San Diego Comic-Con International

San Diego Comic-Con International, commonly referred to as simply Comic-Con and a variety of other abbreviations, began in 1970 as a comic-focused convention, but has since then grown to be a major annual event to promote numerous media franchises and their products, be they toys, comics, TV shows, movies, etc. It is held from Thursday to Sunday in July, in San Diego, California, United States, these days at the San Diego Convention Center.

Unlike the American International Toy Fair, San Diego Comic-Con International is open to the public, though passes to get into the convention tend to sell out within a few hours. Visitors can expect to be treated to sneak-previews of and the scoop on upcoming products, creator panels, special contests, and the chance to buy exclusive merchandise created just for the convention.

Though ever-evolving, Comic-Con is still a male-dominated event. When in 2010, Mattel used the convention to fully launch Monster High, that was an unexpected and bold move, especially since the new franchise's stand was no less spectacular than the ones of the well-established franchises. However, the results were favorable, and Monster High has had a stand at the convention since, expanding so well that in 2013 the abundant content was split and one half used for New York Comic Con.

2010
At the time of San Diego Comic-Con International 2010, Monster High merchandise had only been on the market for a month. Because of this, there were no special events at the stand and the portion of it dedicated to the history of the brand was struggling for content. All six Basic dolls out at the time were on display, both loose and boxed versions, in a case on the left. The top shelf also contained the Fearbook and the iCoffin, two of the brand's more iconic products. The center shelf, in addition to dolls, held a copy of Monster High, which was also on display in the future merchandise display case.

Of the future merchandise display case, located on the right, the top level was reserved for the Mattel-produced merchandise that was a significant part of the early days of the franchise. On display were the first three Friends plushies, the Fortune Skull line, the Freakey Ring & Mirror line, the Terrifying Tattoo Roller, the Lace-Up Tote Bag, and a scarf. Below that was the doll level, featuring the second wave of the Basic assortment and the first wave of Dawn of the Dance. The lowest level also had Ghoulia and Holt on display, but while they were still in their boxes. The dolls were accompanied by a copy of Monster High, a diary, and a Drop Dead Gorgeous bag.

2011
Monster High became the success Mattel hoped for, but at only a year in Mattel had not yet fully understood its potential to last. Therefore, while more spectacular than the 2010 stand, the 2011 stand was still modest compared to what 2012 brought. Significantly, SDCCI 2011 saw the introduction of timed reveals with Toralei Stripe being the Thursday reveal and Nefera de Nile being the Saturday reveal. Before their respective reveals, their spots were occupied by pink coffin lockers. Another debut of SDCCI stand content was a table to acquire autographs from a number of people involved with Monster High. And lastly, SDCCI 2011 was the first time Ghoulia Yelps was cast in the role of Comic-Con reporter.

Unique in the history of Monster High, a contest was hosted for convention guests, Facebook users, and Monster High visitors to vote between three characters. The winning character would see a doll release in 2012. The contenders were Wydowna Spider (then called Daughter of Arachne), Headless Headmistress Bloodgood, and Scarah Screams. Scarah Screams won the vote.

Another rarity for the Monster High stand at SDCCI was that the stand paid very limited attention to future merchandise, instead mainly showing off material already in stores or to hit stores within just a month. In this sense, San Diego Comic-Con International 2011 followed in the spirit of American International Toy Fair 2011. Only four items with a few months before their release to be on display were the two Campus Stroll dolls, the first Monster High console-style video game - Ghoul Spirit, and the third Monster High entry - Where There's a Wolf, There's a Way.

The display area consisted of three cases, two regular display cases and a voting machine for the character popularity contest. Of the display case on the right, the top level contained the School Clubs line, the third wave of the Friends series, and a Frankie Stein costume. The shelf below contained all the Monster High books up until that point and two T-shirts. The lowest shelf by the Dawn of the Dance series and the Classroom dolls, the latter one being displayed within their boxes. The display case on the left had the entire top row filled with assorted merchandise and the middle row with the full School's Out series—including Ghoulia Yelps and Holt Hyde—and two dolls of the Campus Stroll assortment. The bottom level contained the Dead Tired dolls along with the Hydration Station and the Room to Howl playsets.

2012

 * Mattel report: Monster High Comic-Con 2012

For 2012, Mattel greatly increased the content the Monster High stand was to offer visitors. The amount of timed doll reveals was increased to three, covering Thursday to Saturday. The nature of the timed reveals was also altered, going from future regular dolls to future store-exclusive dolls. The reveals in order were Self-standing Signature Headless Headmistress Bloodgood, Power Ghouls Clawdeen Wolf/merchandise & Spectra Vondergeist, and Scaris: City of Frights Catrine DeMew. Each of the three reveals was presented as a Ghoulia Yelps silhouette before the time of the reveal.

In addition to the signature table introduced the previous year, Monster High hosted a panel. The panel was held on the 13th from 15:00 to 16:00 at room 24ABC. The other panelists were Garrett Sander, Natalie Villegas, Rebecca Shipman, Eric Hardie, Ira Singerman, Audu Paden, Debi Derryberry, and Erin Fitzgerald. The panel consisted of four activities. Firstly, Sander, Villegas, and Shipman revealed Jinafire Long and Skelita Calaveras and elaborated on their inspiration for them. This was followed by Singerman, Paden, Derryberry, and Fitzgerald discussing the making of the Monster High cartoon series. Secondly, there was a Q&A session for questions asked at the panel and a few submitted to the Monster High Twitter account before the 6th of July. Thirdly, there was a sneak-peak of the upcoming TV special "Ghouls Rule". And fourthly, there was a costume contest for those visitors attending in cosplay. The panel was also one of only two moments during the convention that that year's Monster High tote bag could be obtained. The other moment required visitors to attend the Twitter Fan Meet Up at the Mattel signing area between 10:00 and 11:00 earlier that day.

Another new feature of 2012 was the presence of a photo booth area with semi-lifesized cardboard cut-outs of a few characters and a closed-off photo booth, which encouraged users to take their picture and upload it on the Monster High Facebook account.

The Monster High stand contained the primary Signature dolls of all characters, plus Campus Stroll Clawdeen and  'School's Out' Draculaura. Gil had his Skull Shores doll on display on account of that being his only doll out at the time.

2013

 * Mattel report: Monster High - San Diego Comic-Con 2013: Behind-the-Screams

The Monster High stand contained a diorama of Monster High School displaying all the characters from the Signature series, plus Skull Shores Gillington "Gil" Webber, SDCCI 2012 Scarah Screams and Hoodude Voodoo, Catrine DeMew and exclusive Wydowna Spider at the top of the building. Below it, at the catacombs, there were Basic Operetta and a new character Jane Boolittle. There were also on display six cardboard silhouettes, not unlike the three on 2012. As 2012, the silhouettes were based on art of Ghoulia Yelps and each of them had the text "To Be Revealed [day]!" on them, with the days being Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Thursday, Frankie Stein and Draculaura from Sweet Screams were revealed. On Friday, Catty Noir was revealed. On Saturday, Clawdia Wolf and Honey Swamp were revealed. Finally, on Sunday, the first doll of Sloman "Slo Mo" Mortavitch was revealed, as part as the Ghoul Spirit line.

Program
Saturday July 20, 11am – 12pm Room 25ABC

Mattel Presents: Monster High™ 2013: Where SCREAMS come true!

Celebrate the freaky fabulous year of 13 with the Monster High™ Team! Get a freak peek at exclusive scenes from the newest Monster High™ DVD, 13 Wishes (this fall from Universal Studios Home Entertainment). The freaky talented Monster High™ voice actors, including: Erin Fitzgerald (voice of Abbey Bominable™, Spectra Vongergeist™, Scarah Screams™ & Rochelle Goyle™), Debi Derryberry (voice of Draculaura™) and America Young (voice of Howleen Wolf™& Toralei Stripe™) will discuss the making of the ghouls’ latest adventure. Moderated by Emmy-Award winning Executive Producer of Monster High™, Audu Paden.

''But that’s not all… our Monster High® team is just DYING to share more secrets lurking the halls of Monster High®! Garrett Sander, Rebecca Shipman, Natalie Villegas and Javier Meabe (Monster High® Toy Designers), Roy Juarez (Monster High® Packaging Designer) and Eric Hardie (Monster High® Copywriter) will reveal uhhh-mazing new Monster High® ghouls and how they came to un-life!''

Hope to see you there!!