Olympia Exhibition and Event Centre once again opened its doors for Showmasters’ summer event, London Film and Comic Con (LFCC) Summer 2023. Return of the Jedi fans know that Ewoks can throw a great party when needed! adding some new names to my multi piece was a great way for this Star Wars autograph collector to kick off this event.
Along with the Ewok Performers there were several Star Wars guests in attendance that spread across the original trilogy, prequels and spin off shows such as Andor and Book of Boba Fett.
Here is a full list of Star Wars guests in attendance:
Adrian Rawlins, Andy Herd, Brian Bovell, Brian Wheeler, Bruce Knight, Craig Stratton, Danny Trejo, Eric Walker, Ingvild Deila, Jessica Henwick, Julie Sharp, Kamay Lau, Katie Purvis, Maureen Charlton, Michael Carter, Michael Henbury, Mike Edmonds, Mike Stevens, Natalia Tena, Pamela Betts, Quentin Pierre, Ray Hassett, Robert Emms, Temuera Morrison, Trevor Jones, Willie Coppen, and Zac Cohen. Comic guests included Stu Mackay, Gary Erskine, Torunn Grønbekk, Pau Scorpi, Rachael Stott, and Jamie Richards.
Autograph prices catered for all budgets and ranged from £10 for background performers, £15 supporting actors such as Andrew Rawlins who played Doctor Rhasiv in Andor. We had £20 guests from the USA such as Caravan of Courage’s Erik Walker, and the premium priced main man from Book of Boba Fett, Boba Fett himself, Temuera Morrison at £95.
Last year I obtained a wonderful 10×20 Official Pix licensed print from a Facebook sales group which I had started adding a few people to. Going into the event I had nine names; this was a great opportunity to take that to sixteen in a single day. Those multi-piece collectors out there will know this opportunity doesn’t come around very often. I had a couple of collector pals that started new pieces at LFCC with the ten guests, these all looked great on 8×10 and could be called done in one show!
First up to meet for me was Maureen Charlton, this was Maureen’s first convention appearance and she was very happy to be there. Maureen also played a Jawa in Jabba’s palace which was ideal as I was missing her on my 11×14 Jabba multi.
Moving along the table I met Pamela Betts, Pamela along with the other guests was on set for Return of The Jedi at Shepperton Studios for Two weeks filming. She remembers being very hot inside the costume. She also mentioned the premier of the film and was proud when she saw her name come up in the end credits.
Fresh from his Panel talk I met Willie Coppen, Willie remembers the set well and recounted people falling over quite a lot whilst filming. He also said it was amazing to meet so many little people all in one place. He made friends over the two weeks filming which he would go on to keep in touch with over the next forty years.
Willie also Recommended a book from fellow Ewok performer Kevin Thompson, written by Kevin’s wife Tracey. I had a quick flip through, and it had great behind the scenes insight.
Up next was a late addition to the line up Sarah Bennet, Sarah told me she filmed the Ewok Village celebration scenes on her Seventeenth birthday. She was given a birthday card which was signed by the entire cast including George Lucas, she was over the moon with this and to this day it’s one of her prized possessions.
I was collecting new autographs at the show along with Star Wars Autograph News Pod Cast host, Graham Miles. Graham had a wonderful original Star Wars Poster he was adding new names to, along with a couple of 8×10 Ewok multi’s he was getting done. Next up was Mike Edmonds, It’s always great to see Mike at a convention. As always, full of beans and energy, Mike mentioned there might be a screening of his documentary soon, so stay tuned on that front!
Here’s a couple of picture I took over the day of some of the guests in the Star Wars zone
Heading upstairs to continue #WOKSTOCK I met Trevor Jones. Trevor has signed privately before but this was his first convention appearance, it was great to meet Trevor he was a real character. He recounted hanging out with Kenny Baker and Jack Purvis, he also commented on how good it was to still be in touch with people after all these years.
Andy Herd was also in the house, Andy also played a Jawa in Return of the Jedi
Next up was Michael Henbury, Michael was pleased to be back at LFCC, I’d met Mike a few years ago at a local convention to me. Michael has a wonderful autograph; it was great to add him to this piece. Michael mentioned that he was the Ewok that hugged Han’s leg in the end scene.
Last, but by no means least, was Katie Purvis. I’d met Katie last year at LFCC summer so hung around whilst Graham got his 8x10s done. Had a chat and got a quick photo with Katie.
Brian Wheeler was saying to me how great it was to see so many of his friends at LFCC, he showed me his photo taken of everyone together, this really was a reunion and quite a rare occasion which was special not only for the collectors and fans but also for the guests themselves.
Saturday was noticeably busier, and I was expecting this as the event had sold out prior to opening. I left the hotel a bit later and arrived at 12:30 to avoid the morning queue to get in.
I kicked off the day meeting Robert Ems who played Lonni Jung in Andor
Sat next to Robert was Ingvild Delia who was the actress that performed the CGI Princess Leia at the end of Rogue One. Ingvild told me that she shot a lot of extra scenes for Rogue one and they where all cut, other than the very last scene with her one line of “hope”. I added Ingvild on my Rogue One celebration poster. This poster has not seen much action over the last year so nice to get another edition on there in the form of Leia!
