That was a waste of a good Saturday...

This weekend saw Hyper Japan take over the O2 arena in London. This is a new venue,  I have been to it when it was at Earls Court and London Olympia. I have always come away from this Convention/Festival with an empty feeling or out right disappointment. So Last year i decided to give it a miss after last summers one. i didn't go to the one held in the winter as I had given up on it, it was just as disappointing as ever. So i was ok with taking it off the Con Calendar for 2015. Then i heard it had change venue and so i had hoped this would of improved thing.  

The O2 is a big place and they had divided in to separate areas and in theory makes senses as it will make moving around easier. But alas it was not meant to be. When it was at Earls Court it was a big con with lots of sellers, stages with music and talks and the stalls with Japanese tours and learn Japanese type of things. No not all the sellers there last time were from the UK a lot of them were from Japan. This years the stages were smaller and Most of the sellers i saw were not from Japan. Unless they come over to the UK every few months as i have seen them at other conventions through out the year. Also there was a lot fewer of them here this time. The Nintendo had a decent present showing the new Mario Maker, the new Star Fox game as well as a few others. Namco was there and they have started to become a bigger part of the UK convention scene over the last Two years. So apart from the gaming everything felt like a Car Boot sale. With a poor lay out and it made the whole thing feel very small. And that is never a good thing.

I got there just as it opened so there was not a crazy amount of people there so i was able to get a good look around and....

How can i put this.... 

we saw everything and was back at the station to head home in less than an hour. 

So even waiting to go to one of the stages for a talk or something was not really an option as there was or is nothing to keep your interest while you wait. Also a lot of the restaurants at the O2 didn't open till 11 am and i was there from 9 am. When we got there the ques was small so moving around was nice a easy. But when we left the que stretched from the ticket booths at the entrance all the way to North Greenwich Station.

It wasn't a complete waste of time i know i sound very disappointed ( nothing new i know ) but i did pick up a few bits. I finally gave in and GOT a Japanese Kitkat.... £4.50 for a KitKat... really that was the cheapest i saw them at... i got three for £10 but still £4.50 other stalls had them at between £5-6.... Not good not good at all.  But i can finally cross that off my list of things to try at a con. 

The Raspberry KitKat was very nice as well as the Green tea one. The third one was also green and i have no idea what flavor it was but it was different not saying i liked it nor am i saying i hated it but it was very different. But if you don't try new things you will never learn.

I so got an LED Optimus Prime and Grimlock.

This could be a start of an SD transformer collection... I got the Nemesis Prime at the last MCM Expo so now i have three i guess i need to pick up some of the others and at around £7 each i can't complain to much. hopefully i will get a couple at the LFCC next weekend. If not i have booked my tickets to the October Expo.

So in all not a good day. I have decided to cross off the Hyper Japan event from my 2016/future calendar. I don't see a point in going if i am constantly disappointed with the event. And the money i save can be put to better things. 

Next weekend id the LFCC and i am looking forward to it. i know i will have a better time there. 

If you did go to Hyper Japan let me know your thoughts on it in the comments below. 

What's coming up in the future.

It's Sunday the 31/05/15 and tomorrow is the 01/06/15. And that means the we are nearly half way through the year. It has gone by very quickly and a lot has happened in the last couple of months. A few conventions some big movies. But it is of the future and the convention that are coming up that i wanted to write about. And remember all the links for these cons can be found on the Convention Link page of this blog. So going in order....

June 13-14/05/15. Collectormania 23 - Milton Keynes. 

Never been to any of the Collectormania conventions though it has been one i have wanted to go to but i never had the opportunity. So this should be good, if anything it will be something new. Also a lot of Superman 4 The Quest for Peace was filmed in Milton Keynes in 1986. So i might if i can get a chance go and see some of the filming locations used in the movie. This is a good read and was the inspiration for trying to see the locations while i was in Milton Keynes

http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/superman-iv/33015/a-pilgrimage-to-the-filming-locations-of-superman-iv

July 10-12/07/15. Hyper Japan - The O2 Arena.

I have been to a couple of the Hyper Japans but always left feeling a little disappointed. But the con has moved to a new venue and it will be interesting to see how they have used the space. And it will be a day out. 

July 17-19/07/15 London Film and Comic Con - London Olympia.

 The London Film and Comic Con is like an old friend. I have been going to this since the early 2000's. I normally prefer this con being held at Earls Court but the London Olympia is just as good. and me and a friend have got tickets to get a photo with Jeremy Bulloch in his Boba Fett costume. I am looking forward to this all the other costume photo shoots i have been to have been star trek ones This will be my first Star Wars one.

23-25/10/15. London MCM Expo - London Excel

I have been going twice a year for a while now and tho i have mixed feelings about the Expo i do look forward to it every time. I really should learn to control my enthusiasm. 

TBA. Winter London Film ans Comic Con - TBA

This is held every year around October or November and i will be going to this.

So that's pretty much it. That's my convention scheduled for the rest of the year. And it all ends with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. In December... In all 2015 hasn't been a bad year so far So still a lot to do and thing to look forward to. Plus i still have a lot of work to do on my Vader Armour  and i still have plans for my brothers Batman costume. I don't where i will find all the time i need... But any way this was meant to be a little update post with what is coming up. Let me know if you are going to any or all the cons i have listed above or if i have missed one let me know in the comments below.