Toy Fair 2014 Part 1

So we went to Toy Fair this weekend and saw some amazing new games and gift items.  There are so many different items that we may not be able to post them all in one blog post... we may need more!  So here are some interesting things we got from several different vendors:

Wizkids Games:

A great classic pose for Wolverine (Days of Future Past). The next wave of Star Trek Attack Wing and Deep Space 9. The new Dice Master game was also great. It is starting with Avengers vs X-men, but they already have more ideas coming.

Here is a picture of the NEXT wave of Attack Wing ships for Star Trek.  These aren't the ships due out next week, but the ones coming out in the next wave.  

Here is a picture of the complete Deep Space 9 prize for the Dominion War month 6 event.  The card under the station can be flipped over so you can field DS9 as Federation or Independent.  

I got to see the back area of their booth, but no photos allowed. They had unpainted 3D prints I of the dragons for the D&D Attack Wing... WOW! These dragons are in flight and are massive. They had 6 dragons on display and even unpainted were recognizable as Red, Blue, Black, Green, Bronze, and one other. This version of Attack Wing will also have ground troops, but they didn't have any to show off yet. 

Fantasy Flight Games:


Fantasy Flight Games had all the Star Wars X-wing miniatures out. The big ships ships look amazing... but not coming soon. Imperial Aces will be coming out the end of February or beginning of March. The Rebel Transport about 2 months later and the Blockade Runner about 2 months after that. They also had prototypes of the next wave of Ships, all from extended universe.








They also had a board game adaptation of The Witcher and a fast-paced card game for A Game of Thrones.

As we get in all these great games we will have them for sale in all three stores.  We will also be running events for many of these games, so check out our calendars for more information about events.  Click on the store name that is closest to you to see our calendar of events per store.

Dragon's Den Poughkeepsie

Gamer's Gambit CT

Gamer's Gambit NJ



Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

NYC Toy Fair 2012

Well, we attended Toy Fair 2012 in New York City at the Jacob Javits Center.  It was an incredible event with more to see then I could imagine.  There were incredible deals, new games, old games, and so much more.  While the event is still fresh in our heads, we are going to try and put some of the info into a blog AND add pictures... Just to let you know, many things we could not photograph so we will do what we can.

Activision: Activision had a gigantic booth set up for Skylander!  More to the point, the new Skylander Giants expansion coming out this fall!  We got a chance to check out a quick demo of the game and got a really cool limited piece to the game, a metallic purple Cynder!  We have started to get Skylanders in the store, and the individual figures have been flying off the shelf.

Spinmaster: So many great products, so little space to write about them all. Tech Decks and Flick Trix bikes are very cool!  These toys allow you to do tricks with skate boards and bike using your fingers.  Appfinity and Appmates are two new products that they are releasing currently for the iPhone and soon on the Droid.  These items will allow you to play a driving game with a special steering wheel, play a shooting game with a gun attachment, or remote control a helicopter.  They also carry Redakai, a 3D trading card game.  Very different design, and fun to play.

Calliope: Tsuro is a hot game!  It is a game of paths, and if you have not seen this game, then it is time to take a look.  They are also in the process of creating a new version of the game and hopefully we will see it soon!  Got 'Em is another new game from Calliope.  This game involves boxing in your opponent and moving your pawn to safety.  We will have both of these games in stock very soon... hopefully once Toy Fair is completed.

GIANT Microbes: If you need something intelligent and fun, then check out GIANTMicrobes.  They have key chains, vinyl figures, and plush figures of your "favorite" viruses and bacteria magnified 1,000,000 times.  Some of the favorites they have created are common cold, kissing disease, MRSA, brain cell, chickenpox, and mad cow.  This company has even created special collections just for the holidays, namely Valentines Day, Halloween, and Christmas.

Funko: Funko makes really cool vinyl figures and plush figures all based around popular pop culture!  They make these for DC, Marvel, The Hobbit, Disney, and so much more.  We currently carry some of their products, but we are excited to see all the new product that is not in the store yet. 

Neca: Heroclix is one of the Wizkids products now made by Neca.  Heroclix is coming on strong and with some many great licences like Lord of the Rings, Street Fighter, Marvel, DC, and Halo, it is no wonder.  Thier newest line is a Star Trek ship to ship miniatures combat game.  Another new game from Wizkids by Neca is Quarriors, a dice building game with a new expansion on the way.  Licenced merchandise like Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Fall-out, Halo, and more.  They make action figures, wall scrolls, bags, and so much more.

