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18blue78
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That was another of my blink-&-you'll-miss-it visits. Without boring you with the details I only met 2 guests instead of my planned 5 & my ridiculously short visit meant I was missing all the lectures.

 

Rick Searfoss was very friendly & welcoming. I enjoyed listening to his stories as he talked to the lady in front of me. I also got to have a quick chat with him about his NASA career. An excellent guest.

 

George Johnson was wonderful with everyone who met him & he looked to be enjoying himself immensely (somebody got a great "big ears" photo). I asked him to sign my copy of his book, which is a great read, he not only autographed with his full name but also added a personal dedication & added his nickname to that as well. Simply put Mr Johnson is a wonderful guest.

 

With not much time available I had a quick look around & I was glad to see the crew checking for wristbands/passes in all the rooms. In the past people have just wondered through without paying so having checks carried out was good to see.

 

All the astronauts looked busy. Michael Lonsdale had by far the largest queue of all the guests. It was good to see the dealers doing a bit of business. And for those who knew him there was a small but poignant tribute to the late Nick Hopkins.

 

All though I only had a brief visit the show looked like it's usual high standard & I had a sense of a few more punters this year. Well done SM, I'm already looking forward to the next one.

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Really enjoyed today, I have to confess after only three hours sleep last night when the alarm went off this morning I was nearly tempted to not go, and when I got off the bus far too early by mistake, I was starting to think this was someone's way of telling me not to go! Very glad I perservered though!

 

Met the Original Series Star Trek guests first, they were all very friendly, and very accommodating. Not sure if there's any plans to get anymore guests like that back in the future but it would definately get my vote. As Blue (who is presumably having something of a belting day after the football result!), Michael Lonsdale was probably the busiest guest but I'm so glad I met him. He asked people to sit down next to him while he their signed pictures and talked about the roles he had played.

 

I didn't get anything signed by Buzz this time, the fees were just that bit too high for me this time round, but it still seemed like there were no shortage of takers.

 

As always with Autographica, a relaxed and enjoyable event which always leaves me looking forward to the next one.

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Really enjoyed today, I have to confess after only three hours sleep last night when the alarm went off this morning I was nearly tempted to not go, and when I got off the bus far too early by mistake, I was starting to think this was someone's way of telling me not to go! Very glad I perservered though!

 

Met the Original Series Star Trek guests first, they were all very friendly, and very accommodating. Not sure if there's any plans to get anymore guests like that back in the future but it would definately get my vote. As Blue (who is presumably having something of a belting day after the football result!), Michael Lonsdale was probably the busiest guest but I'm so glad I met him. He asked people to sit down next to him while he their signed pictures and talked about the roles he had played.

 

I didn't get anything signed by Buzz this time, the fees were just that bit too high for me this time round, but it still seemed like there were no shortage of takers.

 

As always with Autographica, a relaxed and enjoyable event which always leaves me looking forward to the next one.

 

Yes, have to admit it's been a good day...now where did I leave my Lotto ticket?

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Thank you for a very enjoyable 2-3 hours earlier today.

George Johnson was the gentleman & legend that I had anticipated him to be. After 2-3 recent near-misses it was wonderful to finally meet this extraordinary man.

Rick Searfoss was a delight. It was a thrill to get his signature on my shuttle collage.

A shame that there were only 2 Shuttle Astro's in attendance. In previous years there have been 3,4 & even 5 Shuttle guests in attendance. Am I being greedy? I think not. Diminishing returns for Space Shuttle fans? This year, certainly.

More please, next time, Autographica.

Good to see wristbands being checked on a regular basis. At previous Autographica's I've felt aggrieved at ponying up for an entry ticket when countless others clearly haven't. It appears this issue has been finally resolved. Good news.

Best wishes for Sunday & for securing some great guests for the next Autographica event.

Kind regards.

