A few observations about Epic-Con 2014:  

First of all, there is a lot of bad press about this convention . . . celebrity guests threatening to sue, attendees wondering where the celebrities are, you name it.  Some of this may be true, however, I know for a fact that most of what I've heard about this convention is pure rubbish.  Most of the Internet garbage I've read about this convention came from people who didn't even ATTEND EpicCon - they were simply repeating what they've read on different sites on the net.  Well, I was there as a vendor, and I know what I witnessed.  I saw most of the people having fun, and that's what conventions are supposed to be about.

Even without a large group of celebrities, attendee turnout was fairly decent.  In fact, Saturday was like any other convention if you looked in the aisles about 2:00 - 3:00pm.  Of course, the attendance may have been double of what I could see because Epic-Con had two dealer rooms - one of which I think was an artist gallery.  There were also people outside all weekend long - everything from watching the drifting, to getting eats to checking out cars, to . . . hell, you name it. I'm still figuring double of the number of people I could see in the main dealer's room at any given moment.  Granted, Epic-Con didn't have the attendance that HorrorHound always seems to enjoy, however, attendance was still a hell of a lot better than at a lot of other conventions out there.  I suppose I could compare the turnout along the same lines as Marcon.  There were two dealer/artist rooms, and the one I was set up in had plenty of customers. I'm not sure about the dealer's room in the round building on account of I rarely had time to leave my table.  One thing is for sure, turnout was great for a second-year convention,

There were people in costume all OVER the place . . . HUNDREDS it seemed like!!  Epic-Con had more cosplayers than at any other con I can think of with the possible exception A&G Ohio!  'Nuff said on this cosplay stuff.  I'm not really into it and I'm sure you get the idea!

One thing that pissed me off was the amount of negativity at Epic-Con.  In fact, the negativity, stupidity and the number of trouble-makers were unbelievable.  R.A. Mihailoff was definitely the worst. My opinion is that he is a piece of shit.  And, I told him that to his face, on Sunday.

I know for a fact that a few of the vendors and celebrities who didn't make much money were blaming everything and anything other than themselves.  I actually laughed when I saw an older vendor who complained about not making any money when all she did was sit behind her table all weekend looking grumpy, and bitching to everyone about "no celebrities."  My own sales were pretty damned good compared to a lot of other vendors.  Of course, I know how to interact with customers.  I also understood that you have to treat customers the way they want to be treated.  Another reason I made money was because my stock wasn't over-priced and I know how to sell things.  However, I think the biggest reason sales at my table were good was because I didn't piss customers off by being negative like 75% of the other vendors.  I'm guessing that about 25% of the vendors at the con busted their asses and struck gold this past weekend, while the others just lost their asses.  There were a few vendors who were very nice people, and still didn't make much money . . . I have no idea why.  I'm guessing the economy had a lot to to with it...  (Shrug)

Some celebrity managers and agents should be taken out of the gene pool...  I've seen more stupidity from some of these guys last few days than I thought possible from any human being.  Most of them acted like little babies, and clearly didn't have the best interests of their clients in mind.  For example, an agent comes into the dealer's room before the convention even opens, bitching to anyone who would listen about him wanting to pull his client out.  He said the reason was because his client didn't get paid his guarantee in advance.  He wasn't even going to give the convention a chance.  To me, it just sounded like since other agents/managers were pulling their people out, he was going to pull his client out also to make himself look important.  He was sure putting on a big show to make the Epic-Con organizer look bad, and his bullshit angered ME on account of he was pissing off everyone around - basically vendors who were setting up.  These vendors are potential customers, and a pissed off customer doesn’t buy anything!

I was told that R.A. Mihailoff was giving away free autographs left and right.  I heard different reasons why he did this, however, I heard he was giving away autographs from so many people, it had to be true.  Then, sometime mid-Satrurday . . . the best time all weekend for sales . . . R.A. Mihailoff leaves his table and goes up to the convention organizer at the main desk and wants money from her.  DEMANDS it, in fact, and making sure everyone hears him!   His reason?  He wasn't going to make his guarantee! Goes right up to the little woman, gets in her face, and intimidates/threatens the hell out of her.  Mind you, the convention is only half over, he gives away picture after picture after picture for free so far during the con, and he's not even at his table during peak sales hours…  By this big bruiser trying to intimidate that little woman in a threatening manner in a very public area, Mihailoff had pissed off a LOT of people.  Word got around fast, and a two customers (cosplayers) said they were hoping to see that old bastard again so they could actually do him bodily harm.  Hell, all I did was HEAR about it (about a million times), and I found myself wondering if I could still do some of the nasty things I was taught in the service.  Okay, I understand there are two sides to every story, however, to tell you the truth, I didn't even WANT to hear Mihailoff's side of the story.  Think about it, R.A. Mihailoff is a mountain . . . and a guy his size intimidating and threatening a little woman with heart problems who would be lucky to be a third of his body mass.  Then, yesterday (Sunday afternoon), Mihailoff tried the same thing again.  This time, I saw him storming toward the Epic-Con organizer like a freight train, and I followed.  He did the exact same thing that people claimed he did the day before, except this time, the dealer's room wasn't full of customers.  There were only about 15-20 people in the area around the front desk.  About the first words out of this "idol's" mouth were, "Stupid F****** B****!"   As soon as he got in her face and said it, I got involved.  Thankfully, a cop was soon there and he shut Mihailoff down.  Because he didn't want to go to jail, Mihailoff  wimped away and began bitching to other celebrities.  Nothing in this world will ever change my mind that R.A. Mihailoff is a piece of shit.  NOT a real man at all, just a piece of shit who thinks he can intimidate and threaten little women.  In addition to all this, instead of being at his table, everyone saw him walking around trying to hit on the fairer sex a good portion of the time.  Then, of course, after he was embarrassed by the cop, he bails the convention altogether…   (Sigh)   Giving away free autographs, walking around the convention when he's supposed to be behind his table and then leaving the convention early...  I don't even think he was TRYING to make his guarantee.  I've always heard that R.A. Mihailoff was a pretty good guy...   Now, however, I know different.

