Boohoo!!! My streak Ended

Missing out on Friday and Saturday badges for Comic Con 2025 feels like being a superhero who forgot their powers just when they needed them most. You sit there, finger poised over the refresh button, heart pounding as if the fate of the multiverse hangs in the balance. And then—Sold Out. Just like that. It’s not Thanos snapping his fingers, but it might as well be. Instead of joining the con crowd in cosplay, you’re left with an empty cart and a heavy heart. You tell yourself it’s fine—you didn’t really need those two biggest days of the event, right?

Had 2 of laptops waiting in a virtual line

 Of course, Friday and Saturday are when all the best things happen. That’s when the big panels, the surprise guest appearances, and the once-in-a-lifetime merch drops happen. Meanwhile, you’re stuck imagining the con like it’s a post-apocalyptic wasteland. “Oh, cool,” you think, “maybe Sunday’s got some great exclusive scavenger hunts—because that’s all that’ll be left.” But no, while others are queuing for epic moments, you’ll be outside, probably cosplaying as a person who totally forgot to set their alarm for badge sales.

Still a long way in front of the line, and badges are near sold out

But hey, at least you’ll get more  sleep that weekend. No need to wake up at 5 a.m. to beat the crowds or risk dehydration while trying to navigate the chaos of the exhibit hall. You can take solace in the fact that you’ll have all the time to watch everyone’s social media posts from the comfort of your couch. And maybe—just maybe—you’ll convince yourself that Thursday and Sunday will be enough. Or you’ll just give in and buy a ridiculously overpriced resale badge because, let’s be real, FOMO always wins in the end.

And the dreaded words "Sold-out" popped on the screen

And even this moment I'm doing this entry trying to convince myself that it's ok. It's not. Would I be able to score those two days for general release or just throw in the towel and accept that my streak ended.

And we're off again in July 2023

It was my weekend off and was perfect timing for SDCC to have their returning attendees to have their badges purchased this day. But again, me and another 50-60k people out in the world are probably ready for this. 8AM PST is the hour that we should be logging in and an hour wait to be placed in a virtual line. The first few minutes was already hitting a snag. It was not letting us wait and just gave us a notice that we'll be re-directed. I was like, "probably normal since people are starting to log in" Another 20+ minutes then this happened. "MAINTENANCE". Now there's a problem. I was logged in two computers, one under my account and another to Anna's. FB and Twitter started blowing up. people are now frustrated and but we are all not surprised. And now people are speculating that it might not even happen today and get re-scheduled. 9AM and stil no news. Wondering whats gonna happen next. Then a twitter was sent out that they found and resolved the issue. Registration will commence at 9:30AM and pre-sale will be at 10AM now. Now I was excited the moment it came up and saw that little walking guy that would indicate wher in line we're at. Now it's just waiting whether the tickets would be sold out by the time I get the chance to buy the badges. And I got in under my account. Anna's was still an hour away. To my surprise all days are available including Preview Night. But I had to skip that since thats only 3hrs and I would have to cough up another $55.No thank you. My friend Vinh wanted to go on Thursday and Friday only but at the very last minute decided to go on all days. I think we had lady luck on our side. So I went and left Anna's account still in line just wondering if it would be able to get in. I returned some stuff I bought from Amazon to UPS and by the time I got home, Anna's account was still in-line. Waited again for another 10-15 minutes, and got in. Thursday and Friday were the only days left. This day ended well for us. And now people at work would just be like, "How are you able to get those badges and can you get me one?". Argghhhhhh. It's just..........

3 days and counting

The biggest pop culture convention is about to begin in a few days. San Diego Comic Con is back. Although last year, there was a special edition which is a toned down version, and I mean toned "down". But it seems it has not gather that momentum just yet. A few of the mainstay companies wont have a presence and there were several things that was able to get access to. One would be parking. Yes, parking is a big thing that you have to register ahead of time to be able to buy spots on days that youd be attending. And thats not guaranteed as well. Ace parking is unfortunately the sponsored/endorsed/official company that handles this. On the map provided, there's only one available parking structure that close to the convention center and thats the rate for that day. Another thing is the hotel room availability. Bookings the hotle rooms is also a nightmare. It's like buying the con tickets but the price per night is astronomical. So now you can imagine the amount of money you'd invest just by attending a 5-day event. And that does not include transportation whether through flying or driving, the food, the merch that for sure youd buy and any other things that you require. And mind you, whether it be freebie items that companies would hand out or exclusive items, they go for big bucks on Ebay, Mercari, FB marketplace, Craigslist, Offer-Up etc. This explains why the crazy numbers. And to all those cry babies out there saying that these attendees should be considerate in selling any of these items for a high price, lets see if youre willing to fork out thousands of dollars of your own money, be in line for a minimum of an hour and just be a nice person buying things and lugging them with you back home and sell it to a complete stranger for maybe a mark up of $10 from the original price. Then............

