nothing wrong with a backpack! just make sure that, if you somehow find yourself in a tightly packed crowd (i.e masquerade) you take it off.

your spending money all depends on how much you want to buy. I can spent anywhere from 30$ - 300$ in a day. Are you looking to buy a lot of smaller things? 120 is good. Are you looking to buy large figures/rare things/doujin/etc? you'll need more. Only planning to buy art? you'll need less.

First cons are always the best. which con is it?

Oh god. Please don't do that. You'll embarrass yourself. It's just one of the base-line nerdiest things you could do.

I wouldn't bother buying a lot of crap. Most of it is just that, and overpriced. $120 is more than enough. I'd spend most of it on good food.
Don't be awkward, don't glomp, don't yell out fucking buttscratcher, don't say dumb shit about the game, don't repeat "space" over and over again. Be fucking normal, drink, go to room parties, and you'll have a kick ass time. I would tell you to get some swaggar and pick up some chicks, but... I'm not so sure I'd trust con pussy. A lot of people do it, but you might catch something.

I don't see a problem with backpacks, but do take it off if you're in a crowded area to avoid hitting people in the face. It's not really all that fun having a stuffed backpack in your face.

Fuck aesthetics, backpacks are practical. I'm a girl and I still use one to carry all my shit to work and to lug my laptop around in university. idgaf. As long as you're not hurting anyone, like Zal and tenleid suggested, people giving you shit for it are probably just judgmental types.

>>4865752

>pick up some chicks.

Maybe if 99% of the girls were not batshit crazy.

>>4865762

>Zal

I'll kill you first.

>>4865740
>your spending money all depends on how much you want to buy. I can spent anywhere from 30$ - 300$ in a day. Are you looking to buy a lot of smaller things? 120 is good. Are you looking to buy large figures/rare things/doujin/etc? you'll need more. Only planning to buy art? you'll need less.

I don't plan on buying random merch, I'll probably only buy things I really want like GaoGaiGar figures (if they're reasonable priced) and Godzilla/Gamera toys if they have them. Maybe some DVDs and posters if they're for stuff I like.

>First cons are always the best. which con is it?
Actually not my first con, I've been to wizardworld before. Mechacon's going to be my first anime con though.

If you're planning on picking up prints and posters, I recommend bringing a hardy tube or a flat plastic case (for smaller prints) to hold them in so they won't get bent while you carry them around. I grimace when I see 18x24" posters laid flat in a bag, and watching it swing about.

>>4865752
>I wouldn't bother buying a lot of crap. Most of it is just that, and overpriced. $120 is more than enough

Like I said, I don't plan on buying random stuff, only merch that I know I would like. And that's if it's reasonably priced

>Don't be awkward
I'll see what I can do.

>don't glomp
I definitely not doing that.

>don't yell out fucking buttscratcher
Not quite sure I understand but okay.

>don't repeat "space" over and over again
Once again, not quite sure I understand.

>Be fucking normal, drink, go to room parties, and you'll have a kick ass time.

I don't plan on partying, but if I'm invited I might give it a try. Can't promise the whole "be normal thing" though

Make sure you go to the rave.

if you bring a backpack, be wary of the back of you because tiny people like me always get pushed into a corner because of huge backpacks. It's very annoying.

>>4865806
I'll take it off if it gets too crowded

>>4865804
Rave?

>>4865826
i think anon was being sarcastic. anime cons have raves, but there's nothing more annoying then being in a tight space like the rave and having someone backpack bump against you constantly

Backpack's been covered, thankfully. Avoid buying figures at cons. Most of the time, if it's a chinese dealer it will be a bootleg. (I made the mistake of buying a Snow Miku this way.) At the same time, don't impulse shop, it's a money killer, and I usually tend to haggle with dealers (albeit failing at it.) but it's possible.

