We are back home, safe and sound, after a stellar Gen Con Indy 2013.
In brief, here are some of the highlights.
- The energy at Gen Con Indy was electric. Gamers were there to game and have fun. The exhibitors’ hall was constantly packed, and in my opinion, was the biggest and best Gen Con ever. Even better than the last couple of years which were also outstanding. Wow.
- My only disappointment, we were all so busy we never got to see the entire exhibitors’ hall, nor visit long with friends. I did manage to squeeze out 20 minutes with a number of dear friends like Brom, Larry Elmore, Jolly and Barbara Blackburn, Dana Lombardi, Amy Ashbaugh, Steve Bond, and a few others. It’s always a delight hanging with such distinguished ladies and gents.
- The Palladium crew were nothing short of awesome. My heartfelt thanks to each and every one of them: Brandon, Sarah, Mike, Mark, Tom, Matt, Chuck, Carmen, Jeff and Wayne.
- We easily signed a thousand books and chatted with hundreds and hundreds of fans. Thank you for making us all feel so welcomed and appreciated.
- We met hundreds of wonderful fans of Palladium Books and Robotech®, as well as many of you who have become friends we only see at Gen Con once a year. It was great.
- Books were flying off the shelf! We even ran out of several titles and came very close to running out of many others (down to the last one or two, including RUE).
- What was hot? Rifts®, the Rifts® Northern Gun™ One “Advance Prototype Edition” (available at the Palladium online store while supplies last; I think there are fewer than 40 copies left!), Dead Reign™, Heroes Unlimited™, Robotech® . . . heck, EVERYTHING was selling!
- What is the Rifts® Northern Gun™ One Advance Prototype Edition? A slick, print on demand book limited to a total of 150 copies of the first 130 pages of NG-1 (background, setting, O.C.C.s, and some robots) with art of some of what’s yet to come. $17.95 – Cat. No. 887AP – available only from the Palladium Books online store, and only while supplies last (available now). Note: NG-1 should be finished and available in 3-4 weeks (depending on the printer’s schedule and how fast we can wrap it up).
- We all met Thomas Roache for the first time, in person and hit it off instantly. This gent ran Robotech® RPG Tactics™ demos at the Palladium Books booth non-stop. I think there is only one word for this dynamic individual: Awesome. Thanks, Tom. Oh, and in case you don’t know, Tom is the Robotech fanatic (and all-around good guy) who launched a friendly and positive online campaign that encouraged Palladium to consider making Robotech® game pieces. The rest is history.
- Even feeling a bit under the weather, Carmen Bellaire was another dynamic Palladium madman. While we had three small demo tables going at the Palladium booth, Carmen ran full-sized, 6x4 foot game table demos of Robotech® RPG Tactics™ in Hall C for five hours straight every single day. Then came back to the booth to run demos there. Yeow.
- David Freeman from Ninja Division is another awesome guy. He swung by the Palladium booth to help run demos for an hour here and there as often as he could. Kai and Paul helped when they could, too. They were all pulling double duty, working their own booths and at Palladium when they could get away.
- The only people more excited about Robotech® RPG Tactics™ than us are YOU. And just about everyone who participated in a demo walked away ranting about it. Below are the comments we heard over and over again:
“I love it.”
“Fast.”
“Fun.”
“Easy to learn.”
“It really feels like Robotech.”
“The sculpts are amazing! They look even better in person.”
“The Monster is huge. I need to order more from the Kickstarter Pledge Manager!”
“Thank you for making this game.”
“I can’t wait until it’s out.”
- The Monster, Glaug-Eldare, and Queadluun-Rau were on display along with the Glaug, Phalanx, Tomahawk, and others pieces, but it was those first three that seemed to capture the most oohs and ahhs. Especially the Monster which is a big, gorgeous and impressive piece. The Monster has always been one of my favorites and this rendition is a crowd-pleaser. I can hardly wait for its release.
- The convention special items: the Mecha of Max and Miriya, were smash hits. Ninja Division had originally intended to provide 1,200 of each, but the Ninjas just could not produce that many in time for Gen Con. In fact, for a nerve-racking while it looked like we would not have any Max VFs at all! Palladium implored ND to get us at least 500 of Max and Miriya. It took a Herculean effort by Kai and company, but they managed to get us the Max mecha just in time for Gen Con. (Thank you, gentlemen.) We didn’t get the news that they were able to pull it off until the Tuesday before Gen Con ourselves (cheering all around), and had them send it FedEx so that it would be available at Gen Con.
- The massive line of gamers for Max and Miriya was a surprise. With only about 500 of each, we had to limit the number sold to 125 of each item per day at Gen Con. That meant a frenzy at the booth and a big line of 300 people every morning! It took us a couple of days and the help of the Gen Con staff to get it all organized. But we did, and the chaos of Thursday and Friday mornings turned into smooth order by Saturday. Our thanks to the vast number of you who were patient and understanding. Our apologies to those of you who missed out. Game on.
- This was Jeff Burke’s first time working a Gen Con and he hadn’t been to one in 10 years. He was blown away by all of it and worked his tail off. Jeff was one of those guys, along with Mark Oberle, both of whom seemed to be everywhere.
- Bradon Aten was another omnipresent asset. He ran three Rifts games, some Robotech demos and was a cheerful and helpful presence throughout Gen Con. Meanwhile, the lovely Sarah Aten was a dynamo at the cash registers along with Wayne Smith. Madman Mike Leonard was a big help too, and always one to offer some keen insight.
These are just some of the highlights. There were more goings-on, laughs, excitement and nice moments. We haven’t worked this hard at a Gen Con in years. There never seemed to be a moment’s rest and that’s the way we like it. Time flew by.
It was awesome meeting so many of our friends and fans! We hope you had a wonderful Gen Con and that Palladium was part of what helped make it memorable.
We got home Monday evening and are all still a bit tuckered out. We’re trying to catch up with the pile of mail and emails, and get back to the work waiting for us. But we’re also basking in the fun of the past week. I hope those of you who attended Gen Con are too. Take care.
Hey, for Palladium photos and interviews from Gen Con, check out Gamerati.com.
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With more to come.
Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer and Game Designer
© Copyright August 20, 2013 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Heroes Unlimited™, RPG Tactics™, Beyond the Supernatural, Northern Gun, Dead Reign, Warpath, Shemarrian Nation, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.