VIEWS OF THE SHOWS?

[malc75]

attended the nec on saturday,got barry mcguigans autograph,a decent chap.had time to speak to most people.
couldnt find edward hardwicke and even some of the staff did not know where he was either,and at least the bar was open this time.only downpoint is the constant racket from the wrestling and robot wars,perhaps a seperate hall for that in future.o.k for 10 minutes or so but when you are waiting for autographs it gets annoying!overall not a bad event.

[reddragon]

Positives -

lovely guests, good stalls, Josephine Tewson was brilliant as was Warwick Davies, met everyone I wanted to by 1 o clock, free autographs from Merlin cast and Sarah Jane Adventures was a nice surprise and they were all brilliant!


Negatives -

Edward Hardwicke not being there, constant racket from the wrestling and from Robot Wars especially when I was talking to Rupert Young, lack of a proper queuing systen at the entrance as it just seemed to be a free for all, tables and guests too close together, smelling attendees at the photograph stalls (a bar of soap is cheap enough)

[Timelord81r]

good points - the guests were great,
the photo op guys went and got guests that some of us wanted shoots with which was very nice of them and was brilliant they made the shoots happen for us, crew always seem helpful from my point of view,

brets female crew/helpers were stunning and really nice to everyone.

the free promotional signings were great (though as mentioned below about brets stand, they could learn a thing or 2 from him, he had merchandise for sale next to the signing desk and his dvd on there also)

bad points - photo studio didnt have a clue what was going on in terms of who was doing shoots (not even bret who had his own tickets printed and everything) or times aside a couple of the sports guests an hour or so after doors.

the lighting in the studio was pretty bad and shows on my pics,which is very disappointing at 20 quid a pop, the lights were far to close to the back drop and the whole area was to small and open so when bret was there everyone was taking pics with flashing whilst the studio was in effect, also the photographer vanished when the actors came for the 2pm shoots. so the guy on the printing photos had to step in. the studio and the media guests all seemed just squished in where ever they could find a spot, with maximum space given to the wrestling ring, the sports guests and robot wars. I can maybe accept this at expo but I thought . was more for collectors and guest encounters?

the robot wars noise was to loud right next to a promotional signing.

the guest desks were to small or squished together making photos at the desk hard and queueing a nightmare, especially around john challis desk area.

take a look at how brets stand was organized, expo orgs could learn a thing or 2 in every aspect of his stand!

please going forward can you sort out the photo studio and give the guests a bit more space for there benefit and ours.

oh also some of the guests didnt have price signs or helpers, so it felt weird going straight to the guest, what were we meant to say "how much love?" ? I felt a little uncomfortable for me and the guest.

[Mr.Markzilla]

Had a great time on Saturday, Hellraiser cast was really friendly and chatty, especially Simon Bamford (thanks Simon) Had a great time with Lee Sullivan and Kat Nicholson at comic city and got an original G1 Optimus Prime Vs. Megatron drawn by Lee, got my David Warner autograph on the Tron dvd cover, now waiting for Bruce Boxleitner to come to a future show. Finally got Warrick Davis to sign my Willow dvd cover and met his lovely family. Absolute pleasure to meet Richard Herd again and Jess Corad signed a record for my Mum. Spent a stupid amount on classic tv boxsets but I'm now enjoying UFO and New Avengers again. Even met Granny Gertrude and Robot's Live destroyed my old typewriter for me. Yay!

My only gripe is, it was in HAll 9 again and was too small compared to the ones that used to be in Halls 12 and 18. I want to see it bigger again, like the time Henry Cook used to run it. Go all out, advertise, get the arcade coin ops back, lets have a competition on them for prizes.
It'll always be a good show and I'll always support it just please do it bigger next time, some of us can't get to the Expo in London even though we want to.

[Admin-2]

To give you info on the hall size, Hall 12 and Hall 9 are the same size, actually Hall 9 is slightly bigger. They are shaped differently. I do agree the shape is deceptive and Hall 9 seems smaller but its an illusion

As to the old Henry Cook days. The points to consider are that Henry purchased a lot of small local fairs and then opened the Memorabilia show have removed many of the local options and making Memorabilia the focal event.

He also hit a market when the Internet was just a twinkle in a very large sky. The days of the OLD Henry Cook Memorabilia were over when EBAY and may web sites started to give collectors a much easier way to find collectibles and rare items, if your looking for something now you use google etc.

Another factor is simply the age of the collectors, may regular visitors where old in Henrys days and many have unfortunately passed away. One of the dealers told me he was being offered more and more collections from deceased peoples relatives.

