This post was created as SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) 2017 is nearly upon us.
Updated with 2017 exclusives.
So what is SDCC?
San Diego Comic Convention is a convention showcasing various elements of popular culture such as comics/science fiction/anime/manga/videogames held annually in San Diego, United States since the 1970’s.
For 2017, SDCC will be held from July 20th to July 23rd
Read the wiki to learn more
Why is this relevant to Lego?
Since 2008, Lego has released items available exclusively at SDCC annually. This could be normal items packaged differently or memorabilia
But it was Year 2011 onwards where the exclusivity took on a new turn that still exists to this date. Exclusive minifigures are given as giveaways and exclusive sets are sold at a counter.
Here’s a list of what I could find out thus far on what happened each year. Take note that this list is by no means an exhaustive one.
2011
Minifigures (Giveaway)
SDCC Exclusive LEGO DC Super Heroes Batman
SDCC Exclusive LEGO DC Super Heroes Green Latern
2012
Minifigures (Giveaway)
LEGO DC Super Heroes Shazam
LEGO DC Super Heroes Bizzaro
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Black-suit Spider-Man
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Phoenix
2013
Sets (Purchased at USD39.99)
LEGO Hobbit Micro Scale Bag End
LEGO Star Wars Jek-14 Mini Stealth Starfighter
Minifigures (Giveaway)
LEGO DC Super Heroes Black Suit Superman
LEGO DC Super Heroes Green Arrow
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Spider-Man
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Spider-Woman
LEGO Hobbit Azog (Supposedly handed out randomly compared to the rest of the exclusives from DC/Marvel which were raffled out-might be a preview figure?)
2014
Sets (Purchased at USD39.99)
LEGO DC Super Heroes Classic TV Series Batmobile
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Rocket Racoon’s Warbird
LEGO Star Wars The Ghost Starship
Minifigures (Giveaway)
LEGO DC Super Heroes Batman of Zur-En-Arrh
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes The Collector
LEGO Hobbit Bard the Bowman (preview figure-will be available in retail sets)
LEGO LEGO MOVIE Unikitty
2015
Sets (Purchased at USD39.99)
LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Action Comics #1 Superman
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Throne of Ultron
LEGO Star Wars™ Dagobah™ Mini-Build
Minifigures (Giveaway)
LEGO DC Super Heroes Arsenal
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes All New Captain America (Sam Wilson)
2016
Sets (Purchased at USD39.99)
LEGO Super Heroes BrickHeadz Batman and The Joker
LEGO Super Heroes BrickHeadz Doctor Strange and Black Panther
LEGO Super Heroes BrickHeadz Superman and Wonder Woman
LEGO Super Heroes BrickHeadz Captain America and Iron Man
Minifigures (Giveaway)
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Steve Rogers Captain America
LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Atom
2017
Sets (Purchased at USD39.99)
LEGO Super Heroes BrickHeadz Spider-Man and Venom
LEGO Super Heroes BrickHeadz Supergirl and Martian Manhunter
Minifigures (Giveaway) (Updated with pics)
LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Vixen (Legends of Tomorrow)
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Deadpool Duck
So how do we get our hands on these sweet sets/minifigs if we happen to be in SDCC?
In the current format , SDCC attendees will need to queue at the Pavillion Terrace for a lottery style pick. This is essentially the attendee getting in line for a turn to tap on an IPad. The IPad will then let you know whether you were successful/unsuccessful in the lottery.
>The queue in the morning is for the lottery for right to purchase exclusive sets
>The queue at 12.30pm is for the free exclusive minifigure lottery so there’s no overlap between the two.
If you were succesful in the morning, you’d receive a ticket such as the one below and can proceed to the Lego Booth to pay and get the item at a later time.
If you were succesful in the queue for the minifigs, you’d receive the minifigs on the spot (or so I’ve heard).
Regulars recommend that you start the queue for the minifigs immediately after you are done with the sets. (Depending on the line, you may be able to queue up again for another try although this in itself is morally questionable, but we’re not ones to judge)
As a final remark, take our guide as a rough one as things may change from year to year and we’ve never had the luck to get to SDCC ourselves and the above are based on anecdotal sharings.
Some other conventions in the US where Lego exclusive giveaways/purchases exist
>>New York Toy Fair
>>Star Wars Celebration
There are plenty of sites who have devoted much time to research on the cost and ways to obtain these figures like minifigpriceguide if you decide to look further.
Image sources: Vengay_Lego, Hello Bricks, Gnaat Lego, thebrickfan, Brickipedia, mybrickstore, trubros
[…] Curious on previous Comic Con exclusives? We’ve compiled some of them from 2011-2017 in our previous article on LEGO Comic Con exclusives. […]