Live Event: Comic Con Manchester, June 1st – 2nd, 2019

Regular visitors to our website will already be familiar with Monopoly Events and the great events they put on across the UK (if you haven\’t already done so, then spend a few minutes reading my reviews of \’For The Love Of Sci-Fi\’ and \’Liverpool Comic Con\’), and of course myself and Thom sang their praises in the April Decade of Decadence show.

This however, would be a first for 2 reasons:

1. We\’ve never covered a Comic Con Manchester before.
2. It would be Tina\’s 1st experience of attending something by Monopoly Events

Would it be an enjoyable day? Would Tina have a good time?

Let\’s cut to the chase here…we had an AMAZING day.

That of course would not make for the best of reviews, so allow me to expand on that…

Held in the Bowlers Exhibition Centre, there is plenty of parking at both the event location itself, and also in and around the industrial state in which it is located, so you never have too far to walk before you are inside.

With a double theme of \’For The Love Of The 80\’s\’ and For The Love Of The 90\’s\’, we were both in nostalgia heaven, as on entering the building we were hit by the sights, sounds and people we grew up loving.

Lets get one thing straight from the start: there is a lot to see and do at these events.

We began by looking around the traders hall where a huge array of movie/television/video game merchandise was displayed.

We were both immediately drawn to a stand filled with custom artwork cushions, prints and t-shirts. Tina is an artist herself and she LOVED the work on display here, so much so that she bought 2 cushions (and is ordering 2 more very soon) and I also bought a fantastic \’Jaws\’ t-shirt.

Peter (the artist) is not only very talented, but extremely friendly too, as he happily took the time to show Tina how he draws his images.

Make sure to bookmark the Evil Eye Art website, and also follow them on their social media too.

The spending wasn\’t finished yet though, and I was drawn like a moth to a flame to a stall selling knives and swords. Something that would not usually get more than a passing glance from me, but when I saw the Rambo knives on display, I just had to have a look.

And yes, I bought one to add to my Rambo collection…which wouldn\’t be the last Rambo item I bought either!

With time ticking on we sat down in from of the stage ready for the much anticipated Police Academy Reunion Q&A session with Steve Guttenberg, Leslie Easterbrook, Michael Winslow and Marion Ramsey.

This was one of the most enjoyable Q&A sessions it has ever been my pleasure to attend.

All of the guests were entertaining and engaging, and special mention has to go to Steve Guttenberg (attending his 1st Comic Con and is an absolute gentleman) who was so excited by the whole occasion that he refused to let it end and kept pointing to the upraised hands for more questions. This led to them eventually leaving the stage after 65 minutes of pure entertainment to a standing ovation and cheers from all in attendance.

Let\’s have a look into the retro-gaming area I said, fully expecting the fantastic array of consoles and gaming machines for everyone to have a play with, but not expecting to see a stall selling Laserdiscs…and especially Japanese Rambo Laserdiscs. So of course I couldn\’t refuse and completed my Rambo Japanese Laserdisc collection.

It was already gone midday, we\’d been there for hours and we hadn\’t even looked around the main hall yet!

Before exploring the main section, we retired upstairs for another sit-down (essential as we get older!) and a drink.

Tina didn\’t know about the Star Wars Cantina upstairs, so it was great to see her face as we entered into a scene from a movie franchise that we both love. 

Rested and refreshed, we entered the main hall and spent the next few hours smiling and laughing at everything around us.

Of course there is the fantastic selection of guests to meet/get an autograph/have a photo with/listen to a Q&A with, and as well as the Police Academy reunion there was Erika Eleniak, Judge Reinhold, Zach Galligan, Rex Smith and many more.

We also had photos with the A Team van, the Back to the Future Dolorean, a Tie-Fighter and lots of others, as well as giggling like school kids when we could enter the world of The Simpsons and sit on their couch.

The Street Fighter bike was there for photos with Rex Smith, the exterior of The Blue Oyster Bar had been recreated for photos with the Police Academy gang, the Gremlins kitchen was there for photos with Zach Galligan…and that is just scratching the surface! Monopoly Events certainly go above and beyond in making the whole experience as fun and memorable as possible…they even had a guy on stage during the Police Academy Q&A dressed as one of the cadets! It\’s details like that, that make these events extra special.

We even got ourselves scanned in 3D by Milestones3D and were amazed at the results…definitely check them out: https://www.milestones3d.com

It\’s always fun to see Cosplay at these events, and you never know who/what you\’re going to bump into. My favourite by far was a young boy no more than 5 years old who wasn\’t just dressed as Captain America, he WAS Captain America…running around with his shield and saving all in attendance from whatever evil was in his imagination…awsome.

And that is the beauty of these events: it isn\’t just meeting and listening to celebrities, or buying merchandise (though what we bought was bloody amazing!), or seeing movie props and builds…it is the little moments that stick with you forever, like chatting with a guy dressed as Barf from Spaceballs, laughing like mad together while having a 3D scan done (something that would have been from a sci-fi movie in our youth), and seeing the smallest Captain America keep the place safe…I do hope that he is there today too, living out his dream.

Make sure to bookmark the Monopoly Events website, and follow all of their various social media outlets so that you don\’t miss out on any of their upcoming events.

We\’ll see you there.

Review by Dave, with thanks to Monopoly Events for the press access.