San Diego Comic-Con

Dokstarr

Dokstarr

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Thought I'd make a post to see how everyone is liking it so far since tonight was preview night.

This is my first time at Comic-Con and it is pretty cool so far.

Got a picture with Mark Waid and a picture with Kirkman. People didn't seem to know who Kirkman was so I got a picture with no line and nobody else right after they opened up to the public.

Mark Waid was pretty cool too, he was really great to talk to.

Saw Brian Sanderson, but didn't really say much to him. I haven't read anything of his and am only interested in the upcoming finale to Wheel of Time. If I had some WoT stuff I would've had him sign it.

Saw the guy who does the art for Farkwing Duck and Ducktales. Told him how awesome his work is and moved on.

For swag I got the Walking Dead ears and AC 3 t-shirt plus some other random stuff.


For tomorrow I plan on maybe getting Kirkman to sign Walking Dead 100 and the GF wants to see Twilight people.


Only thing I wanted I couldn't seem to find anything on was the Expendables 2 poster they have. I went to the Liongate booth and they had no idea what I was talking about. Said check back in the morning.
 
[quote name='KaneRobot']Jaywalking killed a Twilight fan, so tell that girlfriend to obey traffic laws and watch out for cars.[/QUOTE]

Fixed for accuracy.
 
Thanks for this post guys I was going through the same thing.
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Havn't been back to SD comic-con since 2008, when Dark Knight hype was there. Crowds where getting huge. And now anything with vampires and zombies are flooding it.

Also, friends lost interest in going and that was half then fun. :cry:
 
[quote name='Viol8tor']Havn't been back to SD comic-con since 2008, when Dark Knight hype was there. Crowds where getting huge. And now anything with vampires and zombies are flooding it.

Also, friends lost interest in going and that was half then fun. :cry:[/QUOTE]

I kinda lost interest in going. It' not really fun anymore. My friends always get excited for it, but all of them (minus 1) recentally been going. I've been going as a kid and seeing it change to what it is now is depressing. I like to call it Movie Con. That and there are no good venders. I always use to spend my money on Gundam models. Now finding a person selling it is rare. /rant.
 
Today was pretty good. Scored a few Mondo Prints even though the line was crazy. I hopped out of the Game of Thrones one (since it was ugly) but now think I should've just stayed to get it since I could sell it for like an extra 100..

Took some cosplay pics, posed with some statues and people, and did the Zombie escape thing at Petco Park. It was pretty cool. GF is a bit miffed. She made it through the whole thing without getting dirty and right at the end one of the zombies thought it was funny to take a drenched severed limb and drape it all across her when she was crawling out of a crawling zone (even though the zombie definitely couldn't reach her, he used it like a 3 ft paint brush.

She was happy she got to the see the Twilight people. Now that I've been forced to watch 7 minuted of Twilight I'm happy I haven't seen anything of it up until now. I couldn't believe how overpowered they are. Running like 90 mph, jumping over like entire forests and scaling mountains in like 3 jumps. The way they run is pretty hilarious though.

The main girl from the movie has no personality, seems pretty vacant and she kept scratching her head like she may have lice.

Tomorrow plan on getting there early again at opening. Try to see if I can get a Kirkman signing ticket to have him sign an issue 100 of Walking Dead. Then try to see the Game of Thrones and Walking Dead panel. That is more for the GF since I really find the panels kind of boring. Any exciting news is out within seconds and the fan questions are pretty cliche and stupid.

In the Twilight panel I did like one answer from the main vampire guy. Someone asked him what he (as his character) would tell/advise his character from the first movie since now it is the end of the series. He said he would tell his movie 1 self "to keep it in his pants."
 
I'm probably gonna have to queue up early for the Adventure Time panel on Saturday.

But it was nice shaking hands with Fred Tatascoire and Steve Blum at the voice actor panel!
 
[quote name='cancermatt']I'm working at the Funimation booth. Having fun four years in a row. Stop ny to say hi.[/QUOTE]

Was there yesterday getting posters.
 
[quote name='cancermatt']I'm working at the Funimation booth. Having fun four years in a row. Stop ny to say hi.[/QUOTE]

That's cool. Sounds like fun with all those Dragon Ball figures that I keep seeing Funi posting on their FB wall. They look awesome.
 
[quote name='Viol8tor']Havn't been back to SD comic-con since 2008, when Dark Knight hype was there. Crowds where getting huge. And now anything with vampires and zombies are flooding it.

