the "it sucks if it's not 100% Japanese" group. They're also the ones who, when they do their own comics, will do one about a "totally original ninja school" and do it "manga style" by which they mean "bass ackwards right to left" because that's "authentic" and there's some magical property to that layout that makes comics better. Eventually they grow up and start to figure it out. (Oh, and as for the dealer's room? They're in there buying imported doujinshi and bootleg DVDs when they hate the official stuff, too. Yes, even now you can still find bootleg DVDs in the Dealer's Room.)

Additionally, I don't see AA and DR as competition for one another, there's different audiences, but those who are new to a con are more likely to dismiss the AA or not even know it's there. (And, as noted before, they're more likely to be in the group I'm calling "Narutards." wink

I'm still not sure if what I mean is clear, or if it's now just lost in a tl;dr clustereff... sweatdrop

[AEAcomics]

Just though of this while I was photocopying my fliers...

Coloring pages.

Just the lineart on copypaper, for maybe 50 cents a pop.

Opinions? smile

[Fiammetta Rey]

Clarification noted... though I'd also like to note the difference in our experiences...

Maybe it's because I've never done AA before and the only first time congoers I've encountered were friends of mine... but most of them actually like the AA better than the dealer's room. Those prints, buttons and keychains have their favorite characters, but are much cheaper than those $15 wall scrolls the dealers room has. My friend whose first con was AnimeNext this year spent all the time she spent in the dealers room hovering around the FUNimation booth wishing she had enough money for the second D.Grayman boxset. Meanwhile, she bought a lot more from the AA. Some other friends of the friend that I met this girl through had never been to a convention, but had heard about the Artist Alley and were looking forward to that the most when they think about finally getting to go to one.

Then again, I might be totally in another universe, since I've heard people talk about the "watch just what's on Cartoon Network" people before, yet I've never encountered one (other than the 7-10 year olds I see in the street sometimes wearing jackets that look suspiciously like Naruto's).

Darklaw: ooh! My friend chiroxsox was thinking of doing that for Otakon... only thing is worrying about people crediting you or not after they color it. Sell them, but put your name big in a place that would be hard to erase.

[Vicemage]

The more cons you go to, the more of those types of people you're going to encounter. I remember more than one encounter that went along the lines of:

"Oh, what series are you into?"

"Oh, I love everything! Inuyasha, Naruto, Death Note, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Dragonball Z..."

"Uh... have you watched anything that hasn't been on Cartoon Network?"

"No, I don't want to PAY for anime, it should be FREE!" (Also the argument of the fansub-adherent.)

"-.-"

(Admittedly, a lot of the series I have are those that have been on CN, but most of them were watched/purchased prior to said broadcast... And some of my series will never see broadcast for one reason or another. twisted )

[Fiammetta Rey]

I've been to like... 20-30 cons, just never done AA. So I never really spoke to people at cons other than my friends. sweatdrop

The mold stuff isn't working fast enough... I wish I'd had the money for it sooner. Looks like it's Sculpey and Shrinky-dinks or no jewelry from me. *grabs the sculpey*

[Vicemage]

What kind of mold stuff is it, out of curiosity? (Always interested in new materials)

[Fiammetta Rey]

Mold Builder, it's called. I think it's made by Castin' Craft, the same company that makes the resin I use.

[AEAcomics]

Starre257

Darklaw: ooh! My friend chiroxsox was thinking of doing that for Otakon... only thing is worrying about people crediting you or not after they color it. Sell them, but put your name big in a place that would be hard to erase.

That's what I was thinking, a "lineart by x" on it. Plus making the copies smaller then the originals. And posting them up on DA before I head to the con.
I'll have to see what I can come up with. Still got 4 weeks. It feels GREAT to have most of the stuff done already xd


Oh man. I LOVE Slayers and Bebop and Rurouni Kenshin and Trigun...Full Metal Alchemist too. And Samurai 7. Escaflowne is my guilty pleasure xP
The Slayers perfect collection and the entire Rurouni Kenshin anime series are sitting next to the TV right now, but I shall not be tempted rofl
I just fast-forward through Bleach and watch Moribito nowadays. It's pretty.


I wonder what sort of people I'll encounter at this con... I've only been to a teeny-tiny one before.

[serene delusions]

DarKlawStudios

Just though of this while I was photocopying my fliers...

Coloring pages.

Just the lineart on copypaper, for maybe 50 cents a pop.

Opinions? smile

I've bought coloring pages like that at cons before. In fact, other than commissions, I don't think I've ever bought anything else.

People will go for coloring books as well.

Definitely have your signature and DA on them. The ones I bought came with a 'do not post anywhere' disclaimer on them.