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/Jazzkidscoins Aug 07 '25

If the point is to meet the star, the photo-op is not the way to do it. The one any only photo op I have ever done was with David Tennant and I hated it. If I could get my money back I would. They give you all of 5 seconds to get in place before they take the photo. My wife has a weird look on her face because the photographer kept saying something to her about her glasses then just gave up and took the photo.

The autograph session is better. Depending on the size of the line you might have a small amount of time with him. When I did my autograph with him I spent maybe 15-20 seconds with him. He was very nice, we had a couple of quick words then that was it, but that is pretty much how I work. Other people talked to him for maybe a minute or so. It depends on what you are talking about, how long the line is, and what kind of mood he is in. The younger the person the more time he is willing to spend with you.

I've personally met every doctor from John Pertwee to Matt Smith. Both Tennant and Smith were the worst when it came to the autograph lines. Very quick and impersonal. I get it, they had big lines and a lot of people to get through. I just met Christopher Eccleston at Miami Supercon. his line was just as bad as Smith and Tennant, but he made a point of talking to each person and listening to what they had to say. It was a completely different interaction.

In all my 40 years of going to cons I've met a lot of stars. Almost every member of the original cast of Star Trek and Star Trek:TNG, many Doctors and Companions, a lot of voice actors, some of the actors from the Marvel movies, and some random actors in general.

Other than William Shatner, who is famously an ass when meeting fans, the 2 worst experiences I ever had were at Megacon Orlando this year meeting Matt Smith and Tampa Comic Convention this year meeting Cary Elwes. In both those cases meeting fans seemed to be a chore. The best 2 interactions were meeting James Doohan (just after The Search for Spock came out) and meeting Tom Baker at an embassy dinner in DC

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u/Motorhead9999 Aug 10 '25

In Matt smiths defense (and I’m not sure what day you met him) but I believe he had a security incident at Megacon, so he might have been understandably on edge.

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u/Jazzkidscoins Aug 10 '25

I was having this conversation with a friend at dinner tonight. I realize I didn’t say it here but I fully admit he just might have been having an off day. It happens to everyone. I’ve heard from so many other people that he is usually really nice and this was just a one off sort of situation but it was my experience.

That said, he was way overbooked at Megacon. Between the panels and all the various photo ops he had to do each day he really would have been rushing to get it all done. I know he was late for just about everything because of it. It was a really tough schedule. I saw him Sunday morning, so the last day which probably didn’t help.

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u/Motorhead9999 Aug 10 '25

Yeah, that was definitely after the security incident.