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!!!! 

   

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. .

Just a little update.

Not a lot has happened on the Vader Armour front. With the weather not being great i have not had the chance to do more filling and sanding on the helmet and do anything with the Chest Armour.  But hoping that things change i can get back to work on it soon. I did pick up two belts so i am hoping to replace the straps on the chest box.

Doctor Who made it's return on Saturday and i was not disappointed. It was a gripping two parter and can't wait for next Saturday to found out what happens next.

On Mecha Month i can not believe i set the theme as Comedy and i forgot to include what is in my humble opinion a CLASSIC anime 

Dual Parallel Trouble Adventure

I can not believe I completely forgot about it. It is a classic from 1999/2000 and will be added to the list for this November. So as it stands and i think pretty much everything is locked in place the list looks like this.

Full Metal Panic Season 001.

Godannar.

Dai-Guard.

Martian Successor Nadesico.

Dual Parallel Trouble Adventure.

A good selection of anime so November is going to be fun. 

On a completely different subject i was saddened to hear that Bandai will not allow their Star Wars model kits to be sold outside of Japan. This is very sad as it will drive up the price of the kits on Ebay and at conventions. I was spending roughly £10-13 on each figure kit but now I will be looking at £25-30 per kit. I have the Boba Fett kit on pre-order so i hope that the per-order will be honoured. I do not know if thi has come down from Bandai or if it was from Disney but either way it is sad news for us collectors and or model builders. 

This was just a little update so let me know what you think of Dual Parallel and Bandai stopping the sales of their Star Wars kits out side of Japan in the comments below. 

Missed Force Friday... but all was not lost.

September 4th was Force Friday. The day where lots of new toys, books and everything in between was reviled. Here in the UK Toys'r'Us, Forbidden Planet, the Disney Store and many more were open at midnight and people were able to get hands on all the new toys and collectibles. This was a world wide event. Me and a few friends were thinking of going up to London but as it was on a Thursday in to a Friday and we had work in the morning we couldn't go. But that didn't stop us going online and seeing what was out and seeing the new pre-orders on Friday after work.

And that is where i began to have problems with what is coming out. More on that a little later.

So the question is what did i get or pre-order... 

To be honest..... not much.... no really.

I went to my local Toys'r'Us and did not see anything that took my fancy. They didn't have any of the 6" Black Series figures or the Star Wars Rebels Darth Vader and Asoka two pack. So i left feeling a little disappointed. when i got home i hit the net. 

My first stop was Sideshow Collectibles and I when straight for the Hot Toys Kylo Ren and then the Hot Toys First Order Stormtrooper two pack.

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/collectibles/star-wars-force-friday/

These pre-orders will hopefully be shipping in the early part of 2016. Just need to find the space to put them....

After that i went to the Forbidden Planet and Amazon as well as a few other sites didn't see anything and found myself on the Disney Store website looking at something called Elite Series... Never heard of them but they were Die-Cast... So i ordered the Kylo Ren, Stormtrooper and Captain Phasma.

http://www.disneystore.co.uk/star-wars/mn/1339001/

I am a big fan of Die-Cast and have a small collection of the Super Robot Chogokin toys so Star Wars Die-Cast figures.... I will give them a try.

And now i am waiting for HLJ.com to put up the S.H. Figuarts Star Wars figures up for pre-order.

Let me know if you took part in Force Friday in the comments below.

I mentioned above i had a problem with what i saw for Force Friday. Now let me explain. I have been collecting Star Wars since the early 80's.... During the Good times and the Dark times. 

I remember when Kenner brought back Star Wars toys in the mid 90's just before the Special Editions came out in cinemas in 1997. These figures looked like they had all hit the gym and were going to enter the MR Universe Competition.. 

But in more resent years.

In the last year or so i have become more and more disappointed with the fit and finish of the Hasbro figures. And when they are compared to the toys coming from Japan from the Likes of Bandai, they are just a let down. But that does come at a price, These figures are a little bit more expensive and can be a lot more once you include import duty's. It really hits home when you compare the Hasbro 6" Jedi Luke Skywalker with the S.H Figuarts Jedi Luke Skywalker. It is night and day. Then the Hasbro 6" Stormptrooper and Darth Vader  next to 1/12th Bandai model kits Darth Vader and the Stormtrooper...

On the Left the Hasbro 6" figure on the right the Bandai 1/12th model kit

On the Left the Hasbro 6" figure on the right the Bandai 1/12th model kit.

Hasbro 6" Darth Vader flanked by Hasbro 6" Stormtoopers 

Bandai 1/12th Darth Vader flanked by Bandai 1/12th Stormtroopers

Ok tell me what looks better?

You can really see the difference in the Vader's. And the cloth capes just don't work for me.

So i have come to the dissension that i will stop getting the Hasbro figures. After many years it's time to move on. Now i wont abandon Hasbro completely when i see something that i really like then i will get it. But i wont be per-ordering any new ones I wont be going out of my way to look for new 6" figures. So moving forward i am going to focus my buying on the Japanese figures. This will benefit me long term as they release less figures a year so in theory it will be easier on the wallet.

In other news.... I got the replacement tusks for Vader Helmet.and they look amazing. with the weather being pretty bad over the last two weeks i was unable to do any work on it, but i hear the weather should be very good next week if so i will try and do more to and hopefully get to the stage where it just needs priming and painting...