One of my favorite catchphrases is "Pics or it never happened." There are PLENTY of pics here and they say a pic is worth 1000 words, but they don't even begin to tell the tale of everything that happened while we were in San Diego.
In previous years, there was always some freak occurrence that put a dampener on the event. Last year, our flight was delayed an hour, the rental car pick-up (Hertz) was a complete disaster and to top it off, we got kind of lost getting to the Hotel.
This year, there would be none of that. I booked an early flight which allowed for plenty of buffer time in case something stupid happened AND I used Super Shuttle which had an online special. Saving money is always a good thing, especially when taking trips. I highly recommend using Super Shuttle for your SDCC needs.
*Jack Bauer’s voice* The following takes place between July 20th and July 24th…
I didn’t get hassled by airport security, the flight was smooth, on time and there were no screaming brats on board so that was a good sign. I always seem to be the only one on the plane with ear problems on the flight’s descent.
After the short, 1-hour flight, I got my luggage from the claim turnstile and was on my way to meet up with Super Shuttle. Another good thing about them is I didn’t have to show any paperwork as my name was already in their system. I flashed my ID and in no time flat, we were off to the Hotel. On the way there, we had a couple of stops for other people also attending the con. We exchanged humorous stories from years past so it made for an entertaining trip.
When we arrived at my destination, Gaslamp Hilton, I was pleasantly surprised that it was directly across the street from the convention center. I expected it to be a bit further away.
Que Bueno! The room we got was awesome! It had a good-sized tv and a refrigerator! My wife and I hoped we would get a decent room with a nice view so were even more pleasantly surprised when it had a spectacular, panoramic view of the convention center and the surrounding area.
Que Bueno! The room we got was awesome! It had a good-sized tv and a refrigerator! My wife and I hoped we would get a decent room with a nice view so were even more pleasantly surprised when it had a spectacular, panoramic view of the convention center and the surrounding area.
The Hotel was all decked out for the SDCC. E ven the elevators were extravagantly decorated for the convention.
Outside of the Hotel, you could see IGN and Capcom setting up Video game lounges along with a DJ station.
Armed with an exhibitor’s badge for the first time, I had my Hotel room card keys and was off to the convention to see how it looks before the mad rush.
When I arrived at the convention center, people were just beginning to set things up. Booths were incomplete, tarps were covering practically everything, statues weren't ready for display, boxes were everywhere and forklifts and trucks rumbled about to bring in merchandise.
If anyone knows who does this artwork, please let me know. I wanted to pick up some prints and never got around to it.
One thing I didn't account for were Nazis screaming at people to get back to their booths. In addition to that, every 5 minutes, there was an announcement over the loud speaker asking exhibitors to stay in their areas. When I was taking snapshots of the Avengers booth, they practically freaked out, like there was a great secret I'd be revealing.
Hasbro was fully stocked and prepared for the oncoming rush.
Graphitti Designs was ready to go as well. Too bad nobody really cared about their SDCC promo figure.
This year, I planned on doing things a bit differently. Instead of spending endless amounts of time in line for exclusives, my wife and I wanted to attend some panels and we were determined to not get shut out again. For those that don't know, attending a panel is a pain in the butt! You have to line up AT LEAST 2 hours before the panel starts in hopes of getting in. In addition, you have to sit through something you probably don't care for just to get seats to what you want to see. Furthermore, if you plan on attending a panel, account for at least 3 hours of your day GONE: the two hours waiting in line and the hour plus for attending the panel. What's worse, for most panels, you had to wait outside in the HOT sun. Fortunately, for the Nikita panel, I had this babe to stare at.
Yummy! Long, shapely legs and nice, thin, defined ankles. Heh heh! She was putting on suntan lotion and I felt like Jackie Chan from Rush Hour 2. "Come on baby... Oh yeah... Oh, slow down."
Hey, while roasting in the sun, I have to keep myself entertained. :D
One thing you'll learn about the SDCC is you will NOT get to see everything you're interested in. Even if you're the Flash, there's no way you can be in two places at once so count on missing something. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be.
One of the cool things about attending a few of the panels this year was the raffle tickets they handed out. Very few actually won anything, but if you kept the ticket and went next door to the Marriott, there was a fulfillment room with all kinds of cool swag. It was a nice reward for spending most of your time in line and attending the panels.
One of the first things I had to do when I got to the con was spear somebody... and right into an endcap of DC Universe figures.
...and it just so happened that he was the ONE guy that had on MY jersey. :p
...and I had to get a pic with a cutie that was "popping out."
One of my favorite things about attending comic conventions is meeting up with people from the Green Lantern Message Board. It's cool to put a face with all the posts. This year, we FINALLY got a meeting location nailed down so big props to everyone that showed up at the Tilted Kilt!
After a while, JAredLantern showed up.
During the con, Rody caught up with me for a quick "hello."
It's really cool when people from the boards recognize you.
The following day after preview night, passes for 2012 went on sale. I got back to the Hotel pretty late from the Tilted Kilt, but decided to wake up early so I wouldn't have to deal with the ticket leap online nonsense for next year's passes. I woke up accidentally when my Dad pocket called me at 6:00 am so I got up and headed to the Hyatt where they were supposed to be on sale at 8:00am... and guess what I saw? A HUGE line...
It was a line that went "on and on and on, on and on till' the break of dawn." (Sugar Hill Gang)
I got there about 6:10 and there had to be at least 1000 people ahead of me. Fortunately, we got inside and got our passes for next year. By the time we bought our passes, the Preview Night passes were about 75% sold. Whew!
Once this was taken care of, it was all good in the neighborhood! It's a load-off knowing I won't have to try and buy passes online. Waking up early for one day > waiting online for the hope of getting a badge. Now that there was one less thing to worry about, I could try and enjoy the con.
