Congratulations on another excellent show

[reddragon]

Really enjoyed it today. - it had everything for me, Bond, Doctor Who, vintage guests and Heroes.


Most guests were excellent especially Graham Cole and Jack Coleman.

Did Robert Vaughn want to be there though - he never even looked up when signing, Richard Kiel also signed my item in black instead of silver "because it looked better".

Other than this - keep at it Expo - great event.

[katieburbidge31]

The show was ok but far from great, it's to expensive (early entry £38 for two with parking) considering the spring show seems to be half the size of the winter one, there seems to be less stalls every time.
I met Robert Vaughn on Saturday, he spoke to me and my boyfriend and even posed for a photo with him, very nice man.
I will be going to the winter show but might give the spring one a miss, it was hard to fined anything i wanted.
At one time sporting memorabilia was in a separate hall with both halls full, now you get one with lots of empty space.
Hope the new people will make big improvements.

[SC1810]

I must say i'm in complete agreement with katieburbidge31, the event was far from great in my opinion.
Having attended the November one with a few friends, and countless previous Memorabilia events by myself, i went with decent hopes with my best friend on Saturday, we both agreed that judging by the "okay" show in November, the new owners of the show would make every effort to make this show even bigger and we were determined that we were going to stay there and enjoy the whole day from 9 till around 4 or 5. However, having arrived at 9 we waited patiently for the doors to open, and to be honest, by the time 10 came we had already walked around the place more than twice and found very little on any of the stalls that appealed to us, there seemed to be a GREAT deal of food stands, and ALOT of empty, unused space in the hall. despite our previous desire to stay as long as possible, we were both struggling to find reasons to keep us there and decided to leave at 12. Had it not been for our own company, the few Cosplayers who were great to talk to and the DeLorean, i seriously believe we would have left around 10 instead. There will be people who disagree and who really enjoyed it, and i accept that this is just my opinion and that MCM Expo need to cater for as broad range as is possilble, however, i dont feel that very much effort was put into this show at all and that it was a waste of my £15 entrance fee, the main disappointment was just how small it was, i mean, more than HALF the hall was bare, and of the section that was occupied, the entertainment square area, the wrestling event adn the guest signing areas took up most of it, leaving very little space for a variety of traders. I will still attend in November with hopes that it will be as good (but hopefully) better than last November, but i have serious doubts as to if i'll ever attend another spring show again.

[thedude57]

I was disappointed in the show in general, the set up and the organisation was good, but something was lacking

Though it was nice to see Jack Coleman, Robert vaughan and linda blair again, the guest list lacked spark or new interest, not really a single guest was present that i have not already seen or met before at previous shows.

However the real main problem was the lack of regular/decent dealers, maybe the credit crunch has hit hard and perhaps the cost of the stalls is stopping many dealers from attending, but i was really disappointed in the deals and choice to be had.

The dealers that were there were good and pleasant, but the onces that did not show, for what ever reason, were missed.

I normal spend around £200+ each time i visit this show, but on this occasion i spent less then £80 and that included entrance and parking

lets hope things improve next show

[pacresta]

I went on the Sunday instead of the saturday due to work comitments. I thought I would pay for the Sunday Early bird. Yet then had to wait for 45 minutes for the people I wanted to see to turn up!

Now I know due to the Day light savings time, there could have been some confusion, but really, if the paying customer is going to pay for the early bird, then the guests should at least be there.

Plus there seemed in my opinion, a unhappy vibe. Some of the guests seemed decidely uninterested, which was a shame. Perhaps the Credit Crunh is having an effect, but they could at last looked fairly pleased to take my money.

Holly Mcquire, Amylu Bennet, Linda Blair and Jack Coleman did seem genuienly pleased to be there and were very chatty

I will be going to the november show, because historically the november show is normally the strongest. So I will be
with-holding judgement until that one.

[crippsy_99]

Ive seemed to notice the people generally unhappy about the event seem to be the anime fans/cosplayers who seemed to have been expecting something like expo?

