spudulator

Yes, let's stop dwelling on this ticket thing. It is utterly irrelevant what time the tickets are handed out, what matters is how many people are there at a given time! By 9am, there were already more people there than any of the guys could physically see in a day. The tickets could have been handed out at 6am, at the end of the day all that ticket is, is a representation of YOUR PLACE IN THE QUEUE!!! Nothing more! If you are the 500th person to arrive, you get ticket number 500. Everyone seems to have forgotten the basic reason why tickets are used, and that is so that you don't have to stand in a queue for 8 hours! Of course it is unfortunate that a lot of people were disappointed but let's face it, there was NO WAY that the guys could see every single person there, in fact, they probably weren't going to see even a quarter of those that turned up. So instead of tearing strips off Showmasters, why not try to appreciate the fact that despite everything, they got the Hobbits to C4 and made a lot of people very happy. Spudulator

This statement pretty much confirms my opinion of the prequels. By suggesting that Episode 3 will somehow make the first two films better, you are admitting in essence that they really weren't very good. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the prequels in a tongue-in-cheek way, but they are not Star Wars movies. Anyway, I'm not going to waste my time qualifying my "throwaway" comments as your smug, aggressive tone does not invite a reasoned discussion. spudulator

jar jar

Yeah, second in command of destroying everything that is good about Star Wars. Gary may have "only" produced Star Wars and Empire, but they are the best two films of the series by a country mile. What does that tell you? spudulator

What's that comment supposed to mean? Showmasters have stated time and time again that they have been negotiating with certain Star Wars actors who have never made convention appearances before. They have also indicated that they do not wish to have the same actors over and over again who have made many appearances over the years. I personally feel that this is a good thing. I'm as big a SW fan as you could find and I'd far rather have 30 non-Star Wars guests making their first UK appearances than 10 Star Wars actors who have been on the convention circuit for years. And for the guy complaining about having no cult TV guests... Honor Blackman (The Avengers) Michael Keating (Blakes 7) George Takei (ST:TOS) Case closed spudulator

Chill out people! The Billy thing was unfortunate but remember he had expressed interest to be at C4 providing his schedule allowed it. Unfortunately things changed as could happen with any guest. As for whether Sean, Dom and Elijah have confirmed or not....look at the clues... Dom was on the phone to Billy all thru C3 as many people in the queue will tell you. And as we all know he turned up at C3 on Monday where I'm sure he had a chat with the organisers. Sean as we all now know did a signing at Showmasters booth in San Diego. This would suggest that both Dom and Sean have certainly expressed interest in attending C4. As for Elijah, he was also at San Diego Comic-Con. It doesn't take a genius to work out that Showmasters probably approached him and with Dom and Sean on board and Billy having already done C3, they had a very good chance of getting Elijah on board too. I'm sure the SM staff are very busy at the moment and everything will be updated as soon as they possibly can. Be patient folks, there's still 2 months to go!!! spudulator

I just want to point out that even IF a guest signs on the dotted line, they still have the get-out clause of "subject to work commitments." Personally I reckon that SM had spoken to Billy and there was a verbal agreement that schedule permitting, he would be able to attend one day. Unfortunately, as it turns out, at this moment in time, it looks like he won't be available, but as someone pointed out, schedules can change!!! It's unfortunate that BBnet were so quick to shoot from the hip as it has cast doubt in the minds of some fans as to SM honesty and integrity. I would have expected a bit more goodwill from them, considering Stewart was at C3, presumably at the expense of SM. spudulator

I can understand your disappointment Darth_Owl, but would you really be any happier if SM rolled out Dave Prowse, Kenny Baker and Mike Edmonds again, just to make up numbers? They are not deliberately snubbing the Star Wars fans, I'm sure that if they had the chance of having Chistopher Lee, they would jump at it but it's getting difficult to find good new guests that haven't done much before. There's not really enough interest to bring along the third ewok to the left, and most of the main Star Wars people will be filming Episode III at the moment. As for major cast from the original trilogy, securing these people tend to require a combination of availability, willingness to attend, realistic appearance fee and blind luck. I trust Showmasters and I'm confident it won't be long before they manage to scoop some great SW guests. By having such awesome LOTR guests from what is currently the world's biggest movie franchise, they are building an incredible reputation for the show meaning it will hopefully be easier to attract top names to future shows. Patience young padawan! spudulator

Actually there are a few possible female harry guests that are of legal age. Zoe Wanamaker for one...she's pretty fit for an older woman... Julie Walters..OK she's not much to look at now but she's an awesome actress.... Maggie Smith is pushing the envelope a little tho... and let's not forget Mirian Margolyes, star of such awesome eighties movies as Little Shop of Horrors, Electric Dreams, Morons from Outer Space and two great roles in the funniest TV comedy ever, Blackadder. OK so not much to fantasise about there but great guests nonetheless! spudulator

