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A Short Review


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Can I just say how well organised CM21 was! Brilliant, I met Arthur Darvill, Paul McGann, Eric Roberts, Sylvester Mccoy and Jean Marsh who were all brilliant and friendly throughout the day.Almost everything about this event was perfect!

... Except for the bus service, which, in fact, I didn't actually use! The first bus I was due to catch arrived 20 minutes late and there wasn't enough room to fit everyone on- so I paid to get to the stadium.But when I was due to go back to the train station, the bus was again late, this time 15 minutes. The bus driver dropped the passengers off but didn't let anyone get back on it- he said, :i'm going on a break now, I'm not meant to be picking you up anyway." He simply drove away and left the huge queue in the heat of the sun. So again I paid for a different bus. This bus drove about 500 yards up the road and we drove past the bus driver sat in the bus who turned us away- he was parked up, eating a sandwich!

 

Anyway, apart from that small incident, it was a great event and one I will be doing again!

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I met Eve Myles, Emma Campbell Jones, Tracey Childs, Arthur Darvill, and Eric Roberts in the Tardis :) I felt this was the best organised mk collectormania yet. I have been to quite a few now! thankfully they opened both the concourse and arena for the first time, less crowded and more time to look round the stalls and talk with the guests! will be there tomorrow too meeting Noel Clarke, Paul Mccann, Sylvester Mccoy, Colin Baker, and Ingrid Oliver :)

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I met Biily Boyd, Giancarlo Esposito, Eric Roberts, Kenny Baker, Lee Arenberg, Tony Todd, Danny John Jules, Sean Pertwee, Arthur Darvill, Martin Klebba, Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Frank Bruno, Jeff Kober, Ron Donnachie, David Ramsey, Joseph Gatt, Clinton Ullyatt, Roger Ashton-Griffiths and Wiilam Atherton.

 

I thought the venue was excellent if a bit spread out...and the weather certainly helped. The crew were fantastic and the only gripe I really have was with the poor organisation of parking on the Saturday.

 

All in all a great weekend and I will be attending Collectormania MK again :clap:

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I'm just curious, where abouts was Eve Myles? Was she upstairs in the balcony part overlooking the main hall? Or in the staium somewhere? Have met her a number of times before but it's still nice to say hi now and then :-) I think I must have missed a guest area or something, lol!

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Have to agree with the above reviews...... Now that it has been spread out around the stadium its a million times better.... No pushing, shoving, barging thru crowds of people...

We both thought it was the best run event at Milton Keynes that we have been to..

The worst part of it to be honest was the lack of information where the guests were... It would have been nice to have had some information posters telling us where each guest was... We almost missed the little bit of the Dr Who section in the upper tier...

Me and the wife met today Jean Marsh, Frank Bruno, Eric Roberts, Kane Hodder, Karen Allen, Eve Myles, Arthur Darvill & Gigi Edgley....

Had a good talk with Kane and he showed us his hockey Mask necklace that he had made by the Hardcore Pawn guys in Detroit (Awesome Program). Karen Allen had a nice little chat about a few different things. Eric Roberts (Wasnt sure what he was going to be like after a few comments yesterday but I have to say that he was friendly and chatty, He fist pumped everyone on the photoshoot and gave nearly all the women a kiss so they had an extra photo as a memento). Arthur Darvill telling us that he came from Birmingham (Which we knew already lol), Gigi asked us both where me met, what I said to the wife when first asked her out, where we were from etc..... Lovely woman and stunning looking. Eve Myles looked at the wifes T-shirt and saw that it had Breast Cancer Care on it and she said it was a good cause... The wife told her that she had, had her head shaved and then wet shaved for the charity 3 Saturdays ago.. She said that was fantasic and did we get a good collection and we told her just over £2000 so far.. Jean Marsh to be honest didnt look too comfortable there, mind you she is just a month short of being 80 years old so good on her for turning up.

It was just nice to go to this event for a change and not have to battle the elements....

So all in all an excellent day and really, really enjoyed it....... Thanks Showmasters for a great event......

Edited by Kingy68
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I'm just curious, where abouts was Eve Myles? Was she upstairs in the balcony part overlooking the main hall? Or in the staium somewhere? Have met her a number of times before but it's still nice to say hi now and then :-) I think I must have missed a guest area or something, lol!

She was in the main concourse of the stadium.....

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I'm just curious, where abouts was Eve Myles? Was she upstairs in the balcony part overlooking the main hall? Or in the staium somewhere? Have met her a number of times before but it's still nice to say hi now and then :-) I think I must have missed a guest area or something, lol!

