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collectormania 13 |
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saturday
3rd may 2008 |
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Report by Mark
Newbold |
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The 13th
Collectormania rolled into Milton Keynes the weekend of the May Bank
Holiday, bringing an amazing array of guests from countries and genres
far and wide. Where else would you find June Whitfield sharing a
table with Connor Trinneer, or Todd Bridges seated just round the corner
from Leslie Phillips... |
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With 300 stalls selling a vast array of
goods, from the very latest Indiana Jones fare to vintage Star Wars
products the show occupied Middleton Hall in the huge Midsummer Arcade
for the long weekend. Lightsabre took the 90 minute trip down from
Lightsabre Towers to visit it's first Collectormania and to catch up
with some old pals who were celebrating a very special anniversary... |
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Saturday 3rd May 2008 |
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Mark Newbold,
Webmaster and Editor |
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Mark - "We
seem to be spending our life on the road at the moment, If it
isn't Spaceport it's Milton Keynes. Last summers Celebration
Europe certainly seems to have galvanised the UK scene, and today we saw
a lot of familiar faces. Tony Jay of Knights of the Empire was
there, as well as Derek, the legendary Captain Picard look-alike who we
chatted to at Spaceport two weeks ago." |
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Adam
and Micah share a rattle |
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Mark - "The
primary reason for me and Bex driving down was to catch up with the gang
from Jedi News, who were there with families in tow. The guys were
celebrating their first anniversary with a special presentation, and we
really wanted to be there to enjoy the occasion." |
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Daniel
- the REAL brains behind Jedi News |
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Mark -
"After so many years running Lightsabre it's really refreshing to
have made such a good bunch of friends. Adam and James from Jedi News, Dave
Tree - who was present in the dealers area - Celebration Europe event
organiser Barry Eldridge, it's always
fun running into these guys and the UK scene is looking very healthy
indeed." |
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"Hope...you...enjoy...your...Trip. heh heh, see what I
did there?" |
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Mark -
"As well as the Star Wars guests, which included Jack McKenzie,
Anthony Forrest, Rusty Goffe, Frank Henson and Jasper Jacob there were
also guests from the other old venerable sci-fi franchise. Seated
just down from us was Connor Trinneer of Star Trek Enterprise, who happily signed away for the
eager crowds." |
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Dave
made sure it was low calorie sith cake... |
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Mark -
"With it being the first anniversary of Jedi News the team had
organised a cake cutting, and so Lord Vader himself Dave Prowse took the
knife and made the first incision." |
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"Alright lads, which half am I having?" |
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Mark -
"I 'tagged along' to get some very cool photo's as the cake was
ceremonially butchered, hacked up and handed out to passers by,
including June Whitfield who turned hers down. Clearly this was a
piece of cake that she didn't think was Absolutely Fabulous..." |
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Sir
Dave, still weighing up the cake |
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Mark -
"The cake cutting took a while but soon Dave was handing out pieces
and we were all tucking into some very tasty sponge and cream pie with
icing. Yep, Tony Bennett may well have left his heart in San
Francisco but I left my diet in Milton Keynes." |
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"So
Miss Blair, can you show me how to walk on the ceiling as
well?" |
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Mark -
"Along our table and next to Connor was Tawny Cypress and Santiago
Cabrera of Heroes fame, who happily posed for photo's together, and at
the end was Linda Blair of The Exorcist. And no, she didn't
twist her head around 360º and puke pea soup over anyone." |
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"One
piece for you, one piece for me..." |
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Mark -
"Couldn't resist putting this one in here. Adam in mid cake-eating flow. I know the feeling well." |
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Adam
eats Jedi News for breakfast |
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Mark -
"After the ceremony we had a good walk around the show, catching up
with familiar faces like Dave Tree, with whom we had a long chat about
various issues, the industry and future plans and I took the chance to
buy a few 30th anniversary figures and the brilliant Palitoy Advert
Archive DVD, which showcases the old Palitoy ad's and promotional
material from 1978 through to 1985." |
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Queues
line up for the guests |
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Mark -
"It was especially cool to see Leslie Phillips charming the crowds.
With his role as the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter and the Philosophers
Stone he has been brought to a whole new audience, and everyone seemed
to love seeing him there." |
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Calvin...Klein? |
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Mark -
"One person who knocked my socks off was Lea Thompson of Back to
the Future, Jaws 3D and Caroline in the City fame. Considering
that the hit film was 23 years ago she looks amazing." |
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"No, I
was not his density..." |
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Mark -
"In terms of big name guest stars you would be hard pushed to get
such a great gathering together in any normal shopping centre, but hats
off to the organisers for bringing together such a great collection of
stars to the UK." |
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The
crowds at Collectormania 13 |
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Mark -
"With such a cleverly organised show - free admission, allowing
regular passers by to come and have a look at the show and buy items if
they wished - there were inevitably large crowds, and we took the chance
to rest our feet with a coffee and caught up on the latest gossip.
This was Lightsabre's first Collectormania, and it won't be the last." |
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