Dent_1

Never met him (have not seen anything he's been in) but have only heard good things from those who have met him.

Of all the celebs lost this year, Carrie's passing has shocked me the most. She was such a huge part of a cultural phenomenon. Just far too young. I am very grateful that Showmasters gave us several chances to meet her and I feel lucky I can say I had the pleasure of meeting her at LFCC 2014. I was going to have her sign just a trading card and debated an 8x10 as well, but trying to be frugal decided against it. At the last minute on the way to the event to withdraw some money for the show, I thought to hell with it and got out some extra for that second auto. I remember waiting in her line for about 2hrs on the Sunday because she was late, but she was worth it. I asked if she would put "Galactically Yours" (something she used to write on autos back in the 70s) she snapped "NO" and said she'd write me something else, and she gave me the best personalised auto I have ever had from a celeb. She asked "how's that?" and I told her it was much better and thanked her profusely. I really didn't know what to expect from a famously temperamental character but she gave me a great experience and I really appreciated that. I told her it was great to see Gary with her and she looked genuinely happy at that comment. I remember many complained she insisted on having Gary with her in the photoshoots but even as someone who doesn't really like animals/dogs, but her quirkiness is one of the reasons so many loved her. She was nothing if not fun.

Met her at Brighton last winter, a lovely, very friendly guest. She NEEDS to have a joint shoot with Rolston.

Great guest, met him once before: a very softly spoken polite gent. Need another autograph from him but this event is just too far away. I hope he (and Jenette Goldstein) get announced at another event that isn't at the spam end of the country.

Gutted he cancelled at LFCC last year, really need to meet him for Alien Resurrection. Will be getting 2x autos and a photoshoot.

Couldn't get to the last Destination Trek to see Wheaton, glad we're getting another chance at meeting a rare signer in the UK.

Have kept missing him for years, will deffo meet him this time if I get to this show. Not many Trek TOS cast left now

EXCELLENT calibre of guest, but for those ready to spend the money... Stamp has, IMO, a truly awful looking autograph.

I have only looked through a couple of albums but I am amazed at how many photos have been taken with the guest staring off in different directions. I know that if the guest or attendee has 'eyes closed' that would be an automatic retake but shouldn't both the guest and attendee both be looking at the camera? Isn't that a fairly basic principle of having your photograph taken? I'm amazed no-one else has not mentioned this. Fortunately it's never happened to me but I'd be extremely annoyed if I paid to have a photo with guest gazing into the distance. Would a retake be allowed in these circumstances? Why are the photographers seemingly not picking up on this themselves?

I think it says it all when even Jason, who organises these shows and gets the guests over here, couldn't even get a smile out of her in his photo. Being thorough though, in some she has given a few nice smiles, it's just a shame they are very few and far between. As someone said above about the photo with a kid, you'd think of all people she had a photo with she'd put her arm around the little lad, but hey ho. All very odd.

They're called toploaders. They're not archival quality though (you will see some can look 'oily' inside). They are meant for short term protection, e.g. protecting things when being posted. They are not meant for long-term storage as the acids in them can break down and degrade. Some people have stored autographed photos in them and found that when you take them out, that with gold/silver pens in particular, the ink can stick to the inside of the toploader and lift off the photo itself. That said, if you put photos in archival 'soft sleeves' first, then put them in a toploader, that will be fine. http://www.ultrapro.com/product_list.php?cPath=28 Hope that helps!

Kenny did look like he was struggling more the last couple years and I've just read in the Guardian his niece said it was 'expected' after a long illness but I sure didn't expect it. He always looked like nothing would or could stop him! I feel fortunate to say I first met Kenny in 2010 at Collectormania Milton Keynes and again at the same show but in 2013. Whilst I didn't meet him recently, I saw him signing at LFCC not but two weeks ago and at Star Wars Celebration Europe not but two weeks before that. I really didn't expect those to be the last times. He seemed to enjoy meeting his fans and how great is it for all of us that he did what he enjoyed literally up until the very end. He must have met so many people at those two HUGE shows alone and I expect those will be very grateful memories for those who only recently met him for the very first time. And I think it is a true testament to himself that on both occasions, and as always, whatever the venue, whatever the price, his fans were stacked deep to see him... and you NEVER saw anything but a glowing review on these forums from fans who went to meet him. RIP Kenny Baker.

