How many autographs can I realistically get?

[joeld]

As a fan of autographs, I have recently shortlisted the actors/actresses I would like to purchase an autograph from at London Film and Comic Con later this year. I have shortlisted 17 actors, who I will soon list, and am going on the Saturday. I know that Saturday is usually the busiest day but is the onto day we're all the guests I want will be attending. I just wanted to know if can I realistically get that Moana autographs and is there any tips on getting that many. I plan to queue most of the day but wanted to know how long the queues take and were do I get the VR tickets and were it the Autograph hall. I know that some actors don't have VR tickets and will this be announced before the event or just on the day. How long is the queue to usually get into Olympia and what time should I get there so I can get in early. I have heard that ranking the guests on how popular they will be is a good thing to do and I would like to know what you would rank them. Also, will there probably be anyy other major guest announcements in the coming months which I might add. These are the 17 guests: 

Wil Wheaton

Thomas F. Wilson

Peter Mayhew

Ron Perlman

Christopher Lloyd

Tom Skerritt

Dave Prowse 

Doug Jones

Michael Rosenbaum

Walter Koenig

David Morrissey

Jeremy Bulloch

Derek Jacobi

Andrew Robinson

Chris Durand

Sarah Douglas

Jack O'Halloran

[Raylenth]

First off it's VQ tickets  They aren't Virtual Reality ones   They do not announce who is on the VQ system (See my rule in the post below) as this can change throughout the day though it doesn't often happen - if a guest who doesn't start on the VQ system becomes unexpectedly busy they may then be put on the VQ system.

We are hoping a floor plan will be published in the week before the event, until then we can't confirm where the guests will be located though we assume they will be in the same place as last year - I'll see if I can find last years plan and will attach it.

Get there to queue for entry as early as you can.  I think it's your phrasing but you can't get in early, but the whole queue does get in fairly quickly.  Last year I think even people at the end of the queue said they were inside within about 10/15 minutes.  That way you stand a better chance of getting the VQ tickets.  Auto queues do not generally take long as that is the whole point of the VQ tickets, they only allow about 30 people in the physical queue - to prevent over crowding and queue control issues and so that we aren't wasting our time lining up in 1 queue for hours.

We can't comment on if any more announcements are coming as SM will not discuss guest negotiations - rightly so.  They announce when contracts are signed and like today they may just announce them with no notice, or they may do a bit of a build up if it's a bigger name - basically I expect there will be more announcements but we have no way of telling and cannot guess as to how popular they will be.  IIRC Jeremy Renner was announced near to the event last year so who knows.

Re Ranking, you have to factor in popularity of the guest with importance to you.  The most important person to you may be a £10/15 guest as it's someone you have been dying to meet your whole life.

 

Edited June 20, 2017 by Raylenth

[Raylenth]

Last year's floor plans, please note as I said there is no guarantee they will be the same this year

As you can see if you have a general entry ticket you go to the entrance marked in the FAQ section which has a map and queue inside.  When they let us in we made our way into the venue and found our way to the first floor via the stairs and through to the Guest Hall which is where the guests are located.  You then go around looking for where the people you want will be sitting (individual locations will not be marked on the plan, as something could cause them to move guests at the last minute) and get a VQ ticket from the crew member manning each guests queue.

My rue of thumb is guests £20 and over will be on the VQ system so when you have your want list finalised just highlight all the ones at that price and over and you will be able to see at a glance who you need VQ's for.

[Raylenth]

In my opinion your list is ambitious for 1 day but it's hard to judge, many guests do have open queue's (When you don't need a VQ to go up) at the end of the day, even the big names, or quiet moments during the day so if you can stay to the last minute you might be able to get a few more in.  The way to do it is go and get your VQ's and then you can fill the time whilst you are waiting for those to come up by queuing for and getting the smaller guests.

