In an effort to feature more attendees, rather than featuring just one per week — we’re featuring lots of you! We’ll have a new question each week, so be sure to keep an eye on our social media channels for each week’s question. Without further ado, let’s get into this week’s question:
Deon Sinquefield
Houston, TX
July 20, 2017…it started at The Tick Escape Room…
I was in line, it was hot, I was tired, annoyed, and a little bored. They tried their best to keep us cool with misting fans, but jeez… it was hot. So me being me… I struck up a conversation with this dude that looked about how I was feeling. We talked and complained with some witty one-liners about the heat and fans while having a few laughs. We went through the escape room together and decided to follow each other on social media afterwards. What I didn’t know was that hot and boring line started a 9-year friendship with a guy named Alex.
We chat a few times a month and make sure to hang out together during SDCC. These past 9 years, we have both gotten married, he became a father, and I became a grandfather. A nearly decade-long friend from simply hanging out in a hot line.
My other favorite line story comes from July 22, 2023 at the Marvel stage to meet Cosmo from the Guardian of the Galaxy movies. I had a “special” surprise set up and some people from Entertainment Tonight almost ruined my proposal as they started to talk about what was about to happen and I had to give them the “crazy eyes” and mouth the words “I’m the guy and that’s my girlfriend over there”.
Thankfully, it all worked out in the end including a pic with C.B. Cebuski and Nick Lowe of Marvel and a shout out from the awesome UBLOG.
Honorable mention…
Seeing the UBLOG team in ANY line is always awesome.
Roberta Peters
Coral Springs, FL
Four years ago at SDCC, we were outside behind the Marriott waiting in line for Tamashii tickets to purchase exclusives. We met someone and lo and behold we became such good friends since! He even gave us a nickname! We became his “Golden Girls”! He even brought his wife to Orlando to meet us!
David S
Houston, TX
It’s 2012, Mythbusters was around the height of their power, so I knew I needed to get in line a few panels early to get into their panel later in the day, and while in line, I made a few line friends along the way. We were upstairs outside between the tents and the glass doors and saw they were handing out swag for the panel. And not just volunteers handing out swag, but Kari, Tory, and Grant! They handed out these little packs of trading cards complete with a stick of gum and a little tin plate that had either “Busted”, “Confirmed”, or “Mythbusters” embossed into them. Really fantastic swag!
So we were a-buzz waiting for them to come down to our area to hand them out. As we’re chatting, we notice a really good Rocketeer cosplayer just walking back and forth not getting into any line. I say to the group, what if that’s Adam doing his Adam incognito cosplay run? We kind of dismissed it, but as he came closer, we all shouted “ADAM!” and the cosplayer’s gait breaks, he turns, pauses, and removes his helmet. IT WAS Adam! We all shout yay, the line turns and sees it’s him, we’re all cheering, and he went back inside. It’s great. We’re all really happy. It’s getting close to panel time so Kari, Tory, and Grant are moving through the line faster, handing out the cards, but are in a little bit of a rush because they need to get prepared for the panel. My line buddies and I sort of get passed over, and we cheer at them, and plead for the swag, and it was either Tory or Grant who threw some at us, but in true nerd fashion, it flies between my hands and smacks me in the face. We all have a laugh, he was like “ooohh, sorry!” but I’m like yay I got a thing, this is the best! We were all very stoked by then. BUT we were far from the front of the line and the panel was about to start, so the fear of not getting in started to sink in.
We see a No Face cosplayer walking around aimlessly, and think, Adam again? Yep, it was Adam again. Two sightings in one go. So good. One of the people in the line saw how much I loved Mythbusters, and how disappointed we were that we might not get in, so they gave me their card pack! The good news is, we all made it into the room a few tense minutes later, but we made it.
Sydney Asencio & Vander Hero Asencio
I have been going to Comic-Con for years now. I had never been to Hall H until last year. I was walking past with my two-year-old. There was no line and it was so hot and we were tired of walking. We got stopped right before entering and had to wait about 15 minutes, so we sat in the grass. My son ended up falling asleep and I carried him into the building. I held him as he slept through two and a half panels — including the Rob Reiner panel which made it extra special. Sleeping in line to get into Hall H is now checked off his bucket list!
