SIlver's San Diego Con report * MANY PICTURES*

[Silver]

Hey Everyone!

 

I just got back from the SDCC yesterday, and thought I would give you all a post of some of the stuff I saw. I bought a new camera a couple of months ago, so I decided to put it to good use at the con this year and took a lot of pictures.

 

So Wednesday morning, fellow board member Inaflash and I took off for San Diego, about a 5 hour ride from Las Vegas. He was staying through Sunday; I flew back on Saturday afternoon. We got to the convention center about 3:30 or so and got our badges and went in for a couple of hours before it opened on preview night.

 

From a comic book purchasing perspective, it wasn't the best San Diego I have been to. First off, my collecting interests are kind of narrow; second of all, as has been reported repeatedly, the number of dealers is shrinking. Third, online purchasing is changing my view of the Con from a highly anticipated once a year buying opportunity to a fun time. If having fun is your goal, San Diego will not disappoint you. Hey, there’s always another Heritage or Comiclink auction if all you want to do is buy comics!

 

So here are the books I bought at the con.

 

First I got this nice single digit Superboy at Terry's Comics. He has had the book awhile and gave me a nice price on it. I now have five of the first 10 Superboys. This is a CGC 7.5:

 

 

When I was at Terry's I ran into Greggy, he was on a buying spree, but I will let him tell you about it.

 

The last book I bought that night was from Dale Roberts. He has picked up some nice stuff since the last time I saw him. I am surprised any of it is left with San Diego being so late this year. I bought this pretty pre-hero Brave and the Bold that has incredible gloss and page quality

 

 

Thursday I bought the rest of the comics there that I ended up getting. I spent some time at Harley's booth and bought another Superboy I needed (now only need 15 more to complete the run!)

 

 

 

and the three Brave and the Bolds are upgrades for me:

 

 

I got this Adventure at a place I can't remember:

 

 

 

And my last purchase was for this from Inaflash....yeah, I went all the way to San Diego to buy comics from a guy I see all the time

 

I don't really collect this series but I have always liked the 178 and 179, so now I have one of the two in nice shape:

 

 

I met a couple of board members for the first time and got to chat with them, TupennyConan who worked at Dale Roberts’s booth, and Adamstrange. Chatted with Greggy a bit and saw FUELMAN at Southern California Comics.

 

A couple of things I noticed. Slabbed books were mostly unreasonably high priced. It's almost as if the dealer is *afraid* to sell it for less than 3 times guide or more thinking he may have sold it for too little. For my tastes I would rather buy slabbed books in auction formats. I have picked up many nice slabs in auctions for OS guide. Another thing, most raw books I saw were just simply overgraded. That is surprising because with so many slabs around the convention, you would think the dealers know what the different grades look like. There are exceptions of course, Ron Murry usually undergrades or is spot on, as is A-1's Brian Peets.

 

World Wide Comics Steve Ritter had an amazing selection of books, and his booth was usually very crowded. Metropolis had many nice books, but I saw a whole lot more slabs and a lot more bronze age slabs than I remember seeing from them in past cons. Ted (Superworld) had a nice display of books as well. It is always fun to talk to Ted.

 

A final note on comics, I am fearful of any more dealers leaving the con. I have no clue what the future of this convention is, but I would have to think that it's future as a real comic book convention may be in doubt. Too bad really, cause I love the con, this was my 21st time attending.

 

So that was really it for my comic purchases. So next it was off to enjoy the other sights and sounds of the con.

 

I was walking past the Stargate booth Thursday morning and I saw a line there. If you let them put a tattoo on your forehead, it would be your pass to go see the premiere of the new Stargate movie Continuum on the deck of the USS Midway with the cast! Being a Stargate fan, I was all over that. Here are some photos I got before it was too dark. I sat only four rows behind Richard Dean Anderson and the rest of the cast:

 

 

That wrapped up Thursday for me. Friday I got a bunch of pictures of before the show opened and some of the booths and displays without a ton of people around:

 

 

Check out the Lego displays:

 

 

Ok, you can tell the political season is here, check out these two t-shirts, the Obama one is an Alex Ross:

 

 

This falls into the category of WTF?