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Once again another great show! Great, relaxed atmosphere as usual. I met some of the Bond guests (the others is met before);

 

- Michael Lonsdale, was in good spirits and really happy to meet him and get my things signed. I understand that due to his age he was making some mistakes on people's items, so in the afternoon session, there were no personalisations to help minimise this. Shame, as I only wanted one personalisation but would rather a correct in-personalised one! No posed photos either but I got a photo shoot with him and I was surprised to see he stood through this and again seemed to enjoy the event.

-Karin Dor, still a classy lady - really surprised she didn't know what Spectre was! I've a feeling that may change later this year! Posed photos allowed.

- Vijay Amritraj, delightful guest - happy to joke with guests and a really smart dresser! Posed photos allowed.

-Irka Bochenko, again a classy lady - she was quiet but happy to pose for photos.

 

All in all, got my items signed, had a great time in the hotel, met some lovely attendees and then back home. Can't wait for the next one!

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I obtained signatures from 4 astronauts and George Johnson.

 

For George I choose the overhead picture taken from the bomber when the dam bursts. George drew a small arrow to the point of breach and wrote "my bomb". Brilliant

 

For Bruce McCandless I obtained 2 signatures. I had the picture of his spacewalk and he wrote the inscription "It may have been one small step for Neil, but it was a heck of a big leap for me".

 

I also have a multi signed lunar trajectory poster and on this Bruce wrote "Neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now" and "Apollo 11 CAPCOM".

 

Al Worden wrote "Endeavour" and the mission date "July 26 - August 7, 1971".

 

Rusty Schwieckart wrote "Apollo 9 LMP", "Spider & Gumdrop" and the mission date "3 - 13 Mar 1969".

 

Buzz took a lot of care and 4 minutes to write the following inscription

 

Apollo 11

July 16 - 24, 1969

Eagle

Columbia

Mare Tranquillitatis

Contact Light

Magnificent Desolation

Moonwalker

Armalcolite

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ianb those pieces sound amazing. Apart from Buzz's did you ask for the inscriptions or did the guests add them spontaneously?

Before going to London I worked out exactly what I wanted the astronauts to write and I had wrote down the inscriptions for them to copy. I did ask Al Worden to write endeavour and falcon but as he did not go down to the moon on falcon he choose not to write that. Apart from Buzz all the inscriptions were gladly written as part of the basic autograph fee although I would have been happy to pay more if asked.

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I had a nice and relaxed day yesterday.

 

Met Richard Wilson who was a delight; I got a Sherlock Holmes pic of him signed (he a made a joke about wearing the wig for filming).

My only other autograph was from Michael Lonsdale. He was very quiet and took his time signing his autograph. I was amazed when it came to the photo shoot he stood for the 50 odd people, but good on him!

The group Bond shoot was really fun and they all seemed to be having a good time.

 

After the manic LFCC, it was nice to attend such a relaxing event.

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Before going to London I worked out exactly what I wanted the astronauts to write and I had wrote down the inscriptions for them to copy. I did ask Al Worden to write endeavour and falcon but as he did not go down to the moon on falcon he choose not to write that. Apart from Buzz all the inscriptions were gladly written as part of the basic autograph fee although I would have been happy to pay more if asked.

Nice bit of planning. It's extra special when you get exactly what you want from a guest.

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Marianna Hill is always fun and very chatty.

 

John Leyton, William O'Connell and Lawrence Montainge had been amazing who had a lot to tell about their work like The Great Escape or working "Batman" (1960s tv serie) or Star Trek. Always great to meet guys from classic and famous shows. So I had one more chance to meet guys who worked in Batman/Star Trek and letting signing my BR Covers or Batman-Blu Ray Booklet (already signed by Adam, Burt, Julie, Francine York, Donna Loren, Diane McBaine, Eric Shea)

 

Also the Bond Actors had been fantastic. Karin was a little bit exhausted/tired from a long day trip which might be ok for me - myself I was stressed and tired :whistling:

Vijay was a true gentleman, good looking top-suited, charming,

Corinne Clery so sweet.

Anne Lonnberg wonderful

Inka Bochenko amazing looking

 

Also Rusty Goffe was a very nice guy and had a lot fun at the event and talked a lot about his movies like "Willow".

