ToyCyte: Toy Culture Collected

Last year 125,000 people attended San Diego Comic-Con. While some were industry professionals and Comic-Con veterans, others were newbies who were completely overwhelmed by the scene. Maybe I’m just speaking for myself. I made all the rookie mistakes last year: waited until the last minute to get a hotel room, didn’t pack snacks, forgot my camera battery, ran out of cash.

To prepare for San Diego Comic-Con, I asked some of this year’s attendees for their favorite tips and suggestions. We could all use some advice on navigating the four-day convention. I have some great tips from  STRANGEco, Patrick Ma of Rocket World, Dan Goodsell of Mr. Toast, and Derek Welch and Jason Bacon of UNKL.

STRANGEco - Booth # 4629

If you want to get from one side of the convention center to the other in a hurry - go outside to do it. You’ll get stuck in the middle of the insanity where all the movie studios are if you try to go through.

Bring water - A lot of water! Bring a bag or backpack

Don’t expect to get a huge amount of attention from anyone working a booth at Comic Con. It’s so crazy that most people don’t have the time to spare, unfortunately.

• STRANGEco Exclusives [tagged]

* * * * *

Patrick Ma, Rocket World - Booth # 4633

Serious attendees should do the event on Thursday and Friday. By Sat, it will be difficult to travel the floor by sheer volume of people, making your quest objectives a very slow process and inefficient.

Wear your most comfy tennis or flip flops! Klingon boots look cool, but your feet will hate you after walking 10 aisles, so bring spares or design your Klingon boots with modern shoe technology…I think the LOTR elf boots would probably win out in the shoe comfort arena…

Wear your costume, but bring a change of comfy cool clothes, because San Diego can get HOT. Or just wear the basic shorts and t-shirt to stay kool and komfy.

Don’t count on bags for your schwag. Use your backpack for stashing just in case! The first 2 days there are almost always racks and racks of Tokyo Pop bags everywhere so grab one for yourself.

Everyone at SDCC is there to have fun. Let everyone do their thing and respect fellow attendees and exhibitors. Don’t clown or hate on someone because they are dressed as an elf, because I bet they’re keeping themselves in check as they stare at your pimpin’ Boba Fett helmet.

I love SDCC; it’s the annual event where we get to totally indulge ourselves in overlapping sub and pop culture obscura and ephemera all in one place, and with likeminded peeps. In my best Capt. Picard: “…Engage….”

• Rocket World Exclusives: IWG Zipper Pulls, Airborne Series and Attack Craft, Astro Krieg Minis

* * * * *

Dan Goodsell, Mr. Toast - Booth #4831
My one suggestion is breakfast at cafe 222, which is right across the street. I try to go there every morning and the waffles are incredible. Also, I always buy my lunch at Ralph’s each morning. Saves you money and waiting in the convention center lines.

Take time to visit the small press area and the tables section down in the 100’s. It is easy to spend a lot of time in the toy section but there is a lot of fun stuff going on everywhere.

• Mr. Toast Exclusives

* * * * *

Derek Welch and Jason Bacon, UNKL - Booth #4533

Tip One – Regardless of how cold the convention center is in the morning, it’ll be blazing by noon, so layer up and peel down.

Tip Two – If you are looking for good deals, wait until Sunday. I know for us, we want to sell everything. If we have anything left on Sunday we’ll cut good deals to unload the product.

Tip Three – Pack in fruit and water. The crap they have for sale food-wise is perhaps the worst I’ve experienced and it’s expensive as hell. A couple of bottles of water and a banana or two will keep you going.

Tip Four – Don’t ask a designer/artist to sign a figure they didn’t create. If I’m asked to sign someone else’s figure, I’ll wonder why they would want my signature if they don’t want me to sign what I created.

Tip Six – As an attendee, don’t give any of the exhibitors grief because you missed out on getting something or have a complaint about what they do. It’s a shit-storm during the show. Things are hectic and it’s tough working that show for four and a half days. Be cool to the exhibitors. Cut ‘em some slack.

Tip Seven – If you dig what an exhibitor is doing, sneak in a beer or two for them. Of course, I’m only speaking for myself, but a cold Lone Star is like Heaven during that show…

Tip Five was skipped because it’s a secret.

• UNKL Exclusives & Release Schedule [blogged]

* * * * *

Finally I leave you with a funny story from Patrick Ma:

Oh yeah, one year some dude came to my booth and told me to give him an IWG toy. He said it in such a matter of fact and entitled way. I had to stop myself from laughing. And I quote: “…it izz a geeft for me…I am French…” WTF?! LOL! Anyways he paid for his IWG toys. Nothing against the French, heck it was my first language, but gee whiz, no wonder the French have a bad rap sometimes.

Only at Comic-Con…

To summarize, dress as comfortably as you can. Bring something to drink and nibble on so you’re not gouged by the food vendors. Respect the exhibitors, vendors, and your fellow attendees. There will be a lot of people under one roof, so try to keep your cool. If you have a favorite tip, feel free to leave a comment.

Related posts

• San Diego Comic-Con Exclusives Part 3
• Hunt for Exclusives: Rocket World
• StrangeCo tokidoki Fever at SDCC
• San Diego Comic-Con Exclusives Part 1
• Rocket World Toy Toss @ SDCC