Collectormania: Milton Keynes 2015 - A Detailed Review

Guests met and discussed in this review :-

• Nick Blood (Agent Lance Hunter from “Agents Of SHIELD”)

• William Sadler (Heywood from “Shawshank Redemption” & Pres. Matthew Ellis from “Iron Man 3”)

• Chad Coleman (Tyreese from “The Walking Dead”)

• Art Parkinson (Rickon Stark from “Game Of Thrones”)

• Eugene Simon (Lancel Lannister from “Game Of Thrones”)

• Charlotte Hope (Myranda from “Game Of Thrones”)

• Toby Sebastian (Trystane Martell from “Game Of Thrones”)

• Alexandra Dowling (Roslin Frey from “Game Of Thrones”)

• Steven Williams (Rufus from “Supernatural”)

• The Dudley Boyz (Wrestlers)

• Christopher Daniels (Wrestler)

• Frankie Kazarian (Wrestler)

• Peter Ebdon (Snooker Player)

Before we get started, a quick note...

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Last week, I attended my first ever “Collectormania: Milton Keynes” event, held by Showmasters. Ordinarily, my convention calendar consists of 2x Wales Comic Con’s each year, 2x LFCC’s, and a smattering of weekend events (such as “Vampire Ball”) and less established conventions. However, I decided to attend CM:MK rather spur of the moment because there were a few people I simply couldn’t miss the opportunity to meet. Front and centre amongst them was Carice Van Houten, Game Of Thrones’ Melisandre. Alas, a month or so before the event, Carice had to cancel and was rescheduled to LFCC. This didn’t sting too much because I’m at LFCC too. Luckily, out of the 15 people I wanted to meet, this was the only cancellation. In fact, Alexandra Dowling transferring from Sunday to Saturday meant that my total number of guests to meet didn’t diminish whatsoever from planning to execution, which is rather rare...my poor wallet. 

CM:MK took place over the weekend of the 13^th and 14^th of June, from Stadium Milton Keynes. For some reason, CM:MK took place on Stadium MK’s concourse. I’m not sure if the main arena was already booked or if it was unavailable due to refurbishing since Milton Keynes’ football team was promoted, but whatever the reason, we were on the concourse. Basically, you know sporting arenas, and how you wander around this outer circle so that you can find the right section for your ticket number? We were in that outer ring. All the actors were placed around this ring, as were a number of merchandise stalls, while some other merchandise stalls were placed under a tent outside (it was raining a lot and got pretty stuffy in there), and the photo sessions took place on the concourse one floor higher up. Reading about it, it probably sounds like the most awful layout on the convention circuit, but in execution is was absolutely fine for the most part. The bigger guests were behind walls and implemented the virtual queuing system to avoid large queues, which meant that for the most part, everything ran smoothly. However, entry was free after 11am (£5 before 11am), so 12noon-3pm was really crowded and the concourse started to bottleneck in various places. Luckily, I had all my autographs done by just after 1pm, so I avoided most of the crowds, as I spent most of the afternoon upstairs in the photoshoot area. Due to it being June, the openness of the concourse was appreciated, as it let a nice breeze through the concourse throughout the day. However, I can now see why people were complaining about the venue when an event was held here in NOVEMBER one year. Fuck. That. It has a roof over the concourse obviously, but there are many gaps so that people can climb down the stairs to their seats if watching a sporting event here.

 
Myself and my friend John left Gloucestershire at 6:45am on Saturday the 13^th of June, the weekend before my birthday weekend. The intention was to arrive as early as possible to avoid missing out on autographs of some of the bigger guests, such as Chad Coleman and William Sadler. We were in the queue by 8am, and were about 12^th in queue for people who had prepaid...could have stayed in bed another half an hour! No matter, it just meant that there was less stress in getting everything I wanted. Never underestimate the power of less stress at a convention, people! It’s the difference between a ‘good’ event and a ‘great’ event a lot of times. Plan, plan, plan! Especially if you’re at a juggernaut of a convention like LFCC or MCM: London. A good plan is key in avoiding disappointment, and even then it’s not a guarantee at an event like LFCC.