Also, friends lost interest in going and that was half then fun. :cry:[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Rock_Dash3X']I kinda lost interest in going. It' not really fun anymore. [/QUOTE]

Last time I went was in 2009 where I had more fun outside of the convention around the Gaslamp Quarter and Seaport. It also didn't help that rooms filled up faster, tickets were more expensive, and they sold out much quicker. The most memorable things from SDCC 2009 were seeing Leslie Nielson in person, discovering an indy comic series called "Tempest", and staying in an eco-friendly themed hotel.

Today the manager who does my work schedule had no problem rubbing in my face how happy he was that I missed out on Comic-Con and bragged about how he would go sometime. Seeing as how I never told him about SDCC in the first place (he obviously heard it from someone else) makes him a true jerk.

I don't know if I would go back though. My interest in anime is declining along with my overall TV and movie watching. I think the main reason I would go back (besides the fantastic weather compared to the Florida heat I'm forced to breathe in) would be for The Simpsons panel and Bongo booth. Do they still have Sony and Nintendo booths with playable games? I'd probably check those out too.
 
Didn't have tickets but walked around downtown with my kids pretty fun for a couple of hours. Scored a pic with my kids and some cosplayers dressed as escaped Arkham inmates Bane, Harley, Joker, Riddler, Scarecrow, really nice people.
 
[quote name='Cage017']Do they still have Sony and Nintendo booths with playable games? I'd probably check those out too.[/QUOTE]

Yep. Played the 3DS XL and the Wii U, Sly Cooper 4, and LBP Carting.
 
My friend made the first two cuts for GT Academy national finals. If he survives two more rounds he goes to England.
 
Cool day today. Played a little of the new Transformers game. It seems pretty good.

Got some more Mondo prints and got some stuff signed by Vasquez (Squee, Invader Zim, JtHM, etc.).

Tried lining up for the Walking Dead and Game of Thrones panel. I used my experiences from yesterday and thought showing up 2.5 hrs early would be plenty of time. The line went on for probably 7 blocks after the initial few thousand in wrap around disney style lines (rest went down the street, across the street down around the marina and wrapped around back to the hotel).

I couldn't believe how crowded it was. Yesterday with Twilight we lined up an hour early and got in fine. I thought Twilight was the biggest thing since sliced bread these days so I thought it would be no problem with anything else. My mistake.

After waiting in line for about 2 hrs the girlfriend finally agreed that there was pretty much no chance of seeing Game of Thrones and Walking Dead was starting in a few minutes (we were still across the street and down like a block or two).

Will probably hit it up a little bit tomorrow morning and don't know about Sunday.
 
[quote name='Dokstarr']Cool day today. Played a little of the new Transformers game. It seems pretty good.

Got some more Mondo prints and got some stuff signed by Vasquez (Squee, Invader Zim, JtHM, etc.).

Tried lining up for the Walking Dead and Game of Thrones panel. I used my experiences from yesterday and thought showing up 2.5 hrs early would be plenty of time. The line went on for probably 7 blocks after the initial few thousand in wrap around disney style lines (rest went down the street, across the street down around the marina and wrapped around back to the hotel).

I couldn't believe how crowded it was. Yesterday with Twilight we lined up an hour early and got in fine. I thought Twilight was the biggest thing since sliced bread these days so I thought it would be no problem with anything else. My mistake.

After waiting in line for about 2 hrs the girlfriend finally agreed that there was pretty much no chance of seeing Game of Thrones and Walking Dead was starting in a few minutes (we were still across the street and down like a block or two).

Will probably hit it up a little bit tomorrow morning and don't know about Sunday.[/QUOTE]

Despite the Hall H holding approximately 6,500 people, you really need to get there early. Much much earlier if it's a popular panel and even earlier than that if you wanna get anywhere near the front. People were already in line for today when I left the Sony Pictures panel around 6:40PM.

The Walking Dead panel was a lot fun, especially during the Q&A. I've never seen Game of Thrones but I might have to start on the blus. The audience was given a ticket to redeem during the GoT panel and later in the day I overheard someone redeemed it already we're going to get a book and a shirt. Gonna try and get in the Hall H line around 2 AM since today is going to be jam packed. Django Unchained, The Hobbit, and Kevin Smith are gonna be awesome.
 
Anybody happen to pickup the Kidrobot Futurama Hypnotoad mini-fig? Can't wait for them to sell on their website; really wish I could've picked one up at the con.
 
So since I started the thread though I might as well post overall impressions/opinions.

I wasn't planning on spending the full time there (was there pretty much from opening on preview night til about two hours before closing). I thought I'd spent like preview night Thurs and maybe Friday, but the lines and crowds are so huge you never make it through.


