Today was Returning Registration Day for next year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. A specified number of tickets were available for folks who paid attendance last year and here, according to one online report, is how long they took to sell out…
- 9:00 AM – Sale starts
- 9:32 AM – Preview Night sells out
- 10:05 AM – Saturday sells out
- 10:10 AM – Friday sells out
- 10:23 AM – Thursday sells out
- 10:28 AM – Sunday sells out
I can't vouch for those precise times but I bet they aren'r far off. This is 291 days before the con starts. Amazing.
I know a few pretty famous people who don't go to this convention because other cons will pay them a hefty guarantee and/or appearance fee to attend and sell autographs and the Big One in San Diego won't make those deals.
A couple of those famous people have complained to me — as if I had a smidgen of power to change things. Still, I ask them: "Why should the con pay you to be there?" And they're shocked that I or anyone would ask such a thing.
They reply, "Do you tealize how many people my name will draw in?" And of course, the reply to that is that the San Diego Con sells out in a couple hours without advertising a single guest! They don't need to advertise anyone. There are just plain no more badges to sell.