Troll Lord Games -- Gen Con -- Moving Forward

Troll Lord · Post by **Troll Lord** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:43 pm

Greetings All,

I posted a Gencon report yesterday, but can't seem to find it anywhere, so I either did it in my sleep or didn't click the submit button and lost my musings. Either way, now that we brought the web page up to speed a bit, I'll recast my thoughts.

Gencon went very well. We had an excellent crew, top location, a bunch of new product (12 titles including reprints, it would have been 13 had the advance copies of Gord arrived), Peter Bradley merged his art booth with ours and of course, Gary Gygax stopped by the booth multiple times.

Crew: I cant express enough the advantages that the size and motivation of our crew gave to the shows success. Everyone was motivated. Breakdaddy, Huds0n, Mark, Ghul (Jeffrey T from Zagyg fame), Casey, James M, Davis and myself comprised the sales team and we hammered the floor. Even after Davis lost his voice he kept at it, though a number of customers told him to stop. Hudson ran the register and kept track of the mountain of pre-orders we got, crusader subs, money and the like. He also kept the shelves stocked as a goodly portion of the stock was beneath his working tables. Ashley did the booth babe and helped restock and Gary signed autographs until his fingers bled I think. The size of the team allowed us to take advantage of two things we have never been able to before. It allowed me the flexibility to leave the booth and acquire those things we left behind or needed (ie sales receipts THANKS KENZER, pole extenders for the banners, subscriptions fliers and the like). And the teams size allowed Todd the freedom to run 4 back to back games on Friday and Saturday, all filled with C&C goodness. All his games went very well and garnered a number of interested parties coming to the booth, despite his flash drive freezing up and him having to run the games without notes.

Location: We had our best location yet. We were close to the side entrance and on the main avenue that led to it, so we had a constant flood of traffic from this hall. This entrance was near the gaming halls I believe so we reaped a great deal of folks from it. Pitch in the sales team hollering at them to come in the booth and we were golden.

Releases: We had a bunch of new releases. A little bit for everybody I suppose. But the best seller bar none was the East Mark Folio as we sold out of the limited copies we brought. But the Airhde Folio did surprisingly well as did the PHB and MT. Now, what few are going to register in the hullabaloo of the con is Lejendary Adventure. We had the Essentials box set and they were being constantly restocked.

Peter Bradley closed his booth in the Art exhibit this year and merged with us. His eye stopping art slowed many passer bys. Next year well make a better draftsman area for him so people can watch him work (and I can irritate him with my comments).

And last but certainly not least, Gary Gygaxs presence in the booth was a HUGE boon. The line wrapped around the booth, down the aisle and on. He was pleasant as always and spent time with each fan. And EVERYONE was patient and cool when I insisted that people with infants go to the front of the line. So my hats off to all you fans of Gygax for being as cool as Gygax.

Ill give a full-blown report for the Convention Blog in Crusader 8 in the coming days.

With all that in mind we are gearing up for what's next on the agenda. The number one project is the Castle Keepers Guide and the Basic set for C&C. For LA the core book reprints. For GFW (my favorite project right now) Lejendary Pantheons. There's even more, too much more for me to get a grasp on today, but I'll post in coming days.

To note, Mark Sandy has joined us full time to help me in the office with shipping, inventory etc. So welcome aboard Mark (he has no internet or phone connection and thrives on turnip stew, so don't look for a response from him haha...no really)!!!

Steve
_________________
The High Lord, Coburg the Undying

He who sits on the elephants back

Castle and Crusade Society
troll@trolllord.com

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 4:10 pm

Glad to hear, Steve. Wish I could be a part of all the excitement, but I know where I belong is not at the booth (seriously, I'm a horrible salesman) so, its good to know you kicked GCs butt.

joewolz · Post by **joewolz** » Wed Aug 22, 2007 5:27 pm

Can't wait to read the whole write-up myself. I wish I could have been there more, having only stepped in on Saturday and Sunday. Glad to hear everything went well!
_________________
-JFC Wolz

HISTORIAN

Fat Dragon Games · Post by **Fat Dragon Games** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:00 am

That's great Steve. The few times I escaped from the FDG booth to come over and buy stuff you were always packed-congratulations!
_________________
Thomas A. Tullis

Fat Dragon Games
www.fatdragongames.com

Castles & Crusades...more D&D than D&D.

Tadhg · Post by **Tadhg** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:54 am

Great read. Thanks for posting, Steve!
_________________
Count Rhuveinus - Lejendary Keeper of Castle Franqueforte

"Enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!" ~ Gary Gygax

"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:" - Macbeth

Rigon · Post by **Rigon** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 1:37 am

I'm glad to hear that our favorite company had such a good con. Now hopefully, I can save up to get the goodies that I want.

R-
_________________
Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

Deogolf · Post by **Deogolf** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:19 am

Great news, guys! Keep up the great work! Now...to get Jim moving on the artwork...
_________________
Eulaliaaa!!! Give those rapscallions blood and vinegar, wot?!