Next up was Ray Hassett, I heard via collector friends Ray had got “stuck in snow” on his way to LFCC, couldn’t help but find this ironic seeing as he played a Hoth rebel! Ray was happy to be at the show meeting fans and chatting about Star Wars
As always, the Star Wars Cosplayers are awesome and for me add to the in-person convention experience.
Sunday, I arrived at the show around mid-day, again walking straight in with ease. There were a couple of Andor guests upstairs sat together. First up to meet was Brian Bovell and Adrian Rawlins, both had a sizable queue. Andrew was especially popular and had been put on a virtual ticket queue, so I grabbed a ticket and queued up for Brian first.
Brian was really taking his time with every person at the table, he was brining good energy and was interacting very well with everyone who queued to meet him. He complimented me on my t-shirt, I mentioned I got it at Celebration, and he said he was gutted he missed out on it, as he didn’t even know it was happening. I told him the next one was in Japan, which was news to him. Brian got very excited about pursuing the opportunity to go to Celebration in Japan.
Adrian was extremely busy, I had to queue for around half hour to meet him as did a few of my collector buddies beforehand. He was in Harry Potter; I saw lots of Potter items getting signed. I also thought for an actor of his calibre, the price point was good at £15. I really like that LFCC always has one or two guests each show that are very well priced and hence draw in a good crowd of autograph collectors. I think the organisers cancelled a panel Adrian was due at so he could keep signing, to making sure everyone got what they wanted, right the way through the day Adrian had a line.
In attendance was Julie Sharp who played a 3PO droid inside the Jawa sand crawler. Julie is a rare signer, currently living on the island of Majorca. Back in the late 70’s Julie was a classically trained dancer who was bought in to try on the suit of C-3PO. Julie told me she was a perfect fit for the suit all be it she couldn’t move in it much.
Sunday at LFCC showed some love to The Phantom Menace, I met Three guests from this movie. Craig Stratton, who played a Nikto engineer, mentioned scenes were shot over a few weeks and they used a large aeroplane hanger for this, they also shot the pod racing scenes in this hanger.
Zach Cohen below who played a Naboo Soldier
Bruce Knight who played Pa Dua (a senatorial aid), told me that the pod used in the council chamber was just one pod in the studio, and he wore several costumes, and they essentially strung all the pods together using special effects that we see in the movie scenes.
Last guest I met at LFCC was Mike Stevens, Mike played a couple of Characters in Return of The Jedi, Woof in Jabbas Palace, and Lieutenant Cracken in a deleted scene. I’ve not seen Mike at a convention before, so I was pleased to meet him. Mike is eighty-eight years old and was keeping very well, he was very talkative and had a good memory of his time spent on the shoot. I had Mike sign my Jabba multi piece and grabbed a couple of table photo’s which were sharp and good quality.
I have attended more or less every LFCC since spring 2016 and particularly enjoyed this one. Organisers have got this event finely tuned now, the layout and mix of guests was great for Star Wars collectors. The addition of the Star Wars zone is nice as it acts as a good meeting point and ties in nicely with having some Star Wars specific traders and stalls nearby.
Volunteers and staff at the show that I encountered were all super helpful and friendly. All guests were cash only, but if you did run out of cash or needed a guest last minute that you didn’t plan for, it was easy to buy autograph vouchers from customer services.
I must say Temuera Morrison went down very well with fans at LFCC. I heard many great things about him giving out a few extra autographs here and there, spending time talking to people about Star Wars and generally being an all-round legend. Tem seems to be a great ambassador for Star Wars guest appearances at conventions and if you have the chance and it’s in your budget you won’t be disappointed in your experience. I watched Tem doing a QVC style bidding show, where he was chatting and signing live on the net.
Whilst walking around the convention late on the Sunday I spotted Temuera walking back to the autograph area, I said “Hi Tem” he put his fist out and said “What’s up my brother” giving me a first bump as he walked passed.
All Star Wars guests that I met where fine with pictures being taken of them signing. Where I saw the sign behind the actor saying “No posed photographs” I didn’t ask for one, this makes sense where people are paying for posed photo shoots. I always ask the guest regardless about taking pictures of them signing out of courtesy, I’ve never had someone say no at LFCC.
£10 autographs are a wonderful thing to have in this day and age, and I’m super grateful that Showmasters find a way to continue to bring us guests at these prices. Panels in the Star Wars zone where great, I would still like to see the larger panels included in the ticket price. I’m sure a panel with Temuera Morrison would have been a great watch, perhaps even streaming it in the Star Wars zone could be good.
Queues were well managed, for the bigger guests such as Tem, Danny Trejo, and Dolph Lundgren you waited no more than 30 minutes give or take.
This was a great well-balanced show with something from every era of Star Wars for autograph collectors. I’m already looking forward to LFCC Winter, with Ian McDiarmid, Brian Blessed and a few Andor guests on the listings, it’s starting to shape up already!
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