SDCC 2025

[buttheadsmate]

Who's going ?  

.... any spare tickets ?  

 

[thereasonsy]

3 hours ago, buttheadsmate said:

Who's going ?  

.... any spare tickets ?  

 

Potentially going but it would be tickets through work I’m afraid. 

[buttheadsmate]

Lucky man !  Just being wistful re: tickets .

[thereasonsy]

If it makes you feel better at all, it’s a horrible experience and I strongly prefer NYCC.  SDCC is more of a scene where NYCC is more about community. 

[nandoninny]

i went to SDCC 18 times between 2001 - 2023.

i can say it was no longer fun at the end.  Heroescon in North Carolina i've been the past 2 years and have had way more fun at way less the cost.

it is just comics though.  no toys.  no hollywood.  nothing but comics.

with no minimates exclusives i've zero interest in going to sdcc.

now if only texas could get a good show.  

[thereasonsy]

Nando! It’s funny to think we were there at the same time and just never crossed paths. 

[nandoninny]

1 hour ago, thereasonsy said:

Nando! It’s funny to think we were there at the same time and just never crossed paths. 

most of those years i was working for terry moore and helping jeff smith if needed.  if you stopped by their table we may have met!

i was also at that DST party where kevin smith showed up and they premiered the first vinimates.  i got a kevin smith one and i think i wanted a jay one to repaint like mike patton in his the real thing look

Edited July 1 by nandoninny

[Padrino]

2 hours ago, thereasonsy said:

If it makes you feel better at all, it’s a horrible experience and I strongly prefer NYCC.  SDCC is more of a scene where NYCC is more about community. 

Used to love NYCC! I remember way back when the New Mutants set was released, my wife and I walked over to the Javits Center and bought tickets on the spot just so I could pick up a set. Unfortunately, it's become impossible to do that and the online auction process is crazy making (at least for me). 

[Navaan]

I've never been because I hate traveling by plane and my medical expenses always seem to not let me do too much for traveling, but i'm jealous and envious of those who have gone and will go.

 

Wish folks a safe journey and see if you can talk to Ad Poplum or Sparkle Pop somewhere or Neca, and see what's going on!

[Shanester]

I will likely not do SDCC again.  Its too much for me. I like less stress shows like C2E2.  There are several big shows that take place in my area like Fan Expo, Galaxy Con & New Orleans CC.  San Diego doesn't even make it easy with the extreme high prices on lodging.

 

[thereasonsy]

18 hours ago, Padrino said:

Used to love NYCC! I remember way back when the New Mutants set was released, my wife and I walked over to the Javits Center and bought tickets on the spot just so I could pick up a set. Unfortunately, it's become impossible to do that and the online auction process is crazy making (at least for me). 

The amount of horror stories I hear about ticket buying is never ending. They do their best to avoid scalping but sometimes it’s too much.

 

17 hours ago, Shanester said:

I will likely not do SDCC again.  Its too much for me. I like less stress shows like C2E2.  There are several big shows that take place in my area like Fan Expo, Galaxy Con & New Orleans CC.  San Diego doesn't even make it easy with the extreme high prices on lodging.

 

The amount of money spent on lodging… eye watering. 

[buttheadsmate]

SDCC 2008 ,I remember 'lodging' in a motel about a mile or so from the Con Centre.  I'm not too choosy & it was comfortable enough for me . During my stay there I posted something on the MMMV along the lines of where it was & that it was a "short walk" to the Centre.  It caused a bit of a stir with my fellow US-attendees as it was allegedly in a 'rough' neck of the woods (neighbourhood) & consternation that I 'walked' to the Centre !!!!  Maybe I'm just lucky but I've never had any real hassle anywhere in my travels & I had several conversations with what I shall call pram-people who showed me the other side of the very affluent Gaslight area of San Diego .

Perhaps I'll just keep my memories .    

 

[Padrino]

never been to SDCC (or to SD for that matter). It looks a bit too intense for me. 

[buttheadsmate]

Going camping is intense . 

 

TBQH nothing could be more different to where I live as San Diego . The Con has its extremes ,some good some not so good ....I've said it before, where else would the likes of me just bump into Stan Lee & pass the time of day ??  It was surreal . I expect he told his friends about it for years

[Padrino]

6 minutes ago, buttheadsmate said:

Going camping is intense . 

lol, going camping is a non-starter for me. I'll just put it out there, I am not the outdoorsy type. I'm for indoor plumbing and air conditioning. 

 

and Glamping is a fraud perpetrated on people like me as a gateway drug to real camping, not falling for it. 

 

[Onyx_6]

No SDCC for me, even though my cousin lives less than 30 minutes from the convention center and has offered me accommodations. But, I already have my tickets for NYCC again. Waiting on train prices to *hopefully* drop before booking my travel. It won't be anywhere near the same without the DST booth to hang at, though.

[SCW]

Will DST have a booth?

I'm kidding, sort of... Will there be any representation from any of the conglomerate that now owns DST? Might be a good place for someone to ask a general "Hey what's going on?"

[CBMM1]

I have gone for a good number of years now. Last year was...not the best experience.

