In part 1 of my report from Liverpool Comic Con, we looked at the event overall and I shared some Cosplay photos. This time around, let’s take a look at the vehicles and props that were on display in the huge arena.
I’ll keep the words brief, as it’s the photos that tell the story. All I need to point out is the huge arena housed numerous vehicles, including some very cool cars from TV and Film (the Starsky & Hutch Gran Torino was probably my favourite).
There were also various props and sets for photo opportunities, including some great Star Wars items. The absolute highlight for me was the full scale AT-ST – otherwise known as a Scout Walker – towering over everything, including a mock up of the Imperial bunker on Endor.
Of course there were still plenty of attendees in costume wandering about, lots more stalls and even live bands on stage. Overall great entertainment and an action packed day out. Liverpool Comic Con must be the biggest convention in the country now? It certainly offers a fun filled event for all.
August 2024 saw our family venture on a different kind of summer holiday – for us, at least – with a trip to Disneyland Paris. Both Mrs Platinum Al and Daughtertron are huge fans of all things Disney and theme parks as well. Myself, I like a bit of Disney – Jungle Book and a few others are great – though I can never forgive the Mouse for the vile dollop of vomit that were the Star Wars sequels.
Also, theme parks are not my thing. I find them boring. Roller-coasters may be fun when you’re riding them for a minute, but that enjoyment is hugely counteracted by waiting in a queue for three quarters of an hour. I just don’t get it. Alton Towers is my idea of hell. I’d much sooner go to Rhyl – there’s shops in Rhyl and you can buy vinyl, action figures, comic books – all manner of treasures.
And if I want to ride something really dangerous that can scare the life out of me, I’ll stick to my skateboard.
While my preferred break would have been chilling by the pool in Greece with a good book and a beer, I was prepared to rise to the challenge and try my best to enjoy this new experience.
And truth be told, it was a lot of fun. There was a lot of walking between rides and waiting to go on rides, but being in Disney is still exciting. The landscape is full of amazing delights and it’s very easy to get caught up in the childlike wonder of it all. Seeing that huge pink castle in real life is quite astounding. Disneyland is full of sights that make your eyes pop, as you recognise elements from your entire childhood realised in glorious, reach-out-and-touch-it-to-see-if-it’s-really-there, 3D realness.
For example: we witnessed the parade, where huge floats with Disney characters roll on by. The first float was the main Disney characters, Mickey and Minnie, Donald Duck, all those guys. Fun to see. But even I lost my cool and shouted aloud “It’s Woody and Buzz!” when the Toy Story display came by.
Some of the rides were good entertainment (despite the queueing). Big Thunder Mountain and the Indiana Jones roller coasters were thrilling, and I also liked the Phantom Manor for spooky haunted house chills. It’s a Small World is unmissable cheese, though very dated and surely on the cancel list. I liked it, even though Wales doesn’t exist according to Disney.
The Ratatouille ride wasn’t that great and not worth the wait. And there was some toy soldier parachute thing where you get flung into the air that was a bit boring. Nice view though.
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My absolute favourite thing to do though was the Star Wars ride, Star Tours. I’ve wanted to go on that ever since the American parks launched them in the late 80s. The ride is actually just a viewscreen showing a filmed adventure in the Star Wars galaxy, in a pretend space craft that rattles and shakes so it feels like you’re flying. Not the most sophisticated ride, but utterly engrossing and immersive for me. I could’ve stayed on it all day.
Plus: the Star Tours shops sold Droid Factory action figures! You could build your own R2 unit from different coloured parts to create a unique astro droid. I made two! I was ecstatic, this was a dream come true. Finally I was able to enjoy one of my favourite activities, buying action figures!
We stayed in Hotel Cheyenne, a Wild West themed area that was updated with a Woody from Toy Story vibe. It was a pretty cool looking environment, and our room was simple but clean and comfortable. I’ll also shout out that the staff at the hotel (and the whole resort) were exceptional. And the food (we booked a deal to cover us for breakfast and evening meal), whilst not super high quality, offered a buffet with a wide variety that was very welcome and enjoyable.
