As many of you know, I was fortunate enough to get to go to San Diego Comic Con again this year to run the booth for my company, Mixo (which, if I may brag a little, totally killed it this year), but that didn't stop me from being able to get around a little bit and check things out. Granted, I was pretty much tethered to our booth for most of the time, so I didn't get to scour every inch of the convention, but thanks to the wandering cosplayers (a full report is coming on that later) and a few breaks from the booth here and there, I got some great pics.
The one thing that I'd like to say about the con in general is how fantastic the vibe was this year. Some of you may remember my less than stellar opinion on last year's WonderCon due to the negative attitudes, non-geeks there for the gawking and laughing and overall bad vibe. Well, SDCC 2012 turned out to be a polar opposite of that! I'm serious. I was bowled over by the positive energy that I experienced. The ailses were packed like sardine cans at times, but people still kept smiling and were quick to give a sincere "Oops! Sorry, man!" when a foot got stepped on. All of the cosplayers were happy to pose for pics, never giving that tired eye roll that I've run into occasionally at other cons. The dealers were happy to have you in their booths, quick to strike a deal and often thanked you for stopping by and quick with an invite to come back, all with a smile.
Yes, it was slammed. The lines were long. The bathrooms were like the Thunderdome. The food was just barely edible. But the people, our people, banded together and treated each other well, and I walked away from five days of that convention with a spring in my step and a deeper love for the geek world.
Anyway, I'm not going to go over a play-by-play of my every moment at the con, but I thought I'd just post the pics (click to activate the Big-a-tron 5000) that I took and make a few quick comments here and there. Let's get started...
I knew it was going to be a good convention when I found out our booth was about 30 feet away from the Warner Brothers set-up, which had this parked in front of it all weekend...
The Mattel booth brought back some great memories. Seriously, how cool would it have been to have this as the entrance to your bedroom as a kid?
Some quick pics of the Lego displays...
Seeing the actual KITT made me squeal like a little girl. I seriously considered stealing this thing...
Da na na na na na na na BAT STATUE!
Check out the Total Recall flying car. I learned later that the three boobed girl from the movie made an appearance, but I missed her. And believe me, that's a bucket list item, so I'm kind of bummed about that.
The Entertainment Earth was full of killer stuff, and I wasted no time in buying the Bigfoot neo-Mego figure (Steve Austin wasn't available yet). You'll see more about ol' Bigfoot in my swag report later this week...
Oh, look. It's the inside of KITT! My pics are a little out of order. Sorry.
The new Ninja Turtles display was astounding!
The Weta booth brought some seriously huge friends from the upcoming Hobbit motion picture...
For my Trekkie readers...
I liked the first G.I. Joe movie and I'm 5 times as excited about the new one. Seeing Firefly's motorcycle was a real treat...
These are apparently props from some movie or something...
My company has just landed the Power Rangers license, so I got a little stoked when I came across this 20 foot tall Red Ranger statue...
The movie props at the Sideshow booth were amaze-balls...
I also spotted these beauties...
Back at the Weta booth (man, I really should have put these pics in better order)...
One of the best surprises I stumble upon were these pre-production molds for Super 7's upcoming release of vintage-Kenner-style Alien figures...
And then there was this...
At one point, I couldn't get to the bathroom because these dudes were blocking my way. I would have said something, but I think they could totally beat me up...
Another major geek moment for me was seeing Stan the Man Lee being interviewed...
And it wouldn't be a comic book convention if I didn't get yet another candid shot of Lou Ferrigno...
Anyone remember these Puppetmaster movies?
Gentle Giant had an awesome display of their large scale Star Wars figures. This year's release was the beautiful Blue Snaggletooth. I was this close to buying one, but my funds were a little limited, and I didn't want to open up Pandora's box and then the next thing I know, I'd be trying to get them all. Still, the display is glorious...
That's a mighty big Optimus Prime...
It belongs in a museum!
How cute are these display pieces? Again, i seriously thought about stealing them...
I would have totally have bought this if I didn't have to buy some $200 collector's set to get it...
Hasbro's Marvel Universe display was stunning!
Check out Snake Eyes and Jinx kicking ass!
Some upcoming Hot WHeels pics from the Mattel booth...
The DC booth thumbed their nose at the Hasbro action figure displays in a way that only Alfred E. Newman can...
Anyway, that's it for my random walking-around-the-convention-floor pics!
This whole week will be devoted to reporting on the convention, including my massive cosplay pic dump, a swag report and a special article on one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life.
It was a great trip, but man, it's great to be home.
