I’m in San Diego for the 2007 Comic-Con. This has become more than a convention about comic-books, and is now a pop-culture convention. Every geeky hobby is represented here: comic-books, games, tv shows, toys and collectibles, movies, graphic art, books, and costumes. The entire San Diego Convention Center is taken over from Thursday to Friday, and for those lucky enough to get a 4-day pass (they sold out this year) you can attend a Wednesday night Preview!
I checked into my hotel (The Sophia, which is very nice so far) and got to the Convention Registration at 3:00 pm. Registration was quick and I checked the lines for entry into the 6:00 pm preview. At that time, they were very short.
There aren’t a whole lot of costumes, yet. I did get a picture of the cat-woman. There will be more costumes, and much more elaborate costumes, later in the show. But, this one was simple and fun.
After going back to the hotel and rearranging my bags, I got some food (chicken from the deli at a Ralph’s Supermarket along my path) and got back to the convention center a little after 5:00 pm. This is the line that I found. That 1 and 1/2 hour makes a real difference. Still, even though the room for this part of the line was warm, everything was pretty orderly, and they let us in at about 5:50 pm, 10 minutes early.
I wasn’t particularly interesed in showing you the classic 60’s batmobile, but this is the only shot I have of the crowd inside. I was too busy trying to buy a few items that were in limited supply. I’ll have better pictures of the convention floor tomorrow.
The preview was pretty interesting. I have pretty thorough notes (that I prepared in advance) about vendor booths and what I want to get, so this night was pretty structured. I still found a lot of unplanned things. In fact …
…here’s a shot of all the items I acquired just tonight. There are comics, books, toys, posters, some nice lithographs, an original drawing/sketch, bookmarks, and give away items. It was a very good night.
Afterwards, I had dinner at a fabulous restaurant I happened to find off the main Gaslight District. It’s called Candelas, and I’ll talk more about it in another post.
For now, I’m cutting this off to go and get some sleep for tomorrow.
Hey Alan:
If you feel like blowing off the healthy eating for one night, I highly recommend a place called Phillipi’s Pizza Grotto in Little Italy (or is it Fillipi’s?). It is on Little Italy’s main drag, about 4 miles from the Convention Center. During a 6 week span when I was in San Diego 3 times earlier this year, I ended up there each time. On each ocassion, I was with a different set of friends who all new the place and loved it. Expect a long line to dine in, but it moves faster than you think. It is a market/deli with restaurant seating in the rear and it is very casual. If you decide to get something to go (pepper steak sandwich is a good “to-go” item), excuse your way to the front of the line and order.
And tell Alf I said Hi!