I'm not sure if I really want to try and make it into Aud H next year. We got in for Twilight after waiting for an hour, but to get it on Sat you would have needed to be there by light 6 am. I wouldn't want to spend the whole day in the auditorium and at the same time I wouldn't want to wait in line for 4-6 hrs to see the one or two panels I cared about.

Less cosplay then I expected. I guess I was gauging it off the anime cons I've been to before, but I thought it would've been alot more, though some of it was quite awesome.

I didn't buy anything for myself except for a bunch of Mondo prints (along with a few other prints). Very cool, but at the con went on the line for them kept getting longer and longer and longer.

It was cool getting some free stuff. AC3 shirt, South Park shirt, Transformers shirt, Walking Dead ears and Adventure Time medals.

I definitely think next time I need to find a bigger group so we can divide and conquer the lines. Me and gf switched off sometimes in the T-shirt line an Mondo lines (each 2+ at all times), but with more people you might have a better chance to see the panels you want, get some stuff signed, or something.

Kirkman, Mark Waid, an Jhonen Vassquez were all cool when I met them and got photos.

Now I just need to decide where to hang up all the stuff and prints I got.
 
So registration for next year started this morning at 8AM PDT. Manage to get "in line" at 8:50 and was #20xxx in line. Less than thirty minutes later all the badges were sold out with the 4 day, Fri, Sat badges selling out first. I really underestimated how fast these went since they were only available to those who had badges for this last Comic Con. More badges will be available but it's not certain if they will still be available to just those who went or to the general public.
 
Since it is that time of the year again I thought I'd bump up this thread.

Anyone else going again this year? This will be year #3 for me. I don't think I will be able to make it next year, so better make this one count.

I'm staying downtown this year which will be nice. I'll be able to drop off stuff during the day and even get up super early to try and get a ticket for the Hasbro booth. The previous two years there and I've never made it to that booth yet.

 
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Where should I go or who should I talk to to plan a trip for next years SDCC (2015)?

I really want to go but I'm not sure how to plan it... I've never been to SD before but I've flown into LA and Ontario as my ex had family in Pomona and Victorville.

 
GBAstar said:
Where should I go or who should I talk to to plan a trip for next years SDCC (2015)?

I really want to go but I'm not sure how to plan it... I've never been to SD before but I've flown into LA and Ontario as my ex had family in Pomona and Victorville.
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Just ask here. I'm not a native, but I've been living here for 5 years, and been to SDCC the past 4.

 
Okay these are the biggest questions:

1) When do tickets go on sale for SDCC 2015? It's my understanding that they sell out quickly.. is this correct? Can you get tickets/passes for the entire event?

2) How long does the convention run? I have a very flexible work schedule and can stay as long or as little as I'd like so ideally I'd like to come in 1-2 days before and stay a day later depending on flight availability/pricing.

3) Where would people from far away fly into? 

 
GBAstar said:
Okay these are the biggest questions:
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1) You have to watch the SDCC twitter or sign up for their mailing list thingies. They first have the pre-sale for people who've been before, and then have another sale for everyone else. Tickets sell out instantly each day. Even if you are the first one line there is a good chance you will not be getting tickets. I've gotten tickets the last three years and have been lucky, but if you go through their facebook there are literally thousands upon thousands of people complaining saying how much they hate them and how it is unfair they can't go.

It comes down to pretty much there are way more people who want to go than available tickets.

2) Preview night is Wednesday and the con is officially Thurs through Sunday. San Diego is really fun. I've been there multiple times (some for the con and some just for vacation) so I definitely recommend taking at least a few days to see Balboa Park, the zoo, La Jolla, etc. Be aware that downtown hotels are extremely overpriced for the convention unless you book the hotel through the official SDCC travel page. The hotels on the travel page also almost sell out as fast at the tickets do. Staying outside of downtown is fine though. I've stayed in La Jolla twice right on the beach and it has been very nice.

3) You'd fly right into San Diego. The airport is pretty much right next to the city.

 
GBAstar said:
Okay these are the biggest questions:

1) When do tickets go on sale for SDCC 2015? It's my understanding that they sell out quickly.. is this correct? Can you get tickets/passes for the entire event?

2) How long does the convention run? I have a very flexible work schedule and can stay as long or as little as I'd like so ideally I'd like to come in 1-2 days before and stay a day later depending on flight availability/pricing.

