A Look Back at Wednesday @ Comic-Con 2019

The 50th Annual San Diego Comic-Con is here! It sure came up fast…fireworks were just happening…Amazon Prime day…now the Con…such a whirlwind this July.

This is my 25th consecutive attendance at the Con and I am looking forward to this one at least as much as all the previous and Preview Night is always a great day to get things rolling for the 5 day extravaganza.

Badge Pickup

For a change this year I had to pick up my badge onsite. Somehow the package they mailed to my home got lost in the mail and I had to cancel the RFID on the badge. It wasn’t a big deal but it was a bit disconcerting seeing all my buddies getting their badges as I waited and waited and waited. Finally after 2 weeks after my first friend got his badge, I contacted Comic-Con and they canceled the badge.

And I was pleasantly surprised that there was no line to get my badge at the Con. I got downtown a built before 3pm when the convention center opened and walked right upstairs to the lovely ladies who took my info and provided my badge. It was a piece of cake and put the Con back on the right foot after having to deal with a badge that didn’t show up.

Merchandise Pickup

That good footing didn’t last long though as I headed over to the Merchandise Pickup line. I had pre-ordered a few shirts and hats and was hoping to grab a hoodie and the concert T but I think i should have gone to this line first (at 12pm).
Yup, I could have picked up my merchandise with my confirmation email and that would have been the right choice but I wanted to make sure I got my badge.

In any case, I got to hang out in the merchandise line from 3:20 to 5pm when they shut down for an hour…and then from 6pm to 6:45.

Now, this is a line that from 12pm to 5pm was ONLY for pre-order pickup. There weren’t supposed to be any new purchases made during this time. So they supposedly were JUST handing out the stuff people ordered. How could that have taken so long?
Regardless, I guess it was good since once the clock passed 6pm I was able to order NEW stuff and grabbed the hoodie and concert T.
It was still a crazy long wait that should have moved a lot faster.

Exhibit Hall

Getting in to the exhibit hall was a breeze compared to the buying and picking up of official Comic-Con merchandise.

I made my annual pilgrimage to The Tick Booth and they had some cool shirts this year, a new hat, and a Funko Pop. This is always my first stop and its fun to chat with the guys in the booth since I’ve kinda gotten to know them over the years.

I haven’t figured out the merchandise focus of the year but there are still tons of Game of Thrones merch around and Pokémon is in abundance as usual. Star Wars and Walking Dead are also all over the place too.

I guess the biggest newcomer I’ve see has been a bunch of Gudetama – the lazy egg – Aggretsuko, and poop…yup, one of the most innovative booths I saw had lots of poo merchandise.

It’s a Wrap

So with Wednesday behind me I have to say this 50th Annual Comic-Con has started off pretty well. Sure there are always lines to deal with but so far nothing that’s been too crazy. I just hope things continue to go well as we head into Thursday and the panels.

Ramble 33| A Look Back at Wednesday @ Comic-Con 2019