New and upcoming releases

In my last post, I mentioned the Debbles, our new plush line.  They have been a big hit at shows!  They are tiny cute demons, and they come in four varieties:  Teardrop Debble, Bean Debble, Ghost Debble, and Kicking Debble.  We're selling them for $12, and we'll be putting them up in our Etsy shop soon!

 

Joe's been involved in some great projects lately.  Save the Bedbugs is a comic anthology by Matt Deterior.  He's submitted art for #2 and #3, and just did the cover art for #3.  You can buy them from Matt Deterior here: http://mattdeterior.storenvy.com/collections/40245-comics-comix-coloringbooks

He also illustrated a story by Eric Tolles for the upcoming horror anthology Filthy Cake, which is being put out by Nic Caesar.







Steampunk Originals is a comic anthology coordinated by Neoflux productions and published by Arcana.  It is coming out this fall.  Joe will have an illustrated story in there as well.

We have also just released issue #1 of our very own zine, Schlocksuckers.  It's a mix of   underground sci-fi, bizarro, literary experimentalism, and illustration.  Featuring stories, comics, and illustration from myself, J. Spencer Shull (Joe), Matt Deterior, M.G. Christopher, and Shawn Scott Smith.  18+

You can purchase Schlocksuckers here: http://www.jellykoe.com/books-and-zines.html 

Show Report- March 2012

We took February off to regroup and stock up for future shows, so our next show was Momocon in Atlanta, GA.  Momocon moved to an actual hotel this year, after spending several years on Georgia Tech's campus.  They needed the change, as the show has grown so much!  This was our second time doing Momocon, and it was a really great show.  We had a ton of friends there, so it was super fun. As you can see in the picture, we've amped up our display.  We are incorporating more art pieces, as well as using more colors in the WonkyDolls.  We also added a new series of small plushies called Debbles. 

Nashicon is the show we've done the most.  This was our third year doing it, and as seems to be the theme this year, it has also moved to a new location.  It was held in the Columbia Convention Center, after having been in the USC Russell House for the past 4 years.  Again, we were in a hallway, although we happened to get a nice spot next to our friend Laura, in a little alcove.  Great for us, since we always bring way too much stuff with us.  We also did a panel on plushmaking, which was fun! 

Show Report- January 2012

Lisa Ortiz, voice actress

IchibanCon is a small anime convention in Charlotte, NC.  Last year we did very well at this show, but this year it wasn't quite as good.  There were a lot of changes this year, and I think many people weren't as happy with the show overall.  The biggest drawback was that the Artist alley didn't have its own room, it was in the hallway.  Hallway AAs never work out well for us.  Some people say it's better for them, but it seems to us that with a dedicated room, you get people who are there to buy, not just people walking by to get somewhere else.  Also, there's no security in the hallways so we worry about leaving things overnight.  I know that next year they are planning to change locations again, so we may just sit it out until it regains its footing.

Ohayocon is a medium sized anime convention in Columbus, OH.  This was our first year going after hearing good things about the show.  We did well, and really enjoyed ourselves.  We didn't think we would know anyone, so it was a nice surprise to run into several of our friends there.  Ohayocon was in a convention center, with the AA directly above the dealer's room, in an open loft style room, where we could look down onto the dealer's room, and they could look up at us.  We really liked the layout. 

The Best of 2011

Here is our list of the top ten shows we did this year, in order of net profit.

1.       Folk-fest St. Pete

St Petersburg, FL

2.       Inman Park

Atlanta, GA

3.       A-kon

Dallas, TX

4.       Crafty Feast

Columbia, SC

5.       NYAF

New York, NY

6.       2^nd Most Awesome

Louisville, KY

7.       Chatty Crafty-December

Chattanooga, TN

8.       Handmade Market

Raleigh, NC

9.       Nashicon

Columbia, SC

10.   Indie Craft Parade

Greenville, SC

Not surprisingly, several local and nearby shows made it, because we didn't have that much expense in it.  If I did this list by gross profit, it would look different.  Also surprising is that 4 out of 5 of our furthest traveling shows (8 hours or more) still made the top ten.  Which proves our theory that traveling around the country to do shows is WORTH IT!  We hope to return to all ten of these shows in 2012. 

Show Report- December

We only had one show in December:  Chatty Crafty

This is the 3rd time we've done this show, and this time it ended up being one of the better shows of the year.  Back in June, we didn't have much luck here, and weren't sure why.  This time we ended up finding a collector, which really helped turn the whole show around.  I was immensely surprised that we didn't sell any dolls, and only sold a few of our Christmas ornaments, but I'm very glad that we finished out the year on a positive note.