Sunday 29 December 2013

London Comic Cons / Expo and Stan Lee 2014 is shaping up to be a good year

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and that are ready for the new year. I know i'm not...
Still can not believe it will be 2014 in a few days. Where did the year go. It feels like 2013 just started and now its almost over.

I am Sorry to say that i have not done as much work on the Vader chest armour as i would of liked and I have not touched my brothers Batman suit. I've been off for two weeks and have done very little.... I feel so lazy and ashamed. 
But on a brighter note.

Comic cons for 2014. 

The dates for the MCM London Expo as well as the London Film and Comic Con.
 I will be attending these cons.

London Super Comic Con
15-16 March 2014 - ExCeL London

MCM London Comic Con (Expo)
23-25 May 2014 - ExCeL London

London Film and comic Con (Summer)
11-13 July 2014 - Earls Court

London Film and Comic Con (Winter)
4-5 October 2014 - Olympia London

But a few friends and i have been talking about going to these as well but with the dates being so close to ones in London I'm not sure if we will be able to make it this year... But the year after... Maybe.

MCM Birmingham Comic Con and Memorabilia
22-23 March 2014 - The NEC Birmingham

MCM Manchester Comic Con
19-20 July 2014 - Manchester Central

I haven't been to the London Super Comic Con before and i am hoping it will be good. The videos on youtube do look promising and i have high hopes. I know i was a little disappointed with the cons this year but i have hope next year will be better. 
Though i am not sure about the London Expo. Sorry i know the MCM London Expo is now called the MCM London Comic Con but i have called it Expo for nearly ten years and i will carry on calling it Expo... But i really do hope that they have learnt from 2013 mistakes and the 2014 con will be better for everyone.  

It is the London Film and Comic Con (LFCC) that i am most excited about. They have Stan Lee Attending... This is EPIC news so i have got tickets for the Stan Lee talk and a photo. According to the LFCC web site this is the last time Stan Lee will be coming to a UK based convention. So it is an opportunity i can not miss. The talk the photo was pricey but in the end i think it will be well worth the money... Have a look and tell me what you think.


Also i am thinking of changing the blog background, colour or the title of the blog. I don't know yet but i do want to do something with it. Put my own stamp on it... To be honest i'm just fed up with looking at the purple background... 


 

Monday 16 December 2013

Batman, Superman...Darth Vader... who am i kidding it's a Cosplay post!!!

Right. OK i know this post is  late but i have good reason. I have Christmas off. Not just that but a three week holiday. Now to get that i had to put in a boat load of hard work just to make sure that the department i work in was all up to date and there was no outstanding work that would need to be done. So now it is in the hands of my colleagues. We wish them luck.

So Merry Christmas and i hope everyone who reads this blog will have a Great New Year.

Now down to whats important.
I need to do some work on my Darth Vader chest armour. I plan to have the shoulder bells cut to size and in to a better shape. I also want to add a chain hook to. Once i have that done i can look in to repainting. Once the chest armour is complete i can move on to the helmet. There is a lot of work needed to be done with it. Apart from repainting it i need to add new lenses a new grill to the mouth. and i am thinking of reshaping the collar and get rid of the flare. But i am getting ahead of myself if i can get the chest ready for painting i will be happy. the helmet can wait for now....

I am thinking of doing a superman costume... Now stop laughing... i know i don't have the body for spandex but i think i can pull off the jeans and t-shirt look. So I'm planning on trying to do a Grant Morrison New 52 Action Comics Superman. But with a small twist with the cape. I want to do a 1978 Superman Movie style cape. I prefer the way that cape looks around the neckline. I found a great guide on the web site 
The only problem i see is that i will have to learn to sew. But That is all part of the fun... learning new skills and so forth... 

And that takes me to Batman. My brother has a Rubies Batman the Dark Knight costume. I will not lie it does not look great but with a little... who am i kidding . With a lot of work it should be an OK suite. He wants me to re-strap the bodysuit. That is not hard but i have to look into how i am going to paint rubber or Latex or what ever the costume is made out of. I wont paint the whole thing but if i add some different tones and some highlights then it should look a whole lot better... All That and i need to find a replacement Utility Belt. This this going to take more work than i thought... 

