SDCC 2025: The Comic-Con Museum Celebrates ‘Doctor Who,’ Lucha Libre, And More
by Gary Catig
Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) happens every summer, but what if you want to celebrate pop culture the rest of the year? One way to get your year-round fix is to visit the Comic-Con Museum in San Diego’s Balboa Park.
The Comic-Con Museum has a regular rotation of exhibits to keep things fresh and new. Ahead of SDCC 2025, we paid a visit to explore what the museum currently has to offer.
The main attraction is the Doctor Who Worlds of Wonder: Where Science Meets Fiction. It houses an impressive variety of props from the television series including the various doctors’ signature costumes to their individual sonic screwdrivers. Also enjoyable are the show’s variety of creatures, monsters, and robots that have appeared and are on display. There is an educational aspect as well highlighting the real life science that inspired a myriad of aspects from Doctor Who throughout its seasons. Sprinkled throughout the exhibit are some nice hands on interactive experiences, but unfortunately, not all of them were functioning at the time of our visit.
The bottom floor housed two exhibits. The first, Tokidoki: Twenty Years of Kawaii & Chaos was a good representation of the lifestyle brand. There are so many vinyl figures, stuffies, and fashion accessories. There is also a focus on Tokidoki’s collaborations including with such influential pop culture names as Marvel and Hello Kitty.
The other exhibit is Growing Up Luann. It celebrates 40 years of the beloved comic strip and how it has evolved in that time.
On the top floor is Sangre, Sudor, y Mito: The Art and Tradition of Mexican Lucha Libre. It is quite the collection of wrestling gear including championship belts, elaborate costumes, and of course, the iconic luchadore masks. The ringwear of AEW wrestler Thunder Rosa is on display, and for you comic book fans, there is artwork from Daniel Warren Johnson and his series Do a Power Bomb.
Visitors to the Comic-Con Museum from now until the end of SDCC can see TCM | Julien’s Echoes from the Galaxy A Star Wars Memorabilia Exhibit + Auction. It has famous props and memorabilia from Star Wars that you can even place bids on. The auction takes place Sunday, July 27th.
The Comic-Con Museum is worth a visit whether you’re from out of town or a local. It offers fun experiences across a good variety of facets from pop culture.
