2020 San Diego Comic-Con International Officially Canceled

[JayC]

While it comes as no surprise, the official word has been given that this years San Diego Comic Con has been canceled. This marks the first time in 50 years that the show will not go on. In a statement they issued, they said It is the right thing to do. Comic-Con wants to do all they can to fight the spread of this virus and support workers who are on the front line, fighting this battle.

We still await details on what will happen as far as ticket reimbursements and whether tickets from this year will be transferable to next. As more details become available we will update this story.

[JayC]

UPDATE: Comic-Con has issued a full official statement stating Badge-holders will receive an e-mail in the coming week with instructions on how to either request a refund for their 2020 badge, or to transfer their badge to Comic-Con 2021. For anyone who had purchased an Early Bird hotel through onPeak, hotel reservations will be cancelled and refunded, despite being “non-refundable” when booked.

Here is the full official statement:

For the first time in its 50-year history San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), the organizers behind the annual pop culture celebration, announced today with deep regret that there will be no Comic-Con in 2020. The event will instead return to the San Diego Convention Center from July 22-25, 2021.

Recognizing that countless attendees save and plan for its conventions each year, and how many exhibitors and stakeholders rely upon its events for a major portion of their livelihood, they had hoped to delay this decision in anticipation that COVID-19 concerns might lessen by summer. Continuous monitoring of health advisories and recent statements by the Governor of California have made it clear that it would not be safe to move forward with plans for this year.

Similarly, WonderCon Anaheim, which was to have been held April 10-12, 2020 will return to the Anaheim Convention Center from March 26-28, 2021.

In addition to their conventions, Comic-Con has been planning a major renovation of Balboa Park’s Federal Building to be completed for the grand opening of the Comic-Con Museum in the summer of 2021. However, the COVID-19 situation has had an effect on those efforts as well. As such, they will be rephasing the Museum’s initially planned major renovations, but will not scale back the experience to be offered to visitors upon the Museum’s grand opening. They anticipate releasing building plans illustrating the Museum’s transformation and sharing more information about those efforts in the coming months.

SDCC also announced that individuals who purchased badges for Comic-Con 2020 will have the option to request a refund or transfer their badges to Comic-Con 2021. All 2020 badge holders will receive an email within the next week with instructions on how to request a refund. Exhibitors for Comic-Con 2020 will also have the option to request a refund or transfer their payments to Comic-Con 2021 and will also receive an email within the next week with instructions on how to process their request.

In the next few days onPeak, Comic-Con’s official hotel affiliate, will be canceling all hotel reservations and refunding all deposits made through them. There is no need for anyone who booked through onPeak to take any action, including trying to cancel their reservations online or contacting the company via phone as the process will be handled automatically. Those who booked rooms through onPeak will be notified when refunds have been completed.

“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and while we are saddened to take this action, we know it is the right decision,” said David Glanzer, spokesperson for the organization. “We eagerly look forward to the time when we can all meet again and share in the community we all love and enjoy.”

[Jowen]

I hope they just do a live stream on YouTube or something let us all watch the reveals as they happen

[Jmacq1]

31 minutes ago, Hulkwummy said:

How is Hasbro going to show off some new Marvel Legends figures now that SDCC is canceled?

Well, a couple or three different things are likely going to happen here:

 

1.  A lot of stuff is probably getting delayed.  So there might not really BE much/any "new" stuff to show for the rest of the year, because the stuff they've already revealed isn't even going to start selling through until social distancing measures are lessened.  For example, we probably don't see any product for The Eternals until next year, now.

 

2.  They'll just reveal stuff by releasing it to the websites/press/Hasbro Pulse, the same way they've been doing the Fan Channel exclusives.

 

3.  Reveals get pushed back to NYCC (if that happens).

 

The whole market has been disrupted.  This is not going to be any kind of a "normal" year and I'd bet that what we've seen is pretty much all we get.  And even some of that is likely to slip into next year at this point.

[mako]

40 minutes ago, Hulkwummy said:

How is Hasbro going to show off some new Marvel Legends figures now that SDCC is canceled?

Keep in mind, SDCC is more of a "FAN" show. They can get exactly the same effect releasing news over the normal news channels.

Now Toyfare is the place where business is done. If they call that off, then we got something to worry about. That's where pitches are made to retailers. San Diego is more or less just coming attractions.