 

 

Even Darth Vadar waits in line at Comic Con:

 

 

Okay, by far people dressed as the Joker where all over the place, here are few I got a shot of, from the lame to the not so lame:

 

 

This guys costume was so awesome it jammed the aisle as people tried to take pictures, I took a few:

 

 

I overheard this girl say she spent several thousand on this costume. She drew the design and sent it to a costume maker in Canada. Looks like Nintendo's Starfox to me:

 

 

and here are the other costumes I got pictures of, which probably only represented a fraction of the people dressed up there. Saturday was the best for this kind of people watching. The guy with cheetah hair probably wasn't in costume

 

 

You have heard the con is crowded; here is what it looks like:

 

 

Finally, it's a comic-con! Here are some shots of dealer booths:

 

 

Well, that's it. I need a better flash for my Nikon D80, the built in one really isn't sufficient for a lot of indoor photography. Alll in all, the con is fun. People who are bemoaning the lack of comics just want it to always be what it was, I get into video games, movies etc, so I like the con and there are a lot of places for me to buy old comics at better deals anyways. Hung out with friends, talked comics, saw some cool stuff, all in all, a very fun time.

 

 

 

[HOTFLIPS]

Wow, awesome pics. thanks for sharing!!

[BrianR]

Great report and Nice pictures!! I think the guy in row 6 picture 1 is looking for attention based on his costume. Its just nutz what people will do/ wear

[WiseGuyX]

Cool, it looks like a lot of fun

 

Thanks for the pics

[-cryptkeeper-]

Great pics (thumbs u

Thanks to share

[ciorac]

Fabulous report Silver

[joe_collector]

Wow, and I hope you paid an arm and a leg for it.

 

[Silver]

Wow, and I hope you paid an arm and a leg for it.

 

 

That's just...mean!

[thehumantorch]

Lots of great pics. Thanks for taking the time.

[spookley]

Silver,

Great Report!! Lots of pictures

By the way, do you remember what the BB 28-30 and the early JLAs were priced and graded at.....from Dale Roberts' booth?

thanks

spookley

[Silver]

Silver,

Great Report!! Lots of pictures

By the way, do you remember what the BB 28-30 and the early JLAs were priced and graded at.....from Dale Roberts' booth?

thanks

spookley

 

Alot!

 

Dale had a lot of nice books. His pricing is very agressive, but he will deal a bit. I got the B&B for a fair price. I can't say I remember the JLA books though.

[Ze-man]

I agree , Dale does consistantly have the goods, and most are priced accordingly. But he can be talked down on price if you fetch him a soda or hot dog.

 

That said, his talked down price is still steep, but I still bought a few in Chicago.

 

Thanks for all the photos and your report.

 

Did he still have that B&B #1 slabbed yet? I shoulda bought that one raw.

 

 

 

 

[jokersrevenge]

nice thanks

[aardvark88]

Excellent pics! Amazed so many fans in costume plus an action photo of Ron Murry! Glad you enjoyed the Stargate Continuum bonus. Don't think they promoted it enough on the SDCC website.

 

Lots of unexpected bonuses like Hugh Jackman doing a presentation of Wolverine: Origins movie!

[whisp]

Looks like you had fun. Nice pics.

 

One day I got to get to one of these conventions.

[thirdgreenham]

Well, at least the Superman in San Diego had a bit of meat on his bones.

 

 

Compared to Chicago:

 

[joeklecko]

Great report Silver. Thanks again for those passes. We had a great time too.

[Mac Man]

I always like seeing the pictures of all the dealers--gives me a chance to see what "big fish" they're advertising most. Thanks for the pics--great stuff there!

[Silver]

Great report Silver. Thanks again for those passes. We had a great time too.

 

I am glad that worked out for you!

[sterlingcomics]

Wow, and I hope you paid an arm and a leg for it.

 

 

Interesting that the new "hip" revamp of WW failed...I peronsally like that run.