BassGMan

Keep in mind that for Stan Lee sigs you usually have to stand in line in order to get a raffle ticket, and if you receive one of the winning tickets then you can stand in line to meet him and get one book signed. it is a process. A friend of mine carried around a heavy Marvel Omnibus to get Stan's sig. He regretted it.

They are starting to put up the programming schedule. Thursday up now.

I received my badge today. They did a nice job this year, actually put a few dollars into it with a nice little box, cool pin and little mini-program book. Just over a month and half to go!!

There is plenty going on all around the con. I've got the same as you this year, 4-day without preview night and my friend and I are staying a few miles away, but on the shuttle route. We'll still bus it into town just to join the hoopla and have dinner somewhere around Gaslamp on Preview Night. It is still alot of fun all around the area outside of the convention center.

$265 for all four days plus Preview night. Full meal deal.

Book earlybird! Plenty of hotels open right now. All on the shuttle route. I booked this way weeks ago. Linky: https://compass.onpeak.com/e/012600544/0#hotels

Good luck to everyone tomorrow morning! I've already got my 4-day but going for PN tomorrow!

One exception to the distance thing is the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina. This one is half the distance to the others at three miles. Could even be a long walk for someone who wanted to hoof it. I stayed there last year and it is a nice place, on the water, same boardwalk as the convention center, just three miles down. Room rate is just a bit higher than other hotels with Early Bird. We are already booked there again for this year, and if anyone is interested in early bird then sweep this one up quick as it will be the first of these to sell out. Bus comes frequently and the ride is about 20 minutes each way. Highly recommended IF you want to go the early bird route.

Yes, if you get in during the general you can add PN.

Yikes, see if you can team up with others to score tix in the general. Also spread word to dealers in case they may have an extra exhibitor pass you could buy.

I got in for the four-day but without Preview Night. I'll try for PN in the general. My friend and I were both working it and actually we both got in, but he got in a minute or two before I did since when I got in the system said my username was already being registered.

Yeah it is crazy. I mean we are still about five months away but when it comes to not even knowing if you'll be able to go or not, it can become a problem. If my buddy and I cannot get into this show then we'll make arrangements for another, perhaps the big con in NY. There are other timely factors that come into play when not even knowing if you are going somewhere or not. I am planning right now that I am going, but if I can't get passes I'll need to scramble to change my plans going forward. I even already passed up on a job during SDCC weekend so let's hope that was not for nothing! Hopefully this happens soon! Not only both rounds of ticketing but also the hotel fiasco and whatever else people make arrangements for.

Very surprised no pre-sale tickets have been announced yet. Well into February it has never been this late to just get started. Usually pre-sale, then general, then hotels are spread out, but this time I'm imagining 1,2,3... they'll be out one after another in short order.

Oh yeah I remember Second Genesis and Destiny quite well. I believe Steve Dillon (I may be wrong on his last name) worked for Second Genesis but then went to work for Diamond in Seattle so he technically was one of my bosses at the time. Great guy, very easy to work for, always friendly and willing to help. That was a different time for the comic industry, when those who were packaging up the retailers comics took pride in it and made sure each week the books were done right, etc Now, its a gamble if stores will get their titles in one piece. Perhaps that was a few years earlier but Steve Dillin was my manager at Capital City when I worked there around '94/95. Unless it is different guys with similar names. I hadn't heard that he was at Diamond before, but ya' never know. I do know that he was a school teacher before getting into the comics business, but he really wasn't into comics at all. Matter of fact he'd call them "widgets" or something like that and say he could care less about the products and what they were, but he was still good at his job and friendly with customers despite his disinterest in the actual products. He did know it from the business end. Yes, us three grunts working in the back putting together the orders for either shipment or pickup did take our job seriously. We did have a few perks like getting first crack at the random variant issues when placing our own orders at 40% off.

When I started in 1990, Diamond was buying up Destiny Distributors which was the local distributor here. The owner of Destiny ran the Seattle location for Diamond. I think Capital had an office in downtown Seattle, and then Diamond bought out Capital and then I left in 1996, I think it was 1997 when the comic market kind of imploded on itself and then finally bounced back a few years later. I think Diamond then shut down their Seattle location in 1997 or 1998. Were you around in the days of the smaller Seattle distributor Second Genesis? From what I remember Destiny was their larger competitor at the time. Right around 1990.

