Last weekend marked the London Film and Comic Con, and for us it was particularly special. Not only because it was the last ever appearance of Stan Lee in Europe, but it will also hold a special place being the first ever Con we attended as exhibitors.
LFCC was full of strange and wonderful people, dressed as their favourite character the con was a place where every single fandom was accepted. As traders we got to see this first hand by having people stopping in front of us just to get pictures of awesome cosplays, from Dr. Strange to Judge Dredd. Everyone was civil and in great spirits from the time the doors opened on the Friday evening all the way through to closing on the Sunday.
For some of the team at Highrise it was our first ever Comic Con, so to attend with the appearance of Stan Lee was amazing. The turn out was something we never imagined and even though the weekend felt like everyone was on Tatooine it was still great to see everyone enjoying themselves and meeting the people they love on screen and the writers of their favourite series.
Despite being hellishly busy and melting in the extreme heat (an issue that would cause major problems as the weekend progressed) we did manage to find a few moments to meet our favourite actors and get stuff signed, first up on the list was Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett). Now, this was made even better by the long awaited arrival of my colleagues' SDCC exclusive Boba Fett and Han Solo in Carbonite which Jeremy was only too happy to sign and have a photo with. Dream No 1 fulfilled!
Besides Jeremy Bulloch there were other Star Wars classic actors in attendance such as Dave Prowse and Kenny Baker. Peter Mayhew unfortunately had to cancel his appearance but the mood was not dampened as he was replaced with every Star Wars fans dream, Carrie Fisher. Though we did not get the chance to meet her or get any photos, from what we saw of people and the reaction to her was amazing. This is good news for those of us awaiting the arrival of Episode VII.
Though the weekend was very much for all the fans across the UK to get involved with all of the different series, Saturday was very much Game of Thrones day. With emphasis on Lena Headey for her photo-shoots and autograph sessions, and with a special panel and screening for the show at the end of the day which filled 1000 seats. We were lucky enough to be quite close to the front and in the perfect place to spot the actors, the mood with everyone was on fire, with puns being thrown about from the actors of the show the lift the spirits of the fans even more.
The next main guest we wanted to see was from Game of Thrones, and on the Sunday made it our mission to set out and get an autograph. Luckily we left it late to do so and the queue to get a signing from Kristian Nairn (Hodor) wasn't that long. When we got to the big guy he was incredibly humble and made sure he was talking to each and every person that had queued to meet him.
Of course, the main attraction for the weekend was the great man himself, Stan Lee. Now lets get a few things straight. There were problems, and not just a few. The queues to see him were horrific. People queued from 4am on the Saturday to see him and there were many that had to be turned away in the afternoon. Signings had to be cut short, but lets be fair, the man is 91.
He has suffered with ill-health for some time now and his arthritis just wouldn't allow him to do thousands upon thousands of signatures a day. Add the usual delays and you can imagine the intensity of peoples anger when it came to not getting a signature or photo with him. This is just to be expected, but I think the organisers could have warned their attendees about the possibility of signings being cut short. However, and with all that said, the man was a legend!
In summary we had an amazing time, and though the heat was a huge problem most in attendance had a blast as well. We hope to see some of the great people we met across the weekend at other events that we will be appearing at. From the team at Highrise thank you for coming out and we will see you soon!
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