A little late in getting out this recap of our time at Dualcon, but here we are. Been pretty distracted by the launch week really. So without delay, here’s a bit of a rundown.
It was nice to sell books before we even got to the event. One of the ladies in town as we were finishing up prep to leave wanted to get a copy of all 4 books (Akiniwazisaga 1-3 and Tales From the Dream Nebula). So that was a nice way to kick things off. So we were off to a flying start. The drive to Charleston was quite nice. Every time I drive in, I feel like I’m going through a chute or something down the tollway. It’s a fun feeling, and then to pop out right in Charleston like you do along the river. Unfortunately for me the shine has come off of the city long ago, and needless to say for a town smaller than my hometown, it has all the negative charm of Milwaukee at one tenth the size. Sorry Charleston. I really tried to like you, but you need to stop tolerating squalor and crime. You’re not like sections of Chicago, Minneapolis or many other big cities, but you’re sure giving off that vibe in most of your neighborhoods, hard.
The load in went very well. Major props to the Dualcon Staff who helped us out after it took a few passes to find where we were supposed to go. We had Disney on Ice playing opposite us that weekend, and they had lots of semis of equipment there. But we got in easy. Set up was quick. We had all the things we needed in a great spot.
Unfortunately, we keep forgetting to take pictures, so this is what we got at setup. It stood out really well and my darling bride is so ingenious to get the banners up so high!
The Marriott we stayed at was decent, except for sleeping on a mattress as hard as drywall, and generally being over priced for the stay. They were predicting an ice storm so we grabbed an extra day. I will say they had the best laundry service I’ve ever encountered, and this is 8 years of a career in hospitality talking!
Once again, we were blessed with wonderful neighboring booths. The ladies of Forever Nerdy sensory toys were just a blast and a font of good advice too. Them toys were cuddly cuddly! Always pick up and touch!
And we got the Dragon’s Den on the other side, so we were sandwiched with good people. Always good to hang with my local gaming store.
They all pretty much had my pitch down by the time the show closed.
I was surprised with the amount of small local TTRPG presses that were there including Pithy Productions with tons of miniatures and gaming supplies. I have to commend a guy willing to wear a Pith helmet and a Utili-kilt. Then again with some of the costumes I saw, that was relatively conservative.
Tenace Games games had some very impressive products there for 5E related sourcebooks, as well as his own gaming stuff, dice and novels. A very friendly and helpful chap. Was impressed with how his novels and much of his gaming stuff wove together. If you get into his stories, and are a gamer, you may be set.
It was a treat to talk with the guys at the Horror of Babylon Podcast. A pair of fun guys who are superfans gone viral on all things horror and horror-adjacent. We shall see if my Akiniwazisaga’s monsters strike home with them. Muhuhahahahahahaaaaaa!!!>cough!cough!HACK!!cough!< whew. I gotta stop doing that. I’m still torn on your quiz question. Each version of The Shining is good but for it’s own reasons!
Now I am jealous of one thing you can find in Charleston. I wish I didn’t live so far away. Charlie West Pinball brought over 2 machines and let me tell you, I wanted to play Demolition Man sooooo bad! In my dream home, I have my own classic basement arcade, and one of the biggest things in there would be pinball machines. There are so many games I miss from my youth. At least I’ve been able to scratch the video game cabinet itch here and there, but pinball…? You just have to have that wonderful tactile experience.
Lastly, I want to thank all the members of the Blackstone Mountain SCA group who were there, putting on the fencing demonstrations and having a wonderful sense of humor about my offering to sell them shields. More fun is the suggested upgrades to set us up to MAKE shields for you to take to Pennsic and more! I think that’d be a blast, but I don’t know if the price point would be permissive enough to make the product you’d like. On the other hand, the bag games, we can definitely do more of that!
It’s nice to say that we closed down the con. At 6pm I didn’t get many people that showed up for my “Welcome to the Dream Nebula” GURPs game, but we made a go of it anyway. Matt and Hannah, you guys were just a blast to hang with. Thank you for being so open to the session and I’m so glad you enjoyed your time, even though we had to abbreviate the game.
The trip home was a bit of an adventure. The freezing rain started to fall on the way home. With no salt on the highways and climbing up into the mountains, we were taking it very slow by the time we got to Beckley. Thankfully the lower altitudes were warm enough that it was just cold rain. Even so, I treated it all like I could have black ice at any second. Being a former truck driver from Wisconsin, you learn about such things and have a lot of respect for what it can do, particularly on an 8% grade.
Dualcon was a great experience all in all. The books sold well and we learned many things. Got in touch with the next con we were going to be vendors at: Causacon in Beckley. We aren’t going to be vendors at FantaSci this coming March, but you can also catch us there. I’m thinking we’ll be bringing some books along, just in case.
Otherwise, till next time, vaya con Dios!