It's best to circumvent the issue of getting an overpriced figure is by checking in with /toy/ or using AmiAmi / Mandarake appropriately to look up the figure you want fire before cross referencing with how much it's going to cost. Scrolls and Prints are acceptable as far as I am concerned though, but make sure you find an appropriate source of food too. Hell, pack if you must, but make sure you eat properly. I can't tell you how many friends I've seen eat pocky and ramune as a "staple" for their meal and just look on the edge of collapsing the next time I talk to them, pack a lunch or find a place that has food. Oh! and go early too, so you're not dealing with a line. Ohayo-con 2011 was my indicator to go somewhere else aside from subway for food, (probably for the better too because a 2 hour wait for a 5 dollar footlong is really not worth it. Surprisingly.)

Now I trust you have enough common sense to not shout memes in public, as it's done and just.. frowned upon at a con. At least by the common sensical bunch. Make sure to turn your flash off when taking pictures of a cosplayer, they are people too you know.

Another question, how do people feel about non-photographers taking pictures?

I was gonna bring my camera and take pictures of the venues and cosplays, but I'm afraid people might get freaked out by some backpack wearing guy taking pictures with his Kodak. Would it be better if I did it while hanging out with my friends? (Whom I hope actually show up)

>>4865856

That's normal... you don't need a press badge to take photos.

Just go up to cosplayers and ask for a picture, I take pictures with my point n shoot dressed in casual clothing all the time.

>>4865856
Dude. Everyone does that.

>>4865852
+1

I swear by AmiAmi at this point and have done so since 2009. Even after shipping it's still cheaper than buying stuff at a con, and you know it's legit. Same actually goes for most merch you can find online, unless you can score a killer deal at the con.

I took a risk by buying a pair of Banpresto Pokemon plushies at a con. They were $25 apiece, which seemed really steep for small plushies, and I'd never shopped for plushies before so I wasn't sure what they normally go for. They looked well-made so I bought them anyway. When I came home I checked the tags and looked them up online, and sure enough, they went for more or less the same price there. It is best to know what you want and do your research before making impulse buys, though. If there's a specific piece of merch you're looking for, know how to spot a bootleg, and be able to identify a good deal based on knowledge of the retail price.

>>4865852
>Now I trust you have enough common sense to not shout memes in public

People do this?

>>4865908
Yes.

If you've been to a con and never experienced this, I honestly envy you.

>>4865908
Well there's

Buttscratcher
Card games on motorbikes
It's only one dollar (Otakon)
The Game
Epic
and what not.


Yeah, there are kids who still think some of this stuff are funny. Don't be one of these guys, infact I honestly think the only meme I can SORT of get away with, is >IMPLYING.

But that's only if you do it properly.

>>4865927
>epic
>meme
Whoa, wait, that's a meme?
I've been saying epic for a long time now, I don't think it's a meme.
also what the hell is card games on motorbikers?

A backpack sounds fine, though (while equally dorky in certain others' eyes) a messenger bag takes up less space and you have less risk of hitting people in a tight crowd with them.

Sieg also says it makes you look like Indiana Jones. Idk. :x I guess.

>>4865766
>go to /cgl/
>one of the more active tripfags goes by Zal
>use a name almost completely similar
>get butthurt when people mistake you for Zal

what

>>4865766
lol u mad

Who the fuck is Zel?

>>4865927
>Buttscratcher
>Card games on motorbikes
>It's only one dollar (Otakon)

Not that I plan on doing these, but can you explain what they are?

>>4865967
>buttscratcher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFgyg7ezM6k
Family Guy reference.

>only one dollar
Guy at Otakon was selling ice cold water for only one dollar, made a rap about it I think.

>>4865947
>(while equally dorky in certain others' eyes

You mean dorky in the eyes of the same people that go to anime conventions?

>>4865942
EPIC WIN and such variations count as a meme, BLUE

>>4865947
Messenger bags tend to have the downside of giving you far less swag though, but i suppose it all depends on what you carry.