SDCC 2018: Day 1

First day of the Con. And I know it's gonna be brutal since I have both kiddos with me.

               

Jurassic World booth by Mattel

                       

Sideshow Collectibles booth

                      

SDCC reveal and exclusives

Q-Fig Thor vs Hulk

                       

Pinkie Pie (Kotobukiya) & Pennywise prototype

Saluting the end of day 1

And a swarm of Marge Simpson's

The madness begins

 The constant argument and yelling coming from these two little copy of me and Anna are grueling. The mere mention of Comic-Con sends them to a frenzy that I'm starting to doubt myself whether I'd be able to handle the punishment for the next four days.

 

 We're getting ready to pick up the badge today and already, they want to dress up. I'm running a scenario in my head how all three of us be able to enjoy the Con. It's definitely gonna be something this time compared to last years.

SDCC 2017 Cosplayers

In every convention there's a slew of cosplayers. SDCC is probably one of the best in the nation.

Here's a few from this year






















Cosplayers are one of the pillars that made SDCC what it is now.

Check our Flickr page for more pictures

SDCC 2016 1st Day

 After years of going to the Con, I never felt that it was as crowded as it used to be. And I was not alone, Vinh felt the same way. One factor would be the new badge system which now adapts RFID scanning.

 We were also able to get as much as the stuff that we wanted except for Anna's Tokidoki items. That booth was as crazy as the Hasbro booth.


I was also able to go home as early as 3pm. Only thing is, I was not able to take as much pics. That would be my mission for tomorrow.

SDCC: First day

We're sooooo ready for this. Me and Happy woke up early and prepared for our big day. She's still asking me where is her witch costume. I did want her to dress up but as someone else. Found a really good costume of Goku of Dragonball Z on Amazon and it won't be here 'til Friday.

I was threading on uncharted waters. I have never brought Happy with me by myself but always with Anna. I'm already expecting her to get bored by noon. But this dad is on a mission and have a few tricks up the sleeves.


When we got there, I told her that our goal for that day was to collect as much buttons as we can and it worked. We also went to several booths that interest her such as Hasbro's My Lil Pony, Bandai's Dragonball Z, LEGO etc.

A veteran of Comic-con: Ate Amie
I even got her to fall in line in one of the booths for me for a good 2 hours. The only downside to this was, I wasn't able to take pictures as much.


We had a blast even though the place was packed. Was a bit disappointed coz when I asked what she wanted, she told me that she likes Twilight Sparkle from the Hasbro booth, which we all know is always packed with scalpers.... Oooops I meant people.

I explained to her that we'd try on another day but since I had so much fun with her and she did not give me any problem that day, I'll buy her Princes Celestia from the Entertainment Earth booth instead. She's was neither sad nor happy about it, but she then realized that this is better than going home with nothing... smart kid.

SDCC 2015

I'm still stoked up 'til now and I can't believe that we're still able to get a 4-day pass to this years Comic-con. We've been lucky so far and I just wish that it'll keep going this way. I did get a shot for preview night but opted not to. It was just a rip-off since it's like paying for a full day of Sunday for only 3 hours on Wednesday.


We went to Town and Country to pick up our badges which was a breeze. The only problem was the traffic going there. Happy was also with us, to save me the trouble of getting her a badge every single day.


Happy is definitely looking forward to this since she wants to dress up as an "evil witch" and those were her exact words.

SDCC 2014: Preview Night and Day 1

A few highlights to this years San Diego Comic-Con. Nothing has really changed. Same venue, almost the same vendors and the never ending same old lines.

Number of peeps also rose and navigating through the floors has somewhat more challenging every passing year.

The Hasbro booth

Hasbro booth at SDCC 2014

New rules, same lines

 It's the 1st official day of Comic-con. I came in at 6:30AM thinking that it would be no problem getting in. I was sadly mistaken. Low and behold, there's a line to get in the building. I have the badge already, but that doesnt help.

 I was then pointed to a direction heading at the back of the building thinking, maybe this was a Hall H line since it looks like people were camping out. 

 And this was freaking 6:30AM!!!! WTH!!!

I'm like half a mile away from the front doors. Geezzz....