These are MY people... or are they? Or, Why Exclusives are ruining SDCC.

This past week marked the second straight year that my wife and I ventured out to San Diego, California for the annual nerd-fest that is San Diego Comic Con International. Back in 2009 Sarah surprised me with tickets to the Superbowl for comic nerds. I had never been and I was STOKED to be going finally. That trip had some issues but I was hooked on the crack they served up at the convention center. I tried for years to get back but the ever increasing popularity of the show makes it like literally winning the lottery to get tickets to go. We finally succeeded in getting tickets again last year and was overjoyed to be going back to spend a weekend filled with 'my people'. Nerds, geeks, dorks, star wars nuts, comic fans, sci-fi aficionados, you name it. I had years of watching the con from my computer to gather info on what the best times to go were, what cosplay was, and what to expect. Nothing really can prepare you. It's sensory overload. There are hundreds and thousands of like-minded people roaming around downtown San Diego all there for the same thing you've been ridiculed for for your entire life. All of the sudden it's cool to be a nerd. Hell, you're probably not even the biggest Trekkie there. The girl with the internet handle of TK-421 is blowing you out of the water in Star Wars Trivia night at the bar in your hotel. What I'm getting at is that it's awesome. I don't think I've ever fit in better than I do when I'm at SDCC.

Custom personalized R2-D2's.

Well, Sarah and I were lucky enough to get tickets this year again. We were a bit strapped for cash, but we had the tickets and hotel paid for so at very least we could make it a quick trip. We ended up making it a longer trip which was great and included the Grand Canyon, a drive by of Hoover Dam, Las Vegas strip action, The Getty Museum, a great reunion with some college buddies, checking out the old stomping grounds in Long Beach, a trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific and a quick stop by Downtown Disney all before making the final approach to SDCC 2016.

I was ready. In 2015 I spent the majority of the time behind my camera lens taking well over 2000 pictures over the three days we attended. (See them HERE) I was determined to document all the great cosplay, and there was a lot of great cosplay in 2015. I decided this year that I would bring my GoPro and just take a few pictures and live in the moment. I'm glad I did. The first thing we noticed upon getting into the convention center this year was that a lot of the stuff around was the same as last year. Not only in the same place (which is a good thing) but same books, same merchandise, same 'stuff'. Consistency is a good thing, but I'll tell you it was a bit of a let down. I'm a book nerd so I'm always buying art books or collections of artists I like. There were artists with the same exact sketchbooks they were selling last year. Book vendors had all the same books they had last year. Sure there were a few new things, but it wasn't quite the same 'new' as the difference between the first trip back in 2009 and 2015. I've since come to realize this is probably normal for those of you lucky enough to attend every year.

By the end of Thursday night (we didn't have Preview Night tickets this year) both Sarah and I were ready to call it and not even worry about attending next year. There was a great lack in Cosplay to even be seen, and the 'good' cosplay was even more rare to see. Places where the convention had spilled out into hotels and such were not back this year. The XBox Lounge was gone, and it's to bad because it was AWESOME last year. XBox had an exhibit in the main hall but it paled in comparison to last year. Playstation was a no show. We'd walked most of the floor already and there wasn't much to buy that we were interested in. There were a few great booths that were a joy to see. Small booths like the Utili-kilts booth (I bought a Kilt this year...) and Echo Chernik, and a new one at Steam Crow Monster Scouts (my vote for best booth at the con). It's always nice to see favorite artists like David Mack, Stanley Lau, J. Scott Campbell, Ryan Ottley, Adam Hughes (though he didn't have a booth this year) and to find new ones that line Artist's Alley and the Small Press areas. I also like making my yearly visit to my old college buddy Joshua Williamson who's killing it over at Image Shadowline these days. There's so much great art everywhere in there it gets overwhelming. I could easily drop three, four, five grand no problem, so I really have to pace myself. 

Nothing quite like having a pretty, busty lady button your kilt with your pants around your ankles on the main exhibit floor.

SDCC really has become a celebration of the popular arts. The show floor is littered with booths for TV shows like the Walking Dead, Manga and Anime booths, Toys, Statues, big names like Marvel and DC that you'd expect and others, like Hasbro, Mattel and Funko. Weta Workshop's booth is a favorite as they have some of the most talented artists that bring things like Lord of the Rings and World of Warcraft to life. Then you get the celebrity appearances. And the Hall H and Ballroom 20 panels. The LINES everywhere for what's become the bane of the convention in my opinion, SDCC Exclusives. For those of you that don't know SDCC started out 40 some years ago in a basement as an actual comic book convention. It's evolved into a capitalistic nightmare. It's also not associated with many of the "comic cons" across the country. Denver, Salt Lake, Phoenix, etc, these are all cons put on by the city they are in. SDCC is the Grand daddy to them all. The biggest sponsors of the show are NBC, HBO, and other non comic related entities. Some of the biggest booths this year were for television shows, not even comic book shows. Hell, Marvel, arguably the most recognizable name in comics, didn't even have their movies at the show last year. 

