Good morning New York City!
Happy New York Comic Con everypony! I hope you are all ready to have a great time. For once again I will be providing Equestia Daily's My Little Pony coverage of this huge comic convention!
Which you will be able to find after the break!
And there was an immediate problem. This is the VIP, Professional, Press, and ADA entrance to the venue. This is 10 minutes after the show officially opened. No one is moving.
From what I had gathered, there was a software hiccup with the badge scanners and a whole bunch of them needed to be rebooted.
Which you will be able to find after the break!
And there was an immediate problem. This is the VIP, Professional, Press, and ADA entrance to the venue. This is 10 minutes after the show officially opened. No one is moving.
From what I had gathered, there was a software hiccup with the badge scanners and a whole bunch of them needed to be rebooted.
To my knowledge this is the first time this has happened since the system was implemented about 8 years ago.
Was I overly concerned about it? Not really. It's day one of New York Comic Con. There's bound to be problems.
SWEET!!! Paramount is right here, front and center!
SWEET!!! Paramount is right here, front and center!
Oh boy, I cannot wait to see what Star Trek stuff they are promoting today. Maybe it's a victory lap for Picard Season 3? Or maybe something involving Lower Decks along side a combination of their adult animation offerings?
Oh whatever it is, I hope it's--
...this is South Park.
...this is South Park.
Just South Park. Promoting South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Cover.
An animated special that came out two years ago on Paramount+.
Didn't have to dwell on those feelings long because because Nickelodeon is right next to Paramount+ and this year's booth is dedicated entire to Good Burger!
...
Paramount pays for a huge booth space, and they do a open museum to a two year old South Park animated special.
Paramount pays for a huge booth space, and they do a open museum to a two year old South Park animated special.
...
SDCC gets Captain Pike's Captain's Chair. NYCC gets an open museum to ancient content. Whomever at Paramount made this decision needs to reevaluate what they were thinking because this feels like a colossal waste of money on a vanity project.
Didn't have to dwell on those feelings long because because Nickelodeon is right next to Paramount+ and this year's booth is dedicated entire to Good Burger!
Specifically Good Burger 2, which is a movie coming out this year on November 22nd.
...
...
How is Nickelodeon doing a better job marketing their upcoming releases with their NYCC booth than their parent company is?
In any event my next stop was to the 100% Soft booth.
In any event my next stop was to the 100% Soft booth.
They were releasing a honestly pretty fun and unique exclusive that I was asked to pick up by a family member.
You will see what is it is later...
But first massive spoilers for One Piece!
There are two things you learn after going to comic con for over a decade:
You will see what is it is later...
But first massive spoilers for One Piece!
There are two things you learn after going to comic con for over a decade:
1) You will run into spoilers. Especially at big conventions. It is marketing and unavoidable.
2) One Piece is unavoidable.
Speaking of unavoidable, the crowd size at NYCC has return to 100% occupancy.
Speaking of unavoidable, the crowd size at NYCC has return to 100% occupancy.
As has the lack of masking.
Yes I am aware most people consider COVID to be over. I am also well aware of the fact that I have not--to my knowledge--come down with the virus.
But why was I making my way through the crowd? Was it perhaps to make my way to IDW Publishing and see what My Little Pony Exclusive they had to offer this year?
Not yet. I first had to make a trip to the NYCC Official Show Store!
Not yet. I first had to make a trip to the NYCC Official Show Store!
...
I usually avoid this place like the plague--too many Funko exclusives--but they were giving out a free exclusive WebToon enamel pin set that had a number of really sweet pins in it.
Was this really just an excuse to get WebToon readers to venture to show store? Most likely.
Did it work? Well I just said I went after usually avoiding the place like a plague.
So you tell me.
In a surprise move this year, IDW Publishing is not located on the exhibitor floor. Instead they are located in Artist Alley.
In a surprise move this year, IDW Publishing is not located on the exhibitor floor. Instead they are located in Artist Alley.
They also downsized the size of their booth considerably, and also decided that primarily using yellow and blue for booth colors works great.
Just look at Princess Twilight Sparkle!
Just look at Princess Twilight Sparkle!
Juxtaposed next to Godzilla and one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
...
I really miss IDW City from last year. And how they were painting a full Star Trek Lower Decks mural over the course of the show last year. That was neat.
This feels cheap.
But from first glance, it appears IDW Publishing did not skimp out on the convention exclusives!
