EBay turns Comic Con-goers into avatars for collectible trading cards

Comic book fans appeared on personalised collectible cards as part of an augmented reality experience by eBay earlier this week.

The online auction site, where trading cards can be bought, invited attendees of Comic Con in London to pose in a photo booth at the event under one of six titles – such as “The Slayer”, “The Trickster” or “The Treacherous” – and create an avatar, ranging in styles from “anime” to “superhero retro”.

The photo and tailored design were used to produce a custom card as part of the “TCG me” experience, created by agency Dept and tech company Noonah for the convention, which ran from 28-30 October.

Participants walked away with a card that could be worn in their lanyard throughout the event and also received a digital version that could be shared across their social channels using #ebaycomiccon22.

The uniqueness of each collectible was captured in a printed serial number, reflecting how early on in the event theirs had been produced.

A snapchat lens was also created, while an accompanying out-of-home campaign ran at the DLR station Custom House – the nearest TfL stop to the Excel centre, where the convention took place.

Agency Experience 12 designed and produced the eBay stand so that the offline and online work complemented each other.

Across the three-day event, 2,000 cards were produced, leading to 6.1 million impressions and 216,000 shares on social media.

EBay UK chief marketing officer Eve Williams said: “Collectibles customers are a vibrant community of enthusiasts and we set out to bring their passion to life with ‘TCG me’. 

“Comic Con celebrates so many universes and it’s been an exciting challenge to ensure our concept is not only engaging on the floor, but transcends into digital and OOH channels.”