Monogram: Monogram creates many different products that use different licencing.  They carry far more then we carry, but here are some of the ones we do carry; Marvel, Nightmare Before Christmas.  They use the licence to make glasses, banks, travel mugs, key chains, and so much more.

Kotobukiya: This company makes some fantastic vinyl figures.  Most of them are done as beautiful women and they cover lines such as Mass Effect 3, Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Tekken, and more!  This figures are fantastic with gorgeous detail.  They also have a fantastic line of silicone ice cube trays and chopsticks.  In this line they have Star Wars, DC Comics,  and are introducing Alien.  We have carried some of these products, but are now going to be getting NEW ones in March.

Mayfair: We stopped at Mayfair, and had a fantastic conversation about some new and forward thinking ideas.  They gave us a ton of information about the Settlers of Catan National tournaments. We now understand what we can and cannot do, so we are ready to start running qualifiers for this great game! We also learned about a store-specific commercial.  They have some fun characters on their website who will be a part of the commercial and we are excited to get copies of these.

Fantasy Flight: This company creates many differnet board games, card games, and role playing games.  One of the newest games to come out soon is Star Wars X-Wing.  This is a miniatures tactical space combat game.  Star Wars Living Card Game is also coming out sometime this year.  They did not have much information on this as it needed to be redone slightly.

Cryptozoioc: Stopping at Cryptozoic was mixed.  They had some fact sheets, but not much else to see.  Here are some of the big high-lights that we saw.  They are planning several releases for Deck Building Games including Clash of Champions for World of Warcraft, DC Comics (part of the Cerberus game engine), also a Hobbit/LotR deck building game.  They are also working on a Hobbit/LotR board game, hopefully coming out next year.

Nassau Candy: Jelly Belly, Branded/Licensed Candy, and bulk candy is what we saw at Nassau Candy.  They things we really thought were great would be the Angry Birds, Mario, and Decade in a Box candies.  So many great candies, and we even got a sample of their salt water taffy... which was fantastic!

Ata Boy: Magnets, Buttons, Stickers based on Princess Bride, Happy Bunny, DC, Marvel and Retro images.  What more can I say, other then I want them in the store!  So many great pop culture references and images.  We are looking forward to carrying more of this line. 

Royal & Langnickel: This company creates and sells paint brushes, palettes, and paints.  We are very excited to find a company that sells high quality paint  brushes at a very reasonable price!  We will be carrying their line of brushes.

Asmodee: Dixit is one of those games that is an instant favorite.  The art is fantastic and the game is about giving clues and bluffing/misleading your opponents.  Timeline is a new game from Asmodee.  It is a fast game with some great history lessons to share with the players.  7 Wonders, with its several expansions, gives you a fast paced game where you get to influnce one of the great civilizations of the world.  This company makes some fun and fast games.  Not a lot of time, check out Asmodee.

Hexbugs: They have a brand new item, Moshi Monster Bobble Bots!  This is based on an online game that is HUGE in Great Britain, especially among girls.  They have created this item using the Nano technology.  They can be purchased in single packs, with houses, and with buildings.  Hexbugs has also introduced several great holiday lines.  Each one has a removable piece for the holiday; rabbit ears for Easter, antlers for Christmas, and a glow in the dark skeleton frame for Halloween!  They also packaged them differently; Easter eggs, ornaments, and a coffin!

Konami: Yu-Gi-Oh!... What else can I say?  Well I guess I can comment on all the different product coming out.  We will see Ra Yellow Mega-Pack, Premium Collection tins, a new Starter, Galactic Overlord, and Hidden Arsenal 6.  We will also get a very cool product, Battle Pack: Epic Dawn!  This new pack will give players the chance to play Yu-Gi-Oh! in a sealed format! 

Tenzi: This was a fun, super fast dice rolling game.  The game was very simple to learn, and for a only $15 you get 40 D6 pipped dice! They come in 8 different colors, 4 to a pack. We had a blast playing this game, and managed to get all the dice on one side in 26 seconds.

Wood Expressions: We already carry many of their items, but are going to expand the depth of the product. They sell very common games like chess, checkers, solitaire, backgammon, cribbage and Chinese checkers. However, if you're looking for something like Shoot-the-Moon, Mah-Jong, Cathedral, Labyrinth and Mancala, they've got that too! We carry Wood Expressions for every customer type, from those who spend $15 on a beginner's checkers set to $150 for the collectors who want a carved marble chess board and pieces.

