Hiya! Okay, before I begin I just want to say that this isn't going to be a comprehensive recap of my time at my very first Comic-Con. For one, the main reason why I even went was because this year is the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary and it was Matt Smith's last Comic-Con as the Doctor. I wasn't going to miss this for the world. Second, I didn't take too many pictures. I actually didn't take any during the Doctor Who panel. My camera is shite and I'm one of those people that prefers taking in the experience rather than spending half of my time documenting the whole thing (though I don't see anything wrong with that).
I picked up my Thursday and Sunday badge last Wednesday at the Town & Country Hotel and was expecting it to be chaos. Luckily it was not and despite the fact that it seemed like there were a billion people there, I was in and out in about 15 minutes. When I was leaving, a Twitter follower recognized me. I thought it might've been my hair that gave it away, but he actually recognized me by the Deathly Hallows tattoo on my neck! I thought that was kind of cool.
Thursday was when I was planning on doing all of my shopping so I could get it out of the way and enjoy the rest of my time. By the way, if you've never been to Comic-Con, it's basically just like IMATS except everything is about comics and about 85% of its attendees are in costumes (and some in absolutely brilliant ones). As soon as they let everyone in that morning, I made a mad dash to the BBCA booth. I ended up waiting in line for an hour, but it was worth it.
After what seemed like 8 years, I finally was able to walk around the Exhibit Hall and boy was it overwhelming. There was just so much to see! I think my favorite part was walking around the Artists' Alley and seeing everyone's work. It was kind of a subtle reminder that it's because of all of these amazing artists that there is even a comic-con to begin with. Like I said, I didn't take a lot of pictures so here's just a handful of the ones I managed to stop for.
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| There is a dude in there. |
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| The Doctor and a Weeping Angel. I hope you didn't blink. |
I stopped at the Her Universe booth to see if they had anything that I wanted to buy. They had a bunch of cute dresses, but unfortunately they didn't have anymore in my size. One of the guys working at the booth was telling me that they weren't going to get anymore sizes and that I should check out their website instead. While he was talking, I couldn't help but think I had seen him somewhere before. After our conversation ended, I turned back around and asked if he was David Eckstein (former Padres infielder) and he replied with, "Yes, I am."
In another "Duh me" moment, I had completely forgotten that his wife Ashley Eckstein owns Her Universe, so naturally he would be there. He was very nice and asked what team I supported ("Padres, of course!"). I asked if I could a take picture with him and he kindly obliged. Afterwards, I looked around some more and found a shirt with a Weeping Angel on the back.
He rang me up and that was the end of my first "celebrity" encounter at my very first Comic-Con. I spent the rest of the day walking around the Exhibit Hall, taking it all in. My cousin had asked me to get some stuff for him at the Funko booth, but unfortunately they ran out of all the collectibles he wanted. Later in the day I met up with a fellow Gaslampballer and sat in a panel with him.
On Saturday, Steffi and I headed down to the Gaslamp area to scope out the scene. There were tons of things going on that day and we were hoping to run into some celebs. The Gaslamp trolley station was decked out in Dothraki signs. I have no idea what they mean, but it looked awesome.
There was a Game of Thrones event going on outside the convention center, right across from the Omni Hotel, so Steffi and I decided to check it out. Unfortunately, you needed a badge to get in so we left. The Comic-Con gods must've been looking out for us because for whatever reason, we felt that we needed to walk across the street to the Omni and I'm so glad we did. As we walked past the entrance, I heard Steffi say, "I think that girl is famous." I turned around and it was Jenna Coleman herself! I yelled out her name and waved and she smiled at me as she headed into the hotel.
Steffi suggested that we stay in front of the hotel where all the blacked-out SUV's were parked in case she or anyone else came out. It was really strange that no one else was stood there, but we took advantage of the fact that we were the only creepers waiting for celebrities to come out. More for us ;)
About 5 minutes after Jenna went in, her assistant came out to check on something so we knew that she was coming back out. Sure enough, she did and she had a special someone by her side...
Yes, ladies and gents. That is none other than Matt Smith, the Eleventh Doctor in the flesh. They were walking to their next event, which was at Nerd HQ at Petco Park. I knew they were running a bit late so I didn't stop to ask for a photo. However, I did manage to squeal out a "Hi Matt!" He turned to me, said hi back, smiled (ahhh I melted) and asked, "How ya doin?"
Needless to say, 20 minutes into our Gaslamp adventure, I was done. We could've gone home after that and I would've been okay. It was probably one of the best moments of my life. I mean HELLO?!?! THE DOCTOR, he said hi to me. For a split second, he acknowledged my existence. I fangirled for the rest of the day.
After awhile, Steffi and I headed over this Samsung Galaxy event just down the street. I'm not really sure what the purpose was of this event because it certainly didn't make want to buy any Samsung Galaxy phones or tablets. We did get free cupcakes and drinks so whatevs.
Right before we were about to walk out, we met Adam from Real World Paris. I recognized him and made Steffi ask if he was on MTV. He said yes and asked if we wanted to take a picture with him and we couldn't very well say no.
We walked around some more but always found ourselves in front of the Omni Hotel. It was like a moth to a flame. While waiting, I saw this cute couple dressed up as Amy Pond and Rory Williams. I asked if I could take a picture with them and they said yes!
That was pretty much our day on Saturday. We unfortunately didn't get to see anyone from Game of Thrones, but we're holding out hope for next year ;)
Sunday was panel day for me. It was the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary panel and I got up at 2am so that I could stand in line at 4am. It's kind of crazy and I don't know of any other things I'd get up that early for, other than flights or hair appointments. I didn't take pictures (sorry), but here's some of the highlights from the Supernatural, Breaking Bad and Doctor Who panels:
- Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. I don't think I need to elaborate.
- Jared Padalecki's hair.
- "Free for all."
- Felicia Day chasing Jensen Ackles away.
- Supernatural Gag Reel
- Misha Collins messing with Mark Sheppard.
- Bryan Cranston walking into the panel with a Walter White mask on his head.
- Bryan Cranston placing the mask over the mic and speaking into its mouth for pretty much the entire duration of the panel.
- Aaron Paul speaking into said mic and practically making out with the mask.
- Seeing the Nerdist himself in the flesh.
- Craig Ferguson's greeting to the audience. "Hello Sweeties."
- Craig's "story" of how he started watching Doctor Who. "When I was a little girl..."
- The 50th Anniversary recap clip that nearly had me in shambles, particularly during the part when Amy starts reading the afterword.
- The 50th Anniversary trailer. Goosebumps the whole time. Seeing Ten and Eleven on screen together, I just don't have words. November can't come soon enough.
- Steven Moffat being genuinely giddy and excited when talking about being in a room full of Daleks.
- The Moff showing up with his sassy pants on. Regardless of how people feel about his work as the lead writer, I love the guy. He's incredibly witty and clever.
- Being in the presence of the lovely Matt Smith in his last panel as the Doctor.
Hope you enjoyed this SDCC recap through the eyes of a Comic-Con newbie. See ya!
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