My only real complaints were the lack of costumed characters that I expected to see milling about. We only saw Captain Hook and Peter Pan hanging around for photos with guests. Plenty of Disney Princesses but they didn’t seem to stop and engage with anyone. I wanted to meet Chewbacca, damn it!
Oh, and there was a distinct lack of Jungle Book characters or action of any kind. I think King Louie was bunged on the Lion King float in the parade with Simba and those other losers. Not good enough.
On the whole though, the three of us had a memorable time. We did loads (no space here to list everything), had fun and it was a good adventure. There was a lot of walking though. And standing in queues. I did over 25,000 steps one day, my feet were killing me. So be warned.
Visiting Disneyland Paris was indeed a magical experience. But it’s a once in a lifetime experience for me. Next time, I’m going to Greece.
Liverpool Comic Con is massive! This event has grown into a truly huge experience, taking up gigantic halls just at the side of the river Mersey. For one whole weekend, thousands of people visited this convention and were able to be a part of what was a monumental gathering.
With it being Star Wars Day on the Saturday (“May the Fourth be with you”, of course), this event seemed like the ideal place to be. I ventured over to Liverpool with my daughter in tow on the Sunday, eager to make a full day of the whole experience.
Daughtertron attended dressed as Ellie Williams from The Last of Us Part 2. I’ve never heard of it, but she looked pretty cool. Unfortunately I have been banned by Daughterton from sharing her photos, in case they are used for nefarious deeds by evil classmates. A shame, it was nice that one of us made the effort to get into a bit of cosplay – but never mind – there are plenty of other photos here.
With literally hundreds of people milling about, there was no way I could take photos of everybody. There were dozens of amazing costumes worn by talented people on display – thank you all for allowing me to take your picture. You’re all heroes, and one day I’ll join in with you and get dressed up. I’m running out of excuses, so I just need to decide who to be. Suggestions are welcome.
Of course the merch stalls were a big draw for me, as always. There were loads of different stalls selling all kinds of amazing paraphernalia, all in an enormous aircraft hangar of a building.
The best bit was that I was actually able to buy comics at a Comic Convention! I know that sounds crazy, but several of the events I’ve attended haven’t had a single stall selling comics. Luckily I was able to spend a few quid on some classic Bronze Age Marvel publications for my collections.
I was less happy with the action figure situation, as there was little in the way Star Wars and Reaction figure selections that interested me. Tons of Funko Pops, though none I desired. Daughtertron was very happy with a Monster High doll and an Elvira Funko Pop (different to the version I already own!).
There were many celebs in attendance for those desiring of autographs and meet and greets. The guest list was very impressive, with Hollywood big timer Orlando Bloom at the top of the list. There were also some Lords of the Rings dudes, Jay and Silent Bob, and John Cleese – amongst many others.
The only criticism I’ve heard of the day was the inflated prices: tickets, celeb autographs and photos, even the food. One one hand, putting on an event of this magnitude must incur some major expense; but I could see the point of the detractors. This was an event where spending could easily get out of hand.
My only complaint personally was that there was little in the way of guidance for what was where. Visitors could buy a program, which seemed to be the only way to get hold of a map. Without a map, finding your way around could be a headache. It took us a while to find our way into the main arena – but when we did get in there, our jaws hit the floor.
The huge arena housed an array of amazing vehicles and props: a life size X-Wing Fighter, Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder, a Jabba the Hutt model. There were also vehicles and scenes from Ghostbusters, Robocop, Stranger Things, The Lost Boys, even the Flintstones. It was photo opportunity heaven, all while live bands played.
My autograph hunting days are well behind me, but we made an exception to meet Tim Rose, the man behind many creations including Admiral Ackbar and Salacious Crumb in Return of the Jedi. Ackbar is one of Daughtertron’s favourite Star Wars characters, and mine too. Mr Rose could not have been nicer, he was charming and chatty and an absolute joy to spend a few minutes with. Thanks, Tim!
