The Bad: Comic Con 2015 Part 2

After spending several days in San Diego, my friends and family ask "How was it?" It is always a complicated answer... like every year, there are good things, great things, and a lot of despicable things.Without being too negative, I wanted to go through all of it, so please bear with me on the long post. 

The Bad: 

Lines. Lines. and More Lines. If you come to comic con, expect to wait in line and often times for several hours. There are lines for everything. Want to see a panel of the next block buster movie in Hall H? Expect to wait 5+ hours. Want the chance to buy the limited edition Lego exclusive? expect to line up at 6AM and wait 3+ hours for the "chance" to enter into a random raffle to pay $40 for a Lego. Want Hasbro or Funko exclusives? Pray that you are faster than the person next to you as you are literally in a race to the line. But I think you get the picture... its a line for everything. 

The sad thing is that for most people, the fun of comic con is supposed to be about seeing your favorite comic publisher, entertainment studio, celebrity, etc. But in today's world, it has become so commercialized and about the "hype" that all you see are lines. For people new to this experience, all I see are sad and bewildered faces of people that dont understand how something is sold out 5 mins after the door opens. Or how they fly in from Middle America and didnt know they have to line up at 5am to get a ticket/wrist band to attend the panel of their favorite TV show. Its gotten to the point where people put together comic con primers on what to do and how to best get to see what you want. The old days of showing up and discovering the fun of this convention are long gone. If you plan to go to comic con, you better prepare and know whats up. 

The reality is that this event has become so popular and "mainstream" that everyone wants to go and with such a huge crowd, there has to be different ways to control the crowd and at least give the perception that things are "fair" to all attendees. All bitching aside, I know the organizers are trying their best to keep things organized, but with so many people, you cant possibly make everyone happy. And that is the source of most people's frustration... that they feel they are entitled to get to see celebrity X or buy toy Y. As an attendee, you are entitled to entry into the convention center, and that is it.Everything else is a free for all. If we could all manage or taper our expectations a bit better, I honestly believe people would be a lot less upset. Imagine a trip to Disneyland. If you go in expecting to ride every attraction... you are likely to go home disappointed. If you go in expecting to ride your top 5 rides, you will probably have a good time. 

My advice is to go with a plan on the top attractions and top purchases you would like to make. Understand that if you cant see or buy everything, it is not the end of the world. Enjoy what you do see, take a lot of pictures and don't worry about what you missed. It is impossible to see everything. I actually dont mind that I miss things because it gives me something to talk about with my friends who saw other things. Being able to share in our successes and failures at the convention always makes for good stories.