prisoner6

Hi, Long time no post, Would love to meet 'The Hitman' - just checked out the new doc on him - would be a great guest. J.

Good post surfy - I live in Liverpool, and £15 would get you a night with free drinks and all the music you want!! As the party is advertised as part of the Collectormania event, it just seems such a missed opportunity to not do more with it - film quizzes, bbq etc - all cheap and cheerful, but gives incentive to people who don't want to just listen to loud/live music, but mix with other fans, and have a laugh - the quiz would be a great crowd puller.

Hi Superflower I'm not at all interested if stars turn up or not - but to plug areas such as this, and not events that will be taking place, it shows a serious lack of input, and a way of pulling in unsuspecting £15 payers. Why advertise the stars bit at all - it works both ways - why are 'stars' and 'movie cars' the big blurbs on the posters/leaflets, if not purely to entice. If it read bar, live music, BBQ, quiz, that would be great - realistic, and something for your money. On a side note, I don't drink - I'm purely continuing my rant (although with good intentions!!), for a better value for dosh 'party' - my fiance and I visited the Xscape this year, and catched a flick instead - love the arcade and the bowling alley - we stay the 3 days too, fun little holiday for us - were doing the N.E.C next - should be sweet!!!!

Hi Tommy T, good reply. Although there are a few things to comment on. I agree that stars don't have to turn up at the party, totally understandable. My point is that it is advertised as Meet the Stars - the leaflet actually states the possibility of stars turning up. Now, if the posters/leaflets were handed out at the event with ACTUAL 100% confirmed guests, then thats cool. But advertising this as POSSIBLE is ludicrous - its false advertising. Its the same for the movie cars - it should be 100%, what will turn up on the night - advertising over and over again on the leaflets for each event, with MEET THE CARS FROM THE MOVIES, is false advertising, if such vehicles don't appear. I would be willing to pay the £15 if there was value for money - £15 seems adequate for a party with drink facilities (check), a barbeque?, maybe some live music - I don't have any real probs with the venue, as these extras would just flesh it out. But £15 as is - I still don't agree with you that this is a 'fair' price - these people are'nt cash poor (I'm assuming), so surely the effort that goes into the leaflet printing warrants some effort on the actual night. Anyone else have comments on the party?

Hiya, Oh well, guess its just me then. I still can't get my head around the large advertisement for the party on leaflets - as you guys yourself are saying, a party is what you make it, yes, fine, but theres no excuse for lazy management of said party, when said party gives the wrong impression to new custom. The first party (C7), I went to, misled me by showing pics of a past event where there was a line up of movie vehicles, with lots of people bustling about and having a great time (my main reason for going to the party was to see the knight rider car etc - very cool idea) - my fiance and I were enticed by the leaflet pics, as it looked great - to this day, even with C8 's advert leaflets, the same pic of a past party was on show (the same one I saw at C7). From other forum members comments on C8, they too where left with a bad impression - it seems the £15 ticket prices is soft money that people are handing over - the ticket price should demand a certain level of input from its creators - not just the excuses some of you guys have left below - their venue, etc. - it does'nt warrant a £15 charge - £5 at best. My £15 at C7 got me a crappy inflatable (an inflatable, please???- nothing against them but it was raining on the night I went, and this was the only 'additional' attraction available???), ****-poor service inside (at bar) - and very rude attendants at the door, my ticket was literally ripped from my hand at the entrance. I'll let it go now, but I for one think showmasters should improve the communication side of the party, and what people will ACTUALLY get for their money on the night - saying there MAY be movie cars is not good enough, saying stars MAY turn up, is not good enough. The £15 should warrant some ACTUAL extras to keep people happy - I'm sure they make adequate cash from the main event to cover this.

Surely (as you say Jedi-Tink), if the venue was better, they would charge more - is'nt that a good thing? As I posted on the C8 forum, the party takes up a large portion of the advertising leaflet for Collectormania - new people to the event would definately get the wrong impression about it - the one I attended with my fiance at C7 was bloody awful - not worth £15 at all. People on the C8 forum have also reported the party was bad - yet there is still a £15 charge. If there was more input, with lets say a £30-40 charge - imagine a party with a quiz, for example, better thought out party games, group talks and discussions - seems a great opportunity, but the current party is severly lacking in the ideas/'value for money' areas - thumbs down I'm afraid.

Hiya, I posted a few items regarding the party on the C8 section - any news on improving/implementing something new for the next one? Cheers,

Hi, I'm sure she was friendly as I saw her laughing and joking with a few people - I was'nt too impressed by the sexual advertising however - there are kids walking about too dude. It was very 'in your face'.

Cher, sad to hear you felt out of place in your costume - don't give up!! Last time we (me and fiance) went, we met a nice couple passing who were dressed as batman and robin - I got a pic of them, and they seemed to enjoy the attention - its all fun afterall, and its good to see the effort people go to. I think the problem this event was the lack of enthusiasm - there seemed an atmosphere hanging over the whole thing - plus I was suprised how quiet it seemed spanning the three days.