So if any of you readers have any advice please leave a comment and let me know?.

Hopefully i should be able to update this blog soon or at lest when i have some news on the Vader Armour. 
Now i think it's time to get some rest and i might try to do a little gaming i still haven't played Batman Arkham City let alone Arkham Origins.... I am so ashamed... 


Saturday 30 November 2013

Week Four of Mecha Month. This is the end.

Well it's been 30 days of hardcore Metal on Metal action. It started strong and ended with an even bigger BANG. 30 days have just flown by and now i have to plan for Mecha Month 2014...

Day 23-27 Saturday-Wednesday 23-27/11.)
The final week started with the second part of GAOGAIGAR episodes 26-49 (Sorry i have spent the last few post saying it was 50 eps long.) I will say that the inter-net was right Part Two is a lot better than the first well... i should say episodes 36-49. These episodes were so good that i have forgiven the the first 6 DVDs... OK almost forgiven them. But i did enjoy these episodes. The story picked up speed and things became so epic in scale once they went into space. The biggest surprise for me was that the GaoGaiGar mech never really got an upgrade after the half way point in the show. Most shows of this type would of had the main characters mech go through a major upgrade or he would get a new more powerful mech to pilot. But this does not happen here. If anything all he gets a new back pack.... So if you have never seen it or if you have never seen it all the way through then i highly recommend that you do see it.

Day 28 Thursday 28/11.)
Now i was in the home stretch only three days left. On the 28th day of Mecha Month i watched Macross Do You Remember Love. This was a retelling of the Super Dimension Fortress Macross TV show... kind of... It's a movie set in universe. This means that if we were characters in the TV show we would of gone to see this film. It is a very interesting look at the show and most of the designs we have in the later TV/Movies that would come later took many of the design ques from this film. It is also one of the best looking animated films i have seen and if you haven't seen you NEED to. Also the music is fantastic. I know i'm reiterating myself but if your a macha fan... No... if your an anime fan.... No If your a fan of animation you should see this movie at lest once.

Day 29 Friday 29/11.)
OK this was the last day of the animated Mecha and i watched Voltron Fleet of Doom. It is the movie based off of the animated TV show Voltron Defender of the Universe. It's a team up movie of the Lion Force Voltron and the Vehicle Voltron. I have seen Voltron as many times as i have seen Transformers and i will admit even-tho i l ove Voltron the animation is not great. but there is something about watching five robotic lions coming together to form a giant robot that lets me just say "hey... i know this is bad but i don't care.."


Day 30 Saturday 30/11.)
This is it day 30 the 30/11/2013... The last day of MECHA MONTH!!!! and what better way to end the month than with watching the live action movie Pacific Rim. What can i say that hasn't been said before... Well... I love this film i put it on and i'm there i'm in the moment and i enjoy it. I enjoy watching it and pointing out where and what influenced this film. But.... but i have problems with this film. Don't get me wrong like i said i like this film. My problem is that it plays out like a clip show or  to be more precise a retelling of a 25 episode TV show but without the TV show. So you have characters come in and then we never see them again even though in the scene just before we're told how important they are. Or we;re told how good or power full the other Mechs are but we only see them in ONE fight then they are gone.... So you are a where that something is missing from the film but if this was a 25 episode TV show we would of seen all of this and i am more interested in the bits that are missing than i was with whats on screen. But what is on screen is all kinds of AWESOME!!! And everyone needs to see it and we need a sequel or a trilogy. There is so much that can be done in this universe and i can't wait to see what's next.

Well that is it Mecha month is over and i can how take a rest. believe it or not it is a tough thing to do spend every day of a month watching something it takes dedication. There were times when I couldn't be bothered or i had a bad day at work and all i wanted to do was come home and sleep... But i had a DVD to watch... So that could of been five episodes of a show or a two hour movie... heck it's hard when you have to go out and when you get back you have to give time to this one thing. Maybe i am just getting old and grouchy... Jez i'm 33 and i am all ready old and grouchy... That can't be a good thing. But this years Mecha Month is over and i have a year to get ready for next years celebration of all things MECHA! and who knows maybe some of you who read this blog will join me in taking part in MECHA MONTH!





Sunday 24 November 2013

Week THREE of Mecha Month... and it has become very hard!!! Come on GAOGAIGAR!!!

So week three of Mecha Month came to an end and i am beginning to get all mechard out... I've hit a wall and now i'm in the middle of a rut but i have one week left so there is light at the end of this tunnel. I think it comes down to having to watch 10 discs of an anime that taking way to long time to go anywhere.

Day 16-17 Saturday - Sunday 16-17/11.)
Coming out of the high i was on with the end of GETTER ROBO i took the weekend to watch the EPIC, CRAZY and it will put hair on your chest cause you are a MAN... Gurren Lagann Movie 1&2. 
The first film is a straight retelling of the first 13 episodes of the now classic tv show. If you are going to watch anything i have mentioned then go find Gurren Lagann. It does not matter if its the 26 episode tv show or the 2 movies but you just need to see it. Trust me you will not be sorry. Where the first film feels very much like a clip show the second movie really delivers. It is a telling of the last 13 episodes but they have thrown in a lot of new animated stuff that was not in the tv show. This help to matte it a little more easier to understand as the ending is a little out there!!! (no where near as confusing as the Evangelion ending)  So go out there gather all the spiral energy you can and WATCH IT!!!

Day 18-22 Monday - Friday 18-22/11.)
So started the 10 day GAOGAIGAR marathon... these five day we spent watching the Season One boxset which has five dvd. It is a show that dates back to 1997 in Japan and was the Last of a series of shows call Brave hence the King Of Braves Gaogaigar title. The Brave series was a follow up/spiritual successor to the Transformers cartoon. When that ended in the late 80's Takara wanted another cartoon to boost toy sales but Hasbro didn't have one so Takara and Sunrise created its own show and with it a new toy line. I have often heard that the first half of the show was mediocre and it does not pick up till the second half of the show. Well so far that seems to be the case the first 25 episodes are very meh not bad or anything but at the same time not very good. i hope the next 25 episodes are better. My biggest complaint is that the story is not moving at a quick enough pace. Apart from that the animation is ok it's your typical mid 90's stuff and the Mecha design is really nice so apart from the pacing i have nothing against it. Also how can you be angry at a show when one of the main villeins is called PIZZA!!!
But i do feel that 50 episodes is to long for this show. but it will be over next week as i head in to the fourth and final week of MECHA MONTH.

In other news.
I had tickets for the showing of the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who at my local cinema. I have been a fan of Dr Who since i was a kid watching the 5th, 6th and 7th doctors on TV. 
The special episode The Day of the Doctor. was great i was not disappointed with it. It was great seeing David Tennant back as the Doctor and i really enjoyed seeing it on the BIG screen. But i was a little sad we didn't have all the doctors on screen at the same time like in the Five Doctors. which by the way is a favorite episode.  
Tho i am annoyed at myself for missing the last five minuets as i had to go to the toilet... 
Let that be a lesson to everyone.... Go to the toilet before you get your ticket and never get a Large drink.... 
But i am sure it will be repeated on BBC 3 or 4 and youtube will have the ending so i will see it. 

Saturday 16 November 2013

Week TWO of MECHA MONTH.... GETTER ROBO WEEK!!!

Mecha Months carries on and i come to the end of Go Nagai Madness. Also some surprising news of a new Mech toy coming out in 2014... So a quick update, a nice short post.

Day 9-11 Saturday-Monday 9-11/11.)
GO NAGAI MADNESS!!!... Continued this week with the last 3 discs of New Getter Robo Armageddon. This is a Awesomely Epic show and i wont do any bad puns... but i will say what if you like super robots this is a must see.. Also Shin Getter 1 is one of my favorite Getter Robo designs... Love the Bat Wings... 


Day 12-15 Tuesday-Friday 12-15/11.)
To bring Go Nagai Madness to a close i watched New Getter Robo a 13 part Ova. It an alternate universe So it is not tied in to the other Getter cartoons. And you just have to love an anime where the lead character at the end goes off to find God and punch him in the FACE... 
With Friday being the last day of Go Nagai Madnessi can't think of a better way to end... Maybe i should watch Shin Getter VS Neo Getter... 

As for the surprising news it was announced that Evolution Toys are going to release a Dai X form the classic Go Nagai show X-Bomber. Or Star Fleet as it was called in the UK. This came out around the same time as Tarrahawks (Gerry Anderson) and was a big part of my childhood. Instead of animation it was done using marionettes just like Thunderbird's. And who can forget the Brain May classic theme


I picked up the region 2 DVD box-set earlier this year and with the news of a new toy coming out i will have to put it on the list for next years Mecha Month...
For more information head on over to Collection DX.


     
  

Saturday 9 November 2013

Mecha Month Week ONE. Day 1-8. Transformers, Patlabor, Mazinkaiser and Getter Robo.. Oh and FLASH GORDON!!!

So That's week one of Mecha Month over with. I am going to try to keep this a weekly update on how the month is going. So at the end of each week a new post on what i have watched and so lets get started with Day One.

Day 1 Friday 1/11.)

I got home from work and went straight for Transformers 1986 animated movie. I love this movie it's very well animated and has an AWESOMELY EPIC soundtrack. And the 86 movie has some of the most quotable lines in any kids movie. I was riding the crest of a wave so i went for the Season 3 episodes Five Faces of Darkness parts 1-5 followed by Dark Awakening and ending with The Return of Optimus Prime parts 1&2 and just because it was one of the best animated episodes Call of the Primitives. So around 5 hours of Transformers goodness... A lot of this was helped by the fact i had finally gotten around to opening a few boxes...


Day 2-4 Saturday-Monday 2-4/11.)
Patlabor.... I love Patlabor its a OVA, TV show and 3 Movies about Giant Robots but it's not about Giant Robots. It is a Real Robot Show set in a future (1999) that i want to live in. The OVA and the first Movie are robot heavy with the second being a thriller in the vain of a Tom Clancy book. Think of the second film as a cross between Patriot Games meets Gundam.... 
Over the 3 days i watched the new Blu ray of the first OVA that i got at the Expo last month and the first two movies. The OVA is a great introduction and sets up the world and characters. The Blu Ray looks amazing and i hope we in the UK (MVM i'm looking at you) get the TV show on blu ray as well. 
The Movies were the new-ish remastered editions that came out a few years ago. They were done by Honneamise (which i think was Bandai Visual) They were remastered and redubbed. They look some much better than the old Manga Entertainment release form back in the 1990's. Though i can't help but miss the old dub. Some of the new voices just don't sound right to me. And Lets face it... It is one of the best designed Mecha ever.


Day 5-8 Tuesday-Friday 5-8/11.)
It may only be the fifth day of Mecha Month but it was day one of GO NAGAI MADNESS!!!!... This is a sub season within Mecha Month. It began with the 7 part OVA Mazinkaiser which is a follow up to Mazinger Z (I think... the timelines to these shows are all over the place) then it was on to the 3 part Mazinkaiser SKL. 
Mazinkaiser SKL... It's what you get if Dio and Man O War gave birth to a Giant Robot... Its Heavy Metal meets heavy metal's (sorry very very bad pun) 
That took me up to day 7 and for the last day of the week day 8 i started the Go Nagai/Ken Ishikawa's New GETTER ROBO Armageddon. 
The Getter Robo animes are among some of my favorites, from when i first saw Getter Robo G that was dubbed and released as Starvengers in the 1980's. (It was part of the Force Five cartoon in the west.)Both this and Mazinkaiser are Super Robot shows and you can tell they bring new meaning to the saying suspension of disbelief. I will talk more about it in Mecha Month week 2 post...

Ok and now Flash Gordon...

So i guess by now your getting tired of all the Flash Gordon news but this is the last one i promise . well for a while at lest... 


So on the Sunday me and two friends had tickets for a screening of Flash Gordon at the Prince Charles Cinema in London. Now you know i love this film and i have never seen it on the big screen and i am so happy i did. It was great. The picture was nice a clear and the surround sound was great. Queen at the top of their game. It looked so much better on a big screen Just epic... and How HOT was Princess Aura (Omella Muti) I'm gona say it now Give me Princess Aura over Princess Leia in a metal bikini any day of the week. 
The cinema was packed and everyone laughed when it was funny or when a classic quote was spoken. Though the dude sitting a few seats to the right of us was laughing at everything no matter what the hell was happening on screen???  
But a good time was had by all and just looking at the December program guide i have to say i maybe going back there a few times... Indy trilogy.... very tempting... Ghostbusters double bill.... My friend ask if i was a member of the cinema .. i guess i may need to become one.

So that is it for Week one. The only thing of interest i have up coming is a screening on the 23/11 of the 50th anniversary Dr Who episode The Day of the Doctor. Should be good and it's in 3D. It will be a nice day out with the family. In other news Star Wars episode VII is pushed back to a Christmas release in 2015. But i think i will be posting more about that stuff nearer Christmas at the moment it's all about Mecha Month. 

Wednesday 30 October 2013

MECHA MONTH is nearly upon us!!!! Update time once again.



Well it's nearly November and I have decided on what to watch for Mecha Month. So that means it's time for a little update!!!

Let me start with what mecha is. It pretty much means mechanical so that covers everything from Power Suites and vehicles to Giant Robots. Though to the vast majority of anime fans it means GIANT ROBTOS. Sorry Neon Genesis Evangelion does not count as they are not Robots/Mechanical in nature their Biological. But that is a rant for another time... 

Last year I spent most of the month well that should be all the month watching Gundam. I tried to keep within the original UC 0079 Timeline.

0079 movie trilogy,
MS 08th Team,
Zeta Gundam
Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
and ending with
Chars Counter Attack
and
Gundan F91

I didn't want to start going into the alternative timelines with shows like Gundam Wing, G Gundam or After War Gundam X. 


So this year I didn't want to go down the road of another all Gundam month. Which would be fairly easy as there is just so much of it. So I picked a cross selection of animes. From the Real Robot to the Super Robot.

Patlabor ova
Patlabor Movie 1&2
Shin Getter Robo ova
Getter Robo Armageddon ova
Mazinkizer ova
King of Braves GaoGaiGar T.V show
Voltron Fleet of Doom Movie.
Transformers 1986 Movie
Macross: Do You Remember Love Movie.
And if I have time I might try to squeeze in the two Gurren Lagann movies.



As you can see I went for shorter shows with mostly OVA's (Original Video Animation) and a couple of movies. As for T.V shows I went for a 50 episode show that I have had sitting on my shelf but have never sat down and watch all the way through. That will change from next month. Now all I need to do is final away to get my hands on a copy of GaoGaiGar Final??? 

On a side note this coming Sunday the 3/11 is the London Comic Mart as well as the screening of Flash Gordon. Not a bad way to see in November I guess. 

Sunday 27 October 2013

London MCM Expo... High hopes and little return. A rant post!!!

Saturday the 26/10/2013 started fine, OK there was a problem with the DLR but it is a 5/10 minute walk from Canning Town to the Excel Center and it's not a trip to Excel if there is at least one problem with transport. No the problem's started once i got there. 


There was a lot of people and crowds started to form but it was early. Sadly things took a turn for the worse when we got in to the hall where we had to que for our ticket/wrist band. I pre-booked and printed our tickets online a few months before so was not worried but when i saw that there were only four stands where we would get our tickets scanned and given our wrist bands and the numbers of people starting to mass in the hall you just knew things would not end well. But we got to the stand and were greated by a nice enough girl would scanned the ticket and we were moved on to another check point where tree guys were applying the wrists bands. They were not necessarily rude but were very short with people. Then we moved to yet another check point where we had to show our wrist bands before entering another que before being letting us into the corridor were we had to deal with the cross traffic as the cons show floor was in the opposite hall.  This meant we were walking in to people going in to the con and people walking up and down the Excel Center itself. This was a Very  bad idea as this is not a main road with crossing lights so people would be banging into each other, bumping in to cosplayers and this was where i encountered one of my biggest complaints... Why would you stop and ask for photos in the middle of a busy crossing. You wouldn't stop in the middle of the road with cars going pass and you shouldn't do it here. There was very little space and con goers need to be mindful of where they are, I will be coming back to this point later.




Once in the main hall like i said above it was the show floor and once again the layout was bad. The layout of dealer tables and this is an old complaint of mine. The tables are to close together So the room you have to walk down the ales is very small and the flow of people trying to see whats on the tables makes it impossible to move freely and easily. And if you have a bulky costume then you end up taking up even more space. Then everything stops as people ask cosplayers to take a photo. So like i said con goers must be mindful of where they are and remember when and when not to take photos. If i had my way i would stop people taking photos in the dealer room full-stop. I don't know how many times i walked in to a cosplayer because they just randomly stop for a photo in a crowed ale There is space out side the hall or in the Center itself for photos. I don't want to be the A-hole who says no to photos but there is a time and place for everything. And if you are going to block the flow of traffic then that is a No-No. Also when it comes to the ales we need to stay to the left, there are tables on both sides so you don't need people on both sides going in the same direction. It's just common courtesy and common sense. This has been the problem with every Expo but it is getting worse every year and with more and more people attending it's not going to get any better. The other cons in London don't have this problem. It is as if the Excel Centers hall's are to small for the number of people coming to the event. My main complainant is the over crowding there were just to many people there. Let me put it in to perspective. I have been going to the Expo since the early 2000's and this is the most unorganized one i have been to. It has been getting bigger and bigger each and every year. But it feels like the MCM staff can no longer handle the numbers of people attending the London event. Maybe this disorganization is the price we have to pay as the con gets more and more people attending. But that is no excuse and something we as con goers and more importantly as PAYING customers should do or except. After all there where so many people there that the Center's corridor was jam packed with people and you could hardly move. There was no structure and organization to the flow of people and that is a fire risk as well as a problem and shows a complete lack of Health and Safety in and around the event MCM is having.


It would not take much just a few signs up and staff there to remind people to keep moving and where to go when coming in and out. me and a friend walked out for some fresh air and when we came back in to the center we went through the door and ended up on the wrong side and gad to go all the way round the and had to ask to cut across the hall with the que of people waiting to get a ticket to get in all because we went through the door on the right no the left. Like i said signs need to be up and visible. And because of the over crowding i got angry and very frustrated with things trying to look at a table but constantly being pushed around or walking past a casplayer in the middle having there photo taken because they just stopped and there was no where for me to go but between the photographer and the cosplayer. Also The lack of exsibitors there there apart from some games companies like Namco showing off a few games... Where was the Movies or Comic/ Manga showing off the newist thing that will be coming out in the next few months... There was Nothing there....
I know how i sound... Like i did not enjoy myself and that i wont be going back next year... Well yes and no. I did not enjoy myself this time but i will be going next year and i will probably be complaining about the same things then as well... 



With all that being said Lets talk about the positives. There were so many good no i should say amazing cosplayers and i wished i didn't get so frustrated that i forgot to take any photos of them... Well that's something to do next year. Heck by then i should have my Darth Vader finished so i can go in costume... That is something that is always done well at the con. The effort people put in to the costumes are fantastic and i'm sure there will be many youtube vids for the con. I know i'm looking forward to see them. I brought a few things No cushions this time unfortunately but i did two anime Blu-rays FL-CL and the Patlabor OVA so that was very cool. Namco was showing the Tales of Symphonia HD and that looks so good, can't remember how many hours i lost playing that game on the Gamecube. I don't really know how to end this post so i will leave it with a few more photos of the crowd out side the Excel Center.   





    

Friday 18 October 2013

Darth Vader, London MCM Expo, more Flash Gordon and other stuff. It must be time for a little update.

As the title suggests this is a update on a few things that i have going on or coming up over the next couple of weeks. 

So as for the Darth Vader armour. I have picked up a dremel tool and some cutting bits. this will be a great help in cutting the shoulder bells to a shape i will be happy with. The current shape makes the upper body to broad and i never liked it. I also got a new chain for the cloak. 



 Now i just need some time to start work on the the amour. I was hoping to have it ready for the London Expo but i have a long long way to go. i still need to repaint the armour parts add leather to the neck line of the cloak. So hopefully it will be ready early next year. But i will be updating this blog along the way.

The London MCM Expo is on next (25-27/10/2013) weekend i have my tickets booked and looking forward to seeing a lot of  cool cosplay and trying to pick up a few bits from the dealer room. It should be a good day out and i have a black T-shirt with a red superman shield on it so i could try to cosplay as Conner Kent. But i don't know yet. Speaking of cosplay i found an old issue of Starlog from 1989 that has a very interesting look at fan costumes but I will go into that in a later post.  

And now more Flash Gordon news... 
I and a few friends have got tickets to a screen of Flash Gordon at the Prince Charles Cinema on the 03/11/13. 
  

This should be really good. I have never seen this film on the big screen and i can't wait to see it. Also on the same day is the London Comic Mart at the Royal National Hotel. This is a thing I've been going to since 1995 back then it was at the TUC (Trade Union Center) in London. Doors open at 12 noon and it has free entry. Its not a con or anything on that scale but it's something to do before heading off to see Flash Gordon. 


And finally...

November is a special time of year as it's my  unofficial well there is no official MECHA MONTH!!! Yes a month long Mecha fiesta. For those that don't know Mech is a term for Giant Robots or other robo anime or cartoons from Japan. I have a few ideas on what to watch but i have not finalized my list just yet. But it will be Glorious, Heart Pounding and EPIC in all the right mecha ways. Guess it's time to start using my twitter account in November then.  


Monday 7 October 2013

LFCC: Flash Gordon to Return of the Jedi an EPIC DAY!!!

Saturday the 5th of October. What can i say.... It was a good day a great day in fact. It started with the Winter London Film and Comic Con which for what it was was disappointing. I mean there was not much there and  hardly any anime and nothing of real interest for me to buy tho i did get a pair of cushions.


Ok i Know what your thinking because i thought the same thing. Why would i get those. Well the honest answer is that i had the curtains of these when i was a kid back in the early 80's. So i had to have them. But the reason i when to the LFCC was to meet Sam Jones and the Legend that is Brian Blessed

The Legend that is Brian Blessed

Sam Jones

I have to say both men are real gentlemen and were very kind even taken a moment to say hello and a few words. I've been to some con's and had photos taken and you didn't even get a chance to say "hi" let alone shake the actors hand. So that was nice but like i said above it was disappointing even the guest talks were not really of interest to me. I think this is mainly down to the lack of BIG name actors in the UK we tend to have a lot of the bit-part actors go to these and the con's are no where near as big as in the USA,

THEN...

After the LFCC i headed in to London to go to the Prince Charles Cinema in London for the one off limited to 280 seats screening of Return of the Jedi.  Now if your a Geek/Nerd then you go to the Shops so i had a few hours before the screening so i went to the Forbidden Planet then over to Orbital in Leicester Square i had a look around saw a few things but held off spending all my money. Then headed to the cinema. Went through China Town and outside the cinema were a group of Storm troopers and Lord Vader which was great any chance to see the 501st is always cool. 






When we finally went in we got our seats and The Troops came out once more And then we were given a brief introduction where we were told it was not the 1983 movie but the 1997 one but i think it might of been the 2006 version which was met with boo's from the crowd. Apart from that there was a buzz in the cinema as if there was something special about to happen.  






Everyone had a good time the crowd booed, cheered and even the Ewoks got some laughs. It is great to see these film on the big screen and i left with a massive grin on my face.  
I will have to go back there next time they show i film that i have to see on the big screen. Even the fact that i missed my stop on the train could get me down i was that happy. I know they are showing Flash Gordon in November so i guess i will be going to that and its the same day as the London Comic Mart so i guess it's another day out for me.

OH Before i Forget...

Can someone tell me why there is a random bronze statute of Charlie Chaplin outside a cinema in a corner of China Town.?


Sunday 29 September 2013

Eurogamer 2013

Eurogamer 2013 was EPIC and i really enjoyed my time there. The games were cool with Destiny looking amazing and may just push me over the edge and force me to buy the PS4. But apart from all the new games coming out in the next few months (...can not wait to play Batman...) I had the most fun playing the retro games. They had a whole bunch of old school consoles and some old computers from the late 1970's up to the current generation. Now don't get me wrong i know stuff like COD Ghost and Elder Scroll Online all look great and will blow us away with up to date graphics and deep and meaning full story lines but the game play is something that seems to be missing from a lot of games today compared to games on the nes and snes, even stuff like Commodore 64 and Amstrad GX4000. My god I've not seen one of those since 1990. And now i'm thinking of getting in to retro gaming.

OK so what freebies were on offer. That was a little disappointing. I did get a poster and some post cards for Destiny, a goody bag when i pre-ordered Batman Arkham Origins which came with a T-shirt a key chain and a pack of playing cards.As well as the normal amount of leaflets and stuff.
Something else that disappointed me was the lack of cosplay on display. Well hopefully next year there will be more.      

Now i know i missed a whole lot of stuff but it was my first time going to this and now i know what to expect next time. So i'm sure the 2014 eurogamer will be an even better experience for me. I was a little over whelmed but the amount of people there and the time people were spending in ques.
I will go next year, its something else i need to add to my event calendar.  




     

Wednesday 25 September 2013

Return of the Jedi.

This is very cool i saw this on www.jedinews.co.uk 


and i knew i had to go. So after the Winter LFCC i will be going to see Jedi on the big screen once again. 
So Saturday the 5th of October is going to be a very busy day but how often do you get to meet Flash Gordon and see Jedi on the same day. It's going to be like Christmas and my Birthday rolled in to one. 

The first time was back in 1983 where i saw it seven times... Then again in 1997 for the release of the Special Edition's where i only saw it three times. Now i have another chance to see the movie and i may get the making of book and have it signed by the author J.W. Rinzler and Boba Fett himself  Jeremy Bulloch. Anyway if you are interested in going to see it then head over to the Prince Charles Cinema web page and book your tickets. link below.




     

Wednesday 18 September 2013

Savior of the Universe

So i'm a little late with a new post and for that i am sorry, though i have been busy with work i should try to keep this blog thing going and on a semi-regular basis. Well that's the plan.

Ok so what's been happinging.......
To tell the truth a lot really and a lot coming up in the next few months. 
1.) I have Eurogamer at the end of the month. Really looking forward to that. I have never been to a game's con. I have been going to convention since 1995 and This will be new to me and if its ny good then i might start going every year.
2.) At the beginning of October i will be going to the Winter London Film Comic Con and at the end of October there's the Movie Comic Media Expo.
Between all that i will be working on the my Vader. More to come on that in a later post.

But it is the LFCC  that i wanted to make this post about. When i pre-ordered  my ticket i also ordered a ticket for a photo shoot with two of my childhood heroes. Flash Gordon and Voltan, Sam Jones and the legend that is Brian Blessed. This i am very excited about. So much so i went out and got this.


Think i may need to iron it.
But yeah one of my all time favorite movies. and lets face it the sound track kicks the behind of most sound tracks out today.

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Everything is better in Black.

Today I picked up my Darth Vader Cloak from a dressmakers who lined the cloak for me and charged me a fair price. So now I need to start work on my chest armour and helmet... hopefuly it will be ready for the November MCM Expo. Well fingers crossed.

The old cloak as you can see is very flimsy and looks like it has no weight to it.


Now this new lined cloak has weight and will look so much better. The only downside is that the lining doesn't go all the way to the bottom of the cloak  It's a minor nip pic but im not going to complain. And blogger wont let me upload a photo of the new cloak.

On a side note the Winter London Film and Comic Con is going to have a big Flash Gordon present so I may have to get a photo taken with Sam Jones...
"Flying blind on a Rocket Cycle"
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  





Monday 12 August 2013

Humble Begins

This is a humble begin to document  the up's and downs of me and a few friends journey to SDCC. Will We make or wont we. That I guess does not matter as it is the journey and the things that happened along the way that matters..... and lets face it we haven't really decided on what year to go to. 2014,15,16 and so on. So many years to chose from, and in between lots of local comic and anime cons to go to.