Any one who knows me know that I love cons . That I go to all types from specialised themed events to weekend and signing events .
Having been a regular on the con scene for about the last 15 years I pride myself in the knowledge and experience I have accumulated and always try to go out of my way to share that information and inform newbies.
I love meeting new guests and getting photos sketches and autos but my main passion is the attendees and fellow fans. I want them to enjoy them as I have over the years and the thing I hate most is when an event takes advantage of the fan base.
When first heard of heroes and villains coming to the UK I wasn't happy . We have our own events that focus on the comic TV show genre and we didn't need another.
The first hurdle that I saw was the entry prices ; the basic entry was double what we are used to paying , the upgrades offering less then we are usually getting but for more money. Even the top tier package didn't include all photos and autos and yet more then paid for an upgrade the year before at rogue events which included over 18 photo shoots at about 30+ autos .
Then I started to see the prices they were charging . Upwards of £40 for photos shoots for guests that had been over at uk events within the last 12 months . These prices were almost double what we had already paid . A small recurring actor was charging more then I have paid for more then 99% of the superhero cast I had met before . I can't fathom why the prices were so high and why the fans would pay them.
I was very against this event happening and tried to tell people over and over how they were being taken advantage of . But I was told to give them a try as they are a better atmosphere and have better customer care and it's worth the higher prices . So when melissa benoist was announced I thought ok I will give it a try. Put my money where my mouth is so when they had the buy 1 get 3 free offer I purchased with friends.
The on positive that I saw was although the photo shoot prices were high you are allowed to share them to reduce the price .
I am not a fan of sharing photos but I thought it was my only way to meet the guests so I dived in to give it a try .
As the guests were announced and the more I heard about the event the more I was put off. They couldn't advise of prices until the day itself , prices can change at any point over the weekend . Charging for selfies .... and not just £5-£10 no these would be £30+ for a pic on your own device !!!! That's more then a lot of professional photo shoots are events.
Also the scariest thing for me ... no virtual queue tickets !!! They want you to just sit and wait for as long as it takes . To me this is crazy for a guest list like this as can see how this could be a long day esp after the walker stalker queue stories of 4-5 hour and wait .
This is just bad business why would you want your attendees with pockets full of money just sitting there instead of spending money !!!!
So along the way I acquired a press pass which was the equivalent of a VIP pass so my review of the event is a bit diff to how I intended as it gave me queue jumping and good seats for the talks
So let's begin the actual review
Will call on Friday was empty quick and easy . I still don't see why you need to have a separate day and queue to redeem passes and photo vouchers . Other events do this either as arrive or just scan photo printouts in the queues
So I arrived early on the Saturday and managed to have a walk around before opening . Get the lay of the land . The first thing I noticed was how open it was. Large walkways between the guests .
I knew that there wouldn't be many stalls due to the clash with MCM and other events coming up. But the layout was a bit poor for the amount of publicity for this huge event .
I walked around to see if there were any prices up yet . Some were some were not . I was told that the agents were still sorting out the prices . I did notice that they had the signing times on the desk and all were starting at 9. Which was good for the upgrades as they could get them out the way before general entry at 10:30.
The space used for the guests signing area was well thought out . With the queues roped around in a snake formation to maximise the area .
I liked the high level tables for the guests to sign so you are eye level the whole time so feels more casual . I liked that the pa was at a table beside them so that you were more alone with the guest then you are at other events .
As 9am arrived and the upgrades began to arrive .... there were no guests !! Most didn't show up until after 10am . I heard a lot of the upgrades complaining about this wasted time.
My first guest meet was Brandon Routh. I have met him a few times before and have been a fan for a long time . I was getting the auto for a few friends so joint the VIP queue and was happy to see it move so quickly. I approached the table and paid the money and watched Brandon interacting with a deaf gentleman via a signing interpreter. Was nice to see that.
I asked the pa if I was allowed to take photos of him signing but i was told if I did she would charge me for them . So I didn't bother . Had a nice quick talk about the items he was signing - one was a friends copy of TED on DVD to which he was surprised as he never been asked to sign that before.
