Sunday 14 December 2014

Star Wars, Conventions and Christmas is just around the corner....

Just a little update.

So by now i think everyone would of seen the Star Wars Awakens teaser trailer. And if not 
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!! GO... GO NOW!!!
Got to say it may only be a teaser trailer but what we got was fantastic. It was a lot of rough shots with very little in the backgrounds but there is still plenty of time to fill out the worlds but the overall feeling i got was. Back to Basics. They had real sets and the Stormtroopers were guys in armour. Not like the CGI Clonetroopers from Episode I-III. It looked like you could touch it and i have high hopes for this. Now it should be obverse that i am a Star Trek fan and i really liked the 2009 Star Trek movies that was done by JJ Abrams. For really the same reason i like this teaser... Real sets and what could be done on screen was done on set. And that is what i think was missing from the prequel trilogy. It felt to clean and unreal. So for the moment until i see the full trailer i have high hopes and think things will turn out for the better.  

But the trailer did make me think about my Vader armour. I was originally going to do the chest armour them move on to the helmet.... This was not a good idea, reading online i realized that if i paint the chest armour now then six months later paint the helmet the paint will not match due to different batch's of paint and variances in the mix. So to avoid all the hassel i will paint the all armour at the same time. This means i really need to start thinking of what and how i am going to do my helmet. I will probably do a post next week with my ideas on how i will do what i want. But just remember i am not going for Movie Accurate 501st quality. It's more a case of how i remembered Darth Vader or the picture i have in my head if i think about Vader. 
Why can't things ever be easy... 
But that's half the fun of things like this right... learning new things... riiiiiiight!!! 

Ok so now to the Cons of 2015... 
First up will be the London Super Comic Con (.LSCC.) on March 14-15th. At the Excel Center.
Secondly there's the London Comic Con (. MCM Expo.) on May 22-24th  At the Excel Center.
And then London Film and Comic Con (.LFCC.) 17-19th July at Olympia   
There will be more but so far this should be all for the first half of 2015.
But i am very tempted to get Jeremy Bulloch Costume Photo ticket. A photo with Fett in the Fett Costume... Hmmm something to think about. I think i know what i will be doing a the LFCC.

And finally Christmas is just two weeks away and 2015 is looking like a great year to be a Geek! With Star Wars, Marvel Movies and a whole host of things coming our way. There is a lot to look forward to. 




     

Sunday 30 November 2014

Mecha Month Week Three and Four...

So this is the The end of Mecha Month 2014 and it was good really good... but also sad. And that has had a knock on effect on this years Month... As i could not complete the month. One of the people i had worked with passed away so and a lot of things were put on hold... But this is not why your here so lets Carry on with MECHA MONTH!!!

Week Three Day
17-20 Monday-Tuesday 17-20/11.)


I spent the first half of the week watching Starfleet. This is a great hidden little gem of a show... and one that most people have never heard of. This is a show made with puppets very similar to the Supermarionation show from Gerry Anderson like Thunderbirds, Stingray and Captain Scarlet. But this show was Japanese and it was made by the Legend that is Go Nagai..... 
Yes the man behind Devil Man, Mazinga Z and Grendizer to name just a few... 
He was inspired by shows like Thunderbirds that had a massive following in japan just like the rest of the world. So he went out and made X-Bomber which was then imported to the UK as Star Fleet. 
I watched this at around the same time as another Gerry Anderson show was on TV called TerraHawks. 

TerraHawks opening

Anyway back to Star Fleet. It's a story about the crew of the Spaceship X-bomber and and the three pilots of  the Mech Dai-X. and we follow them in their adventures as they fight off an alien invasion of earth. It is we worth a watch and like i said above a real hidden gem... Also Brian May from the band Queen and  Eddie Van Halen did a cover of the theme. I have posted this link before but it is such a great little song that i need to share it with everyone....

Brian May & friends Star Fleet project

we jump a few days.

Week Four 
Day 24-29 Monday-Saturday 24-29/11.)

For the final week i went big and i mean BIG... i had just recived the Bluray of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Ultimate Edition this is a six disc set that has all 26 episodes and the 2 movies. This is the first time in the west the Movies have been released. If you have not seen this show then go out and watch it... it is that good. It's a homarge to classic shows like Getter Robo and is full of GUTS and IF YOU BELIEVE THEN ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE kinds of stuff in it. It feels like a 70's throwback but with modern animation and style. And the music is some of the best i have heard in a long time in an anime The opening is amazing... it grabs your attention from the start and you know everything you need to by the end of the song.

Gurren Lagann opening full

So remember "Mine is the drill that will pierce the Heavens"


Day 30 Sunday 30/11.)

So for the final day of Mecha Month 2014 i when straight to an old friend the classic Gunbuster.
This was the show that gave Gainax it's big break. i can not stress the importance of this show. so i sat down and took a look at the Gunbuster Movie its an edited down version of the 6 part OVA. And if you have not seen this again go out and watch it. it's one of those shows that every Mecha Fan needs to see. It's full of Heart and Sprite. 

So that's it for Mecha Month. I am annoyed at my self that i didn't keep my promise and make time to build those model kits i got just to build over the month.... But i guess when i do get round to building them it will give me a reason to do a post about it. And as for next years Mecha Month... i wanted to have a theme... So for the time being lets say Comedy.... 
There's a couple of shows i have that i have not watched in a few years...   

And finally the other day a little trailer came out on line... 


Can not wait till December 2015

Ok there is a lot of Youtube links in this post.... i feel so lazy. Sorry about that. i will try to do better next time.
  







Sunday 16 November 2014

Mecha Month Week Two.... More Robotech.

So this is was Week two of Mecha Month. With the end of the week came the end of the Robotech Saga. And i must admit that i had forgotten most of the New Generation... I mean i was watching it and scratching my head think to myself.... 
I don't remember this happening...  and  How on earth did i miss this....
I must admit i always considered the New Generation as the weakest of the three parts. Well after all theses year i have changed my mind. It was a lot better than i remembered and i have to say it was the seconded best. Heck i even enjoyed the Shadow Chronicles and that did not get good reviews when it came out. So i will keep this post short and i will get back to the mecha goodness. 

Day 10 Monday 10/11.)

The Monday saw the last of the Robotech The Masters dvds. I enjoyed this part of the Saga the lest. It was still good and that but when i compared it to the other parts it would put it last . The why they reworked the ending with dubbing and editing leads very nicely in to the next part. I feel that this part was the most forced some of it comes down to the designs of the armour and mecha. The Hover Tank was fine and does look like it would fit in the Robotech world but the pilot armour looks like a suit of medieval armour and looks nothing like the outfits worn by any of the pilots in the rest of the Saga. and where before as a kid it never bothered me a lot of the time it would take me out of the show.... a pity but it is still a good show overall even if i am starting to see the flaws.

Day 12-14 Tuesday-Friday 12-14/11 .)

These four days was all New Generation. And i loved it mostly because i didn't remember half of it so it felt new.... 


Though this show had different designs for armour and mecha it still felt like a natural step forward and i do like the design of the Alpha Fighter... This show covers the Third Robotch War with earth being taken over by the alien Invid and it follows a small band of freedom fighters as they battle the Invid and reclaim the earth. The story was better in this part and it felt closer to the Macross Saga then The Masters did. I think this would of made a better second act with The Masters being the final act. 

Day 15 Saturday 15/11.)

So here we come to the end of the Robotech Saga. Robotech The Shadow Chronicles is straight to dvd movie that i think was supposed to be a lead in to a full show. Unfortunately that never happened. But i really like this movie. It set right after the final episode of The New Generation and introduces a new villains. Now i know this has a lot of connections with the old Robotech comics but i have never read any of the issues. I do recommend try to see it if your watching Robotech or if you have never seen it before.

Day 16 Sunday 16/11.)

Right... Ok i will admit i made i little error in coming up my list for Mecha Month.... and i am really embarrassed by this. 
I... I.... er.... 
I put Rahxephon the Movie on the list and when i went to get it i couldn't find it, i look everywhere in the dvd carry case where i keep most of my anime and the book cases's... but it's not there.... So instead i watched What ever i had to hand..... Transformers Age of Extinction. I had just got the bluray through the post on Friday so yeah i watched that.... And now i must go to Amazon.co.uk and try to find a copy of Rahxephon the complete set the show and movie in one boxset.... So in an up coming Mecha Month i can put that on the list.

So that does it for Week Two of Mecha Month. Next week we will start with  Star Fleet X-Bomber...


Kick back and enjoy Brian May Rocking the Star Fleet theme.

     




Sunday 9 November 2014

Mecha Month 2014 Week One days 1-9 ROBOTECH

Well it's that time of year again where we celebrate all things MECHA in a month long festival of Anime, Video Games and Movies. Like i have posted a few times before here is the list once more.

Robotech all three seasons. 
Robotech The Shadow Chronicles. 
Star Fleet (...Xbomber...)
Gurren Lagann .
RahXephon The Movie.
GunBuster The Movie.
 Die Buster The Movie.

I am quite happy with the animes that i have chosen this year. It has a good range of drama, Action, Melodrama and comedy. Saying that Mecha Month 2015 might be a themed month. But more on that at the end of the month. 
So with out dragging this out let be begin with the first week of Mecha Month. 
But before i do that i need to give a little history on Robotech. How do i sum up the first part... This is a little harder than you may think. As Robotch is a combination of four animes that have NOTHING to do with each other. So i will give a very brief run down. Carl Macek at Harmony Gold re-scripted and reedited these shows in to one massive story. 


                                                                                                 Japanese originals 

                                                                                Super Dimension Fortress Macross. 1982 
                                                                           Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross. 1984
Genesis Climber Mospeada. 1983
Megazone 23. 1985-1989

Now these four shows became Robotech.

 Robotech: The Macross Saga.
 Robotech: The Masters. 
 Robotech: The New Generation.
 Robotech: The Movie.

I have not mentioned the Robotech: The Sentinels as i don't have it but that will be corrected soon hopefully. Harmony Gold still own the rights to Robotech but more inportantly own the rights to the original Japanese shows. So in the west we will never get the other Macross Shows  like....

Macross: Do You Remember Love
Macross Seven 
Macross Plus
Macross Zero 
Macross Frontier 

Ok how i will admit that i hate that Harmony Gold are so over pertecive of what they have and the fact that they have done nothing with the Macross franchise apart from slapping a court order on to anyone trying to release anything to do with Macross in the west. But you can not and i must stress CAN NOT deny that Anime in the west has a lot to be grateful to thanks to what they did back in 1985.

This is a good video on the history of the VF-1 toy. The main mecha in Macross and Jet Fire/Sky Fire toy from the 1984 Transformers.
History of the Takatoku VF-1 Valkyrie Toy - CollectionDX

Ok so with that little history lesson out of the way with... i mean it LITTLE. Just google Macross and robotech it very complicated... But back to the point Lets begin...

Mecha Month 2014



Day 1-6 Saturday-Thursday 1-6/11.)

I am not going to do a day by day brake down, this is because i started the month off with the 1985 classic Robotech. A show that covers 3 different series over three seasons. Day 1-6 were made up of the first part. Robotech: The Macross Saga. 36 episodes over 6 dvds. This is the old ADV complete box-set from 2001 and is the original TV edit. Not the newer Robotech: Remastered from 2003


What can be said about The Macross Saga that hasn't be said before... well nothing... It is nearly a 30 year old cartoon. But i will try to hit the basics. Robotech/Macross is a Real Robot Show. It is a story of Love, Hate, and War. But at it's core it is a human drama. The story of Rick Hunter and the love triangle with him Lisa Hayes and  Lynn Minmay/Minmie (... How do you spell her name i have seen it spelt a few different ways...) against the backdrop of interstellar war with the giant alien Zentraedi in The First Robotech War.  
And if your a anime fan over a certain age then this cartoon had a big impact.
I love the action and enjoy the the interaction between the many characters and i think the mecha design is some of the best. the VF-1 Valkyrie is one of my favorite Mechs of all time. Also the Macross saga is considered to be the better of the three parts. It has been years since i have sat back and watched this show and i am glade i did it brought back a lot of happy memories of my youth. Good times... good times.  

Day 7-9 Friday-Sunday 7-9/11.)

Over these three days i watched dvds 1-3 of Robotech: The Masters. This is a hard show to some up. a lot of the Robotechness of this part of the show can feel a little forced at times. It follows the exploits of the 15th Armoured Division which is lead by Dana Sterling during The Second Robotech War.Where earth has spent 15 years rebuilding after the event of the First Robotech War. The gantlet earth defenders of the Robotech Defense Force must combat the Robotch Masters and their army of Bioroids. Dana Sterling is the daughter of Max and Mira Sterling who were two characters from the Macross Saga. even though the some of the things in the show feel forced Carl Macek did do an amazing job of connecting this and the first part together that you do feel like your watching one show. This and the final part Robotech: The New Generation are a lot shorter than the first so by the end of next week i will have all 14 dvds done. 



   

Monday 27 October 2014

MCM London Comic Con October 2014.

The weekend of the 24-26th October was the MCM London Comic Con. Or as i have always known it as... The MCM Expo. But i'm just old school and have been going to this con for ten year or more. so it will always be the MCM Expo or just Expo.
Anyway back to the point.
It was the weekend of the Expo and i went of cause and i had a good time. I mean it was a hell of a lot better than the last October convention. Just read the post London MCM Expo... High hopes and little return. A rant post!!! dated 27/10/2013 for my thoughts on last October convention. But i don't want to go into that here cause this was a better con all round. It still had its problems but better than last time none the less.

So the plan was simple head to the Expo then if there was time go to the O2 Arena to see the X-Men Experience. Not sure if Experience is the right word it had something to do with the Sky Store and the release of X-Men the Days of Future Past....



The Expo was good it still has its problems with over crowding and layout is getting better but it still need some work. But with each con the MCM team learn new things and will make little changes that hopefully will make the next con even better. I say that but THEY MUST start thinking about who they have invited and given tables to at these cons. Because having a person who will draw a large crowd SHOULD NOT be placed near the entrance and try to have stages and talk areas as far away as possible from dealer areas theses get crowed and not only block but brings everything to a complete stop. Also have a Information Desk where you can get a Program and ask questions in both halls. If it was me i would of but one in every hall the con took place in. Apart from that i think it was mostly all good. A well run weekend. 



I was very impressed that companies are starting to take notice of this convention. Bandai had a stall showing off the new Sprukits models The batman looks very cool. I may have to get one and try building one. They were also showing the  Power Ranger Legacy Dragon Megazord and Dragon Dagger... Which i must get as soon as they come out over here.... I'm waiting ToysRus... And lets be honest who doesn't want a Metal Dragon Megazord. I hope the MCM team can attract more big name companies and then maybe just maybe we can start getting proper Con Exclusives like st San Diego Comic Con or SDCC for short. Also Playstation and Xbox were there with playable demos of new games just out or coming out soon as well as Namco. Game and CEX were there selling games and having con discounts. I am Taking this as a good sign of the con growing and that can not be a bad thing.

Manga Entertainment, MVM and Anime LTD where there with lots and dvds and blurays for sale. and with a lot of stuff avaliabe to buy a few days early in in one case a month early and with a small discount. very happy with that. That brings me to what i picked up.
When i was at the Anime LTD tables i saw Space Dandy season one for sale now this wont be out till mid/end of November so i picked that up then at the Manga stall i spend most of my hard earned cash and got Code Geass Seasons One and Two as well as Attack on Titan parts One and Two. Not brought a load of anime at a con for a long time. It's not a great load but i'm happy with what i got. I would of got a few Gundam kits for Mecha Month (..That starts next week..) but for the price they were asking i could buy two or three at hlj.com. 
What eles can i say. The cosplayers were all amazing saw some great Warhammer 40K cosplayers as well as the usual anime and manga charters. The 501st are always cool to see to. I have to say i saw a guy with the same Darth Vader costume as i have and it really made me want to pull my finger out and start on the next phase of upgrading it. 
That was the Expo in a nut shell. 
After we left the con my mate and i headed to the O2 to see this X-men thing i had heard about. We were not really sure what it was or how to even get there but whats a little adventure with out a touch of the UNKNOWN! 

Once we got to inside the 02 arena we were meet by a live size Sentinel for the X-Men the Days of Future Past. I have to be honest i was expecting some thing more when we got there we saw a cool Sentinel but the rest was very disappointing. All that was there was six costumes used in the film a pair of Cyclops glasses and his visor and Professor X's Wheelchair... not really an experience.... Still nice to see but not what we were hoping for.... SO with that we decided we still had some time left so we went back into London and headed for the Forbidden Planet. Then it was time to head home and get some rest.

It was a really good day out talked to some cool people and saw a lot of cool things and i am glade that the only thing left is Hyper Japan in mid November. It's getting a little expensive going to all these cons... Which reminds me i need to start thing about ordering the tickets to the London Super Comic Con in early 2015. 
But first Lets look to the coming weeks with Mecha Month starting this Saturday 1/11/14 and remember my list for the month will be 

Robotech all three seasons. 
Robotech The Shadow Chronicles. 
Star Fleet (...Xbomber...)
Gurren Lagann .
RahXephon The Movie.
GunBuster The Movie.
Die Buster The Movie.

And that brings this post to a closes if you went to the expo let me know what you thought of it and if your taking part in Mecha Month let me know what your watching in the comments below.

Sunday 19 October 2014

I could of come home with Bravestar... Winter London Film and Comic Con 2014.

With Destination Star Trek 3 over with and the dust hadn't even settled before i was off to another con. This time it was the Winter London Film and Comic Con (.LFCC.) at Earls Court. It was good i really enjoyed it but it was very and i do mean very quite. It felt like a Sunday not a Saturday. 
The show floor felt empty!!! 
what happened. I get that it's mid October and it's near Christmas so people don't have a lot of spare cash this time of year and then there is the fact that the MCM London Expo is the week after. But with all this considered it just felt like no one was there. And it was fantastic.... i went with a friend and we walked around and could see everything we had room to move around and it felt nice. I guess this is what the Friday preview night must be like.

One thing my friend pointed out to me was the number of people in Star Trek costumes they were everywhere. which is nice and the number of Star Wars and  Marvel/DC cosplayers has grown. Heck we even saw a Cylon from Battlestar Galatica 1978 and iv'e not seen one of them in years. Another thing that surprised us was the lack of Anime/Manga cosplayers. That and the shear lack of Anime and Manga in general. I guess they are all going to the Expo. 

As always there was a lot to buy but as stated above people don't have a lot of money this time of year and DST 3 cost a lot and i do mean a lot, so i was on a budget. i need to save as the number of Transformers figures has increased  year on year.... 
and i need my Transformers Generation One fix.  
But some times when you see something you have to get it right then and there. I saw the Bravestar Complete Series. I grew up in the 1980's and i would watch Bravestar, Transformers, Thundercats and all the other animated classics. So when i can i try to pick up the shows on dvd. And Bravestar is one of the one i really wanted. As always these shows don't get a released in the UK on dvd so when i see them at a con i normally try to pick them up. 
Now i saw Bravestar and was going to get it but my friend said to look around first. Good advise normally i walk the floor see what there is the go round again buy a few things then go to a talk or tow then get lunch then go round again and buy a few more things. This as normily worked for me. After all i normally go there hoping to get a good deal on an old 80's giant robot anime or a good price on a figure or collectible.
So i put it back and made a mental note to comeback and get it. a hour later i came back and it was gone... I had missed it. But all was not lost.... In it's place was the Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs the Complete Series. Awesome if i lost out on Bravestar but i got a classic giant robot show. So all was not wasted. 

Its a short post today and i will be back next week with a post on the MCM London Expo.


Monday 6 October 2014

Destination Star Trek 3

This weekend me and my brother went to Destination Star Trek 3 and it was so much better than the first Destination Star Trek (.DST.) a massive improvement over the last time and what the organizers were saying on forums and Trek podcast's was differently true. That they had learnt from the mistakes at the first one and they had made changes for the DST Germany convention. And so the improvements was carried over to the DST3 con. I can not stress enough how much better this was and i had a great day but as with everything there was and is room for improvement. One thing that did strike me was the lack of people there. Now don't get me wrong there was still a lot of people there and i know i went on a Sunday so there will always be less people attending but at times it just felt empty. Even through out the day there was people still coming and getting in line for attendance but not in the numbers i would of expected. But the weather was good so i don't really know what happened. I just hope this does not effect the next convention.  


So lets get the cons out of the way After all there are only a few. The biggest is the easiest to fix. Why would you put The Next Generation (.TNG.) bridge right in front of the entrance so as you walk in to the show floor your have the bridge right and when they had the TNG crew photo there was a massive crowd right by the entrance blocking the way. Not a good thing the bridge set should of been off to the side or near the back. There was enough room in the hall. the set was not as big as i was hoping for. I thought it was going to be full size. But sadly it wasn't. My other complaint was that there was no Ships there with all the TV shows and Movies for Star Trek why can't we get a large studio model on display. I would love to see a studio scale model of the Enterprise or any of the other ships used. The museum was great but it was missing a few ships to make it that little bit more special. Another complaint was that the Klingon area was not done well at all. Last time they made a little effort with a few furs laying around and a throne with a small backdrop but this year was just lacking, they had throne back but that was really it. My final complaint is and to be fair they do say to arrange your photos and talks so you don't have clashes... But i did have a clash at 10:00am with two photos and a paid talk with Karl Urban.This would not of been a problem but the costume photo over ran in the prep so they came out late. They looked great and i think it was or is one of the best photos of the day. But it is annoying that i had missed out on a paid talk (.£15.00.) and can't get a refund as i made the chose to do two things at the same time... that need to be looked at but i don't see away around it. Next time i will be more selective with what talks i go to.   


So lets moves on to the pros like i said above this was a greatly improved convention. with great guess and a lay out that mad great use of the hall. Though the TNG bridge was in a silly place. But the Set was well made and did not start to full to bits like the first bridge at the first DST. There was a good range of paid and free talks going on through out the day. The free talks are a great way to break up the day. if you have a few hours between a photo shoot and a paid talk and you have already eaten then just walking over to a talk take a seat and enjoy. while i was waiting for the TNG full crew photo shoot i went to a talk about the behind the senses of the TNG. This covered make-up and special effects. it was very interesting and it was only a pity i had to miss the end as i had to go get my photo taken. Also Amazon.co.uk were there and they had a fantastic sale for the convention. All the boxsets were on sale while the con was on.And i will not complain with getting Star Trek Enterprise seasons 1-4 and TNG seasons 4 and 5 for £17:00 each. 


What is always fun and something i have only really seen at the DST conventions are the Costumed photo shoots. This is great not only are you getting the photo with the actor but they are in costumed so its like meeting the actual characters.And these two guys were really nice and friendly. They seemed generally happy to be there. I look forward to the next con to see who will be in costume. Another thing that was improved was the museum, so much better and larger than before. They had a lot of TNG stuff there and a few movie costumes and props so this was what i thought was going to be there at the first DST i was a lot more impressed with this.








 


The swag we got was not bad ether. Ok it was not a free goody bag but it was not bad even though we had to pay for it.

  
With a good layout, good guests, good talks and good photos it was a really good day. With the weather being good i can not complain. It has been a while since i have enjoyed myself this much at a con. Saying that the photo below does have a interesting story that goes along with it.... It starts out as a negative but ends with perhaps the best part of the day...


Ok let me set the scene.
As this was a TNG heavy convention after all it has been twenty years since TNG ended. (.20 years dang i feel old i was 14 years old when it finished.) There was a cast reunion and this ended with a crew photo on the bridge of the USS Enterprise NCC - 1701-D. So this was a photo with nine of the cast members and as you can imagen this was not cheap. it cost £245 GBP or $392 USD. So a lot of money. Now this was originally set up to be a morning shoot at 9:15am but this was pushed back to 16:30. This must have happend in the days leading up to the con as i recived my ticket two weeks before the convention. I was not told, i did not revive an email or see a massage on twitter or face book about the change. And at 16:30pm i had a paid ticket to go to a William Shatner talk so there would be a clash. This normily just involves anyone with a clash being moved to the front of the line and missing a few minuets of Shatners talk did not bother me to much after all i have seen him talk a few times and he does repeat the same stories. So to prove i had a clash i pulled out both the crew photo ticket and the talk ticket. Me and my brother showed the tickets to the woman working the line and she moved us to the front of the line with a few other people who had clashes. i put the talk ticket back in my bag and gave my bag to the guy at the table so i could get my photo taken. Gave my ticket to the woman taking the tickets and then sat down had my photo taken and left. it was all very quick and as you can imagine this is all done at high speed. cause of the number of people getting there photos done. After all how often will i get a chance to have this done again. Anyway the point is i gave my ticket over and the lady didn't check. she just took my ticket didn't look at it she just waved me through. So as i left and started to head to the Shatner talk i pulled out my ticket only to find out i had handed over the wrong ticket, i had handed over the ticket for the Shatner talk and put the TNG crew photo in my bag. So i was not going to go back a que again for another photo and nor was my brother and with only one ticket we both couldn't go to the talk. So we did the only thing we could. Ok the second thing. The first would of been to sell it quickly to a random guy at the con and make my money back or for a profit.... 
But that's not how me and my bro roll..... 
So as we were leaving we saw and gave the ticket to a guy in a wheelchair. My brother walked up to him and said "It's our lucky day". At first he didn't believe my brother when he told him he gave the guy the ticket i explained what happened and i don't think he heard me but i told him to go now as they are doing the photos and my brother told him to be quick as well. We told him we didn't need it and the look on the guys face made it worth while. and with that good deed done it felt like the best part of the day. You hear or read stories about people being given something or something amazing happening to someone. But you never think for a minute that it would ever happen to you or more importantly you never think you will be the one doing the giving. 

That was Destination Star Trek 3 a great day out and i am looking forward to the next one. But this is only the start of October. On the 18-19th there is the Winter London Film and Comic Con the on the 24-26th there is the MCM London Expo... i had no idea that October was going to be this hectic.... and expensive.  

Sunday 28 September 2014

EGX 2014... it's not E3.

EGX 2014 was this weekend and i went with some friends. A good day out. It greatly helped that we knew before hand that the Ealing Half Marathon was on the same day and that we hand plenty of time the days leading up to EGX to make new travel plans. unlike last year were we did not know and could not get to the station to get to Earls Court... Lucky that did not happen this year and so it was an easy journey there.



So What was there... Well a lot and at the same time not really much at all. I mean while there was lots of games from Destiny and Call of Duty to Batman Arkham Knight and The Witcher 3 and everything in between... But a lot of the games on show were out already or coming out in the next few weeks.... I was hoping to see something new and more of the things that will be out next year. Instead i was faced with games i can buy at the end of next week.... I was more than a little disappointed. And i really do not like the idea of having to wait up to one and a half hours just to see or play 10 minutes of a game. I would of liked to have taken my picture on the Destiny speeder bike but there was an hour que for that as well. The ground floor of the convention center was packed with people.


The biggist problem i had with this years EGX was the lack of new games. I want to get the downsides out of the way first so this does not become an negative review because i did and repeat DID enjoy myself...


Cons
I and already stated above that there was a lot of game and many of them were game that were out already or coming out in the next couple of weeks. So there was Destiny, Sacred 3 and Infamous First Light that is already out but then things like Mindcraft or Dota 2 and League of Legends... Ok those three i can kind of give a free pass to if there was something special happening around them like E-sports or something but i was not sure if there was or not. I think thee was something like that happening for League but not the others. I could be and probably am wrong but if i am then i am sorry. But my point is Destiny is already out and they had it there but they were not showing the new DLC (...downloadable content...) this just seemed to be a waste. And yes i understand why some may games are being shown that i can buy in less than seven days after the trade show but i just wanted to see more of what i can get at Christmas or in 2015. So when i had the the chance to see these game i just carried an walking. They had Halo the Master Chef Collection there but why not Halo 5... But that only made up a small part of the overall day. I must remember this is a small convention or trade show.... Nowhere near the size of E3 or PAX let alone Gamescon in Germany... 


Pros
So lets get to the good stuff. There was a lot to get excited about and thing i ned to add to the list of games i need to get. Halo the Master Chef collection looks like it's going to be all kinds of fun and though the Halo 2 Anniversary Edition Looks like a up-scaled Xbox 360 game i still can not wait to play it the lines were long so i didn't play it but just watching people play the multiplayer got me excited so that comes out in November so if i don't get it on day of release then it's going no my list for Santa.  Also There was Elite Dangerous that looked amazing... I guess i am going to have to upgrade the old PC for that game. Also Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD was playable and i really want that game the first HD game was done really well and i need to sit down and just play it so when the 2.5 HD comes out i and start playing that one... Evolve looks very interesting with its three on one combat. Another game that looks interesting but i need to look more into was Transformers Universe. A MMO Transformers games... could be good and it looks like fun but after the unimpressive and downright disappointing Transformers Rise of the Dark Spark I may give this a miss. I also saw a new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles. I am very excited for this as i have been a fan of the Xeno games since Xenogears and Xenosaga. Then there was the Retro Games... Just like last year i spent most of the time there... Always a good selection of old school games and systems for us to play. Brings back happy memories of when i was a kid. in the 1980/90's.


SO in conclusion It was a good day we were there longer than last year. So there was a lot to see and do. Looking forward to next year and hoping that maybe they will have some new games... 
As for now i have a crazy October ahead and i will write about that next time as i really need to get that off my chest as i am not sure what i was thinking and how my wallet is going to cope....  


       







       

Sunday 7 September 2014

Mecha Month is fast approaching....

It's that time of year again when i need to start thinking about what to watch for Mecha Month. Last year was a good year with some excellent shows and movies being watched. For a recap here's the list of last years Mecha Month and check out the post for November 2013. 

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. 
Pacific Rim

So I have been thinking about this years month. What to watch, what to read and what to build. So far and this is by no means a completed and finalized list. I have chosen to look at.

Robotech (...all three seasons...)
Robotech The Shadow Chronicles 
Star Fleet (...Xbomber...)
Gurren Lagann (...I hope this is out in Blu-ray by then...)
RahXephon The Movie
GunBuster The Movie
Die Buster The Movie

I am ok with the list though i might do some refining i am not 100% with the movies but with the time i have left i could swap out some and replaced them with something else. Hell i could scrap the whole thing and go for a bunch of Mecha Comedies.... Not seen Dai-Guard or Godannar for a few years.... 
Woooh i now have an idea for 2015 Mecha Month. 
But as of this moment in time that are the animes i am planning on watching through out November. The only thing that is not changing is Star Fleet. That is set in stone as i am hoping to get my Dynamite Action! No12 Xbomber Big Dai X figure in time of Mecha Month.

Also apart from watch all that anime i took advantage of the sale that hlj.com had on over the summer. I got some model kits to build while i was watching the tv. 



So I don't know really how i will do this i keep saying i could do a few youtube videos so i could film some of them being built. I have no ideas... But i do want to do something.... So any ideas leave them in the comments.

And that is where i am with Mecha Month. Nearer October i should be all finished and have everything set in stone. Once that is done i will post here again.