GenCon came and went.
Those who ran it feel they'll never be the same. That's like a retailer's Christmas crunch. In a few months they'll get over it.
Thursday everyone was bright, fresh, and cheerful. Sunday people were cheerful, but the bright and fresh were nowhere to be found.
Almost everyone agreed that the site
was a good one. The booths were well-lit, the
aisles spacious, and the flow of traffic good.
A large concession stand and cafe-style tables
were located in the middle of the dealer's area.
Some dealers expressed concern about this,
but most decided by the end of the
convention that it was a good idea, an
additional draw to the dealer's area.
People could munch and browse. Contented people
buy more. It also gave dealers who were
understaffed a chance to get a quick bite to
eat without crippling their booths.
The MECCA convention center helped make GenCon a success. The professional attitude of the convention workers and MECCA staff allowed the gainers to get information they needed and still have fun gaming.
MECCA is located in the heart of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, it is in walking distance of Grand Avenue Mall (a huge indoor shopping center), many fast food and haute cuisine eating places, and several cultural centers. If the gamer's family was bored, there was much for them to do within easy walking distance of the MECCA facility.
Many dealers gave discounts and honored GenCon certificates. All had some form of show special.
Gamers came from the fifty states and
there were even some international gamers.
Attendance was between 6,000 and 7,000.
Most dealers liked the site. If there was only one convention to go to in a year, many felt this was most profitable, largely due to the close proximity of the dealer's area to the gaming areas. Conventioneers who visited the dealer's area tended to spend 25-30% more than they did at other recent conventions according to dealers who travel the gaming circuit.
It was a good convention. People had fun, and the hobby received good media coverage. Retailers made money, and that made them happy.
Hope to see you there in '86.
Quite a few manufacturers and dealers attended GenCon. What was interesting was that in addition to war games, miniatures, and role-playing games, four other categories stocked by hobby retailers were represented: plastic models, arcade games, comic books, and reference hooks were evident.
Every retailer carried two of
the four areas, and some had stock in depth
in all four areas.
Most companies had items which
were far and away best sellers for them.
Some of the items were expected to move
well because of past sales history or because
they were new, and some were surprises. A
quick run down of new releases and hot items
by company are listed below:
| Company | New Releases | Hot Items |
|---|---|---|
| The Armory | Nylon paint brushes | Poly-dice, 8 new acrylic silk and satin paints |
| Bally Arcade Games | Zwackery, Sarge, Spectre Files games | New Releases |
| Black Hawk Distributors | None | Villains & Vigilantes, and vintage Judges Guild magazines and modules |
| Bruce Lewis Studios | None | Gencon 18 T-shirt and licensed D&D T-shirts |
| CinC | 1/2400 ships 1/285 tanks | Jagdpanzer rules |
| Casanova Books | None | Modern military, WW II, Medieval, and Napoleonic books |
| Chaosium Inc. | Fragments of Fear, Call of Cthulhu supplement Sea Elves, Elfquest supplement | Call of Cthulhu and Pendragon role-playing games |
| Columbia Games Inc. | Gods of Harn supplement | Encyclopedia Harnica |
| The Companions | Behind Enemy Lines role-playing game | Gems for Death fantasy module |
| DAG Productions | Heroes of Poseidonis role-playing game RediMaps City Buildings | Same |
| Dark Horse Miniatures | Excursion into the Bizarre role- playing game and Allies & Enemies | 25mm Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| Dragon Magazine | New issues | Best of the Dragon magazine, Vol. IV |
| FASA Corp. | Masters of the Universe role-playing game | Doctor Who role-playing game and BattleTech robot war game |