Katina L.
San Diego
I was waiting in line at Hasbro in 2017. The Hasbro booth employee was handing out pens for everyone to mark up their shopping lists. I could tell that he was new to this, so I made conversation.
“Is this your first Comic-Con?”
“Yes. Ma’am.”
“Well you’ve got to sell that pen to the people in line! They won’t listen if you’re so quiet. Make that the best pen in the world. Use your outside voice. Then they’ll take your pens!”
He smiled and gained a little more conviction while distributing his pens. Two days later, I saw him taking the “continued” line to the wall. He was so confident and commanding! People were listening to him this time! As he was leading the line past me, I yelled “Lenny!” He looked at me, and without missing a beat, grabbed my arm and told everyone, “This is Tina. Y’all have to follow Tina if you want to stay in line! Keep moving! Follow Tina!” It was so much fun to see him not be so shy! I’ll remember that forever.
Brenda Figueroa
It’s not really a favorite, it’s facts. It seems no one who works these lines (Hall H) and outside venues know anything when it comes to ADA with the exception of Abbott Elementary. I have spoken to people who have asked those who work there if are we in the right line and even managers don’t know anything. Hall H — forget it if you are disabled, you have no chance. They had us running from one place to another and still got it wrong.
I took it to the top by submitting my frustrations and frankly SDCC doesn’t care (the disabled are the minority there). It sucks because this is one of the things my daughter enjoys. In 2024, we dealt with a lady questioning my daughter’s disability after being seated at one of the chairs labeled for that in one of the rooms. We also dealt with security getting nasty because I stood to the side of a restroom waiting for my disabled daughter when he felt I needed to leave. I tried to explain that I needed to be close in case she needed me, then I asked for a supervisor, and he made a mockery out of my situation. They don’t change year after year. I hope this year is different.
Ray
San Diego
Didn’t win tickets to meet Seth Myers so waited in overflow line just hoping to get a shot!!! Not only did I get to meet him but got a hat they were giving out for him to sign!!!
Kristian Hernandez
Cypress, Ca
One of my favorite SDCC line memories happened in 2015. I was sitting in the Star Wars Hall H panel when I got word that the Saturday Hall H line had already started and was growing fast. My 13-year-old son’s number one must-see panel was DC Super Hero Saturday Night, so I left him with a friend and headed over to get us a place in line.
While waiting, I struck up a conversation with another attendee who was disappointed that he had missed the Star Wars panel. Since I wasn’t planning to return, I gave him my return pass so he could get in. As the afternoon went on, I got to know the people around me, and like so often happens at Comic-Con, strangers quickly started feeling like friends.
Then suddenly a battalion of stormtroopers appeared. Before I could figure out what was happening, Hall H seemed to be emptying out. People were streaming in every direction, and I couldn’t reach my son or our friend. For what felt like forever, I had no idea where they were.
Then my son finally appeared. He was so excited he could barely explain what had happened. A few minutes later, the attendee who had used my return pass came running back and gave me a huge bear hug. He excitedly told me about the surprise Star Wars concert taking place behind Hall H.
I told my son we couldn’t go because we had our group’s spot in line and all of our gear to watch. That’s when the people around us, complete strangers I had met only a few hours earlier, insisted that we go enjoy the experience. They promised they would watch our belongings and save our place in line.
The concert was incredible, and it’s a memory my son and I still talk about today. But what has stayed with me even more than the concert was the kindness of those fellow attendees. When we returned, everything was exactly where we had left it.
The Star Wars concert was an amazing shared memory, but what I also remember is the kindness of the Comic-Con community. To me, that’s the Comic-Con spirit.
Tory Snyder
What started as a buying group of six strangers 14 years ago has grown into basically a family. As those six decided to line up for our first Hall H together then started inviting friends and family we have grown to 60+. I have years and years of amazing line stories and have spent more time waiting for and hanging out in Hall H with these folks than I’ve spent with my relatives.
