MCM Expo London 2016

Today (Saturday) was my first time attending MCM Expo London and it will probably be the last. Queuing to get in the venue, getting our tickets scanned and getting our wrist bands was flawless, couldn’t fault it but there were so many organisational errors once we got inside the venue! It nearly ruined the day.

We booked tickets in advance, as they were selling out and likely to be none available on the day, so we could meet Elizabeth Henstridge (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) along with some other Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Agent Carter and Gotham guests that were going to be there.

As the event was in London, but we were only going for one day, we decided to get the bus which worked out much more cost effective than parking. The only issue was transporting my very long Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D poster, that I got from the Hallowhedon 6 convention, without it getting damaged on the bus or tube or by the elements!

Here’s the poster displayed at Hallowhedon.

Excuse the blurry phone photo!

It’s since been signed by a bunch of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Agent Carter cast members. I love it. But it is difficult to transport… and display. 😉 Ultimately I bought a plastic artist poster tube which extends to 4ft long to transport it in.

My plan was to get it signed by the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D guests.

Once we got inside the venue (after queuing at the signing door for 10 minutes before being informed that door wasn’t being opened and we’d have to go round!), we headed to the signing area where we were told we needed to purchase autograph vouchers before we could go into it.

After queuing for about an hour to get them we went back to the signing area to be told two queues were closed due to the amount of people already waiting and one guest was at a photo shoot but would return later. We went to queue for the only guest left I wanted to meet and after another hour wait we were informed they weren’t on site yet and they didn’t know when they would be.

During this time the other guests had gone to photo shoots, lunch, a talk etc and wouldn’t be back for three hours!

While we waited we browsed the stalls, took some photographs, bought a bunch of nerdy cupcakes and a BB-8 (Star Wars) glass.

We were told we could start queuing for the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D guests around 2.30pm so headed back to the autograph area in plenty of time only to be told the queues were closed. Again. Due to the amount of people waiting even though we were told we couldn’t queue until that time!! Needless to say we were annoyed, explained what had happened to a crew member, told them what guests we needed autographs from and all was set right. 🙂

We met Elizabeth Henstridge who plays Agent Simmons first. She was very down to Earth and chatty, she was genuinely thankful we’d taken the journey to see her and the other cast members. 🙂

Next up was Luke Mitchell who plays Lincoln. Again, he was really nice, down to Earth and we had a good, spoiler free chat with him about upcoming episodes. He even took the time to pose for a photo with me.

While waiting in his queue we also hopped over to see Lotte Verbeek (Mr Jarvis from Agent Carter) as her queue was very quiet.

We had been told that the signings finished at 5pm but when we approached Erin Richards queue (Barbara Gordon in Gotham) were informed she’d gone to her photo shoot and they couldn’t guarantee she’d be back that day to sign any more autographs. 🙁 Definitely a lot of miscommunication at this show!

We went to the autograph voucher desk and I was able to get a refund for her autograph after explaining the situation. They apologised for the mix up and said she would be back at one of their events in the near future, so I have high hopes I’ll meet her eventually. 🙂

All in all, a good event, the guests made my day and I’m very happy with the autographs I got. However, considering how long this company has been running shows like this, I was surprised at the apparent lack of communication or organisation in some areas.

As well as the cupcakes and BB-8 glass, I also bought a ‘The Flash’ messenger bag for Ryan and mum bought a Wall*E figure that was made from various metals, including nuts and bolts.