Ah, Tuesday. As many of my fellow con-goers shuffle into their offices, coffees in hand, they will daydream of the life-changing weekend that was San Diego Comic-Con. As I sit in Entertainment Earth HQ, I hear my colleagues whispering feverishly to one another about the events in San Diego, and I’m inspired to share with our beloved fans and clients my experience working the massive, double-decker Entertainment Earth booth #2343 that delighted us all. Truly, it was an experience of a life-time – and even now, in the thick of afternoon business, our conjoined excitement as a company is palpable.
But I cannot speak for my coworkers – they will happily tell you themselves what an honor it was to meet and serve our fans in an upcoming interview.
I acted as press at the event, and my first act as a reporter for Entertainment Earth News was to attend a special taping of Conan at San Diego Comic-Con. Conan O’Brien’s guests that night were the cast of Game of Thrones – and boy, what a treat it was to see them in person! (You’d be shocked to see how tall Isaac Hempstead Wright – aka Bran Stark – is when he’s not lying down.)
My favorite moment from the Conan taping was when Kristian Nairn’s interview was interrupted by an enthusiastic crowd of audience members who chanted “Hodor! Hodor!” until the entire Spreckels Theatre joined in. (#HoldtheDoor.) Then Conan addressed the crowd, saying that we were “the best audience” – to which the chant became “Conan! Conan!”
It was a pretty special moment being part of an exchange of mutual admiration with Conan, even though it didn’t make the air on Sunday’s TV show. (Fun fact: There’s also quite a bit of swearing and slapstick humor that doesn’t make the air.)
Entering the convention center, on the other hand, was hellish – the sheer number of bodies trying to get through the double-doors when the center opened was enough to shock anyone, and with the new RFID system implemented this year, it was a struggle to travel from room to room. While the con-workers shouted “No running!” as the loud-speaker blared a welcome message, convention-goers still managed to power-walk to the hot booths in a flourish of excitement.
The staff at the Entertainment Earth booth was delighted to see responses to our new Exclusives this year, including bestsellers Aquaman Patina Pop! Vinyl Figure, C-3PO Action Figure, Joker’s Wild Batman Action Figure, Groot Push Puppet, and our various Convention Exclusive Pin Mate sets. The folks at Bif Bang Pow! worked tirelessly to bring fans the best quality Entertainment Earth Exclusives this year, and we are more than pleased with the results.
You can see one lovely member of our staff showing off this year’s Convention Exclusives from Bif Bang Pow! on CW6 San Diego News in the Morning here. (See something you like? If you didn’t get a chance to stop by our booth, that’s OK – some of our Convention Exclusives are still available, but in limited quantities. You can get them here!)
As in past years, we offered talent signings at our booth, and it was really cool getting to see our fans interact with their favorite celebrities. One moment that really stood out to me was when Melissa Santos from Lucha Underground was signing autographs, and a 9-year-old boy approached her. Now, you know how little boys feel about girls (gross!), and Melissa Santos was apparently no exception. When Melissa smiled at him, the boy ran away into the crowd of con-goers in an attempt to escape the inundation of cooties. A member of Entertainment Earth staff had to run after him and deliver him back to his parents, who urged the boy to apologize to Melissa. Melissa graciously accepted the apology and took photos with her youngest #1 fan. She even kissed him on the cheek! Gosh. Talk about cute.
The excitement of Comic-Con was definitely in the air, but it was felt none more so than by the Entertainment Earth staff, who celebrated the company’s 20th anniversary in April. But we weren’t the only ones celebrating – it was also Star Trek‘s 50th anniversary, and we celebrated with them by attending the Star Trek Beyond premiere at a showing event held under the San Diego stars accompanied by a fireworks display. Nichelle Nichols (aka Lt. Uhura) herself signed at our booth, and she was so lovely and charming – what a great way to celebrate 50 years of Star Trek!
But one of my favorite moments was while attending the fan-held Firefly panel, where our friends at Toy Vault enthusiastically announced the launch of our Exclusive Serenity Slippers for the very first time amidst a crowd of cheering Browncoats.
The bonus of having a press badge, too, was that I got to stand very close to Chris Pratt! I stood in Marvel’s press pit as the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy took photos with fans. Best moment ever: Chris Pratt signed our Convention Exclusive Groot Push Puppet! (This is not a drill.) Woah!
Celeb sightings were pretty abundant at Comic-Con. At one point, as I was walking among the crowd, a man with a familiar face stepped in front of me… and he was followed by a stream of fangirls. It was Firefly‘s Nathan Fillion!
Another very notable sighting… I was sitting on the second story of the Entertainment Earth booth when I looked down and happened to see a crowd of bodyguards ushering in the one-and-only Stan Lee. A coworker rushed after him and returned with a signed Convention Exclusive Captain America Chair Cape. Woah, woah, woah…
Talk about a thrilling convention! I had such a blast, and the experience was only enhanced by the excitement of our fans and clients, whose enthusiasm was completely infectious and made the entire experience such a pleasure. The staff at the Entertainment Earth booth was so humbled by the overwhelming response from our clients. Truly, it was an honor.
To next year!
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