That's not to say this doesn't suck Jurassic Park @$$, but there are more serious concerns.

[leokearon]

No surprise and for me there will be no change to how every SDCC is done.

[Air-Walker]

Yeah, the writing's been on the wall for this for a while now, but I don't blame them for holding out. I still think they'd do well to make it one big online party; stream all the new reveals and interviews, stream upcoming movies for online attendees and offer online pre-orders for convention merch. I know there's money and logistics involved in such a showing, but I think even a little will go a long ways in giving fans something positive to look forward to. 

[JayC]

39 minutes ago, mako said:

Keep in mind, SDCC is more of a "FAN" show. They can get exactly the same effect releasing news over the normal news channels.

Now Toyfare is the place where business is done. If they call that off, then we got something to worry about. That's where pitches are made to retailers. San Diego is more or less just coming attractions.

That's not to say this doesn't suck Jurassic Park @$$, but there are more serious concerns.

There is some business similar to Toy Fair that is done at SDCC but your right that for reveals and such most companies will be able to essentially accomplish the same things online. I think the idea of a SDCC that is appealing is the cross traffic. Online only the diehard toy collectors will pay attention. At SDCC you might grab the attention of that con goer who is there to see the latest MCU panel or cosplayer. People who like "Pop Culture" stuff but might not be tuned in as much to the action figure stuff.

[Lord_Scareglow]

I was suspecting this was coming, not really a surprise here, It's a sad thing, but at this point a necessary thing.

I do believe we will still get our Toy reveals, and as everyone is saying they will just be moved online. however we probably won't see as much product as initially we were going to, at this point I think we are going to for sure a huge slowing of new toys being released

[Inspection12e]

I wonder if Hasbro will release anything else this year besides Fan Channel exclusives. 

[Atlantis]

3 hours ago, Hulkwummy said:

How is Hasbro going to show off some new Marvel Legends figures now that SDCC is canceled?

They'll just do it online. Its not like people cant get new figures unless theyre shown at a convention first, anyways. Think about it: block buster movie debuts in Hollywood, superbowl takes over the city, either way most people are gonna see that movie, see that game in some way other than in person. SDCC will return once there's a cure for this virus.

[nWoWolfpack]

2 hours ago, Inspection12e said:

I wonder if Hasbro will release anything else this year besides Fan Channel exclusives. 

I assume so, I think it’s gonna be a comic mostly, with Gameverse and animated verse from now on, because of all the delayed MCU stuff. So War Machine, Storm, Nimrod, Retro Spidey, Gameverse waves are still on the table with the movie lines delayed for now 

[Emnems80]

So sad. Can't wait for things to go back to normal as soon as possible.

[Bluecomet]

all the momentum built by NYC Toy Convention gets stopped...I hope they still announce/release the new toys, take the opportunity of people going online for shopping needs.

[leokearon]

15 minutes ago, Bluecomet said:

all the momentum built by NYC Toy Convention gets stopped...I hope they still announce/release the new toys, take the opportunity of people going online for shopping needs.

Of course they will announce new stuff. Just because SDCC is cancelled doesn't mean any announcements are cancelled. A number of events have been cancelled already and they just announce the stuff online

[LandoTucker]

This really can't be a surprise to anyone. I would really like to say that if anyone from these boards (and site owners/affiliates too) was going but isn't now, that sucks. I know exactly how I'd feel in your situation, so I'm just really, really sorry, and I feel your pain. 

You dig out the silver linings in these situations, I guess. Hasbro aren't going to stop, or slow, making Marvel Legends any time soon (as I write this 2x brand new waves of 7 figures and 2x store exclusives have either shipped or are shipping imminently) and without conventional conventions in 2020, I think Marvelous.news - still the world's best Marvel Legends resource - will just get bigger and better. More scoops, more news, maybe even exclusives.

I'm still totally enamoured with my outlined 'virtual SDCC' scheme, but whatever actually happens in lieu of a 'Con, I'm very grateful to you guys for doing what you do. 

[tarot]

The organizer of Comic Con has announced that they will run the show online for this year. Many of the events that were scheduled to run during the Convention will instead be streamed online. 

[leokearon]

5 hours ago, tarot said:

The organizer of Comic Con has announced that they will run the show online for this year. Many of the events that were scheduled to run during the Convention will instead be streamed online. 

No surprise there, it is what a lot of conventions are doing