The problem is that as much as everyone's points are valid they are human beings and SM have no control over their behaviour. It's a catch 22 situation really. SM can't publicly say anything negative about the guests so what do they do? People ask for them to get them, they can't say 'no because they are awful grumpy people who you will all hate', and there's no guarantee that their behaviour will always be 'bad'. Unfortunately it's the reality of the situation. Heck, it's even mentioned in the FAQ that situations like this do happen so be prepared. I do understand what you mean about if it's a new attendee's 1 experience then it's very negative, but it's not exclusive to Showmasters. It can happen at any event. This is why it's stated that because of situations like this you shouldn't meet your hero's. I agree with much of what you are saying. It is so unfortunate that we as fans/collectors ask for bigger and rare guests, we say that we will pay for them and then Showmasters book the likes of Famke (hurray!). Then people meet her and we have page after page of unhappy campers. Showamsters may be annoyed too, but naturally it would be business suicide to comment. I think it is common sense to assume everyone is pretty unhappy at how all this turned out. Even if the cynic wants to say Showmasters got their money, well I doubt they'll be asking her to come back like they do the fan-pleasers that advance Showmasters' business year after year. Those who did meet her likely wouldn't bother again, and those who didn't meet her may not want to if given the chance after all the horrendous feedback. It is lose-lose for everyone, I met her and can't say I was impressed. That said, she was 3rd and final of my top three female guests I wanted to meet, and she is still my favourite Bond girl. I am genuinely pleased some reported good experiences, truly. But all the negative reports reflect that her demeanor was not limited to isolated incidents. I do believe in the intention of the "don't meet your heroes" comment because fans can have the tendency to put their idols on a pedestal. That said, I have not had ANY bad experiences to the degree of Famke's photoshoot in nearly 10 years with ANY guests. And speaking to other fans at the shows and on here, I would say that despite the stereotype us geeks may have, I genuinely feel that the vast majority do have very realistic expectations about what sort of interaction you will get from a celeb at a show. I note most are appreciative that celebs can have off days and other factors can impact on them too... ...so I would ALWAYS encourage people to meet their heroes, just don't expect to make a new best friend! But there was just something VERY off about Famke all weekend, in a way that other guests just do not get complained about. Was it ribs? Convention naivety/inexperience on her part? The fan stalker problem she had a couple years back? We'll never know. Regardless though, she made the decision to be there. In the same way she expected certain behaviour from the public (no touching etc etc) I think it should be obvious to her that paying customers expected certain behaviour from her too: at the very least a smile in a photo. I mean come on, how much more basic an expectation is that? Of course Showmasters cannot LITERALLY control her, or anyone else's behaviour, but I would hope they could tell her (and any guest) beforehand what fans are likely to expect from a guest so they know if they want to attend a show. Or in my ideal world, Showmasters would dock her pay for the shocking (lack of) effort she put into her photoshoots. But I doubt that would happen. Forget the difference in salary, would she rock up to a film set and slur her lines out or put no effort in? I doubt it. And whilst Showmasters are of course not criticising her, just remember how sensitive the mods can be to any criticism of any guests before an event because "guests do read the forum" etc. I think it speaks volumes that Showmasters and the mods have let all the criticism stand, and deservedly so.

Right, its a week since I last emailed and have yet to hear a response. At what point to we say LFCC has been and gone? I don't want to sound a pedant but with Amsterdam only two weeks away and there being a need for the pre-order team to travel beforehand, what is the cut off date for sending in your own items? When should I just write the whole idea off if responses are not forthcoming? Or should I just send repeated emails, clogging up their inbox (something I have NOT done) hoping one gets picked up? I think in this day and age, communication needs to be a bit better.

How long does Pre-Orders take to respond to email? I sent one through their website 4 days ago but have not heard anything back yet. I know they will likely still be mailing out LFCC stuff but having never used the service before (and the Amsterdam show fast approaching) I have a few questions I need answering before I can use the service/send my stuff in.

