Bidding on a Good Time

One of the first things to greet you on the Show Floor depending how you entered was the eBay installation. Rare items were rotating inside protected cases. If you wanted, screens allowed you to place bids. The more exciting part of the day seemed to be when you could scan your badge and snag a sealed box of lord knows what.

Early Friday, the team members handing out boxes were telling people they had no idea what was in the boxes— they just knew they needed to get rid of them. There seemed to be no line at the actual counter, but that’s because of the delay in scanning badges. So I took a picture of a guy stuffing a box into his bag (right) and skipped getting in line myself.

At one point Saturday, a line wrapped all around that end of the Show Floor. Women in line for the bathroom had to reassure each other that their line was separate from that mystery line—which was an issue Friday when the Funko line blended too heavily with the Reed Pop show exclusives line.

The Doctor Strange posters on the back half of the eBay installation were the only hint they might be handing out something timely at various points during the weekend. —MV

Tokidoki’s mega art wall called to everyone who might be interested in enamel pins of their criminally cute characters, but the way it was tucked into a corner calls out even more that there didn’t seem to be any art installations on the floor. Not even the usual JellyBelly portrait. Multiple large gallery spaces were on the Show Floor in the past. Deals for Alex Ross pieces were finalized inside glass offices passersby could see. This year there were no Ross or Bill Sienkiewicz galleries let alone booths pretending to be them. Moleskin displayed what attendees drew at their booth using their paper, but that was a rare sight among all the pins, plushes, and T-shirts. —MV

It’s possible to order online from the Official Show Store when purchasing passes so that you have a new shirt to wear the first day of the Show. When I asked a crew member on Thursday if I really needed to stand in the huge line in order to get a Tentacle Kitty or if I could go online, the answer was wait in line. I came back Friday instead to a slightly shorter line. The crew announced FiGPiN was sold out, and there was an audible groan from the line. Like Tentacle Kitty, the FiGPiN show exclusives were only at the show store. I spent almost 45 minutes in that line only to see no lines Saturday.

On the map, the two Official Show Store locations seemed so much farther apart. Neither had a line Saturday afternoon. Hats and mugs were gone before I got to the register on Friday. T-shirts were still available Saturday.

Stacks of Funko boxes that may or may not have contained the limited edition Punchline. The ring light is set for taking a picture of yourself on the Show Floor.

One of the crazier-looking installations was the ice cream truck SyFy crashed through someone’s front yard to promote their Chucky series. The line wrapped the truck making it difficult to see what kinds of treats were waiting. Compared to the times SyFy has sponsored a live stage, their footprint this year was small but it had to be the most intense booth.

LINES FORM FAST Between these two snaps, it looks like half a dozen people jumped on this line for a booth not even in the frame.

NO LINE THURSDAY The puffy

white characters were cute enough to capture my attention, but not enough to get me to actually visit the booth. Summoners War is a fantasy RPG franchise expanding from mobile games to webtoons and comics. Everyone was invited to journey to Alea and take a picture inside their big stone ring.

We’ve been on convention floors where there were walls of Funko Pop! Vinyls in every direction, so a row of booths selling them isn’t that crazy. When you’re looking for Lego mini figures, though, it feels like too many.

Reed Pop arranged a photo booth (Page 21) near one of the Official Show Stores that put FYE and Bait’s booth in the background of your selfie. FYE usually had such a line it was hard to see all the Funko Pop! Vinyls lined up around the booth. Bait’s wooden crate design was hard to miss from anywhere on that end of the floor.