an important message from Jason, Paul & Dave

[showmasters]

as we all know its a hard year and this year both Autographica events did not cover there costs which is sad

 

now i bought into this event because its such a great event were its laid back and 5 star / black tie and i want it to keep on running for years to come but we do need help from you to keep it going .

 

Dave Paul and myself are 100% behind this event as we know its a very unique show nothing like it exist in the world, but it will take us all to keep it going for years to come .

 

now i know some of you may feel that the odd show does not have A list Golden Age guest for every event , but i do not think any of you know how hard its has been to keep bringing you Legend after Legend time after time , and so many of these guest have there only signing in the Uk with us , we know that most of the time we get one chance to get these amazing people to our event .

 

i think remembering how many really rare guests we have had over the years that you would not have met if you had not attend Autographica

 

 

Sir John Mills

Richard Todd

Sir Norman Wisdom

Ursula Andress

Joanna Lumley

Leslie Nielsen

Jim Lovell

Buzz Aldrin

Patrick Moore

Joan Collins

 

to name just a very few amazing guests that we have had , Autographica is a show second to none but it has been a very tough year for this event .

 

 

i know you like me want to be able to attend this show for years to come so as we can keep bringing really rare and great guests .

 

we do not run this event to make money but to break even and get to meet some incredible guests , to keep doing this we need more of you to keep attending the show and to help us get more people aware of Autographica and what the event is like , growing the amount of people that attend means we can bring you bigger and more guests its that simple .

 

 

this year we tried to do things differently by going to a cheeper hotel to try to bring down our costs but this did not help the event or in the end work for us as we feel we need to run this event in a top class hotel and keep it classy .

 

we are now going to stay at the 1st class Hilton at the NEC Birmingham and at the Radisson Edwardian Heathrow London so we are in the right place for this prestigious event , and we are working on some great guests for the next event , but we will be able to get bigger guests and more of them if we know that you are all behind us and what we are trying to do and buy tickets for the show.

 

we really need your support to keep making this event happen , if you keep wanting the chance to meet gold age legends then please support this event as this is the only event some of these guest will ever attend as its a would class event and some guest would never attend some of our other events as its just not there seen.

 

we want to keep this going and we need your help for real , you can help us in these ways

 

1 tell as many people as you can of the events and the guest we have attending

 

2 email us your address so we can send you fliers out to you so you can give them out in places were other

fans may hang out

 

3 put a link on any websites you are involved with http://autographica.co.uk/

 

4 tell your friends on facebook twitter etc about the event

 

5 inform your friends on facebook each time we have a new guest attending the show

 

6 and if you really want to help us buy your tickets early so we know you are coming as if we know lots of

you are coming we will go out of our way to get more guests or invest in bigger names as we will know

there are plenty of you coming

 

 

in the past we have had some great attendance and this really helped us put on a great show , with your help we want to keep bringing you big classic guests and people you would not think of being able to meet .

 

this event is much more than just a show its a place were you can relax and really get to know the guests and hang out with the stars , we know there are going to be many more great Autographicas in the future with some really amazing guest that you will not get to meet any ware else , but this year we need your support and help .

 

one last thing we have a great list of guest that do want to attend an Autographica but it just has not been the right time for them , in the end we hope to bring more and more rare guests in the next few years

 

thank you for reading this and i look forward to hearing more from anyone thats happy to help us with the most amazing show in the world .

 

see you all soon

 

and once again thank you

 

Jason, Dave & Paul

Edited December 4, 2010 by showmasters

[timelord81r]

2010 was my first full year going to cons, the leslie nielson one I just couldnt afford and ended up working that weekend, autographica 16 was my first ever autographica, I loved it. the space guests are the big draw for me especially the apollo era guests, al wordens talk was amazing, I could of listened to him all week.

 

I also went for the deluxe photoshoot ticket, and plan to for the next one

 

tbh I plan to attend most if not all autographicas for the forceable future however I cant buy early not generally, I work at the EC exhibition centre so work alot of weekends (how I got 3 off in november ill never know lol) so I have to beg for alot of them off, my boss hates ppl asking months in advance so its a bit of a tightrope for me requesting early.

