Artist Alley freebies for kids? kid-products?

[sarrowsmith10]

Hey guys,

I know a bunch of you are parents and probably take your kiddos to comic con. As my toddler gets older I've been wanting to bring him home something from all the shows we do, but I find that its next to impossible to really find things in Artist Alley that is aimed towards kids. I hand out coloring pages and mini comics for free for little kids, but my son already has my stuff. I'd happily buy these things from other vendors, but it seems like none of it exists. At one con we found one vendor that had children's books in addition to their comics, so I bought the kids book. But I haven't seen anything like that since.

Thoughts?

[TopJimComics]

Beats me, I'm in the same boat as you in that I make sure all my stuff is family friendly, and I also hand out coloring pages. But it does seem as though that's an area lacking at most conventions.

[KoreanTacos]

I think cost of printing comes into effect. I know a lot of artist alley folks do want to make a profit and making free give away items does hinder that and can force up charges on the normal items just to make up for it. I mean I think free stuff is cool what kind of person wouldn't agree.

However I've only been to one convention and no free stuff in the artist alley then.

[Pandastrophic]

Yeah it's mostly bc of the cost in printing and I personally don't see that many little kids in artist ally, or at least in the artist alley section. I only saw one vendor that was selling their children's book and it was the main thing they were marketing that con. A lot of artist make stickers though? that's very kid-friendly, even if they don't know the characters they might just think it's cute.

I took my younger brother once, he was like 8, he plays video games and stuff so he bought some posters to hang on his wall and t shirts/caps with the characters he liked. He found stuff to buy that could be marketed towards him as well as the teens and adults that usually go to cons.

[sarrowsmith10]

I know a lot of artist alley folks do want to make a profit and making free give away items does hinder that and can force up charges on the normal items just to make up for it.

Yes, I know this well, as I said I vend and I give out freebies. But my question is kinda 2 part- what kind of items would parents like to see as freebie items for kids (that I could give out on my table with me fronting the cost) and what are some general kid friendly products for sale that folks would like to see more of in artist alley.

In my experience at huge conventions like San Diego Comic con, Phoenix Comic Fest, Salt Lake Comicon, etc. there are actually quite a few younger kiddos tagging along with their parents. With Phoenix having the most kids. I'd say 40% of my sales are to those under the age of 16.

One year I sold yo-yos with chibis of my art on them. Totally sold out! Didn't do them the next year because the company that made them for me went out of business.

My partner in crime made a science word search to give away for free to promote our science comic. Those did okay, but I feel like the kids weren't too interested. (apparently word searches are something they do in school as homework? what?)

Come to think of it, at Tucson Comic con there was a plushie vendor that also sold baby bibs and some freaking cute hand made geeky baby items. I thought that was very creative! Nothing for free there, but a good solid products to sell.

[KoreanTacos]

Kid friendly would be featuring products from shows aimed specifically for children/young teens, Precure, Spiderman Disney ver. etc. I say this mostly as to whether the product is easier to attain for them in modern media like if they don't have hulu or crunchyroll or something. I think most parents are concerned about prices especially if a child is really young. I don't know about the cost, but I think book marks or charms would be a cute thing for kids. Bookmarks would encourage children to read (maybe) and charms can be carried around with them where ever they go. Ultimately, unless the child has their own money it's always up to the parents to decide what they want to buy, and if they don't want to pay for it or think it's unnecessary then no buy.

Also chibi yo-yos sound really cute and cool idea.

[phen]

This is something completely out of my personal experience (I've never attended a con) but I wonder about the potential of re-appropriating party goods? You can jumbo buy bags of things for cheap like sunglasses, kazoos, balloons, cars, fake mustaches, etc., and apply stickers promoting your logo/comic work on them. Bag them up, offer it like a Kid's Menu item at your table for $~10.

If the convention has restrictions on such items, maybe make character/item 3D paper crafts (think Nintendo Labo) the kids can colour, cut-out, and assemble at home.

[joannekwan]

Most of the time I see kids wanting prints and Pops just like their parents.
Cute art will sell regardless of age. So maybe smaller 5 x 7 kid-sized prints would be good.

Um, I usually just have free candy on my table, that's my biggest kid draw. xD

[sarrowsmith10]

If the convention has restrictions on such items, maybe make character/item 3D paper crafts (think Nintendo Labo) the kids can colour, cut-out, and assemble at home.

OOOO. Paper crafts! What a good idea!!

Um, I usually just have free candy on my table, that's my biggest kid draw. xD

Candy seems like a good idea... yes... I may steal this.

[VibrantFox]

I don't have much con experience but I'm curious if anyone had tried coloring pages? I'm not sure what an effective way to produce them would be depending on the quantity needed; but maybe it would catch the interest of some youngsters?