The other change has been the explosion of other large scale collectors fairs, London Expo was announce in 2001 with the first show in 2002 hotly followed by more shows run by others and at one point the number of shows was far in excess of what the market could financially support. This has eased but it is still an issue.

So while we all would love to see the return of the numbers and size of Memorabilia of old, I fear without a time machine its a tall order.

MCM Expo is committed to Memorabilia at the NEC and has stabilised what was at one point a dying show. There are plans for 2011 and these we expect will continue to grow the audience

[goldmister]

Wow. Great stuff.
I was asked up by the Prisoner group "Star Screen Events" and so spent a lot of time in the area someone mentioned earlier (same place as John Challis, Angela Bruce, Louis Emerick...)
I kind of agree about the size of the tables. There was hardly room to swing a cat let alone for the stars and their assistants, nowhere to put coats/bags other than shoved under the tables.
The cloakrooms at the NEC were closed and for me (and a few other guests I presume) this meant if you were staying in a hotel (and checked out on Sunday) you had to carry everything around with you.

However having said that, I had a fantastic time. Glenda Linscott is one of the friendliest and chattiest people Ive ever known. In fact we came back to London together and literally chatted non stop for the whole journey. No mean feat!

Angela Bruce is such a great laugh..most of which I cant share. ha Joining in and (like the fans) dashing around getting her pic with fellow actors. (At one point she posed for a photo and "on 3" grabbed the Wrestlers in a rather unfortuante place much to the delight of everyone around.)

Our area was completely silenced at one point on Sunday when a man dressed as The Terminator suddenly appeared and (in that voice) announced he was the Terminator but also liked to be Michael Buble...cue a song. All the actors around were just looking at each other in stunned silence and as "Terminator" finished his song, everyone burst into a huge round of applause and lots of laughs. Talk about surreal!

Katy Manning was as mad as ever. At one point when it was quiet I approached her and Finn Jones and said "Now you two have got some explining to do. Im nearly 40 and the pair of you had me crying like a baby a few weeks ago" (When they appeared in SJA) Again lots of laughing and stories and both were very happy to pose for pics.

The best weekend Ive had for ages.
Thank you so much !

[mej619]

John challis was a gentleman, but stuck right on the corner of an upside down L shape desk setting. Id imagine if he, and Angela Bruce etc, were in a more open space then they would have seen ore poeple,attracting passers by.

[reesfinlay]

We had a fantastic time, everyone i met was more than happy to pose for photos and some of the freebies (like the lost planet shirt and dark void figures) were a great surprise.

came back wit ha stack of purchases and cant wait for the next event.

the highlight of the weekend has to be the photo i got with the sarah jane kids, the look on tommy knights face after i pulled the yawning trick on Anjli Mohindra is priceless

[Talie]

I was one of those moaning about the media guests (watch admin ban this one...lol) and still think some were very weak but the show was fine and the guests I wanted to talk to I did and all were really great fun. As for the noise I hardly noticed it (going deaf perhaps?) and as for size it was spot on you don't want it crammed any more...trust me on this as I to endure the Xmas show too and in the end left that one early due to the lack of space and crowding....more time at Memorabilia

Loved the zoo thing too and got to hold a Tarantula which for an ex arachnophobe was a great achievement

[quadbod]

Hello!

We have attended NEC Memorabilia Fairs as dealers in original film memorabilia for many years. Please don't marginalise the 'traditional' collectors. We had a very enjoyable and successful weekend - many of our customers are also regular attenders who appreciate the benefits of seeing and examining original film posters, photos, brochures and other items of memorabilia before they make their buying decisions. Yes - you can 'google' your wants list - but there's a minefield awaiting you out there on the internet! We very much welcome the interest of new young collectors but don't overlook the older enthusiasts who also look forward to their visits to the NEC. Please continue to encourage all age groups to come to Memorabilia where they can see what they're getting for their money and discuss their purchases in person, face to face - you can't beat it!

We agree with other forum members who have raised concerns about noise levels at various places in the hall. Difficult to please everyone - but their comments should also be taken into account when planning the layout of future events.

Congratulations and thanks to the organisers for a brilliant show!

Terry & Sue - Quadbod media memorabilia

[Macabremagpie]

Speaking as a dealer here...

Overall I had a very good time but I think one thing I heard the most over the weekend was how disappointed people were with the choice of guests this year - I know several people who go every year that didn't bother this time, partly because the only name they were interested in seeing - Bret Hart - had already been in the last few years.

