Author Topic: NYCC 2016 Reviews  (Read 4004 times)

Offline Zero

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NYCC 2016 Reviews
« on: October 09, 2016, 07:32:16 PM »
For those of you who attended NYCC 2016, please use this thread to tell us about your experience at this year's convention--anyone from first-time attendees to veterans.

What were some of the convention highlights for you?  What did you enjoy about the convention?  What didn't you enjoy about the convention?  How was the exhibit hall and the panels (that you attended)?  Did you get any cool swag?

Please feel free to include as much detail as you would like.

Looking forward to reading your reviews.
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Offline rabbitwarren

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2016, 02:28:51 AM »
The highlight was definitely the Marvel Netflix panel.  It reminded me of Hall H moments of the past

Wifi was a welcome edition

Not sure moving things offsite and artist alley to another corner helped as Saturday felt as crowded as ever. And artist alley looked pack on Saturday.


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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #2 on: Today at 10:22:09 AM »

Offline nyel24

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2016, 08:24:57 AM »
i felt sat and sun was definately packed.  More so than usual.  Also if anyone happens to have an extra Red Voltron Patch that was being given out at the Con.  I would be interested.  PM me. 

Offline RTFirefly

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2016, 10:03:08 AM »
I actually left earlier than I intended on Sunday because the crowds were so large.  We could not move around, even in the area away from the main floor (on the comic book selling side).  I have been going since 2009 and I do not think I have ever seen it that crowded on a Sunday. 

Offline Boukenred

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #4 on: October 10, 2016, 11:46:39 AM »
This year's NYCC still felt quite underwhelming; the show didn't seem to get me excited much nor did it do anything spectacular to make it memorable. Some of the tickets from their lottery system seems to do work on their part, but still wasn't impressive to win it.

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Offline mzx380

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NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2016, 01:18:30 PM »
Personal circumstances prevented me from attending all days and being an active participant this year.  For the first time ever I left prior to closing on Saturday and Sunday because I was able to make all my back issue purchases.

It's a shame that a comic book conventions least prominent feature these days are the sales of comics but other than that I thought that it was a good show.

I really hope they can get more, creators of the past to attend artist alley next year that would be huge for me


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« Last Edit: October 10, 2016, 01:20:41 PM by mzx380 »

Offline eco49

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #6 on: October 10, 2016, 06:07:36 PM »
Having done Ultimate VIP for the past few years, I figured I'd give this year a shot just to see what it was like. I don't mind lining up super early, but issues with people cutting in line (coming off 39th street into the line outside Javits, primarily) negated some of that advantage and was really frustrating, because I saw ZERO staff or volunteers on the line. It also felt more crowded than ever, even on Sunday, which I don't remember being that bad.

I spent most of Thursday on the floor, because there weren't any panels I was interested in. I did get to do the Valerian signing (Luc Besson!) which was neat.

Friday I did the Stranger Things panel. The tapping for main stage seemed to go well, except there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when they started tapping. I also had a photo op, which ran really smoothly. Later I camped through the Bandai Namco panel for Hulu's Shut Eye (which looks really interesting) and Black Sails (which I hadn't watched, but just started binge watching).

I did MSG on Saturday, which was probably my best day. I got there early (6:!5 am), and was in the first batch of people herded in at 8 to wait inside for another 3.5 hours. It was worth it, though, for John Wick 2 and The Walking Dead (JDM squeeee!), and I always love seeing Guillermo Del Toro. Even the Great Wall panel was kind of fun.

I liked the new Experiential Zone, and did the John Wick VR demo on Sunday, which was awesome. I hit it first thing and there was still a 90 minute wait, because there were people in there before 10, which was, again, frustrating, because I was almost in the very front of the queue hall line. I snagged a Timeless signing, which was pretty cool.

All in all, I had a good time, but I felt a little underwhelmed, but I think last year I really lucked out with there being stuff I liked in all the right places at all the right times.

Also, I really miss VIP if only for having a place to sit down. D:

Offline dkd

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2016, 08:07:12 AM »
Because I'm local and I get a relatively cheap Pro ticket, I really just come and go to the con as I please:

1.  Did the show floor on Thursday when it wasn't so crowded.  I bought some things from the area called The Block.  I like the reatailers there.  Started off the day going straight from the LIRR (Penn Station) to a Neil deGrasse Tyson panel at Hammerstein that was good.  Meetup in the evening was good.

