rjw499

if its at all possible, DO NOT GO ON THE SATURDAY Saturday's one hour queues turn into Sunday's one minute queues

nice

optimistically this is a rare thread where people are understimating the guest - if its genuinely "one of the biggest ever sports names in the world" then we're looking at Pele/Maradona/Beckham level people. As much as I like them I dont think anyone could claim Ennis/Pendleton/Coe are on their level

I dont believe SM book comicbook guests outside of LFACC anymore (unless thats also dropped off this year)

.... and comics? will there be comicbook guests or does the blackout extend to this event?

Comicbook guests.....or change the con name

Comicbook guests.....or change the con name

The only guest I wanted (Hannah Waddingham, Sunday only) has cancelled. The blow was softened by the announcement of Reece Noi however he is Saturday only.... Any chance I can use my Sunday tickets for Saturday entry? Cheers

On the plus side it's nice to have a thread where views can be discussed in an adult manner - too often anything that isnt 100% pro-SM is deleted

I'd rather avoid speculation which is why I'd like some official word on this. Imagine they announced they were banning all cosplay at a show 1-2 weeks before it happened...... or removed all film/tv guests I dont think anyone has made the conclusion that they're doing this just to annoy people - I'm sure it is down to costs (if I had to guess I'd say ticket sales and vendor takeup has been worse than they expected) However I think if you're going to make a significant change to a show you shoud give your customers the courtesy of an announcement.

It's one thing to just not book/announce any comic guests but another to kick them off the show after people have bought tickets - I suspect the lack of an official response is because they know they're in the wrong

I think its also fair to say that the lack of an official response to this is disappointing

I think it's fair to say that UK guests generally aren't as popular as those from overseas (as they tend to appear at far more uk cons).

.

I know SM have always taken the line that you shouldn't attend a con based on guests attending as lineup is always subject to change.... But cancelling every comicbook guest after you've had tickets on sale for a while seems wrong

It's just what one of the cancelled guests said was happening

Showmasters have made the decision to remove comicbook guests from their shows, I suspect any expansion on this point will result in my post being deleted

my advice would be to wait for the schedule as there is a signifcant chance that they wont be having a photoshoot during the times you specify

thanks for the reply Jason, would be great if you could

this isn't meant as a criticism of SM/LFACC as every other event also uses this (non)system

As a suggestion for future events, is there any way SM could run a sketch pre-order service (or even just give indications of prices for sketches)? For anyone who doesnt "do" sketches, the current system is the equivalent of announcing a film guest but not giving any indication of how much they charge for autographs. Also theres no guarantee they'll be able to sign anything for you as they may be fully booked up by the first day (unless you manage to get their attention on twitter and book a slot then)

I think SM just spoilt us with 2014/2015 being such strong shows, 2016 obviously isnt up to their level but the lineup is still ok

One person's "not big" is another person's "massive". It all comes down to personal tastes It really doesnt, you can objectively say that Stan Lee/MJF are bigger guests than anyone on the guestlist this year. There can be minor guests that you're super excited about and major guests who dont float your boat but it doesnt really change whether they are big/not big.

my guess would be that there are still quite a few left - we're still waiting for a big guest announcement tho so this could change very quickly

also, remember that around 95-100% of autographs on ebay are fake - MJF appearing at LFACC means ebayers can claim they met him there (but chances are they werent even at the con)