Be sure to check out Jim's artwork for sale:
http://jimhollowayart.com/id5.html

Emryys · Post by **Emryys** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:55 am

Good stuff!
C&C train keeps a rollin'...
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Dyne · Post by **Dyne** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:01 am

Glad to hear you guys did well, I wish I could've been there.

Post by **Fiffergrund** » Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:56 am

Hey Steve - get Mark to send me Crusaders 5, 6, and 7.
Oh, and no Troll Sacs.
_________________
Sir Fiffergrund, Lord Marshal of the Castle and Crusade Society.

He Who Hides Behind The Elephant's Back

ironbull · Post by **ironbull** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:52 am

Thanks for the report. I was there Friday morning and early afternoon and picked up a bunch of stuff at the TL booth. Things were quite busy then and I am glad to hear you were busy all through the Con. Keep up the great work!

Jason Vey · Post by **Jason Vey** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:48 am

I'm just sorry I didn't get to have any real face time with the Trolls at the con. I was trying to work it a bit more this year, and did get some good face time with Goodman Games and Zeitgeist Games, amongst others, but the Trolls were SO swamped with business that I didn't feel right taking them away from the customers to try and talk shop.

I could've probably asked breakdaddy to hook me up after hours, but sometimes I'm dumb and don't think of stuff like that when I should. Just like sometimes I forget to take my business cards to cons. *sigh*

Ghul · Post by **Ghul** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 11:57 am

The Grey Elf wrote:
I'm just sorry I didn't get to have any real face time with the Trolls at the con. I was trying to work it a bit more this year, and did get some good face time with Goodman Games and Zeitgeist Games, amongst others, but the Trolls were SO swamped with business that I didn't feel right taking them away from the customers to try and talk shop.

I could've probably asked breakdaddy to hook me up after hours, but sometimes I'm dumb and don't think of stuff like that when I should. Just like sometimes I forget to take my business cards to cons. *sigh*

Grey Elf, you were dressed up as Han Solo, right? Someone asked me afterwards if I'd met you, and I think we chatted briefly, but I didn't know Hans Solo was the Grey Elf.... okay that just sounded weird. Anyway, in the future, I think folks should all write their forum handle on their ID badge, because no one knows anybody by their real name... Except, we all know who Col_Pladoh is, but that's the exception and not the norm. Glad you had a good Con.

--Jeff T.

Jason Vey · Post by **Jason Vey** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:27 pm

Yep, that was me! Funny thing is, I normally do scrawl "The Grey Elf" on my badge; I just for some reason didn't bother this year. Jason introduced me to most of the guys at the Troll booth.

tylermo · Post by **tylermo** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:39 pm

Guys, the booth was fantastic this year. Between Gary, the "boothbabe", Peter B, Davis, etc., and the wonderful product, you guys delivered the goods. Got into one of Todd G.'s games, and it was good as usual. It's always great seeing at least some of you two or three times a year at Gencon, Archon, and EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN! Yep, it's the Egyptian guy who buys all your new releases, and pesters Steve and Todd a lot. hehe Just seeing you guys, and the Savage Worlds crew made the con for me. I know at least one of your guys is a Savage Worlds player. Shane Hensley told me to tell you guys hello. On a side note, maybe I'll pick up D&D 4th, or maybe not. That said, as long as I have Savage Worlds and Castles and Crusades, I'm good.

Post by **Breakdaddy** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:47 pm

tylermo wrote:
Guys, the booth was fantastic this year. Between Gary, the "boothbabe", Peter B, Davis, etc., and the wonderful product, you guys delivered the goods. Got into one of Todd G.'s games, and it was good as usual. It's always great seeing at least some of you two or three times a year at Gencon, Archon, and EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN! Yep, it's the Egyptian guy who buys all your new releases, and pesters Steve and Todd a lot. hehe Just seeing you guys, and the Savage Worlds crew made the con for me. I know at least one of your guys is a Savage Worlds player. Shane Hensley told me to tell you guys hello. On a side note, maybe I'll pick up D&D 4th, or maybe not. That said, as long as I have Savage Worlds and Castles and Crusades, I'm good.

Dude, me and Huds0n LOVE us some Savage Worlds. Some of the other guys have played and enjoyed it as well, including Mark Sandy. A recent ALIENS universe game was run by yours truly using SW and fun was had by all. Shane is a great guy with a great product. Big salute to those guys altogether.

tylermo · Post by **tylermo** » Fri Aug 24, 2007 6:18 pm

Glad to hear that some of you guys enjoy Savage Worlds. I've been buying that product since the game's 2nd year on the market. And, some Deadlands before that. Unfortunately, I don't get to play as much C&C. It's funny. I've purchased almost all of the C&C material since Todd and Steve have been coming to Egyptian Campaign. I play some at the cons, but haven't had a session with friends at home yet. I think we're going to finish SW's Rippers at some point, then probably play SW's Pirates of the Spanish Main RPG, and some CASTLES and CRUSADES. I think they'll like it.