As a side note, looking at the handout I have, the 'party' advertising for Collectormania 8 makes up 20% of the flyer - out of interest, who represents Showmasters on this forum, for feedback/queries? - I'm pretty new to the forum you see. I was wondering if there will be any improvements to this area in the future - also, at the G-Mex, will there be a party/talks (combined) - if so, where/what will this consist of? Cheers,

Yeah I've never seen anyone degrade themselves so much - she stood out like a sore thumb in the event - I'm suprised no comments have been posted. I thought at one point she was going to attach a playboy bunny headpiece, and prance about in the buff!! Not that it would have been a bad thing of course What was the point in this guest, other than letting her self publicise her website and 'assets'?

Hi guys, Man, I've never seen so much self publicity at a stand before - anyone else see the reams and reams of self obsessed advertising this guest was plugging? Standees, banners, website plugs - plus she had a small card next to her desk listing out what she would sign, the cost of each individual item. Was I missing something with her, or was her overpowering advertising for good reason? Ps. I liked the crew shirts - shameless plugging!!!

Hiya, Anyone get any more KITT pics at the party - last year no movie cars turned up - grrrr.

Yeah, but to promote it as a main attraction at the event is strange, as the effort that goes into it is -bizzarely- of such a low standard - I'm only asking for value for money - the collectormania party clearly is'nt. Was the ticket price still £15 this time around? I know its up to each person to decide if they want to go or not - I think its a great idea to be honest, but it needs implementing to a greater standard, other wise, whats the point? We were going to try again this time around, but chose a night out at the xscape - I would like to go to an evening get together which involved talks and a buffet - I would pay a higher ticket price if it was worth it - I just can't get my head around the advertising for the party on the website and handouts - it should be worth it...its not.

Hi, Yeah, but it could be so much more - £15 - were is the justification in that price? There are no goody bags, no food laid on - its £15 to enter - thats poor.

Hi, Collectormania 8 was the third event both myself and my fiance have attended (we travelled up from Liverpool) - we stayed for the 3 days this time too so we coud have a shopping session and try out the Xscape venue - very cool place. I myself, like to see the stars (old and new), but am not into the whole autograph/pic scene - its nice to see them and then move along - we both enjoy the events, and are ready for the Birmingham convention and the first gmex event. There are 2 areas that I think could be improved upon with the Milton Keynes venue however, from our past experiences at this event. The first is the party that is advertised on the brochure - we went to the last party at collectormania 7, and were left a little underwhelmed by the high ticket price, but lack of entertainment/ammenities. I think it would be great if the ticket price was raised to say, 45/50 pounds, and a night (say the saturday), is set up, from 7pm till 1pm - during this time, people can visit the location (wherever that may be) and mingle with other collectors/fans, there is a buffet or barbecue layed on, plus the talks are held in one location - a quiz or some other form of entertainment would be great too, plus I'm sure it would help guests to think about travelling to the party, rather than its current state, where its a bit hit and miss (no offence, but the effort was so clearly lacking when we attended and I was at the point of asking for a refund after only 30mins at the 'party') - I think the party advertising should be removed from the brochure/website, until showmasters exploit the parties great potential, in favour of the customer, rather than a soft £15 entry fee with no imagination or forsight put into its execution. The second problem is the obvious location - It think a designated event arena (i.e. GMEX), will help with the whole attitude that certain guests have when signing. I understand the problems that people have expressed with Shatner for example, but the policing of such stars is difficult when their locations are obviously totally unmanageable - the first location for shatner was in the 'windowed' corridor at the shopping centre - where people could peer through and take pics - with such a star, would'nt it be best to camoflague these areas, block all the windows, and prepare ahead of time? That way, the people paying a large sum (£25 is alot of money), would be queueing without the pic snappers and hecklers, and the visit would be more personal, and I'm sure a more rewarding experience overall. At the event, anyone could have snapped pics of shatner and be quite happy, without forking out any dosh - if the guy was totally secluded and queue's were formed with better privacy and security, maybe Shatners agent would allow a minute of conversation, or at least some pleasantries, instead of hording people through, and flicking through the numbers. Just some thoughts - we do enjoy the events though, cheers.

Cool!! The worse part is being the next in queue - I mean, I don't go for the autographs - the only guest I've ever wanted was Margot Kidder - its strange though meeting them - I mean, what the hell do you say - its hand your money over, shake hands, smile, sign, away you go!! I felt awful too as I asked for the signature before paying - the marshal was slightly rude and asked for the £15 while I was talking to her!!

Come on then, what happened?

Go oooooooooooooon!! Make it short - who was it?

You could pull?!? Ha ha - that was a stupid sentence by me - I'm engaged anyhow. Just to clarify, it would be nice to take a commerative booklet home with me (well, Kirsten Dunst if she goes)

Yeah, signposts would be good - they could situate them each corner of the square.

No - the desks are cool - it would be nice to have something to carry with me, thats all. Something to take home.

Mine was the day after the party - feeling knackered and hung over - it was bloody hot too!! As I was turning around to make my way to the white board (my fiance wanted Spike's autograph - she missed out by 10 places!! - the guy had to leave early or something)....aaaanyway, as I turn I walk full head on into some unsuspecting guy, he was knocked off balance, but apologised straight away (not that it was his fault) ....was none other than Mr Ray Park (so yeah, I guess I can say I toppled Darth Maul !!)

Hmmm, suppose. Although some king of general map, plus info. regarding talks, info. on the stars - some kind of commerative booklet would be cool.

I had a hang over that day - from the party!! Too much wine