We were in the building by 9:05am, and we decided to first go around the concourse once to get a feeling for where everything was. This was a wise move as it allowed us the opportunity to discover where the photo areas were and where the guests I wanted to meet were...except one. Where the frick was William Sadler?! The bigger guests were walled off, which is normal. At CM:MK, they were walled off in pairs. Nick Blood was with Chad Coleman, William Sadler was with Sylvester McCoy, etc. Due to walking around the building clockwise, we missed the huge sign for William Sadler because it was also facing clockwise. No matter, superhero crew member Phil was there in a pinch to tell us where he was. Virtual queuing tickets for Nick Blood, Chad Coleman, and William Sadler were attained, which meant that I could mosey about my day without having to worry too much anymore. For those of you unaware, V.Q. tickets operate just like a real queue would. You get a slip of paper from the crew member at the guest’s location with a number on it, and this number is your place in the queue. These numbers are then called in batches, and you can join the queue at any time after your batch is called. For example, my V.Q. for Nick Blood was 31. This meant I could go away and do other things, then return later in the day and see what number they were up to. Usually, Showmasters will call 1-20, then 1-30, 1-40, 1-50, etc. I could join the queue at any time throughout the day after 1-40 was on the board. Even if I waited 8 hours and went when they were at 1-200, I could still join the queue. So, if you’re going to LFCC and get a V.Q. ticket,  the same system will apply. It’s also worth mentioning that everyone was seen at CM:MK to my knowledge, as Nick, Chad, Sylvester, and William had open queues by the very end of the day. This will not be the case at LFCC, I guarantee you.

Out of the six “Game Of Thrones” guests, five of them were located right next to each other on the same strip of the concourse (with Alexandra Dowling being elsewhere), so after conducting an initial loop of the concourse, I decided to meet the “Game Of Thrones” actors first. I didn’t meet Rupert Vansittart (or Christine Adams later) due to a lack of funds, but I did meet the other four – Charlotte Hope, Toby Sebastian, Art Parkinson, and Eugene Simon. First up, Charlotte Hope.

Charlotte Hope – With few exceptions, I made a point of squatting down at the autograph table to talk to the guests. I feel you get a better communication with them if you’re on the same level as them because it’s easier for them to talk to you and glance up while they’re writing. Conversing on the same level is always my preferred option, but in some cases it’s not needed. The first thing I noted about Charlotte is that she looks a little different in real life, as do a lot of the “Game Of Thrones” actors. In GoT, a lot of the characters are unkempt, dirty, and constantly fighting, so after seeing them that way for years,  you sometimes forget that in real life they wear regular clothes, makeup, and, you know, don’t have dirt all over them. Charlotte, like all the “Game Of Thrones” guests, had a pretty big queue. It was only about 9:15am – so early birds only – yet her queue was already 10-15 people long. I think a lot of people had the same idea as me...meet all the “Game Of Thrones” guests, starting left to right. Myself and Charlotte talked about the art of playing a psychopath, and how fun it was to film scenes with Iwan and Alfie. This transitioned easily into a conversation about the process of recording “Game Of Thrones: The Musical”, which Coldplay created for Red Nose Day a few weeks ago. In the musical, Charlotte, Iwan, and Alfie (Myranda, Ramsay Snow, and Theon Greyjoy) butcher...sorry, I mean ‘sing’...a song together, which is hilarious. The whole musical is incredible, by the way, and you should definitely click the link above and check it out after finishing this review. The musical was also doubly fun for Charlotte as she got to meet a lot of the cast that she hasn’t had the opportunity to before or hasn’t seen in a long time, such as Mark Addy, Kit Harington, and Rose Leslie. While Charlotte hasn’t filmed scenes with some of the cast in the musical with her, she has met some of them in the cast/crew hotel in Belfast, as they usually all hang out together at the end of the day’s filming. Charlotte also remarked that most of the people she’d met before me at Collectormania weren’t up to date with the current season of “Game Of Thrones” (which had aired 9 out of the 10 episodes at this point)! Pretty odd, if you ask me. Charlotte was a total sweetheart and I even managed to get a cheeky photo with her at the autograph table. Bonus! Guest type: responder.

For those of you sat there right now wondering what a ‘responder’ is, previously, I devised a three-category process by labelling convention guests. These are :-

·       The Responder: This type of guest is often polite and friendly. If you ask them a question, they’ll happily answer. If you give them a comment, they’ll respond or smile gratefully. However, they won’t carry the conversation forward, you have to. These are the most common type of guest, and this is what you expect when meeting someone at a convention. This is a great category to be a part of.

·       The Groucho/Big Guest: There are two aspects to this category. Firstly, you have the groucho. The groucho is there for monetary purposes or is generally just having a bad day, or is a bit of an ass. If you meet enough people, one of them is bound to be an ass! The grouchos aren’t interested in conversations above a few words. They’ll say ‘hi’ (sometimes they don’t bother with that), sign, say ‘bye’ (sometimes), and you’re on your merry way. Of course, in certain situations this is relevant and expected, which brings me to the second part of this category, the big guest. Some guests are going to be insanely popular. Such as Stan Lee at LFCC ‘14, who had an entire building to himself. When you get a huge queue like that, the guest can’t take a lot of time with everyone. If they did, many people would go home disappointed at not getting to meet them at all. Therefore, the convention company and the guest want to get through as many people as possible. You cannot have a huge guest and expect to get above a minute or two with them, which is perfectly fair.

