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Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon - JAPANATOR
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Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon


12:00 PM on 07.18.2009
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo



Much like back at Anime Expo, we took a quick run through the dealer's room before it opened, mainly to scout out the good stuff. Heavy hitters were there, like HobbyLink Japan and J-List (although we couldn't find their booth) -- not to mention our friends over at Mad Gear.

The economy being what it is, things weren't doing that hot. FUNimation's booth was fairly scaled back, even from the classroom setting and high walls that they had at Anime Expo. Bandai? No booth. Apparently they're set up over at the AnimeDepot booth, and that's where you can pick up the Kannagi DVD. Totally missed it, and that's what I've got to pick up tomorrow. No choice but to.

I'm currently writing this as we're driving home to Hitogoroshi's house, and had an interesting little conversation about figure sales. Each year, he says, figures sellers have been doing worse and worse. Nothing too surprising, to admit, but it's quickly becoming bleaker, and so that's why I guess some people have gone to desperate measures and are charging $75 for an Itoshiki-sensei Nendoroid.

$75. For a Nendoroid. Something that is normally $20-30 in Japan. It's cruel highway robbery, and I honestly feel bad for whoever ends up buying it, simply because they don't know any better. Many of the other figures dealers haven't been doing too well, and so there's nothing that's eye-popping. A lot of Vocaloid figures, for sure, but nothing too special.

Man, I hope things turn out better for the rest of the weekend in the dealer's room. We'll let you know the total damage for our swag at the end of the con, but let us know what you've bought already, and if you've seen any big ripoffs or any great deals -- here or in the past.

Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo
Otakon 09: A look at the dealer's room floor at Otakon photo





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Legacy Comments (will be imported soon)


I got me a Dreamcast and a PSP. I don't know what to do with either.
And why have I not seen any of you yet?
I got great deals at AX09. In the figurine department I got Witchblade main girl-$27, Ikki Tousen Kanu-$25(haggled it down to $5), And 2 random set mini figures of Evangelion (Rei and Shinji)-$5 together. I tried not buying out of impulse. Really wanted some anime dvd's but nothing caught my eyes price wise.
nice reflection! I bet there's a bunch of goodies in the dealer's hall. Also 75 dollars for a Nendoroid? COME ON. People can find this online when they get home. Usually cons have good deals not rob you out of your money :P The cheapest I've seen a nendoroid go for in a dealer's hall was $20.. let's just said I raided that booth for a couple of days at the con.
Caught Disgaea (PS2) on the cheap, but that may have been because of the re-releases. Otherwise, the prices were noticeably higher than normal.
Wait. Wait. Wait.

Someone go back and pick up those Moyashimon for me.

Seriously.
about 8 years back I guess I used to go to Otakon to see if I could score Berserk merchandise mainly. I'd end up with other things also, but mainly I went to load up on whatever I could find dealing with berserk. These last few years have had me frustrated. All I see is dealers peddling anime porn, bleach merchandise, flashy light things, giant cheaply made swords, and overpriced video games. Last year I went looking for Claymore stuff and found a claire figurine that I knew beforehand the cost of if I ordered it online. I found it at a booth and found that it was more than twice the price which made me feel a bit uneasy about spending anymore money down there. My brother used to go looking for urusei dvd box sets and stopped going when that dealer vanished. He went with me one year after they vanished but as soon as he found out he couldn't score any urusei merchandise in the dealer room he vanished from the con and just swam at the pool at the hotel. I figured I'd just save my money this year and do my shopping online.
While $75 is highway robbery for a nendoroid, you're not exactly being truthful by saying you can get them from Japan for $20-$30. Yes, the nendie itself will only cost that, but unless you're living in Japan, there's the issue of shipping. As someone who buys a lot of figures from Japan (Thanks to Tomopop which keeps tempting me) I can tell you that it will cost you close to $20 to ship a nendie, even more for larger figures. So, that $30 nendie you buy in Japan would wind up costing you about $50 by the time it got to you.

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