TerraHawk

That's what we used to do. I could see by how Peter spends time doing doodles etc for fans overseas he wouldn't be one to be rushed. Still its interesting all the pre-orders for the Doctors appeared to get signed. So getting the pre-ordered autographs took priority over virtual, and as it was a close thing for some diamond holders, pre-orders must have got done ahead of some of them too.

I'd love to see the rest of The Space Pirates.

Pointless really, It wasn’t shot in 4K, it’s just upscaled.

Certainly needs some.

Well never mind if people miss things they've already paid for because they are stuck in other queues, it's only their money after all. Of course the more efficient the queues are, and the less time wasted, the more chance people have to spend money. That's not a bad thing, is it?

You wouldn't need constant updates, just a round up once ever 20-30 minutes. If it kept 25% away from the queues until their turn it would be easier for you to get to the boards to check.

And of course in this case that still wouldn't have meant VQ 1-10 would have got their chance either, the guest would have just signed 10 less things.

It's something of a black market, and a catch 22. Fans want the auto of a new big time actor and are prepared to pay, someone will take advantage and sell to them. Actor then sees someone is profiting then refuses to sign, so those already signed are a rarity and shoot up in value. Dealers then try harder, its become worth their while. At least at an event the actors are compensated for their time. Limit them to 5 items they just bring 4 friends. Line is even slower. James Earl Jones is apparently happy to sign a few for free, the more he signs the less they are worth. But unless you are lucky enough to meet him you're back to relying on a dealer again. If Chris was fed up with dealers, are we sure they weren't for Showmasters Sales - the preorders. He's bound to have been a popular sale, and the £5 on top regular price is hardly anything when a guest is that much to start with. And they will already have paid.

We aren't allowed to talk guest fees but do some basic maths, the Star Wars extras aren't going likely to be on a lot. You only need one or two dealers getting 50 items and that's probably paid for them*. The rest is pure profit. Since some people will get posters, DVD covers, books, cards, figures, they don't need to be busy all day to make it worth their while. Otherwise they wouldn't try so hard to get new names. Every time I think there can't possibly be any more to get they seem to dig out a few; but the fact they seem to be getting non-UK guests now (which can cost more) I do think we are getting towards the end now, at least for me. I had a funny experience with my Star Wars autos at the event. I only get a book signed and thought Mike Quinn had signed it 20 years ago, I must have met him. But looking, seems he never had. Until Sunday. * so the dealers have their uses. Obviously an app would make a lot of sense, but lets face it they've only had QR codes a few years, they seem to be a decade behind. I'd like to make a suggestion actually, a sort of compromise, a way of providing the info on the cheap. How about a dedicated twitter account for number status- A showmasters live perhaps. Only need a few people to keep revising the numbers, its basic info that would be probably be logged anyway in any other business.

Funky pops and Fudge, I think there were at least three Fudge stalls. I didn’t see (or didn’t find at least) anyone selling Blu-rays and only a handful of DVDs which was unusual. Had a few I was after, guess I’ll hit eBay instead. Seems whenever I take spending money to buy merch, there’s none, if I don’t have the cash there’s loads.

5 then a box for other. Not sure I've ever seen it enforced for the guests I get. And then there's the red organisers tickets.

I don't see why they can't, when they are perfectly happy to retweet traders who say they are going

14.3km on Friday.

If an event is cancelled and you picked a cheaper room or seat without free cancellation you wouldn't get your money back there either. Ultimately your entry ticket is just that - entry to the event. Even if its no longer worth your while going, the event is still taking place. I do sympathise, no one like's to write-off £50. Somethings you have to cut your losses and chalk it up to experience. They used to say never book for one guest.

He's done two signings in the past month (Westminster after it was said there was no chance of him being here) and another, so hopefully that would have taken some of the pressure off. And if you do miss him perhaps visit his website

Can the first post be updated before next Friday please?

Not sure I've ever seen the limit imposed, but its rare for me to get a big guest. I remember the David Tennant signing many moons ago had the £45 (price) times table on display, up to 20. But with such a limit the trader will just get a second pair of hands, or get a second VT, perhaps even a different day, it doesn't really speed things up That's the thing, one guest can sign 50 things for one dealer much quicker than they can meet 50 people getting one thing each. If they are 50 copies of the same photo they can almost do that on autopilot. Individual dedicated photos in different colours with a few words for everyone takes longer. I think dealers within reason prevent prices going even higher. I could imagine one dealer paying for one of the smaller Star Wars guests alone. I'm surprised they aren't done behind the scenes, or even in their hotel rooms for the multiday guests. Quieter for them and under less pressure not seeing queues of people waiting for them.

I’m aiming for about 1pm; saves me £25 on peak times.

I get DVDs and CDs signed, plus trading cards etc. I must have over 50 things signed by Frazer (Sophie over 100), could find another 5 without trying. But I doubt I'll attend on Sunday, its just too awkward to get to on a Sunday and I'm only 20 miles away.

Yes there's no point spending 3 figure sums on travel and hotels to then spend 2 figure sums on guests. Fortunately for me, I just do Doctor Who and original trilogy Star Wars. Despite not getting Chris or Peter - or even having anything for Pearl to sign - the list I drew up the other day is long enough for me to be looking to cross a few off it if I don't really need them.

Chase and Juliet have definitely been. Big Finish themselves had a stall at LFCC one year (Chase was with them) but unless you knew they were there they were hard to find, and they didn't bother going again. I usually get a Big Finish or two signed at an event.

I doubt it; they aren't as big on US imports as they were back in the 90s. And even a big hit for 5 wouldn't even make the top 10 for BBC2. It's all relative - even the big successes like The Walking Dead & Game of Thrones don't have that big an audience in the UK compared to mainstream shows, but no one can deny they are huge. X-Files was huge for BBC2 back in the day, so it moved to BBC1. But there's more channels now... and Netflix etc. Back to this event, maybe you can have too much of a good thing. Its going to be a tough year to beat - unless they can get big Avenger, or big Star Wars guests. People have been asking for David forever, but if they've already spent diamond prices on others it creates a dilemma for them. Even Chris hasn't sold out yet.

The change of venue doesn’t bother me that much - admittingly it was a nice walk from Waterloo for me, but I’d only done it twice. But I can’t see me going again, the trains don’t start nearly so early on Sundays. Arriving in London for 9 didn’t seem like wasted time.

That's a bit of a pain, my normal route too. I've walked from Earls court to Waterloo before (not even my longest walk through London) but I think it will be too hot to do that again Yes, District down to Wimbledon might be an option That might work for you too - District (change at Earls Court) down to Wimbledon, then an 5-7 minute train over back to Clapham Junction.

You get stamped I think, I expect a lot of people normally buy on the day.