Louie M. writes about conventions for www.comicsheatingup.net. He was one of the men on the street out in San Diego. We sent them out with three simple rules. 1. Let us know what is hot. 2. Get tons of pictures of cosplayers (pictures later.) 3. Come back alive. Here is Louie’s wrap up, quick notes, and random thoughts of the con.
Thursday
Loot crates are hot. Slow line with only two registers going.
Heard anecdote of someone getting in line for Hasbro at 11pm and not getting booth ticket. (Later found out people were lurking behind sails and cut in when they brought the line outside, and shame on security if true).
Star wars fans are crazy (see hasbro note). Everything Star Wars sells out fast. People started lining up for Force Awakens panel on Wednesday evening (and panel doesn’t start until Friday evening).
There is a trailer (in a literal trailer) for Point Blank remake. Showed a trailer and extended skydiving scene in 3D. I was blown away. I fully expected that movie to be dumb, now it’s a must see in IMAX for me. Think they will get some positive buzz from this.
A Krampus movie is really happening.
Funko was capped for the day around 2pm.
There is a queue for everything: exclusives, panels, bathrooms, coffee, leaving the parking lot, to take pics of anything.
Friday
Hasbro tickets sold out around 630am again.
The Walking Dead signing is insane. A mob of people just to take a pic of someone from the cast. Everyone shouting like they are going to look up and pose for a pic.
Deadpool mania is starting today. Tons of Deadpools and Deadpool merch everywhere.
Games of Thrones memorabilia is hot as well. The 5 inch crown replica for $60 was an item I scoffed at thinking it was too frivolous. Sure enough, they’re running out of stock everyday.
Speaking of Dark Horse, the SDCC variant of Fight Club 2 #1 keeps selling out daily as well.
Really enjoyed talking to Matt Hawkins of Top Cow. Really cool guy and excellent writer. I have high hopes to see some kind of live production of Think Tank.
You can play Godzilla game coming for PS4 and it looks badass! Epic monster fighting similar to recent movie.
Walker Stalker Con across the street at Petco Park: as a convention, it takes about 3 minutes to walk from one side to another. This is really about meeting the celebs here. Nice selection of swords though.
Saturday
Security getting wore down. This morning I heard “no walking on the escalator” and while sitting down in huge line for exhibit hall I was told “please cross your legs more so your feet don’t stick out”. I think they are making up their own rules for fun at this point. Nevertheless, most of my interactions with security are positive despite how tired they must be.
People lined up almost 48 hours in advance for Force Awakens panel, but Hall H still taking walk ins as of 8am on BvS and Deadpool day (Thursday was walk in all day too). Starting to think the real insanity is on exclusives and Hall H is more manufactured hysteria.
KFC is doing some strange viral marketing around comicon. I kind of dig it though.
Marvel booth is brutal to get into every day. Booth workers have their work cut out for them. When they are about to open the line, everyone swarms them with their hands reached out like hungry peasants.
Sideshow’s Court of the Dead is amazing. I am not familiar with the product line, but drawn to them. Detail on these is incredible.
Stan lee collectibles offering Stan Lee signatures for about $100 add on to most items.
Vintage movie programs is great nostalgia. Remember the days when movies came with a program?
I was lucky enough to be near the DC booth when Zack Snyder and Batman v Superman cast presented the new trailer for the movie. It really looks fantastic and I can’t wait for this. It was electrifying being there with this crowd for it. Total pandemonium when they trailer showed Wonder Woman in action for the first time.
My feet want to divorce my legs.
As of early Saturday, all of the Hasbro Force Awakens merchandise is sold out for the show. One can only do ebay if they want these. Star Wars maniacs win the con!
great Review Louie..I love reading about different conventions
Thanks for reading Mel!
I’d love to go sometime but honestly this review makes me feel like not going isn’t the worst idea I’ve ever had.
If u have any interest in attending, i couldn’t recommend it enough, sdcc is the king of cons. It’s all about prioritizing what you want to do and making the best of it. To give perspective – i arrived daily at 7am (i dont do the camping thing) and headed back to hotel around 9pm. Tried to do a mix of inside con and outside con. All that time, i bet i saw less than 10% of what the SDCC “campus” has to offer. There is really nothing else like it!
Not to mention social aspect of it all, you meet a lot of interesting ppl along the way