Between actor visits, the Batmobile, drone shows, many many donuts and burritos, heated brony discussions and SO much laughter, it’s hard to pick just one. Because of that my choice is when I was lined up crazy early on a Wednesday morning trying to get wristbands for a Conan taping and met an amazing couple, Wes and Whitney, and we immediately hit it off. We hit it off so much that we decided to keep in touch and that started the whole thing for me. It is probably a big reason I keep coming back year after year.
Michael
Desert Hot Springs, CA
Back in 2017, on Preview Night we started to hear about the offsite for Westworld (mostly from you guys who did press that night) that it was great and very few people were going to get to do it. We decided to switch our plans. I just happened to have parking at the Bayfront that year, where the line for it was. I was in line at 5:45am.
A few hours go by and someone comes down the line and says, “Hey just a heads up but you’re probably not going to get in” and then came by later and said, “Yeah it really doesn’t look good for you guys getting in.” This wasn’t our first rodeo (we were in the first 1/3 of the line) so we stuck it out.
By the time we made it to the front they were only doing stand-by spots. I picked 3:30 pm and my friend picked 4 pm so that hopefully one of us would get in. With Westworld it was three people every half hour. I arrived and checked in and I was very clearly the 4th person. They let me into the prop area and then when it was time to go into the activation they said sorry and I left.
I go out and now I can watch my friends stuff while she goes in. She checks in and it’s her and only one other person. We’re both watching the door for every person who walks in but no one else checks in. It’s about 4 and the guy running it sees me sitting there and says, “Hey you weren’t able to go in the last group, would you want to go with this one?” Umm, YEAH. And that’s how I got into one of the best (if not THE best) offsite I’ve ever been to.
Ariel E
There was one time I was waiting in a long line at SDCC (which I was used to) but I remember a parent yelling at his kid as he was running around. The kid was probably 5-years-old . What caught my attention was that he was yelling, “Anakin, stop running and get back here!!” I then thought , you named your kid Anakin??? I was so worried about that kid’s future because he will be teased and bullied for the rest of his life all thanks to his parents. I hope the kid won’t become a serial killer. I know from experience about having a name you can get teased with. Luckily for me, Disney’s Little Mermaid didn’t come out until I was in college and I could handle whatever they threw at me. I do get that look when they call me at the Starbucks counter whenever I order a drink at Disney World.
Robert
Tijuana
So, I was in the line for The Rookie panel this last SDCC, and in front of me were two guys and a girl, just joking and talking, and they were speaking Spanglish, so I was hearing all the chisme, when suddenly, the girl goes like: “OMG! IT’S ASHLEY ECKSTEIN!”
So the friends are all like, go and ask her for a picture, and she was like no, I’m shy. So I tell her, if you want I can go with you if your friends hold the spot in the line, and she is like no I’m shy. So one of the dudes says well I’m going and I tell them I’m going too.
So Ashley was speaking with a couple of guys she was with, and as soon as she ends the conversation, we ask her for a picture, and she says of course! And this is the picture right there!
Now, this second one has something to do with that. Afterwards, we got back in the line, attend the panel, it was awesome. But in the morning I knew Nathan Fillion was going to have a signing, I just messed up the place, I went to the wrong one, because I had a screenshot but I forgot to put the booth, so when I got to the right booth, the lady told me she just gave away the last wristband, but she told me to come back at the time of the signing, they usually have extras and they let people around go in the line.
So I did, except I was outside, so when I got there, the signing was still going, I got some pics from the man himself, and I guess the line ended early, because he started leaving. So he gave a bunch of signed postcards to a lady, to give to the people around, and I was able to snag one. I got the Nathan Fillion signature, not the way I wanted, but I called it a win.
Next Week’s Question: What Is Your Favorite Offsite Giveaway/Swag From SDCC?
Please send in your Name, Location, Picture, and your response to [email protected] by Tuesday, June 16th to be featured! (If you have submitted for past questions, feel free to submit again!)