·       The Conversationalist: This is easily my favourite type of guest. They’ll answer your questions with a smile, ask you questions in return, and are happy to chat for an extended period of time (extended = above 2-3 minutes), regardless of where the conversation leads or how long you’ve been talking. Obviously, there has to be some cut-off point if there is a queue behind you, but you leave the experience feeling euphoric and like you gained a lot more than just the autograph you queued for.

Next to Charlotte was Eugene Simon, but he was being interviewed by someone at the time, so I jumped into Toby Sebastian’s queue instead.

                                                                 (The Alcazar of Seville)

Toby Sebastian – Toby was one of my favourite guests on the day, if not my very favourite. He was really friendly, really talkative, and took it just that little step further from a Q & A to a conversation. I also believe this was his first convention. We talked about the fun and excitement of filming in Alcazar of Seville in Spain for the Water Gardens scenes of “Game Of Thrones” season five. Evidently, the Alcazar of Seville rarely allows filming to take place within the walls, but allowed “Game Of Thrones” to use it. Everything you see on screen is natural, according to Toby. There was no editing necessary. We talked about how difficult we thought it was going to be to find a set in real life that matched the beauty from the books. It’s rather incredible that not only was a suitable place found, but it needed no editing. The set looks phenomenal. Toby talked about living in Spain from 7-11, and how it aided his accent for the character of Trystane Martell. Ironically, while living in Spain, Toby often talked to the other children who were English because they spoke the same language as him. I told him I found some of his music on YouTube and loved it, and he informed me that he has new material coming out ‘soon’. All the material on YouTube, etc., is from when he was 16ish, so it’ll be nice to have some more recent music from him. Keep your eyes peeled, nerdlings! I’ll share it all on my Twitter in due course when it’s announced (@Shangel1). In addition to signing the 8” x 10” print, I also asked Toby to sign my House Martell art print, which I bought from a vendor at Stoke Con Trent a few months ago. It now sits happily on my bedroom wall. Toby was a terrific guy. He was really engaging, gave good eye contact when talking to you, and made you feel as though you left the experience with more than a squiggle on a picture. Oh, I also got a picture with him too! Guest type: Conversationalist.

 

Art Parkinson – After leaving Toby’s autograph queue, I jumped into Art’s queue. Time to meet my first ever Stark! I’ve got to start off by saying that Art Parkinson is growing as quickly as Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark) was at his age! In the two years he’s been missing from “Game Of Thrones”, he’s grown about four feet (...no hyperbole whatsoever...) and his face has changed from ‘young boy’ to ‘young man’ at just 13 years old. As a diehard “A Song Of Ice And Fire”/“Game Of Thrones” fan, it’s always a pleasure to meet the cast of the show. With all sincerity, I’ve never met a member of the cast that wasn’t a  joy to meet. In both the books and the show, House Stark is my house. They’re the family I root for, the family I want to survive, and the family I want to see reunite (House Martell would be 2^nd). Therefore, meeting my first House Stark actor was a special little moment for my inner fanboy. In addition to meeting the wonderful Art, it was also lovely to meet his mother, Movania, who was sat next to him at the autograph table. Like the actors themselves, I’ve never met a cast member’s mother who wasn’t lovely too. For someone so young and attending what I believe to be his first convention, Art seemed completely relaxed. Much more so than I was expecting, to be honest. He was friendly, articulate, and made a real effort to engage in conversation with the people that were at his table, instead of that usual deer-in-headlights look that teenagers sometimes have at conventions. We talked about “San Andreas” and how it was exciting to see him on the big screen. Plus, you know, working with Dwayne Johnson at 13 years old is rather special! Those of us that have watched “Game Of Thrones” from the beginning, or even read the books before the show’s inception, like to consider the cast ‘one of us’, so it’s wonderful to see ‘one of ours’ achieving great heights outside of the world of Westeros and Essos. That goes for Sophie Turner in “X-Men: Apocalypse” and Maisie Williams in “Doctor Who” too. Those Stark kids are gonna be alright. After having a chat about “San Andreas”, we also had a little discussion about “Game Of Thrones” and how we’re rooting for a Rickon return and Stark comeback. I’m actually expecting a Rickon return in season six, so that could be great fun. If they recast Rickon like they have Myrcella, Tommen, Daario, Gregor Clegane, etc., I’ll riot. Art’s too good to cast aside for anyone. To conclude, I thought Art did a terrific job at CM:MK! Even though I had a studio photo booked with Art for later in the day, I managed to get a picture with him at the autograph table too as a backup in case I looked shit in my studio photo. That’s 3 guests down and 3 photos at the autograph table! Not too shabby. As I was leaving, Art thanked me for coming and seemed totally sincere, which is a great little addition to an autograph encounter. Guest type: Responder.