 

It was cool.

 

Missed only Inka Bochenko's Foto Shooting.... gggrrrrr.

Edited by Swissangel4616
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I was in two minds to go as I would only be going to meet Michael Londsdale. I think I was the last to meet him on Saturday but am glad that I did see him. He beckoned me "Come, come, sit down" in his kind old voice and seemed pleased at the photo I had picked. I asked if he would write me a film quote, he didn't know what I meant by that, but he understood when I said "a line of dialogue from on of your films" so I showed him a bit of paper and he started reading it aloud before it was snatched out from under him by the table assistant quite abrubtly who said there were "language barriers". I put the paper down again as it had my name on it and the assistant said "NO!" repeatedly, snatching it away. It all seemed a bit rude tbh in a way that she was talking as if Michael wasn't right next to her.

 

He went to sign, then asked if it was for me and personalised it for me. He spelt my name (Luke) in the French form Luc, then he stopped, realising it may be wrong and said "Is it L-U-K-E?" I said that it was and he said, "in France we spell Luke, L-U-C," so so he added a line to the c, like so... |c to make it look like a K. I told him Ursula Andress had done the same when I met her which amused him. He then added his character name unprompted.

 

I thanked him and shook his hand, he thanked me and said good evening in French and then again in English. I have read he made some 'errors' and he did add an 'E' to the end of Drax on my photo, but it had no doubt been a long day for him so I'm not fussed about that and is an understandable hangover from written French.

The only dampener to the experience was the lady at the table: on the one hand she was saying he couldn't 'handle' my request, and I'm honestly not annoyed I didn't get the film quote (that would have just been a nice bonus), I'm just annoyed that the interaction just seemed a bit disrespectful towards him, as if he couldn't hear what was being said, and as if she didn't quite understand how to interact with a much older person. He is an educated, bilingual man and whilst I wasn't with him all day, IMO he seemed pretty switched on for a man of 84, just somewhat slower about it all as you would naturally expect.

 

He was a lovely old gent and I was very happy I met him.

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I was in two minds to go as I would only be going to meet Michael Londsdale. I think I was the last to meet him on Saturday but am glad that I did see him. He beckoned me "Come, come, sit down" in his kind old voice and seemed pleased at the photo I had picked. I asked if he would write me a film quote, he didn't know what I meant by that, but he understood when I said "a line of dialogue from on of your films" so I showed him a bit of paper and he started reading it aloud before it was snatched out from under him by the table assistant quite abrubtly who said there were "language barriers". I put the paper down again as it had my name on it and the assistant said "NO!" repeatedly, snatching it away. It all seemed a bit rude tbh in a way that she was talking as if Michael wasn't right next to her.

 

He went to sign, then asked if it was for me and personalised it for me. He spelt my name (Luke) in the French form Luc, then he stopped, realising it may be wrong and said "Is it L-U-K-E?" I said that it was and he said, "in France we spell Luke, L-U-C," so so he added a line to the c, like so... |c to make it look like a K. I told him Ursula Andress had done the same when I met her which amused him. He then added his character name unprompted.

 

I thanked him and shook his hand, he thanked me and said good evening in French and then again in English. I have read he made some 'errors' and he did add an 'E' to the end of Drax on my photo, but it had no doubt been a long day for him so I'm not fussed about that and is an understandable hangover from written French.

The only dampener to the experience was the lady at the table: on the one hand she was saying he couldn't 'handle' my request, and I'm honestly not annoyed I didn't get the film quote (that would have just been a nice bonus), I'm just annoyed that the interaction just seemed a bit disrespectful towards him, as if he couldn't hear what was being said, and as if she didn't quite understand how to interact with a much older person. He is an educated, bilingual man and whilst I wasn't with him all day, IMO he seemed pretty switched on for a man of 84, just somewhat slower about it all as you would naturally expect.

 

He was a lovely old gent and I was very happy I met him.

 

i had same rude experience with the assistant.