3) Where would people from far away fly into?
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1) It varies. They open up ticket sales to the people who attended the previous year first. This year, they opened up ticket sales on February 8, 2014. Last year's tickets went on sale August 5, 2012. Year before that, June 30, 2011. (This is looking at my email only).

The first wave of this year's tickets sold out in about an hour or two. This is pretty much normal. You can get tickets for the entire event, but preview night will sell out first. Then Thursday. Sunday will sell out last.

You have to pre-register to qualify when the tickets go on sale. At least, that's how it was the last couple of years.

2) The convention runs from about 6PM Wednesday night (preview night), to 6PM Sunday night, so 4.5 days. But like I said, preview night tickets run out first. We only managed 4 day passes this year. We had preview night tickets last year. If you work for industry, your company might have 4 day + preview night passes.

3) San Diego International Airport (airport code SAN). It's downtown, and pretty close to the convention center. It's about 3.5 miles from the convention center, where SDCC is held. Not that it matters, since it depends on where you get a hotel.

Edit: If you get a hotel further away, the first trolly stop on the Green line is by Qualcomm stadium, where the Charger's stay. If you don't get on at that stop, you might not be able to get on at later stops, due to crowding. I used to live across from the stadium, so I'd just drive there and park. There's a large parking lot that won't fill up.

Otherwise, there's a hotel next to the convention center, but I'm sure it's super expensive, and sells out super fast. But it's also where Nintendo hosts their game room (which you don't need a badge to enter). All the nearby hotels are extremely convenient, since you can drop off goods, or take showers should you feel the need to camp out.

Also, since it's mentioned above, the San Diego Zoo is in Balboa Park. It's also in the general vicinity as the convention center and airport (about 3 miles from the airport). Balboa Park is mostly just the zoo and a bunch of museums. I personally like the Natural History one. You can get a day pass that lets you visit like 4 museums, but you might be a little bit rushed to get through 4 museums in a day. The SO and I bought one, and rushed through our fourth museum at the end of the day (they close like at 5-6PM).

 
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2015 Comic Con is going to be July 8-12 according to Conan. So you may want to book a hotel now, if you know you are going , or book a refundable one.

 
DNukem170 said:
http://youtu.be/eq8AN9v1BFQ
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About sums it up.

The worst is waiting 5 - 6 hours for a panel and not getting in. I am not waiting for Hall H this year. GF made me wait three times so far. Surprisingly Twilight was the easy in 2012. Got in line like 2 hours before and made it. Later that day spent 3 or 4 waiting for Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. Still way too far off when it got close so I bailed when they line workers said we pretty much had a zero chance of making it.

Next year she made us wait 6+ hours for the same panels. Was about 70 people from getting in when they officially closed the doors. That was worse because you were so close you could taste it, and for that I say no more. I'll go find some exclusives, play Nintendo games, and look for bronies.

 
Now since it is all said and done, I was wondering how did everyone like it who went this year.

I'm not sure if it is possible - but it felt like this year was even more crowded than before.

Sadly I didn't get to hit up a few things I wanted to do. The Game of Thrones exhibit had consistenly what the workers called a 4 - 6 hour wait to inside. It wrapped completely around the Omni Hotel. I probably should've tried to go to it on Thursday. Friday and Saturday were crazy crowded so I thought I'd go in the morning on Sunday. I went there at 10:30 on Sunday morning and was told that that line was capped for the day (exhibit closed at 4) and they said that people lining up now probably wouldn't be able to get in.

I kind of miss how everyone hated the WiiU last year (well not hated, just nobody cared about it). I was able to go to the Nintendo lounge play a bunch of games, get a t-shirt, etc. etc. This year the place was absolutely packed because of Smash Bros and Mario Kart. You could barely move and the lines were insane inside there.

The only exclusive thing that I wanted that I couldn't get was the Hot Wheels "The Homer" from classic episode. I guess I will have to pay the eBay cost for it.

I did get some stuff signed by Kevin Eastman. He signed my TMNT Mondo print, some art books that I had him sign before (asked him to do a different sketch with them this time), and some very quick sketches done on some comic-covers.

I got all the Mondo prints I wanted except for the Guardians of the Galaxy one - but honestly I probably would've just resold it since the resale for that one was like 200 dollars more than the cost.

Overall it was fun, but I think I'm ready to take a break from it for a year (or maybe a few). If there are any exclusives I want I can pick them up on eBay. Honestly, most of them only cost twice as much as  they do there which isn't *that* bad (unless you want the Magic the Gathering, Monster High, etc.)

