More pictures from Comic-Con? Fantastic! Let's get to it!
One of my goals for this show was to finally - finally! - make it into the Hasbro line for merchandise. Hasbro's exclusives remain some of the most difficult to land because of their ticketing practices: you have to line up early in the morning to get a ticket; if your ticket is stamped, you've won the opportunity to wait in another line for the opportunity to buy things from the Hasbro booth...if they have anything remaining by the time you get there. To their credit, though, Hasbro certainly does take advantage of the hype that this creates.
The goal made Friday morning an early one for me, as I woke up at 4:45 AM and drove to the convention center. After waiting in line for almost three hours, everyone was allowed into the convention hall, where I found out that I was already too late to enter the Hasbro ticket raffle line. The last person to get entrance into that particular line, it seemed, had been waiting since 4:00.
This was all pretty astounding to me. It seems that if there's anything at Comic-Con that is even remotely popular, you've got to be prepared to camp out at night to have a shot at achieving that goal. It's something that will probably have to be addressed in the coming years, or the lines will start forming earlier and earlier.
In any case, after the disappointment of the AM Hasbro line, I decided to get in the gigantic line to enter the convention floor. Above is a picture taken in the moments before 9:00, and below is a picture of the mad scramble to enter the exhibit hall once the show officially opened.
Look at this mass of humanity! It was, though, fairly orderly and no one, as far as I know, was trampled to death.
It's quite a sight. I find that I'm just as happy, though, walking in at 9:30 and not having to wait in any lines. It's a give-and-take, I suppose.
Friday was also the day that I had signed up to see the Godzilla Experience, which was one of the more talked about events outside of the convention hall. On the way there, I spotted this "King of the Nerds" Cereal Bar. Whether they were serving cereal inside or not, I don't know. It would have been interesting to find out.
I reserved my tickets online a few days before the show, and an electronic version went straight to my phone (which is pretty cool). The Friday at 10:30 slot was one of the few left at the time, and I'm glad I got it when I did. It seemed that tickets for the first half of each day were given out exclusively online, and tickets for the latter portions of each day were given away at a booth during the show. These tickets, though, as with most things at Comic-Con, went very quickly, and soon the Godzilla Experience became a rather exclusive thing to do.
While waiting in line to get it, this tricked out "Defiance" car drove by. We waited in line for about an hour, because right before we were to enter, the director of the new Godzilla movie stopped by and wanted a look at the exhibit himself. Because of this, they shut the whole damn thing down while he walked through. This was annoying, but they did give out free t-shirts to everyone who was stalled in line as a result. Apparently the shirts were only given out to VIP guests...or at least that's what they told us.
The inside of the warehouse was decorated with movie memorabilia and props.
Oh, and Godzilla was there, too.
By downloading an app (and probably signing away your rights forever), you could translate Japanese posters that were in various spots throughout the exhibit.
The event itself was fairly underwhelming, as it took about ten minutes from start to finish. Perhaps I'd have been more excited about it if I were a fan of Godzilla or if I was looking forward to the new movie, but regardless, it was over almost as soon as it began. I didn't see what all the hype was about.
On the way back to the convention, outside of Petco Park and Nerd HQ, I ran into Adult Swim's Eric Andre! So of course I bothered him for a photo.
And then, while walking to the Hilton hotel for the Venture Bros. panel, I saw none other than Ben Edlund, who kinda-maybe-almost recognized me? We chatted for a minute or two and then it was off to the hotel.
Once inside the hotel, we were directed to the back of another super long line. Along the way, I saw this menu outside of one of the hotel bars.
Just outside the doors, I came upon these great Venture Bros. fans in costumes. I've seen them around before...though I guess it'd be hard to miss a full Monarch getup like that.
The line stretched from the Hilton almost back to the main convention center. Along the way I saw these Adventure Time folks.
The end of the line almost met up with the end of the Assassin's Creed pirate ship. A full sized pirate ship! We ended up making it onto the ship the next day.
Giant, inflatable Teen Titans, just 'cause.
These were some very nice Invaders costumes. Namor pulled his getup off well. The wings on his sandals looked like actual bird wings up close, which was a little weird.
At the alternate universe Bob's Burgers meetup! A great time.
Another Zapp Brannigan. There were a lot of Futurama costumes on display at this show. Though I don't think I saw Bender at all...
We ended up being about 20 people late to get into the Venture Bros. panel, which was a shame, but it's something that happens. Cartoon Network was filming some kind of Adventure Time promo (perhaps a DVD extra?) outside of the convention hall. A little kid dressed as Jake said some lines, then they brought in Marcelene as the giant "C" and "N" danced along.
The LEGO displays weren't just limited to the convention floor. This is a full size Hobbit home, complete with hobbits and, I guess, Gandalf.
One of the highlights of the trip was the return of the taco truck. The taco truck is a well-kept secret of the convention, as people just inside the doors pay outrageous sums for mediocre food. There's never a long wait for made-to-order food at the taco truck, the dishes are outstanding and the price is better than could be expected. I ate here several times during the show, buying giant $6 burritos each time. If you manage to make it to Comic-Con in the future, keep this gem to yourself. I hope to eat here for years to come.
More pictures on the horizon! Plenty more to go.
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