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Thanks Mikey! I couldn't have explained it any better!!  ;D

IMO, If it weren't for the internet, these import game stores would actually CARE to travel to cons.

EA and CAPCOM seem to be in the BAY.

Lemme add in some stuff about this.

There's really no point in a game company going to a convention. Think about it from their propspective. Even if invited, why would they care/want to go to the convention? As far as promotion goes, there are much better conventions they can go to promote (PAX, E3, CES). Anime Expo gets NiS and Atlus only because they are both local to AX and because of promotional things they can do specifically for cons. I won't delve into Atlus because I shouldn't be spreading secrets, but NiS goes to promote their upcoming(pending) anime ventures. Both companies are heavily routed into a very niche culture that is subversed along with the anime con scene as well. They are both TINY TINY TINY TINY TINY companies(just in case you didn't get the emphasis... they are small. I'm talking under 40 employees state side).

On the other hand you have companies like Capcom/EA which have hundreds (thousands in EA's case) and doing something like Anime Expo or Fanime are minor things to them. Although the attendees are big, comparatively to something like E3 which is exclusively for games the market and promotional value isn't there.

Now for game stores and the such. I'm not so sure why you are very interested in having them come to the convention. Games and hardware for games new(especially imports) cannot be dealed down nor negotiated for price. In terms of software, importers make very little per disc. Let's do some fun math.


6800yen, if you go by the market exchange rate today
82.6 yen = 1dollar.

So if you were paying straight rate, 82.32 for a game new. (not a sp edition or anything, just your avg new release). Now tack on importing fees of shipping/customs weight fee etc, you're looking at roughly 90$ to b ring a single game here for someone to purchase. Phantom Breaker is currently 94.99 at JVG. So they are making about 4$ profit on that game.

So, how many games do you think they sell at your average con. Let's shoot... incredibly high, and say they sell 200games at the con. 8$. Now booth fees, shipping costs, etc. etc. etc. So they wasted a weekend to make roughly 200$

On a more realistic scale, they sell at most half of that. So they probably end up losing money. If you want to buy import games, the internet exists. You can go to Japanvideogames.com and buy everything + more there than they would have at the con. You can also special order, buy retro games etc. If you're buying domestic games... just go to any local game shop and buy them.

Unfortunately, many game shops aren't making enough profit by coming to FanimeCon. They'll come 1 year, and won't return the following years.

Did they specialize in Bandai model kits? If that's who you're looking for, they were listed as Anime One Stop (aka Bluefin at other cons).

http://www.bluefincorp.com/catalog/

were you referring to the ones from http://twocosmetics.com/ ?

Sorry but IMO, I feel strongly against giving Vols that extra shopping hour. As staff, we work more hours than you can imagine to make this con run smooth. There are many of us who are constantly on our feet for 12-15 hrs each day. I constantly tell my staff, if you're working less than 20 hours during the entire con, you *shouldn't* be on staff in the first place. Vols are still given the opportunity to enjoy the con leisurely as a fan whereas staff must usually sacrifice the events they want to attend for their dedication to the con.

It might either be Anime Hot or Yaya Han's Angelicstar

Can you describe this dealer or booth to me? Or know the name? Please PM me.

Can you tell or decribe to me who this dealer is? PM me please.

Unfortunately, Junky Spot is not returning this year. I emailed the owner last Dec '09, but never got a reply.

I usually spend about $50-$80 at the Dealer's Room. Why so little? I make regular trips to San Francisco's Japantown, where they have almost everything I could ever want. Plus, I tend to not buy very much in life anyway. Do I really need this item? Can I live without it?

*jedi mind trick*
YES, YOU REALLY NEED THESE ITEMS AND YOU CAN'T LIVE W/O IT. YOU NEED TO SPEND ALL YOUR MONEY IN DEALERS TO MAKE THEM HAPPY!
*waves hand*

Jpop House will be there!