 

of course there are exceptions, RDA for chevron I booked right there and then at 7.5. but with my work and the fact im skint lol, booking well in advance is hard. but I do plan to attend all autographicas, but it really does depend on guests and even more so to which ticket I buy. but I do plan to go the deluxe photoshoot ticket route as did at my first event.

 

thanks for all the hard work, i will endeavour to promote this as best I can. I just wish Id known about these events sooner, ive missed so many great guests :-(

[timelord81r]

please bring back

 

Joanna Lumley

Jim Lovell

Buzz Aldrin

Patrick Moore

Joan Collins

 

to name but a very few

[JacknDaniel]

I've only attended two Autographicas, one because I was going to Collectormania Midlands for TV/Movie Star guests, and met Angus Lennie at Autographica in the process, and the other purely because I didn't want to miss out on meeting Leslie Nielsen.

 

Unfortunately there's not much I can do to 'help out' the event as i've no interested in Space/War guests, purely movie/tv stars. In saying that, the fact that theres only really one or two guests at an Autographica I really want to meet, doesn't really justify me travelling and attending.

 

Still gutted I missed out on Joanna Lumley

[TerraHawk]

the space guests are the big draw for me especially the apollo era guests, al wordens talk was amazing, I could of listened to him all week.

 

I also went for the deluxe photoshoot ticket, and plan to for the next one

 

That's the thing though, if you pretty much only get the photoshoot option for the event, that doesn't really cover bringing those guests. In some cases 1 or 2 of their autographs is the same as your ticket.

 

After all it is called Autographica, not Photographica.

 

Still at least it's worth your while attending. It isn't mine. Again I'm only really interested in the TV/Film people most of which would probably attract more people at a Collectomania. I was seriously thinking about popping in on the way back from the last Invasion (I'd have been in London anyway) but Invasion got cancelled.

[timelord81r]

what £125 quid photo ticket plus maybe £20/@30 on talks isnt enough? lol it is for me!

 

tbh although not an auto man, I would like the astronauts autos but I simply cannot afford them, especially on top of the photos which is my man desire.

 

saying that there are always exceptions, jim lovell perhaps, and as long as it wasnt over 100 perhaps buzz as I have an old plate thing from when I was a kid from the apollo 11 landing that id love to get signed.

 

photographica would be awesome

[keithporter23]

I love Autographica - particularly the old Hollywood stars. As far as I can see, alot of the shows seem to revolve around Bond 'extras' and ridiculously priced astronauts (which I know the prices for these are not in SM's control), and that's just not my thing. Looking at the line up so far we have:

 

3 minor Bond girls

Kenny Baker

a land speed record holder

 

No disrespect to these guests, but it's certainly not enough for me to to even consider attending, let alone buying my tickets already. I know it's early for this show, but you have to bring out the big gun guests as soon as possible. If you were to announce a Hollywood great, i'd be buying my tickets early in a shot, and I know many others would too.

 

I have attended so many shows, and spent a sizeable wedge of cash, but I did not attend the last show in London due to the poor line up - I don't think there was even one Hollywood great - but I do plan to attend as many of these shows as possible. I hope they do continue in this tough climate.

 

I have to say thank you though for letting me meet the likes of:

 

Tony curtis

Mickey Rooney

Leslie Nielsen

Joan Collins

Tippi Hedren

George Kennedy

 

and that is just a few! These are the kind of names you need to be announcing early in order to push sales of tickets!!

Edited December 4, 2010 by keithporter23

[adriangill]

After all it is called Autographica, not Photographica.

Don't put ideas like that in his head !

 

photographica would be awesome

Too late!

 

How about Photomania?

[descartes]

Just a couple of thoughts which I believe are important:

 

Early Booking: If you could definitively state some big name really early on, people would buy a ticket earlier and would make the all important date in their diary. This is also a very significant issue to me, especially as applied to the Astronauts, as I prepare montages, special photoprints, etc. These can take a long time to research and produce and an announcement just prior to the event does not allow adequate time for this for this. Take a leaf out of the Americans books - Spacefest is months away and they already have stated an impressive lineup. The ASF do likewise.

 

Cost; The cost of the autographs is very much in the hands of the guests. Those of us who work on a limited budget will only be able to spend a certain amount in the course of a year. I believe that having two shows a year stretches peoples' budgets too much within a 12 month period. I would favour going back to one show / year, with sufficient time between each show for attendees to save the necessary funds.