Set Game: Are you looking for a quick an interesting game?  Are you looking for a game that will really push you to think?  Then check out these games from Set: Xactika,Quiddler, Five Crowns, and Set!  We demoed and played all 4 games in about 20 minutes.  Now we did not finish the games, but we played several hands of each.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

NYC Comic Con... The Aftermath

NYC Comic Con

So Comic Con is now over and we have survived... although Zombie Petz are still dead and Iron Age may be Jaded (Ha, just a play on the titles... it has been a long weekend)! We had a chance to talk to MANY people from all over the area and beyond, and I thought we would share some of what we heard at the booth.  I know that our roving staff may have more to talk about the show itself, but I was trapped at the booth and have a lot to share about that experience.


One huge comment that we heard was: "How come you guys aren't at Cross County in Yonkers?" or "Are you the same Dragon's Den that was in Cross County in Yonkers?" Matter of fact, the Owner of a fantastic comedy club in Midtown called Ha, used to shop at the Dragon's Den in Yonkers! Oh and if you get down to Midtown, the Dueling Pianos at the club were fantastic!

Another huge comment that was heard many, many, MANY times was: "Where is the Wizards of the Coast booth?"  Wizards of the Coast, WotC, did not have a booth this year was the answer.  WotC did send a single staff member to run some demo games and give out some promo items.  He stopped by the booth on more then one occasion, but their lack of presence was felt and we heard about it from many people/players. Hey WotC you might want to come next year... you were missed.

I think one of the big things we are thinking about for future cons (gaming, comic, pop culture, or anything else), we will be thinking about the lay out of the booth and product.  We notice that some product moved well, and other product very slowly.  We also noticed that some product areas we were some of the only people really carrying.  There are many things I will keep the same with how the event went, but I have started the mental list on how to make it better next time! If you have ever stood for 9+ hours on a cement floor, you know what I'm talking about!

So I know that Scott is working on a review of Comic Con from his trip on the floor.  He spent multiple days walking the floor, attending panels/seminars, and doing the show... not from the booth perspective.  So stay tuned for more information about Comic Con.  We promise that there will be plenty to read.

Enjoy, and hope to see you at the show next year!


Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Scott goes to NYC

I've been waiting for NYCC since last year; I'd gone for a day and had the time of my life. This year, I was much more prepared: I was staying with a friend in Brooklyn, I had some meetings scheduled, and I was looking forward to enjoying NYC while representing the store.

While the rest of the employees would be going down early Thursday morning, I headed down late Wednesday nightNow, as I've said to some of you, I'm a guy who likes being behind the wheel, but when I get too close to NYC, I turn into Mr. Road Rage. I'm fortunate in that I left so late that the traffic was minimal, the directions were perfect (thank you Google Maps) and I found a parking spot right next to my friend's apartment building. As a precocious evil infant likes to say, "Victory is(was) mine!".

My first challenge on Wedneday night was holding off the peer pressure of my friends to go out and have "one or two" drinks. We all know what one or two drinks turns into, right? I wasn't having any of it, so I stayed in my swanky Williamsburg pad and got some sleep.

--

Thursday morning rolled around, and I had my first adventure on the subway. I had to switch between 2 different subways. Did I mention that I was a complete neophyte when it comes to this whole subway thing? To my surprise it went much better than I thought and I got to the Javitts Center in time for the Diamond Comic Distributors Brunch. Diamond is the main source of all the American-published comics, and the elephant in the room when it comes to distribution. Several times a year, they hold breakfasts like this at NYCC or San Diego or some of their own retreats, and use it as an opportunity to speak with retailers.

I generally have mixed feelings about these kinds of things. They don't always come across as productive, and seem more "ra-ra, look at us" than necessary. There's often a distinct lack of professionalism at these events, but that might be a personal bias of mine; after being a teacher, I often think HOW you act is just as important as the message you're trying to get across.

He said ATROCIOUS, not ATROCITUS. Pay attention, puny human

The brunch was held in a much prettier location than year's sub-basement facility, but the sound and audio in the large glass-filled room was ATROCIOUS. Halfway into the brunch, I turned to a colleague and said "This is the third time I've been to one of these and I hope it's my last." I'll spare you the details, if only because I couldn't hear most of them (and it wasn't for a lack of trying). However, Dark Horse announced next year's Free Comic Book Day offerings would include Star Wars AND Serenity. Best news ever, right there.

So, the brunch was a complete bust.

I spent the afternoon in a couple panels. One was very, very good; a great session on running events, and the other was a general-purpose customer service talk. I was disappointed that a panel on LGBT comics was cancelled without notice, I was hoping to get more info on those books. I took a lot of great ideas away from that afternoon, and hope that the audio for the events panel becomes available in the near future, so I can pass it on to the rest of the Den staff. We do so much business with events and the tables, that every good idea we can steal helps us along the way.