Eugene Simon – By the time I’d finished talking to Toby and Art, Eugene had finished his interview, so I decided to join the back of his autograph queue and completely the row of “Game Of Thrones” actors I could afford. If I had one word to describe Eugene it would be ‘insane’. In the best possible way. That guy is 10Ibs of fun in a 5Ib bag. He’s completely overflowing with energy and excitement...with a little sarcasm thrown in too, which I loved. When I asked him to personalise my autograph to “Shane”, I made a point of spelling it out, like I do with everyone. SO MANY of the guests say “S-H-A-N-E?”, so I just go ahead and tell them beforehand so they’re aware it’s the regular spelling. Eugene started joking around and pretending he couldn’t remember what came after the “S-H” part. A little humour and friendly sarcasm is good because it’s an instant icebreaker. The metaphorical shield instantly fades away. We talked about his increased role in “Game Of Thrones” this season and how much fun it was to have the Faith Militant marked carved into his head. While discussing the Faith Militant brand, he noticed that the bottom of his water bottle looked like the mark, so I suggested he press it against his forehead firmly for a while so he’d have the mark indented in his forehead for his photos later in the day. We also talked about his original audition for the role of Joffrey Baratheon and I remarked that perhaps in hindsight it was a good thing that he received the role of Lancel instead because he avoided sitting in that uncomfortable Iron Throne for 12+ hours a day. The reason why Jack Gleeson sat on the Iron Throne in the way he did was because it was the only way he could feel remotely comfortable while filming for many hours a day. We also talked about the process of filming “Blackwater” and how it differed to the other episodes. Before leaving his autograph table, I also went 4/4 for photos! Woohoo! With a few exceptions, pretty much everyone was offering photos at the autograph table. Even bigger guests such as Nick Blood and Chad Coleman! The only people I noticed that weren’t offering photos were sports guests, Devon Dudley, and William Sadler. Four guests down, four awesome experiences. Guest type: Responder.

Before finding my next victim...I mean, guest...I decided to buy a William Sadler photo shoot. I kept the money aside for one in case William/Showmasters weren’t allowing photos at the autograph table, which turned out to be the case. After getting that little beauty into my possession, I decided to head over to the walled-off area that hid Nick Blood and Chad Coleman from view.

Nick Blood - With Carice Van Houten pulling out, Nick was my primary reason for attending CM:MK. As I mentioned already, I wasn’t originally going to attend the event, but a mixture of ‘Carice Van Coleman Blood’ persuaded me otherwise. After that, of course, it snowballed. There were another 10+ people attending that I wanted to meet as well and I used the excuse “I’m attending already, I may as well meet them!” to convince myself to spend extra money on them. Nick was at the autograph table with a Showmasters crew member and what I assume was his brother, as they had very similar facial features. We started by talking about “Hero”, a short drama piece that Nick directed. He couldn’t say too much about the project yet, but he did talk a little about the process of directing the project and said that they’re wrapping up post-production as we speak. He couldn’t choose a favourite between acting and directing because they’re two fundamentally different jobs, but he does hope to continue to do both in the future. We talked a little about the proposed “Agents Of SHIELD” spinoff that was discussed earlier this year and would have revolved around Agent Hunter and Bobbi, which has since been nixed. Nick said he was never given any details about the spinoff whatsoever. He heard rumours like we did, but it never got far enough that Marvel approached him with a plot or premise in mind. He said that Marvel is very tight-lipped with their projects and he basically knew no more about it than we did. I told him what a breath of fresh air Lance Hunter was for the 2^nd season of “Agents Of SHIELD”, and that it was wonderful to see him integrate into the team so quickly. He said he’s thoroughly enjoying working on the show (did anyone expect him to say anything else?) and that season three looks to be really interesting and will play out on a much larger scale based on what he knows thus far. Due to Nick being one of the bigger guests at CM:MK and being behind a private wall, I didn’t get to ask everything I had in my mind, which is commonplace for the bigger guests. What I did get to ask was great, so I left the experience feeling positive. Nick was offering photos at the autograph table, but for some reason my photo with him didn’t register on my phone! Luckily, this didn’t really matter ultimately because my studio photo with him later in the day turned out good, so don’t stress it, John! Everything else registered fine and came out stupendously. Guest type: Responder.