 
I had more fun than anticipated, but I was going into it completely unexcited due to the last few years. I don't actually follow pop culture a ton. I haven't seen the Lord of the Rings movies, much less the Hobbit. I haven't watched the Avengers, nor Game of Thrones. The small amount of things we do follow either ended, or didn't have a panel. For example, Doctor Who was absent, while Psyche and Breaking Bad ended.

(Clara is boring, so unless Capaldi kills it, I'm probably done with Doctor Who too.)

The only panel I cared about, I didn't get into. Got in the Indigo Ballroom line for Archer around 1 PM, but it wasn't even close. But even then, I don't have cable, so I haven't watched Archer Vice yet.

I had 0 chance with the Lego exclusives though. I went early two days in a row, but the line was capped by 9:30 AM. Didn't bother Saturday. On Sunday, we left the house at 8:30 AM and got in the exhibit hall by 9:30 AM anyways. Lego line was obviously capped. Did get 5 minifigs total, which was the only highlight. And a Cyanide & Happiness sketch which I love.

I don't think I'll go next year, but go instead to Anime Expo, which I've wanted to go since at least 2009.

 
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elessar123 said:
I had 0 chance with the Lego exclusives though. I went early two days in a row, but the line was capped by 9:30 AM. Didn't bother Saturday. On Sunday, we left the house at 8:30 AM and got in the exhibit hall by 9:30 AM anyways. Lego line was obviously capped. Did get 5 minifigs total, which was the only highlight. And a Cyanide & Happiness sketch which I love.
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I like the exclusives obviously but going to something like PAX or the smaller comic-cons that don't have that kind of stuff is refreshing. Being able to just walk around and look at stuff without having to worry about hauling ass to a certain booth and then spending 60+ minutes in line to get to the cash register is a relief.

I guess I could just not try to get them at SDCC, but with the temptation there I know I'd keep trying to battle the lines.

One person I want to meet is the "Fire Marshal". The constant threat of him coming to shut down the convention gets so tiring. Every single security jerk just keeps yelling that "the Fire Marshal is going to shut us down". I think next time I should cosplay as the Fire Marshal. Wear a helmet and a shirt that says Fire Marshal on it.

 
Dokstarr said:
One person I want to meet is the "Fire Marshal". The constant threat of him coming to shut down the convention gets so tiring. Every single security jerk just keeps yelling that "the Fire Marshal is going to shut us down". I think next time I should cosplay as the Fire Marshal. Wear a helmet and a shirt that says Fire Marshal on it.
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That'll probably land you in jail. He does exist though. I've seen him shut down a booth one year, and I've seen fire marshalls at other events that aren't as crammed..

 
elessar123 said:
That'll probably land you in jail. He does exist though. I've seen him shut down a booth one year, and I've seen fire marshalls at other events that aren't as crammed..
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So he does exist, you just don't see him - just like Santa. All my years of cons including a bunch of SDCCs and I've never seen anyone official or seen a booth closed. Just the blue shirts threatening his wrath.

Just two weeks ago was the big show with SDCC now I'll be hitting up Boston Comic-Con. Back to the minor leagues. Good break though - no camping out for Hasbro for me.

 
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I forgot to post to remind people, but hopefully anyone who went last year and wants to go again this year did the pre-registration that was due yesterday.

I'm guessing the pre-sale for people who went last year will be coming up soon and then the big open one.

I didn't pre-register this year because I'm going to skip this one. The family wants to do a big vacation during July right after and I'd rather not kill all my vacation time in one month. Even though it just ended, I think I will do NYCC next year and maybe some other ones that are relatively big, but in the area.

 
I'm probably skipping next year too, since I found this year very lackluster. Except we may still get a Sunday ticket, in case I want to buy anything the last day, or get tickets for the year after.

Probably going to Anime Expo instead.

 
elessar123 said:
I'm probably skipping next year too, since I found this year very lackluster. Except we may still get a Sunday ticket, in case I want to buy anything the last day, or get tickets for the year after.

Probably going to Anime Expo instead.
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I wouldn't call it lackluster it was just more of the same to me. We've gone 3 years in a row and spending 4 days waiting in line everywhere just gets tiresome after a while.

This year some of the lines were the worst I'd ever seen. The Game of Thrones experience and AssCreed obstacle course were just so long that it pretty much would kill the day.

I will say I got to meet Kevin Eastman twice, Fiona Staples, and a few others which did make the whole con for me.

I'm gonna be hitting up Rhode Island Comic Con in a few weeks. This is the 3rd I believe (I went to the first). It is pretty much the exact opposite of SDCC. The first year it was pretty much the size of a highschool gym.

 
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