2012 Comic-Con International Thoughts

[One Radical Dude]

Hey, gang. Cassini and I just recently did the San Diego Comic-Con International 2012. It was held on July 12-15 (11 for preview night). This year was my seventh visit, and I believe for Cass, it was #6.

Anyway, here's how things went.

July 10 - The day began with a train ride to San Diego, which I arrived over there at just before 1pm PDT. I ran into two travelers (one was going to Comic-Con for the first time ever), and I had to show them how to purchase trolley tickets. I was able to check in at my hotel with my roommates nearly an hour later. I stayed with some of the same people as last year, as well as a few that I've not seen before. Everyone new to me seemed really cool. Later on, I ended up getting my hair cut. Once that was completed, I ended up meeting Cass and Howard (the latter did not do the con this year, but instead did other things at and outside of the city. We tried the Brian's 24 restaurant. We all enjoyed what we had on our plates. I went back to the hotel room for a bit. Later in the evening, I visited Seaport Village and just wandered around, and later, I wandered near the convention center and took some photos. That was pretty much my day there. By the way, one of my roommates did not make it to San Diego that day due to a mix-up on terminals.

July 11 - I got up, and I had breakfast, and I went to get a free slurpee at 7-Eleven. I visited the Fashion Valley Mall briefly. I just wanted to visit the Disney Store and see what they had. I didn't buy anything, though. I went to visit the Westfield Horton Plaza, and I picked up a few small things before I headed back to my room and got ready to pick up the badge. I arrived just before 3pm at the convention center. No issues with the badge pickup. I stood in line for around three hours. Right around 6pm, they began to let people into the Exhibit Hall. I actually tried to get the Derpy exclusive, and I was not successful. I didn't try getting it for any of the other days. I ran into Uglydoll co-creator David Horvath, then I ran into the guy behind Giant Robot, Eric Nakamura, and later, I talked to comic creator Doug TenNapel for a little bit, and I mentioned how it was cool that Doug's nephew was a hero by helping people during the wildfires that were going on in CO. That was about all I did other than going to eat and buy a few supplies at Ralph's.

July 12 - Ate breakfast, went to The Broken Yolk Cafe to see what The Hub network did to the restaurant. They had a lot of little things from shows, including "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic", "Pound Puppies", "Dan Vs." "Care Bears: Welcome to Care-A-Lot", and "The Aquabats! Super Show". I went to the convention center afterwards, and was able to attend a Nickelodeon panel featuring the shows "The Fairly OddParents" and "Tuff Puppy". Even though I'm not a huge fan of either shows, the panel was a lot of fun, and I liked much of the voice talent over there. The next panel was "Dragons: Riders of Berk", a new DreamWorks series that will air on Cartoon Network this fall and is based on the successful film, "How to Train Your Dragon." I was really impressed with what I saw and heard over there. I stepped out to head to my hotel room, and I saw the trolley car I wanted to board on -- it was the one from MLP: FIM. I got about every shot I wanted, though I missed a few. I went back into the exhibit hall later to look for a poster my younger brother wanted. Unfortunately, they were sold out of them. I did meet a friend of mine who worked at the Artists Alley area. Later in the evening, I went to watch the Comic-Con documentary titled, "Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope". I actually enjoyed that. Went to eat and later pick up a few items. Here comes...

July 13 - I set the alarm for 6am, and I woke up just after 5am. I brought a beverage and a few items to eat. I entered the line for the entrance of the convention center. It was fairly long. Most of them were line up for the Ballroom 20 panel for "Firefly". I made the decision to go to see MLP: FIM (I also could have seen the new TMNT series panel or "Dan Vs." -- they were good choices, too). I was in a great position. I was the fifth person in line for the panel. All is good right? Well, not entirely. One of the staffers at the con (not the SDCC people, but the third-party folks) were telling everyone that we're lined up in the wrong area, and they had people move to the "other side". Well, there wasn't really another side to enter. I ended up walking around, asking the staff what's going on and at one point, I said that I worked hard to get in a great position for the panel, and if I got screwed, I won't be back to the con again. I ran into one of the people that actually work for SDCC and have the logos on their shirts, and I was told that I and others were on the right side, but lined up a bit wrong. As soon as I got back, the fans of FIM noticed I was returning and I got my original position back. Crisis averted. The room that the FIM panel was held was small. Honestly, this panel should have been in a larger room (6A would have worked). Panelists include all of the main cast (Tara Strong [Twilight Sparkle], Tabitha St. Germain [Rarity], Andrea Libman [Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy], and Cathy Weseluck [Spike]), except for Ashleigh Ball [Rainbow Dash, Applejack], and it featured Meghan McCarthy (story editor). It was a really good panel, a lot of questions were asked (some of them I cringed, though) -- I participated in that, and a few things were revealed for the new season (including a clip from a song). Once the panel ended, I briefly spoke to Cathy and shook her hand, but we weren't given much time to say or do anymore, since staff cleared everyone out (one thing I wanted was to get pics with the VAs that I'm included in -- didn't happen). Still, I enjoyed whatever interaction I got. I wanted to see the Regular Show panel, unfortunately, I lined up too late. I was able to go to the "Tron: Uprising" panel. One familiar name is among the voice-over cast for the series -- Elijah Wood was among the panelists for the series. Later in the day, I went to the Hasbro booth seeing the crew from FIM signing autographs. Again, you had to have a ticket to get an autograph. I noticed via a tweet on Twitter that Cathy Weseluck's iPhone got lost or stolen. She said the last time it was seen was on her way to the restroom near Hall E. I believe Tara Strong sent out a tweet to encourage the Bronies (or fans of MLP: FIM) to see if it can be found and offered autographs. Another fan and I spent a few hours trying to find the phone. Unfortunately, our efforts did not pay off. I pretty much skipped a meal trying to do the right thing (I honestly didn't care if I got any autographs or not). I did briefly talk to Tara and contributed $10 to a girl that battled cancer. Before leaving the Exhibit Hall, I got to say hello to Craig and Lauren for the first time in nearly three years. It was nice to see them again. Once I left the Exhibit Hall, I got food from Seaport Village. Once I finished eating, I went to see Worst Cartoons Ever. As usual, it was a load of fun to watch.

