29th Comic Market 71 (2)

From web research before the trip, Kaiyodo's new Vignette Chan figure set is a must-have. It's an event-only edition and not released in stores. So naturally, I went straight to their booth.

The day's luggage included a box of liquor chocolate (for the party at night), and an ATI bag I got in SIGGRAPH 2003. Yup, to camouflage the otakuness of my shopping. (^_^;)

Also from web research, the estimated line-up time to get in at noon is 0. (10AM= 1- 1.5 hour. First train= 5 hours!) I timed my arrival at 11:30 and guess what, there was no line up at all! But for sure lots and lots of people! I was just following the person in front. There were plenty of traffic conductors guiding the flow. Before entering the building, I came across the cosplay area (outdoor). Oooow I'd love to take some pictures but was also worried about the line-up at Kaiyodo's booth. So I headed straight to the commercial booths.

Getting in was one thing. Getting to Kaiyodo's booth was another. The place was packed!! It was horrible!!!!!!!!! It gives you the feeling of drowning on dry land! (These pictures were taken at the corners where it wasn't so crowded.) After being swept around 3/4 of the floor unable to control where I go, I finally reached Kaiyodo's booth near a gate. The line up grew outside! Aaaaw... in fact, there were some game company's line up that also went outside and the end couldn't be seen. Nevertheless, I was able to make my purchase within half and hour. It wasn't pleasant, but bearable. (Just barley.) Each person can purchase up to 4 sets and I maxed it out. 2 for myself (one to play with, one to keep.) One set for someone who asked me from before the trip. And one for my trip companion. (Turn out we went again together the next day and she bought her own, so I ended up with a spare set for sale.)

Booths were giving out pamphlets, print-outs, even bags, CDs or DVDs although much rarer. None of those were relevant to me. So I didn't take any, trying to minimize my luggage. By the time I fought my way out of the hall, I was half exhausted. Found some benches outside and sat down to eat the sandwich I bought at a corner store just outside the hall. Unfortunately it was a smoking area, plus reeeeally windy and cold.