nazi memorabilia at AWA??

[davemerrill]

After the show this year - well, after the dealers room was closed, anyway - I found out that a dealer was selling Nazi memorabilia in the dealers room. No, really, here's a photo.



Neil took this photo. I had walked past this dealer at least twice but didn't notice the Nazi flag. I noticed the German Army WWII style uniforms, the hats, the "yaoi" armbands with "yaoi" where the swastika would be, but didn't see any actual swastikas. But they were there, pictures don't lie.

I'm deeply embarrassed that I and AWA and its staff, directors, and attendees, are in any way associated with somebody who would profit from trivializing one of the most horrific episodes in human history. Nazi memorabilia has no place being sold at AWA.

Right now there's a thread on the message board where discussion of this issue is taking place, and I urge everyone to take a moment to let the convention know your thoughts on this.

My personal feeling? I am going to take whatever steps necessary to ensure that this dealer, or any other dealer, will not be selling Nazi memorabilia at AWA next year, or any other year. It does not belong at AWA. Full stop, end of story.

Comments

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

WTF?!?!?!?

I mean, Eldon seemed a pretty decent guy, at least when I first met him at A-Kon years back. I did get a whiff of 'entitlement' later on with the whole "show you a Japanese CD sell you a homeburn" deal that happened for a time and as Dave says, the whine about not making enough money is sad. I'm pretty sure he was making a better than average markup back when Dollar/Yen was 150 and better, I'm sure trying to sell Japanese CDs with his markup at today's rate is just a license to not sell a blessed thing.

So he moved from overpriced CDs (which, mind, I still bought more often than not) to Nazi gear? Wow. Simply insane.

[ferricide.livejournal.com]

yeah, with the current exchange rate plus the fact that 0% of 15 year olds buy CDs anymore.

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

I dunno, when the Son May (and Evergreen and what-all) Taiwan CDs were plentiful the kiddies were snapping them up like candy. Which leads me to believe that indeed, it's not physical media is undesired, it's just that people have been lulled into not valuing it as much, as a cost/benefit thing.

Cheap Price = sales. Take a 2500 Yen CD (which is already $31 USD at straight exchange rate) and slap a $48 price on it, heck yeah that's gonna just sit there. Take a $4 Son May CD and price it at $10 you won't be able to keep any to sell at another con.

But what do I know? I just bought the soundtrack for The Omega Man and picked up the soundtrack for Is Paris Burning, which surprise, turned out to be one of the 'templates' for the music for the Giant Robo OAV. Go me!

[ferricide.livejournal.com]

when was that? 10 years ago? when these kids were 5?

seriously, kids who are in college now have never even owned a CD. they grew up post-internet. napster got big in 2000. the first iPod came out in 2001.

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

I honestly think teenagers and college kids today have more familiarity with vinyl than they do with CDs. Well, computer software still comes on CDs, sometimes. I guess.

These days you can get music by holding your smartphone next to another smartphone.

Obviously the solution for everyone, in this changing retail environment, is to sell portraits of Hitler. Only National Socialism can save us in these uncertain economic times.

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmm.

Naaaaaa.

Altho, given the mentality of those in charge of marketing nowadays it would not shock me in the least if something close to that doesn't pop up in brainstorm sessions.

[ferricide.livejournal.com]

even computer software is really changing that -- the last 2 releases of Mac OS were only available from the app store on the mac, for download. you can only get physical media version at the apple store if you need them (meaning you fried your mac) and that's a USB stick.

with certified app stores on mac os and windows 8, as well as one on amazon (i just bought microsoft office from amazon via download) i dunno if i'll ever encounter computer software on physical media again either.

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

Can't even get physical media for some Mac software. I wanted to upgrade to OS 10.6 (now that I have a Max with Intel processor) and was told "sorry, we don't have that in the store"

Can't find it online either, yet it USED to exist.

And of course it's not moved to the free software update side.

*sigh*

[ferricide.livejournal.com]

well, i don't see any reason that it should be free just because it's digital-only. it's not as though we were primarily paying for cost of goods with prior updates, though distribution added a heavy tax. given that MS office was $90 on amazon, and i seem to remember it being a lot more expensive in the past, i also have trouble complaining too much given i use it pretty much on the daily!

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

I wasn't saying it should be free because it was digital. I was suggesting that since it wasn't available to buy and you have to have it to upgrade to Snow Leopard (10.7? whatever) which I can't do because surprise, now the Intel processors of my Mac Pro are just not bleeding edge enough...but upgrading to the 10.6.x series may solve some minor stability issues...

Bah.

At least I upgraded my memory. that does good things.

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

Overpriced and occasionally bootleg CDs, mind you. Which is why, I suspect, he changed his company name: he got kicked out of more than one convention, DURING con hours, for that.

As a vendor, I could sympathize with the whine about not making enough money. It's chronic: we want to do all sorts of things but have to pick and choose because we only sell so much at a con. But to whine about not making enough money on merchandise for which practically nothing was paid in the first place... no.