Chad Coleman – I quickly left Nick’s autograph queue and joined the other side of the walled-off area to queue for Chad’s autograph, as the V.Q. numbers had reached mine. I was actually supposed to meet Chad last year, but he had to cancel his appearance at the convention in question, which bummed me out as I’m a big fan of “The Walking Dead”. Therefore, getting to actually meet Chad was a little more special than it would ordinarily have been because of the disappointment last time. The first thing that struck me about Chad was how laidback he seemed. He was so friendly and so respectful that I couldn’t help but instantly warm to him. Of course, we started the conversation by talking about “The Walking Dead”, and how Tyreese was the emotional heart of the show for the season or so before he was killed off. Chad said that when he found out about Tyreese’s death he thought they were joking, but it obviously turned out that they weren’t. Sad times. Chad said that there’s a tradition on the show that after a main character is killed off, they have a ‘Death Dinner’ amongst the cast and crew, where they all hook up to say goodbye to the actor and character. Chad shared his ‘Death Dinner’ with Emily Kinney (Beth Greene), who died in the episode before him. We also talked about the possibility of Chad/Tyreese returning to the show through the aid of a flashback or a ghostly visit to his sister Sacha. As long as Sacha is alive it’s certainly possible as we’ve seen it before with other characters – much like when Tyreese was dying! Chad is also starring in a new sci-fi series, “The Expanse”, with Thomas Jane, which is scheduled to start airing this year (the 2^nd season has already been commissioned), so we talked a little about that too. Obviously, Chad couldn’t say too much, but I’m definitely excited to check out the show when it airs. Once again, a great guy, and, once again, offering photos at the autograph table! This is so rare for walled-off guests! I love it! In fact, I was so surprised to not see a ‘no posed photos’ sign up anywhere, I even asked Nick if it was allowed! Nick said “I don’t have a problem with it at all!” before looking to the Showmasters crew member, who nodded along and said it was fine. Bonus! One final thing to mention about Chad...Before me in the autograph queue was a disabled gentleman. Based on his attire, I’d guess he was a former soldier, but that’s merely speculation on my part. Anyway, seeing Chad’s interaction with him showed me what type of man he is. More so than any conversation ever could. I can honestly say that Chad is a wonderful human being and is just a genuinely nice guy to his fans. I think once you’ve met a lot of celebrities, you can tell the fake smiles and artificial politeness from the genuine article. Chad was definitely genuine. An autograph, a great conversation, and a photo at the table (once again as a backup as I had a studio photo booked with Chad for later in the day), all for £20! Bargain! Guest type: Responder.

Six autographs down, eight to go!

Next up were my first two studio photos of the day: Nick Blood at 10:35am in photo area A, and Chad Coleman at 10:45am in photo area B. As I mentioned earlier, both photo areas were upstairs from the main concourse, which became rather amusing later in the day when the wind picked up its pace, as the blue backdrops starts flapping in the breeze. Both photo areas were right next to each other, which was convenient for me as my photos were just 10 minutes apart. Photoshoots run like clockwork. No, there isn’t time for a conversation. No, this isn’t the time to give gifts. You queue, get to the front, say ‘hi’, the photo is taken, and you leave. Once you’re at the front of the queue, the process is about 10 seconds long at most. One cool thing about Showmasters is that their photos are printed instantly. No waiting around for hours, no having to join the back of a massive queue later in the day to collect them, they’re given to you within seconds. Saves so much time and hassle! Both the photo sessions ran smoothly, both pics turned out pretty good, so I was happy. I’ve also got to give a shout-out to the awesome Tyreese cosplay, with baby Judith strapped to his chest and a hammer included. It l0oked awesome!

 

With these photoshoots finished, I was now free from photoshoots until 2:30pm, leaving me plenty of time to get the remaining eight autographs (about 3.5 hours). Holy monkeyballs! Going to a convention and not being rushed off my feet and panicking?! What kind of alternative dimension have I been transported to?! I felt as relaxed as a hippo in a jacuzzi of mud. I could get used to this...he said 4 weeks before LFCC. Time to get my remaining autographs! Huzzah! Alexandra Dowling, The Dudley Boyz, Frankie Kazarian, Christopher Daniels, Steven Williams, and Peter Ebdon were all quite close to each other on the concourse, while William Sadler was way over the other side, so I decided to use my “Game Of Thrones” method from earlier and start with Alexandra Dowling and head clockwise.

Alexandra Dowling – Alexandra was a surprising last minute guest for me because her attending day switched from Sunday to Saturday a couple of weeks before the event. As I was only attending on the Saturday, suddenly she was available for me to meet! Plus, let’s face it, if there’s a “Game Of Thrones” guest available, I’ll meet them 99% of the time. Not only a “Game Of Thrones” guest, but a £10 “Game Of Thrones” guest! Oh, hells yeah! Due to the last minuteness of this change, I didn’t have any time to make talking point notes, so I opted for my original method of convention attending conversation...wing it! To be honest, I’ve reached that point of convention attending where I’m pretty comfortable talking to 99% of the guests without any feelings of nerves or worry. Occasionally, someone will pop up that’ll make me metaphorically shit myself, but these guests are few and far between. So, winging it has become easier with each passing year. Even though Alexandra is probably best known for her role as Queen Anne in “The Musketeers”, I know her as Roslin Frey from the infamous “Game Of Thrones” episode “The Rains Of Castamere”, A.K.A. the Red Wedding episode. Roslin is the character that marries Edmure Tully. So, I decided to ask Alexandra what it was like filming such an intense, shocking episode of a television show. One could argue that it’s one of the most disturbing episodes of television in a very long time, so it must have been a tremendous experience to film, which Alexandra said it was. It’s certainly memorable to be the bride of the most infamous wedding in recent television history! Roslin, of course, wasn’t present for the massacre itself as she was upstairs in bed with her new husband. Therefore, Alexandra watched “The Rains Of Castamere” for the first time and was horrified to discover how shocking everything was. I’m sure she was aware that Robb and Catelyn were going to die, but she wasn’t prepared for how bloody and disturbing it was going to be. Alexandra said that it was a shame that she’s only been in one episode of the show, but I said that she’s still alive (unlike many other characters!) so could always come back at some point down the line. Plus, if you’re gonna be in one episode of the show, why not arguably the greatest one? Alexandra loved the episode, loved her time on the show, and would happily return at any point in the future! Considering I went into this conversation ‘cold’, I think it went rather well! I had a pretty long, nice conversation with Alexandra and left feeling it was definitely worth the £10 price tag. Plus, once again, blagged a picture too! Guest type: Responder.