This was my first time at ./the NEC, and personally I had a good weekend. FAR less rushed and stressfull than Expo usually gets, MUCH more sci-fi stalls rather than anime stalls, guests seemed a lot more relaxed, and generally I enjoyed myself.
Will admit when I first got in I started to kick off a bit, id got in just after 11am saturday with normal entry and half the guests I wanted to meet hadnt shown up yet, some were hidden away and took a while to find (like the gorgeous AmyLu) and that was only after a friend had said he'd seen her in the far corner away from the other 2 models, there didnt seem to be 8x10's available on the desks, couldnt see much in the way of signs etc, but gradually I got 'settled', found all the guests I wanted (or they turned up lol), found the 8x10 desk on one autos signing area and pics went up on the desks of the others, got my bearings and generally started to have a much better time.

By 4pm saturday I was completly out of cash, and the free cashpoints had all run out of money so left not long after. Originally I hadnt planned to go in on sunday, but id enjoyed sat so much and wanted to chat to a couple of the guests again if they were quiet that I did go back in, and this time early entry, with a wallet full of fresh cash and ended up getting more autographs and things..

So yeah other than blowing my budget by about double (and we're talking triple figures here!), I think it was a very good event!
Get more glamour models and I shall most def be back for the next one!

Holly Mcquire, Amylu Bennet, Linda Blair and Jack Coleman did seem genuienly pleased to be there and were very chatty

IMO, the glamour models were by far the best guests there as they were so chatty and friendly and all said to me they would love to do more sci fi events in the future, but dont usually get invited!

[Rarewolf]

I'd only done the previous 3 winter events, but never done a spring one before. I'd heard they were quieter.

I didn't get there until 1pm on Saturday and couldn't believe how packed it was! Sunday was a little quieter - but I was there from 11am then - and I was done with the guests I wanted by lunchtime, but that gave me a less crowded chance to explore the stalls and spend more money

I do find it so more relaxed than 'other' events, the fact I don't have to rush to join an 8am queue to meet everyone is so much less stressful.

I turned a corner and was standing a metre away from Jack Coleman signing away, at 'other' events boxed off at the back I doubt I'd even of seen him!

[katieburbidge31]

If you haven't been to the show before i can see how people would think wow, i only ever go to memorabilia and one other show (the other with free entry), This event was one of the highlights of my year now I'm just left disappointed, for the price you pay it just has to improve.
My brother wanted to go on the Sunday but as Saturday was so poor we gave it a miss.
Wish i could have been writing how fantastic it was but i have to be honest.

[pacresta]

IMO, the glamour models were by far the best guests there as they were so chatty and friendly and all said to me they would love to do more sci fi events in the future, but dont usually get invited!

They were chatty and friendly, but it was a bit annoying that you couldn't really talk to Holly Mcquire or Vanessa Upton whilst the wrestlers were larking about in the ring just across the way from them

Holly Mcguire was enjoying doing something different because she said she normally does the car shows

I would like to see a few more models as well, but I think they are not normally invited, because I think there was a bit of a hoo-haa, a few shows back, because a 11 year old happened to see a bare b**b on a poster behind the signer, and the Mom of said innocent 11 year old was a tad miffed to say the least

[crippsy_99]

If you haven't been to the show before i can see how people would think wow, i only ever go to memorabilia and one other show (the other with free entry), This event was one of the highlights of my year now I'm just left disappointed, for the price you pay it just has to improve.

I do pretty much 99% of the events on throughout the uk..memorabillia has been the only one ive ever missed as before there was never anyone of interest for me to see, or maybe one obscure guest tops..
Compared to most events, this weekends I honistly consider to have been decent! Yes things could improve in areas, but I think it could have been MUCH MUCH worse!

[michaelrc123]

Hello

I have always been a staunch supporter of this show for many years but was somewhat disappointed witht he show today - nothing to do with the guests but the pointlessness of the early bird ticket. When i entered the show at 10.30, i went to the information desk to find out where Jack Coleman was. I was told in the main signing area, and was even directed by the woman. I wondered around the show for the following HALF HOUR trying to find where he was (as we all know now he was by Linda Blair in the smaller signing area.) I feel that i wasted my early bird entry and my ticket number for jack ended very high and i felt that the "signposting" for this event was exceptionally poor, particularly as the photos for jack etc were the opposite side of the boards to where they were, and no signs to indicate the locations.

