45 replies to this topic

[Doctor Dew]

I guess this has been talked about before, but a Muscle-Kinnikuman Convention would be a dam sweet thing indeed. Does anyone have any convention experience? I've attended the San Diego Comic Convention many times, but have never been a dealer/vendor. Does anyone know what kind of money we're talking about?

I can think of a few things:
-renting the location (electricity)
-the equipment (speakers, mikes, tables, etc.)
-employees for set up and clean up
-security

Maybe there is an experienced service or company we can contact/hire to do all the foot work and set-up for us. I know that just getting this board going is a big step and a convention is an even bigger one, but I just wanted to start this topic so we don't let the dream die.

Maybe we could even have a preliminary one at somebody's house. Okay, somebody's REALLY BIG house. I live near Bill Gates. I'll see what I can do. Maybe if I offer him my soul AND a Satan Cross figure...

[RubzOne]

I wonder if we can somehow intertwine multiple toylines into the convention to make it more appealing for the general public. If it was only MUSCLE/Kinnikuman there would probably only be about 30-50 of us hardcore fans I'm guessing. If we could somehow theme it by some of the great 80's toylines (Transformers, GI JOE, He-Man, Go-Bots, GUTZ, MIMP, GPK to name a few) or something like that, I think we would have a better chance at a larger turnout. Personally, I don't know how many of us live in Cali, but meeting with some of you guys for breakfast/trade/chat session would be just fine by me and could be done just about anywhere. I was talking to someone who lived relatively close to me on AIM about this, but I don't know where he disappeared to. I really don't care about profit but if we could somehow figure this out and follow through with it I'm sure we would get a TON of press and future conventions would become much easier to put together via sponsorship and advertisers. I don't ever play the lottery but it's times like these where I wish I had a spare 100k to burn. I would throw it into putting a huge event together without hesitation.

[jkaris]

Maybe we could even have a preliminary one at somebody's house. Okay, somebody's REALLY BIG house. I live near Bill Gates. I'll see what I can do. Maybe if I offer him my soul AND a Satan Cross figure...

Haa haa!

I really would like to get this going, and I'm pretty sure I can procure the venue, security, etc. But we would need at least 100 attendees to make it happen. 100 attendees and it's as good as done. I already have a spot picked out. Darrin (MPS) had an awesome event list. 100 people who will show, and we are good as gold! Total cost on this would be less than $5000 for a 2 day event. Around $3000 for a single day. At 100 people at $30 each, we can do it.

The main hurdle is that it will cost each attendee close to $300 to $500 to attend being that we are so spread out. You have air fare, hotel costs and all the other miscellaneous travel expenses. So getting one scheduled and going isn't the main obstacle, getting 100 folks there is.

Adding more 80's toys just may be the solution RubzOne. We could get alot of attendees from the local toy/comics scene then to add to the pot to cover expenses.

If you are serious about attending one, reply to this thread.

-Johnny

[Doctor Dew]

i'm totally serious about attending. i can think of two other people i know who would like to go as well. so that is THREE already! well on the way to 100.

but i agree that an 1980's-nostalgia-retro theme would attract the big crowd we need. right now with the new He-Man, Transformers, and GIJoes coming out, this would be a most opportune time. i am not sure where everybody is, i am in washington, but it seems like southern california or new york or philadelphia would be the best choices for the venue. i mean, those areas are already used to that type of convention activity and maybe the local scene would be more inclined to participate.

a nice idea would be to get a sponsor of sorts to foot part of the bill for advertising, tv coverage and what not. possibilities could include some major toy (comic?) stores near the convention or the big name toy companies. heck, even a soda company (I am biased to Mt. Dew) could be a sponsor. just tell them it is a convention with toys and kids of all ages will be there and they will be thristy.

maybe it could be called:
Step Back In Time And Spend Money

but yeah, i am down for it. whenever it happens....

[RubzOne]

Yeah they hold Anime Expo in Long Beach every year, they have a nice convention hall there. I have been to the ASR show there too which is an extreme sports trade show. If we really want to we can make this happen and be resposible for something really big. Don't work hard-Work Smart.

