Completed: Anime North 2012

so i've been going to AN a long time, my first time was way back they were in the Constellation hotel instead of the doubtletree/congress center. so i think about.... 9 or 10 years...
some years ahve been better then others and most of the time there are good deals and fun people to hang out with.
This year was the first time they placed a cap on the number of people who could attend.
so i'll just do a quick day by day retelling of my time at the con.

Day 1

 After a pretty relaxing day i pack up all my things and wait for my friend to get off work since i'm getting a ride in... this is my first year staying at a hotel so i just packed enough to survive the 3 days.

We get there around 4 - 4:30 and we see the line to get in... it's huge for preorders BUT we think it should go pretty fast because...
a) everyone on friday had to be a preorder.... according to their website they sold out of friday tickets/weekend passes.....
b) due to the fact every onepreordered it would literally just be showing them the confirmation page, checking that it's real (they had an app for that) and then handing us a badge.

for some reason i still can't figure out it took over 2 hours to get through this damn line.
how do i thin the problem could have been solved? have more people helping with preorder tickets OR let people start picking up tickets sooner.... yes there is a thursday thing were people can pick up preorders but most people can't get to that part of town so very few do it..... on the friday they start handing out tickets around 3...... why not start handing them out at12.... or even ten.... yeah the dealers room doesn't open for a while but at least people wont have to wait in a stupid long line for it... anyways we get the tickets and check out the flea market since it' right there and it's jam Packed.... couldn't see anything.... oh well... we head out to eat then we get in line for anime hell and finally i head back to the hotel.

over a fine albeit uneventful day.

Day 2

Lots of things planned only got to do a handful of it.... first the one group of friends wanted to go to the masquerade so we got tickets for that... i figured why not since the 404s show was right after and i wanted to see them more so why not waste some time at the masquerade... it could be fun.... more on that later...

so after gettign the tickets we head over to the NIS America panel which was pretty good other then when the q&a starts we had a "that one guy" complain that NISA anime prices are too high.... this confused me since on their website special editions (13 eps [dvd and blue ray combo]+really nice box/art book + free things like post cards or magnets) see for about 55 and their standard editions (13 eps in a dvd/blueray case) go for about 30.... those prices are AMAZING compared to aniplex who enjoy selling 4 episode special editions for 75 or funimation who enjoys selling combo packs for around 70... yes those versions have dubs but i don't mind sub only for the prices i listed. but yeah this guy had been playing doubt the online price and was bitching at the company since he bought it in retail.... yeah thast not NISA's problem... you want a deal... go to their website.

anyways after I go to lunch.... then FINALLY end up in the dealers room.... where i proceed to buy a lot in a short periode on time.
p.diva extend on psp - 65 (considering i didn't have to pay shipping not a bad price)
vantage master - 30... yay for liking games no one has heard of.
Nyanko-sensei plush - 30.... not a bad price cause of playing for shipping but honestly this and my next purchase will lead up to a rant
Nyanko-sensei pillow/muffle head thingy for 40...

now the quick rant.... normally when you go to a convention  a few things are universally true.

1. there will be some good deals since you took the time to pay to get in and stay the weekend
2. the vendors will be willing to haggle since your business is more important at this kind of event
3. if you pay in cash you wont get charged tax however debit and credit are fair game
4. you will probably find some rare things for a decent bargain.
5. Prices will be cheaper on sunday.

yeah..... this is the first year where NONE of that was true.

the two nyanko-sensei things were bought from 1 vendor... i saw the second thing after the first.... she was asking 45 so i ask since i bought the other thing can i have it for 40.... she pauses agrees then charges me tax bringing my total to 44..... now i don't mind this but no other vendor would haggle at all for anything... it was just strange
Also most places were overcharging things.... but thats a rant for near the end.

where was i.... oh right.... so after dealers room I hang out with some people until the masquerade.... which had a huge line and started 30 minutes later then it's supposed to.... and ended an hour later then it was scheduled.... yes it was fun but i was still annoyed cause i wanted to see the 404s. so Yeah masquerade committee  heres something to think about.

1. start on time.... this shouldn't be too hard... every other panel seems to have the hang of it. 
2. if you know how many people you can fit into 2 hours then go with that many... cap the amount of entries.... or...
3. if you know you have a tendency to go over then book the room for an extra hour on either end.... that was you give a chance for people to get out safely and no one is pissed that there event is cut short by an hour.

so then we have to leave the room get back in the line for the 404s late night improve show.... which was a blast but i could only manage it for an hour.... so tired. 

the second night we flipped a coin for who got the last spot on the bed... i won but the person sleeping beside me didn't like it cause i moved in my sleep.... sorry i did try to stay still.

Day 3

last day.... really only there for the deals in the dealer room.... however most places jacked up the price on the last day...
what is with this? sunday you should drop the price so you don;t ahve to pay as much for transportation... ah whatever i found a few places who had good prices and got...
Ys book 1 and 2 dvds for 5 each.
PMMM madoka soulgem+ring for 14
PMMM madoka nendriod figure for 45

and thats it i believe.... went for sushi with friend... i'm a zombie by this point and so we all headed home around 2-3... i get home drink a lot of tea and yeah.... recover.

overall it was fun but yeah the overpricing thing pissed me off.... people were selling those nisa boxes i talked about earlier for 120 instead of the 50.... that's insane... and jacking up the price on the last day? or being like "oh this ps2 game is new and sealed! 80 bucks please!" no.... if it were rare then maybe but it's not! and yes someone who doesn't know what this stuff is worth may waste there money but everyone has the internet on their phone now a days and can double check the price online and if it's cheaper to buy there and not pay for shipping then fine but that was so rarely the case!

ah well otherwise i had a good time just the dealers room and some other BS that i wont mention was pissing me off.... will i go next year? probably.....
all three days? no.... i highly doubt it. unless they lower the cap or figure out how to streamline everything.... ah well.... more p.diva time~