Hi. I attended my first San Diego Comic Con last weekend. I attended Thursday and Friday only. I wanted to share my experience at this comic con. Disclosure, I attended as a volunteer.

What did I do as a volunteer?

On Wednesday night, I checked in with the volunteer department. They gave me an assignment for Thursday from 12-3. My job was to stand and hold a sign. They gave me the wrong sign to hold. I was supposed to hold a sign saying “Program premiums”.

On Friday, I was assigned to help out at the Sails Pavilion to pass out bags, lanyards and books from 10;30 to 2:30 pm. When they walked me over to Sails Pavilion, the lady in charge said you are good to go. There was nothing for us to do because people tend to check in early and got all their bags. lanyards and books. Good for me. I had more time to do other things.

One of the perks of volunteering, you don’t have to buy a badge. You get to enjoy the convention center when you are not volunteering. Also you get a free t-shirt.

Hall H

The infamous Hall H. This the room (maximum capacity 6500 people) where a lot of people camped out to get into this room specfically for Saturday night(Marvel presentation).

Since I was able to get off early for volunteering on Friday. I decided to walk over to the Hall H line to check it out. I got there at 11:15 am. I was thinking maybe I can attend the 1 pm Walking Dead panel. The line was not moving at all around twelve noon pm. 12 pm was the Fear the Walking Dead panel. I was thinking to myself, people who are in for Fear the Walking Dead panel will probably stay for the Walking Dead panel so I left.

Blood Drive

There was a blood drive. I had never donated blood before so I thought I will donate for the first time. There were so many different steps before I can donate.

Check-in A gentleman was explaining the medical form Fill out the medical form A man punching all the information into computer Wait in line for the nurse Nurse do the preliminary workup Wait in line for the nurse Nurse getting the tubes ready Wait in line for the nurse Station where the nurse withdraw blood.

After all that, the nurse couldn’t find my vein. She asked another nurse to check. Second nurse came and she couldn’t find it. She told me you don’t qualify today but you still get the goodies which is free Avengers t-shirt.

Exhibit Hall

Lots and lots of people in here. Very crowded. People were running to get exclusives.

The Most Expensive Comic Book I Saw

Amazing Fantasy 15 CGC 9.4. The highest graded was a 9.6. The dealer wanted $1.1 million dollar.

There was also an Action Comics 1 CGC 9.4 Restored but I didn’t asked the dealer what number he was looking for.

The Most Expensive Memorabilia I Saw

Thanos for $1200.

The Celebrity I Was Looking Forward to Meeting

Actors who will be in Marvel movies but I wasn’t there on Saturday when Marvel came out with their lineups for movies and streaming shows.

The Artist (Comic) I was Looking Forward to Meeting

Jim Lee. Saw him from a distance but didn’t have time to wait in line for his autograph. Did get a photo of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo from the Batman team. Was walking by and didn’t want to wait in line for them.

Was There Any Haggling?

I didn’t buy any comic books because there was so much to do and see.

Dollar Bins Digging

Yes but didn’t look through them because I didn’t fly from Maryland to San Diego just to look at dollar bins.

Pokémon Go

A lot of players were disappointed because there was no unowns. Niantic didn’t have a booth, therefore no unowns. Niantic could have a booth to promote the new Wizards Unite game.

Hotel

I stay in one of the hotels they recommended. This was in Mission Valley. It is about 25 minutes Shuttle ride.

Parking

San Diego Comic Con recommended that you stay in one of their recommended hotels and take the shuttle to the Convention Center. Parking is very limited and very expensive.

Food

They sell food inside. There are lots of restaurants within walking distance.

Best Cosplayer

I was only there on Thursday and Friday. The best one was Goro from Mortal Kombat. There were lots of Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen. Goro was different and unique.

Are there any free swags?

Yes. Lots of them. Exhibitors were passing out bags, comic books, pins, etc.

Reddit

This is a website to use if you have any questions about any comic cons. I used this every day to check what is going on with San Diego Comic Con. Two moderators, u/MsMargo and u/housecatspeaks, on this site are very helpful. They answered everyone’s questions. It was my first time going and I had lot of questions. I posted my questions and they answered all my questions.

What could some comic book dealers do better next year?

I browsed at some of the comic books. Several dealers rather looked at their phones instead of greeting me. Dealers paid a high rent for the booth and I was thinking don’t you want to sell some comic books?

What San Diego Comic Con Could Do Better Next Year

Crowd control. I am not quite sure how they will handle. It was crowded everywhere I went. I was bumping shoulders with other people because it was so crowded.

My Grade

9.8 out of 10. This comic con is 10 times better than the one I last attended last month. Everything was much better. Better panels. better exhibitors, bigger name celebrities, A+ writers, A+ artists, better cosplayers etc.