But this is one of those rare golden ticket times where if there's something a little more pricey I want to get I can pickup without the wife getting too upset.
I don't like buying stuff online that much so and what I buy at Gen con is usually things that my flgs doesn't carry like miniatures from small or obscure miniature companies or something out of print or hard to comeby that I find a good deal on.. Sometimes I'll buy a game if if I really like the demo or the booth had a great sales pitch, not often though, space is often a premium as we carpool down. I definitely don't spend hundreds and certainly not thousands but that may mostly be that I really don't have that kind of disposable income.
Mainly, the stuff I'm looking to buy at GenCon falls into one of two categories:
- stuff that's not at the FLGS yet, and - stuff that's too old for the FLGS to carry
I generally spend at least a half-hour each GenCon combing through the bookshelves at a vendor, whose name I can't remember, but festoons the shelves with signs exclaiming "Buy 1, Get 3 Free" -- it's a good way to find those out-of-print RPG books that'll help inspire your next dungeon or other project.
Also purchased older boxes of D&D Miniatures that haven't been in the FLGS since 2010.
This year, I'm hoping to visit one of the board game vendors and see if I can find a copy of SPI's "Freedom in the Galaxy", and also an original Star Fleet Battles boxed game with counters. I might be able to find those sorts of things on e-Bay, but I feel better being able to see and handle the thing I'm looking to buy rather than relying on photos.
Just my $0.02US.
MY FLGS mainly caters to MtG and other similar games. I prefer non deck based games. The next closest one for me is an hour away. I shop for the unique "I need it now" fabulousness. Last year I was able to buy my kids, my boyfriend, and my best friends their Christmas gifts and be done. This year, I have a list of games to try and maybe purchase for our gaming potlucks.
I also am trying to locate expansions I know are coming out.
The actual miniature companies won't have discounts typically but, keep an eye open and you may find some unique looking stuff. There are a lot of interesting companies that come.
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The one thing I always shop for at Gen Con - art and books.
I love to support smaller, independent writers and I always come home loaded down with books. Most of them are really good!