One of the Exclusive sets I was able to pick up. Sadly it didn't come with that sweet set piece.

This is where I will say something that will probably get me ostracized from my 'nerd' peers: SDCC Sucked this year on the whole. It took me attending two years in a row to see it, but it's just full of money grab crap and I think the core of it is in the exclusives that most bigger booths offer. You can call me a hypocrite because, yes, I came home with a few of these exclusives myself, but there are people that attend this convention simply to get these exclusives and turn around and sell them on ebay. When I got to my hotel room Thursday night I checked ebay out of curiosity and lo! There were all the exclusives people are waiting for hours and hours in line to get, just to turn around and make a few bucks off of it. This practice is ruining this convention. If you don't believe me take a look at this list HERE. Now you don't have to stand in line for ALL of those, but pretty much if you want to go home with one of those, you better be prepared to stand there for hours, or get to the convention center at 6:30 AM to get a ticket to get in line. Some lines were overnight. Some exclusives like Blizzard's Tracer Statue or Overwatch print were limited to 20 a day. Yes, TWENTY. For a convention that sees over 100,000 people they limit it to 100 total pieces. I can't really blame the scalpers that sign up just to get these exclusives and make 50-100% profit on some of them. The real kicker though, are things like last year's LEGO exclusive; the Big Bang Theory Cast set. This was a SDCC Exclusive that people made a mad rush for, clogged isles with endless lines and spent God knows how much on buying it, and made even more on immediately reselling it, only for it to be readily available on Amazon, or even in LEGO stores around the country now. So really, in a lot of these cases you're paying for bragging rights because you got it first. There are a few things that I really like to pick up while I'm at SDCC, especially the Magic the Gathering SDCC exclusive Planeswalker card sets. These are true exclusives that are only available there. But I buy for myself. I don't resell. If I can I'll get one for a friend, but you're limited to one each, so I usually have to bribe someone else to stand in line. I'm there to get things that are neat or nostalgic to me. 

Mark Rosewater from Wizards of the Coast giving an interview. Only "celebrity" I met all weekend and that's fine by me.

This year I spent a lot of money supporting smaller artists, buying art prints and books. Like I said earlier I did pick up a few exclusives, but I doubt I'll ever sell them. The lines and scalpers are totally ruining this show, at least for me. Walking through the crowd this year seemed like a chore. A different line at every other booth to wade through. People can be so rude too, just pushing and shoving so they can get within 15 feet of some heart-throb that's on some vampire show. Girl, let me tell you one thing I've learned from being fat; Fancy, Rich, Pretty people don't give a shit about us even though we are the fans that watch their shows, buy their books, go to their movies and spend our free time following them on twit-book-a-gram. Maybe it's the pinnacle of your being to be in eye-shot of that foppish hunk, but no need to throw those elbows, leave that to the Spurs. Be nice.

Such a small section but kind of give you an idea of what is going on. This is on the small press side of the hall.

This is just an event that will keep getting more and more popular as long as comics and 'nerd culture' are socially acceptable. More and more people that wouldn't have been caught at an event like this 10 years ago, are flooding the ticket systems every year. This is why I think there was not a lot of great Cosplay this year. I think a lot of the people that got tickets are not going to be the good well known cosplayers. The good bet is that most of those well known and GOOD cosplayers are going to the smaller, lesser known conventions. Wonder-Con, Anime-Con, Dragon-Con, NYCC, Wizardworld, Blizz-con, etc etc. I would LOVE to be able to visit some of these other conventions. PAX, Gencon, and many others too. If anyone out there wants to sponsor that, I'm 100% down to do pimp your brand everywhere. Ugh if I see another Suicide Squad Harley Quinn it'll be to soon. And Rei from Starwars, EVERYWHERE. I don't think I saw one Superman this year though, so there's that I suppose. 

 
Even though I'm talking down about this con quite a bit, by the time I left the exhibit hall on Saturday afternoon, I was ready to jump through all the hoops again to get a ticket next year. There's really just something about being surrounded by your peers. People that are, for the most part, the most inclusive group of people I've had the pleasure of being around. There's no race issues, no sexuality issues (unless you have a problem with some of those costumes, DAMN Gina), it's all inclusive. From roaming the exhibit floor, to getting lunch at some nice place to eat in the Gaslamp District sitting next to a guy dressed as a Storm Trooper, I feel like I belong and that these ARE my people. 

Kylo... I mean Matt says "A-OK"