Did you pay for priority or express shipping? I didn't and haven't received any word of tickets being shipped yet, just wondering. Last year my tickets never showed up at all, and after plenty of e-mails going back and forth with them telling me to wait I was able to pick up new ones at will call.

In the very early 90's when I worked for the main comic distributor one of my duties was to deliver the comics twice a week (yes back then comic stores got in shipments twice weekly) and on my route was the store McFarlane co-owned. At times he would do a store signing so I would go down early and hang out with him before people would show up. During one such signing he said to me "Can I share you some ideas I have?" and I said "Absolutely". He then proceeds to show me preliminary sketches of various characters which later would be come Spawn, etc. They were rough pencils, some inked, showing all four sides, his chain, cape, etc. He proceeded to tell me all about it and how he wanted to start a company up by creators. He is one of the coolest guys out there, I still cherish those memories because he was so down to Earth and then we proceed to look through all of my Amazing Spider-Man issues from his complete run as he signed them and tell me things about the covers he liked and didn't like. About four years ago he was up here in Seattle for the PAX convention but wasn't really announced, he was there for his Halo line. Even though nearly 20 years had passed he recognized me, got up from his tabled walked over and gave me a big hug and we got caught up. I hope I can make it over to his table to say hi at ECCC, but leaving my booth is generally difficult. With regards to an Image Expo, one would think they would have one with the recent move to Portland, the founders all being in town, the 25th anniversary, and that they have held an Image Expo here the last two years to coincide the day before the convention starts. Hopefully an announcement is made in the next week or two, and then perhaps we may hear of a Jim Lee appearance too. Was that Capital or Diamond? I worked for Capital in their Seattle office in the mid-90s for about 18 months until the branch was shut down.

Regarding Outlander, yes most of the first whole season is a sort of romance triangle with Claire battling her inner turmoil in staying loyal her husband back in the 1940s vs. the blossoming romance in her current life in the 1700s. What a dilemma! Of course that is mixed in equally with all the warring and problems with living in 1700s Scotland. Season two is less "romancey" but it is still part of the show. Personally I like that kind of stuff as it is more relatable to me than action, scifi or superhero movies, so I'm all in. There is a bit of sci-fi in Outlander relating to the time travel but outside of the setup it doesn't play into the series that much.

Certainly has nothing to do with comics but if anyone is a fan of the Outlander TV series on Starz, the two stars of the show will be there with a presentation at 11:00 am Friday along with a signing schedule. No way I'd pay for TV star signings but I'm very excited to go to their panel. Awesome show by the way for anyone who has not checked it out. Time travel back to 1700s Scotland. Me and the wife love this show. Yes, awesome show. ECCC offered some kind of Outlander VIP meet and greet with all kinds of signings and photos for an extra $495. Sold out quick, before I even had the option to buy. I wouldn't have anyway as that is way too expensive for me, though I'm a huge fan of the show.

Certainly has nothing to do with comics but if anyone is a fan of the Outlander TV series on Starz, the two stars of the show will be there with a presentation at 11:00 am Friday along with a signing schedule. No way I'd pay for TV star signings but I'm very excited to go to their panel. Awesome show by the way for anyone who has not checked it out. Time travel back to 1700s Scotland.

I think the last we heard is that presale tickets would go on sale early in 2017. Which means probably on a Tuesday or Wednesday coming up we'll get notice that the sale is that following Saturday. Could be next week or in a month.

There will be no ID checking as there will be no names printed on the tickets. Every ticket will look the same, other than how they differ for different days or full pass. When you order tickets you can order up to four of each type, sixteen total max and the only name asked for when purchasing is the one for payment. Same as every year before this. The non transferrable thing is a joke. Tickets were never assigned to anyone to begin with. Have a pass.... you are in.

They say non transferable but I'm not sure how that is going to be done. They are mailing out tickets starting in late January. No names will be on the tickets as names are not requested when purchasing. So there was never any name attached to a ticket in the first place! I've seen some sold on Ebay already and I imagine as the event gets closer more will start popping up.

My guess is that they had a very limited amount of them available. Full passes were $110, but they know every day will sell out, and buying them individually adds up to $150, so no need for them to sell that many full passes.

Yes, full pass already sold out, though I bought mine within a few minutes of the open. They are saying these tickets are non-transferable though they don't ask for any names for the tickets. Anyway, all four individual days are still available at this point, though that will cost $150 as opposed to the 4-day pass which was $110. Expect Saturday to be sold out soon, so if anyone still wants to go all four days you better be on it quick!