[RubzOne]

I also think a good way to gauge how many people will REALLY attend is to put together some sort of mock itinerary kind of like someone did with that MUSCLECON thingy and somehow advertise it on a bunch of toy/comic/retro websites. Somewhere in all of it we should get people to RSVP so we can get a rough estimate of how many people will attend, maybe then we can compile some sort of email list and then start taking it a little more seriously. I really think we need to search outside of the MUSCLE group here for attendees. I know of one other expo that is similar-BOTCON, which hosts transformer/macross and any other mech related stuff.

[theCrazyest]

I'm all over it! The 80s toy show is a great idea! Since the fan base for nastolgic items including our beloved Kinnikuman seems to be picking up steam. I also think that maybe with the 4Kids release of KG2 it'd be a great tie in for them as well as us. Another route is latching on to a local Anime convention and having events that are kinniku-specific. If that doesn't work then well need to do it old school Anime style and hold local meeting for Kinniku-chapters and get togethers! With the donations at the door to collect funds for the big con and a forum to discuss/dine/trade along with expose each other to other kinniku related items. We're going to have to approach this in a very grass roots sort of way but if we do it long enough..

[doc_moore_j]

Hey,
I am definately in if it is somewhat close to me. I live near Reno, NV, but would happily drive to California. Another great spot I think would be Las Vegas, I am seven hours drive from there, and Vegas is the convention, tourist capital of the world it seems. Plus finding a hotel, or a room is always cheap and easy. Although I would love it to be mostly based on Muscle and Kinnikuman, I agree that a 80's toyline theme would attract more attention. I also have about 8000+ comic books from the 80's-90's to bring to the show, along with all of my muscle and kinniku stuff. Keep me posted, 30 dollars is nothing if it meant a convention of this type was going to come from it. Muscle heads unite!!!!

[jkaris]

I'm thinking Sacramento.

[doc_moore_j]

I am cool with Sac, I am only a couple hours from there.

[theCrazyest]

Hey:

Sac sounds good! I'm really near by (BayArea is only a stone's throw away). What kind of cost are we looking at?

[jkaris]

Based on my experience throwing Raves, and Darrin's lineup, I'd say anywhere between $30-$50 per head. I'd like to keep it closer to $30 though, as more people would come.

[theCrazyest]

Here here! I'm all for that. What do you think about having local chapters? Or aren't there anough of us?

[doc_moore_j]

To be honest I was amazed to find just a few like us, local chapters would be tough, possibly we could be setting some kind of trend and someday there will be millions.

[RubzOne]

Based on my experience throwing Raves, and Darrin's lineup, I'd say anywhere between $30-$50 per head. I'd like to keep it closer to $30 though, as more people would come.

You throw raves man? I have been going to raves since 91, I love drum&bass and I breakdance... Just out of curiousity, how old is everyone? Im 26 myself...

[doc_moore_j]

26

[jkaris]

26 myself. 27 in October. Gettin' OLD!

[doc_moore_j]

Wow, we are all 26, this might have something to do with our obsessions on musclemen. We were all the ripe brain sculpting ages when they came out.

[RubzOne]

Yeah I'm 27 in Dismember

[Doctor Dew]

Sacramento!
very nice. i am way up in the pacific northwest (Tacoma, WA) but have made it down to San Diego in a 20 hour drive before. so getting there shouldn't be a problem for me. plus i have family in SD, so i am set for room and board. 30 bucks is also not a problem.
as for the grass roots approach, i'm not so sure that would work (at least for me). most of the people i know are just graduating from college and worrying about the future and paying back student loans. (i'm 22.) i have a few friends you would be interested in going to the convention, but mainly for the fun of a road trip. the only other person i know who could even be considered close to a Muscle head would be my older brother.
so, from my experience, there just aren't enough people that care enough about Muscles in a consolidated area to make that sort of campaign possible - although it seems like there are a lot of you in southern California. But i do know more people who are into things like old Star Wars figures, GiJoes and comics and such. so again, i think a theme of older toys would be the best shot at it.
at the very least, everyone could put an ad in their area's biggest paper and have interested people call and get tickets/info. or even going around town and posting flyers would work. maybe stick them around grade schools and elementary schools to interest a new generation.

