Comic Con 2012 - Any tips from people who've gone before?

Hello all,

After our second year of watching Comic-Con coverage on G4, my wife is really wanting to go next year...so, we figure we'd be better off planning for this kind of trip as much in advance as possible.

I have been to a couple of major conventions before, like DragonCon in Atlanta, etc., so I know some of the basics, but my wife has never been to anything like this before (even though she's as much a geek as I am)...

Any advice from people who've gone to this particular Convention before? And yes, we definitely plan to do a little Cosplay (if you have to ask, you don't know what it is, and it'd just confuse the issue)....

Yeah, dont pick up an alien called Paul

Do NOT dress as Cloud, Chun-Li, Boba Fett or any main character from any anime show/game.
There will be dozens of others, many of them with better versions of the costume.
Pick something less popular and stand out.
Oh and don't forget it's a gold mine of introverted girls waiting to finally be approached

reply to post by StripedBandit


Thanks. I already have my geek gal though, of course, if she finds some she wants to play with....

Yeah, we weren't going to go as anything too mainstream. Being more cosplay geeks than we realized, we already even have some good costumes....though we've got some good ideas for next year.

Some things are good en masse though (like Storm Troopers). One we've wanted to do for a while though is the Robot Chicken (the chicken itself) and the Mad Scientist who makes it. That would be fun. Have to make those yet, but we could do so, before next year.

If she's feeling fit enough, she'll want to do her Catwoman latex getup one night, and I've got a pretty cool Puss N Boots costume... We also have full Hogwarts getups (she goes as Moaning Myrtle and I go as a Slytherin). We've got the actual robes, wands, etc., not some kind of homemade thing on these. We've got a few others as well, though these are some of our better made costumes.

Wish I had the dough for some others, but they can get pricey... Eventually, I'd like to get (in order):

(and you'd be surprised how much (like gloves/boots), can be used for multiple costumes)

Darth Vader (just need some armor pieces, I've already got a lot of it, like the helmet, boots, gloves, chest box, etc.) - though yes, there are always a few of these....I don't care though, or if others are better.

Battlestar Galactica Colonial Pilot (old series)

Full Stormtrooper (most expensive though...but always wanted to do this)

Full Cylon (again, old series, and would use the same black undersuit as the stormtrooper)

Ghostbusters (only the pack and trap is expensive)

V Commando (old series)

My wife really wants to get a good Xena getup. (not sure what else, but I guess I should ask huh?)

We plan on having a different costume each day probably...of course, means more to pack (and more bags to check)...so will have to assess that reality also.