[NeoDragonKnight]

Hey guys, just thought Id share some of my experiences and photos of SDCC. This is sort of a brief diary or my days here, hopefully it can give you guys a chance to see what going to SDCC entails!

July 20th:
After getting into San Diego, we took the shuttle to the convention. Our hotel is about 30 min walk, 15 min drive to the con center. After we got to the con center, we had to take another shuttle up north to pick up our 4 day badges. Traffic was killer, took us about 45 min to get there, 15+ min of that was just the bus trying to turn into the building. After we got off the shuttle we saw and endless line outside, it moved somewhat quickly though, took us about 15 min to get through this. We then got inside and man, one of the longest lines Ive even been in. Hundreds and hundreds of people. This line took us about 2 hours to get through...But we finally got our passes and headed back to the hotel and went to little Italy and got a nice ravioli with meat ball and sausage.

camping area outside the con:



Bus to pick up our badges:


outside line:


Inside line:



July 21st:
Woke up at 6, took the 7am shuttle to the con center. Place was already packed. Walked around trying to figure out where to line up for the Hasbro ticket line, you need a ticket with a time stamp to be able to have a chance to line up at the actual hasbrotoystore booth. We found the line and it took us maybe 2 hours to get through this. We managed to get out of this line just in time for the exhibition floor to open. Our ticket was for 10am, and the floor opened at 9:30, so we wandered for 1/2 hr, only to get to the Hasbrotoystore booth and the line was capped with tonnes of people floating around it wondering what to do. 1/2hr later they told us to line up against the far wall of the convention, and brought us up 25 at a time to the main booth when space opened up. Eventually I got all my purchases at about 1pm, and man was I already tired, it is an absolutely brutal process, I was actually lucky because I was early, others weren't so lucky and would have spent even longer in line. And for people who haven't experienced it, I assure you, it is worth buying these exclusives at the inflated prices to avoid all these hassles, it doesn't seem bad when you hear about it from forums and such, but it really is so draining, frustrating and tiring. I only was able to muster maybe another 1.5 hours of energy to walk the floor a bit before my legs started to give out and I had to go back to the hotel where I am typing this out now. My back kills, my legs are super sore from all the stuff I had to lug around and all the standing and walking, and Ive had no time to get food. If I come back next year I will defiantly consider just skipping the Hasbro Line, it just wasn't worth it, there were plenty of other things I missed out on while waiting line for these which I wont even see on the secondary market.

For those that were wondering, we were only allowed to buy 1 starscream/cc, 3 pink zaranas, and 1 variant zaranas per person. So its actually pretty damn hard to come by these. I also picked up a sentinel and man is it huge and heavy. I picked up a few more zaranas off my friends as well, they kept their starscreams. They had fedex there to help ship, but it was costly for me...230 dollars.

Anyways, I did enjoy seeing a lot of the new and old stuff on the exhibition floor. I didn't see everything yet, but here are a few pics, apologies for the quality in some, I had a very crappy camera and a very shaky hand.

[NeoDragonKnight]

[NeoDragonKnight]

[NeoDragonKnight]

July 22:

The best booth IMO was sideshows, all their stuff is just amazing!

[NeoDragonKnight]

Pretty cool glass ware from an independent booth


Lots of cool cosplay:
this Homer-vegeta was awesome, his donut lit up lol.

This guy and his dog were outside every single day all day lol


Dinner! Was just a small taco place near the con, the place wasnt much to look at but the tacos were amazing and cheap. One thing Toronto doesn't have in terms of food is a good Taco place.

[NeoDragonKnight]

More line disapointment...Tried to line up for the THundercats premier, lined up for 2 hours, got to the doors and they close them 10 people infront...they dont even tell us whats happening and all of us are standing there like idiots. Was pretty annoyed, and the line was huge, i was in the first 150-200 or so in line, the max cap on the room is 1000, so pretty much everyone in the previous panel stayed and we were left out. There was hundreds of people behind me as well.

behind


infront

starting to get let in

CUT OFF!!!>< so close yet so far




July 23,

Im glad we got this particular hotel, its close, cheap, on a shuttle line that is pretty empty, and the room has 2 individual bed rooms with queen beds, a living room area with a pullout bed, and a kitchen!

I was able to go back and forth throughout the day 3 times with only 10-15 min on the shuttle each trip.

More pics at the con:

[NeoDragonKnight]

Dexter! well a mannequin of him at least heh.


Couldnt get a good pic, but Hurly from lost is on the left.



Spy vs Spy customs!








A picture of me and Rooster Teeth, who do Red Vs. Blue. And Yes im aware im in a stupid pose haha, my bag was super heavy.


Cosplay





Dinner was at the Crab Hut, it was ok...got the jumbalya, my friend got a bag of crayfish, was interesting watching him try to eat it lol

[NeoDragonKnight]

July 24th,

last day, everything is winding down, seen pretty much everything, spent most of my time in artists alley,


Saw the best cosplay of the convention today as well
He was an Orc or goblin type creature, very very flawless look, and moved like one too.




My final haul, a pair of redheads and a cover book from one of my favorite artists J. Scott Campbell

I wish I didnt save the artists alley for the last day as I missed out on some nice prints.

When I was getting my book signed by J. Scott he stopped mid way and chatted with a fellow artist and they were discussing the con. They were saying how this year the con feels different from previous ones like its all media driven and the artists were being driven into a small corner(which they were) starting last year, and that the media and their fans were taking up passes that in years past were filled with comic enthusiasts and were eating up their profits and fans. They were saying in the coming years they can see themselves not coming at all and focus on other conventions. I found this conversation very interesting and very sad at the same time. I do agree there was too much razzle dazzle with TV shows and Movies. SDCC was very fun, I'm defiantly going to go again next year if I can get tickets (people who registered for next year lined up like midnight each day all the way to morning, I was like F that, Ill take my chances with online tickets). I learned so many hard lessons though, and now that I know what to expect, I will enjoy things more.
Some lessons:
-space in your luggage is a premium, dont buy anything big period unless you drove.
-dont ship if you can help it...shipping is killer if you have a lot of stuff. I could have bought a plane ticket for my toys home for what I spent on shipping. Hell I should have bought another luggage and paid the extra check in fee
-Judge what to line up carefully, some things its better just to get off ebay for an inflated price b/c the amount of time you waste lining up and being thrown around by con people might not be worth it. Lining up means missing other things in the con.
-Plan for panels early, you have to know when everything is, for some of the popular panels its hard to get in so you have to line up early, and even sit through other panels to be able to get a seat in the one you want.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed some of my pics, I have a few more not sure if Ill post them though including some busty cosplay lol

Oh and one last pic for the hall of shame, a guy was yelling out "free exclusive action figure", it was so ridiculous I picked it up just to laugh at

[NeoDragonKnight]

I still have a few more pics that Ill post later.

[Nirvana]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeoDragonKnight

I'll take her.