PCA Guide To SDCC

Are you planning on attending SDCC 2018? Well you’ve come to the right place my friends. This episode Rick and Piper spill the beans on all the ways you can leave SDCC 2018 with tons of Pop! with the Novice Series Volume 4: A Pop Collectors Alliance Guide to SDCC. The good news for collectors is you don’t always need SDCC passes to get great Pop! They also discuss their weekly pickups, weekly announcements, and a new awesome program called the Pop Collectors Alliance ELITE. Join us next week for Novices Series Volume 5: Navigating Facebook to Build your Pop! Collection.

Announcements

Pops for Tots! Cooks Children Hospital Fort Worth Funko Pop Drive. Send donations to our PO box or donate via the website, all money will be used to purchase items to help out kids that are going through a rough time. Donations close on June 10th. Mail Donations to:

Pop Collectors Alliance PO Box 150490 Fort Worth, Texas 76108

Live Pop Swap!!!!! The First Ever!!!!

Pop Collectors Alliance Presents a LIVE Pop Swap Event!!!

Saturday June 9th, 2018 2 – 8 PM at Keller Pointe

405 Rufe Snow Dr, Keller, TX 76248

Swappers:  Tables are $10 each (with a 2 table max)

Admission: $5 Per Adult, Kids under 12 are FREE (Your $5 Admission comes with Raffle tickets)

Tons of Games and Raffles, Arcade, Food and an all around good time.

Make this event a historic moment in the Pop Collectors Alliance history!

Swappers interested in tables contact Tiffany @ Tiffany@astropandaproductions.com

Pop Collectors Alliance ELITE!!!!!!

If you would like to hear more about the Pop Collectors Alliance ELITE Program email us: info@popcollectorsalliance.com

Novice Series Volume 4: A Pop Collectors Alliance Guide to SDCC

Based on inputs from our Patreon Community this topic was selected this week to replace the Finding Pop on Facebook.

I know SDCC is about 2 months away but with all the talks and hints of SDCC pops…. It seems like the perfect time to have this discussion.

Most people think, If I don’t get tickets to SDCC or Fundays what is there really left for me to get. Well I’m here to tell you there are tons of Pop Related things to do outside of the convention hall!!!

First let’s talk about the Funko Lottery at SDCC

• If you were lucky enough to get passes into SDCC CONGRATS now the wait is….. well not over…… because you will be waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting to get hopefully win the lottery with a time.
• Funko has line that is marked just outside of Hall H at SDCC and yes people were waiting 24 hours almost every day to get in there.
  • This does not! I repeat does not get you a spot in the Funko Booth Line only the opportunity to be entered in the Funko Lottery.
  • A ton of people stop at this point and say wait….. We have to wait in a line to see if we can wait in a line that also poses the risk of not getting super exclusive items especially if they are sold out. Sadly the answer is yes.
  • Funko set’s up a live lottery at SDCC this forces you to wait in line as they call people up to enter and see if they were selected for that specific day.
    • If not selected they tell you to move on……
    • If selected HOORAY you get assigned a time to get Pop!
  • Once in the line depending on what time of the day your assignment is you fill out the form they provide you for the times you want, approach the booth and hand it over to the sales person and they give you everything you asked for.
    • NOTE: Check for damage there just like you would anywhere else, if there is damage tell them you would like to exchange the pop.
    • Beware of resellers, flippers and collectors willing to benefit off of others in line that may not be purchasing everything to get extra items to sell. Not always bad people but I’ll let you gauge if someone is trying to benefit or not.

The Funko Pop Up Shop

• The Pop Up Shop is something else Funko sets up for the less fortunate people who could not attend SDCC.
• Again this requires patience as you will be waiting a LONG TIME. Last year guests were waiting over 36 hours prior to opening.
• Funko will release a list of items available at the Pop Up Shop before the convention. Try and gauge what you want and don’t want to see if you need to dedicate yourself to waiting in line that long.
• Basically at this point a Funko Collectors main tasks at SDCC are waiting in line for HOURS and HOURS and HOURS on end.

Funamition, Nickelodeon and other Vendors that Have SDCC exclusives

• Funimation almost always has Funko Exclusives and hopefully this year we will get more DBZ especially since DB Super just ended…..
• When the convention hall opens or if you are lucky enough to get in on preview night Funimations booth will be open and selling pop.
• Go immediately and wait in line. Typically there limit is 5 items per person, so use discretion here.
• Last year Nickelodeon had a booth with a SDCC exclusive GITD Baxter. People went crazy.
  • I would say prioritize these items first as they sell out the quickest.
• Always check around the entire convention there are tons of vendors there that could potentially have exclusives at the event from Blizzard to Fugitive Toys. Toy Tokyo normally shares booth space with Funko so you’ll need to get in line to get those exclusives.

HBO and other Vendors Outside of the Convention

• You have to wait for everything outside of SDCC so why would this be different…
• Last year HBO had a Game of Thrones Experience where they sold an exclusive Night King the wait was anywhere from 4-6 hours… again be prepared.
• As we get closer to SDCC you will see announcements everywhere from Funko to SDCC posting them…. I suggest you follow anything and everything associated with SDCC to get some insite on what will be offered there and any Special Events.

Conan and Spreckels Theater

• Normally Conan has a week of Comic Con Shows at the Spreckels Theater and each night they give audience members a Conan Pop.
• As we get closer to the event ticket sales will open but you can keep your eyes on this page for an announcement.
• If you aren’t selected to be an audience member that week no fear just again post up outside of the theatre you’ll know when recording is happening because you can go in the ticket sales area on the side of the building and ask. As audience members leave you can ask if you can purchase the items.
  • Note this is not as easy as it used to be as more and more Funko Fans comprise the audience. So pay what you feel is fair.
• Also there are also online giveaways for figures just watch the show for details to enter.

Putting it all together

• You may be saying right now…. Damn that’s a ton of info. Well you’re right it is, but here are important tips to remember should you decide to go to SDCC.
  • GO IN GROUPS!!! Tons of stuff is happening at the same time and if you want to enjoy other things that are going on besides waiting in lines all the time bring a crowd.
  • Work as a team: identify what everyone wants and strategize how to place people in different places to get all of the items. If someone can wait in the Pop Up Shop Line one day then you can be at the convention.
  • Use Apps: whether it’s 5 mile, Offer Up, Craigslist, Let Go, or any other selling app use it to your advantage. Especially if you didn’t get passes there are tons of people there trying to make a buck off of us and you can find great deals where you may think $100 is a lot now but it sure beats 500-1000 later.

Hunting Tip of the Week

Strategize your Shared Con exclusives, try and get some online and others in store and work as a team. This allows you to get more items everywhere. Get GameStop online or Hot Topic Online and Barnes and Noble in store.

Here are also some helpful links pulled from this episode.

http://sdccblog.com/

con.org/toucan">https://www.comic-con.org/toucan

http://teamcoco.com/tickets

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Email us: info@popcollectorsalliance.com

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