He’s Never Won an SDCC Lottery. He Still Gets the Exclusives.

This is the second in a series featuring people in our community — collectors, cosplayers, artists, and fans who do this because they love it. If that’s you, get in touch.

In 2015, he waited two days for a Hall H wristband.

Then he sat through an entire day of other panels to hold the seat, because that’s how Hall H works — you don’t arrive for the thing you came for. The Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel finally started around 5pm.

And then he got to ask the cast a question.

On that stage: J.J. Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, and Lawrence Kasdan, alongside Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford — and Carrie Fisher, seventeen months before she died.

“For a brief moment, this incredible cast of actors I had watched on screen were all looking at me, listening to my question, and giving me their full attention. After waiting two days just to get in that room, that alone made everything worth it.”

Then Lucasfilm topped it. The entire Hall H audience — more than six thousand people — was walked out of the convention center to Embarcadero Marina Park South, where the San Diego Symphony was waiting. John Williams introduced the concert by video. There were fireworks.

And everyone was handed a lightsaber.

“Suddenly thousands of Star Wars fans were standing together, lightsabers lit, listening to the music from these movies. I still have that lightsaber, but the experience attached to it is worth way more to me than the collectible itself.”

It started with Pulp Fiction

His first real exclusive hunt was SDCC 2014: the Funko Pop! Vincent Vega and Jules.

“I’m a huge Pulp Fiction fan, so these were the first convention exclusives I ever really chased. This was before the lottery system they have now, when getting exclusives meant heading to the Sails Pavilion and waiting for a wristband or ticket just for the chance to buy them.”

He got both. While he was there, he also picked up the SDCC Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy, for no particular reason beyond availability.

“Funny enough, all these years later, Jax is currently the most valuable of the three.”

He says that’s the one that appreciated. The two he planned for didn’t.

The lottery he has never won

Here is the thing that makes him worth listening to, and it is not what you’d expect from someone with a reputation for getting exclusives.

“Since the SDCC Exclusives Portal lottery system started, I’ve won exactly ZERO lotteries — and I know I’m definitely not the only one. There are people who have entered year after year and still haven’t won access to some of these booths.”

Zero. Every exclusive he’s brought home from a lottery booth in recent years came the hard way.

“Some lottery booths will open standby queues later in the day, but by then, the most sought-after exclusives are usually sold out for the day. From my experience, Sunday has actually been the best day to try your luck with standby.”

Then there’s Hasbro

Some booths don’t use the lottery. You’d assume that’s easier.

“You’d think that makes things easier. It doesn’t.”

Hasbro took him three days this year.

Thursday: sold out by noon. Friday: gone by 11am. Saturday: he arrived early, got a good position in the opening queue, went straight there — and the line was already capped.

What happens next is the part nobody posts about, and it’s worth quoting at length because it’s the most honest description of a show floor you’ll read:

“Hasbro is on a major aisle, so you can’t just stand around waiting for the line to reopen. Staff are constantly telling everyone to keep moving. You see the queue getting shorter, start making your way back toward the booth thinking they’re about to reopen it — but too many people have the same idea. The aisle gets crowded, and they won’t reopen the line until everyone disperses.

So you walk away.

Then the line opens.

Everyone realizes it.

People rush back.

And within seconds — capped again.“

He eventually hit it at the right moment and walked out with the Star Wars exclusives he’d been chasing since Thursday.

“That’s the part people don’t always see when someone posts, ‘Got the exclusive!’ Sometimes that exclusive took three days, multiple capped lines, early mornings, sold-out signs, constantly checking booths, figuring out when to come back, and being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.”

“There really isn’t one secret. It’s strategy, planning, timing, showing up early, persistence, and a whole lot of luck. And apparently, if you’re luckier than me, you can actually win the lottery too.”

What he missed, and what actually bothered him

Asked about the one that got away, he reframed the question entirely.

“Honestly, missing things at SDCC doesn’t bother me as much as you’d think. You WILL miss stuff. Exclusives, activations, signings, panels — there’s just way too much happening at the same time to do everything. You move on and enjoy everything you DID get to experience.”

What did bother him this year was the temperature.

“Thursday afternoon especially, it felt like the air conditioning just wasn’t keeping up. When you already have thousands of people packed onto the show floor, that heat becomes exhausting pretty quickly.”

He mentions hearing vendors joke that the AC gets turned down when it’s too crowded, to encourage people to leave — and immediately adds, “Obviously I have no idea if there’s any truth to that, but that tells you how hot it felt in there.”

“Missing an exclusive? I’ll get over it. Trying to survive a packed SDCC show floor when it feels like the AC gave up? That one got me.”

Four conventions, four different jobs

He’s a regular at SDCC, Anime Expo, Fan Expo Anaheim, and Comic Con Revolution — and he refuses to rank them.

SDCC — the spectacle.

“It’s the one where the convention goes beyond the convention center. Huge panels, exclusives, activations, offsites, studios and surprises — there’s really nothing else quite like SDCC weekend.”

Anime Expo — the fandom.

“It’s basically the SDCC of the anime world. The scale of the fandom, cosplay, vendors, guests — everything centered around anime makes it a completely different experience.”

Fan Expo Anaheim — the guests.

“It was new and smaller this year, but I think that actually worked in its favor. Some of my best interactions with guests happened there because it didn’t feel as overwhelming or rushed.”

Comic Con Revolution — the actual comic con.

“It’s smaller and more manageable, which makes it great for autographs, photo ops, shopping, and actually spending time at the booths without feeling like you have to rush to the next thing.”

“That’s why I don’t really compare conventions by which one is ‘best.’ SDCC is where I want the spectacle. Anime Expo is where I want to be surrounded by anime fandom. Fan Expo and Comic Con Revolution are where I can slow down. They all scratch a different itch.“

His advice, for your first one

Do the research before you’re on the floor.

“Find out exactly how that exclusive is being handled. Is it through a lottery? Do you need a wristband? Is it first come, first served? Is there a standby line? Where is the booth, and when can you actually buy it?”

Come prepared.

“Wear comfortable shoes. You’re going to be on your feet way more than you expect, and be prepared to WAIT. A lot. Bring snacks, water, a portable charger, and whatever you need to get through a long day.”

Have a backup plan.

“Lines get capped. Exclusives sell out. Lotteries don’t go your way. You can do everything right and still miss out because you were 30 seconds too late when a line reopened.”

And the one that matters most:

“Don’t let missing one exclusive ruin your con. There’s so much happening that you can spend your entire day chasing one thing and miss everything else. Give it your best shot, know when to try again, and know when it’s time to move on.”

The lightsabers at the end

He got married with lightsabers in the room.

Not a themed wedding — he’s careful about that distinction, and so was his wife.

“My wife is the best. She knew how much Star Wars means to me and found ways to incorporate it throughout our wedding without making the entire wedding Star Wars themed.”

He walked in to “Binary Sunset” — the cue from A New Hope that plays while Luke stands in the desert watching two suns go down, wanting a life bigger than the one he has. She came down the aisle to “Leia’s Theme.”

They made their entrance as a married couple to “The Throne Room.” The last song of the night was the end credits music.

Those are the same piece of music. On the A New Hope soundtrack the cue is titled “The Throne Room / End Title” — one composition, split. His first moment as a husband and the last moment of the night were two halves of the same track.

Then there was the wedding party.

“My groomsmen had lightsaber boutonnieres, and my three groomsmaids carried bouquets made with lightsaber hilts.”

“Those little details meant so much to me because they were part of a day that was already one of the most important days of my life. My wife made sure something I’ve loved for so long was represented in our wedding, and I’ll always love her for that.”

“And yes, there were definitely lightsabers at the wedding.”

Eleven years earlier, six thousand people stood in a park in San Diego holding lightsabers a studio handed out for free, listening to a symphony play music from a film about a farm kid who wanted more than the horizon in front of him. He kept his.

“The experience attached to it is worth way more to me than the collectible itself.”

He’s spent a decade chasing objects, and he’ll tell you plainly that none of them are the point.

Photos courtesy of The Jedi Collector. Follow him at @jedicollector Linktree

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