Over 400 specialty market retailers converged on Bally’s Las Vegas for the first of two 2008 Diamond/Alliance Retailer Summits. In addition to a wealth of entertaining, educational and enlightening activities that brought together some of the industry’s leading retailers, vendors, creators and distributors, the Summit also hosted live and silent Charity Auctions, raising $20,000 to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF), The HERO Initiative and ProLiteracy !

As in years past, the Summits were full of activity including the various charity auctions and door prize giveaways. Donated by a veritable Who’s Who of suppliers and creators, items auctioned off included: a limited edition, signed lithograph of Frank Frazetta’s “The Countess,” fully framed in a gallery quality frame from Galaxy Press; a Cal Ripken Jr.-signed 26” x 18” “Breaking Through with Baseball” Upper Deck Authenticated print, limited to 100 pieces; Steve Rude’s original watercolor painting to X-Men: Children of the Atom #2; Joseph Linsner’s cover to Black Panther #17; an original sketch from Jeff Smith's RASL, signed by the artist; a David Duchovney & Gillian Anderson X-Files dual Autograph Card donated by Inkworks; and much more.

This year, thanks to the efforts of Diamond Vice President of Marketing Bill Schanes and the generosity of our suppliers and supporters, the auction was bigger and better than ever, offering a wealth of unique items from over 40 publishers and suppliers.

"Our retailers really opened their wallets and checkbooks to support these worthwhile charities. It was great to see such generosity by our west coast retailers and we expect to see the same from our retailers attending the Ft. Wayne Retailer Summit in October." said Dan Manser, VP of Marketing for Diamond Comic Distributors.

The 2008 Retailer Summits are made possible by some of the industry’s most prominent suppliers, including Gold Sponsors ADV Films, Crafted Packaging, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Devil’s Due Publishing, Image Comics/Top Cow Productions, IDW Publishing, Marvel Comics, Viz Media, Wizards of the Coast and WizKids, Inc.