She was in the main concourse of the stadium.....

 

Ahh, to be fair I didn't go all the way around. Only as far as the sports people (going right from the main desk. There was a 3rd I didn't see.

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I've been to 3 Cons in 6 months with my first ever being in November and this was the best ive been to. This was my first showmasters event and im sticking with their events from now on:)

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just went yesterday, had a nice time, good guests, no issues, liked that they used both the stadium and the arena, the arena is too small for the event alone. love CMMK

 

only have 1 gripe, why are showmasters plastering their logo on the green screen pics? does anyone really want it? i think not. also sometimes its over the person in the pic, esp when they are leaning over on the console, please showmasters, please stop it.

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Have to agree with the above reviews...... Now that it has been spread out around the stadium its a million times better.... No pushing, shoving, barging thru crowds of people...

We both thought it was the best run event at Milton Keynes that we have been to..

The worst part of it to be honest was the lack of information where the guests were... It would have been nice to have had some information posters telling us where each guest was... We almost missed the little bit of the Dr Who section in the upper tier...

Me and the wife met today Jean Marsh, Frank Bruno, Eric Roberts, Kane Hodder, Karen Allen, Eve Myles, Arthur Darvill & Gigi Edgley....

Had a good talk with Kane and he showed us his hockey Mask necklace that he had made by the Hardcore Pawn guys in Detroit (Awesome Program). Karen Allen had a nice little chat about a few different things. Eric Roberts (Wasnt sure what he was going to be like after a few comments yesterday but I have to say that he was friendly and chatty, He fist pumped everyone on the photoshoot and gave nearly all the women a kiss so they had an extra photo as a memento). Arthur Darvill telling us that he came from Birmingham (Which we knew already lol), Gigi asked us both where me met, what I said to the wife when first asked her out, where we were from etc..... Lovely woman and stunning looking. Eve Myles looked at the wifes T-shirt and saw that it had Breast Cancer Care on it and she said it was a good cause... The wife told her that she had, had her head shaved and then wet shaved for the charity 3 Saturdays ago.. She said that was fantasic and did we get a good collection and we told her just over £2000 so far.. Jean Marsh to be honest didnt look too comfortable there, mind you she is just a month short of being 80 years old so good on her for turning up.

It was just nice to go to this event for a change and not have to battle the elements....

So all in all an excellent day and really, really enjoyed it....... Thanks Showmasters for a great event......

before someone picks up on this 'extra photo' thing by Eric Roberts and claims its unfair, the customer had a choice when they picked up their photo wether to keep their original or the 'kiss' one . the rejected one was binned. unless they offered to pay for the extra.

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Can I just say how well organised CM21 was! Brilliant, I met Arthur Darvill, Paul McGann, Eric Roberts, Sylvester Mccoy and Jean Marsh who were all brilliant and friendly throughout the day.Almost everything about this event was perfect!

... Except for the bus service, which, in fact, I didn't actually use! The first bus I was due to catch arrived 20 minutes late and there wasn't enough room to fit everyone on- so I paid to get to the stadium.But when I was due to go back to the train station, the bus was again late, this time 15 minutes. The bus driver dropped the passengers off but didn't let anyone get back on it- he said, :i'm going on a break now, I'm not meant to be picking you up anyway." He simply drove away and left the huge queue in the heat of the sun. So again I paid for a different bus. This bus drove about 500 yards up the road and we drove past the bus driver sat in the bus who turned us away- he was parked up, eating a sandwich!

 

Anyway, apart from that small incident, it was a great event and one I will be doing again!

To be fair to the driver he's entitled to his break, its his job, free service or not for us it has to be done on the tacograph, by law he has to park up at various times of the day. your quite right on the pick up timings though, it rarely run to the schedule all day and was often late. need looking into for next time.

Edited by loveamyadams
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Have to agree with the above reviews...... Now that it has been spread out around the stadium its a million times better.... No pushing, shoving, barging thru crowds of people...

We both thought it was the best run event at Milton Keynes that we have been to..

The worst part of it to be honest was the lack of information where the guests were... It would have been nice to have had some information posters telling us where each guest was... We almost missed the little bit of the Dr Who section in the upper tier...

Me and the wife met today Jean Marsh, Frank Bruno, Eric Roberts, Kane Hodder, Karen Allen, Eve Myles, Arthur Darvill & Gigi Edgley....

