ECCC photo ops, parties and more

11 JANUARY 2018
 

Emerald City Comic Con is only 48 days away - and it's time to take action to make sure you get everything you want.


Buy a Photo Op

If you want to frame a photo of yourself with the hottest love goddess on TV, you can buy a photo op with Yetide Badaki and other celebrities now. Don't delay on this - these do sell out.


Prepare for the Funko Lottery

Essentially it's a ticket raffle. Study up on where to go and when if you love Funko.


Think About Your Night Life

There will be night panels and various Seattle doings to hold your attention - but there are also some ECCC events and parties you might want to add to your agenda.

Guardians of the Sexy Vol. 3

"When fandom and burlesque collide live on stage." You have early and late shows on Friday and Saturday to choose from and yes, you have to be 18 or older. Sorry, baby nerds.

Qomix: Queer Comicon Party

Will you be in town on Weds, 28 February? Are you that way, as they used to say? Then you will want to mingle with your fellow rainbow nerds and maybe enter a cosplay contest. Also, if you are a queer nerd who's still contemplating ECCC attendance, know that this is a very LGBTQP+ friendly Con. You won't feel like an outsider.
21+.

KRACKLEFEST 8

Changing gears, this offers you stand-up comedy and nerd rock on Friday, 2 March. 21+.

You can get tickets to these fine events here.

Check Out the Exhibitors

Just to get excited. The Homegrown vendors will be all local, from bakers to artists to brewers and more. The regular showroom vendors you can examine here.



Buy Tickets

Thursday, Friday and Sunday are still available. If you buy before 16 January, they'll be mailed to you and you can skip the line to pick them up. Another option: participate in their ECCC Passport game and maybe win tickets.

See you in 48 days.

The Walking Dead photo op has been announced

30 JUNE 2016

The Walking Dead's first year at Comic-Con

And it's.... drumroll..... you in Negan's Lucille-bashing lineup!


Perfect photo op is perfect. First-timers, you may have seen online the amazing Walking Dead photo ops that are a major draw on the floor each year; the very first one is above. (You could lay down and pose with a gruesome expression next to the corpse. There were all of 2 people in line ahead of me.) You WILL want to get your picture taken in Negan's lineup, if only to make all your TWD fan friends at home seethe with jealousy. Booth #4237; make a note.

And the AMC panels are right where you thought they'd be. Fear the Walking Dead is at noon in Hall H on Friday - and it will have an installation "in the form of a yacht" behind the convention center at the pier. The Walking Dead will follow at 1 in Hall H with autographs at 3:30; Preacher will be a few hours later also in Hall H at 6:30. I have to say Preacher strikes me as more of a Ballroom 20 show but it's AMC so I get it.

Will the panel drop any hints about Negan's victim? Doubt it, but at least one cast member (and probably a few others) know who got the bat. And remember, if you're devastated that there's no Walking Dead Escape this year, you can swing by Universal Hollywood and do the new Walking Dead attraction. Although those have to be some Hall H-level lines.

ECCC photo ops go on sale 29 Feb at noon

23 FEBRUARY 2016




Have you been anticipating the autograph and photo op prices for Emerald City Comicon? They're posted now; just go to the guest page, hover over your favorite guest's photo and then click on the "..." that pops up. You'll see how much they're charging. Be aware that you can squeeze in up to 4 people if you want to split the cost.

Photo ops go on sale next Monday, 29 February, at noon PST - so be ready. And if you're wondering what other events and developments are transpiring, we still only know a few things but I've summarized most on the ECCC page.

The SDCC Daily

25 JUNE 2015




So was everyone happy with Thursday programming? I haven't heard too many strong reactions - maybe because all the big panels had already been announced? There weren't many surprises to be found today.

One of my first-timers "thought there would be more" but I think the sheer number of panels was mind-boggling. And Thursday covers every area - gaming, books, cosplay, comics, Hollywood, science, general nerd life. CCI also continued the trend of more night panels, which I think people appreciate. One: it gives people something to do at night that's free. Two: it gives attendees an opportunity to go back to their room mid-day and relax for a bit instead of forcing themselves to stay in the convention center for a ten-hour period. When you're staying out on Hotel Circle and facing a round-trip shuttle ride, that really helps.

Let's see what else we found out.


Toys'R'Us brought us their exclusives, including a classic Batgirl, Harley Quinn vs Batman, various Ponies, Jabba's Rancor Pit, and others.

The Uglydoll booth #3245 will have 2 new Star Trek Uglydolls.

Princess Leia's Blockade Runner will be on display at SDCC. If you're a casual Star Wars fan who doesn't always know where various artifacts rank, this is not your everyday Star Wars display.

This was part of the programming announced today but I have to call attention to it: Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys has a panel at the Con. It's called Nick Carter Goes West: From Boy Band to Zombie Western. This just proves that Comic-Con is a magical place where bizarre things can happen.

If you think Todd McFarlane's hashtag #McFarlaneBuildsSDCC is a bit grandiose, it relates to him having a new line of construction sets that have never been seen, let alone released. So that should excite McFarlane fans.

