Comic-Con San Diego "Swag" Report 2004

I had the good fortune to attend Comic-Con International in San Diego again this year. I picked up many many Promotional items & Premiums from various booths. They are from Anime, Manga, Books, Movies & Television. There are Hats, T-shirts, CDRom's, Games, CCG gaming cards, Trading Cards, Key chains, Buttons, Pins, Stickers etc. There is a listing of items that I have in alphabetical order, right after the report (5 paragraphs down). Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

The Convention floor was HUGE this year, taking up the entire Center. It took a long time to walk to the other end of the hall and that was only if you didnt stop to look at things along the way. But there was so much to see it boogled the mind. Comics, Art, Sculptures, Cards, Dvds, Anime everything. Toy makers that had very unique lines, and the bigger companies also. It was so big that I could not remember where I saw something. Future warning to myself and others: If you see it buy it, because you may never find that booth again. There was a booth selling cool Anderson stuff- Space 1999, Thunderbirds & Logans Run etc. but I never found it again. Boohoo

I saw a few of the Panels and they were great. The Stargate panel was my favorite! I also saw the Aliens VS Predator panel which had great clips and the Actors as well. A few people had issues with waiting in line and tried to cut, but most people were just fine. The room was huge 6,300 people could fit in that room, I think. They didnt need to cut, there was space. The Fantastic Four panel gave out a pin. But didn't have any footage to show, so people started to walk out. Which is very rude. But how do does a company decide they are going to come tothe Biggest show and not bring some clips?! Silly executives (But the actors were good). My girlfriend saw the panel for the TV show Dead Like Me and just like the Stargate Atlantis actors, they were shocked that so many people came to see them. That They were popular in a Big way. It was all very cool to share the lovvve.

Due to the vast number of Exhibitors and Attendees, many booths had ticketed giveaways for their Premiums & Giveaways. I like the ticketing idea, but only when everyone has the same system. Sometimes you had to be present to win, while others posted the results of the day on a wipe off board. Sometimes a booth would say one thing and do another, when a new worker came on duty. Also since there were so many things to do and see, there was no time to go back to the booth & find out if I had won. If a booth did a drawing at 2:00 and you had to be present to win, but you were in a panel at that time you were out of luck. On Sunday, the LAST DANG DAY I finally won the right to buy a She-Ra figure for $20! I personally did not think anyone should have been allowed to buy a She-Ra figure unless they actually watched the show. That would most likely eliminate most, but not all of the men at Con and leave plenty of Action figures left over for those of us who truly wanted the figure. I personally made a choice not to buy any figures to re-sell on eBay. I didnt want to take away someone elses chance. I stood in line for several figure that I am keeping.

The one funny / sad thing was the misspelling of Comic-Con. 2004 was CCI's 35th year and you would think by now people could spell it. Warner Brothers had this GIGANTIC bag that had two teeny items that had Comic-Con misspelled on them. Like the Batman symbol pin had misspelled it "comicon 2004". The Exorcist the Beginning Holy Water is wrong also. How hard is it to add a Dash and an extra C? hahahaha Also considering the size of the WB bag, I am wondering if a t-shirt or poster was missing. Maybe it was misspelled as well hmmm?

Several booths had gaming tables set up. If you played the game for 15-20 minutes you would get some cards and possibly a discount on the starter set. My son played a lot of games! He was in heaven. Also the Sony Playstation booth gave out at least 3 different demo games for PS2. The CCG games were: Dragon Boosters, Digimon, Dragon Ball GT, Lord of the Rings, Mighty Bean cards, Mega Man, Versus Cards- Marvel or DC. Inu Yasha and a few other anime related card games. Heroclix figure was given when you played. I'm sure I missed a few.

I may write more as I remember things & they cross my mind.

Here is the list of items in Alphabetical order. Enjoy