We had a quick talk about how awesome Ray Palmer is and how he works so much better on legends and flash then arrow as he a lot more comic book friendly then the darkness of Arrow .
I have met him 5 times now and this was the most quiet I have seen him.
Next I was off for my first photo shoot of the day . I had been told that once I had experienced the quality and ease of celeb photos that I'll never want to use another company again .. considering I have a lot of con photos with various companies this was quiet an expectation to live up to .
The layout was good - using a whole hall just for photo shoots, none of this running around the building to get to each one that can happen at other events at this location .
They had the hall set out into lines and a monitor telling you the number line to join for which celeb and ticket you had. Was a quick easy system and worked very well.
It's not a hard system to put in place and one I feel late events could do well to use . You just need to make the most of the space give to you.
The photo shoot it self was quick and easy . Hand over the voucher get in line pose out again. Some studios were very fast and the camera man didn't look at the pics at all to check for any errors and By the time had walked out to the printer booth your pic was already waiting for you.
I won't go on about each guest I met for photos just quick mention to the ones I only met via photo studios
Shantel - was stunningly beautiful and was loving the silly poses people were doing with her .
Stanley tucci - was a bit rushed but was warm and friendly
After a couple of shoots I went off to meet my main meet for the weekend ( after melissa cancelled ) the legend that is Michael Rooker.
His autos was £50, £10 more then i expected to pay. But he was the main reason I was here Asb I had a rare pop to get signed .
The people in front of me were taking photos of him signing but i was told we couldn't so I behaved .. I usually wouldn't but with press pass comes great responsibility and I didn't want to annoy anyone .
We had a v brief chat about guardians 2 and how I loved him in mallrats and off I went. Wish I could say it was a memorable meet but his interaction was limited.
I saw that Maisie Richardson sellers she was really sweet and her PA was the first to offer me an interview . But could only be one question so I did that and got my auto .
Still feels weird to not try to get a selfie with the interaction as I have done at most events for the last 15 years but I won't pay £30 for a selfie .
Mechad was next . I was hesitant to meet him after the drama with rogue and due to the fact I had lost money on him cancelling . But I managed to get my auto free as a way to make up for that so I was happy . He came across very warm and friendly and has a nice chat about the growth of the character. I would return later for my interview ... ( which will be up soon )
So far I had gotten half the autos I wanted and had a big gap before my photos so I decided to catch the Gotham talk .
I rarely do talks at signing events . This is half because I'm usually running about like a loon trying to get all my autos and photos done and half because most signing events you have to either pay for the talk or the sound quality isn't very good .
My pass did give me great seats but also the location of the talks was great . In the open with bright light for great pics. The sound seemed great from where I was at least and the people on the balconies seems to hear ok as well. But the thing that impressed me most was that they had subtitles being written live and a person doing sign language on stage .
These were great addiction esp the subtitles.
The Gotham talk was fun the guests came over warm and as a close group which is always a great thing to see . David has really grown up and was a lot more confident then I expected from him . Sean and drew stole the talk with their big personalities whilst robin Jessica and milo held their own nicely.
The questions were a lot more random and thought out the you usually hear at these type
Events which was a nice change especially from such a newbie crowd.
The next talk I saw was mechads . A talk on your own can be a daunting task but he handled it well. There was a girl from Manchester who he went and hugged in regards to the recent incident . He was also giving out free autos to anyone from Manchester which was nice of him.
He spoke of the costume and development from jimmy Olsen to guardian and how he won the part. He was warm and outgoing and was a good talk
Back To my autos hunting and the longest queue of the weekend for me . The one , the only John barrowman. Even with the queue jumping I still had to wait an hour !!! He was that busy . Whilst waited saw him interact with Katie Cassidy who was at the next booth and taking silly selfies with all that asked ( and paid )
He mentioned that he was now selling the tshirts with his don't apologise for being a geek quote on so I arranged with his assistant to take some photos of him with them so I could share them and hopefully promote the tshirt :)
So when my time came we discussed the tshirts and I got my friends autos . He loved the pic I had of the legion of doom from legends of tomorrow. Commenting about how fun that day was. I explained the story of getting autos for my friend who was unable to leave America for the trip due to issues risen by Trump to which he shouted out as I left " we will get him over here and fuck trump "
My final auto was from josh segura .. I was only getting him for a friend but my god he was a great meet . So warm
Friendly and giving with stories . He told me that although the was told at the audition that he was the big bad and that he would help to craft the character ; because the secret identity name was for a different character who was also making an appearance that year and that press had linked the two roles he thought he had misunderstood the casting . So he studied and researched the other character all ready to go and then on his first day he was telling them all he had done then they like "why? We told you your playing this guy " so was all a
Waste but he loves the misdirection.
He was so nice that I broke my budget to get an auto from him.
I finished my Saturday with my final
Photoshoots and jumping between guests doig some quick interviews . Which will all be uploaded as soon as possible .
All in all I had a good day at HVFF. Was a lot better then I had expected it to be . But paste of that was I wasn't buying much and I had the pass to be able to join VIP queue and so I wasn't waiting around for long time.
The event was one of the quietest I have been to in a long time especially at that venue but that helped it as well. If was busier and longer lines then I'm sure a lot of people would be missing out and unhappy .
The photo shoots ran very well and I loved the layout. Uk signing events should be doing this . All photos in one area .
Talks a definite thumbs up for all the extras that they helped set it apart from other events
The main con for me will still be price - from entry to photos and autos but these days I seem to be in the minority about this and if other events start to copy the higher prices then there are less downsides at this event then at lfacc has .
I want to say avoid this event I want to say it was a shambles but honestly it was a nice quiet signing event . Nothing more groundbreaking then that.
Would I go again ? Maybe but would be price dependant as though was a good guests list most were repeat guests for the UK so didn't need them and there not many of this genre actors I need to meet still.
I did return on the Sunday but only for the rooker talk which was great cause it's rooker :)
I give the event a 7/10 overall
Having been a regular on the con scene for about the last 15 years I pride myself in the knowledge and experience I have accumulated and always try to go out of my way to share that information and inform newbies.
I love meeting new guests and getting photos sketches and autos but my main passion is the attendees and fellow fans. I want them to enjoy them as I have over the years and the thing I hate most is when an event takes advantage of the fan base.
When first heard of heroes and villains coming to the UK I wasn't happy . We have our own events that focus on the comic TV show genre and we didn't need another.
The first hurdle that I saw was the entry prices ; the basic entry was double what we are used to paying , the upgrades offering less then we are usually getting but for more money. Even the top tier package didn't include all photos and autos and yet more then paid for an upgrade the year before at rogue events which included over 18 photo shoots at about 30+ autos .
Then I started to see the prices they were charging . Upwards of £40 for photos shoots for guests that had been over at uk events within the last 12 months . These prices were almost double what we had already paid . A small recurring actor was charging more then I have paid for more then 99% of the superhero cast I had met before . I can't fathom why the prices were so high and why the fans would pay them.
I was very against this event happening and tried to tell people over and over how they were being taken advantage of . But I was told to give them a try as they are a better atmosphere and have better customer care and it's worth the higher prices . So when melissa benoist was announced I thought ok I will give it a try. Put my money where my mouth is so when they had the buy 1 get 3 free offer I purchased with friends.
The on positive that I saw was although the photo shoot prices were high you are allowed to share them to reduce the price .
I am not a fan of sharing photos but I thought it was my only way to meet the guests so I dived in to give it a try .
As the guests were announced and the more I heard about the event the more I was put off. They couldn't advise of prices until the day itself , prices can change at any point over the weekend . Charging for selfies .... and not just £5-£10 no these would be £30+ for a pic on your own device !!!! That's more then a lot of professional photo shoots are events.
Also the scariest thing for me ... no virtual queue tickets !!! They want you to just sit and wait for as long as it takes . To me this is crazy for a guest list like this as can see how this could be a long day esp after the walker stalker queue stories of 4-5 hour and wait .
This is just bad business why would you want your attendees with pockets full of money just sitting there instead of spending money !!!!
So along the way I acquired a press pass which was the equivalent of a VIP pass so my review of the event is a bit diff to how I intended as it gave me queue jumping and good seats for the talks
So let's begin the actual review
Will call on Friday was empty quick and easy . I still don't see why you need to have a separate day and queue to redeem passes and photo vouchers . Other events do this either as arrive or just scan photo printouts in the queues
So I arrived early on the Saturday and managed to have a walk around before opening . Get the lay of the land . The first thing I noticed was how open it was. Large walkways between the guests .
I knew that there wouldn't be many stalls due to the clash with MCM and other events coming up. But the layout was a bit poor for the amount of publicity for this huge event .
I walked around to see if there were any prices up yet . Some were some were not . I was told that the agents were still sorting out the prices . I did notice that they had the signing times on the desk and all were starting at 9. Which was good for the upgrades as they could get them out the way before general entry at 10:30.
The space used for the guests signing area was well thought out . With the queues roped around in a snake formation to maximise the area .
I liked the high level tables for the guests to sign so you are eye level the whole time so feels more casual . I liked that the pa was at a table beside them so that you were more alone with the guest then you are at other events .
As 9am arrived and the upgrades began to arrive .... there were no guests !! Most didn't show up until after 10am . I heard a lot of the upgrades complaining about this wasted time.
My first guest meet was Brandon Routh. I have met him a few times before and have been a fan for a long time . I was getting the auto for a few friends so joint the VIP queue and was happy to see it move so quickly. I approached the table and paid the money and watched Brandon interacting with a deaf gentleman via a signing interpreter. Was nice to see that.
I asked the pa if I was allowed to take photos of him signing but i was told if I did she would charge me for them . So I didn't bother . Had a nice quick talk about the items he was signing - one was a friends copy of TED on DVD to which he was surprised as he never been asked to sign that before.
We had a quick talk about how awesome Ray Palmer is and how he works so much better on legends and flash then arrow as he a lot more comic book friendly then the darkness of Arrow .
I have met him 5 times now and this was the most quiet I have seen him.
Next I was off for my first photo shoot of the day . I had been told that once I had experienced the quality and ease of celeb photos that I'll never want to use another company again .. considering I have a lot of con photos with various companies this was quiet an expectation to live up to .
The layout was good - using a whole hall just for photo shoots, none of this running around the building to get to each one that can happen at other events at this location .
They had the hall set out into lines and a monitor telling you the number line to join for which celeb and ticket you had. Was a quick easy system and worked very well.
It's not a hard system to put in place and one I feel late events could do well to use . You just need to make the most of the space give to you.
The photo shoot it self was quick and easy . Hand over the voucher get in line pose out again. Some studios were very fast and the camera man didn't look at the pics at all to check for any errors and By the time had walked out to the printer booth your pic was already waiting for you.
I won't go on about each guest I met for photos just quick mention to the ones I only met via photo studios
Shantel - was stunningly beautiful and was loving the silly poses people were doing with her .
Stanley tucci - was a bit rushed but was warm and friendly
After a couple of shoots I went off to meet my main meet for the weekend ( after melissa cancelled ) the legend that is Michael Rooker.
His autos was £50, £10 more then i expected to pay. But he was the main reason I was here Asb I had a rare pop to get signed .
The people in front of me were taking photos of him signing but i was told we couldn't so I behaved .. I usually wouldn't but with press pass comes great responsibility and I didn't want to annoy anyone .
We had a v brief chat about guardians 2 and how I loved him in mallrats and off I went. Wish I could say it was a memorable meet but his interaction was limited.
I saw that Maisie Richardson sellers she was really sweet and her PA was the first to offer me an interview . But could only be one question so I did that and got my auto .
Still feels weird to not try to get a selfie with the interaction as I have done at most events for the last 15 years but I won't pay £30 for a selfie .
