SDCC 2009

Article & Pictures by Tracy, Hilda & Lenny

This year SDCC sold out their tickets months in advance of the con. As preview night rolled along, people were there well in advance of the Preview Night opening! Preview night used to be an experience where crowds were the lightest. Not a chance! Preview Night was more crowded than ever. Parking lots that used to still have spaces available at least an hour or 2 in advance of the convention floor opening was FULL and thus people were forced to park at parking lots a distance away where Petco Park is located. Kinda bummed that Preview Night was not how it used to be. It used to be less crowded and less of a headache. Unfortunately as SDCC has grown over the years, so has the enormous crowds which makes it hard to navigate in the exhibit halls. As it was to be expected SDCC was crowded and packed to the gills every day. There were tons to see and do but oh so little time.

The usual suspects were EXCLUSIVES!!!! and of course PANELS!!! Exclusives are the main attractors to the show where vendors/companies were selling show exclusives to attendees. Mattel had a circus of lines which led to chaos most of the time. Their plan of handing out tickets to people in line to get a chance to purchase exclusives the next day at another time. Of course that changed the next day when you had to go upstairs before the exhibit doors open and get a ticket at a reserved table where Mattel workers would hand you the ticket. They really need to just stick to one plan like Hasbro, which was to get a ticket upstairs at the designated area at a certain time to obtain your ticket to purchase exclusives at the time it says. Panels are always a hit and this year some hot panels were Twilight and LOST. Another big reason so many people attend SDCC is the FREEBIES! From babies to seniors, you see them all stand in line to grab whatever cool freebie companies were handing out to promote their latest product, movie, show, company etc.....

SDCC has really grown so much over the past few years and it seems there is less and less space to walk in the exhibit halls and less parking spaces. SDCC has always been a great show! Seeing all the amazing artists from comics to the latest artists in the artist alley and Toy Growers Cultyard. There is so much to see and do in the exhibit hall that you really need all the days to see everything. One of the biggest challenges it taking pictures in the exhibit hall. Remember there's not much space to walk and move so you gotta be ready to snap that pic and move on or get trampled or pushed. Be warned this is not a place for people who are cannot be in confined spaces, impatient people or people who gets irritated easily over the large crowds. Remember you're suppose to have fun. It can be frustrating but remember everyone is here to enjoy the show.

A few suggestions that we have implemented in our reviews of shows the past few years. Its crowd control. Definitely too many people confined in the exhibit hall is a major problem. Isn't that a fire hazard? What if the show can make the exhibit floor hours longer? Raise the ticket prices. Also another annoyance due to space issue in the exhibit hall is strollers and people with wheelchairs or motorized carts. Since its so crowded in the exhibit hall for the regular person, people with strollers or in wheelchairs have it 10x harder. They can barely navigate through the aisles.

Hopefully SDCC can implement changes in the crowd control issues.

See you all next year!