And that was about it for the day. I hope you enjoy the photos – there should be some more, but currently the technology is playing tricks on me and I can’t find them. If and when they turn up, I’ll do a Part 2. Hope you had a good time at Liverpool Comic Con if you were there. If not, get yourself to the next one!
Welcome back to my over view of Liverpool Comic Con. Last time, I shared photos of some of the amazing Cosplay outfits to be seen at the event. This time, I thought I’d share some pics of the eye-popping props on display.
The selection of display items at this convention was another selling point, with plenty to view.
Star of the show was a full scale X-Wing Fighter, which dominated the exhibition hall on entry. It was spectacular: the size and detail both being extremely impressive. Even though, as I stated previously, it was a Disney Star Wars ship and not the version from the classic trilogy, it was pretty cool.
Just imagine how ace it would’ve been if it was a full scale Incom T-65 X-Wing Fighter, as flown by Luke in Episode IV?! If only.
There were several vehicles from film and TV also, including BA’s van from The A-Team and KITT from Knight Rider. Both awesome.
I’ve seen a Back to the Future DeLorean before, but it’s always a treat. This one was, of course, tricked out with other props from the film too – like Marty’s hover board.
In addition to vehicles, I also saw costumes from Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century – two Glen A Larson classics from my childhood. I was pretty stoked to witness these first hand, being a huge fan of both television programmes.
Not to mention there was a ton of Star Wars costumes, helmets and gadgets that I didn’t get round to photographing. I did take a pic of my all time hero R2 D2 though (and one of Johnny 5 from Short Circuit, another star of the day).
I assume all the props I saw were reproductions rather than actual items used in filming (I could be wrong). However it was still a thrill to see them. If only I could’ve actually sat in the vehicles…
It’s the 4th of May, and to celebrate Star Wars Day I thought I’d share with you some photos of something from my toy collection. I’ve been collecting Star ars figures since I was five years old (a very long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away). So it’s about time I featured some of those toys at the Virtual Hot Tub. And what better time than now?
We have here a fairly recent item, Hasbro’s X-Wing Fighter released in 2013. This was an exclusive for Toys R Us stores, luckily we got it in the UK too. Any fan can tell straight away that this is actually Biggs Darklighter’s ship that he flew in the Battle of Yavin. Biggs was Luke Skywalker’s childhood friend from Tatooine, though the assualt on the Death Star in Episode IV would be his last mission.
Box image
The toy
This item was release when Hasbro were re-visiting the classic packaging desing from the 70’s/80’s with their Vintage line. It nicely mimics the original box artwork, but is updated with new shots.
The ship itself is a joy. Nicely recreated in plastic, with loads of detail and nice features. The wings open into attack position; the landing gear deploys and hides away nicely; and there’s even a hidden proton torpedo for if you get close enough to the exhaust port. This X-Wing is larger than the original toy from years gone by, and more accurate in scale.
My absolute favourite feature of this ship is in the cockpit. Yes, the targeting computer pulls forward and into position for the pilot to use the view finder! Awesome.
Also shown here is the Biggs Darklighter action figure from the 2013 Black Series. He’s a nice sculpt, though as I already owned a previous (very good) rendition of this figure I nearly didn’t buy him. I’m glad I did – the older version doesn’t fit in the X-Wing cockpit, but this newer one does. Removable helmet too!
Biggs figure before I opened it…
To finish things off, I added R2-Q2 – the droid who flew with Biggs in the Death Star attack. There’s a handy slot behind the cockpit for rhis R2 unit to fit into. R2-Q2 is from the 2006 Astromech Droid Pack Series 1. He’s had a long wait for his ride to show up.
I waited a while to pick this ship up, and eventually the price came down in TRU. It would have been worth paying full whack for though.
Enjoy Star Wars Day everybody. May the Force be with you!
Platinum Al's Virtual Hot Tub 