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Topic: Blackpool reports
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Adrian Winchester
Film God
Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted November 19, 2007 06:57 PM
Got back from Blackpool earlier today, so here are some impressions of what proved to be a great weekend as always.
Firstly, Blackpool continues to defy pessimists by increasing in popularity. I checked with Anne Simmonds at the end of Sunday, who confirmed that numbers were up again, so that's 3 consecutive years of higher attendances! She was referring to the Sunday, but I didn't need to ask about the Saturday night dinner as I could tell from the number of tables that more people were there than last year.
Apart from the usual fun-packed Saturday evening (meal, raffle, quiz etc), I thought a nice touch was to have all 3 celebrities (who were all on the Derann table along one side of the room) getting up in turn to say something about themselves. The concluding film show ended shortly before midnight.
The Sunday convention began with those not staying at the Savoy freezing on a windy day, due to the length of queue stretching outside the hotel entrance! Once inside, we found a higher number of dealers than last year, although some were memorabilia or film/TV collectibles-orientated rather than film dealers, but this all helps to widen the appeal of the event. Baragins that I picked up included some new trailers from a box on the Derann stall all priced at £6. My other purchases included the latest Derann advertisement reel, which looked good in one of the three film shows and includes some entertaining ads. Bargains I saw on the Bring and Buy stall included an excellent condition Kowa scope lens with freestanding mount - snapped up for only £25.
The film shows included most of the new and recent releases from Derann and Classic, plus some additional items. There was an impressive action-packed trailer for 'Die Hard 4.0', which may have been a check print as Derann did not yet have copies for sale. Speaking to Ged, I gathered that a major factor in their reluctance to release more modern trailers is that it is currently taking about 4 months (primarily due to the lab) to get new releases produced and ready for sale, which damages sales as they were able to sell more if people could buy trailers while the films were on release.
The auction lasted around an hour and featured projectionist Bob Nicholls doing a good job in his first appearance as auctioneer. It included some rare items - such as optical print of 'Live and Let Die' - and it was encouraging to see that there was more competitive bidding than at some of the more recent auctions, with many films going for respectable sums. The highest amount was £85 for one of the features on offer.
Later in the afternoon, there was an interesting Q&A session with all three guests contributing. 'Star Wars' fans not only had Dave Prowse in person; there were also four enthusiasts in related costumes, two of which were stormtroopers who also appeared on the Saturday. I suspect that the most popular was the young lady who appeared in an extremely revealing outfit on the Sunday, and I'm not convinced that all the cameras pointing in her direction were held by keen 'Star Wars' fans!
Overall, it was a superb weekend and I offer my thanks to everyone involved in bringing all the elements together. It's a shame to see it end but a group of well over 20 of us kept the spirit going on the Sunday night with an informal dinner and more socialising in the bar and lounge.
My final thought is: if you STILL haven't been to this event, how much longer can you hold out before you give in and allow yourself to experience fun on this sort of scale!
[ November 28, 2007, 05:25 PM: Message edited by: Adrian Winchester ]
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Adrian Winchester
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Adrian Simmonds
Film Handler
Posts: 49
From: Dudley, West Midlands, UK
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted November 20, 2007 09:49 AM
Thank you for all your kind comments.
Yes, I can confirm that the numbers thru the door were up on last years total, and we did have more dealers on the day.
(So much so that Ged had to refuse one dealer who had left it to the very last minute to book a table, we just couldn't fit him in).
All of the dealers said that they were pleased with their days takings and were impressed by the number of people attending.
I personally had a large number of people saying to me that they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and thought this was the best one for years.
I would like to thank all of the people involved who have helped us organise this event, with a special mention to Ged, Mom, Richard and Kym Read, Bob Nicholls and Martin Knowles.
It does take a lot of time and effort, but when reading your comments about what a great day you all had, it makes it all worthwhile.
I will upload some pictures for you all to look at
(As I asked the staff to take these,
I just hope that they aren't all of 'Princess Leia').
Kind regards
Adrian
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Adrian Winchester
Film God
Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted November 20, 2007 03:22 PM
I'm delighted if all the dealers did well, as it must be difficult to predict what sales of memorabilia-type material will be at an event like this. I obtained a nice box of 35mm slides from one stall with great images of various film stars, etc, from about 1960 for only £10, so I was happy to see such dealers adding to the diversity of goods available. I wondered how well the stall selling Dr Who/Star Wars/etc collectibles did, as the was something completely different to anything seen before.
Lee - were the three 3D 16mm films you mentioned all complete features? If so and they were good prints, £80 each would have been peanuts for such rarities!! Wish I'd seen them while they were still on offer. Do you know what stall they were on? Derann had some notable 16mm titles that I don't think were sold, including 'The Silence of the Lambs' and 'The Empire Strikes Back' in scope.
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Adrian Winchester
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Barry Attwood
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1411
From: Enfield, U.K.
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted November 21, 2007 02:51 AM
There's one thing wrong with Blackpool, it goes by so damn quick, I arrived at 2pm on the Friday, and the rest of the weekend went so fast I sometimes have to sit down and think to myself "Was I really there, and was it that good", and of course the answer to my own 2 questions is YES & YES. Derann arranged another fine event, the organisation was great, even bringing some of our guest stars up from London and taking them home. But what makes a good event is the people around you, as we all talk the same language (Film of course), and even though we may only see each other once or twice a year, that instant bond is there, and this is what seperates our lovely hobby from the rest, it's unique, and long may it stay that way. The Savoy Hotel has had a little spruce up, the food was very good, especially considering we had an all in deal that included an evening meal (except Saturday, that is!) this time, and very nice that was too. I just can't wait until May next year when Derann send out the booking forms, my only personal downside is the travelling by train, it seemed a real chore to me this year, trains were packed, stuffy, and inevitably running late, but it could just be put down to me being a year older, and getting a bit grumpier, as I've never been a great traveller at the best of times, but I wouldn't miss this event for the world.
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