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I came from Germany. I have often been in London at a convention, but never on the Autographica not in Heathrow. by bus it was very easy to come to you. is also not far from the airport. The shuttle service was also in vain. The hotel was well air-conditioned and there you could also eat well. for selected guests, it was a top location. The guests were very good mood. for me were the James Bond guests important. Karin Dor comes from Germany. she was stressed out because of the long road, also had to do very well. I'm glad to have met her. Michael Lonsdale was the coolness at all. he had to do most of all was very nice. he signed very slowly and was very unsteady on his feet. I have to pay him a special commendation. who during photoshoot still stands at 84 years is just awesome, the same is true for Karin Dor, which is already 77 years old. the other guests were not quite as interesting to me as the 2 mentioned above. but also of them I needed signatures. I'm the next time there again.

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Id actually opened this account because I wanted to ask a question on Thursday evening, but the event is over now… but no matter I shall use this as a way to thank all involved I had a wonderful time. A special ‘shout out’ to the man and lady (who’s names I didn’t catch) manning the door of the room that Richard Wilson was in they were both very nice, and friendly (and answered my question) oh and the nice lady asking to see wristbands during Buzz’s photo shoot, thank you from the guy who put his wristband around his camera bag strap.

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I was in two minds to go as I would only be going to meet Michael Londsdale. I think I was the last to meet him on Saturday but am glad that I did see him. He beckoned me "Come, come, sit down" in his kind old voice and seemed pleased at the photo I had picked. I asked if he would write me a film quote, he didn't know what I meant by that, but he understood when I said "a line of dialogue from on of your films" so I showed him a bit of paper and he started reading it aloud before it was snatched out from under him by the table assistant quite abrubtly who said there were "language barriers". I put the paper down again as it had my name on it and the assistant said "NO!" repeatedly, snatching it away. It all seemed a bit rude tbh in a way that she was talking as if Michael wasn't right next to her.

 

He went to sign, then asked if it was for me and personalised it for me. He spelt my name (Luke) in the French form Luc, then he stopped, realising it may be wrong and said "Is it L-U-K-E?" I said that it was and he said, "in France we spell Luke, L-U-C," so so he added a line to the c, like so... |c to make it look like a K. I told him Ursula Andress had done the same when I met her which amused him. He then added his character name unprompted.

 

I thanked him and shook his hand, he thanked me and said good evening in French and then again in English. I have read he made some 'errors' and he did add an 'E' to the end of Drax on my photo, but it had no doubt been a long day for him so I'm not fussed about that and is an understandable hangover from written French.

The only dampener to the experience was the lady at the table: on the one hand she was saying he couldn't 'handle' my request, and I'm honestly not annoyed I didn't get the film quote (that would have just been a nice bonus), I'm just annoyed that the interaction just seemed a bit disrespectful towards him, as if he couldn't hear what was being said, and as if she didn't quite understand how to interact with a much older person. He is an educated, bilingual man and whilst I wasn't with him all day, IMO he seemed pretty switched on for a man of 84, just somewhat slower about it all as you would naturally expect.

 

He was a lovely old gent and I was very happy I met him.

i had same rude experience with the assistant.

Fortunately, I didn't get any rudeness myself but I did pick up on a general weariness from the staff at the table. Monsieur Lonsdale is old and took time writing the dedications and I got the impression that some of the mistakes had caused issues for some attendees. No excuse for the rudeness you encountered but maybe that was behind it...

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I wish Wakabayashi or Bianchi would do one , it's overdue ;)

 

I had a bit of trouble writing on this board with a net board , it wouldn't post my messages for some reason ?

 

Anecdote from meeting Lonsdale :

 

Me : "Could you write the dialogue , First there was a dream...."

 

ML : "Who was it who said he had a dream ?"

 

Me : "Oh , you mean MLK jr ?"

 

(ML smiling , maybe he was testing me ;)

 

I also met Dor (she didn't seem that tired to me but then again if she was I didn't see it) , Vijay & Drax girls......they were all nice , Vijay grinned when I mentioned Bham but finally I met him.

Edited by 007 spells Bond
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