The folks running NYCC decided to create a separate entrance for Pros and Press, but to my surprise, the line to get in for the 4:00 opening was loooooong. I got in line around 3:45, but was inside by 4:05 or so. That line really hustled once they got the doors opened.Nice job, Javitts and Reed Exhibition folks!

And once I finally got inside and took a look around, my mind was blown.

--

A life-size Optimus Prime! The Avengers helicarrier booth! Artists Alley!  There was so much to process and not enough time. I walked over to our booth to check how things were set-up, and I was very impressed; they'd put everything together quite nicely, and had things ready to go. I thought bringing the Batman neon sign was particularly inspired, it really stood out. I made my way over to our friends at ZombiePetz and spoke with Ryan for a bit. I caught up with him a couple times during the con, and he was absolutely insane with sketches and commissions. We carry the ZombiePetz t-shirts at the store, and couldn't be happier for Ryan and the success he's getting.

I waited in line for a while and got one of our Action Comics variants signed by Jim Lee, who was a perfect gentleman. He even remembered me from when we met at the New 52 Retailer Roundtable at DC about 3 months ago. Great guy.

I walked through Artists Alley for a bit, making a mental note of where certain artists and writers were. I immediately kicked myself for not writing down in advance where some of them lived.

By around 6:30pm, I was ready to call it a day. I knew Friday would be a long one, but I had some time to kill before a late dinner with a group of retailers and the DC Sales department. I walked around NYC for a bit, before meeting up with everyone at Hill Country Barbecue which was just awesome. I got to hang with our DC Sales Rep, Stewart, who had shaved his awesome Hulk Hogan-inspired beard (BOO!) and shoot the bull with other store owners. I then took the L back to Brooklyn, and prepared for Day 2 of NYCC Madness.

--

On Friday I got up earlier than my roommates, as I had been invited to a retailer-only breakfast with a couple people from Image Comics. I don't know whether many people responded to the invites or some people slept in (it was at 9am), but when I got to the restaurant, there were 3 other retailers, the Image Sales Guy, and the Publisher of Image! So... small crowd, which meant I got some good face time with one of the decision makers at Image. Even with our "small but getting bigger fast" store status, my feedback was valued and listened to. That felt good, and it was great hearing about some of the books coming out over the next year. (None of which I can talk about, sorry).

By the time breakfast had ended, and I had gotten into the con, it was well after 11, almost 12 noon. I headed over to DC to thank Stewart for dinner, walked to our booth to check in, and then started roaming the Con, looking for artists and writers. This is where my lack of Con experience caused me the largest waste of time. So many writers and artists will be at their booths for an hour here, or an hour there; some put up signs, some leave their assistants. So while there were people I found right off the bat (Brian Wood, writer of DMZ, Northlanders, just announced Conan and soon to be announced Wolverine), others proved to be more elusive.

I had a wonderful conversation with the folks who work for Peter Beagle, writer of The Last Unicorn. We discussed the possibility of him coming to the store to do a signing next year when they re-release the movie in limited release across the country. The comic adapatation of The Last Unicorn is GORGEOUS, and highly recommended to everyone, ever. Plus, IDW is releasing a graphic novel adaptation of the sequel to The Last Unicorn, "Two Hearts".

I spent more time than I wish tracking down the maker of the Popfun glasses we carry in the store. I made at least four trips there to meet him, but each time he had "just left" or was in a meeting somewhere. It was too hectic to talk for too long, but it was nice to meet the guy who's been making all the cool glassware that's been selling so well.

I waited in line again at the DC booth for Jim Lee (had more books to sign), but he showed up late, and the line was too long, and I didn't make the cut-off point. That was disappointing, but only fair as I'd made the cut-off point the day before.

I hung out at the ComicsPro booth for a while and schmoozed with other retailers. Meeting other retailers and talking shop is one of my favorite things, and a source of great ideas. I got a bunch more little tidbits and interesting sales tactics from a couple people, and I look forward to putting some of them to use at The Den, if I can squeeze some extra space out of the comics wall.

Brian Wood was alone at his table, and I caught up to him and talked shop. He's wrapping things up at Vertigo, and doing Conan for Dark Horse, with long time creative partner Becky Cloonan. I re-read his DMZ before I went down to NYC and it's superb. A great work of art. We talked about him doing a signing up at The Den, as he travels up to our area a couple times a year.

I waited in line for a couple writers (Abnett and Lanning), only to have them have to leave for a panel. My man crush on DnA was denied! Curses!

