r/comiccon • u/Oheyitsfenton • Aug 07 '25
LA Comic Con What am I actually paying for?
Never paid for the photo ops/autographs the past couple years except for walking up to booths. This year, I'm getting my kid the chance to meet David Tennet, but not sure what the experiences are actually like.
Can someone break down the photo ops/8x10 autograph/premium autograph?
Edit: I get the basics of what each means, but wondering what the experience is like for each. How long is the interaction?
Another edit: Thank you to those who described their experiences and helped me decide what was best for me and my teen. Seems like it will always be a luck of the draw, how busy or tired the stars will be. Feel free to share more experiences. I enjoyed reading those. :)
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u/punkrockyuppie Aug 07 '25
In my experience, it varies wildly depending on the celeb, the con, even the weather and traffic and all sorts of other factors. I've been to multiple cons in WA, OR, and UT over the last 10ish years (usually 3 per year each year, sometimes more) and even with that much experience it can be hard to nail down a very specific baseline.
Typically, I would say you're gonna get more time with the celeb during an autograph than a photo op, especially with bigger name folks. Most cons (save for Creation Cons, ime) will speedrun photo ops in whatever way possible, including enforcing rules like no talking beyond greeting, no doing special poses, no holding props, etc. I get it from a scheduling standpoint and from the celeb standpoint of not wanting to do things that make them uncomfortable, so I'm not really bothered. But I know lots of folks go into photo ops hoping they'll get a chance to say hi, tell someone how much that celeb means to them, share an anecdote, etc. I've seen that happen only a handful of times in my congoing life, the majority of which were at Creation Con which have a much smaller overall attendance and can afford to give that extra time w/o getting too far off schedule.
Autographs generally will net you more time with the celeb, but not always. And sometimes, even if you get ample time with them, they're just not...great. I try not to think the worst of celebs where that happens and usually try to chalk it up to them just having a bad day, but you never really know what you'll get! I've had celebs or celeb handlers at their table rush us through the interaction, especially when the line is longer/overflowing. They'll start cutting options like having the autograph personalized to your name, or having a short quote written on it, they'll cut the option of at-the-table selfies, sometimes even banning hugs so that the guest doesn't have to get out from behind the table at all to save on time.
I've been at a con w/ Tennant twice; my mom met him both times, I met him the 2nd time. Both experiences were pretty good! His line is always going to be absolutely bananas long, because of how beloved and famous he is, so be ready for that. If you opt to meet him later in the day at a con, or at a later day (i.e., Sunday versus Saturday) your time is probably more likely to be cut short or otherwise trimmed. That said, I do think Tennant works very hard to make each interaction special and give you at least a bit of time.
When my mom met him (for an autograph), it was definitely a bit more of a rushed experience because they were so overcrowded, but she had enough time to get her print signed and tell him how much she adores him as The Doctor. He recognized her cosplay and complimented her, and that was it! All in all, probably no more than a minute max of conversation, but she was delighted.
When I met him the 2nd time, it was still pretty short but we crammed a lot in there! We showed up to his autograph line pretty early and ended up quite close to the front, which I highly recommend if you don't mind the waiting around. We got up there and I had him sign my Funko and we spoke for maybe 30 seconds about how the Ducktales reboot is one of my fave cartoons; my mom reiterated how much she loved his work and especially Good Omens (another 30 seconds or so), I told him how I'd recently gotten to see The Amazing Maurice at Sundance and how much I loved his performance in that. He was really pleased that someone had seen it and we talked for maybe 30-45 seconds extra about it. Our other friend also threw in a "love your work you're awesome" type comment, and Tennant shook all our hands and thanked us profusely for the chat.
All in all, couldn't have been more than 2-3 minutes of face time, but he really made it a lovely experience!
I think the biggest, most important thing when meeting celebs at cons in any context is to keep your expectations reasonable. Everyone wants that big memorable holy shit moment, and a lot of guests will deliver that--the number of wonderful experiences I've had meeting celebs far outweighs the bad ones, for sure--but if I go into something too hyped up or hoping for too much, it's just logical that I'm gonna come away a little let down. Think about what you want to say to them in advance; you don't have to have a whole speech rehearsed, but having a good idea of key points you wanna hit is great. Be okay with not talking about everything, or even most things you want to say to them. If you get the extra time, awesome! But be prepared not to have it. Have fun!