It did appear as others have said that there was lots of empty space, maybe in future it could be proposed that all the signings take place in all the same areas no matter who they are represented by rather than sporadically around the hall. Also i would like to state that i found the celebrity's assistants were lovely and really charming so a big shout out.

The guests were lovely, but i feel that there was too much a a big emphasis on the allstar signings section and two key stars. it could have been better managed overall, so i look forward to the next show in November and hope that the shows do get bigger better and bolder than other shows around the country.

The live wrestling was a nice touch and was good but could be moved to another part of the hall away from the main signing areas, i couldnt hear what holly was saying to me and she had to repeat LOL.

Regards

[SerenityX]

I've been attending 'that other' major organiser's events for a few years now but have never been to a Memorabilia. My only experience was trying to attend Expo, seeing the horrific lack of organisation and preparation for the entry queue, and going to a museum exhibition instead.

I went into this with low expectations of the staff (because I tend to find that the admin on here are short and rude, which is one of the things that put me off going), and low expectations of the event because the organisation and pre-information is poor - for example, are the photoshoot times really left so last minute that you couldn't post them online the night before? Really?

Having said that, I enjoyed my day to an extent. I went for Jack Coleman and I wasn't disappointed. The crew were VERY friendly, to the point that they actually made my day a little more enjoyable. I'm not sure what I was expecting from the stalls, but there just seemed to be a huge amount of nothing being sold there. From the other events I attend I'm used to seeing some regular dealers selling some interesting stuff, but I saw very little of that here. Granted, that's not your fault.

I thought the signposting of the information areas was poor, and it took quite a while of wandering to find the front information desk, only to be redirected to the middle signing sales desk, which again took a while to find, and then got directed to the photoshoot area, which I found a little more quickly simply because I'd already looked everywhere else for the first two desks!

The photoshoot went well. It ran a little late but that's to be expected. Jack was great, and I got exactly the photo and pose that I wanted, and the photographer let me check the back of the camera to see if it was okay. The photographer and crew working that area were also very friendly and easy to get along with, and were (like the rest of the crew) helpful and available to give out any information that they could.

The PSPs with the Dragonball game (again, probably not down to you) came in very handy when I was loitering for two hours!

Basically...

Positives:
- Crew
- Studio exhibitions (trailers and PSPs)
- Jack Coleman!
- Photoshoot people

Negatives:
- Lack of organisation
- Lack of online communication
- Poor layout
- Lacking good dealers

One more thing... what was with the sports stalls randomly selling canvas arts of Twilight?

[andini]

I went on Sunday for the first time due to Jack Coleman. He wasn't there when we first when up to the signing area but an hour later we found him there and had got photograph signed within a couple of minutes, barely any queue. Baring in mind he hadn't been there Saturday, most of the times i passed the area Jack, Linda and Robert had only a couple of people with them. I've never seen a show so quiet!! In fact Holly McGuire seemed to be the busiest guest.

In one way that was good as it was easy to browse round the stalls. I myself only spent £20.50 though including the Jack Coleman photo, didn't seem to be that much of interest on the stalls. It must be the credit crunch as i've never seen any show this quiet before, I remember huge queues in the past for the likes of George Romero, Greg Grunberg and even Linda Blair's previous visit.

[donna_a54]

I went on Saturday and had a great day. It was the first time my boyfriend had gone and he loved it. I did think that it was a bit pricey though. When i normally go to these events i'll go to specifically see / meet a guest and don't mind paying. But this time i didn't really go with plans to get any autographs, i thought i'd see how much some of them were i.e. the carry on stars. I was surprised that these would cost me £15 each, perhaps if they had have been £10 i may have had a couple but i think £15 was a little too much. I did think the areas where Linda Blair etc and Graham cole were a little squashed together and you could have easily walked past the red dwarf team without realising they were there, kind of tucked away. So i went away without any autographs, but in general had a nice day, it wasn't too busy so it was fairly relaxed walking around browsing.

