We, Awesome K and Saucy G, were sitting around, minding our own business one Saturday evening in Altadena/Pasadena. Nothing much was going on. Then BAM! WHAMO! KABOOM! A figure descended from the Heavens! This magnificent creature from the Ether bestowed upon us TWO FREE TICKETS TO COMIC CON!!!!
C.O.M.I.C! C.O.N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For those of you who are unsure as to what just happened, let us attempt to explain. The San Diego Comic Con is sort of a Nerd Mecca. For 46 years, the San Diego Comic Con has brought together everyone in the comics industry for a mega convention. It has gotten exponentially larger over recent years – and has started to include movies, TV shows, books, and all things that are considered “nerdy” or “geeky” or just straight up AWESOME! Everything from video games, to Game of Thrones, to Emily the Strange, to Lego’s. All the things that this Saucy G LOVES. ALL. Comic Con is often the place to premier new and cool stuff, as well as a place to meet the stars of your favorite Nerd-dom, and to get your hands on all sorts of rare and exclusive swag. To be able to go to this epic event is a quest for many a nerd/geek/gamer/comic-lover/etc. The San Diego Comic Con is the King of All Cons. All other Comic Cons (Denver, Salt Lake, etc), aspire to be the San Diego Comic Con. Hence the “Nerd Mecca.”
Tickets to get in, however, are often expensive, and often sell out almost instantly! We didn’t plan ahead, and when we found ourselves in SoCal (Southern California, or SoCal as the cool kids call it) during Comic Con, we knew we were out of luck. That is, until the Nerdy Angel arrived and handed us two free passes (please refer to the above photo)! Not only were we getting in free, we were getting in an hour early! We could have a quick look around before the throngs of people came crashing through the doors.
Comic Con is HUGE! In recent years it has become too large for the Convention Center that it is in, and has started spilling into the streets and local businesses, which is awesome. If you were a business owner near the San Diego Convention Center, Comic Con has to be the equivalent to the retail Black Friday – for a week straight. It must be especially awesome to have a company come to you and rent your ENTIRE BUSINESS for the week of the Con. We saw one restaurant completely taken over, and turned into a hub for an upcoming TV show. One local hotel lobby was turned into the Hall of Faces from Game of Thrones! Every where you looked in San Diego, there was something related to Comic Con, and it was glorious.
Inside the main convention center there was a TON of stuff to see. If you are ever planning on going to Comic Con, you really should at least go for two days. One day to take it all in, one day to really focus on what you want to focus on. Honestly, your best bet, even it if is the most expensive, is to go all four days. A day to take it in, a couple days to catch all the different events and panels, and finally a day for shopping. We always recommend shopping on the last day of an event, as most of the dealers are VERY willing to make deals in order to not pack and haul out as much stuff. Don’t be afraid to ask for a Last Day Discount! Planning ahead for something like Comic Con is a must. Many exhibitors will have “exclusive” free gifts, or items only for sale at the Con, or other rare items, and if that is something you want in your collection – having a game plan going in is a must. (Click Here—->cci2016_exhib_hall_map <—For a Map)
We, however, were just excited to be able to go! We didn’t really have any plan at all, except to see everything we could.
Like wide eyed children on Christmas morning, we journeyed up and down the aisles in sheer awe and wonderment.There was SO MUCH TO SEE!
Meandering was a little difficult, as other people had VERY serious agendas. It got a little intense at a few instances, with people pushing and some yelling. It resembled Black Friday in this regard, too, with people pushing and shoving and doing whatever they needed to in order to get “the thing” that they were after. Again, plan ahead people.
Some of the highlights of the Con were the hidden gems we found. Tucked in between two larger booths was a small table with two ladies surrounded by art. The artist, one of the two ladies, was modestly describing her work. We picked up some small postcard size pieces of art (we are going to order larger pieces some day, when we have a place for art), got her autograph on each one, and made a real connection with an amazing artist!
Another amazing exhibitor was the Steam Crow Monster Scouts! If you ever run into a Monster Scout we HIGHLY encourage you to chat with them, get the back story, and learn more about this awesome community. Awesome K and I are both learning how to be scouts, and are hoping to earn some badges soon. Yes. Badges. Real life badges. This is a real scout group focused on the love of monsters! It is pretty amazing. They have camp outs, activities, and all sorts of amazing things. AND YOU CAN EARN REAL LIFE BADGES! Saucy G is obsessed with earning achievements, finding a real life achievement earning opportunity, in one of our favorite fields (monsters), is beyond awesome! Please pop on over and learn about becoming a Monster Scout!