Had a good talk with Kane and he showed us his hockey Mask necklace that he had made by the Hardcore Pawn guys in Detroit (Awesome Program). Karen Allen had a nice little chat about a few different things. Eric Roberts (Wasnt sure what he was going to be like after a few comments yesterday but I have to say that he was friendly and chatty, He fist pumped everyone on the photoshoot and gave nearly all the women a kiss so they had an extra photo as a memento). Arthur Darvill telling us that he came from Birmingham (Which we knew already lol), Gigi asked us both where me met, what I said to the wife when first asked her out, where we were from etc..... Lovely woman and stunning looking. Eve Myles looked at the wifes T-shirt and saw that it had Breast Cancer Care on it and she said it was a good cause... The wife told her that she had, had her head shaved and then wet shaved for the charity 3 Saturdays ago.. She said that was fantasic and did we get a good collection and we told her just over £2000 so far.. Jean Marsh to be honest didnt look too comfortable there, mind you she is just a month short of being 80 years old so good on her for turning up.

It was just nice to go to this event for a change and not have to battle the elements....

So all in all an excellent day and really, really enjoyed it....... Thanks Showmasters for a great event......

before someone picks up on this 'extra photo' thing by Eric Roberts and claims its unfair, the customer had a choice when they picked up their photo wether to keep their original or the 'kiss' one . the rejected one was binned. unless they offered to pay for the extra.

 

 

 

the bonus pic was always a great thing, when they started to make you decide which one with seconds to decide before ripping up the other i thought it a little unfair (and wastage), it was a nice little bonus to have double bubble, though ive been told ppl were deliberately messing up a pic to get two, I hate you ppl, the good thing now though is, ok you get one, but at least you can buy the other one online when the Jpegs are up, so thats good.

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That was the best event i've been to. Everything about it was spot on, got parked straight away aswell.

 

Met Kane Hodder, Karen Allen. William Atherton, Tony Todd and Billy Boyd and they were all so friendly and welcoming.

 

It was very well organised. Thanks Showmasters :clap:

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I always enjoy the MK Collectormania events and I've been to many of them but this was one of my fave's.

 

The layout was great and it didn't feel cramped at all. The guests were great too, everyone I met was so friendly.

 

Looking forward to the next one now.

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Had a brilliant time again. Guest, crew, organisation all excellent.

 

The only thing I was unhappy about was 2 other attendees who, when I was talking to Ingrid Oliver, decided to come to the from of the queue to tell her that they had purchased photoshoots. Very rude.

 

 

 

Other than that had a great time as usual.

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Hey all,

 

 

So Saturday was my first time at the Milton Keynes Collectormania and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about going. I've been to loads of these types of things in the past, including the Showmaster Cardiff Film & Comic Con so sort of knew what to expect, but after reading nearly every post on this forum, I was worried about timings and queues and I have to say, there was no need to worry.

 

 

My brother and I had a great time, arriving on the train for 8am, getting the free bus (I know it as late, but it was free so really happy about that. Didn't need to find our own way there......) and queuing for only a short while, getting in to the stadium for just after 9am then starting with the autographs.

 

 

We got the virtual tickets needed then my brother joined the photo shoot queue to purchase for Johnny Yong Bosch (we will book online next time) while I got the lay of the land for the rest of it. With all the organization, we were done by 12.30pm and had to hang round until the photo shoot at 3.30pm.

 

 

The only weird thing that happened was my brother had a Gotham picture for Sean Pertwee to sign. In the nicest way, he said he couldn’t due to the fact the show hadn’t aired yet. Kind of understand that, just seemed strange.

 

 

We both had a great day though, thought it was well executed and will definitely be coming back to Milton Keynes for the next one (depending on guests, obviously.)

 

 

Take care,

 

Matty-lad

 

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The only weird thing that happened was my brother had a Gotham picture for Sean Pertwee to sign. In the nicest way, he said he couldn’t due to the fact the show hadn’t aired yet. Kind of understand that, just seemed strange.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is likely to be a copyright / permission issue. I do know of some people in the past who have signed images before they have been officially approved for use and got them into trouble. (Ray Park signing Darth Maul pics before Phantom Menace release springs to mind).

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Looking back, maybe I always haven’t had the best comments to make regarding Showmaster. Last winter when I went to Milton Keynes it was freezing which explained why Katy Manning was giving everyone massive hugs to stay warm and then when I popped along to Newcastle with it making local News down to the under estimation of the crowds where I waited 5 hours to get in that left a sour taste.