[Admin-2]

Thank you for the many comments positive or negative, they are put in a constructive way and we will do our best to try to eliminate the few niggles.

As anyone who was there Saturday did see the show was very busy, Sunday was quieter but over all it was the busiest Sunday for a Sping Memorabilia in many years.

We have always said rebuilding a show like Memorabilia will take time, but as people have said the current economy is a factor. Many dealers stalls are run by small companies which over recent months have been hit by the recession and some have unfortunately gone out of business, so you may not see them anywhere.

There was a large increase in families attending as well as activities for people including video games, movie promotions. live wrestling, kids zone with FREE face painting, balloon sculptures and FREE autographs from Tikkabillia and Genie in the House.

Yes, we can do better but overall the show was busier and better and we will make improvements as we go.

Thank you.

[Mr Beaver]

**** EDITED AS PER FORUM RULES THAT APPLY TO MR BEAVER ****

[Mr Beaver]

**** EDITED AS PER FORUM RULES THAT APPLY TO MR BEAVER ****

The thing is, I’m not actually breaking any rules.

So why is there a need to keep deleting my posts?

** Edited by Admin **

[Admin-2]

I feel it has been made very clear to you that you will be edited EVERYTIME unless you stop your continued attacks upon the shows and what you consider to be your clever (not) so clever responses with little winks and double meanings.

You do not attend the shows so why waste everyones time.

Thank you.

[Mr Beaver]

I feel it has been made very clear to you that you will be edited EVERYTIME unless you stop your continued attacks upon the shows and what you consider to be your clever (not) so clever responses with little winks and double meanings.

You do not attend the shows so why waste everyones time.

Thank you.

In many of my posts, I’ve merely asked [three times now!] for clarification on your ‘claim’ that the show was “better”?

As I find that particularly misleading in a thread where there is so many people saying that the event was worse than ever before.

I’m not attacking the show. I just want to know what your opinion is based on?.

[Rarewolf]

It did appear as others have said that there was lots of empty space, maybe in future it could be proposed that all the signings take place in all the same areas no matter who they are represented by rather than sporadically around the hall.

That would ruin it in my opinion, half the fun is trying to find the guests! And who knows what stalls you will see in the attempt? It also prevents large queues forming. You know you can just come back later.

I didn't see that much free space, compared to the last one I did in London were you had to cross a half empty hall to see the guests. That really seemed empty.

Most of the criticism seems to be from those who paid to get in early, perhaps there should just be one time for everyone.

I spent the best part of £600 - I was limiting myself! Got a few nice bargains on the stalls though.

[thedude57]

it seems to me that for first timers to a show of this kind, they would be impressed, a selection of good stars, well organised (apart from the early bird) and a overall good day out.

However for long time visitors like myself (and looking at some of the replies my fellow regulars will agree) that the show was lacking something

perhaps it was the choice of or number of guest? - as already stated it was nice to see jack coleman, linda blair and many more that were there on the Sunday however for myself who has been to almost all of the past memorabilia's and other shows thru out the UK there were no new faces to obtain a new signature for our ever growing collection.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere of the day? Sunday seemed much quiet then normal (around 1PM it seem to go dead quiet, when the wrestlers where not on stage) - this could be the ever growning credit crunch problem which is causing the punters to stay away or reduce their time and money spent at the show.

Perhaps it was the lack of dealers? - for me personally the main problem with the weekend was the items on sale (or lack there of) I normally spend £150/£200+ on many items from DVDs to action figures, comics to models. and the great thing about the show in the past was the chance to find great deals and rare/new items (which are generally cheaper then what my local comic and toy shops sell the same items for) however on Sunday i spent less then half this amount and went home with money still in my wallet (this is never the case before as i normally only leave when the money runs out) It was not for a lack of trying as i went around the show 10 or 20 times looking at almost every stall of interest. I must thank the stalls that were at the show on Sunday for the help and pleasant service provided and i was able to purchase some items for my ever increasing collection of sci-fi, film, comic and anime memorabilia. Many of the stands that i have purchased from over the years of going to this show were not there, not just 1 or 2 but at least 20 or so of the regular stall holders were absent, many be the credit crunch has caused the stalls/shops to stop trading, maybe the new owners/policies have put certain traders off or whatever, but this to me was the biggest problem with the show.

