A Piece of the Action Collectibles (Arlington, TX)

Cole Houston reports:

A Piece of the Action Collectibles is a small, weekend-only store in an obscure mall (in a town with two others) that is often overlooked.  When we started we sold only through toy and comic conventions in Texas (mostly in the Dallas/Fort Worth area) and through our subscription and mail-order services. Just under two years ago we opened our Mini Store and participated in Free Comic Book Day for the first time in 2004. 

This year we determined to give away something other than just comics, and give something back to the convention community to which we owe much of our success.  To this day we still sell at conventions while maintaining the shop, in fact we have a show this weekend (one week after FCBD)!  We invited convention promoters statewide to join us for a one-day event spotlighting the diverse shows that are held throughout the year that would be held in conjunction with Free Comic Book Day.  The event was Convention Awareness Day 2005! 

Six local conventions made it out for the day and helped us promote both comics as well as fandom-based shows.  At least one local newspaper highlighted our event in their weekend guide independent of the Free Comic Book Day coverage, so we got a kind of double billing.  Since our exclusive event was held in a different part of the mall from our store.  Our little store was crowded during most of the day with long-time customers as well as a sizeable number of people who discovered us for the first time. 

Star Wars, Marvel Adventures, and Bongo's Gimme Gimme Giveaway were the most popular titles this year.  We came a lot closer to running out of comics this year than we did last year.  The newspaper coverage helped bolster turn-out of comic collectors and many customers who had not been in the store for a while.  And many folks were seen carrying bags of goodies and flyers given to them by our Convention Awareness Day guests. 

And of course we had the assistance of our famous Team APOTAC, a loyal group of friends and customers who volunteer their time and help when we sell at conventions or special events.  We could not do what we do without their selfless contributions!  All in all they were as much a part of making Free Comic Book Day our busiest day at the Mini Store since our Grand Opening.  We can't wait for 2006!