[DavidB]

I've always loved the idea of Autographica, and the types of guests it represents. There's some truly fascinating legends that attend these events, and those that get to meet them are very lucky.

 

I must admit I'd love to meet the space guests etc, but sadly they're just not in my price range at this time - through no fault of SM etc, I think they're very reasonable considering!

 

So I certainly wish the event every success in the future, and maybe one day I'll get to one myself. It always looks such an enjoyable and intimate affair with guests who have so much to share.

[Hannerzzz09]

What can I say? Autographica is fantastic - it has given me the oppurtunity to meet MGA era astronauts I never thought I would meet,and meeting my favourite actor Leslie Nielsen truly was remarkable.

 

I have only attended Autographica 14 and 15,but certainly intend to go to both of this year's shows guests permitting of course.

 

Announcing some big names early would indeed help.

 

Keep up the excellent work Dave,Jason & Paul - what you are doing is fantastic,without you guys I wouldn't have had the chance to meet the people I have.

 

Here's to a successful year for Autographica with some brilliant guests!

[prendy9160]

Chuck Yeager ? what year was he

[nosfer2]

I have enjoyed the Autographicas I have attended. Sadly this year the guests I wanted to see cancelled, so in the end I did not attend. Here's hoping next year the guests I want to meet show up.

[prendy9160]

as we all know its a hard year and this year both Autographica events did not cover there costs which is sad

 

now i bought into this event because its such a great event were its laid back and 5 star / black tie and i want it to keep on running for years to come but we do need help from you to keep it going .

 

Dave Paul and myself are 100% behind this event as we know its a very unique show nothing like it exist in the world, but it will take us all to keep it going for years to come .

 

now i know some of you may feel that the odd show does not have A list Golden Age guest for every event , but i do not think any of you know how hard its has been to keep bringing you Legend after Legend time after time , and so many of these guest have there only signing in the Uk with us , we know that most of the time we get one chance to get these amazing people to our event .

 

i think remembering how many really rare guests we have had over the years that you would not have met if you had not attend Autographica

 

General Yeager

Sir John Mills

Richard Todd

Sir Norman Wisdom

Ursula Andress

Joanna Lumley

Leslie Nielsen

Jim Lovell

Buzz Aldrin

Patrick Moore

Joan Collins

 

to name just a very few amazing guests that we have had , Autographica is a show second to none but it has been a very tough year for this event .

 

 

i know you like me want to be able to attend this show for years to come so as we can keep bringing really rare and great guests .

 

we do not run this event to make money but to break even and get to meet some incredible guests , to keep doing this we need more of you to keep attending the show and to help us get more people aware of Autographica and what the event is like , growing the amount of people that attend means we can bring you bigger and more guests its that simple .

 

 

this year we tried to do things differently by going to a cheeper hotel to try to bring down our costs but this did not help the event or in the end work for us as we feel we need to run this event in a top class hotel and keep it classy .

 

we are now going to stay at the 1st class Hilton at the NEC Birmingham and at the Radisson Edwardian Heathrow London so we are in the right place for this prestigious event , and we are working on some great guests for the next event , but we will be able to get bigger guests and more of them if we know that you are all behind us and what we are trying to do and buy tickets for the show.

 

we really need your support to keep making this event happen , if you keep wanting the chance to meet gold age legends then please support this event as this is the only event some of these guest will ever attend as its a would class event and some guest would never attend some of our other events as its just not there seen.

 

we want to keep this going and we need your help for real , you can help us in these ways

 

1 tell as many people as you can of the events and the guest we have attending

 

2 email us your address so we can send you fliers out to you so you can give them out in places were other

fans may hang out

 

3 put a link on any websites you are involved with http://autographica.co.uk/

 

4 tell your friends on facebook twitter etc about the event

 

5 inform your friends on facebook each time we have a new guest attending the show

 

6 and if you really want to help us buy your tickets early so we know you are coming as if we know lots of

you are coming we will go out of our way to get more guests or invest in bigger names as we will know

there are plenty of you coming

 

 

in the past we have had some great attendance and this really helped us put on a great show , with your help we want to keep bringing you big classic guests and people you would not think of being able to meet .

 

this event is much more than just a show its a place were you can relax and really get to know the guests and hang out with the stars , we know there are going to be many more great Autographicas in the future with some really amazing guest that you will not get to meet any ware else , but this year we need your support and help .