[RubzOne]

Damn it really looks like this can happen, lets REALLY try to do this instead of just letting it get filed in the "things to do" bin. This can be really cool and I believe if we really want it bad enough we can make it happen, especially if we have something for everyone. We MUSCLEheads are only one niche audience and there are TONS of others out there for other toylines. Lets all put our thinking caps on here. We need to pool everyones talents together and get this crap in motion. I personally have been doing computer graphics since 96 so I can help design banners, posters, flyers, and anything which needs to be printed, there's my contribution to this monster. I'm not really good with money or organizing events but I'm sure there's an accounting guy somewhere around here, as well as a business major and event coordinator.

"Do good guys"

[Doctor Dew]

Lets all put our thinking caps on here. We need to pool everyones talents together and get this crap in motion.

hmm, talents?? wait, let me grab my thinking cap (my thinking cap is one of those beer can hats with straws coming down but instead i use mt. dew cans.) MUCH better.
it sounds like RubzOne has the graphic/advertisment area down. which is too bad, because the only thing i can really do is draw. so if you need help, let me know. BUT on the other hand, i am fairly good with people. my friends refer to it as my "schmooze" technique. it could be compared to a used car salesman, so i have always been good in the retail world. but as for how that might come in to play for the Convention, i don't know... maybe i could help with PR or something. but i live way up here. boo!

as an added thought. maybe we should start out with a booth or something at the San Diego International Comic Con in August 1-4. base it off of the Kinnikuman comics and then go from there. that would also be an EXCELLENT time to schmooze and gather support for our convention. and it would be a great way to come into contact with local toy retailers and individuals and get them interested in our convention.
perhaps there will be a Mattel executive (suit) there that could be convinced to give us a meeting or something and then eventually the monetary support and media coverage. although they would probably just piss and moan about profits, so screw that idea ...
but i think that the SD Con would be a great format for getting the word out about our 80's-retro theme toy convention. that's the target audience we're looking for.

[RubzOne]

Yeah I am just worried about someone corporate effs who actually have the means and money to make this happen and ripping off our idea to reap profits... that would truly eat me up inside. Perhaps we should keep this under wraps until we have something more organized in motion.

[Doctor Dew]

okay the address is www.comic-con.org for more info on the San Diego Con. you can still get an exhibitor table for $650 or a booth for $1050. this is very short notice of course, but that is okay. as was discussed earlier, we all seem to be relatively young people. we can afford to wait and plan this out and do it right. but i think that the Con and any other toy shows (is there one coming up in Japan?) that we can go to and get the word out would be a good idea.
i feel a smart idea would be to set up a sort of promotion booth for our convention at any other similar types of conventions or even the SD Con next year. we could call local toy stores and make sure they are going to the convention and that they stop by our booth. i think that would work. in the mean time lets start getting together things like:
- a name for the convention
- a logo for the convention (suitable for flyers, t-shirts, and tiny buttons/pin all the way to giant posters/banners)
- requirements to be an exhibitor in the convention (what toy lines do we include?)
- what kind of permits do we need to sell things in Sacremento?
- does anyone know anyone in the hotel business in northern California?
- maybe a local hotel or hotel chain will cut us a deal on rooms in return for some free promotion (like their name on our banners and ads)
- does anyone know anyone having to do with TV or newspapers in northern California?
- if we want to get sponsors to help us, maybe forming a LLC (limited liability company?) might be a good idea. it would give us more credibility and help us get money for the event. i don't know much about this as an art student, but it seems reasonable....

regardless, what i am saying is that we should try and make this a big deal and a very well organized and thought out big deal. we have the time and the desire to create something very cool that could very well become a yearly event. maybe then even Albertinoz & Mischa would be able to make it. so lets now start work on some of the very simple and very neccesary first steps. i think those would be some of the first couple of things i mentioned. like the name and a logo.

[Doctor Dew]

Perhaps we should keep this under wraps until we have something more organized in motion.

good point. but if we keep it to this board and just sort of sniff around about it for now, i don't see any way it could get to that point. so we just have to make sure that when we decide to "put it out there" and advertise and make it known, we have already set things in motion so they can not be stopped or superceded.