One of the cool things I really enjoy about the SDCC is catching up with celebs for photo ops.
Here, I caught up with Bookeem Woodbine. I saw him walking around, but only a handful of people actually knew who he was. I didn't know his name until afterwards, but I had seen his face in several movies.
Here, I caught up with DJ David Guetta. Again, nobody knew who he was. This guy has done the beats for several big-time artists like Akon, T-Pain and Kanye West. He's pretty big in the industry.
I got that CD for free after someone in their booth asked for a red pill. I pulled one out and the whole booth ooh'ed and ahh'ed. Just for that, they presented me with a free CD! Sweet!
Here, we caught up with DWIGHT HOWARD!!
Funny thing was I didn't see him. Primus and I were on our way to the Konami booth for free picture tokens and Dwight Howard and his posse were at a booth doing a signing, saw us in costume and called us over. Primus saw him, but I didn't and kept going so he called me back over... and I had to ask him if he was coming to the Lakers. :D He said, "If Morpheus said I should come to the Lakers, I gotta come to the Lakers." Ha ha haa!! This was the highlight of the SDCC for me. The best part of all was we got to cut in front of a HUGE line! Those are the beneifts of dressing up to a convention!
I also caught up with WWE's Cody Rhodes and the lovely Alicia Fox. Gawd, this is one fine sista! Her body is so perfectly toned. I think you can see me drooling.
What sucked was I missed Bret Hart and Rey Mysterio because nobody at the con knew anything. By the time I found out where they were, tickets were handed out and it was too late. Man, I was ticked! I also missed Kane and Kelly Kelly. Ah well... Next time, perhaps.
I also met Stan Lee for the FIRST TIME. I've been attending cons for over 10 years and this was the first time meeting Stan Lee... and it was by chance. I happened to be walking by and he was doing a signing for Stripperella. I think he only had 200 books to sign.
I even got a photo op with one of my favorite playmates, Tiffany Taylor. Even after all these years, she's still gorgeous. I took a pic with her at my first even SDCC, back in 2003.
Another thing I really enjoy about the SDCC are the cosplayers. Primus and I enjoy dressing up and playing the part.
I even got lucky and caught up with our own Tanya Tate!
I didn't even recognize her at first. As my wife and I were coming down the escalator, we saw this bright red and yellow costume so I thought, "Hey! Another hottie!" I tapped her on the shoulder for a pic and low and behold, it was Tanya looking all good.
Booth babes are another SDCC favorite of mine... for obvious reasons.
I caught up with these babes several times throughout the show.
This PanAm babe was cool, but there were a few of them that had bad attitudes. There was one hottie that intentionally turned her back on me when I tried to take a pic. LOL! I couldn't believe it!
...and the one of the featured attractions of the blog, the cosplayers!
Green Lantern Boba Fett!!
That babe with the green wig is HOT!!
This was a very pretty Supergirl!
This is the first time I got to pose on this card.
This Spider-girl was adorable.
I'd be their slave. :D
It was hard to get pics with these MK guys. Mileena and Cage weren't that interested in taking pics.
I like to get into the act occasionally.
I even gave Pikachu the RED pill!
...and there's those same booth babes again!
...and check out "THAT GUY" in the background! LOL!
I caught up with my homegirl, Asia!.. holding one of my RED pills. She's really cool. I see her every year at the WonderCon.
Ch'pp!!!
There was something alluring about this Rogue.
This Zatana was really cute. I had a hard time getting a pic because some drunk clown friend of her's kept jumping in the picture. He was plastered off his ass and kept saying, "Even though I'm gay, but I would still have sex with her cause she's hot!" I almost decked this guy after he put his arm around me. Jackass!
Gambit was cool.
Hey, there's those booth babes again!
They all look good, but this girl is so damn fine!
Supes and HeMan are an unlikely combo, but hey! Whatever works.
This was a cute Wonder Woman. Funny thing was, there was another WW behind her while we were in line for Konami tokens:
When I asked her for a pic, she said, "Oh, there's another WW behind me," but this WW didn't look like WW. She had the outfit, but... Well, let's just say it didn't work. At all.
This Scorpion was cool, but there was another bad-ass Scorpion walking around with a killer outfit. I couldn't catch up to him because I was in line for a panel and the line was moving.
Always gotta give the cute sistas some love.
...and there goes those same booth babes again!
HYPNOTOAD!!! He even had the Hypno eyes!
These Lanterns were pretty cool!
...and this babe was freaking HOT!!
Always gotta give a shout out to the original "V."
These two were cool.
Twas' a great show. When all the panels were done, the exclusives handed out and all the cosplayers were out of costume, it was time to relax and count the swag. When the dust settled and the smoke cleared, I had a really good score... and I still haven't gone through everything.
These Wayne Casino poker chips go for BIG money online!
It was a pain in the rump to get them, but it was funny as hell listening to Jay Burg get into it with some lady that thought he cut in front of her... and even funnier when he cussed her out and some dude in front of us threatened to call security with his back to us. Jay: Oh, you're a big man talking $h!t with your back to me. Ha ha haa! There's never a dull moment when Jay attends a convention!
Last, but certainly not least, I have to give big props to my wife for being cool about this whole convention thing and allowing me to take pics with hot babes. To add, she didn't get upset when hotties were hugging and grabbing on me for pics. She even put with my big, grumpy PMS'ing ass when I didn't get to attend a couple of signings that I was looking forward to. When I'm determined to get something, I'll typically forego little necessities like eating or resting and she put up with it all. My wife is one of a kind. Here's to you, babe! Love ya!
To infinity and beyond... err, until next time or the next Comic convention blog. Deuces!
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