Sadly, I approached one or two creators about doing a signing up at our store, and was rebuffed. I got some attitude or "Ohh, I don't know"-type bs. That didn't win any points with me, and needless to say, they will not be invited our way any time soon. Sorry comic creators, we can't all be as big or important as Mid-Town. Pssh.

Along the way, I bumped into Seth Green, and saw Tom Morello checking out Artist's Alley. I'm not going to lie, I almost started singing some RATM lyrics, but kept my inner rage-fueled fan bottled up.

I headed over to the Marvel booth to check things out, and was blow away by how big the backdrop was. I confess to being disappointed that Marvel was more interested in pushing The Avengers movie than the comics themselves. That was a bummer, especially when you consider how comic-centric DC's booth was.

I caught up with Kieron Gillen, who some of you might know as the writer of Uncanny X-Men #1. He's a Brit, so I won't hold it over his head, but he was a cool guy. We ended up having an entertaining conversation about A-ha later in the day. (Much later. See below).

I did a bit more wandering, and realized it was almost the end of my day. I had plans to meet some retailers out for drinks later, but I decided to head back to Brooklyn for a bit to recuperate. Hours later, I was out with retailers, shooting the bull, and hearing gossip I didn't need to know. Then I headed down to the iFanboy party where Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie were DJ'g. The bar was wayyyy too small for the comics crowd, but I spotted Jason Aaron (his beard is mighty), and a couple people from Comics Alliance chilling out. I grabbed Kieron and we started talking about A-Ha's Take On Me. We found out that we both love 80's music, being only 6 months apart in age, but Kieron's knowledge of 80's pop music is INSANE. As in, trumps mine. The man is an 80's music afficionado.

By now, it was after midnight, and I may or may not have had too many drinks. I deny nothing. The swanky Brooklyn pad was calling out to me, and it was time to sleep. L train to Williamsburg, 3 block walk, and I was out.

--

Since the original plan was for me to work Thursday and Friday, I got Saturday and Sunday off. I lounged around Brooklyn on Saturday and caught up with friends Saturday night. I went over early on Sunday for an hour and did some more wandering around the show, then went back to Williamsburg, packed my bags, and headed north for the long sojourn to Poughkeepsie.

--

Some final thoughts:

* As someone who's never "done" a big con before, I made the right decision not to plan too far ahead. That left my schedule flexible to see and do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.

* That said, I wish I'd done a little more research into learning where creators live. Getting crestors to do signings is easy when they live in NYC. When they've recently moved to Oregon, not so much.

* I've gotten some feedback from customers and other pros that the aisles were too small and it was too crowded. Since I stayed away on Saturday, I can only imagine how nuts it was, but I don't think this is something that's going to change. The Javitts is the only place to hold a convention of this type in NYC, but it's not really the best venue.

* Big props to the rest of the staff at the Den for the traveling, packing, unpacking, breaking down, putting together, and then doing it all over again on Sunday.

* Saw a bunch of reservists and regulars while I was down there. Nice job representing the Dragon's Den, guys!

New York Comic Con 2011

Well we are putting on the finishing touches and packing up all the product for New York City Comic Con! There is so much to do and so much more to prep for, but I think we have a handle on it and will be ready for a spectacular con!

So if you are heading down, then stop in and see us, we will be at booth #2920! This is our first trip to NYC Comic Con, so we were really putting a lot into what to bring and how much, so here is an idea of what we are going to have at the show:

• Variant Amazing Spider-Man #666 with our custom cover
• Video Games: Nintendo, Nintendo Gameboy, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, and more!
• Magic the Gathering: Innistrad, M12, Scars of Mirrodin, Mirrodin Besieged, New Phyrexia, and more special items!
• Yu-Gi-Oh:  XYZ Starters, Hidden Arsenal SE, Generation Force SE, Gold Series 4
• Pokemon: Black and White, Black and White Emerging Powers
• Heroclix: Superman, Captain America, Giant Sized X-Men
• Etched Glasses: Marvel, Hobbit, and Walking Dead
• Star Wars and Ghost Busters talking plushes
• Power Rings, Flash Point Pins, Select Back Issue Comic, Variant Cover Comic Books
• RA Salvatore's new Hard Cover "Neverwinter" The Neverwinter Sage Book 2 **(Don't forget that he will be there for signing later in the show)

Stop and see some of our friends from up here in NY:

Zombie Petz: Booth #2838
Iron Age Production (Jaded Comic Book): Booth #1924

Who from the store might you run into at NYC Comic Con:

Dave
Sean "Striderlotr"
Stasi "Dengirl"
Scott
Brittani "DnDPrincessAria"
Amanda


Hope to see you at NYC Comic Con!

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks