Buy Comic-Con International Badges February 8

sd comic con logo CROPIf you watched Sheldon and the gang last week on Big Bang Theory desperately refreshing their computer screens as fast as they could attempting to access Comic-Con’s ticket sales webpage– well, that’s not how it’s going to look this year.

When the sale begins at 9 a.m. Pacific on February 8, here’s how the process will work according to the San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog.

The sale will begin “shortly after 9:00 AM Pacific Time”, though as previously reported, you’ll be able to enter the EPIC Registration landing page starting at 7 AM. You’ll need your registration code, which will be e-mailed at least 24 hours prior to the sale — which in this case, means by Friday morning at the latest. If you don’t receive this code, you’ll still be able to access it from the Member ID page.

Shortly after that 9AM start time, you’ll be randomly sorted into a place in line. This means that unlike in earlier years, there is no advantage to being the first one into the waiting room — but there is still a disadvantage to arriving later than that 9AM start time, as you’ll then be placed in the back of the line.

The con’s own official badge preregistration info is here.

In 2012 and 2013 Comic-Con badges sold out in 90 minutes. And this year it’s not possible to buy 4-day memberships, only tickets for each day.

Fans confronting the new process have been so vocal about their anxiety that Comic-Con created this 6-minute video tutorial explaining it from start to finish.