Mechad was next . I was hesitant to meet him after the drama with rogue and due to the fact I had lost money on him cancelling . But I managed to get my auto free as a way to make up for that so I was happy . He came across very warm and friendly and has a nice chat about the growth of the character. I would return later for my interview ... ( which will be up soon )
So far I had gotten half the autos I wanted and had a big gap before my photos so I decided to catch the Gotham talk .
I rarely do talks at signing events . This is half because I'm usually running about like a loon trying to get all my autos and photos done and half because most signing events you have to either pay for the talk or the sound quality isn't very good .
My pass did give me great seats but also the location of the talks was great . In the open with bright light for great pics. The sound seemed great from where I was at least and the people on the balconies seems to hear ok as well. But the thing that impressed me most was that they had subtitles being written live and a person doing sign language on stage .
These were great addiction esp the subtitles.
The Gotham talk was fun the guests came over warm and as a close group which is always a great thing to see . David has really grown up and was a lot more confident then I expected from him . Sean and drew stole the talk with their big personalities whilst robin Jessica and milo held their own nicely.
The questions were a lot more random and thought out the you usually hear at these type
Events which was a nice change especially from such a newbie crowd.
The next talk I saw was mechads . A talk on your own can be a daunting task but he handled it well. There was a girl from Manchester who he went and hugged in regards to the recent incident . He was also giving out free autos to anyone from Manchester which was nice of him.
He spoke of the costume and development from jimmy Olsen to guardian and how he won the part. He was warm and outgoing and was a good talk
Back To my autos hunting and the longest queue of the weekend for me . The one , the only John barrowman. Even with the queue jumping I still had to wait an hour !!! He was that busy . Whilst waited saw him interact with Katie Cassidy who was at the next booth and taking silly selfies with all that asked ( and paid )
He mentioned that he was now selling the tshirts with his don't apologise for being a geek quote on so I arranged with his assistant to take some photos of him with them so I could share them and hopefully promote the tshirt :)
So when my time came we discussed the tshirts and I got my friends autos . He loved the pic I had of the legion of doom from legends of tomorrow. Commenting about how fun that day was. I explained the story of getting autos for my friend who was unable to leave America for the trip due to issues risen by Trump to which he shouted out as I left " we will get him over here and fuck trump "
My final auto was from josh segura .. I was only getting him for a friend but my god he was a great meet . So warm
Friendly and giving with stories . He told me that although the was told at the audition that he was the big bad and that he would help to craft the character ; because the secret identity name was for a different character who was also making an appearance that year and that press had linked the two roles he thought he had misunderstood the casting . So he studied and researched the other character all ready to go and then on his first day he was telling them all he had done then they like "why? We told you your playing this guy " so was all a
Waste but he loves the misdirection.
He was so nice that I broke my budget to get an auto from him.
I finished my Saturday with my final
Photoshoots and jumping between guests doig some quick interviews . Which will all be uploaded as soon as possible .
All in all I had a good day at HVFF. Was a lot better then I had expected it to be . But paste of that was I wasn't buying much and I had the pass to be able to join VIP queue and so I wasn't waiting around for long time.
The event was one of the quietest I have been to in a long time especially at that venue but that helped it as well. If was busier and longer lines then I'm sure a lot of people would be missing out and unhappy .
The photo shoots ran very well and I loved the layout. Uk signing events should be doing this . All photos in one area .
Talks a definite thumbs up for all the extras that they helped set it apart from other events
The main con for me will still be price - from entry to photos and autos but these days I seem to be in the minority about this and if other events start to copy the higher prices then there are less downsides at this event then at lfacc has .
I want to say avoid this event I want to say it was a shambles but honestly it was a nice quiet signing event . Nothing more groundbreaking then that.
Would I go again ? Maybe but would be price dependant as though was a good guests list most were repeat guests for the UK so didn't need them and there not many of this genre actors I need to meet still.
I did return on the Sunday but only for the rooker talk which was great cause it's rooker :)
I give the event a 7/10 overall