I am never bringing my fight stick to a game room at a con ever again, or actually going to a con for a game room ever again. (Unless it's like Rhythm games, guilty guilty GUILTY pleasure, or unless it's Chicago, their fight scene is majorly weeaboos anyways..)

>>4865979
aww shit
i'm going to disagree with that
i don't think they should count

>>4865988
Well that's nice. But the general populace disagrees with you. I'm pretty sure spouting about how epic something is has been considered a (terrible) meme for at least a few years now.

>>4865974
So people go around referencing Family Guy and think it's funny? Lovely.

>>4865983
Uh, one of the main reasons I'm going to this con is for the game. What's the problem with them?

>>4865983
>unless it's Chicago, their fight scene is majorly weeaboos anyways..

so....just......blazblue?

>>4865947
>>4865956

Am I the only one who has heard the villian/anti-hero pair up with someone they end up liking and saying 'I'll kill you last.'?
I was playing off that.

>>4865990
Well that's also nice Anon, but I'm still going to disagree with the word "epic" being a meme.
If it was, National Epics would be totally different.

>>4865997
Flew over my head.

>>4865996
Blazblue, Arcana Heart, Melty Blood, and a bit of Marvel 3.


I'm over due for a visit to Chicago anyways, dat giordanos.

>>4866004
It happens.

>>4865967
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCwecxY2-oQ

>>4865997

I always bring a sling bag thingy like this.
They are smaller and don't hold as much but they're not too bulky like backpacks.

Plus I knew someone that brought a backpack to their first con (although the looked very obvious as a new person) and they had random shit stolen out of the front pockets.
If you get a sling back you'll know if someone's opening it. :D hurrah.

So from what I've gathered

-Take off the backpack in crowds
-Don't buy figurines
-Don't be a meme shouting asshat
-Be fucking normal
-Eat food

Am I all set?

>>4866066
Wear deodorant.

>>4866066
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maOk2inUjLg
Informative and hilarious.

>>4866076
>Foamy the Squirrel
He was hilarious in Middle School.

>>4866049
THIS, OP. I would be careful using a backpack with front pockets people can open without you noticing. If you do use a backpack, be mindful of that.

>>4866076
Why did you just make me watch that

>>4866049
>>4866088
So just don't put stuff in the easy to reach pockets?

>>4866066
Why not buy figures? You know what you are looking for, so do some research at home before going to con. Check exchange rates and the prices of a few figures from the series you are looking for.

Figures may not cost you much more than what you would have to pay to have it shipped to you anyway. And with current exchange rates, you might be getting a deal. Also, you get the joy of instant gratification.

If you are stupid enough to walk into a dealers room and grab shit without thoroughly checking it's authenticity, you fucking deserve it. If you KNOW it's stuff that commonly gets knock offs and you aren't sure, then don't buy the thing if you are going to cry later about it being a bootleg.

>>4866115
True.
I just find sling bags more convenient

>>4866122
Well I don't know much about figurines.

What's a good way to notice a bootleg? Are there any noticeable features, like it doesn't come with a tag or something? I've never shopped for figurines before.

>>4866154
http://blog.chucksanimeshrine.com/2009/07/how-to-spot-fake-nendoroid.html

Here's how to spot a nendoroid bootleg. It's all about noticing the box and paint quality, really.

>>4866066
Bathe and change into fresh clothing DAILY
It is amazing how many people don't do that

Those people and the yellers make the rest of us look bad

Also don't buy bulky or fragile items early on or you'll have to deal with them all day

Obviously if it is an item that will sell out if you don't buy it ASAP you can jump on it

USE THE GODDAMN STAIRS if you only need to go a few floors up or down
elevators SUCK at cons because of lazy people going up or down 1-3 floors
And it isn't fair to physically handicapped people, people carrying a lot of shit, people in difficult to move in cosplays and people who need to get to a floor that is too high to reasonably reach with the stairs

>>4866248

Oh my god this is especially a problem at Dragon*con.

People getting into the elevators to go down to the level below when the escalators are RIGHT. THERE.