The answer to the most frequently asked question about San Diego Comic-Con — when are my badges shipping? — is, in a way, “never”.

That’s because Comic-Con International has announced that they’re revamping badges for 2019, and this year, the “badge” will be made up of only the plastic badge holder with the usual slip(s) of paper detailing your name and days you’ve purchased, and a new RFID sticker. The plastic RFID card, first introduced to the convention in 2016 and which many now associate as the “badge” itself, has gone away.

Just like normal, though, you will still need to wear and display your badge at all times during the convention, and it becomes invalid if it’s missing either the plastic holder, the paper slips, or the attached RFID sticker. Also as usual, if for any reason you lose your RFID sticker or if it stops working, simply head to the Attendee Badge Solutions Desk in the Sails Pavilion with your Comic-Con badge confirmation e-mail (don’t have it? There’s now a button in your Member ID to resend!) and a photo ID.

There’s no word on why the change — perhaps it was cheaper, perhaps no one wanted to sponsor this year’s plastic badge, perhaps it’s harder to replicate an RFID sticker than card, perhaps it’s none of the above — but ultimately, it’s mostly just a small aesthetic loss. The plastic RFID cards were a cool souvenir, and we’re now shifting back to a look similar to pre-2016, just with an added sticker. We still expect the usual RFID tap-in and tap-out procedures to be in place.

Badges should begin shipping in roughly a week, though it always takes several weeks for all badges to be mailed.