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MCM London 2021

London Comic Con was back, after a long absence due to COVID, how did it turn out?

By Three of Seven Mon 01 Nov, 2021 9:42 PM
The MCM Comic Con was back in London, it took place on October 22nd to the 24th, with some COVID restrictions in place, making it somewhat a Loki affair (get it, because Tom Hiddleston was a guest!). Although the strictness of the restrictions weren’t too high, a slight check at a phone, or vaccination card was all they were doing, the guests were kept more protected, with a perspex glass panel between the visitor and the guest for photo ops/autographs.

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Size:  44.7 KBOn the inside, the usual baggage checks too place, with the introduction of portable metal detectors this time as well! After passing the checks, it was onto the main event, which was somewhat lacking in big names, the likes of Xbox, MSI, TofuCute, TokyoToys, and many others were missing from this event. It was largely smaller sellers, independent sellers, and artists who were there, but this left a hole in the gaming representation, as there wasn’t really anything, so no free Gamepass this year!

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.

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Size:  31.6 KBPokemon was also a big part overall for this convention, as the 25th anniversary of Pokemon is this year, and MCM has always been a hotspot for Pokemon GO, there are a few of those Pokestops around, and gyms, I’m sure you get the picture! I will also give a shoutout here to Stephen at PlaySkape Games who I bought a card from, and some 25th anniversary packs, but most importantly, he put up with me talking about my favourite Pokemon TCG YouTuber, so good work Stephen!

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.

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Size:  37.6 KBThe talk itself was covering how to develop an audio drama, but the tips were interchangeable with other audio productions, such as podcasting, you just wouldn’t need to worry about a script, and cast with a podcast! One interesting thing I picked up here was the value of apples, and recording voice, the strong, sour apples will tighten the vocal cords, reducing vocal pop being recorded.

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
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