 

one last thing we have a great list of guest that do want to attend an Autographica but it just has not been the right time for them , in the end we hope to bring more and more rare guests in the next few years

 

thank you for reading this and i look forward to hearing more from anyone thats happy to help us with the most amazing show in the world .

 

see you all soon

 

and once again thank you

 

Jason, Dave & Paul

 

 

Dave and Gang

 

I beleive in saying that i am one of a very select club that has attended all of the shows ( and will continue to do so), i beleive that the shows have become to regimented in the way that they are done and this along with other factors is putting people off coming to the shows.

When the shows were less formal people were more relaxed and that includes the guests, the people that worked at the shows were also more laid back and approacable.

The show may need to look at the way it presents its self to people, myself i have worked at the first few shows then it become bigger and that is when alot of people have said that the show lost it persona.

The people that regulary attended both shows every year at the moment are suffering with money problems due to the state of the country, but to get them back you might have to go back to 1 show a year, and by perhaps doing that you mightattrract the bigger guests.

All the Astronauts that Dave/Garry bought over at the first shows were allowed to have photos with the collectors at the tables and also the tv stars this has gone and been replaced by photo shoots, which people see has just another way that is making money.

I know the costs involved in the show and the profit and loss situation with the show, but it still remains the fact that alot of people feel coralled into queues and treated like cattle at the shows since they have become bigger.

This may sound like a bit of a moan, but i am a dedicated autograph collector and will remain loyal to Dave, and his creation Autographica, but i beleive the shows could be better than they are if a few back to basics were applied to the shows as they was before, and a lot more people would come back to the shows.

My self have been to all the shows made some great freinds who will remain with me to the end, all that i would ask is the show go back to basics and see what happens you never know your luck , also the select few that have been to all the shows please add your comments because having been to all the shows i am sure that Dave and co might take on board any suggestions . Paul

[showmasters]

we never stop guest from having photos taken at the table , if a guest dose not want it to happen then that is there choice , and we cannot make them

 

as to the events becoming bigger ? they have not really , there is the same attendance if a little less so i do not understand your point that because they are bigger they have gone done hill ?

 

when i joined the team i helped make the Buzz aldrin deal happen and i think that took the show to the next level and the events we ran over that time were some of the best Autographicas we have run so just saying the 1st events were the best is not fair as in the early days auto prices and guest cost a lot less , as the guest we got to the first few events were ether up to attend a signing show or were doing the rounds at many events around the world and were easy to get them to attend , when the easy guest to book run out then becomes the hard bit getting guest that have never signed before to attend this means offering bigger fees and better flights to try to get them to attend , we are good at this and have had many first timers and we plan to keep on doing the same , but we do not pull it of each time but we do need people help to promote the events to help keep them going .

 

its funny that we ask for help to get the word out to keep this alive and some of you do get what we are asking for and get behind us and do what we think needs to happen to help keep the show alive.

 

Then we have the people that do not get what we are saying at all and just want to find something to blame , wether it be the photos with the guests at the table , or the guest list ,or the prices of the space guests , when in fact the prices are relative as they are what they are the guest make them up , a Buzz auto the 1st time was £95 i think nearly everyone was unhappy and felt it was down to us , when it was us that got it down to that price , now he is charging around £250 and we here people say i wish i bought more at £95 so we can never win in the end , the price is the price , buy an auto if you want one thats really up to you, but you can be sure we got the guest to go down as low as we could on the price so you get the best deal we can for you , so thats price .

 

now down to guests, we get the best guests we can every time , its hard and its not something you can just pick out of a catalog we have to hunt and find them and in the end we end up with who we have on the day sometimes we have amazing line ups other times its not so amazing but you never know till on the day who will be there , but if people do not support the event each time then one day there may just not be another Autographica , things do just stop you know ? so we are just letting you know we could do with some help to promote this event , that way you have the chance to meet guest at a show like not other .

 

as to one comment about there is only 3 background bond guest etc for the next show ,give us a brake we are months out and we only have 7 out of around 30 to 40 guest so saying that is not helping anyone and i think you have missed my point totally .