2.  Started off with Elementary at Hammerstein.  Didn't do too much at the convention center except Artist Alley where I scored a nice print.

3.  Never got to the Convention Center.  Did one panel in MSG and the Syfy combined panels at Hammerstein for Expanse and Magicians.  These were excellent panels.  Also did a meetup that was great.

4.  Sunday, I never went in.  I knew I wanted to watch a particular football game and decided to stay home.

Bottomline:  for a person who commutes through Penn Station, having panels at MSG and Hammerstein make it tempting not to even go to the convention center.

Online sefton42

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2016, 01:42:28 PM »
Since I did MSG both Friday and most of Saturday, I missed out on the craziness at Javits.  I got to MSG early in the morning and scored a seat in the 3rd row on Friday and 4th row on Saturday.  That would not have been possible at Hall H.  However, they needed more signage outside of the plaza about lining, up; I don't think ReedPop expected people to line up before the queues opened at 8 am.  However, I heard of nightmares of lining up at Javits those days; I missed out on all the craziness at MSG which was pretty calm.

I liked the line updates on Twitter.  I was planning to do Carrie Fisher's autograph on Sunday, so seeing the updates on Saturday made me realize how early I would need to get there.

Offline DRWHO42

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2016, 07:02:55 PM »
The app was quite handy this year.
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Offline dkd

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #10 on: October 12, 2016, 06:55:35 AM »
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The app was quite handy this year.

I concur that I really liked the notifications on the app about panel availability and such.  Well done.

Offline jamiesugah

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #11 on: October 12, 2016, 10:35:28 AM »
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The tapping for main stage seemed to go well, except there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to when they started tapping.

Yeah, this was something that bothered me. I only did one Main Stage panel (Iron Fist) but I don't understand how they chose when to start tapping. My friends and I got there around 7am for Iron Fist and when they started letting people in to the convention center we got tapped for Iron Fist right away so we split up to get other Main Stage panels. Some went to Gotham, got tapped right away, and then got in the line for the floor. Some of us went to the Alan Tudyk line and no one got tapped in at all until after 10.

I know that they stop letting people move once the queue for the show floor fills up, but I don't understand why they weren't tapping all the Main Stage panels until then.

Other than that, as press, I generally have a pretty different convention experience. I had lots of press rooms this year so I didn't spend all that much time on the floor or in panels. I missed the Empire stage - there were a lot of panels at Hammerstein or MSG that I would have gone to but I had so many press rooms that I didn't have time to be running back and forth between venues.
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Offline NCDS

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #12 on: October 12, 2016, 11:45:36 AM »
I really appreciated the tapping early, because they tapped us early for Iron Fist I was able to leave for Hammerstein and get into the panel I wanted.  The panel was filled to capacity so I would have missed it otherwise.  Thankfully I had no problem leaving this day.

On Friday they tapped us late for A.O.S. and when I wanted to leave for MSG a guard grabbed me by the back pack (ripping it) and almost knocked me down.  I had no clue I couldn't leave that way.  He told me I couldn't exit, went somewhere else same thing, I had to find a security with higher authority who eventually made it so I could exit the building.  Next day I noticed they had staff there instead of security. 

If they are going to have offsite events they need to understand that people are going to want to tap for the main stage and then leave to other offsite events.

I do think they tried to fix things the next day and it went smoother. 
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Offline debster

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #13 on: October 12, 2016, 12:08:07 PM »
The only reason I could think of as to why they started tapping Iron Fist early was because that queue was rapidly filling up, so they wanted to get the first set of people out of the way so they could fill that line again. I have no idea whether this is true though.  I did notice (after I got tapped for Iron Fist and while I was waiting in the Alan Tudyk queue) that after that first initial set of Iron Fist taps, they stopped tapping until after 10. I'm not sure why they tapped Gotham so early though, the line was just a little longer than Alan's line and I don't think anyone in Alan's line got tapped until after 10.

Offline Ultron32

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Re: NYCC 2016 Reviews
« Reply #14 on: October 12, 2016, 03:08:48 PM »
I think the private autographing worked well, but they should consider giving people more specific time slots. It's annoying to show up for something called *private* and still have to wait an hour on line for it. Doesn't seem like it should be that hard; if they plan the signings to be an hour just divide the number of people coming by four and give them a 15 minute time slot.

Unrelated to that, how many years do you think we have before they add Wednesday? Seems like only a matter of time to me.
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