After a lot of waiting and hoping, it finally happened! Comic-Con, for real, reals SDCC in-person! And mostly normal! Let me give you a little 2022 recap.

First, let’s address some of those obvious changes with SDCC 2022 – The Covid Stuff

Clearly, covid is still an issue, but the team really did the best job they could to address it. Requiring the Clear app, with test or vaccine proof was just the first step. Pre-Con there were many pop-up locations to show up, show your Clear app or card with id, and get a wrist band. Granted the bright orange wristbands were worn all week and could get a little, well “ew.” So there was that, along with the obvious, a mask mandate. I am pretty happy to report I didn’t see many trying to skirt it. And happy to report, my family has all managed to skip not only covid but also the typical “con crud”.

But what about the Cosplay!?!?

With the week-long worn wristband and mask requirement, you can definitely see the impact in cosplay. Even with myself, it had me really rethinking if it was worth any cosplays that were requiring bodypaint. I actually opted out and shelved some of my many long-planned ideas since I was there all week. Though, one of our friends made the most out of her last day and went for it, all pretty in pink as the “Dread Queen – Persphone” (if you are a Lore Olympus fan, you know).

Everyone kind of scaled back and went more mellow routes or opted for only a single day of pushing the limits. Simple and scaled-down felt like an overall theme with most cosplayers. If you take any time watching any of the YouTubers doing SDCC Cosplay videos, you’ll notice it too. Not as many huge cosplays and a lot of overlap because there really weren’t as many. In fact, I’m pretty sure our friend Dude Vader was in every single one we’ve seen so far. But that’s also not a surprise, he’s the master at knowing where to be.

I feel like for the most part there was a lot more focus on just being there. Rejoicing in the fact we FINALLY got some time in with our SDCC family.

Merch/Swag-

Another thing that was really obvious, was the reduction in “free swag.” Normally you end up with so much that every day you must empty your giant SDCC bag. BUT definitely not this year. A lot of businesses were just recouping. Also, some of the smaller businesses I spoke with were telling me they literally only brought what they bought before the cancelation of SDCC 2020.

Sadly, I think this also left some people a little too grab-happy. I’m at a booth that is really geared towards being “family-friendly.” We’re a non-profit, and we try to donate at the booth just for the kiddos. Typically a great thing since most stuff on the floor is aimed at adults, but this year was different. Our normal spiel was sometimes met with those trying to say “…but not me right?”. Or, outright just grabbing and hoping we didn’t notice. It was kind of strange.

I have to say the best “free swag” in the con went to Doomlings, Paramount, and then Toynk. Toynk had meet & greets, we meet Jawa – Ariel Shiu! Other times they were giving out Garbage Pail Kids trading cards, and enamel pins. Paramount had a fun walk-through and reward for a multi-booth scavenger hunt, including a photo-op with Beavis and Butthead. The prize for visiting all their booths being a collection of buttons, a lanyard, sunglasses, and for the win, a fanny pack! I was wishing I had that fanny pack all week.

But Doomlings might have been my favorite! If you were lucky to spot one of their people with a “Ask me about the End of the World” shirt and chat with them you got some swag. Free shirts and the cutest enamel pins based on their card game’s characters. They also had a demo of the game going in the game room.

Honorable mention to Clerks 3 Booth for having a “Quick Stop” reusable bag and photo-op. It kind of soothed the stinging pain of missing out on the Mooby’s offsite pop-up restaurant.

Crowds-

Maybe SDCC sold the same number of badges, but ask anyone on the floor, especially Friday or Saturday, it definitely felt less crowded. *Last I checked the official numbers haven’t been released.

Maybe just the threat of covid or monkeypox was enough to keep some from attending?

What I was seeing and hearing was that there were a lot less kids. I think that was due to requiring a specific covid test for those younger ones that weren’t vaxed. One dad was telling me that was the case for his typical SDCC sidekick. (And, if you are wondering, I did still give those parents a little something for those kiddos missing out, because that made sense….and I’m not cold-hearted, lol.)

There were also fewer giant corporate booths dominating the main floor space. Some of the typical, like Star Wars remained, but a lot were scaled back. Lego and Sideshow in their normal setups. Though, Funko really went for it! Making their own tiny city of storefronts, “Funkoville” (still located near Artist Alley).

ADA-

Another big change, that actually completely caught me off guard is that ADA assistants, helpers, were actually charged full price for their buddy badges. For those that don’t know, ADA assistant badges are typically free with our badge. The reason being as even stated directly from Comic-Con’s site, “An attendant is present only to assist the attendee, and not for personal benefit.” They can’t get autographs or exclusives, they are literally just there to help.

I’m not sure if that caused an impact on the number of ADA attendants actually able to take part this year or what. But I do know it was a shock to my group as my assistant was suddenly expected to drop those kind of funds, to walk me around and carry my stuff for 2-days. EEK! I’ll save my rant, but let’s just say, those of us that really need the help, man, it wasn’t great, but I’m sure it had some impact on the crowds too.

SDCC 2022 is in the Books!

The short version of my 2022 recap, though it was definitely not the same old, it was still nice.

A little smaller, a little less over the top commercially. (Still not tiny, but just a little less cramped.) Probably also a good ease back. Kind of a mix of the old 1990s-2000s SDCC and the current version we think of. I’m not sure how I would have actually handled it if the crowds were the same as “normal” to be honest. But it was nice to be back.

I guess we’ll have to just wait and see what SDCC 2023 brings. I know I already look forward to it. While we wait, check out this, “7 Ways to Keep the Comic-Con Feels Going” to scratch that nerding-out itch.

Btw, I also wanna know how it was for you! Tell me, did you attend this year? Did I miss anything in my 2022 recap? What was your experience like? Make sure to let me know in the comments below!