Big names so will be busy most of the day:

Wil Wheaton

Ron Perlman

Christopher Lloyd (I would advise a Diamond pass as he is a very slow signer, but make sure you read the posts about the D passes so you fully understand the possible issues of having one and only being there 1 day)

Tom Skerritt

 

Will be busy but probably doable 

Thomas F. Wilson (Rare guest but will mainly be busy for BTTF I think)

Peter Mayhew

Dave Prowse 

Doug Jones

Michael Rosenbaum

Walter Koenig

David Morrissey

Derek Jacobi

 

Should be fine to get

Andrew Robinson

Chris Durand

Sarah Douglas

Jack O'Halloran

Jeremy Bulloch

 

This is only my opinion though, others may judge them differently, especially if they know the m=names better than I.

[Wrong Name]

I honestly think you may struggle to get that many in one day, without a gold and some diamond passes. Judging by your questions, I'm guessing this will be your first Showmasters event? Have you done other signing events? I'm asking as if you are new to the whole experience, that may also slow you down as you learn how everything works and take it in. Raylenth has covered most things, but I have known some queues, even on a VQ system to take an hour just for one guest as they were slow signers who liked a chat. As she has said, your best bet is to prioritise the guests you most want to meet and head for their VQ tickets first to try and get them. There won't be an announcement as to who will be on them or not, but the bigger the guest, the more likely they will. My best guess on how busy the guests on your list will be:

Very Busy:

Wil Wheaton

Thomas F. Wilson

Ron Perlman

Christopher Lloyd

Tom Skerritt

 

Busy But Might Be Doable:

Doug Jones

Derek Jacobi (may be very busy as he's only there for 1 day)

Michael Rosenbaum

Peter Mayhew

Walter Koenig

David Morrissey

Dave Prowse 

 

Should Be OK:

Jeremy Bulloch

Andrew Robinson

Chris Durand

Sarah Douglas

Jack O'Halloran

 

Of course this is complete guess work as there's no way of knowing how many people are going to see which guests.

[Raylenth]

It's hard to give accurate advise as we have said but it's helps to categorise them.  List them in order of:  Who you consider essential to get, who would really like but it won't be the end of the world if you don't get and lastly who you will get if the opportunity arises but if you don't there's always another time.

If you do that and list them in those categories we might be able to suggest better options.

[charlesberg]

Tom Skeritt should be your top priority, this is his last UK con 

[Raylenth]

Well it depends on how much joel wants him, he may want others more, but I know what you mean.  Factors like that should also be considered.

[whitewillow]

You should start queueing early, so you can get an early VQ number and are able to see the guests you want. I recommend starting queuing at 8am. If you get in too later, by the time you get a VQ number for some of the most popular guests the number may be too high, and you may not be able to see them.

[RomeroSavini]

If you can get all 17 in one day my hat will be tipped on your general direction.

[PenThePirate]

1 hour ago, whitewillow said:

You should start queueing early, so you can get an early VQ number and are able to see the guests you want. I recommend starting queuing at 8am. If you get in too later, by the time you get a VQ number for some of the most popular guests the number may be too high, and you may not be able to see them.

8am might even be too late. My group are generally in the queue at 7am and manage to get super close to the front, but there are still people in front of us even then. We manage to get through and collect VQ's pretty quickly and get decent numbers, so it might warrant an earlier start.

I would say to ask on Friday evening who has been on VQ (helpful for those there all weekend, not so much for Saturday only guests obvs), then it might be easier to target those you want most.

[ajknight1972]

Perhaps this isn't allowed to be suggested but how about "buddying up" with other attendee's?

From your list I'm after the signatures of Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran and it wouldn't bother me to get you a picture signed whilst mine are being done.

Apologies to all the admin's who will chastise me for posting this if it's not allowed..... :-(

[Raylenth]

It's allowed AJ, many people including myself get friends (a very helpful and put upon friend in particular) to take their items through if they are amenable - but it depends on what the attendee wants, for many of them the auto doesn't mean anything without getting to meet the person themselves, others aren't fussed either way and just want their item signed.  Sarah and Jack won't be a problem to meet as Joel can do them whilst waiting for the VQ's for the others to be called, it's more that most of his list is for very busy people so he's unlikely to be able to get them all.

Edited June 21, 2017 by Raylenth

[lesleynile]

8 minutes ago, Raylenth said:

It's allowed AJ, many people including myself get friends (a very helpful and put upon friend in particular) to take their items through if they are amenable - but it depends on what the attendee wants, for many of them the auto doesn't mean anything without getting to meet the person themselves, others aren't fussed either way and just want their item signed.  Sarah and Jack won't be a problem to meet as Joel can do them whilst waiting for the VQ's for the others to be called, it's more that most of his list is for very busy people so he's unlikely to be able to get them all.