July 14 - I tried to make it to the "Adventure Time" panel. Once again, I got in line too late. I did meet up with another person I met from the MLP: FIM panel for a short amount of time. I stayed in line to see the "Phineas and Ferb" panel. Unlike last year, I succeeded in entering the room for it this time around. The panel itself was really good, and once that panel ended, I got to see a friend and we talked for a bit. The next thing I did was to get in the room for the Disney animation panel, which included the shows "Fish Hooks", "Gravity Falls", and a short clip of the upcoming series from Craig McCracken, "Wander Over Yonder". I liked everything I saw over there. The "Gravity Falls" stuff was really funny, and I am definitely looking forward to Wander. I got autographs from the people at the last panel at Sails Pavilion. All were really cool. I got to briefly talk to Maxwell Atoms again (he remembered me from 2006 and 2007), briefly met Kari Wahlgren, and I saw Craig and Lauren again. That was pretty much my day until I went to see the masquerade (which is another Comic-Con tradition for me). Again, I was able to enter Ballroom 20 to see it. I thought this year's masquerade was a little more fun than last year's. There were over 30 contestant this year.

July 15 - Final day. I went to see the Cartoon Voices II panel. These panels never bore me at all. Afterwards, I got a photo with Rob Paulsen, and for the first time ever, I got a photo with Dee Bradley Baker with me in the pic. Both gentlemen stuck around for a while with attendees outside near the exit doors. I met up with several other friends after the panel, and I joined some of them to see "The Cleveland Show" panel. While I don't really watch the show, I wanted to see Kevin Michael Richardson, and he was great to watch in person. Before the convention ended, I saw one other panel, and then I briefly went to the Exhibit Hall for one last time. Once 5pm hit, it was time for people to exit the building. I felt bummed that the con had ended. I was heading back to the hotel, and then -- I noticed a face to the right of me that looked really familiar. I had to stop and get his attention. It was Keith Ferguson. This was the first time we've seen each other since 2008. Funny how he was away from SDCC for three years and I kept bringing the Bloo costume, but this year, the role reversed -- no Bloo costume, but I see the Bloo voice-over! Unexpectedly running into Keith made my evening right there. After that, I was back in my hotel room trying to recover, and later, I got to hang with my roommates and picked up something to eat.

July 16 -- Said goodbyes to everyone. One roommate gave me a Finn toy that he collected at the "Adventure Time" museum. Before leaving S.D., Cass and I had lunch I enjoyed the food, and it was nice to hang with him a bit before I took the train to the L.A. area. The trip back was uneventful.

Final thoughts: I have to say that this was one of the best SDCCs I've been to. I ran into more people I wanted to see than before, despite missing a few panels I wanted to see. This con was the first time I actually got to be around a decent amount of Bronies (of the ones I saw, they seem really cool, and many were nice enough to allow me to get back in line in the same position as before during the goof-up at the 23ABC area on Friday. It was great seeing Craig and Lauren again (missed two SDCCs in a row). I did miss a few panels, but that didn't really destroy my experience. I was pleasantly surprised that Tabitha St. Germain attended this behemoth of a convention, since she was the most difficult voice-over from MLP: FIM to do any appearances. It was also nice to run into people unexpectedly, like Keith. And of course, it's great to be around people I've known for a while. Will I return next year? Money is a huge concern, but I definitely want to return in 2013. Pre-registration begins next month. We'll see what happens.