Joecon 2013: The Good, The Bad, and The meh

Another Joecon is in the books, and after a couple of days of resting and reflecting I am ready to go over my experience for the 4 day event.  This year’s convention in Indianapolis was my 7^th one, and as with all of the others before it, it had its highs, lows, and things that were just kind of there.  So without further ado, here is my rundown.

The Good

•      Friends- The biggest draw of Joecon for me is meeting up with my friends from Joecustoms.com, Codename: Iowa, The Trenches and others from the various G.I. Joe boards I frequent.  I remember back to my first Joecon in 2002, and how I wandered around not really talking with other collectors and generally missing out on the camaraderie that makes these events so special.  Communicating on meesage boards is great, but there’s nothing like talking G.I. Joe in person with others who are as passionate as you are about everyone’s favorite Real American Hero.

•       Mary McDonald-Lewis and Bill Ratner- Without a doubt, the nicest, friendliest, and most engaging guests ever at Joecon.  They took the time to talk with everyone who stopped by for an autograph and were genuinely interested in what people had to say.  Bill Ratner even had his own ice breakers when you went up to meet him.  When I approached him he looked at my con badge not saw I was from Iowa and mentioned that he was born in a hospital in Des Moines, at which point we started talking about Iowa and what I did for a living.  I could have stayed and talked with him for a long time, but I noticed the line behind me was starting to back up, so I told him thank you very much and moved on.  I hope they both had as good a time meeting us Joe fans as we did meeting them, they can come back anytime!

•      The Convention Hotel- The JW Marriott was a great place to hold the convention.  The staff was extremely friendly and accommodating, and the convention itself was very close to the elevators to the rooms, which is nice if you had your arms loaded with goodies!  Indianapolis itself is set up perfectly for events like this, a mall and places to eat were all within easy walking distance of the hotel.  Of the seven conventions I have been to, this was the most trouble-free location.

The Bad

•      The Lines- I know the lines for registration and exclusives are always bad, but this year they seemed to be a little bit worse.  Instead of separate lines for cash and credit card purchases there was one huge line that only split into two at the very end.  The total elapsed time for me to pick up my registration and exclusives was almost four hours.  People have been suggesting that the GIJCC make the exclusives available for preorder to cut down on the time in line, but they seem determined to keep things the way they are, so expect long line to remain a part of the Joecon experience.

•      Hasbro- To say Hasbro’s presence this year at Joecon was a minimal would be an understatement.  In years past they had a display set up with cases full of upcoming products, the entire G.I. Joe production staff, and some sort of giveaway to get fans pumped up for the line.  This year we had one case, one table, John Warden, and Derryl DePriest, and that was it.  They brought out new figures from the concept vault for the last hour the dealer’s room was open on Saturday, and then promptly left that night like Bob Irsay moving the Colts out of Baltimore in 1984.  You would think that in a year when G.I. JOE:RETALIATION was released they would have done a little more than this, but instead they chose to mail in this year’s convention appearance, something that doesn’t bode well for the brand going into its 50^th anniversary next year.

•      The Dealers Room- This was the smallest Dealers Room of the seven conventions I have been to.  And of the ones that were there, the product selection left a lot to be desired.  Most of my money went to the GIJCC and their exclusives, although I did manage to snag a complete MASS Device for $30.  A lot of 12” were disappointed by the lack of 12” product, which has been on the decline for a few years, and I can’t say as I blame them, I collect 12” and 3 3/4” figures, and there just wasn’t a lot of that product for sale this convention.

The meh

•      The Awards Dinner/Casino Night- The food was good, but unless you had at least $50,000 in casino money you weren’t going to get squat at the auction.  I know a group of people who pooled their money and had over $73,000 for the auction and left empty handed while others seemed to win just about everything.  I think maybe next time I will skip this event.

•         The Overall Mood- At times it was hard to tell if this was a G.I. Joe convention or memorial service.  Instead of being excited about a brand that had the #1 movie in the world, Hasbro seemed like it was almost a burden to them to be there at all, the 12” collectors were disappointed, there wasn’t any new reveals this time, and the last convention was only 9 months ago, all of which gave the convention a somber tone.  As much fun as I had it seemed like it could have been so much more.