A few dealers made a shitload of money, most others either made very little, or none at all.  A few of the dealers who didn't sell much of anything were screaming, "LOW TURNOUT!!!   LOW TURNOUT!!!"  These were the same morons who wanted their table money back.  (Yeah, like ANY convention is going to do that… )  One dealer in particular disgusted me.  He had VERY high-priced items, and was complaining all Friday evening and Saturday morning that he had low sales.  He even complained about this to customers…    Suddenly, I see him packing up early Saturday afternoon.  When I went over to ask why, he told me, "I went over to tell the wrestling people to turn their music down.  As soon as I get back to my booth, one of them comes up and threatens me!  When I asked our con organizer to kick them out, she said she couldn't.  So I'M leaving since I don't want to get killed!"   From what I later learned from the other vendors in his area, he had not told me the truth at all.  He had actually went over to the wrestlers during their show to complain about the loud music, and cursed out that cute, little girl who the wrestlers had with them.  Then, one of the wrestlers came over to his table later to talk to him about it.  My understanding is, the vendor was never threatened by any wrestler.  He was simply disgusted about low sales, he had plans on leaving anyway, and he used the wrestlers and the Epic-Con organizer as an excuse.  Hmmm, maybe if he had treated the customers right instead of being grumpy and bitching about everything, he would have sold more…  The world is full of idiots who seem to want to blame everyone else for their mistakes.  This guy was one of them.  Unfortunately, this dealer was not the only one to make this mistake.  NO customer wants to hear a vendor bitch and bitch and bitch about low attendance, and no sales!  They will simply go to the next booth.

Later on Saturday, I heard there were fights/scuffles/whatever over by the wrestlers.  I don't know what it was about, and I didn't really care, or even have time to leave my table to find out.

Everyone saw a SLEW of celebrities pull out as early as Friday.  Why?  I don't know.  It didn't make sense to me to see customers come into the dealer's room wanting to see them, and they leave…  They sure as hell can't make any money if they aren't even there.  There were maybe a dozen celebrities who had stayed for the entire show.  One of the celebrities who stayed was Kathryn Leigh Scott.  She was a real sweetheart and a pleasure to talk to.  I bought one of her autographed pictures and then gave it to someone who ran out of money, but still wanted her autograph.  

The drifting out in the back lot on Friday by Cody Grim was excellent.  He didn't even need to promote his outdoor show on account of as soon as he started up, people were attracted by the sounds of his engine and screeching tires.  He was giving people rides, and the con attendees were having a blast.  I have to wonder though how many sets of tires he goes through at these events…

The wrestlers put on a pretty good show on Saturday.  I'm not really into wrestling, however, obviously a lot of others were.  I couldn't see the show too well from my table, however, I understand the wrestlers were doing some very dangerous moves that you don't see other wrestlers do on television…

Dale Earnhart Sr's car was amazing, as was the car of the horror genre that looked like something between a hearse and an old dragster.  There were also other cars from movies there including Transformers, Night Rider and The A-Team, however, the race car was the most impressive in my mind.  The downside of the car show was a guy outside with a car on his trailer.  It was the Delorean from the movie, Back to the Future.  He was telling everyone who came close, "I'm not taking my car off the trailer until I get paid!  F%^& this convention!"  Customers and vendors alike simply thought he was rather crude for the way he was talking in front of everyone . . . especially little kids.

There always seemed to be something going on all weekend.  People were coming from all over the region to be a part of this event.  I was particularly interested in the guy with the bagpipes who stood outside playing for the crowds.  I have, of course, seen people playing bagpipes on television, however, I've never had the pleasure before to see anyone play them in person.  Before this weekend, I never knew how much time and work it took to get those things ready to play.  I don't know who the guy was - I don't think he was even a guest - but he was GOOD!  I do think, however, that people would have been more impressed if he had worn a kilt.  Still, he knew what he was doing, and he knew how to attract a crowd!

All in all, it was a good weekend, at least for me because I refused to get involved in the negative bullshit.  I had fun, I saw a lot of old friends, I made some money and I was able to relax.  Those are my goals at any convention, and that's what I got as a dealer at Epic-Con.

Every convention is what you make of it.  If you go there with a bad attitude and wanting to cause trouble, you are going to have a bad time.  If you go to a convention with the intention of having a good time, that's what you'll have . . . a good time.

- Carl R. Merritt,

October 27, 2014

Because of all the bad press this convention is getting, pictures will be posted below at a later date.