 

i just thought i would come on here and just say the truth so you all know what we need help before its no longer posable to keep running these events and being up front with you all is the best way forward , the events have to brake event and if they keep not covering them selfs then one day they will stop and that will be the end of events like this ?.

 

no over group will try to put on an event like this as most people want to make money from the work thats involved in putting on a show like this , thats why we feel it best to ask for help now and let you the fans be aware that we do need your help , we want to keep them running as we know its going to be the only place to meet some of the rare guests .

 

 

i hope you can see were i am coming from on this ?

 

thanks for your impute and support over the years now and the future

 

jason

[keithporter23]

 

as to one comment about there is only 3 background bond guest etc for the next show ,give us a brake we are months out and we only have 7 out of around 30 to 40 guest so saying that is not helping anyone and i think you have missed my point totally .

 

jason

 

I was the one who made that comment and I haven't missed the point of this thread at all Jason. All I am saying is that based on the guests so far I would not be buying any tickets until better guests are announced and I know the show is months away. I am not the only one who thinks this way. I know it's difficult to arrange big guests, but once you start announcing the bigger names, i'm sure ticket start to shift a lot faster - makes perfect sense to me.

 

I don't risk 100s of pounds booking hotels, arranging time off at the risk of a crap line-up - sorry. I'll wait until we have better guests, which i'm pretty positive will happen.

 

I'd love to help get the word out, but what do I say if someone asks me who the guests are so far? "erm some bloke who went pretty fast once, R2D2 and a couple of lasses who were once in a Bond movie but nothing else..." Doesn't exactly get the juices flowing just yet does it?

 

Give us a big name to rave about, and i'll shout it from the roof tops!!!!! I'll tell as many people as possible. Personally, I am looking forward to the show as I know there's normally always at least 2 guests i'd like to meet. You have 7 or so already booked?? Announce them then!!! It might be guests that set people talking to their mates.

 

Basically, what i'm trying to say is, in order to sell more tickets earlier and faster and get early publicity, you need to announce a big name or 2 as early as possible.

Edited December 4, 2010 by keithporter23

[shearwater]

I've attended eight Autographicas and will attend any in the future that have Astronauts or aviators on the guest list....

I don't personally find the prices an issue: if I can't afford an autograph, I attend a talk or have a photo taken!

I have to say: I ALWAYS buy my tickets well in advance: it really helps if there's an advance announcement of some of the main guests.

[showmasters]

 

as to one comment about there is only 3 background bond guest etc for the next show ,give us a brake we are months out and we only have 7 out of around 30 to 40 guest so saying that is not helping anyone and i think you have missed my point totally .

 

jason

 

I was the one who made that comment and I haven't missed the point of this thread at all Jason. All I am saying is that based on the guests so far I would not be buying any tickets until better guests are announced and I know the show is months away. I am not the only one who thinks this way. I know it's difficult to arrange big guests, but once you start announcing the bigger names, i'm sure ticket start to shift a lot faster - makes perfect sense to me.

 

I don't risk 100s of pounds booking hotels, arranging time off at the risk of a crap line-up - sorry. I'll wait until we have better guests, which i'm pretty positive will happen.

 

I'd love to help get the word out, but what do I say if someone asks me who the guests are so far? "erm some bloke who went pretty fast once, R2D2 and a couple of lasses who were once in a Bond movie but nothing else..." Doesn't exactly get the juices flowing just yet does it?

 

Give us a big name to rave about, and i'll shout it from the roof tops!!!!! I'll tell as many people as possible. Personally, I am looking forward to the show as I know there's normally always at least 2 guests i'd like to meet. You have 7 or so already booked?? Announce them then!!! It might be guests that set people talking to their mates.

 

Basically, what i'm trying to say is, in order to sell more tickets earlier and faster and get early publicity, you need to announce a big name or 2 as early as possible.

 

 

sorry keithporter i was not taking a pop at you mate at all

 

i respect you and your viues , i am trying to deal with two issues here as you can see and i am only human at least i think i still am

 

we will try to get the bigger names booked in as early as we can but thats down to the guests

 

i hope you can see i am just trying to keep a great event going for yours to come and word of mouth its still the best way to promote events and this event need all the help it can get .

 

we are behind this show and we do not intend to give up

 

thanks

 

jason

 

I've attended eight Autographicas and will attend any in the future that have Astronauts or aviators on the guest list....