Steven Williams – Just down the aisle from Alexandra was Steven Williams, who is one of the crazier guests I’ve met. Of course, Steven’s had an incredible career over the past 40 years that has spanned from “21 Jump Street” to “The X-Files”, to “The Equalizer”, to “The Blues Brothers”, to “Supernatural”, and a whole load of other stuff as well, so it was a real pleasure to get to meet such an icon of the industry. Before me in the queue was a father and young daughter, and watching Steven interact with the daughter was a joy. She seemed quite shy, but Steven’s constant interactions with her made her leave with a huge smile on her face. He seemed to be that way with everyone! Constantly talking, constantly joking around, and constantly smiling. He seemed genuinely ecstatic to be there and his enthusiasm was infectious. He added so much to this convention and I know that other attendees feel the same way. After he’d taken a picture with the father and daughter, he instantly wanted to see how it turned out. The father showed it to him and he loudly exclaimed “Damn! I’m just getting better looking as the day goes on!”. So funny. When it was my turn, I said it was probably because he was more and more awake, and he said that he rarely drinks coffee, but he had a big one before the start of the convention. Trust me, you could tell! He had so much energy! Dude was like an excitable puppy, in the very best way possible. I asked him to personalise my autograph to “Shane”, and he asked if I could walk away from him briefly so he could yell “COME BACK, SHANE!”...A famous line from the film “Shane”. I was actually named after the titular character of that film as it was my grandfather’s favourite. Steven remarked that I was nothing like Alan Ladd (the actor playing Shane) because he was “tiny”, whereas I was “tall and strapping”. After Googling Alan Ladd, I can confirm that he was 5’6”. We also talked about “Supernatural”, which is the primary show I know him from. He said he absolutely loved his time on the show and always got excited when they asked him to return. We discussed Rufus’ death and he said that he felt it was a fitting ending to the character, even though he didn’t want to be killed off. We also talked about the possibility of Rufus returning one day as it’s the “Supernatural” world, where reappearances are possible and probable. Steven would love to return to the show and he really enjoyed his post-death return to help Bobby decide whether or not to ‘move on’ from death. Also, returning as a demon or an angel would be cool. Another picture too! Guest type: Responder.

Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian – Daniels, Kaz, Velvet Sky, and The Dudley Boyz were all in a row, much like the “Game Of Thrones” guests from earlier in the day. After I worked my way through this section, I would be down to two autographs remaining, which meant for a very pleasant, chilled afternoon. Ironically, the less established tag team, Bad Influence (Daniels & Kaz), were the ones who were signing together for the most part, while The Dudley Boyz, arguably the greatest tag team in history, were signing separately. This was probably so that Bubba/Bully Ray could sit next to his real-life girlfriend of the past year, Velvet Sky. I’ve been a huge Christopher Daniels fan for a decade, so I was really excited to meet him. While both of them were friendly enough, they didn’t go out of their way to engage in conversation, even though their queue was dead at the time. It was literally just me. When I asked Daniels about his love of comics, he responded with enthusiasm that he had his own comic too and handed a copy of it to me to look at, which was great. They both said their day was going well, and they took a picture together with me while holding the Ring of Honor tag team championship belts. Overall, it was a nice experience, but it felt quite short and abrupt. Guest type: Responders (barely).

