Category: NYAF

NY Anime Festival & Comic Con 2010: Exhibitors Hall

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The exhibitors hall is the biggest draw of most big time media conventions housing all types of companies from comics to video games to anime to novels with money to burn and products to promote to the eager masses that pass their way as well as a hodgepodge of comic, anime, and merchandise dealers hocking their wares. Most attendees spend a good portion of their time trolling around this section picking up free swag, playing the latest games, and finding deals. In my early con days, I too rarely went outside of such an area. NYCC really did it up big this year and it left an impression no doubt.

hisuiconYou can always tell how healthy an industry is by how vibrant their booths are. With a few exceptions the companies that are flush with cash will have lavish booths with fantastic giveaways. So while the anime and manga companies mostly had simple booths with a few (if any) giveaways on the other end of the spectrum the video game companies had gargantuan affairs with giveaways galore. The NYCC reminded of my times of going to technology expos like PC Expo were the exhibitors hall is the entire convention and 80% of the reason people go is to get freebies. Theoretically the other 20% of the time you were looking for hardware and software for your home and office but the second free t-shirts came out you wonder if 20% was being generous. But if you were not in the mood to go a panel or a screening there was plenty to do in the exhibitors hall especially if you wanted to go home with a few treats.

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NY Anime Festival 2010: Artist Alley – Making it Big!

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GUEST POST BY SKEITH

For better or worse, the New York Anime Festival certainly shook things up this year by merging with the New York Comic Con. Thankfully, my usual haunt – the Artists Alley – was also on the winning end of this merger, taking advantage of the Jacob Javits Center’s layout to get as many of the 90,000+ attendees to take a look and perhaps buy some art from the many booths. I saw a lot of familiar faces, but more and more I’m beginning to see them making the transition from amateur artist to full-time professionals, making me wonder just how they made the jump.

“It’s a lot of work,” said  Sarah Moulder of Stuido Kitsu. “You have to look at it like a full-time job and put in the extra hours to do it.” Moulder started simply, making odds and ends such as Kingdom Hearts dangles. Now she peddles a wide variety of anime-inspired hoodies, costume pieces and more. Sharing a booth with Moulder are Carolann Voltarel and Carrie Wink of Athena’s Wink who also claim crafting as a full-time job – and not an easy one.

“The both of us sit [at home] 8 hours, Monday through Friday, sewing hats most weeks,” said Voltarel. “And half of our weekends we’re selling at conventions.” When asked if they could be considered a success story of the Artists Alley, Wink responded, “We’re still working on the success part.”

Sarah Moulder, Carolann Voltarel and Carrie Wink

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NY Anime Festival & Comic Con 2010: Anime and Manga Industry

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hisuiconIn the current anime and manga market a little good news is nice to hear among all the doom and gloom. Despite major hits to the anime and manga markets in the last year I was happy to see a larger industry presence at the convention this year. Yen Press was able to make it this year which is hopefully a good sign since I was worried when they did not show up at the NYAF last year. There were hardly an Anime Expo level of announcements but there were some interesting tidbits in the mix.

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