I can't do 5 so my TOP 10! - Arnold Schwarzenegger - James Earl Jones - Ian Holm - Yaphet Kotto - Harry Dean Stanton - David Duchovny - Roger Moore - Sean Bean - Judi Dench - Robert Carlyle

No problem, you're one of the seemingly few people to like Alien3 so thought you might like seeing them. With McGann/any digital image I look for files of a certain pixel size, obviously the larger the better for something like an 8x10. I upload the image to an online service I use and have the photos sent to me. Most say matte paper is better for autographs but I always prefer to go with gloss, the images look punchier and the signatures sharper on them. Screengrabs/screencaps can be a great image resource if you can find them in the quality you need and have the time to search through thousands of files. Frankly a screencap can be just as good quality as some 'official' publicity material out there and they do give you the choice of using images from favourite scenes. In fact, I wanted to have Dave Prowse sign me an 8x10 at LFCC but could not settle on a Star Wars image I was happy with. In the end I used a screencap from one of my favourite Vader scenes in The Empire Strikes Back and I love the photo all the more for it. It is not super sharp, but then again most publicity images from the 80s aren't! Many of the softer images above probably are screen captures. If there isn't a copyright/logo on the image, many of the 'official' free photos you see are just screen grabs from Blu-rays or DVDs. I think that is a bit of an over-simplification... I do not have a single autographed photo in my collection with copyright info because I consider the text something of an eyesore. A photo can be lacking copyright text and still be 'official' publicity material or from photoshoots, for example Weaver, Dance, McGann no.2 and Henriksen above.

I find that VERY odd that yours were not personalised, being around her signing table at several points on Saturday, I tried to get a glance at other people's autos and every single one I saw was personalised and with a heart. Were you asked by crew before you went up? I was asked if I wanted mine personalised by the crew member stood up who kept the pics/items flowing towards Famke, by the crew member sitting next to her, and by Famke herself. I really would not get upset about the table selfies though, if those fans did get one with her, then they were most definitely the exception and not the rule. I consider myself VERY lucky to have gotten a quote. I try and ask for quotes I enjoy from my favourite guests and some are really up for it if you know what you want and have it written down for them. You lose nothing by asking and I wasn't gonna miss the opportunity with my favourite Bond girl who had loads of great lines in GoldenEye. I has asked her to put "This time, Mr. Bond, the pleasure will be all mine." because that is what she said in that scene, but Famke asked if I wanted it personalised and suggested herself what she wrote in the end. In retrospect think what I asked was a little long and what she chose does work better for the item obtained at a meet and greet. I am really happy that she obliged and I got a decent looking signature on all three photos as well. That is a great publicity still. I thought of taking a similar shot from that scene in the hope I could one day get Bean on it as well but I couldn't find a decent quality image and it was more money I didn't need to spend! DId you meet Bean or did it come signed?

If you were literally there to see just Dave you could walk in mid-afternoon and be out in under 30mins (assuming he is at his table when you got there). Absolutely nothing to worry about. Shows like these do not generate the queues and general pandemonium of events like LFCC.

I have to agree with this. The end of the talk was embarrassing to watch. I'm always relieved when I attend a talk and see it's hosted by someone else and the other gentleman who was hosting was very good. So what happened at Rutger's talk? I'm hearing not good things...

I always find it astonishing that some dealers can't comprehend you wouldn't want to sell your cherished signed items. But that's not really what it's about. They don't really appreciate why many collect autographs, they only understand buying and selling them. Or getting them for free and selling them. So really all they understand is £££/$$$. The irony is their flawed logic on the topic of personalisations: the dealer wants something to be (unpersonalised) and more saleable. Why? Because they see that as being 'more desirable' - in so far as a wider audience may wish to buy it from them. But why wouldn't that same end consumer forego using dealers (where they can) and get personalisations if it makes the same items even more personal and cherished by being more 'unique'? The only reason not to, unless you really hate personalisations, is just to keep dealers in business and I don't think any fan at these events cares about that. You should have just said "you're a narrow minded idiot" to the dealer and turned away.

You don't need to apologise at all, said I could be wrong on all counts (having never attended a stage door/premiere) so your comments are insightful to me anyway! I would hope all fans would be polite but I have seen some vids on youtube of some real a***holes heckling celebs. One in particular sticks in my mind where this one guy (dealer) was just chatting absolute ______, saying anything to try and get Bruce Willis' attention. Bruce clearly found it quite annoying, refusing to sign for him, and rather than walk away he still kept signing for other people being far more respectful. The dealer, who was not white, then called Bruce a racist. Unbelievable. And Bruce apparently has a bad rep for signing autos but is that surprising if you have to deal with such nonsense?

