Question of the Week #3: What Is Your Regret From SDCC?

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 weeks question:

Deon Sinquefield
Houston, TX

My biggest regret was not getting the Lego Marvel Spider-Man figure. I kept putting off going to the drawing saying to myself that I can get to it the next day. Then when I finally decided to do it…I COULDN’T FIND WHERE THE DRAWING WAS HELD AT!!! No one seemed to know and I was running around in circles. When I eventually found it… the drawings were done for the rest of the day… which happened to be my final day at the con. (cue the sad walk away music)

Maria Torre
Tustin, CA

I visit a lot of conventions and SDCC is the best and most special one for me. My niece and I are two peas in a pod when it comes to convention-going.

My single regret is going last year with my boyfriend. He complained the whole time about lines and the heat. It didn’t ruin our fun, but it would have been better if he stayed at home working. Won’t happen again.

Ted Tarris
San Diego

My big regret at SDCC was in 2010, right before The Walking Dead came out. At the Skybound Entertainment booth, they had a custom-made zombie bust from KNB Studios. The last one of 25 different ones made. Came in a big case and everything. Signed by all the artists and the effects people who worked on the bust, including Greg Nicotero. It was a whopping $500. I thought it was too much money. But my regret set in quickly and I went back the next day to pick it up. It was sold out. Of course, The Walking Dead TV series came out later that year and was a huge hit, making my regret even worse.

Julie Smith

Not getting to do the Westworld off-site.

Darcy M.
San Diego, CA

Biggest regret has to be not buying the Sideshow Doctor Doom Deluxe on the throne at the con in 2005. I remember seeing it and thinking, “wow” … but it was very pricey (so I thought) at the time, and I had a comic book budget, not a giant statue budget. I had no idea how “hot” it would become, and on the auction sites the price soared to 5 times what it was being sold for at the con. I was eventually able to scrape enough coin together to finally buy my own, but not the deluxe version with the chalice and pedestal that was the SDCC exclusive.

So many more good memories, mostly from the times I spent volunteering.

Kerry Dixon

In 2022, I got an invite for the rooftop press conference with cocktails with the cast for a little unknown show that hadn’t aired yet — Interview with the Vampire. I hadn’t seen much about the series, and my immediate thought was, “Anne Rice? She used to sue fans, no thank you.” Cut to fall, when I saw the series, saw how unabashedly queer it was, how great the writing was, how much love and care obviously had been poured into the show… and fell to my knees. Luckily, I got to make up for it last year.

Michael Rodgers
Bogota, Colombia

2012: I waited in the Hall H line alone for 6 hours. REALLY had to use the facilities. Asked the people around me to hold my spot. While I was gone, Hall H emptied and by the time I got back, my line savers were gone, as were my hopes of getting into Hall H.

Charvon Herriotte
Southgate, Michigan

My biggest regret is not getting pulled in from the queue in time enough to get Saturday tickets to SDCC 2026 to see the Marvel panel. The three of us are huge Marvel fans! This is my cousin’s first time attending and my husband and I’s first time since 2017 when we made it through the queue to get Sunday.

Dlorah
Arizona

My biggest SDCC regret definitely falls under newbie mistake. We were new and just didn’t know.

The first year my sister and I attended SDCC in 2014, we got in the Hall H line because we wanted to see Marvel. We were literally under the tent right before getting inside. We thought the wait was taking too long and didn’t want to waste the day standing in line, so we jumped out to go do something else. We left the Marvel line because it was taking too long.

If I remember right, we left the line to go to a book panel where we each got a free book.

Mathew Aranda
Los Angeles, CA

For as many years as I’ve attended Comic-Con, I’ve had several highs, but when it comes to lows I can’t help but go back to last year’s Abbott Elementary experience. I tried attending their offsite on Thursday with my good friend Lissie (hey!) but after a two hour wait, we decided to call it quits and give up. So with that being said, I tried Friday morning lining up at 6:52am to get in. By the time we actually got inside it was 9:40am and my girlfriend and I were all ready to go have fun, only to find out that the pin set they were given away for doing all the activities inside were extremely limited in quantity and multiple people in line were told to come back today because they had ran out the day before. So when we got inside they were already out.

We had also heard that they had a fundraiser for schools and if you donated you would get a pin set so it defeated the purpose of doing all the activities. My take on that is if you want to raise money for schools, why not do it the whole week and not just that one day??? My girlfriend Jazmine and I tried to enjoy the rest of the offsite since we were already there but it was all such a mess: lines took forever to get personalized merch, caricature machines were down and took forever to print, the frozen treats were nice but when we tried to get on the Ferris wheel they told us you can’t take food on there so we said ok let’s finish and then go on it. By the time we got off, we saw the same operator let people on with the snow cones, and we were left annoyed and disgruntled.

This is an added extra on my side, but on Saturday my friend Lissie and I tried to go to the Abbott panel and to our luck, we were two people away from getting in only to find out the panel was at max capacity so we didn’t get in. I’ll keep watching the show but I’ve learnt my lesson when it comes to Abbott at SDCC.

Ariel Estandarte
Orland Park, Illinois

“Regrets … I had a few

But then again, too few to mention” – Frank Sinatra

I know there’s no way to do everything you want at SDCC so I don’t regret much. I do regret leaving the Her Fashion Universe show and going directly to the Gaslamp Lumpia Factory to eat. If I only decided to walk in the area of the Hard Rock Cafe, I would have been able to see the now famous Wolverine and Deadpool drone show. I was so far away that I didn’t hear or see a thing.

Andrew Surya
Mission Viejo, CA

Not attending the Coyote vs Acme panel.

Allocated a lot of my points for 10 am Funko drawings (and did not win even one). Learn from this mistake, y’all. Don’t do it. 🙂

Raymond Schaff
Albany, New York.

At last year’s Comic-Con, specifically on Saturday, July 26, I had intended to attend a memorial panel for writer Peter David later that evening at the Marriott Marquis. After I left the Convention Center with likely no more than 90 minutes beforehand, I killed time by trying to see the Peanuts pop-up store (which closed 10 minutes early), then actually seeing the Chuck Jones gallery, then going further into Seamon park for what I thought would be a quick trip to grab some much-needed protein. I didn’t consider how badly a burger stand could be backlogged with orders… on a Saturday evening during Comic-Con.

So, leave the hall earlier, and pack the right snacks if you can’t keep track of your food options.

Kim Twombly

My biggest regret was the time I prioritized sleep over getting in line for the Westworld offsite with friends very, very early in the morning. While Westworld did come to con two years in a row, I missed it both times. Lesson learned, take the time to “Do The Things” at Comic-Con because you will likely never get a chance to again! TV shows come and go, and we have these amazing offsites and events for a few short days. Thankfully, for Westworld at least, they had a small experience in the Hilton lobby, so I do remember having a small taste of the show’s experience.

Erin Tapken
Marion Iowa

My first SDCC working with the Ublog was 2019. It was the year of the Pacey-Con party and I had unfortunately chosen to fly out on Sunday afternoon, so I missed my very first opportunity to party with the crew and our followers. Because of the pandemic, it would be a very long 36 months before I cold remedy that with the Garylympics party in 2022.

Next Week’s Question: What Is Your Favorite Tradition At SDCC?

Please send in your Name, Location, Picture, and your response to [email protected] by Tuesday, May 26 to be featured! (If you have submitted for past questions, feel free to submit again!)