I'm the same, a friend offered to get me Alysons auto for me as at the time I wasn't going to go but I was like for £75 I wanna meet her. Yes the auto is important to go in my book but not as important. To actually get to say hi lol :) good luck with getting g your autos though, I'm helping 8-1 and only want Alyson and Alexis photo and autos and I'm afraid I'll not get them haha

[joeld]

Thanks for the comments guys and useful information I am now probably going to go on Sunday now. Just a few quick questions, where do I get the VQ's, are they at the front of the lines, and where do the guests are usually positioned, are the most popular together and the smaller guests in other places and lastly, what guests are you guys going to get

[Raylenth]

1 minute ago, joeld said:

Just a few quick questions, where do I get the VQ's,  are they at the front of the lines, and where do the guests are usually positioned, are the most popular together and the smaller guests in other places and lastly, what guests are you guys going to get

I've already answered your VQ location question Joel, please read my second post.  They do try and put guests from the same show near each other but it's not guaranteed.  Guests can be located anywhere on the floor, you just have to go to where they are located on the maps and look around for them.

There is already a thread on who everyone is seeing so it's best to have a look at that rather than everyone posting the same info here again 

[Tony1975]

On the subject of VQ's. Are you allowed to get more than one ticket for the same guest?

Me and mate have got some of the same guests which I imagine will be busy. I am thinking that we will have better chance of getting low numbers if I go to one of the guests and get two tickets and he does the same for the other one.

[Saul]

42 minutes ago, Tony1975 said:

On the subject of VQ's. Are you allowed to get more than one ticket for the same guest?

Me and mate have got some of the same guests which I imagine will be busy. I am thinking that we will have better chance of getting low numbers if I go to one of the guests and get two tickets and he does the same for the other one.

Hi Tony, from reading posts here as far as I'm aware it is one VQ ticket per person. You can queue up again to try get another ticket, but it's only ever one ticket per person each time. 

Maybe some more experienced members here can confirm :)

[dogsoldierspoon]

 

I've done that many in a day. Honestly, I'm always surprised I get about 80 - 90% of my autographs done the Saturday (I'm always there two days). It's going to be hard and you'll have to be early, but I think it's possible.

Many of the guests aren't exactly first timers or guests that haven't been over in a while either. Wheaton was at DST last year, just like Lloyd who's also done a couple of others the past years (but he's such a slow signer it might still be a challenge, especially if Showmasters chooses to do 20 different photoshoots again). I think Koenig was over at DST as well, but not sure.

I think the only real difficult ones might be Ron Perlman and Tom Skerritt. Maybe Derek Jacobi. But it should be really doable.

 

 

 

[Wrong Name]

1 hour ago, Saul said:

Hi Tony, from reading posts here as far as I'm aware it is one VQ ticket per person. You can queue up again to try get another ticket, but it's only ever one ticket per person each time. 

Maybe some more experienced members here can confirm :)

I can confirm 

Edited June 21, 2017 by Wrong Name

[Raylenth]

2 minutes ago, Wrong Name said:

I can confirm 

I double confirm.

[joeld]

I guess it's only 16 now Ron Perlman has cancelled

[joeld]

Hi Raylenth, I just wanted to ask how do I know when my number on VQ ticket will be able to go into the queue, thanks

[StuartG2198]

10 minutes ago, joeld said:

Hi Raylenth, I just wanted to ask how do I know when my number on VQ ticket will be able to go into the queue, thanks

There are boards at the end of the guests queue indicting what number they are up to.

[wjbleming]

9 minutes ago, joeld said:

Hi Raylenth, I just wanted to ask how do I know when my number on VQ ticket will be able to go into the queue, thanks

You just check back every now and then to the end of the guest's queue and there'll be a board/sign stating numbers 1 to whatever number they've gotten to Joel. Once it's gone past yours, you can join the queue. (Even if it's 1 or 2 out, they may be able to let you join. )