Bubba Dudley (A.K.A. Bully Ray) – If you look at Bubba from a distance, he always looks grumpy, bored, or pissed off. Seriously, he has this constant scowl on his face that makes it a little intimidating to talk to him because you’re expecting him to snap at you or tell you to piss off. Combining this with his self-confessed asshole streak sometimes, I was a little apprehensive to meet one-half of one of my favourite tag teams ever. Ironically, one you start a conversation with him, he’s totally the opposite! His face remains in a scowly position, but he’s perfectly friendly and cool to talk to! He actively engages in the conversation, he gives his opinions, and he’s totally open and honest, which is awesome. He holds a conversation very well. I think the scowl is just his natural resting facial expression. We talked about his career and how I’ve grown up watching The Dudley Boyz. Quite literally. I started watching them on my television every week from seven years old until the present day. They’ve been a constant force in my life throughout my childhood, my teenage years, and my young adult life. We also discussed his return to the WWE this year at the Royal Rumble, and how surprising and amazing it was! Seriously, as far as Royal Rumble surprises go, this one is right up there with the best in recent memory. I asked Bubba if he and/or Devon had ever considered writing a book about their careers because they’d obviously have a lot of material to work with, having been in mainstream wrestling companies for 20 years straight. Bubba said they were offered a book deal five years ago, but they turned it down because the timing wasn’t right. Bubba doesn’t want to write a book until his in-ring career is over. He said that wrestlers often write their autobiographies prematurely and a result they’re always lacking a little something. However, he did point to Bret Hart and Mick Foley as wrestlers whose books were great. When he does get around to writing a book with Devon, it’ll be in the style of Motley Crue’s “The Dirt”, which is a lot of pictures intermingled with stories and opinions. Ironically, while Devon wasn’t offering photos at the autograph table, Bubba was! I’m not sure why one of them was and one of them wasn’t, but as I was expecting neither of them to, I’m not gonna complain about it whatsoever. Plus, I had a studio photo booked with them both together for later in the day anyway. Overall, Bubba was a great guy! So, don’t be put off by his sullen facial expressions if you get the opportunity to meet him in the future. It’s worth the money. Hilariously, as soon as I left the autograph table, his face went back to grumpy-looking again. Guest type: Responder.

Devon Dudley – Much like his tag team partner, Devon was another great guy to talk to. In fact, he actually took things one step further and delved into a longer, deeper conversation, which ultimately shifted him from a ‘responder’ to a ‘conversationalist’. Also, man is that guy a flirt! Not with me, but in general! He was next to one of the yellow Power Rangers actresses that was there (I’m not sure of her name) and he was totally flirting. Devon was definitely in my top 2-3 conversations of the day and because of this he was definitely in my top 3 overall guests of the day. When I rank who my favourite guests were, it’s a combination of the conversation, their overall attitude, how much it meant to me personally (for example, someone I’ve been a fan of all my life vs. someone I’ve been a fan of for a few years), and how cool they were with everything taken into account. With all of these factors taken into account, Devon might be the best guest of the day for me. Devon said how awesome it was to be in a position where he’s been successfully wrestling for over 20 years, which means that fans he met while in ECW or the beginning of his WWF(E) run are now adults who he can converse with about those previous meetings. He’s literally seen a generation of fans grow up while being in the largest wrestling companies in the world. That’s rare. Like with Bubba, I mentioned that I’ve been watching them since I was seven and he asked how old I was now. Long story short, I’ve followed 18 years of his career, which is almost all of it. This led us into a random conversation about trying to stay young. He talked about getting facials (get your minds out of the gutter!), manicures, and pedicures to try and keep his skin and nails healthy and young. I remarked that Steve Austin does this too, so it’s obviously becoming a trend amongst male wrestlers. He said that it’s so satisfying to have fans guess that he’s 35 years old when in actuality he’s almost 43, and he enforced that facials are “the best thing in the world”. We also discussed how much Pilates and DDPYoga have helped with the physical toll of wrestling on his body. As a practitioner of DDPYoga myself, it was great to converse about it with another wrestler. Devon also discussed his approach to training now that he’s in his 40’s. Instead of trying to increase muscle mass, he uses a maintenance and burst approach. Instead of using humongous weights, he uses 45Ibs plates. He’s trying to keep what he has, not gain more, basically. We also discussed his career from ECW to WWE, to TNA, to Japan, and also briefly touched upon the subject of writing a book, which I discussed with Bubba previously. Just a fantastic guy all around. Really talkative, constantly smiling, and definitely worth the £15 I paid for the autograph. The only downside was no photo at the autograph table as a backup. Guest type: Conversationalist.

Peter Ebdon – My first ever snooker guest! I’ve been a fan of snooker since I was, well, born, so this was a treat for me. Especially as Peter Ebdon has been around the sport since I was born. All of the sporting guests at CM:MK had a ‘no posed photos’ sign up, which seems to be the norm. for them. I’m excluding the wrestling guests here, of course. This didn’t bother me too much as I had a studio photo booked with Peter for later in the day. Out of every conversation I had at Collectormania, my one with Peter was the longest and probably the best. It was a solid 8-10 minutes long, if not a little longer. We discussed his career, how he’d been in 24 consecutive World Championships (including being a former World Champion himself in 2002), and how he’d missed out on qualifying for the last two World Championships. For those of you keeping score, until these past two years, he’s been at every World Championship event since I was born. That’s one helluva record. He also very candidly spoke about what he needs to do over this coming season to return to form and get back into the World Championship. In his eyes, he needs to win at least one tournament this coming season. He also discussed the possibility of skipping Shanghai’s event next year, as he feels it’s too close to the World Championship, which is mentally draining. I mentioned to him that Stuart Bingham winning the World Championship at almost 40 years old must give everybody on the circuit a little boost, as anyone is capable of winning at any time, so long as they can keep their game together for 17 days. Stuart has been a journeyman player of sorts for many years until quite recently, so this has inspired a lot of the players approaching 40 or just north of 40. Bingham actually bought the snooker table he won the World Championship on for about £6,000. Peter joked that he hoped Stuart didn’t use that table for practise at home because the pockets were a little bigger on it than they usually are. Finally, we discussed Peter’s switch to being vegan a few years back and how he feels this has influenced his game. Peter says that being vegan has aided his concentration, his digestion, and affected his whole life for the better. I think I really hit a positive nerve by bringing this up because he infectiously talked about it for an extended period of time. He got into the chemicals and hormones in meats, etc. too! He’s a highly educated man and really, really interesting to talk to. Guest type: Conversationalist.

