San Diego Comic Con 2012

[megotoys]

Please excuse me if this topic belongs in another section of the forum.

As it relates to comic books, I figured it might be good to place the topic in this section.


For those of you who know, is the San Diego Comic Con an event where tickets are sold out in advance like a music concert?

Are tickets available at the door?

How much are / were tickets for the San Diego Comic Con for 2012?


For those who have been, what are the pros and cons of going to the San Diego Comic Con?


Is the San Diego Comic Con the biggest comic convention in the United States?


As a side note, what is the biggest toy convention with older type toys (1970's and before) that is the equivalent (albeit, perhaps on a smaller scale) to the San Diego Comic Con?


Thank you for taking the time to respond to my questions included in this topic.

[sauce]

I thought it was more of a Grateful Dead show but with Noah's and Starbucks and a few thousand stormtroopers.

[suspense39]

Risky to get tickets

From what I could gather you have to register for id number and then you have the privilege to wait in line if there are any available tickets. They used to release a limited amount on line a few weeks before . If you don't live in San Diego it might not be worth the trip. I didn't have a great experience last year, really really crowded, but I actually now wish that I bought myself a ticket for this year even given last years experience.

[suspense39]

I actually enjoy wonder con better

http://www.comic-con.org/wc/

Less crazy

[palitoy]

Comic Con tickets sold out last year sometime.

The cons of going are huge crowds and some overpriced hotels.

The pros are if you're a fan of comics, anime, movies or tv shows especially current ones, there are panels, star signings and exclusive toys.

As for vintage toys, there are a few vendors but it's certainly not the best show I've been too for such things.

For vintage toys I'd suggest the Chicago Toy over SDCC.

[samurainoir]

I went a few years ago just before it became impossible to get tickets. I went on the Thursday and Friday and opted to skip the weekend. It was already getting too crowded and overwhelming for my tastes. The lines for things like exclusives and autographs and panels were ridiculous. If you do want to attend panels in the big hall, pretty much figure out which day has the most of them you want to attend and then camp out there all day.

Rather than book a hotel room, my friends and I opted to rent out a beach house and drive into the city, which turned out to be not a bad option if you want to experience other parts of San Diego while you are there. We got there ear
Y enough that there was plenty of parking and little traffic.

[madmarva]

Going to San Diego Comic Con is great and I think worth the hassle, but it's one of those things you have to plan early for like in January and February. Unless you are just loaded, you might just want to go ahead and start planning and saving for next year.

It's sold out for this year and unlike ballgames or concerts you can't buy someone else's tickets without taking the risk of being booted. To halt scalping and counterfeiting, the sdcc is now requiring you to send your mug shot in when you buy or apply for tickets. The mug and your appearance have to match when you pick up your pass and security will be randomly checking the mug shot on your badge with your face. If it doesn't match they can boot you. Most of the security people at SDCC I've dealt with are great, helpful and exercise good judgment when dealing with the public, but there are those that I'm sure are relishing the authority and ability to toss folks.

Likely there will be some who don't pick up their passes and the con could possibly open them up for sale on the day of the event, but I don't know if I would count on it unless you live near the area.

Usually the tickets go on sale in February, but they had some false-starts this year, and as another mentioned you have to actually apply through their website just for the opportunity to buy tickets. The last few years the four-day passes have sold out on the first day within hours with Friday and Saturday passes going even more quickly. You have to have a 4-day pass to attend preview night on Wednesday.

Every hotel within driving distance jacks up their prices on the week of the show. I'm talking from the Mexican border nearly up to L.A. A room you might pay $75 to $100 for is going to be double that. The high end hotels are actually more reasonable because of this. If you are going to pay $200 or close to that for a room, why not pay $230 and stay at one of the nicer hotels that are closer to the Con, if you can afford to.

Ed's suggestion about renting a house is a good one, especially if you are going in a group. Parking downtown is around $20 to $25 range for the day if you don't move the car. There are park and ride options around the city in the $12 range round trip. If you want to try and park at the Convention Center, get there early. I mean 7:30 a.m. or even earlier. But if you do that, you can go get breakfast somewhere or even walk down to the bay. Great thing about San Diego is the weather is normally pleasant and there is a good bit to see within walking distance of the convention center.

Comic Con is an ordeal that is hard to describe if you've never been. And if you haven't been in the last five or six years, it's even crazier now. It's crazy the appeal of Twilight and how much that franchise has affected the demographics. But for geeks or collectors of toys and comics and fans of genre films and pop culture and all the stuff that surrounds them, it's a fantastic event.

But the better you plan and more prepared you are, the more fun you'll have. To me the worst thing about the show isn't the crowds, but the fact that you won't be able to do everything you want to do. I've looked through the schedule for this year and there are two or even more panels or presentations happening that I would like to attend in just about every time slot. And that's not even counting walking the floor of the massive facility.

But if you know the beast you are dealing with and make priorities and have patience, you can have a really cool time.

If you like old comics, go to at least one of the panels Mark Evanier is moderating. While the big panels by DC and Marvel are fun, they do get a bit repetitive and one or several of the comic news internet sites will recap what they announce. I'd suggest the artist spotlight panels. The animation panels are normally great, always including clips and sometime showing whole shows. Most of the time some of voice actors attend. Hall H is where the big movies show clips and sometimes extended scenes. Those are generally always fun and where the big celebrities show up.

Often studios will debut some of their new TV series at the con. I had no clue what "Lost" was but I knew I enjoyed JJ Abrams work so I took the chance of attending the panel and they showed the entire first episode of the show on huge screens. Very cool.

When you plan out your budget for Comic Con, I would suggest trying to save 10 to 20 percent more. You'll be glad you did.

[palitoy]

One thing that I'd advise if flying into San Diego is not renting a car, their airport is central and it's just so much easier to use the many shuttles.

[madmarva]

If you are going just for older toys, you'll find them at SD comic con, but I'm betting there are better options out there and certainly ones with better prices. There are old toys and new exclusives figures and collectibles, but the show has really developed more into pop culture convention. The dealers generally do bring their best and most expensive stuff but don't go tremendously deep in any one category, unless it something they just specialize in. You're generally going to pay a top-end price for older stuff at comic-con because it costs so much for the dealers and vendors to get a spot.

^Palitoy, makes an excellent point, particularly if you are used to using public transportation. The airport is minutes from downtown and the convention center.

But, if you are big ol' fat southern boy like me, who's used to driving everywhere and lodges outside the downtown area, the good thing is that rental cars in San Diego are fairly reasonable when compared to everything else to spend your money on.

[palitoy]

I made this a few years ago and feel it best describes the situation at the con.



If you look at solely on it's vintage content, it's a large show. However the corporate booths and content (new movies, video games, comic publishers, toy companies) make it a giant.

[megotoys]

Thank you to those who responded to this thread.

I really appreciate your time and effort.

The replies were very informative and insightful.

Thank You Again.