The B&N, or Barnes & Noble, Warriors meetup for the release of Warriors Graphic Novel: The Prophecies Begin #3 (my review of which you can read here) came with cool freebies, a new prize, and some reflection on my part. This was the last of three meetups to celebrate the releases of the new graphic novel adaptations of the first Warriors series, and I had a different experience with all three.
Participating store locations could host the event anywhere from September 30th (the day of release) to October 5th. While I went to East Brunswick for the first event and Princeton for the second event, I visited another Barnes & Noble for this third and final event: Hamilton Marketplace on Tuesday, September 30th at 6:00 PM.
One key difference in this third event was a lack of marketing and not having the PDF of participating stores. It felt like they marketed later than the last two times, plus they only linked the Barnes & Noble events page (in which you can’t see past events so no way of knowing if a store hosted it early in the week) for the Warriors event. Without a way to narrow that down, I had to scroll forever to find New Jersey locations.
The first event was the highlight, the second event was a bit of an awkward letdown, and this third event was a mix of those two. I separated the other articles solely by the different aspects (freebies, prizes, and trivia), but this event was so different that I’ll be placing those under one category and then separating my article into “positive,” “negative.” and “overall.”
Negative
Though I hate to start with negatives, the rest of the article will make more sense this way. The main one, which frankly caused all the others, was nobody showing up to the event (at this store) besides me. With zero attendance, I wasn’t able to do any of the group activities or the trivia. Not only that, but it was difficult to not feel anxious about loitering around the table waiting by myself. Even though the second event had low attendance too, I was still able to see some excited young fans.
The sales associate I spoke with seemed surprised, since they’d gotten phone calls that day asking if the event was happening. They even explained how children’s events can be hit or miss, with some parents preferring weekday events and some weekend events. I’m not sure if having it on a Tuesday was part of the problem or not.
It wasn’t only my chosen store either. On social media, other fans were reporting either very low attendance or no attendance like mine. It’s possible that weekend or Friday events went better.
Positive
Despite the (large) hiccup of being the only attendee, I found the staff members and associate running the event were wonderful. It’s important to note that despite the event not being very different than the other two, they did have new freebies, activities, and one new prize. Plus, this location had a very cute display of Warriors books and their table of freebies was set up great.
It wasn’t only that, though. The best part of the event had barely anything to do with it. A mom and her young son wandered over when they were told about the event. I was able to explain the series a little to them, as well as show the difference between the books and the graphic novels. The mom gave her son a choice between the two, and he chose “pictures,” meaning the graphic novel. After a few minutes of talking with the associate again, the boy came back and told us he liked the book. Collectively, we praised him and then directed him to take some of the freebies. Whether he stays on track with the series or this is a one-hit for him, it was heartwarming to influence a young reader onto the famous cats. Part of the draw of the fandom is the fellowship that comes with it. Even if I didn’t get to talk to other fans, or at least see their joy, this interaction made up for it all.
Before I left, the associate gave me the full set of prizes. I did take a tote bag and the new buttons, but I asked that they give the figurines (and any extra tote bags) to a future purchaser of Warriors or the third graphic novel itself.
Freebies, Activities, Prizes, and Trivia
Already well-known for freebies, I was excited to see a couple new ones added for this event. This meetup did include a sheet of temporary tattoos, but it was the same sheet from the first meetup. As for the new freebies, cat-head pens with Warriors on it, Warriors notepads, Warriors name tag stickers, and Warriors masks with Firestar, Tigerstar, and Yellowfang were given out.
The booklet included new activities, too. They had Warriors Fan Bingo, a Clan quiz, crossword challenge, trivia answer sheet, origami, write your own Warriors story, name guessing with emojis, word search, and a coloring sheet. The fan bingo especially would’ve been fun with a group.
Since trivia couldn’t happen, the associate let me take a picture of the questions and answers (that I looked at only once for this article), which I included below. I find myself frustrated again that the questions go beyond the events of the third graphic novel, let alone The Prophecies Begin. Number six especially seems too specific (and not even a well-known herb either). If I had to guess, I would’ve gotten between five and seven questions right.
- Where did Graypaw meet Rusty in Into the Wild?
- Answer: Twolegplace
- What is the name of Bramblestar’s half-sister?
- Answer: Mothwing
- Who are Rainwhisker, Sootfur, and Sorreltail’s parents?
- Answer: Willowpelt and Whitestorm
- Who was Feathertail’s mother?
- Answer: Silverstream
- Which of the following is NOT a leader of ThunderClan: Bluestar, Firestar, Crookedstar, Bramblestar?
- Answer: Crookedstar
- In the book Midnight, what is the herb that Leafpaw searches for to help Longtail’s eyes?
- Answer: Celadine
- Who is the first cat to die in the series?
- Answer: Redtail
- What do warriors call barbed wire?
- Answer: Silverthorn
- How many kits did Princess have?
- Answer: Five
- Where do leaders call Clan meetings in ThunderClan’s lake territory camp?
- Answer: Highrock
Tie breaker: What is the 9th law of the warrior code?
Answer: After the death or retirement of the deputy, the new deputy must be chosen before moonhigh.
Prizes for trivia, as well as bingo, included tote bags, a new set of Clan symbol buttons, and The Prophecies Begin Special Edition mini figures (each store had different characters). From my glance around social media spaces for WACA fans, it seems like this was pretty standard across the Barnes & Noble stores.
Overall
I was disappointed at the lack of attendance, which essentially meant I couldn’t do some of the activities and felt awkward by myself. Yet, the positives made it worth the visit. This B&N location set everything up so nicely and cared about the event’s success. The staff were all friendly and kind, especially the associate running the event. Even if they weren’t participating, they were all wearing Warriors name tags!
I did enjoy collecting some new Warriors merchandise too, whether it was the freebies or the buttons. Expanding my collection always makes me happy.
I speculate that the lack of advertising and accessibility to locations may have caused the lower attendance. The less interesting second meetup that happened in April of this year might’ve also turned fans away from going to the final one. I’m still looking forward to meetups/release parties to continue as we go into the next graphic novel adaptations, The New Prophecy, but I hope they’ll be a little different.
Follow the links below to purchase the graphic novels from Amazon:
Warriors Graphic Novel: The Prophecies Begin #1
Warriors Graphic Novel: The Prophecies Begin #2
Warriors Graphic Novel: The Prophecies Begin #3