| Flying Buffalo Inc. | None | Nuclear War and Nuclear Escalation card games |
| Company | New Releases | Hot Items |
|---|---|---|
| Friends Hobby Shop | Ros Heroics 1/285 armors Sa-8 and MRLS | Stan Johansen "Space Crabs" and 15mm space armor |
| Gamemaster Guides | None | Multiverse (Australian gaming magazine) |
| Gamescience Inc. | Blank playing cards for games | Gemstones for artifacts and amulets |
| Game Designers' Workshop | None | Ruins of Warsaw, Twilight: 2000 module and Traveller Book Seven: Merchant Prince |
| GEO Games | Timeline game | Same |
| GHQ | 1/285 armor, WWII cavalry | WWII Russian Front armor |
| Greenfield Hobby Distributors | 25mm complete castle with walls and towers | Under Fire computer game, Runequest III role-playing game, Devil's Den, and Russian Campaign war games |
| Grenadier Models Inc. | Twilight: 2000 figures | Frost Giants Twilight: 2000 figures |
| Hero Games Inc. | Lands of Mystery supplement | Fantasy Hero role- playing game Primus & Demon supplement |
| Iron Crown Enterprises | Haunted Ruins module | Middle-earth Role- Playing & Rolemaster games |
| Mayfair Games Inc. | Elven Banner, Role Aids module,Siege, | DC Heroes module DC Heroes role-playing game British Rails board game |
| Minifigs | 15mm Samurai | Miniatures carrying cases |
| Nova Game Designs Inc | Ninja and Samurai supplements | Lost Worlds game |
| Orc Products | None | Total Depth board game |
| Pacesetter Ltd. | Timetricks, Aliens supplements Deathwatch, and TerribleSwift Sword modules | Wabbit Wampage board game Chill role-playing game |
| Palladium Books | European Castles book | Palladium role- playing game Weapon books |
| Phoenix | Quill &Scroll magazine | Same |
| Polk's Hobbies | Norge, Rommel war games | Heller Somua S-35 Tank and Camel Corps model kits |
| Polyhedron Magazine | None | Back issues, Role-Playing Game Association memberships |
| Rafm Company Inc. | Shadows & SteelSet, Conquistador Dwarves, Wizards Adventure Party | 25mm fantasy figures boxed sets and Reptiliads line |
| Ral Partha Enterprises | Dracom Dracorum 25mm dragon | 25mm bushido figures and Survivors & Soldiers post-holocaust figures |
| The Reiter (store) | None | 25mm Foreign Legion figures, Sword and the Flame rules, 15mm Stone Mountain figures |
| Rivendell Reading and Hobbies | None | Macross and other model kits robots, comic books |
| Company | New Releases | Hot Items |
|---|---|---|
| The Ship Shop | Terrain Squares Battleboards for miniatures | Naval Institute Press books and 15mm Jacobite historical miniatures |
| Sky Realms | Boxed Jorune role-playing game | Same |
| Sleuth | Reissue of R-Kiiv (Archive) 25mm figures | B'Aleen and Familiar fantasy figures |
| Steve Jackson Games Inc. | Man to Man fantasy rules | Man to Man fantasy rules Uncle Alberts Catalog Deluxe Car Wars game |
| Stone Mountain Miniatures | Seven Years War and Campaign Figures | Black Baron line of 25mm fantasy figures 15mm British Colonials |
| TAG Industries | 25mm Toon figures 25mm Egyptian figures book | Children of the Nile 25mm figures |
| Tekumel Games | Flamesong | 25mm Empire of the Petal Throne miniatures |
| Timeline Ltd. | Operation Lonestar module | Same and Morrow Project role-playing game |
| Tri-Tac Inc. | None | Stalking the Night Fantastic, Monster Squash role-playing games |
| TSR Inc. | Dragonlance book 3, Game Buyers Guide, Ti-T4 Temple of Elemental Evil module | Lankhmar game supplement, Dragom of War Dragonlance module, Unearthed Arcana supplement |
| Victory Games Inc. | None | James Bond 007, role- playing game Thrilling Locations supplement |
| Wargarnes (Dallas) | 15 & 25mm Ancients miniatures | Dragonroar role-playing game WRG boxed historical miniatures armies |
| West End Games Inc. | None | Paranoia, Arabian Nights board game |
| Z&M Enterprises | None | Total Conflict miniatures rules |
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© Copyright 1985 by Dana Lombardy.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
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