This feels cheap.
But from first glance, it appears IDW Publishing did not skimp out on the convention exclusives!
And look! The whole lineup this year is nothing but foil variant covers!
These really are eye catching, pop in the light, and just look like a premium product worth the $20 price tag.
I mean sure they were reusing the standard A Covers for these foil variant, but that is understandable because they are holofoil variants!
If anything they remind me of the holofoil variant cards from Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh. Where you have a standard non-foil version and a premium foil version.
If anything they remind me of the holofoil variant cards from Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh. Where you have a standard non-foil version and a premium foil version.
I can get behind IDW doing this every so often for a convention exclusive because they look really nice.
I'm sure IDW Publishing didn't skimp out on the quality on this gorgeous book. They would never do that.
...
...
... yes I am being incredibly sarcastic and I will get into WHY in very short order.
To say I am not happy with IDW's exclusive comic offerings this year is the understatement of a lifetime. I am telling you they are not worth the $20 price tag. If you are at NYCC, do not buy them!
So before I get into my rant, let's take a look at what I picked up this year. Mostly pins--I fully blame MLP Trinary for getting me to collect them again, and a "I Love NYCC Dumpster Fire" Vinyl Figure.
So before I get into my rant, let's take a look at what I picked up this year. Mostly pins--I fully blame MLP Trinary for getting me to collect them again, and a "I Love NYCC Dumpster Fire" Vinyl Figure.
The figure is nice and also what I picked up as a favor.
Now for the convention exclusive comic where there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
...I see why IDW Publishing did absolutely nothing to promote this convention exclusive covers.
You know, aside from laying off their entire PR and Marketing departments about 6 months ago.
There have been cheap convention exclusive comic covers before. All comic publishers have done a slight photoshoop tweak to an existing cover and call it a variant. DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW, etc. have all done it on multiple occassions.
This... is beyond that. This is for all intents and purposes an insult to their customers because it gives the impression that all IDW Publishing did for this exclusive was print out a ton of holofoil covers, remove the staples from a standard Cover A variant, slap that holofoil cover on top of the standard comic, staple it back together again, fold the book, and then put it into a polybag.
I am sure that is not what happened since these were available for purchase in factory sealed polybags, but the impression is the same.
Instead of having the holofoil cover just be the cover, it was something added on top that could be easily removed.
It reminds me of Action Lab's Trade Paperback editions, where literally all that they did for the first edition of the trades was send in the individual issues to a book printing house and have those issues bound together. It looks cheap. It feels cheap. It probably was incredibly cheap for them to do this because I am sure it would have been more expense to print on both sides of the holofoil cover.
Which is a crying shame because I like the holofoil treatment. It looks sharp.
But the second you open it up it looks cheap. And for the $20 price tag of this exclusive, that is insulting.
Now for the convention exclusive comic where there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
...I see why IDW Publishing did absolutely nothing to promote this convention exclusive covers.
You know, aside from laying off their entire PR and Marketing departments about 6 months ago.
There have been cheap convention exclusive comic covers before. All comic publishers have done a slight photoshoop tweak to an existing cover and call it a variant. DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW, etc. have all done it on multiple occassions.
This... is beyond that. This is for all intents and purposes an insult to their customers because it gives the impression that all IDW Publishing did for this exclusive was print out a ton of holofoil covers, remove the staples from a standard Cover A variant, slap that holofoil cover on top of the standard comic, staple it back together again, fold the book, and then put it into a polybag.
I am sure that is not what happened since these were available for purchase in factory sealed polybags, but the impression is the same.
Instead of having the holofoil cover just be the cover, it was something added on top that could be easily removed.
It reminds me of Action Lab's Trade Paperback editions, where literally all that they did for the first edition of the trades was send in the individual issues to a book printing house and have those issues bound together. It looks cheap. It feels cheap. It probably was incredibly cheap for them to do this because I am sure it would have been more expense to print on both sides of the holofoil cover.
Which is a crying shame because I like the holofoil treatment. It looks sharp.
But the second you open it up it looks cheap. And for the $20 price tag of this exclusive, that is insulting.
Especially since the $5.99 MSRP of the standard comic is included on the actual cover.
Until tomorrow folks, this has been The Illustrious Q. See you then.
Until tomorrow folks, this has been The Illustrious Q. See you then.
BlueSky: The Illustrious Q
