quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:

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Originally posted by webjon:

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Originally posted by webjon:
I haven't seen any deals on entertainment cards. . . I've been looking. . .

I'm still not finding any deals, in fact the prices on what I am watching seem to be going up.

Bottom line is people are trying to pay their bills.

I'm seeing fewer looks right now, but still some healthy sales.

Looking into doing coupon codes on the website to try to keep business off eBay, where the fees are higher.

Ed

Hey Ed. . .

The thing that surprised me is that I was watching a card from a specific seller -- the last one they sold brought around $47. 2 weeks later another copy of the same card -- it sold for $64. Another seller had a sketch with a BIN, I was planning on offering around $40 for it, but they sold to an offer of $55. Anecdotal evidence to be sure. . .

I was also bidding on some art over the weekend and thought I had strong bids, but lost both pieces. Another card I've been watching for has been selling in the $40s -- I finally won one, but it cost me $56.

Good luck with the sale -- looking forward to the coupon code. . .

Jon

This is an extraordinary time and if you are not living in certain parts of the country, you don't realize how restrictive it is. Not just because of the mandated regulations, but also because people are just afraid to go out to do things they have to do and are allowed to do.

Essential businesses are allowed to operate, but none are operating normally, mainly because their own workers are sick or are afraid of becoming sick. So operation locations are closed or working on skeleton staff. Customers are limited as to where they can stand or how many can come in at one time. Bank locations are closed with a sign on the door. Post Office locations are closed with a sign on the door. Some restaurants and grocery stores that could do take-out are closed with a sign on the door.

Never has the PO just been permitted to close or your local Bank can just shut down and say go to the next location. How do you mail packages? How do you do anything not through an ATM? And on top of that, you are afraid to go anywhere that has people standing around and you may want to hold on to your money because over 3M people in NY went on unemployment last week.

It would be very hard for me to buy trading cards, even with good deals. There is too much uncertainty about everything.

You're living in a shelter-in-place state just like I am. There was a bank branch in a nearby grocery store but it closed sometime last week. Now, I have to drive a few miles to another one instead of having that convenient and safer one-stop trip. I've been cutting way back on take-out food to save money and limit my exposure. I did go to a Panda Express once last week. The chairs were gone. There were only two other customers and everyone was keeping their distance. The stores and coffee shop around it were closed. The parking lot was near empty.

At another outdoor mall one restaurant had a sign that said it had shortened hours and you have to order online or by phone. Most of the other businesses were shut down.

I was going to send a box to a friend but both us understand that going to the post office is not a priority right now.

Last week, the police started warning "non-essential" businesses like hair salons that stayed open after the order. I think one business was given an actual ticket after ignoring a warning and will have to pay a fine.

Fed Ex Office (Kinko's) has shut down access to its scanners, computers, and printers. They just ship packages for now. I think the government is going to keep the post office open due to the unlikelihood of getting the virus from a package.

Yeah, I wonder about running out of on-hand cash. We're going to remain shelter-in-place for April and perhaps May. Some doctors say it will be longer than that. From what I've seen, we may be in the first month of a five-month period of semi-self-isolation. If more states go shelter-in-place, it might be shorter. Some people still think this is some overblown flu strain. They are still getting together, acting like nothing can happen to them, spreading the virus as they go.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
This is an extraordinary time and if you are not living in certain parts of the country, you don't realize how restrictive it is. Not just because of the mandated regulations, but also because people are just afraid to go out to do things they have to do and are allowed to do.

Essential businesses are allowed to operate, but none are operating normally, mainly because their own workers are sick or are afraid of becoming sick. So operation locations are closed or working on skeleton staff. Customers are limited as to where they can stand or how many can come in at one time. Bank locations are closed with a sign on the door. Post Office locations are closed with a sign on the door. Some restaurants and grocery stores that could do take-out are closed with a sign on the door.

Never has the PO just been permitted to close or your local Bank can just shut down and say go to the next location. How do you mail packages? How do you do anything not through an ATM? And on top of that, you are afraid to go anywhere that has people standing around and you may want to hold on to your money because over 3M people in NY went on unemployment last week.

It would be very hard for me to buy trading cards, even with good deals. There is too much uncertainty about everything.

