Photo above is copyright WARNER BROS... It's a bird's-eye view, showing the BIG BANG THEORY signing session at the WARNER BROS booth ( on Friday, July 21, 2017 ). Take a very good look at the size of that crowd.
I'm going to share some random thoughts about SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON.
The last time I attended SDCC was in 1990 ( I think that was BEFORE it moved to the convention center ).
I also want to remind people that SDCC is a NON profit convention. That's one of the many reasons I've never criticized this event.
During the seventies and eighties, it was NOT difficult - or expensive - to attend SDCC... Boy, have times changed!
If I had been lucky enough to have attended SDCC 2017, I would have appreciated every minute of it.
One of the first things I'd do, is pick up all the freebies I could get my hands on.
I also would have loved to have attended some of the autograph sessions. I would have been genuinely excited by that.
Screengrabs above are from the BIG BANG THEORY signing at the WARNER BROS booth ( source WARNER BROS FACEBOOK page ).
Let me get this off my chest, I'm sick and tired of hearing idiots rant about the movie and television aspects of SDCC. Regardless of what some folks say, those things have been part of SDCC since the early days.
Comics have had a showbiz connection since at least the thirties ( radio - serials - movies - tv shows - plays ).
It irritates me, when I hear RETARDS COMPLAINING about items that were given to them for FREE!... If you don't want it, DON'T TAKE IT!
I've seen far too many YOUTUBE trolls HAPPILY DESTROYING the items they were GIVEN. Those items include, posters, bags, books, comics, figures, and even AUTOGRAPHS! Let me say it again, if you don't like something, why the hell take it?!
Photo above shows various comic-con publications, hotel key cards for BIG BANG THEORY and WESTWORLD, a promo card for BLADE RUNNER 2049, and a WARNER BROS promo bag for the BIG BANG THEORY.
Every time some UNGRATEFUL DOUCHEBAG destroys, or disposes of items they got for FREE, another person that wanted that item, goes home empty-handed.
Screengrabs above are from the KANSAS micro-concert ( SUPERNATURAL panel )... source YOUTUBE.
I seldom have any interest in panels, and even less interest in spending RIDICULOUS amounts of time WAITING to attend them. Having said that, I would have made an exception for many panels at this year's comic-con. I would have loved to have attened the BIG BANG THEORY, TWIN PEAKS, WESTWORLD, BLADE RUNNER 2049, ATOMIC BLONDE, and SUPERNATURAL panels.
SUPERNATURAL'S panel actually had a live performance by seventies rock group KANSAS. I've seen several YOUTUBE videos, and it looks fantastic.
Free promotional posters for the BIG BANG THEORY, WESTWORLD, the PUNISHER, and the SIMPSONS ( Photos from EBAY )... I love things like this.
If you haven't already figured it out, most of the items people throw away, are the types of things I usually hang on to - such as, small posters, flyers, promo cards, post cards, bags, books, magazines, programs, and just about anything else.
Screengrabs above and below show some of the countless EBAY auctions of FREE items obtained at COMIC-CON. These types of souvenirs end up being sold for OBSCENE AMOUNTS of money. If, I was lucky enough to win a chance to obtain a FREE poster autographed by the cast - in front of me, I sure as hell would NOT be selling it!
A lot of folks resell exclusive merchandise for at least double what they paid for it, and I do NOT condemn them for doing that.
However, most of us know, that FAR TOO MANY professional flippers, professional autograph dealers, and greedy-parasites, always try to make money off of ANYTHING they got at SDCC for FREE!... And THAT DOES PISS ME OFF!
There are also people that attend events like this via 'press pass' for FREE, and far too many of them are NOT journalists!
Screengrabs above are from the BIG BANG THEORY panel ( source YOUTUBE ).
Whenever, I've gone to any event, the first think that goes through my mind, is gratitude that I'm lucky enough to be there.
It doesn't matter if I'm at a film festival, movie screening, auto show, or whatever, nothing goes to waste with me. Any duplicates, or items I don't like or want, goes to family members or someone else that will truly APPRECIATE those things.
Just for the record, I love taking photographs and videos when I'm at any public event ( I've always loved photography ).
Screengrabs above are from the TWIN PEAKS, WESTWORLD, and BLADE RUNNER 2049 panels ( source YOUTUBE ).
The main reasons I stopped attending 'pop-culture' events were, admission prices, the creation of V.I.P. passes, and the absurd behavior of many so-called 'celebrities' AND attendees. These types of events - EXCEPT for SDCC - are dead to me.....
The last convention I attended was in 1988.
ReplyDeleteIt was "back in the day" when you didn't have to pay for photo ops or autographs, when the celebrities happily gave out 8x10s to anyone who asked (and back then, fans were appreciative and took those photos home and likely framed them)! My firsy convention was in 1972, and it cost $2 a day for three days, or $5 for the whole thing. And we had celebs there! Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barrett, Jimmy Doohan, and from the art world, Russ Heath, Vaughn Bode, Jeff Jones, and more. The dealer's room was terrific, and everything from 8x10 stills to movie posters ran a buck or three each. I had a fanzine that was 25 cents and most there sold for a buck or LESS. Several rarely seen movies and TV episodes were in 16mm and played for free. And the fan film was consisted of imaginative films that were Super 8 backyard or basement epics, often with lots of stop-motion dinosaurs, costumes, sets, and matte paintings...
Oh well, no use in rambling on. I quit going because for me, it's just not fun anymore. Sorry to be so cranky, but it's ALL dead to me now.
I miss the fun also.
DeleteI remember how much cheaper it was during the seventies to the early nineties, and you almost always got more for your money.
These days, most for profit conventions are just glorified whorehouses. So many idiots don't think twice about forking-over ridiculous amounts of money for autographs from glorified extras / hacks, and then pay an additional amount to pose with the same whore - sorry, I mean "celebrity".
There are still small inexpensive local shows, but they're few and far between.
Professional re-sellers, speculators, greedy convention organizers, and greedy so-called celebrities, are the biggest reasons for the current cluster-fucks called conventions. Plus, brain-dead attendees are also to blame for the current situation.
When I hear people complaining about NO V.I.P passes at SDCC, I remind then that SDCC is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from events like NEW YORK COMIC-CON, WIZARD WORLD, and all the other FOR PROFIT conventions. I keep telling them it's NON-PROFIT, and they still don't seem to understand the meaning... They truly are brain dead.
You are NOT "rambling on", and I loved reading your comments.