By Adi Tantimedh
When I arrived at the con floor around two o’ clock on Thursday, I came across a very long line in the 400 aisle full of very disgrunted fans queuing up for a Funko figure giveaway at the Toy Tokyo booth. The line was so long it stretched all across the show floor and was a confused obstruction to many people trying to move around the con. Some of them had been waiting since 4am. Apparently a fight earlier that afternoon broke out between someone who had a wristband (which should have guaranteed they would get a free Funko figure) and someone who didn’t. A security guard was allegedly punched.
People in the queue complained that Toy Tokyo had been unprofessional and didn’t work out any way to limit or manage the long line. They’d posted that only people who showed up first and got wristbands would get a Funko figure, but only had one person at the booth to deal with over a hundred increasingly pissed off fans in the queue. They asked Bleeding Cool to run a story about the situation, and talk about how unprofessional Toy Tokyo were.
According to people in line, the Toy Tokyo booth and how they conducted the line was one of the biggest disasters of the con.
Many in line felt it would not have gotten that bad if the bracelets had been given out in a proper way. Nor did they have anyone to corral the line and keep it orderly.
That was the complaint of those in line who had bracelets. They had no proper security. The people who had bracelets knew from social media beforehand. The ones who didn’t have bracelets didn’t know they were supposed to get bracelets to guarantee a place in line. One person I spoke to, who was a doctor, said there were a lot of autistic-spectrum, unstable people with intense emotional investment in toys and Funko figures who got increasingly desperate, and the lack of professionalism and proper security resulted in the fight.
The Fight That Broke Out In Long Line During Funko Giveaway At Toy Tokyo’s NYCC Booth
via http://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/10/07/fight-broke-long-line-funko-giveaway-toy-tokyos-nycc-booth/
Rich Johnston
