SDCC newbie question

[Hobby-Galaxy]

This is my first trip to SDCC (since I'm now in the business, figure I should go), and I have a simple question.

I'm going today (July 17), I know I can pick up the badge as early as 3pm, but the official event hour is 6-9pm, so my question is do I get to do anything between 3 and 6pm? Will any booth be open to visitors and even start selling exclusives? I'm mainly going for the collectibles, not so crazy about the panels.

 

[Taibhse]

I have never been.. but I would suggest heading down at 3pm, to pick up your ticket in case of queues.. ask the question of the nice people around you.. and if there is not much happening in between then and 6pm.. grab a soda and a taco and check out the Coz players etc and soak up the atmos on the street.

 

[Kuzeh]

There will be a LONG line to pick up your badge, so most likely you'll be there at least an hour.
You cannot get in until 6pm, but there's plenty of stuff going on outside of the Convention Center, believe me... there's also lots of bars and restaurants within walking distance so... that'll keep you busy...
Did I mentioned there will be a LONG line to pick up badges?

 

[cofphoto]

Well the good news is, they opened badges 2.5 hours early at about 12:30. The bad news is, it's now 3:49.

We walked in and out in 10 minutes at 1:30 with zero line.

To answer your question, there isn't anything that you can do inside the convention center exhibit floor before 6pm.

There will likely be a good sized line waiting to get in when they open the doors. But I've read that once that initial que of people gets in, if you show up not long after 6pm you can walk right in. The people that get there early and wait are the ones after the harder to get exclusives, and the ones who want to buy and flip (sell) exclusives for profit.

Have fun! Prepare to be overwhelmed. Your first time is quite a trip.