I don't personally find the prices an issue: if I can't afford an autograph, I attend a talk or have a photo taken!

I have to say: I ALWAYS buy my tickets well in advance: it really helps if there's an advance announcement of some of the main guests.

 

 

thank you for your support it helps so much thank you

 

jason

[keithporter23]

 

sorry keithporter i was not taking a pop at you mate at all

 

i respect you and your viues , i am trying to deal with two issues here as you can see and i am only human at least i think i still am

 

we will try to get the bigger names booked in as early as we can but thats down to the guests

 

i hope you can see i am just trying to keep a great event going for yours to come and word of mouth its still the best way to promote events and this event need all the help it can get .

 

we are behind this show and we do not intend to give up

 

thanks

 

jason

 

No problems at all Jason - I can understand your frustrations, and I really seriously appreciate ALL the shows I attend and can't imagine the hassles involved. I just want them to run forever as there are so many guests I'd love to see attending.

 

I'll be honest, I rave about the past shows to everyone, to the point i'm sure they're sick of hearing about it!

 

Haven't you tried cloning yourself yet then I'm sure when I see you at the shows there's more than 1 of you hovering around!!?

[showmasters]

 

sorry keithporter i was not taking a pop at you mate at all

 

i respect you and your viues , i am trying to deal with two issues here as you can see and i am only human at least i think i still am

 

we will try to get the bigger names booked in as early as we can but thats down to the guests

 

i hope you can see i am just trying to keep a great event going for yours to come and word of mouth its still the best way to promote events and this event need all the help it can get .

 

we are behind this show and we do not intend to give up

 

thanks

 

jason

 

No problems at all Jason - I can understand your frustrations, and I really seriously appreciate ALL the shows I attend and can't imagine the hassles involved. I just want them to run forever as there are so many guests I'd love to see attending.

 

I'll be honest, I rave about the past shows to everyone, to the point i'm sure they're sick of hearing about it!

 

Haven't you tried cloning yourself yet then I'm sure when I see you at the shows there's more than 1 of you hovering around!!?

 

i found cloning to be beond me , but every year we find more and more good crew to add to the team , and there are some much better than i am at some things , they help make me look good

 

we love the shows and we want them to keep on as well .

 

jason

[steevofromglasgow]

Hi

 

We generally attend 3 or 4 events a year (including Collectormania Glasgow) and we travel thousands of miles every year attending these.

 

We've been to two autographicas now (including the last one) and the guests have been fantastic. Due to finances being tougher, etc we need to be selective about which we attend but we intend getting to Autographica.

 

I'd highly recommend these events to anyone reading this.

 

A few incredibly small points which are applicable to us

- The Heathrow event wasn't the easiest for us to find. I can't remember if there were directions on the SM site, but the hotel site directions were wrong

- Signs could be a little better outside the event

- I understand there's reasons for it, but we don't meet guests who don't allow photographs. If guests have this rule then we won't meet them.

 

It may just apply to us, but we've often found that some of the "lesser" known guests can provide incredible memories for us. When attending these events, I often draw up a list of those I really want to try and see (which are often top of other peoples choices) and then a list of other guests we want to see.

Sometimes however we return from these events reminsicing about the guests that were not first on our list.

 

I might not be explaining it very well, but if attendees aren't sure whether to attend or not because there aren't enough "legends" or "major draws" for them, there may be others they would be happy to meet and the experience may be amazing for them and worth the attendance alone. In short, if there's a few guests and you can make it - then you should try and do so - it might be one of those things you'll be talking about for years to come. We did for the last Autgraphica and it was a 16 hour journey and I'm glad we did.

 

Best wishes everyone

 

Steve

[cookiemonster]

I have only attended the last Autographica (and that was to see Edward Hardwicke who sadly cancelled).

 

I realise that it is an autograph show but felt the number of stalls was lacking a bit and it was generally small. Is this the norm? or am I just used to Collectormania's?

[dragonsanddaffodils]

I have only attended the last Autographica (and that was to see Edward Hardwicke who sadly cancelled).

 

I realise that it is an autograph show but felt the number of stalls was lacking a bit and it was generally small. Is this the norm? or am I just used to Collectormania's?

 

 

It is a smaller event, but that is about the right number of stalls for that size of show.

