Following a 2021 convention season still feeling the effects of the pandemic the 2022 season starts with everyone hopeful if will be a more normal year, with fewer cancellations of events and guest signers. For me, this was my first convention of the year, and one I had not attended previously.

Covcon have been running small to medium sized conventions for several years now and this was the ‘Junior’ version of their main convention that is due to take place in a couple of months’ time. It is a convention stripped-down to its bare essentials. No dealer stalls. No photoshoots. No guest talks. Just opportunities for autographing and conversation with guests. Covcon is a charity convention – this time in aid of ‘Maggie’s’ a cancer support charity nominated by Bond girl and Hammer Horror star Caroline Munro.

Covcon’s main event has previously tended to focus on guests from the James Bond franchise and, whilst several of the guests at Covcon Junior had Bond credits, there did seem to be more of a focus on Star Wars this time – with all three trilogies represented. Outside of Star Wars there were also a number of guests from both eras of Doctor Who.

There were a few cancellations prior to the event including Star Wars guests Amanda Noar, Garrick Hagon, Gloria Garcia and Richard Cunningham. However, Twenty-two guests were due to attend the show with 15 of them having Star Wars credits.

Like the main Covcon event, this show took place at the Sports Connexion leisure centre in Ryton-on-Dunsmore on the outskirts of Coventry. Due to the smaller, more intimate, nature of the event it took place across two function rooms rather than the larger sports halls. Although, the venue is some way outside of the city centre there are regular bus services from Coventry and local towns. There was also ample parking available despite two other events taking place at the venue on the same day.

Tickets for the event were only £5.00 and due to the small scale of the show these were limited in number. Possibly due to the small scale of the event, the atmosphere felt very relaxed and the entry process was uncomplicated with wristbands being given out at the front desk. Covcon is one of the lowest-priced organisers running conventions in the UK as they run a multi-buy voucher scheme. Most guests are priced at only £10 per autograph but the voucher scheme meant you could buy five autographs for £40, 10 autographs for £70 or 20 autographs for £100. Potentially only £5 ($6.80) per autograph! The only exception to this was Julian Glover who was £20 per autograph and £10 for a selfie. Other guests charged £5 for a selfie.

Most of the signers were there ready to start signing as the event opened up at 11am. There were no autograph queue systems to speak of but the ample size of the rooms. and limits on numbers. meant there weren’t any problems. The only minor issue with the venue was low light levels in the main room – making photography more difficult.

On to the guest signings and I did pick up autographs from the majority of the Star Wars signers present. First off was Julian Glover and, despite being well into his 80s, Julian currently seems to be one of the most active original trilogy guests on the circuit. He has a number of show appearances planned for 2022, including in the United States. He was a popular guest at the show with credits spanning the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, James Bond, Doctor Who and Harry Potter franchises. As ever, Julian was on good form and took time to make sure he signed exactly how the fans wanted.

Scott Stevenson is another guest who has credits across numerous IPs but he is of most interest to Star Wars collectors for his involvement in fan-favourite Rogue One. Scott played an Imperial Officer and Imperial Ground Crew in the Scariff scenes and I got images from both roles signed. I noted that most of Scott’s table images were from his appearances from Doctor Who, and his main Star Wars image was a mashup of both of his Rogue One roles. So anyone who wants autographs on separate character images may want to take their own images along for signing.

John Coppinger is best known as a behind-the-scenes guy, being responsible for sculpting the Jabba puppet and helping to create many of the other creatures in the original and prequel trilogies. However, he also has credits in The Phantom Menace as podrace spectator Graxol Kelvyyn and Wookiee Senator Yarua. What I didn’t know until recently is that he also played Ki-Adi-Mundi in a single shot from the end of The Phantom Menace (when the Jedi council arrive on Naboo). Continuing my focus on picking up guests on images of their lesser-known roles, I got John to sign a shot of this scene along with autographs on his two other Phantom Menace roles.

Victor Galluci has attended a few conventions now but he was a new guest to me signing images of a Stormtrooper and X-wing pilot from A New Hope. As time goes by, I’m always grateful to still be adding new original trilogy names to the collection.

Also from the original trilogy were Brian Wheeler and Michael Henbury, both of whom played Ewoks in Return of the Jedi. Brian also played a Jawa named Kalit in the Jabba’s palace scenes and was a great guy to talk to, cracking jokes throughout. I picked up both signers on Ewok village pieces and Brian on an image of Kalit the Jawa. I was really happy with all the signers but Michael Henbury in particular took time to sign a great autograph.

On to the prequel guests and I picked up autographs from Ross Beadman (Sors Bandeam) and Kamay Lau (Sei Taria). Kamay Lau doesn’t seem to have been on the convention scene for a little while so I was glad to see her back. She took particular interest in the pen I asked her to sign with (Sakura Pen-Touch Silver 1mm for the pen nerds out there) and took a note of it for future conventions. Always good to see signers keen to provide the best service possible for fans.

A late addition the line-up was Elizabeth Ansari who played x-wing pilot Elna Zibsara in The Rise of Skywalker. It was Elizabeth’s first time attending a convention and she did seem a little shocked by all the attention; but was very friendly and appeared really happy to be signing for fans. I know a lot of people like to collect pilots so hopefully we will see Elizabeth at more conventions in the near future.

I also picked up autographs from Alan Swaden (Stormtrooper), Chris Bunn (Danz Borin) and David Stone (Wioslea, Will Scotian, B-wing Pilot). Eileen Roberts (Mosep Binneed) and Jack McKenzie (Cal Alder) were also signing but I didn’t need anything signed from them on this occasion. I noted that all of the guests had a good range of different images available at this show – something we don’t always see.

Unfortunately, Paul Grant (Ewok and R2-D2 (celebration scenes) from Return of the Jedi) didn’t show for the event and was apparently uncontactable by the show organisers.

Outside of autographing there were photo opportunities with some of the cosplayers from the Joker Squad UK and Dragon Order cosplay groups, and cosplay guest Dolphin Storm Ranger.
Overall, this show was a great start to my convention year and I was able to pick up a lot of autographs, at a low price, and in a relaxed atmosphere. The show appeared to be enjoyed by both the attendees and guests alike. Covcon recently posted on their social media channels that £9050 was raised for charity during the event.

Covcon’s main show is due to take place in just 2 months on Saturday 7th May 2022 – again at Sports Connexion, Ryton, Coventry.

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