The Nerdist unleashed such an amazing array of panels and activities that I will need to cover it in a separate post.



Tomorrow we'll get programming for what might be the monster day of the Con. And I don't just say that because of Hall H - Friday is sure to dazzle. So be ready and don't get too overwhelmed by all the options floating before you. From this point on, Comic-Con is going to get very, very real. But you still have 2 weeks to figure out your priorities and map out the Con you want to have. More on that later.

Clarification on ECCC photo ops and autographs

25 MARCH 2015




If you're intent on getting pictures and autographs at Emerald City this weekend, you might be confused by the different rules on what's free, what costs money, what's appropriate and what's not. Luckily they've provided some clarity on the different categories.

Comic Book Writers and Artists

There's no special procedure for this; if you spot them in the wild or track them down at their booths, you're free to ask for either a photo or an autograph. Some may charge but most won't.

Authors

These are the writers in the Writers Block area and they'll have specific signing times. They won't charge.

Celebrities

This where we get into formal Photo Ops. You can see the prices here for those. There's also a schedule for autographs and you can bring your own item or have them sign a printed photo. All of this is for a fee.

Note: if you want to buy a Photo Op on site, you'll need to stand in line to buy it, then stand in line for the photo session - and you'll have to pay cash. So you want to skip the first line and/or pay with a credit card, buy online.

Voice Actors

They too have signing sessions for a fee. The official Photo Op machine isn't in place, but you can take a picture with your phone at their table - and yes, there's a cost for that too.


To break it down even more, writers and artists are mostly free, actors are not. And you'll need to do a certain amount of research on all of them to figure out where they're going to be. Finally, be aware that you can't take pictures in the Media area.

ECCC's canceled guests

20 MARCH 2015




As we count down the final days to Emerald City, it's hard not to notice that some changes have been afoot. Specifically, several of the more anticipated guests have bailed out on the Con. If you haven't checked the programming lately, you may want to make sure that your desired panels are still happening or at the time you think they are; for instance, both Finn Jones and Orlando Jones have had their schedules shifted.

Also:

Karen Allen, who was due to have her own panel and appear at the Raiders of the Lost Ark screening, will no longer attend.

Ditto Morena Baccarin, who has been preempted by a film commitment. She seems to have been replaced with Jewel Staite; anyone who wants a refund on their Firefly and Women of the Whedonverse photo ops can have one.

Disappointingly, Steven Yeun's panel has been canceled and it doesn't seem it will be rescheduled. The Walking Dead group photo op on Sunday is canceled as well.

LaVar Burton will not attend the Con at all. Neither will Dante Basco, who also has a new film commitment. The new guests replacing them: Marina Sirtis and Troy Baker.

Any photo ops that have been purchased will be refunded.


ETA: Jenna Coleman has bowed out as well. Stay tuned.

ECCC photo op pre-purchases are live

4 MARCH 2015




If there's one aspect of Emerald City Comicon that seems foreign to me, it's the system of photo ops, autographs, rules and prices. Probably that's because I can't imagine paying someone $60 to write down their name; at the same time, I do understand that many attendees would cut off a toe to get their picture taken with Norman Reedus or Lena Headey. Possibly this is the determining line between nerd and fan.

If you're an ECCC attendee ready to plunk down your cash for a photo, the schedule is up and the pre-sales are live. The most expensive option is the Avengers group photo for $205; the cheapest are a smattering of people like Finn Jones and Clare Kramer for a mere $30. You can see the autograph fees here.

What you get is a professional 8 x 10 lab-quality photograph, printed as soon as it's taken. Photo reprints are $10, digital copies $10, and $5 sleeves are also available for purchase. So if you want to send out that picture of you and Chloe Bennet as your holiday card this December, you can. (I think. Maybe there's a rule about that.)

Win your very own White Walker

10 JULY 2014

Last night I got all giddy over the grimly beautiful Bates Motel photo op; today we have a new one that will probably be just as popular. It also involves dead things, kind of.

That would be a full-size White Walker from Game of Thrones, courtesy of Geek Nation. Not only can you have your picture taken with him, you can enter a raffle to be the one who takes him home.  I was pretty sure there would be some kind of dragon photo op on the floor but a White Walker that you can put in your living room is genius. Details to come.

Bates Motel photo op

10 JULY 2014



While there are tons of photo ops at the Con every year, there are always a few that rank above the rest. Here's one that's a top contender and an excellent celebration of morbidity: A&E is recreating Norman Bates' basement in the Exhibit Hall. Yes, taxidermy studio and all. Even better, you get to create a custom GIF of you sitting behind Norman's desk with dead birds. I'm reminded of the first Walking Dead photo op, a grisly suicide-murder scene that everyone wanted to pose in.

The basement will be at booth 4016-4018, with the classic Bates Motel sign. It will be open:

• Preview Night from 6-8
• Normal Exhibit Hall hours the rest of the Con