NEC Birmingham
18/19 November 2017
And yes, it’s a long awaited return to the fantastic Comic Con that is MCM Birmingham! Held every March and November at the NEC, this event is huge – and one of my favourites. All Comic Cons are fun, but MCM Birmingham has a feel and flavour all of it’s own.
Part of that reputation is down to the pure spectacle of size. The events halls in the NEC that house this function are truly huge – like aircraft hangers. They seem big enough to hold the S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-carrier, never mind an Avengers quinjet.
But the main reason that MCM Birmingham is so much fun is the people – specifically, the amazing, talented cosplayers that travel from far and wide to show their genius costumes.
Whether it’s little kids in store-bought superhero outfits or full fledged cosplay supremos spending months perfecting their craft, the whole extravaganza is awesome.
When you add in the myriad replica film props, models and paraphernalia, it all adds up to a thrilling day out.
The scale of this event seems to ramp up every time I visit it. There a vast number of stalls, as previous, selling all manner of items. This years hot pieces appeared to be pocket watches (want) and Funko Pops.
I resisted the joy of Funkos for a long time. Now I wish I hadn’t, as I’ve missed several that I would’ve loved. I started collecting them earlier this year, have a few cool ones, and want so many more. Funko Pops seemed to be everywhere at this years Comic Con. Which makes me happy.
There were also loads of interesting guests to meet, though due to budgetary issues I didn’t get any autographs this time. In particular, I wanted to add the signature of Pauline Peart, who appeared in The Satanic Rites of Dracula, to my Hammer Glamour book.
Never mind, hopefully we’ll cross paths again.
We arrived early at the event, having early bird tickets. This allowed us early entry, and it was a little quieter to begin with.
It was also a bit quieter on the Cosplay front till later that morning. I guess that makes sense; if you’re a cosplay afficianado, you’re more likely to be perfecting your stunning costume rather than getting in line early doors.
So it was a bit slow on the photo front at first, things soon got going though! There were costumed characters of every possible description literally all over the place by midday. I got some great pictures of as many as I could – you can see the results on this page.
As I always state, I’m by no means a professional photographer. Luckily the camera seemed to be on form on this day (not sure I was) so I captured some pretty good images.
The results are to the credit of the cosplay enthusiasts however, not any photographic skills on my part. My thanks to everyone of you that posed graciously for me, I hope these photos do some justice to your creative skills. All of you were friendly and enthusiastic, my respect to you all.
And with that, we’ll conclude part 1 of this MCM Birmingham blog. Part 2 soon – with more photos – plus anything else I can remember about the day!
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