I hope that the organiser read these posts and with the help of the public try improve the show for future events.

on a separate point why are you editing the posts from Mr Beaver? surely this is a free forum for open discussions, whether the comments are negitive or postive, whether the poster/blog (what ever the name is) is witty, polite, funny or sad, angry or grumpy, surely all points of view should be heard?? - i say let the beaver speak - and let the public decide if he is a prat or not

[Rarewolf]

Most forums would just ban him outright!

Longterm vs new term attendees, I guess I'm sort of midterm. I knew for example David Graham had attended these things before (seen the adverts) but I'd never met him, in the last three years. So it made my day when I heard he was going. Probably convinced me to go in fact. Andy Secombe again, I knew he went last spring, but I'd not met him then.

I always do the stalls after guests (assuming I have any money left), and it was an odd thing - Stuff I've normally tended to buy on ebay, I found myself buying in person and saving postage costs!

[Rarewolf]

Perhaps it was the atmosphere of the day? Sunday seemed much quiet then normal

No War Of The Worlds on in the background! I guess Jeff is busy with the tour

[World Of Stuff]

I wanna read Mr Beaver's posts too!

I have been to every Memorabilia event for many years. I went yesterday and Admin's claims that it was the busiest Spring Sunday for some time is quite something!!! The show was exactly the same as the most lacklustre of events by the old owner;- walking around and around trying to stay a little longer to make it all seem worthwhile. Bringing loads of money home with me is something that never used to happen!

......BUT......I knew that the Spring events were always quieter than the Winter ones - the Summer ones were even quieter - but I still attended them all. The thing is, the new owners promised so much but, on yesterday's showing, simply haven't delivered. If absolute garbage like the live wrestling - how empty would the hall have been without those idiots? - is the future of the event, then the future is bleak.

This was the first time EVER that I did not get anything signed. There were some cool guests but none that I have not seen at various other events. Linda Blair was always on my 'wanted' list but it was only ten months ago that I got her to sign all my stuff at another appearance. If some of the people who were signing on Saturday had been there all weekend then I would have probably double dipped on the signing front but, due to my job, Sunday was the only option for me..... but not for them! If guests can cancel at the 11th hour due to work commitments, I don't think I should be penalised for mine!

Also, this credit crunch malarkey - I had a wallet full of cash waiting to be spent.....took a lot of it home with me. If the recession is affecting dealers, then reduce table rates to get struggling dealers in! You might even get some new ones! The REAL sign of a recession came at the Allstar sports signings cattle market - what happened to the queues that they always used to have? Perhaps their inflated prices have come back to bite them on the .?! Even Paulo DiCanio was too embarassed to show his face and ask £25 per signature!

Don't get me wrong, I bought some good stuff from some familiar dealers and saw some familiar faces - I always enjoy events like Memorabilia but this one was disappointing to say the least. Flat, half empty, no atmosphere - weren't these the reasons why the show was taken over???????

[pacresta]

Don't get me wrong, I bought some good stuff from some familiar dealers and saw some familiar faces - I always enjoy events like Memorabilia but this one was disappointing to say the least. Flat, half empty, no atmosphere - weren't these the reasons why the show was taken over???????

You are right about that, the general ambience seemed down, Plus I still can't see the point of the wrestling, but that is probably just me. Because these shows are for the public and if the public wants wrestling then the public should have wrestling, but it just seemed out of place, thats all

The other bug bear was the "No posed Photos" with Jack Coleman. Firstly I accept that there might be rights issues with the actor and production companies, or he himself might not like photos being taken. That I understand, I also accept that it can be argued that if everyone had a photo taken with him, then the delay might not allow all the people who want to see him, actually get to see him, which again I understand. BUT when I went to see him, I was one of two people in the queue and I was delayed for 6 minutes (yes I did time it), because of a dealer trying to get a private signing with him!!!

I don't mind been delayed for fans who want a picture of them with the stars, but surely these private dealings can be done at a better time?