It is a wonderful show, very relaxed feel to it. Just to be able to be in the same room as the first man to spacewalk? Where else can you get that

[Count Fooku]

Speaking personally I think Autographica is the best signing event in the UK and has been for some time. I'm lucky in that my interests are quite diverse so although the astronauts are my main reason for coming , the military, film and TV guests are also great to have along as well

 

I'm not sure there are many other events that could boast guest lists as diverse as Oscar winners, men who walked on the Moon, a few of 'The Few', World Cup Winners, Hollywood legends, former Beatles, iconic Bond Girls and not least of all Brian Blessed who could probably have done all those things if he put his mind to it (might need to shave his bikini line for the last one though!)

 

I think most agreed that the venue wasn't the greatest last time round so I'm pleased that the show is going back to the Raddison and the Birmingham Hilton. Most of all though I'm pleased that the event has a future, when I started reading the first post in this thread I started to think they were going to call it a day.

 

As for advance ticket sales, my only thing is with several different options available for tickets it's sometimes hard to know which is the best one to go for until the guest list is finalised or at least has taken some shape. If I knew a few months ahead of time for example that we might see a guest list that included some of the likes of Jim Lovell, Alan Bean, Gene Cernan and Edgar Mitchell then you could probably sell me a VIP pass now!

[clavius781]

Hi All. Just a few comments and observasions regarding the past and future of Autographica events. I am a relative newcomer to autograph collection and I only collect space and astronaut related items from the Apollo era. I have attended 2 Autographica events prior to which I purchased items from websites like Novaspace and Astro Auctions etc.

My first point is the constant debate and negative comments about pricing. I have no issue with the pricing policy, the Showmasters say this is largely fixed by the guests themselves and I believe them. If they were ripping us off (and I'm sure they're not) prices would be much higher than they are. I paid for Moon Walker Dave Scott to sign a photo for me at the show before last, for instance. I got to meet and talk to the guy himself and shake the hand of one of my heroes as well as having an informal photo taken with him, coming away with a lifelong memory and a 100% genuinely authentic and unique piece of Collectables. This all cost me £90. If I had made a similar purchase from a well known american specialist website, just the signed photo would have cost me the equivalent of £125 and that's without the rip off shipping charges. Auto collecting can be an expensive hobby and we are all feeling the pinch at the moment but if you want it and can afford it Autographica is at least as reasonable as any other source if not more so.

Second point, moving on, is the shows themselves. Having only been to two perhaps I'm not the most qualified to comment, especially as, both times I have paid for an early bird ticket on one day, gone in, had a quick look at the stalls, got the autos I want and left. I'm not one to hang around being of a nervous disposition and not wanting to be tempted into spending money I haven't got. What I have seen whilst there however, seems like a very slick, professional operation, especially as it's mostly staffed by volumteers, I understand. Whilst I'm sure that the organisers would want everything completely professional and 100% problem free, that just doesn't happen in the real world but as collectors we are all a community so let's just enjoy the experiences, take part and belong. Criticism is good as long as it's constructive but needless ranting, numberous examples of which can be found on this forum, help no one.

I've not heard of any other show of this type in this country and so have nothing to compare it to but I enjoyed both of my visits. Recent comments from the organisers cast a shadow over future events and it would be sad to see them ending.

Third point is about the quality of guest and timely notification of attendees. Again, not sure I'm really qualified to comment on this subject as I've absolutely no experience of arranging this type of event and trying to persuade famous people to attend. Then again, I don't suppose anyone other than the organisers has that experience but that doesn't stop floods of negative comment. To be constructive I suppose all we can do if not happy is to make our guest suggestions and rely on the organisers expertise. With my interest in astronaut signings I have sympathy, in a way. All guests would have to be persuaded to make trans atlantic journeys, most are either retired, have busy corporate careers or other full time obligations, some are frail or in poor health. Some are not in the least bit interested in the notoriety they have achieved and/or perpetuating it. Most have not been near NASA or what's left of the space program for years and some, apparently have exclusive deals with other suppliers. Some just plain do not sign at all. Baring in mind all the above, I'd say the organisers have quite a job on and at the end of it all some of us expect to pay peanut to enjoy the result.

I'm grateful to the organisers for giving me the oppotunity to meet some of my heroes and all I can say is please, keeping doing what you do, some of us really do appreciate it!