To be honest I think my biggest complaint was the fact that a lot of the guests seemed to be hidden away in inconvenient places (closed in by walls making them easy to miss) and that there were absolutely no signs up saying what they had been in. All I saw was names and I had no idea who most of them were.

The noise levels didn't bother me much to be honest as it was just background noise after a while, though I can understand why visitors might see it differently - the only time I noticed it was a problem was during the panel shows when the speakers had to shout over the noise from the Wrestling.

I honestly don't think I would have gone this year had I not been selling because the guest list was so bad.

[Espana82]

The other change has been the explosion of other large scale collectors fairs, London Expo was announce in 2001 with the first show in 2002 hotly followed by more shows run by others and at one point the number of shows was far in excess of what the market could financially support. This has eased but it is still an issue.

Simply not true. Between you and the other lot, you both seem intent on running more and more identical and increasingly low grade events, something which will only lead to the destruction of the circuit. The same people cannot afford to attend multiple indentical events, and neither can dealers with what they get charged for a table for two days.

So while we all would love to see the return of the numbers and size of Memorabilia of old, I fear without a time machine its a tall order.

Limp and closed minded, even for you. While the popularity of the circuit is far from what it was 8 years ago, at the risk of repeating myself, try spending some money on some decent guests. You used to do it at Expo, or have you conveniently forgotten the days of Michael Madsen, Larry Hagman, Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong, James Doohan, Walter Koenig etc etc? If you have a far superior guest offering to those of events run by your conmpetitors, the more chance you have of more people going to your event and spending more money at it as they won't go to the poorer events.

MCM Expo is committed to Memorabilia at the NEC and has stabilised what was at one point a dying show. There are plans for 2011 and these we expect will continue to grow the audience

This is the same old flannel you've been trotting out for the last two years. Ah yes, the great "plan" you had for taking the event forward. Two+ years on, and all your plan and alleged progression has bought are progressively weaker guest lists. More of us are now agreeing on that. Seems you've been rumbled. You've had your time and your opportunity. Deliver or move on.

And please, sort our your organisation. You've been doing these events for nearly 10 years now, and the same old problems are highlighted every time. Inplementing a proper working queing and ticketing system isn't rocket science. Well, maybe it is for you, I don't know. Cramming everything together in one small area in a blatant attempt to make the event look well attended just smells worse than many of the BO afflicted attendees.

[Rarewolf]

It was certainly the busiest show I've been to there on the Saturday, I arrived just before 11, and was surprised how quick we all got in. Its easily my favourite venue of all the fairs I go to - the rush from the Station - indoors, not looking forward to the next queue outside in the cold.

John challis was a gentleman, but stuck right on the corner of an upside down L shape desk setting. Id imagine if he, and Angela Bruce etc, were in a more open space then they would have seen ore people,attracting passers by.

Presumably whoever booked the tables decided how to lay them out. Perhaps they should have hired a bit more space rather than squeese so many in.

[malc75]

going on what i have read on most of the posts so far its clear there are some areas of improvement to take this show foward,better guests,organisation etc
i just hope these are taken into account by the powers that be and hopefully by march there will be a real buzzz to the next event!

[Adam_Marvel]

To be honest I think my biggest complaint was the fact that a lot of the guests seemed to be hidden away in inconvenient places (closed in by walls making them easy to miss) and that there were absolutely no signs up saying what they had been in. All I saw was names and I had no idea who most of them were.

That was a gripe I had with it. I personally wasn't there to see any guests, but walking around me and my dad were keen to see who was who and it was really akward to do so because most of the guest we came across were much older than the respected roles they've played so alot of guess work was needed.

Not really your fault as event managers, but I was a little dissapointed that I was able to arrive at 9am, visit all the stalls and leave at 10. I miss the much larger hall, but I can understand it might be difficult finding sellers. Maybe as I could suggest looking into getting stalls that sell different things? There were ALOT of the same merchandise on many different stalls.

All in all, I did have fun. So thank you.

[exetervillafc]

We had a good Saturday picked a few autos and bought a couple bargins and the free signings were great.
Thanks again.

[nosfer2]

I used to be a regular here on the forums, but my old account expired. I just wanted to give some feedback about the show. Overall I had a great time, I met a couple of actors I'd wanted to meet for a while, and I bought some great items from stalls. However, there was one thing that I found disappointing. I had intended getting more autographs from various guests who had been advertised on the Fantom Films website as being £10, but when I got to the event I discovered that their prices had been increased to £15. As money is tight at the moment I ended up deciding that I could not justify the extra expense, so I ended up not meeting them. I hope this will be taken into account at future events.