Theatre goers cut no ice with this guy either - my friend told me he met him at the Stage door and was treated as contemptuously as those who went to LFCC... I think you said it right -"a cantankerous old sod"... What was the meeting like though? I imagine Stage Door fans being a more polite version of unscrupulous dealers and nutcase fans camping out at a film premiere. I could be wrong on all counts, but I see loitering in wait for a star (something not enjoyed by many celebs) as very different to an actor deliberately placing themselves at a convention where you are essentially inviting people to come and speak to you.

I've found that for any of the bigger guests anything over 200 and you don't have much chance, depending on the day. Jeremy Renner on sat I checked at 3ish and the vt numbers were still on 1-25 (We had tickets around 230), whereas on Sunday he was pretty much open queue by 2 (we had VT 90 ish) Which day did you see Sigourney get that high on the vt numbers? When I checked later in the afternoon on the sat they had literally just called 1-10 (yes 10, not 100!) as they'd had so many Diamond passes. I think it is fantastic that Rutger was giving so much to his fans, it makes him a credit to himself. I saw the same with Mark Hamill two weeks before. I also saw hundreds of genuinely devastated fans distraught at not getting to see Hamill, even after a couple of days trying. I was so lucky to get to meet him, and had a phenomenal experience at his autograph table, one of my best ever in fact but I really felt for those who missed out in part due to the organisation of that event. Now, obviously some novice attendees do rock up at any old time thinking they can just meet a popular guest. Consequently, not meeting them can spur them on to planning better next time (if they attend next time), but I am no novice. I plan well and in 8 years of doing these things I have NEVER gone home from a Showmasters event having not got an autograph I came for. Sadly Rutger was the very first time. And don't forget, this is only the second year Diamond Passes have been used at LFCC and we are all getting used to how those passes impact on a guest's availability throughout the show. My gripe is that Jason said Diamond Passes were primarily a means for them to be able to book bigger guests we kept asking for. It is sound business that an expensive Diamond Pass give Showmasters get an immediate return on what is no doubt a larger-than-average investment to book certain guests, and in exchange, hardcore fans get guaranteed meets/photos etc. What is troubling me though is the prospect of any decent guest getting slapped with a Diamond Pass like Rutger. He was £25 an auto and see no reason why he needed to be a Diamond Pass. Renner and Lundgren, yes. But even for people like Mads Mikkelsen, who can get through good numbers of attendees, was there all 3 days, and whose auto was not even on the mega expensive end, probably didn't need to be Diamond, nor Famke Janssen. Hutger certainly not. Just my opinion, but I see Diamond's as being for the Sigourney and MJFox's of the world. I saw both Gambon and Paxton without one last year. There are many guests that I would still love to meet one day but there are very few where I would want to pay hundreds for each for a diamond pass. I think the passes ARE pretty good value on a literal level when you look at what they contain, but I do not want or need multiple autos, a photo and talks for every guest, and so it stops being good value, just additional expense you don't want to pay, even if you can. I think Rutger is a truly great actor but I just wanted one £25 auto from him from Blade Runner. Didn't need a photoshoot, I'm not bothered about talks. It makes no sense for me to buy a Diamond Pass for almost every guest I could imagine(!). If more and more mid-range guests become Diamond guests, and these celebs are only getting through a couple hundred VT tickets a day, then I see meeting guests a far more frustrating endeavor later down the line. I'm sorry, but Rutger is NOT a queue up at 6am guest if you want a fair chance to see him with a VT. I'd also say again Showmasters could do a better job at managing guests like Rutger by limiting the time they spend with each attendee so more fans get to see them. You can have a great meeting without it being overly long and doing so would increase the chances of non-Diamond pass holders seeing great guests like him.

I would be interested to see some of the signatures that people got from Famke... as I said in my first post back on p.1, the sigs she gave out at the show were somewhat looser/sloppier than what I know she used to do. In fact I was somewhat disappointed in mine when I saw her signing in front of me, hoping that in person she might put more effort in (how foolish of me!), but looking at people's I saw later in the day, I felt quite lucky mine weren't as bad as they could have been. On another forum a member posted an auto he got from her on Sunday and it is atrocious, the 'Famke' barely resembles an 'F'! Anyway here are mine that I got Saturday morning: