Sunday 25 October 2015

London MCM Expo October 2015.

The weekend of 23-25/10/15 saw the return of the London MCM Expo at the Excel Center. I've said before in the past that i am not calling it London MCM Comic Con... But that's not the point.
The Expo this time round was pretty good. Sadly not as enjoyable as the May con but i still had a lot of fun.
The same old complainants still remain and i do hope things get better for the next con...

Cosplay photos should not be taken on the show room floor (something that will never change)
The area for the queue is not used effectively enough (something that can be easily fixed)
over crowding in the Excel Center mail corridor. (something that can be easily fixed)
Better use of space to give a better lay out of show room floor. (not so easily fixed)

Things are getting better and the MCM team are learning more and more with each con. I understand that each venue have their own unique problems and i only go to the London con... Something i really need to change. After all the other MCM cons are not that far away so travel is not a major problem. So something to look into in the coming years. But back to the point. Things were ok at this con i was not happy with the layout but was very happy with the fact that the Esports was moved to the opposite side of the main corridor. And the talks were not all on the show floor. Companies like Bandai, Tamashii Nation, Namco as well as the usual Manga Entertainment, MVM and All the Anime were there as well as others. This all feels like the MCM is growing and that is only a good thing. There was a lot of the cosplay there and it all looked amazing. There is not really a lot to say about this con. It was very by the numbers but still a good day.   

I spent a  fair amount of money this time round as well. Something i have not done in a long time. the last time i picked up this much stuff would of been the 2008 Expo. 
So i picked up..

S.H. Figuarts Super Saiyan Gokou
S.H. Figuarts Super Saiyan Gohan
S.H. Figuarts Stage Act 4 
a free 1up Mushroom
a large Superman Lego figure
Space Dandy season 2 dvd
Gundam 0079 box set 1 blu ray
Full Metal Panic Complete box set blu ray
Baccano! complete box set bluray
Real Grade 1/144  Gundam MKII
Real Grade 1/144 Gundam Astray Red Frame


What was good was that the anime box sets were on sale before the release date. So as soon as i got home i cancelled most of my pre-orders on amazon.co.uk. And i saved a few pounds getting them at the con so a win in my book. And that is what you want from a con. 
I have just gotten in to retro gaming and i have noticed over the last few con the number of stalls selling old Nintendo and Saga  games have been steady growing in number. So i was hoping to pick up a few games but this time there was may be three stalls and all the prices were a little to high. If i can get it cheaper on ebay i will. So that was disappointing. But there is the gaming mart in November so i am hoping to pick a few things up there.

So all in all a good day even though it started to rain around midday it did not dampen the mood at the con. I was very happy with the con and looking forward next years May Expo.
And that is it for 2015 as far a cons go. London Film and Comic Con Winter was cancelled and will return for a Spring con next year So my con season is over. I have the gaming mart to go to but that will be a lot smaller than the con. So 2015 has been a good year for cons and  i am looking ahead to 2016 with the big Star Wars con. 
If you went to the London MCM Expo Let me know what you thought of it in the comments below.

Lets not forget 2015 is not over just yet and in a weeks time it will be November and that mean MECHA MONTH!!!! 

   

Monday 12 October 2015

Darth Vader is getting closer to completion.

Not a huge amount of work has been done to the armour. But what i have done has moved things a long nicely and i am getting things to a point where i need to do little bits and then that will just leave me with getting new lenses and painting everything. 
I started with doing taking the Chest Box apart.


I wanted to make a few minor changes. It is ok over all and i never felt like i needed to made any major upgrades. But i never like the red button on the left. So that had to go. Also i wanted to swap red and green lights around so it will be green and red instead. Another change is i plan on changing the straps to leather ones... i say leather but its what ever material the belts are made of. (they look like leather but were really cheap. So i doubt they are real leather) Then i will change the plastic rods with metal one. The final change will be to repaint the Chest Box and change the colours  from siver to grey and the last one on the right to white.


Poping out the lights i was glad that i decided not to change the lights. I know it would be simple but i just don't thave the confidance to do that type of work. But it will be something to look at in the future. Now that the Box is in peaces i could start work.

Over the weekend i spent a few hours in the garden doing the final filling on the Vader Helmet and on the Chest Armour as well as more work on the Chest Box. There really is not much to say at the moment about this as it just involed putting a lot of filler on the helmet that will now need to be sanded and made good. Same with the box I need to get the metal rods from Ebay and once thats done i can paint and put on the straps.  


Over the next few weeks i will be getting the metal rods and and putting things in place so i can try to get the helmet and chest armour ready for painting. Sanding will hopefully be done over the next few weeks i want to be in a good place by the end of the year. 
Like i said not a huge amount of work but i am getting there.
In other news The London Expo is on the 24th and i will be going to that and i will be doing a write up on the following Sunday. November is Mecha Month so i will be busy with that... Then Star Wars Ep7 in December. A packed full end to the year. .