Supermummy Secrets Went to Comic Con!

           

On Sunday I attended this years Comic Con at the Metro Radio Arena. It was my first time going to the event and I have to admit I really didn’t know what to expect. I went with Simon from What Sie Says – Movie News and Reviews (aka the boyfriend) and his little helper  Reid in the matching t-shirt (aka our son). I have to say, I had pretty high expectations for the event after seeing photos from past events all over the world and knew it was hugely popular. We had a nice family day out however It definitely wasn’t what I had expected I did feel it was a slight let down. I do believe the event more caters to those who are in to collectables and it did not so much cater to all. I knew what Comic Con was all about and I expected there to be plenty of collectors items for sale, comics and so on. But I also expected more for those who were movie/tv/comic enthuseasts but whom however were not collectors. For example, I wanted to buy a batman character doll for our son and the only ones i could find were second hand collectors dolls priced at around £40. The ‘toys’ weren’t really meant for children and I felt that not having more ‘child friendly’ stalls was a missed opportunity as there were plenty of people there with children who, like me would have loved to have purchased something for their child.

When I bought the tickets for Comic Con online I thought it wasn’t too bad a price for tickets at £8 each (under 2’s free). However I soon realised that this was not actually a great deal. There were other options to purchase extras on the site, such as a photo with one of the star guests such as James Marsters and you could buy a ticket for their talk. There were lots of star guests there and if you wanted a photo with them or to listen to one of their talks you had to pay anything between £10 – £20 for each thing you wanted to do. So as an example just for a photo with James Marsters and his talk you were paying £30 on top of the price of your ticket for entry. When I saw these added extras on the site I didn’t bother buying any as I wasn’t too bothered and I thought there will be enough there to keep us entertained. This is where I felt there could have been a big improvement. I expected lots of characters wandering around (acting in character not just dressed up) I expected music and sounds and various entertainment going on. I was rather disappointed at the lack of entertainment. Apart from the odd character walking around now and again throughout the day there was nothing else going on (unless of course you paid for photos and talks). There was very little exciting for children to watch and join in with and sometimes you were made to feel like a nuisance asking for photos with a character. So you have essentially paid £8 each just to wander around some stalls selling collectable items. There were very little decorations and I expected the rooms/entrance to look a bit more exciting.

          

I know I have been quite negative about the event but don’t get me wrong we did have quite a nice day, I just felt it didn’t live up to the reputation and we got a little bored at times. In the end i did pay to get a photo with James Marsters, mainly because I didn’t really know what else to do as we had wandered the same stalls atleast 20 times. Plus I did used to be a fan when I was a lot younger and thought it would be fun to have a photo. I think paying £20 for a photo which was done in less than 10 seconds and you barely even got to say 2 words to the actor was definitely disappointing to say the least.

I was also a bit confused as to why they weren’t selling programs or booklets at the event that you could get signed. They said they had done them the previous year but just didn’t this year which was obviously a shame as we had brought nothing to get signed by the star guests and were hoping to purchase one. Hopefully if Comic Con becomes an annual thing here in Newcastle it will continue to improve but I guess we will have to just wait and see. I believe the event is targeted and suited to adults and I feel that it should be something that also caters for families and everyone should be able to enjoy it. I beiieve that the people the event was aimed at will have really loved it, but as a mum there with her family there was definitely room for improvement. My son really did love meeting batman though and we did get some good photos which is nice. I did really like the effort some people went to with their cosplay. Some people had really gone all out which was great to see. The staff at the event were very helpful also and I can’t really fault them there.
I was very pleased with the fact that it wasn’t over crowded and we weren’t queueing for hours to get in. The organisation on the day was pretty good and it felt like it all ran quite smoothly.