 

So how did I fare at Collectormania? Praise where praise is deserved. Thanks to them getting Jean Marsh along I got my photo with bonuses’ of Tracy Childs, Gabriel Woolf (With mini Sutekh, I think hit’s his mobile phone in disguise), Emma Campbell Jones, Eric Roberts, Arthur Darvill and Noel Clarke.

 

The weather without questions helped on the day. With the whole arena open and with live football games being played on the pitch made great entertainment. The parking was great, the staff were relaxed and for the first time ever despite my previous grumblings there was an atmosphere and a good one at that.

 

My only grumble (It wouldn’t be the same if I didn’t have one) was that for the photo session with Emma Campbell Jones.

 

As a mid-forties gentleman with less hair on top and other hair growing where it’s not meant to grow, it’s not often that you get to pose with a gorgeous actress that she is and when her hand goes on your chest the old heart starts pumping away and any worry about what sort of smile you’re going to have goes out the window as you end up grinning like a Cheshire cat anyway!

 

So I was a little bit down when compared to all the other photos this was the one where the photographer went in close. Still as the photo along with the others goes up in the hallway maybe I should be grateful that the photographer kept my marriage intact.

 

It’s amazing you know, being a fan, the wife never objects more to my mug being plastered up and down the hallway being photographed with all these actresses, most other women would be a bit suspicious.

 

You see, I told you it was a silly grumble.

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Fab con this time around. Organisation was top notch and has no issues.

 

The layout using the concourse again helped immensely and gave you somewhere to have a wander (lost count of how many times I walked around!). The main hall being nearly finished also helped. Liked the use of the balcony as well. Hopefully come November it will be finished.

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The plusses, it was warm, yes, I think we can finally say goodbye hopefully to having to wear a scarf and coat and the shivering guests !!!

 

It was good to have the show in the hall and on the concourse, helped spread out the numbers and made for a more enjoyable experience all round. It would be good to know which guests were signing where though, spent quite a while looking for Clare Higgins and it turned out she had cancelled. Only found some of the other Doctor Who guests later in the day as well.

 

Had some great guest meets, bit worried about Jean Marsh as well as other poster mentioned, she seemed to really be struggling with the whole thing and her signature was very shaky and she seemed very forgetful.

 

Both myself and my son loved the Tardis Triple Shot, awesome, and not bothered at all by the Showmasters logo on the bottom.

 

Saw loads of great costumes, caught up with lots of good friends and met lots of great guests.

 

As always, roll on C22 !

Edited by GoldenGreen
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I'm glad so many people apparently enjoyed the show at the weekend.

Unfortunately, however, my experience was rather different.

 

One particular instance, when I was in the queue for a guest, I noticed a couple of people in front of me had cameras in their hands and were taking pictures. The guest in question, chatty and polite, obviously saw the camera and said to the couple, "hey, let's get a quick picture" and started making his way around the table. The crew member for this particular guest promptly jumped up and made a lunge for the camera. With such a frenzy that I initially thought the crew member was having some kind of seizure, she almost screamed "NO PICTURES! WE HAVE PHOTOSHOOTS LATER!" and made sure she put a stop to any picture-taking.

I was planning to purchase 3 photographs from this particular guest, but felt uneasy after witnessing that. So I changed my mind.

This was not the exception. Multiple times, I saw crew members interjecting themselves even when the guest was happy to take a picture and had brought up the issue themselves! There was no issue with time - there were no other customers around. Again, the crew mentioning, "we have professional photographs..."

 

I traveled a great many miles through the early hours of the morning to Collectormania 21. As such, I often like to try and have a bit of a chat (if possible) and hopefully get a photo of/with a guest as I am getting an autograph.

 

I fully realise that, often, this is not possible to get a pic at a table. I realise that a guest may be too busy for photos. I realise that a guest may have an aversion to camera flash (or whatever) and choose not to have pictures taken. However, at previous Collectormania and other shows, these situations have been few and far between, and the presence of an official photo-shoot has not impacted on the decision to allow photos at the table.

This past weekend it seemed like it was a virtual impossibility to get a table-picture with the majority of guests. From what I saw of the crew WITHOUT EXCEPTION it was clear that table-photos were being restricted because a guest is doing a photo-shoot session.

 

Myself and a friend were planning on getting up to a dozen guests, and dropping significant 3-figure sums at this show.

The rude and unprofessional conduct of the crew in stopping the taking of pictures and generally treating your customers like dirt, and the blatant trying to 'force' people into buying photoshoots, was bitterly disappointing and ensured that 2 people left the show spending less than 1% of our planned total.
Thanks to the crew the remainder will now no doubt go to one of showmasters' competitors.

Edited by Mr Brownstone
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