The vendor you speak of is "The Contact Lens Company" - http://www.exoticlenses.com/

They are supposedly FDA approved and will not accept orders w/o valid prescriptions. The lens on their site are for 20/20 vision, you can try emailing them to see if they can handle our prescription.

And yes, they WILL be returning to FanimeCon!

I bought a Japanese DVD online through Amazon... and it was a *bleeping* bootleg. The quality is poor, it won't last through too many viewings, and I've supported a parasite. But I couldn't tell online and I was anxious to grab a copy of the film when I could. At a show you can handle the case and look close enough to tell if the image on the cover is a copy or looks original.

Unfortunately, Amazon & eBay is like a giant flea market. The contracted vendors who sell thru Amazon aren't policed for bootlegs.  :-[

I hope Aksys Games comes through and shows off the console version of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift like what they did last year for BB: Calamity Trigger.

Seconded.

Rest assured. Aksys will be returning along w/ few major surprises for us all.....MUWAHAHAHA SECRETS!

does anyone happen to know the dealer that sells mainly, if not all gundam models? He is there every year.

Steve of Anime One Stop will be there. They don't have a website though...

Jannoy,

I've seen music sheet books sold at Kinokuniya SF. Though I can't say the same about SJ's location....can someone elaborate??

Please bring digital discs back!!! ;^; Also sell more visual kei and Jrock!!! At Fanime 09 there was bearly anything and I left the dealers room very disappointed. Oh and please have a booth that sells LM.C merch like they did with AnCafe in Fanime 08. Thanx.

Digital Disc will be returning, however they've changed their name to "Man in a Dress". But don't worry, it's the same owner.  ;D
JPop House will also be returning for 2010!

Keep checking this site for new & returning dealers coming to FanimeCon this year!!
http://www2.fanime.com/2010/dealerlist/

Seeing how these PJ's can cost anywhere from $25-$50 USD, ***THAT'S IF YOU LIVED IN S.KOREA*** For dealers to import this, you also need to consider EMS shipping costs (add $20-25 on top). I highly doubt anyone would be willing to sell it for cheaper, they wouldn't be able to make profit. I would guess, 10-15% off at best if dealers are willing to shave off those prices...

Last I had heard it was illegal to impose a fee for using credit over cash, hence you don't see it at gas stations like you used to in the late 80's.  Pretty sure Camilla was policing this last year, as it's a dealer's choice to accept those fees or to just be cash only.  Anyone know if this has changed?  Really with the economy the way it is everything is a buyer's market anyways.

Sort of. It's usually against the contract that the merchant has with the credit card company to impose a minimum. Usually they aren't allowed to charge a fee, too - but that one is a little trickier.

This isn't really on the consumer's behalf, though. ;D When merchants charge minimums or fees, people may not want to use their credit cards, and that means the credit card companies make less money!

I did some research & looked into this matter. By law, dealers cannot charge a "minimum". However, they are allowed to have a "processing fee". Case in point, ordering tickets from venues such as Live Nation and Ticketmaster. They have "processing fees" per ticket. Or, when you use PayPal/eBay. They take an additional percentage out of your sales. Another example, when you're late for a credit card payment and want to pay over the phone, the company will charge you a $15-$25 fee for this service. In short, it all comes down to the technical wording.

As quoted from Ticketmaster's FAQ:

Convenience Charges and Order Processing Fees
Tickets purchased on Ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster.ca are typically subject to a per ticket convenience charge and a non-refundable per order processing fee. In many cases, delivery prices will also be owed.

Haha #3 happened to me and my group last year. We were buying the prop plus petite code geass figurines, the chibi ones, and we bought them for $8 when we walked around a bit more we saw this lady selling the exact ones for $2! We bought more from that lady for cheaper.

Ah...but were you able to tell the difference in quality?? The figures can look the same, but the paint quality will be slightly off color or a little messy. The box/packaging print wouldn't look as sharp and pixelated as well....