Neither. It’s a sorta scummy experience overall with the few actors I’ve paid the money for. At least that’s my experience. If they offer an selfie in the autograph line. That’s probably the best experience out of the paid options…

For the official photos. Your rushed through. Actor or whoever doesn’t care your there. Your meeting them for like 30 seconds. Sorta feel like your being taken for your money. ( no way?!?)Actor might say hi how are you? And then your out with an awkward photo.

My best experiences was interacting acting with them naturally by mere chance outside of the con. Or once I waited just for a free autograph with Matt Mercer and that was 200% worth it.

Save your money and use it for something nice that you’ll cherish. Standing in line sucks.

Back in the '80s, when these conventions were labors of love, there were no charges for autographs, pictures, or talking to guests. They actually appreciated and enjoyed speaking with fans. I have had famous comic artists draw sketches for me (I wish I knew where the Beta Ray Bill sketch by Walt Simonson is!) and spent an hour or more speaking with the guest of honor.

I can’t imagine spending substantial sums to stand in line just to have a few seconds with someone who has been on TV or in a movie.

They both suck lol, I saw someone I recognized for a show, gave them a nod, they nodded back, and I started to walk over to say hi but then saw a sign asking for $20 a conversation so I just kinda laughed and walked off. I didn’t realize how sad it all was when I agreed to go but that was my last comicon. I did bump into some web comic people and told them their work was great on my way out though.

You sound excited to meet them, so I’m happy to share my experience. I’ve gone many times and done both photos and autographs… In my opinion, unless you just enjoy collecting autographs, I cherish the photos with the celebs much more. Have fun!

It really depends. Autographs can seem very tangible, but photos are a better option IMHO, because I can show them off as “See, I was there, I didn’t buy this off eBay,” or something. But it really depends on what you want. IMHO? Neither appeal to me. Now, it may be because I used to run these things, and have met celebrities on and off the show floor. I see them as people in a weird profession, and feel a little… skeevy? Like I don’t name drop until it’s vital to the story, because I feel like I am using them. I have friends among these ranks to this day, and sometimes we hang out and shoot the shit, because they know I won’t ask them for anything. And they know I won’t spread gossip. Now, some people have wanted to take photos with ME, as “omg, that’s the president of Katsucon Entertainment” when I was that, but it was rare. I think celebs did it more than my attendees. Maybe as a scrapbook thing for them. So there are photos out there with some of the Power Rangers, for example, that I don’t have a copy of, but one of the actors has in his or her personal collection.

Embarrassment: I am in some of these people’s photo albums, and I don’t know who the fuck they were. Just a selfie in the green room. Because when I am at the con, I am working, not schmoozing. So the photos are probably pretty bad: just sweaty old me with a confused “uh, okay” stare in the photo.

I know with Stan Lee, and I name drop him because of the controversy of people taking advantage of him in his later years, I saw him at a Comic Con, practically being dragged to imbalance by a staff that was churning through attendees like an assembly line. This was about 4 years before his passing. He looked so old, tired, and frail. I was not working that con, I was working my table, but I just… felt so bad for him. And they were so strict about the rules. They actually walled him of with pipe and drape over 6 feet high so people couldn’t snap a pic of him while in line. You got something like 15 seconds with him, he was allowed to sign one thing, one snapshot, and answer one question. Then ZAP you were ushered out of the area. I recall it was something $210 for those 15 seconds.

One guest I worked with said the Marvel booth was terrible about how long she could spend with attendees. That’s why she often had her own table, to sit and chat with her fans. And some celebrities, like Mark Hamill or Patrick Stewart, are fucking pros at this. I never worked with them, but I have seen Mark, sleep deprived and exhausted, be as kind to the first person in line as the last. I feel like despite it all, he’s GRATEFUL of the opportunity. I can’t imagine the crazy either of them has to put up with. I saw a video where Patrick hugged an abuse survivor, and while that is amazing and kind, I bet con security just cringed in anticipation.

So whatever you pick, I guess my point is, be kind to them. They work hard, and they put up with a lot. It’s such a weird and surreal experience for a human to endure as a job.

If you want to say anything to the celebrity you are interested in, I suggest an autograph. I once wanted to say 1 sentence to [famous actor] expressing how much their character meant to me during a photo op. I got out 3 words and was ushered off and the celebrity didn’t acknowledge me at all. It was heartbreaking because I didn’t expect anything other than a short $80 (!) moment of their time to tell them, briefly, that they impacted my life.

I’ve had way better luck with autographs and even got pictures staged with 2 people reacting to our cosplay for free. At the autograph table they’re more chatty and have fun with it in my experience.

John de Lancie loves roaming around the autograph lines and trolling people too.

That said, I stopped going to cons about 8 years or so ago due to some life reasons so this information is out of date and YMMV.

They used to have an autograph hall with like 20 actors signing at the same time, the lines were not too long so I got like 7 in less than an hour