By this point, it was about 12:30pm. I had two hours to go until my next photoshoot, with just one autograph remaining. After this autograph, it would be chillage, relaxing, and a very leisurely pace. The final guest to meet at the autograph table was the legendary William Sadler.

William Sadler – While William Sadler has been in many, many, many films and television shows, I know him best as Heywood from “Shawshank Redemption” and as the President of the United States of America in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (his actual role was in Iron Man 3). This makes William Sadler the President of the United States in the highest grossing film series in the history of cinema. That’s a pretty incredible statistic to have on your résumé. What a guy! What a legend! As per usual, I gave my name as “Shane, S-H-A-N-E”, which was useful, as William took about three attempts at hearing it before he had it correct in his head. That’s exactly why I spell it out, Mr. Eugene Simon! Shane Black directed Iron Man 3, which led us nicely into a conversation about Iron Man and Marvel. He would love to return as President Ellis is any MCU film in the future because he had such a blast working on Iron Man 3. He said that in a lot of ways it rejuvenated his career for the past decade, as the Marvel films are such juggernauts. I told him that I’m one of six people in the world that saw “Iron Man 3” before “Shawshank Redemption”, which got a nice chuckle out of him. Like Steven Williams before him, William brought up the film “Shane” and Alan Ladd’s height. Apparently, while filming “Shane”, they used to dig trenches in the ground for the other actors so that Alan seemed taller in comparison. I’m so pleased I got to meet William! Guest type: Responder.

With 7 studio photos and 14 autographs to get through, I was worried that CM:MK was going to be a nightmare, filled with rushing around and dramatics. Hilariously, I had all of my autographs finished by 1pm, so myself and John went to McDonalds to buy a drink and sat in his car for an hour to relax and rest our weary legs. The fast food restaurants just outside Stadium MK must have loved Collectormania as they were all slammed at lunch time. Every seat was full, even with most people taking the food back to Stadium MK to eat there!

This left 2:30pm-6pm for the final five photoshoots of the day, as well as giving us a chance to look around the merchandise stalls a little bit. First up was Peter Ebdon’s photoshoot in photo area B at 2:30pm. There’s actually not a great deal to say about the photoshoots because they all ran smoothly – except a little wind later in the day! After Peter’s photo, we looked around the merchandise stalls for an hour before I headed back upstairs at 3:50pm for William Sadler’s photo in area A. Right after William in the same photo area was The Dudley Boyz’ photo, then straight after them was the Bad Influence photo, so I was just on a loop of photo area A for about an hour. By this point, it was 5pm, and I was waiting around until 5:40pm for Art Parkinson’s photo in area A, which was to be my last scheduled activity of the day. While waiting for Art’s photo session to begin, two cool things happened. Firstly, Nick Blood was upstairs and said goodbye to me as he walked passed with his brother and what I presume to be his girlfriend. This was a wonderful little touch from Nick and it definitely meant a great deal to me. These little moments make everything cooler! I might be wrong, but I think Nick came upstairs because one of the attendees missed her photoshoot earlier in the day, so he took her upstairs to see if they could fit it into the schedule, which they did. If that was indeed the case, what a guy! Secondly, I looked down over the balcony and saw Christopher Daniels at one of the merchandise stalls comic book hunting. He was there for a good fifteen minutes, looking at everything, talking to the vendor, and completely nerding-out. It was awesome. Art’s photoshoot also went like clockwork, so I was ready to leave the venue by 5:45pm (the event finishes at 6pm). Exhausted, and stopping for our traditional Burger King on the way home, myself and John returned to Gloucestershire, with happy memories, lighter wallets, and that dizzy, light-headed feeling that comes with a long day.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my review of “Collectormania: Milton Keynes 2015”. If you attended the event, please leave your own thoughts about the event in the comments section below! If you didn’t attend the event, feel free to leave a comment anyway! See y’all again for LFCC next month! 

FINAL SCORE: 7.5/10