Saucy G loves horror movies. The cheesier the better. She had an extensive horror movie collection that The Thief stole from the RV, and is often something that stings the most. A couple of the booths at Comic Con were HORROR MOVIES! Troma made an appearance, which was a delight to see, but the real gem was Full Moon Horror. If you haven’t seen the first Puppet Master movie, featuring William Hickey, you should. You are in for a real treat! That is, of course, if you like horror movies. Like most horror series, they eventually get…a little..ah…crazy. Crazy, cheesy, fun. The guys at the Full Moon booth heard the sad story of Saucy G’s movie collection getting stolen, and gave her a HUGE DISCOUNT on their movies! She ended up with the Puppet Master movie collection on BluRay, two plush dolls, and two bobble heads! AMAZING! Thank you again, Full Moon, you really made a horror movie fan’s week with your generosity!
Some of our other “small” favorites were Emily the Strange (Saucy G LOVES LOVES LOVES Emily the Strange), Cyanide and Happiness, and Bone, just to name a few.
There were also HUGE spaces for the “larger” favorites. DC, Marvel, Dark Horse Comics, Game of Thrones, Star Wars…Too many to name. One of our favorites was the “American Gods” booth. “American Gods” is one of Saucy G’s favorite books, written by one of her favorite authors – Neil Gaiman. “American Gods” was picked up by Starz, and we can’t wait! We waiting in what was actually a pretty short line, comparatively, to get a picture and an exclusive key chain. While in line we were treated to the teaser trailer that was released for Comic Con, which was pretty awesome!
We saw some of the costumes for the upcoming “Rogue One, a Star Wars Story,” which was pretty amazing. Wandering around, we ran into the Walking Dead, which was a little scary, but awesome.
Going upstairs and into a different part of the convention hall, sort of by accident, we found where there were all the autographs happening! Stan Lee was setting up to start signing autographs – but tickets to it had sold out WAY WAY WAY in advance – we aren’t kidding about planning ahead. Like, months ahead. In a booth at the end of an empty line was a beautiful woman, signing a couple of autographs, sort of no big deal. It was the talented and wonderful Nichelle Nicols of Star Trek fame. Saucy G REALLY wanted to go say hi, and say what a huge inspiration Nichelle was in her childhood, but she chickened out. If you are out there Nichelle, and happen to have read this, know that you are loved and that there is a nerdy girl out there who thinks you are the bees knees – but was too star struck to stop by your signing.
All in all, it was a mind blowingly amazing day. Saucy G is still in shock a little that it happened! It is hard to remember everything we saw and did, there was so much, and we ended up walking about 10 miles total that day! We are sure that we have forgotten something, so this may get edit updates as we think of things we saw and did. Truly one of the best adventures ever. Ever. In the Forever Ever!
Let us leave you with a few closing tips…
PLAN AHEAD! Tickets go on sale at the beginning of the year, ish, so if you want to go be sure to find out exactly when they go on sale, and be ready to buy. THIS PAGE should update as it gets closer to ticket time. Also, be sure to get the list of speakers, events, and signings in advance, so you know what to do and where to be, and when.
Be Ready to Walk! No joke. Wear comfortable shoes, and be ready to walk all over the place. We aren’t joking in that we walked about ten miles that day, and that was just one day!
Save your pennies! If there is a booth selling stuffs, and you can hold out until closing day, do. MOST booths and exhibitors will make deals with you on closing day. Although, it never hurts to ask for deals earlier in the show, too. Worst case they say no, and you pay full price. Best case you get a sweet deal!
BRING YOUR CAMERA! Everyone has a camera in their phones, but don’t forget you have it, either! You never know when you might see a star on the exhibitor floor! Or if you just want to take a sweet picture of your favorite exhibitors booth. Be sure to ask, however, if photos are ok – some booths have exclusive stuff for Comic Con eyes only. You also don’t want to miss all the AMAZING costumes people are wearing! Again, ask if it is ok if you take a picture – remember these are still real people. Most will say yes, and most will probably pose for a cool shot!
Have fun! Remember, this is the coolest event ever. Stay positive, have fun, and remember that other people are there to have fun, too. Try to not yell at people, or get snippy and rude. Be nice, have fun!
Well..um…ah…
ROYAL FLUSH! Are you silly? What else would it be? Spades Royal Flush, with a jackpot bonus. A Royal Flush, while playing with kittens, eating your favorite foods (and they won’t make you gain weight} while listening to your favorite jams, hanging out with your favorite people. Mecca. Royal Flush Mecca.
A HUGE HUGE HUGE THANK YOU to Morgan and the Team at Diamond Select Toys for giving us the best day ever. This was on of the best days of Saucy G’s life, easily top 10. Thank you thank you, a thousand times thank you! It means so much to us to be a part of the show this year. THANK YOU DIAMOND SELECT TOYS!
