Jenna Mullins/E! EntertainmentComic-Con is not for the weak. It is not for the frail. It is for the strong, the ambitious and those who are wearing comfortable shoes and aren't afraid of people basically rubbing up against you with their full body.
So I came to 2015 Comic-Con prepared, and this is how I spent Preview Night (Wednesday) and Thursday, the first official day of the biggest nerd fest of the year. And I am one of those nerds. If you expected a professional journalist to not fangirl all over Bill Murray, Jennifer Lawrence and Peter Capaldi, you are oh-so wrong.
I was armed with my LG G4 device, which has a camera with laser focus technology so I could take fast photos as the moment was happening and still catch every single eyebrow raise on Peter Capaldi's face. Plus the display was so clear it made photo-browsing on my device a breeze because heaven forbid if I don't capture Liam Hemsworth's adorable smile.
This was my Comic-Con experience over two days. Use these photos and tidbits in case you want to pretend to someone you were in San Diego this year. We won't tell anyone otherwise.
Wednesday: Preview Night
Hello, mob of humans. Welcome to Comic-Con!
Basically, Preview Night is a chance for attendees to walk the floor before Comic-Con officially kicks off. They can buy the exclusive toys and get the lay of the land before anyone else. But mostly, it was for those toys. People pay extra to get that Preview Night pass, and let me tell you, toy-hunters are serious about getting their gear.
Even though not everyone can get into Preview Night, it was still packed like a Saturday at Comic-Con. Me thinks it was so people could get their hands on the exclusives before anyone else, and the lines for Hasboro, Hallmark and Funko were insane.
Ah, the Funko booth. Far and away one of the most mobbed toy booths at the Convention. I was able to get a quick tour of all the exclusive toys they were offering, and let me tell you, I understand why fans are so bonkers over them.
They had over 30 Pop! exclusives that featured fandoms from Marvel to Doctor Who to Disney. They also had Pop! Tees, which were collective t-shits that featured the Pop! style figures, plus vintage, throwback toys called ReAction figures that I kind of got obsessed with.
Look at this Jaws-eating-a-man toy! I wanted to crack it open and play with it, but I was told by my boyfriend to not open the box. Bummer.
Across from Funko was the Marvel Collectors Corps booth, a program that just launched this year. If you become a member, you get a box full of exclusive toys, t-shirts and more every other month. It's like those beauty boxes you see on Instagram all the time, but for Marvel fans. The latest box was Ant-Man themed, which means a box full o' Paul Rudd. That's a box I want.
Hasbro had a giant "Furbacca" at their booth, and I loved it but I'm also certain will be haunting my nightmares for the next 2 weeks.
After I got my fill of the floor, it was time to head back to the hotel so I could rest up for Thursday. But first, I had to get through the Sharkando 3: Oh Hell No protest/promotion.
Well, it looked like a protest. I think they were protesting flying sharks? Which is actually a good thing to protest. Katy Perry's Left Shark was not there.
Thursday
Arrow and The Flash were larger than life on the Comic-Con floor.
Time for some panels! First up was Rock the Kasbah and featured the one and only Bill Murray.
This is what happens when you live in a world of Periscope, Vine and whatnot.
Murray came in like a rock star, through the fans while "Smoke on the Water" played. It was his first ever Comic-Con appearance and he was treated like the royalty he is.
When he left the panel, he went out the way he came in and stopped to take photos and give out high-fives. He was mobbed, but he took his time and slowly made sure his fans got to interact with him.
Next up was The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, which meant the final panel for the Hunger Games cast. Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson and Willow Shields were there to promote the movie, as was director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson.
Everything Liam Hemsworth said sounded like he was hitting on everyone due to his Aussie accent. He told one fan asking a question it was "nice to see her" and he sounded so smooth and dreamy he might as well have said: "let me buy you a drink, girl."
JLaw said she hadn't done interviews in a year so she was rusty. She kept apologizing for giving weird, rambling answers that went nowhere, while Josh Hutcherson joked that he had a kill switch for her mic.
The three of them were so adorable together that you know they are actually really good friends. I ship all three of them; no need to choose.
We also got to see the full Mockingjay – Part 2 trailer and it melted my brain. The bass was so intense that I felt my sternum vibrating. Obviously I can't tell you what I saw, but just know that it featured a lot of stuff from the books fans have been desperate to see come to life and it looks fantastic.
After another quick trip to the floor to check out all the displays:
It was back to Hall H for Doctor Who.
It was Peter Capaldi's first trip to Comic-Con, and as he's the crankiest Doctor, I was ready for him to be a little stand-offish at his first Comic-Con because…well, it can be intense in that room, to say the least.
But he was the opposite. He was so excited to see the fans and was blown away by the passion in the room of 7,000 plus people. The above pic is him asking the people in the back to make some noise.
"You've come to the wrong panel," showrunner Steven Moffat quipped to the guy dressed as Sherlock.
Sometimes the Grinch is there to ask questions and it's creepy as hell.
If you want more details from the Doctor Who panel, check out some of my live-tweets from the panel.
On the way out of the convention center, I got to see Wreck-It Ralph's Vanellope and her sweet ride posing next to Belle.
I wrapped up my Thursday with a Rifftrax Live! screening. They were skewering Sharknado 2: The Second One, and Ian Ziering showed up with director, Anthony C. Ferrante.
Considering they were in a room full of people about to watch the stars of Mystery Science Theater: 3000 make fun of their film, they were such champs. They were funny and answered questions about making these terrible, terrible movies. I'm now an Ian Ziering fan. That's a weird thing to say.
After calling what seemed like my 20th Uber of the week, I was headed back to the hotel with sore feet and a voice hoarse from cheering and screaming. I took way too many photos, but when it comes to Comic-Con, you have to chronicle your experience. It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of event.