This year's Comic-Con was star-studded and larger-than-life. Here's what it was like to attend for the first time.

First, it's massive: more than 130,000 people swarmed the San Diego Convention Center this weekend. Next: it's big. Literally. 20-foot tall Power Rangers and Hobbit-era creatures towered over attendees, and everything in the mammoth exhibition hall was designed to feel huge to the thousands of crowded attendees. Even the giveaway bags were huge: 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide! Then, of course, it's a who's who of media stars. The casts of show like Fringe and Breaking Bad (see pics below) answered questions and signed autographs. And while wandering between booth after booth of comic books and memorabilia, you would come across celebs like my fav LOTR star Sean Astin hanging out with fans.

But then there are the costumes. You've seen pics, I'm sure. Meticulously-detailed Halo Master Chiefs, every Star Wars character you can think of, Batman villains, Portal gun-wielding adventurers, Gandalfs, Mario characters, and wizards posing alongside space bounty hunters. Dressing up is a major endeavor for serious fans. This year's most popular costume for women seemed to be Batman nemesis Poison Ivy. For men, I might guess zombie.

A few highlights

Lego, creator of the innovative Lego console games (Lego Batman, Lego Harry Potter, Lego Star Wars, etc.) had a station where attendees could help build movie posters out of legos and pose with a giant lego Hulk. The movie The Hobbit had a massive footprint on the exhibition floor. And avid Halo players got to play a preview level of the anticipated Halo 4. (We stood in line for an hour and a half for pre-release bragging rights! Opinion: very cool game.) Click here for more highlights, and "The 25 Most Interesting Things You Missed at the Convention."

Pics!

Here are some of the costumes and memorable moments from Comic-Con 2012. See if you can find the cast of Breaking Bad cutting through the crowd, the cast of Fringe signing autographs, Sean Astin smiling at the camera, kids building the Lego movie posters, the T-shirt tower, and more.

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