The show has always been "high stress" -- competing for spots in line, tight walkways, attendees accidentally elbowing you in the face as they reach for whatever giveaway is being thrown to the crowd at the Marvel booth. Despite this, in all the years I've gone (almost every in the last decade save for San Diego Covid Con), I have had fun. The good of the community outweighed any and all bad. The panels were top tier. The celebrity sightings were second to none (not every day Jack Black casually strolls by you shrouded in a Stormtrooper helmet while you're in line at Hasbro, the cast of the Defenders navigating the crowd right in front of you, or Jay Mewes and Kevin Smith sign your Minimates at the DST booth). The selection of show exclusives and other items were unique and fun.

I felt none of that last year. I have never seen so many people behaving badly in my life. Parents pushing their double wide stroller with wailing toddlers right at me in the middle of the tightly-packed Artist's Alley. Scalpers literally shoving people out of lines to secure their spots for exclusives. The MARVEL booth transformed from he hottest destination on the show floor (with merch and fun experiences) to a glorified social media Photo Booth. I was done when a saw a man splitting the crowd by holding his baby (yes a <1 year old baby) by the stomach outstretched in front of him on his palm.

It's just not fun. I tried to make the best of it. Went to panels I usually wouldn't have. Shopped more int the silver/golden age vendor area. But the panels felt dead and the booths were filled with vendors with comics priced 2x higher than they were worth. I didn't even go into the con on one of the days (NEVER would have done that before). I left feeling tired and deflated when I am usually tired and elated coming home from SD. 

 

All this to say...skipping this year. The finances aren't there for me to justify a trip and I'm feeling no FOMO. No Minimates just makes this decision easier.

- 'Nuff Said 

[Kotter Comics]

18 hours ago, Padrino said:

lol, going camping is a non-starter for me. I'll just put it out there, I am not the outdoorsy type. I'm for indoor plumbing and air conditioning. 

 

and Glamping is a fraud perpetrated on people like me as a gateway drug to real camping, not falling for it. 

 

I think you may have missed a pun buried in there...

Camping is intense.

Camping is in tents.

[Padrino]

1 hour ago, Kotter Comics said:

I think you may have missed a pun buried in there...

Camping is intense.

Camping is in tents.

lol, that's how much i hate camping

[elhonez]

I've been to SDCC roughly 16 times since '99, and I'm done now. I haven't been since maybe '22. So I'm certain I've rubbed shoulders with some of you lot and not even known it. Well apart from Zach, who I'd make a point to come hassle at least once. I've also attended several DST panels in those years.

I live in California so it's less of a slog, and I have friends who live in downtown SD so I've couch-surfed quite a bit to cut costs. But even with those advantages, there's very little left for me at the con. I liked stalking the Toy Stuff for fun, but apart from 'Mates and the occasional Legends figure now, I was more in it for the lookie-loos. I used to liberally acquire discounted TPBs, but I have since discovered "instocktrades," so as an avenue for shopping the Con long ago lost its luster.

The joy of just walking around and experiencing the occasional serendipities like Stan Lee sightings (much scarier now), random conversations with Glenn Danzig (true story) or Mike Allred, or Grant Morrison, or... [insert cool and interesting person] slowly eroded as those opportunities seemed to fade under the relentless onslaught of humanity behaving badly, as CBMM1 has observed. It's become measurably less fun, and much more grossly commercial.

I have camped outside Hall H more times than I care to admit. I have eaten bad fried fish and chased it with flat beer. I have skipped entire days when I have reached my very limit with the wriggling biomass of unwashed nerddom. I have consumed things that purported themselves to be donuts but that somehow contained entire PopTarts inside of their contiguous circumference. I have witnessed close friends stand in lines to get tickets that afford them only the permission to stand in yet another line for the opportunity to maybe purchase something at the end of it. And I have loved it all. But I have now officially hung up my lanyard for the foreseeable future. 

 

On 7/1/2025 at 10:55 AM, nandoninny said:

i was also at that DST party where kevin smith showed up and they premiered the first vinimates.  i got a kevin smith one and i think i wanted a jay one to repaint like mike patton in his the real thing look

Nando, if you like Patton and Bungle and that sort of thing, be sure to check out the Igorrr single "Blastbeat Falafel" -- Trey Spruance plays on it and its lovely. It's got a real Secret Chiefs 3 vibe. 

[Kotter Comics]

Ok, but wait. A donut with a pop tart in it sounds amazing!

[nandoninny]

14 hours ago, elhonez said:

 

Nando, if you like Patton and Bungle and that sort of thing, be sure to check out the Igorrr single "Blastbeat Falafel" -- Trey Spruance plays on it and its lovely. It's got a real Secret Chiefs 3 vibe. 

Have heard it and will buy it when it drops next month!   Thanks!
also have a cool Danzig Sdcc story - he was in artist alley so i asked if I could take a picture with him. This was before cell phone cameras or the term selfie was well known.  He said “you’re wearing the colors so sure”.    I had no idea what he meant.  I figured it was some gangster jeresy lingo.  When I got the pictures developed I realized I was wearing my Danzig shirt.