MegaCon 2016 in Orlando was big. Too big. This is the 4th or 5th MegaCon we have sold at. Last year, the group of people that run MegaCon sold the company and everyone was a bit nervous of how this new company would run it. To be fair it was the biggest MegaCon ever: 4 days, tons of celebrities, some of which were really big names, and over 500 artists in Artist Alley. As I said, big. But actually too big. There was little if any descriptions on how to find any artists. We all had table numbers, but the numbers had absolutely nothing to do with the row we are in. There were no row numbers, just a giant Artist Alley sign. For years MegaCon had colors table skirts in Artist Alley so along with your table number you could say what color you were. No colors this year. Now luckily, the new company had given a new option in Artist Alley for a premium space. This was basically an endcap instead of in the rows. Our stuff takes up a lot of space so we jumped at the endcap. This made us easier to see, but no easier to find. We became an information booth for many, many people asking us to help them find someone else.

We had already discussed stopping selling at conventions before this event. And then for this result we decided this is our last MegaCon. Financially its just not worth it.  Now granted, across the board artists did poorly this year compared to others. Many of them shared that like us, they made almost half of what they made the previous year. Definitely not good for sales. We made back our table fee, we made back our hotel fee, and just a little bit of profit.  Then MegaCon announced a new event, MegaCon Tampa Bay. And that David Tennant is coming. That little bit of profit was quickly spent to secure a table for MegaCon Tampa Bay. It’s our home town, costs are minimal in comparison to having to travel for a show. And Tennant, come on! We would go to the show to see him, so might as while make money while we are there for it. Hopefully it will be great!

As far as our plushies, we heard tons of great reviews on our new line. Everyone was so surprised at how soft the new minky fabric is from Spoonflower. They liked our designs. We completely sold out of Deadpool. But the amazing thing, I sold a lot of originals. Typically my originals are the last to go, if at all. But this year a good percentage was to my Cat Butts, Sweater Bunnies, Animal heads, and original plush designs.  I am very happy about the change that is happening.  We are not stopping creating Fan Art, but are going to focus on a lot more originals. Hence, three new designs. A Mercat, a Narwhal, and a Corn Dog.  Our next show is the Tampa Bay Etsy Crafty Party. We are going to have a free make and take event at the show, for kids to color their own plushies.  We even have a set of superheros and some blanks for people to buy to color. Really looking forward to this local show and hoping we do well.