Internal UD recap of the ChiTAG show that we were set up at this past weekend.
Upper Deck set up this past weekend at ChiTAG (Chicago Toy & Game Fair) for the national debut of Marvel Slingers.
Wednesday November 23, 2011
IN THE NEWS…
Local Chicago press, including WGN, CBS Chicago, ABC Chicago and The Rosie Show previewed and promoted Slingers during their TV newscasts starting on Friday, before the show even opened.
Derrick Young from CBS Chicago proudly wore his Slingers “VIG” (Very Important Gamer) badge through all his interviews at the show, and at the end of the day personally called to ask us if he could “Please Please Please” have a Slinger for his nephew. It was the one and only toy he wanted from the show. Another newscaster from ABC came back to the show on Sunday with her boys, just so that they could play with Slingers and sign up for tournaments. She wound up purchasing Slingers for all of the boys in her family.
SOCIAL MEDIA…
ChiTAG also attracted close to 200 Mommy Bloggers for the event. We presented Slingers to the Mom and Media group on Saturday morning, and offered up a challenge for the Fastest-Slingin’ Mom at the show. The moms loved it and they posted some great Tweets for us over the weekend:
”Holy cow, my kids went to sleep with their Slingers last night! You guys were a big hit with the bloggers too!”
“It’s gonna be really hard 2 keep Slingers hidden until Christmas - mostly bcuz I wanna play with them!”
“Looking for the hottest new game this season? Check out Slingers and remember you saw it here first!”
We also had fun posting pictures of winners and images from the booth all weekend on our new ‘Slingers – Fast Slingin Action’ Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Slingers-Fast-Slingin-Action/206678402707707), and had people signing up to ‘Like’ us right in the booth. With over 1200 followers it’s been a great launch week both online and with ChiTAG.
AT THE SHOW…
Situated in the center of the hall, the Slingers booth was one of the most sought after destinations at the show. Many consumers came by letting us know that they saw us on TV the day before and had to check out the new product for themselves. Kids (and parents alike) filled every inch of the booth, practicing their Slinging technique and skills. An enthusiastic group of girls set up camp in the Slingers booth and worked on their trick shots (stay tuned for the video), while the boys battled it out for a cool new Slingers T-shirt.
Basic Concepts (inventor and manufacturer of Slingers) were blown away with the overwhelming response and Upper Deck’s presence at the show. They were so excited they grabbed some of our staff shirts and dove right into doing demos alongside Bubby, Nick and our team of volunteers.
The tournaments had waitlists and the sales counter was a flurry of activity. The Slingers Battle Pack (2 Slinger box set) - sold out 5 hours after the show opened. Slingers Starter Packs flew off of the shelf, with Captain America selling out first – he was a clear favorite with the girls, and Spider-Man and Hulk followed close behind. Thor was also popular, then Wolverine and Iron Man. Most parents purchased at least a Starter along with a Medallion Booster pack.
On Sunday morning, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts took over the hall. They battled each other and then protested when their troop leaders tried to get them to move on to another area of the hall. The weekend went by in a flash, and even as the lights were dimmed as an indicator the show was over, we still had folks in our booth wanting to buy one of the last few Slingers we had left and play with them for just a few more minutes.
PHOTOS…
Check out a few photos from the show and some of the news clips and articles:
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