If you're travelling by train, you would get the Eurostar to London Waterloo, then catch the underground to London Euston where you can get a train to Milton Keynes. I would recommend flying, it's probably going to be cheaper, quicker and easier to fly to London Luton which is only a 20 minute drive from Milton Keynes. There's loads of info about Hotels and stuff on the Collectormania website. spudulator

Erm, I think this could be a case of quantity versus quality here. Hum3z, would you seriously give the person who was in Amanaman's costume and on screen for half a second money for their autograph? They probably couldn't even tell you any decent stories about filming as they were on set for about 1/2 a second longer than their actual screen time! Admittedly Brian Blessed is a cool guest but only cos of Flash Gordon. In the past Showmasters have brought us loads of Star Wars guests, I'm perfectly happy for a bit of a change this time. Apart from the usual suspects there's not many really good, approachable guests left. Plus many will be filming Episode 3 in October. spudulator

Come on Thomas, there's no need to take such a high and mighty stance. It's not really fair to be suggesting that certain actors have only been in one thing and are therefore worthless as guests. For one thing, all the actors (with the possible exception of child actors) have a vast body of work behind them. Just because they have only been in one "hit" show, doesn't mean we should dismiss them as "one trick ponies." Don't you feel just a tiny bit guilty that you are here slagging them off yet you're planning to go to the show and be nice to their faces? Guests are just people like you and me that happen to have a really cool job. They work hard to do what they do and I'm sure they wouldn't be very impressed to hear your opinions on their careers. spudulator

I doubt that John would be at C4 as it's pretty unlikely Showmasters would want to pay for him to come over again so soon after doing an appearance in the UK. Spudulator

Awww...I always arrive to late...I was just reading thru this thread getting ready to shoot Bruce Banner down in flaming ruin, then everyone drifts off the topic! lol Oh well, here goes anyway.... Bruce, you are absolutely entitled to express your opinion here. Unfortunately your tone has been rather derogatory from the outset so it's no wonder you've sparked some people's tempers. I can perfectly understand that not everyone will find a guest to get excited about in the line-up, you can't please all of the people all the time, but I challenge anyone to find a better all-round line-up of guests anywhere in the UK. As for Billy Dee Williams being the only actor you deem worthy of the title "non-bit part," that argument is truly ludicrous! Billy may have had an important role in one of the most popular movie sagas of all time, but Lando was still a supporting role! There are many more glaring holes in your arguments but you know what? It's not even worth the effort! Collectormania is now visited by over 1/2 a million people so I'm sure you won't be missed! spudulator

If Jar Jar (or his human counterpart, Ahmed Best) did come to the show, I think Showmasters would have to step up security a notch to stop him getting lynched by irate fans! Seriously, that guy got death threats! I doubt if you could pay him enough money to come to a public signing! spudulator

Be afraid.....be very afraid.... spudders

I really don't understand all you people that are saying stuff like "I'm sooo disappointed with the guests so far..." or "If they don't get more guests from my favourite show, I won't be coming." You all need to understand a few things. 1. Showmasters work very hard to try and get the best guests for Collectormania. Unless you are involved directly in organising something like this you simply can't appreciate the headaches it causes, contacting agents, waiting for replies, haggling over fine details before being told the guest won't be available after all or simply dropping out at the last minute. 2. Just because there are no guests from your favourite show, it doesn't mean they weren't asked!!! To finalise a lineup of 30 guests, it's highly likely that over 100 guests were approached in the first place. Then you have to weed out the ones that aren't available, want too much money or simply aren't interested. 3. People who aren't coming cause they aren't impressed with the lineup need to think about loyalty. Remember, it costs nothing (other than travel expenses) to come to Collectormania and they rely on people coming and spending money with the dealers and attending the evening events to make it successful. The more successful the show is, the better the chance you will have of seeing your favourite stars at the next event!!! 4. People who are b!tching and moaning about guests already, there's a LONG way to go until C4. Barely a third of the guests have been announced yet and already people are getting their panties in a bunch! Why not spend your pent up energies on something more constructive like spreading the word about C4 and arranging road trips with all your mates! I have every faith in Showmasters that they are working their give us some credites off to top the last show's line up and that very soon, many of the complaining parties will be eating their words. Hope to see y'all in October! spudulator

It is true that the parking in Milton Keynes requires a bit of negotiating. I would recommend coming by public transport, so you don't have to worry about it and can have a few "refreshments" while you're there. As I recall, there are a few areas with free parking in the center, next to The Point cinema is one, over by Sainsburys is another, and there is a free multi-storey car park round the corner from Sainsburys too. The free spaces are all technically limited to 2 hours. The other option is to use the park and ride from the coach station which is just after the big roundabout when you come off the M1 at Junction 14. If you are staying at a hotel in MK, most of them are within walking distance so you may as well leave your car there. If you are lucky enough to have friends or relatives living in MK, you could always ask to park your car at their place! spud