The virus is certainly affecting buisnesses in our hobby.Over the last week I have had quiet a few unsolicited offers of discounts on items that are on my watch list.
Some from sellers that have never had make a offer on their inventory .
some of them very good discounts too up to %25 off.
This would of been very good for me but has been negated by the exchange rate balooning out over the last two weeks up to $2.02 NZ for $1.00 USA killer.
Also shipping has slowed down to a crawl every were we have had no notification yet but there has been no mail now for about five days.
So it is affecting everything .I have had an E Mail from my USA forwarding office saying parcel notification will now be sent and you have to tick a square wether it is essential or not if not it goes into a bin to be delivered when the virus goes down to level 3 who knows wnen that will be .
I think that as with all other things when we come out of this ,I dont know how but our hobby will come out of this wounded.

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Originally posted by catskilleagle:
Yeah, I wonder about running out of on-hand cash.

I hadn't thought of that, but I've been looking around to see candidates for barter. Somehow trading card sets haven't caught on with the butcher shops. Credit cards are handy (at least now) for ordering from isolation at home, but the credit-card companies are struggling with Fraud Alerts when folks buy things that don't fit their previous pattern. Like my new supply of UVC virus-killing lamps.

quote:

Some doctors say it will be longer than that. From what I've seen, we may be in the first month of a five-month period of semi-self-isolation. If more states go shelter-in-place, it might be shorter. Some people still think this is some overblown flu strain. They are still getting together, acting like nothing can happen to them, spreading the virus as they go.

But remember it was only a month ago when the top expert said there was a "very, very low risk to the United States" and a major presidential candidate called travel restrictions "fear mongering." If those "some people" remember some recent cases of fake news, I can understand skepticism. But there's plenty of facts out there if you're willing to find them. Prominent people have said things that turned out to be 100% wrong, and we still don't know whether "models" are too high or too low. It's bad enough hearing politicians trying to apportion "blame" -- there will be plenty of that to be apportioned later. We still don't know how this outbreak started.

I'm in one of the few enclaves where shelter in place hasn't been 'ordered' yet because population density isn't huge and the cities and counties put restrictions in place early. Still, people have a habit of ignoring boundaries, and even long-range truckers can spread this thing when asymptomatic.

Denver Pop Culture Con
Originally July 4th Weekend
Moved to Thanksgiving Weekend Nov. 27-29

This should cause some pause, that the con and the local government didn't consider July 4th 'safe' any longer.

I've done very well at Thanksgiving shows in the past, so I'm not too concerned. But Black Friday is a bigger beast than even a few years ago. Can a con compete with Black Friday? Or will this be a mostly Saturday/Sunday con?

Should be interesting to say the least.

Apparently this was the ONLY date available at the convention center for October/November. So it was move or cancel.

Strange times we live in.

Ed

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Originally posted by Scifi Cards:
I've done very well at Thanksgiving shows in the past, so I'm not too concerned. But Black Friday is a bigger beast than even a few years ago. Can a con compete with Black Friday? Or will this be a mostly Saturday/Sunday con?

Ed

Last year Black Friday sales from major retailers were advertised online beginning November 1st. Some of the best stuff sold out well before Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers beat Black Friday offers for what was left. The only reason to still go to stores on Black Friday is the Doorbusters, but then you have to be lucky enough to get them.

Given the choice, I would rather go to a Con on Black Friday, but its more likely the state of the economy and just general life at the time that will determine if people are going anywhere.

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:

This should cause some pause, that the con and the local government didn't consider July 4th 'safe' any longer.

Don't think it will be long before not considered safe will apply to the whole of July and probably August as well.

Hoping for Philly in the Fall - you should come Graham!

Now comes the inevitable piling up of shows in the fall.

I have 2 shows the week before Chicago now, thanks to rescheduling. One in Austin and 1 in El Paso. Not sure which one I'll end up doing, but there's no way to do both.

I also had to buy a 2021 calendar. Already have show conflicts for next year. Crazy times indeed.

Ed

I just read San Diego Comic Con canceled.
Was hoping it wouldn't, but looks like the virus will effect things well into the later part of the year.

So much of SDCC depends on the entertainment industry with the promotions, previews, panels and guests. Many of these people were just not going to get there logistically and the schedules for films and TV shows have all been thrown off. Hopefully a lot of the restrictions will be lifted in different parts of the country by that time, but there was no reasonable way they could go on with SDCC this year.

And the California Governor has said that they might not have 'large gatherings' for several years. Even if the industry could support, can you imagine the Exhibit Hall with social distancing? Hall H lines that extend to La Jolla?

