Posts
Yama-Con 2017: Paranormal and Supernatural
(The theme not the TV show)
I know the question that you've all been asking.
"Did animazeme make it to Yama-con?!" well my fair folks, we sure did.
I didn't really get loud about us going to Yama-con before hand because of the topic I wanted to report on this year. Now generally, people get a little up-tight when you mention this so bear with me.
I wanted to observe and report the Vendors/Artists and see if they were doing the following:
- Following all Yama-con, convention center, and state guidelines for merchants.
- Keeping the same prices at all times.
- "Family Friendly" as is the convention.
First thing's first, What are the Yama-Con vendor rules? In fact, what are rules at all? Well my good people, rules exist to keep you and I safe. Sometimes they might seem like a buzz-kill but I assure you there is a good reason for most of them. The rules specific to Vendors, AKA Merchants, can be found on Yama-cons website here. I wont go over all of them because as I'm sure you can see, there are a lot of them. I will pick and choose the ones that I find are commonly ignored
- Bootlegs: Oh do I have bad news. Every convention, say it with me, every convention ends up being a hot spot for bootleg merchandise. It isn't even always intentional, sometimes you have vendors who just don't know. Regardless of the reason though, there is always bootleg merchandise afoot, or a-hand, or sometimes a-plushie.
- How am I so certain of this? Bootleg refers to unlicensed or unauthorized sale of a product without the producers consent. Did you see all of the posters at Yama-con? Did you see those plushies? How about all those books? Posters are usually a big one for bootlegs, because it is so hard to obtain creative license for them; however, just like everything else there are ways around it. Buy 1 (one) poster, get your purchase rights, order 100+ unofficial posters, sell them all under the pretense that they are the same one you bought the rights too. OR, my personal favorite, rip off hard working artists who make stunningly beautiful fan art because what could the repercussions for that be? a lawsuit? only if some artist from Berlin happens to physically see you selling their art.
Now did Yama-con have an issue with this? Not really. The merchandise wasn't blatantly obvious. The only issues came about when you asked vendors if you could see their license to sell. - Don't let me enthusiasm fool you, bootlegging art and other merchandise is despicable and I will continue to call out merchants I see doing it till the day I stop attending cons.
- Adult Content: Mmmmm Daddy, check again. It's hard to filter this subject because everyone sees different things as being adult content. Some more reserved people might believe that Sailor Moon has a little too much skin showing and call it 18+ where as others will read Sekaiichi Hatsukoi and think "Could have shown a little more". What I typically judge it by is, "How would I feel showing this to my grandma? And not the crazy one." Usually, artists are in more violation of this than merchants are. BUT WAIT - Yama-con has 2 rules on adult content. The first rule is just a general description of adult content, the second says it may be displayed in a tasteful manner.
- Is the convention really family friendly if you've got Hentai front and center on some massive art walls that can be seen from almost any point in the vendors room? Don't get me wrong, I like a little fanservice as much as the next guy but I don't need to see all that when I'm shopping for pocky. Since this entire subject is up to discretion I wont linger. Personally, I saw some art pieces and items (I'm looking at you, "Yes, Daddy?" belly shirt!) that I found a little distasteful. Oh and at one point in one of the vendors booths, a cosplayers shirt fell down and she didn't have a hidden modesty panel if you catch my drift. I know that isn't exactly accredited to vendors; however, what happens in the vendors room stays in the vendors room. I guess it just dampened my enjoyment of PG13 stuff.
- Minor things like merchant conduct, checking of ID's and use of music are also always little issues.
- Every con has minor violations. Why? Because vendors are people too. They are fans and otaku's just like the rest of us. They want to cut loose and have fun, they sometimes forget that they are there working. It's not that big a deal because generally the area manager nips it in the bud. I heard music that was probably a little too loud, I heard vendors cussing or saying things that I personally would have taken the wrong way, I never saw a single ID checked and I personally asked about some items that should have prompted that. It's normal in the con environment. Personally, I secretly believe we all enjoy that a little bit. We don't want our convention centers to have a little Otaku edition of Walmart, we want to fangirl/fanman with the merchants when we find an item we love, we want to openly discuss why we might hate/love this franchise or that character. We don't want them to force smiles and say "My Pleasure!" after every transaction. It's because we are there for more than just a transaction, we are looking for a connection.
So did Yama-con follow all convention, building and state rules, guidelines and laws? I would say yes. There wasn't anything blatantly disturbing or crudely illegal. They passed!
Did the vendors keep consistent and fair pricing? Depends. The consistency of pricing was pretty good, I didn't see too many vendors actively changing prices or anything like that. The biggest infraction with price changes that I saw was the "friends and family discount" which is when a vendor gives you a cheaper price cause they like you. It's not exactly a bad thing so I don't deduct any points for it. I was very pleased to not see any gauging this year. I have been seeing it a lot at the other conventions that I go too and it would have made me sad to be forced to do some call out posts on my favorite vendors.
Were the prices fair, this is where it really depends. For an example, I saw Harry Potter wizarding wands being sold for $20. I own one of the same wands, I purchased it brand new for $7 on Wish.com. Because I have vendor friends, I happen to know that this is where a lot of them will get their merchandise. Knowing that they were charging $13 over what I would have paid for it elsewhere, can I honestly think that the prices were fair? Different items, like character custom jackets (Yuri on Ice and Free!! Fans, I am referring to your boys jackets) where it has to be different fabric patterns, stitch types, and materials. Hell yeah, I'll pay whatever god-awful price you want. Why? Because it is highly unlikely that I'd be able to make it for cheaper. After you buy all the different materials, do your research, and sew the thing, you have more time and money invested than if you had just bought it. I'm not saying pay $100 for a track suit jacket, but $27-$35, yeah. That's a fair price. T-shirts with custom prints are ENTIRELY different. Do you know how cheap and easy it is to order custom shirts? Last year I bought a Nekoma (Haikyuu!! Represent!) t-shirt for $20. Just a t-shirt with the school name, not a fancy jersey or anything. Yesterday, from a freelance embroider/fabric printer that I know, I paid $22 for an overly custom hoodie that I got my sister for Christmas. He can do t-shirts for $10, or even cheaper if I provide the shirt. So don't get suckered into buying the shirts, they are different from the jackets.
Sorry about the tangent, I hope you learned something though.
Were the prices fair? Not really. They were over priced. BUT, all dealers rooms are over priced. It is part of con culture.
Was the convention hall "Family Friendly"? Again, that lady lost her shirt. That one vendor was selling boob mousepads. Oh God all the Hentai and "Daddy" Merchandise... Yes, it was family friendly. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Even in the family friends animes, the girls jiggle when they breath, there is fanservice everywhere, and it's just a part of the culture. I'm not saying you should have your kid watch Junjou Romantica (unless you are ready to answer a ton of questions), but if your kid watched even the first season of Naruto then he or she is familiar with the over-sexualization of the female body in anime.
Overall, the Yama-con "Market Place" was great. They had more unity and standardization among the vendors than I have seen in years past. There was an obvious increase in security (Back the Blue!), and the vendors were civil human beings. I think that this is one of the best merchant rooms I've seen. I hope you enjoyed this post and that you might have learned something! Feel free to leave your feedback in the comments or email me at akiameokami@gmail.com!
~Aki Ame Okami
