Now onto the individual days, Friday was, as often is, the quietist day, but this year it was even emptier than it has been, due to the fewer tickets on sale. There were also not as many stalls, and a lot more spacing, which made it nice to walk around on this day, take a look at what was on offer. There were some nice Pokeballs on offer, well made, and very heavy, all they did was light up, but they were pretty! You do have to pay a hefty price for this display piece though, coming in at around £100, but it does come with a nice display case, and sensors that make it turn on.
That will now be the last I mention Pokemon, as I’m sure you are not here for that, so moving onto Saturday. This felt like every Saturday at a convention, full, maybe not as packed as normal, but it really didn’t matter, it was still really packed! I didn’t really get much done here, other than going to the talk from Ed, and Leo from Shades of Vengeance, some of you may already know Ed, if you ever listened to the Midas Array Podcast, or from some of our other articles.
Other interesting points were how you don’t need an expensive microphone or software, it’s more about the environment you are recording in, and blankets can do a good job at making a soundbooth! The video of the talk should be available at some point soon, so you’ll be able to watch it for yourself, I shall update this article with a link when it is!
Not much else to say on the Saturday, too full to see much on the stalls, and not that many talks to visit, but there were plenty of people in Star Trek costumes, some from Lower Decks, some TOS, and a few TNG as well, no representation from the others from what I saw.
So we move to the final day, if you’ve been keeping track, that’s Sunday, this is the day I like to get some things bought that I was thinking about, but not 100% sold on, sometimes there are some good talks as well, but not this time, not for me anyway. I did manage to get some amazing vintage styled blueprints of Deep Space 9, and Voyager, as well as one for the D.Va Mech, although that one was more of a pinkprint! Those were made by BiglinGraphics, and they really do look beautiful.
Overall, it was a decent experience, and good to be back, would have liked a few more stalls, but certainly felt more connected with fewer big names there. It certainly seemed from my perspective walking around that more people were engaging with smaller companies, and artists. This really did make the convention feel like it did many years ago, back when I would get a coach to London!
The other big difference this year was that I took the drastic step of not staying in a hotel, but in an AirBnB! Much cheaper, super close to the Excel Centre, and a very nice little house, though the TV and WiFi were a bit spotty, I didn’t use them too much, and let the person know! I also left half a bag of pasta, as three other guests appeared to have done so before me, so remember, and always check the cupboards!
That’s where I shall now wrap it up, and hand it over to you, have you been to a convention recently with COVID rules in place? Or are you planning to go to a convention soon? Please, share, we’d love to hear from you!
WRITTEN & EDITED BY Three of Seven - rena.hobden@ufplanets.com
PHOTOS TAKEN BY Three of Seven - rena.hobden@ufplanets.com
