Howdy! It's 2 PM on Sunday afternoon, and I am typing this column with an extraordinary number of excited fans flowing through the aisle behind me. Sunday at the San Diego Convention has become an extremely busy day, as the organizers of the show discount one-day tickets to only $15, and also give all children a special admission deal. Those wonderful policies led to this last day of the convention attracting a huge audience that reflects almost every single demographic group in the entire San Diego community. What has made this show even more special is that the convention committee has finally figured out a way to allow a huge number of people to enter the building with a minimum level of discomfort. As recently as this past Wednesday evening, simply getting into the convention was an onerous chore. The new computerized entry system didn't work quite right, and there were nowhere near enough staff members to pass out badges to the 17,000 pre-registered 4-day badgeholders. It was even worse on Saturday of last year, when the lines of fans waiting to get into the convention stretched for over a mile from the entrance, and took over three hours to traverse. Given that then the blazing sun also made waiting extremely uncomfortable, many fans were in a foul mood by the time they finally made it to our booth. This year, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I've never seen so many happy people in one building. You certainly still see many blank stares resulting from the absolute sensory overload of the convention, but those glazed looks are usually followed with a satisfied smile. In part, this great new attitude on the part of attendees resulted from the fact that the convention organizers secretly switched the opening of the convention on Saturday to the public from 9:45 AM, to 9:00 AM. Allowing the people who began queuing up at 6 AM to enter the building well before they expected was a great idea! It did, however, catch a few lay-a-bed dealers and publishers by surprise. They had to really hustle to open their booths when they finally dragged themselves into the convention center... As regards how things have been going at the Mile High booth, frankly, we have been stunned at the level of our success. As I think the picture well illustrates, our shelves are stripped nearly bare. We sold practically all of the $100,000 in retail cover price books that we ordered from Diamond especially for the show, and also a significant hunk of the books we grabbed on an emergency basis out of our Garden Grove (California) Mega- Store. I'm now estimating that we will ship back only about 20 boxes of books to Denver, with all the rest being driven back up to Garden Grove this evening by Steve and Bill, in order to restock that store's bare shelves. The good news is that Garden Grove is going to get a wonderful new selection of books as a result of this massive switchero. The better news is that we're going to be able to cover all of our convention expenses (despite our having provided fans a 30% discount on all sales...), and also pay that huge invoice we owe to Diamond Distributing for the books they sent us for the convention. As hard as it may be to believe, this is the first time that we've actually covered our full cost of exhibiting at San Diego since the convention was moved into this huge new hall in 1992! I simply could not be any happier. (click on image for larger view) On a related topic, I asked a rhetorical question on Friday about why our online sales were down a bit during the convention. The answer is now obvious to me, as I am now convinced that of the 80,000-90,000 fans attending the convention, at least 10,000 are members of this mailing group. To my delight, it seems that at least that many people have come up to me at the show to say "Howdy!" I must admit, however, that the realization of just how many of you that we rely upon to cover our operating costs are here at the show is a little distressing, as I know it is costing us some cash flow back home as a significant number of our regular clients are shopping at other vendors throughout the building. On the flip side of that same equation, however, I take more than a little pride in knowing that through my writings I've encouraged so many of you to join us in attending this wonderful convention. I guess I'll just have to keep working hard during the rest of July and August to continue to provide everyone with plenty of incentive to keep shopping with us! With that thought in mind, I am not going to end the 50% off San Diego sale on this upcoming Tuesday, as I had originally planned. Despite our wonderful success at the convention, I still need to keep our revenues up at home. I will therefore hold off on dropping the 50% off all back issues sale until Tuesday, August 3rd. Free shipping will also remain in effect for all domestic orders over $40, and all International orders over $100 (no express carriers). With luck, enough of you will place orders between now and then to help us cover all of our end-of-the month expenses... In other news, the annual San Diego Comic-Con Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Auction was a tremendous success! We had about 70 bidders, who spent a combined $15,000 in the auction. While that event certainly will help the Fund finances, I think that I also have come up with a great new fundraising idea: poker! What I'm thinking is that we can offer fans the opportunity to play in Texas Hold-em tournaments at selected conventions. The buy-in for each tournament would be $100, with all the funds being a contribution to the CBLDF. In exchange for participating in the card game fans would not only get a chance to win some great prizes (such as original art and expensive key Silver Age comics) , but also the enjoyment of playing poker with some of the convention celebrities. Mid-Ohio-Con organizer Roger Price has already committed to trying to put together a poker room for his show during the weekend after Thanksgiving, and HULK actor Lou Ferrigno offered to play at one of the tables at that show, as long as we promised to teach him the rules (hee hee!). Is there anyone out there who wants to bluff the Incredible Hulk? This could end up being great fun, and could possibly also raise a great deal of money for the CBLDF! (click on image for larger view) My final comment about this year's show has to do with balance. Each year I spend about one hour standing in the direct middle of the convention, watching and listing to the fans flowing around me. As I mentioned in my column of last Wednesday, cell phones and related technology have become a critical element to really enjoying the show. More and more this show has become an incredible social interaction where fans of remarkably disparate genres of popular culture come to aggregate. Since it is a rare occurrence that individual fans share exactly the same interests, what you see are small groups forming, breaking apart, and reforming throughout this huge building. During the busiest times, there are practically no free corners or floor space, as fans sprawl and cluster in every room, and each small area of flat surface. While this constant melding of bodies can sometimes make one feel a little claustrophobic, it is also remarkably rewarding to feel the positive energy flow of so many thousands of fans having a genuinely good time. One comment that I made to some friends who visited with me during my mid-convention observations seemed to strike a particular chord, as I likened our gathering to them as a "Woodstock of Popular Culture" In making that analogy I was not just referring to the obvious parallels to the social flamboyance and huge crowds of that legendary rock-n-roll event, but also to the sense of togetherness and shared spirit that in rare instances endows large gatherings of people with a completely unforgettable and pervasive positive energy. Through sheer good fortune, the 2004 San Diego Comic-Con International has managed to produce this incredibly rare conjunction of shared good will. Frankly, even if it means we might lose a few sales during the late Summer of next year, I wish for nothing more than that you join us in sharing this wonderful experience during 2005. The San Diego Comic-Con International is just too great an event for you to miss! (click on image for larger view) Happy collecting! Chuck Rozanski, President - Mile High Comics, Inc. Pictures from Day Five! Xena Warrior Princess look-alike Alien Skeleton Sideshow Collectibles Coronado Bridge San Diego Bay Burlyman & his Minions smile for the camera Dave the 1st Loser of the famous Jim Lee Poker Game Our Booth in mayhem Universal Monsters Resin Bust Dukes of Hazzard Maquettes Muppet Series 8 Action Figures Ghost Rider Statue Marvel Milestones Spider-Man Statue Hellboy Ouija Board from Dark Horse Life-Size Batman Statue Sony Playstation 2 Booth Looking over the con Lou Ferrigno, Rowan and Chuck PvP - Scott Kurtz Perphery - Omaha Perez Elsbeth and our empty booth