My First Time At L.A. Comic-Con [Opinion]

Does anyone want to hear about a random guy’s first experience at LA Comic Con ever? Well, if you don’t want to, you can stop here and read about something else. Otherwise, press on below:

A Public Service Announcement

A bit of warning for anyone wishing to attend LA Comic-Con in the future; entering the LA Convention Center requires you to have two things: your ID and your vaccination card with all of your previous vaccinations on it. They accept both physical and digital versions of your vaccination card, but you need both the card and the ID. Without both, you can’t even get in. So don’t be like me and forget your vaccination card. Make sure you have both, or you won’t have a good time.

Also, for people taking the Metro to LA Comic Con: be aware that it’s a long walk from the nearest Metro station (7th Street/Metro Center) to the LA Convention Center. Yes, you’ll save money getting a parking spot by taking the Metro. However, you’ll pay for it with your feet. It’s a long walk to the Convention Center itself, and you’ll be doing a lot of walking once you’re in the Comic-Con itself. If you don’t like the sound of that, then you might want to consider paying up for a parking space. Now, onto the LA Comic-Con itself.

LA Comic Con 2021: Booths

The first thing you note when you first walk into the LA Convention Center (South Hall for me) is the size. The LA Convention Center measures a grand total of over 720,000 square feet of internal area for the record. However, that’s just all numbers. You don’t get a feel for how big the building is until you’re actually in it.

I spent most of my time in the South Hall, where most of the booths were. You can see just how massive the South Hall is in the picture above. It means that there were a lot of booths. The booths sold virtually everything you could expect from LA Comic Con 2021. There were a lot of booths selling comic books, but only one I could find that sold manga. A pity. However, there were also a lot of booths from new creators selling their original works.

Books weren’t the only things at LA Comic Con 2021, though. Clothing booths were selling themed merchandise, mostly of anime. There was also a booth that sold custom face masks for those who wanted to live the pandemic life in style, although, for some reason, I couldn’t find it again after I saw it—a pity.

Plushie booths were common at LA Comic Con 2021, with Pokémon plushies being the most popular. I actually bought a Magikarp plushie at one of these booths. I couldn’t help it. There were also other plushies, including a brand called Squishmallow (which are exactly as squishy as they sound), various pillow plushies, and even boba tea plushies for some bizarre adorable reason. Seriously, don’t stop selling these plushies. They’re a moneymaker.

There were also booths selling random miscellaneous stuff. What stuff, you might ask? Well, from what I saw, some booths sold pocket watches, soaps, incense, teas, reproduction weapons (both plastic and metal), posters, and probably a lot more that I didn’t even get around to. There were also a few booths selling video games—both modern and old. I found one booth selling Nintendo 64 games, of all things. If you want it, it’s probably at LA Comic-Con. This is one guy who went home very happy with his purchases.

LA Comic Con 2021: Other Stuff

Booths selling stuff wasn’t the only thing at LA Comic Con 2021. There were also exhibits, like the one of the TARDIS above. In addition, various cars were shown, like the Knight Rider car, a car from the titular Pixar film Cars, Herbie, and even a reproduction Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story. It was a geek’s fantasy over on the right side of the hall.

One exhibit even had a working reproduction WALL-E from the titular Pixar film. And when I say “working,” I mean it. The treads were fully functional, and the controller guy was making him roll around for everyone to enjoy. He even had working eyebrow things to boot.

LA Comic Con 2021: Complaints

Unfortunately, not all was perfect at this year’s LA Comic-Con. My biggest complaint is the lack of chairs. Remember how big I mentioned the South Hall was? Well, walking around all the booths, there was a killer on my feet, and much of it was due to the lack of chairs. There were nowhere near enough chairs available, and the ones present were already filled up with people. As someone who walks to and from the LA Convention Center via Metro, my feet were not happy by Day 2. It’s a big reason why I didn’t attend Day 3. My feet would’ve fallen off if I had.

My other complaint is the price of the food. Seriously, I know you’re trying to make money off of us, but do you have to be that obvious about it? $12-14 for a tiny pan pizza. $12 for a sandwich I could’ve gotten in Ralphs for half that price. Even a bottle of Coca-Cola from a simple vending machine costs $5. Seriously, you’re already making loads of money off of us. Trying to gouge us from the food is a tad much. I honestly think that if you just lowered the price a bit, you might have more people buying food. That’s it as far as complaints.

Conclusion

Honestly, despite the bad parts about it, my first time at LA Comic Con was great. I had a lot of fun just strolling around, looking at various booths, and buying stuff that I liked. If this is what this year’s LA Comic Con is like, I can’t wait for next year’s LA Comic-Con. At least, hopefully, there will be a LA Comic Con 2022.