Hey Nat, I won't be coming to the Card Talk Dinner this year. Miss you all!

My last June show postponed until next year, so my next show is September in Phoenix.

It will be interesting to see how the "opening" of the public will be rolled out. Especially for the Chicago and Philly shows.

Neither show has thousands of attendees. We probably never have 100 people in the room at any one time in Chicago, more in Philly. So with a slow roll-out, will smaller show run?

I can't answer that right now. I hope so, I miss my friends and customers, but I don't want to be a nexus of infection either.

We'll all be playing this by ear and trying to listen to the 'experts' and government officials (notice those are 2 separate things?).

I seriously doubt we'll see a show with 20,000+ people this year. Maybe Denver over Thanksgiving? Maybe.

Next big one to fall will be DragonCon. But Georgia is doing some crazy stuff right now, so maybe they let it go? Time will tell.

Ed

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:

Next big one to fall will be DragonCon. But Georgia is doing some crazy stuff right now, so maybe they let it go? Time will tell.

I think they just posted something yesterday saying that they're still putting on the show... wishful thinking at this point.

I think hobby shows are going to have a real problem this year even if they manage not to cancel. Who is going to show up? Not just in terms of table holders and guests, but how much of the public is going to attend?

The NYC ComicCon kicks off October 8th. The Javits Center was just converted to a coronavirus field hospital a couple of weeks ago. I think they are starting to take it down now, since it was barely used, but still. The NYC subways are being overrun with the homeless now. It's going to take some time to get everything cleaned up in the subway system after this is all over and that's the easiest way to get to Javits. Things are going on in NYC that you aren't hearing Cuomo or de Blasio talk about in their daily competing press conferences, but it will boil over before too much longer and they will have to publicly deal with it.

No one needs to risk their health to attend or to spend money they can't afford on a hobby show. However if something radically changes, like a vaccine or at least a drug that is proven to work, then you will get a 180 degree turn.

Absent that, I think even the October date for NYCC is very much in doubt.

I think if i was anything to do with shows i would write the rest of this year off in my mind, if things change great.

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Originally posted by wolfie:
I think if i was anything to do with shows i would write the rest of this year off in my mind, if things change great.

This.

I find it astonishing that even though San Diego Comic-Con has been cancelled, Showmasters have still not cancelled London Film & Comic Con. People are being told to remain 'optimistic'. Frankly I think it is irresponsible, not to mention unrealistic.

How will some celebrities get to a show without being able to get on a plane?

Which celebrities will want to rub shoulders with hundreds of punters? (Some of whom do not have the best hygiene at the best of times)

They're on about running a smaller show... but whatever the size big it would be impossible to enforce any sort of social distancing to make it 'safer'.

Hi X,

Punters? That's funny. I assume that's like when a friend got us tickets to a Gators (University of Florida) football game and said we were sitting with the "grubs" in the bleachers. Well, of course that makes us grubs as well and didn't necessarily exclude us from the group even when he was able to get box seats before. It's not like we changed into different clothes for that. It's great just to be at the game.

One time, his wife got tickets from her boss to a Tampa Bay Rays (baseball) game and we were in the luxury area. That was a lot of fun. There was hot and cold everything and cookies - all free. A lady in the room next door complained that they didn't have her favorite brand of water. Some people just can't be happy.

Jess

quote:

Originally posted by X:

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
I think if i was anything to do with shows i would write the rest of this year off in my mind, if things change great.

This.

I find it astonishing that even though San Diego Comic-Con has been cancelled, Showmasters have still not cancelled London Film & Comic Con. People are being told to remain 'optimistic'. Frankly I think it is irresponsible, not to mention unrealistic.

How will some celebrities get to a show without being able to get on a plane?

Which celebrities will want to rub shoulders with hundreds of punters? (Some of whom do not have the best hygiene at the best of times)

They're on about running a smaller show... but whatever the size big it would be impossible to enforce any sort of social distancing to make it 'safer'.

I think smaller shows could make a return if conditions improve, probably not until after summer. If these events are allowed to be held I certainly would go, just would exercise a bit of caution and practice safe habits like reasonable distancing and hand washing. It’s too early to gauge at this point but if things improve I think people will attend. I understand people may have concerns and stay away and I completely understand that but with some common sense and due diligence I think most people would be up for a show, if things improve to that point.