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James Bond Film Stars To Attend Memorabilia On 31 March/1 April

The NEC, in Birmingham, UK

Bonding With 007 Film Stars At Memorabilia

The NEC, in Birmingham, UK; CBn Forum member 'Gri007' reports on the event

Coming up soon. Anyone planning on attending?

All being well I'll be going. My tickets had arrived yesterday. First time I've attended such an event. I'm planning to take my SE dvd covers, for Joe Robinson and Michael Madson to sign. Cant wait

Be sure to give us a report on the event, Gri.

I am planning to give CBN a report. How would I exactly get it on the home page of cbn?

Send me a personal message/commuique or email (whichever you prefer) once you have the report on the forums. I'll go over the details with you.

I will get pictures of the event on CBN and My space ASAP

On the 31st March 2007 I and a friend attended the Memorabilia show at the NEC in Birmingham UK. Considering it was the first time I’ve driven on motorways I managed to survive and get there safely. There were certain stages of the drive where I thought I wouldn’t make it!

We arrived at 10:30. The show didn’t open till 11 o’clock. Whilst out side in the queue, which we were at the front off, we had a walking display of characters from Star Wars in the entrance. There were storm troopers, Boba Fett and Anakin Skywalker (not the real Hayden Christensen). Then came certain characters from Matrix.

11 o’clock came, and the doors were open. Any film buff would have been on the floor like jelly. The hall that the event was held in was huge, and was just full of stalls. It contained old Star Wars figures from the 80’s which were selling from £25 to £300. The majority were in the original packaging.

I was keeping a look out for The James Bond Legacy Collection figures but sadly didn’t see any. There were several stalls that were selling the ordinary Sideshow figures for £20-£40.

A replica of the Goldeneye key was for sale for only £15 and a replica of a Golden Gun was for about £125.

They were a few stalls selling James Bond trading cards. I was very surprised at how much the Ritten House trading cards were. I think the most expensive set was £25 for about 10 cards.

I was very impressed by a picture that I bought which I think is unofficial, but contained all of the 6 actors to portray James Bond. That was £14. The man did give me a card with the website address on, but I have unfortunately misplaced it.

There was a few Corgi Aston Martins from 60's and 70's, but the one that stood out for me and is probably the most memorable is the Aston Martin from the 60's. It was painted gold and the box was in fantastic condition. It was on sale for £265. Next to it was a Batmobile from the same era which was also in brilliant condition. The price was not known

I was surprised to see a Moonraker figure by Mecca from the 70’s. It was not in original packaging but still was for sale for £50.

My friend and me had been in the hall for about 45 minuets, and had scanned half the area.

Autograph signing wasn’t as hectic as I thought. I imagined queues of hundreds of people wanting things to be signed by people who we’ve seen on the big screen. To my surprise it was the opposite, which made it hard for me to know exactly where abouts the signings were taken place. I first spotted Kenney Baker who played R2 D2 in the Star Wars films. I took a picture of him, which I thought was the next best thing to an autograph. I then walked across to the Bond signings. I started to develop a slight sweat on my hands. The stars were behind the table with there PA, but surprisingly wasn’t crowded. I seemed very surprised about this. The first person I saw was Joe Robinson who played Peter Franks in Diamonds Are Forever. I asked to have a picture taken with him and seemed more than happy to have one with me. He stood there next to me with his hand on my shoulder, and I thought ‘Wow. This bloke had fight with Connery in lift and I’m having a picture with him’ after the picture I then asked him to sign my SE Diamonds Are Forever DVD. I then spotted Oliver Skeet who played the Concierge in DAD. Wasn’t to sure who he was until I saw him. I recognised him straight away. To say that show jumpers/jockeys are known to be small I was surprised at how tall Oliver was. He seemed nice person and said that I liked his role in Die Another Day. I had picture taken with him. Unfortunately Michael Madsen wasn’t there. Mr Skeet did say that he couldn’t make it.

As someone once said, buying a signed picture is never the same as being there whilst it is being signed by that famous person. Being there and seeing that famous person in flesh is the thrill.

As we were making how way out of the expedition I saw a sign that said 007. Off course I paid a visit. It was the first stall I saw that was just dedicated to James Bond. It had toys from the 1960’s still in original packaging. There were Swatch Watches, cars, Gilbert figures still in original packaging. The most impressing items were the replicas of the breathing device and the SPECTRE ring from Thunderball, a Faberge Egg from Octopussy and the sonic agitator ring from Die Another Day

To say that most of the items were rare. I recognised them. I knew I had seen them before. Seconds later it clicked. Jamesbondtoys.co.uk. The man behind the counter was Nick. I shook hands with him and said that I’ve visited his website and have come across some of his posts here on CBN.

Overall we were at the exhibition for only an hour and half, and was a good event. If you are a film buff and love to see memorabilia, then this is the place for you.

The next memrobillia event is taking place at the NEC on 7th and 8th July 2007 and the winter show is taking place on 24th and 25th of November 2007.

Check out myspace.com/gricey1986 for more pictures of the event

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Thanks so much for the report and the pics.

Was Jenny Hanley from OHMSS there? She has dropped out of two events where I tried to get her autograph.

When I went to the stand there was only Joe Robinson and Oliver Skeete there. I think Terence Mountain might have gone for a break. His PA was there but he was not to be seen. I was really looking forward to seeing Michael Madsen but he unfortunatly wasn't there, and I didn't see Jenny Hanley.

Now on the CBn main page...

Bonding With 007 Film Stars At Memorabilia

The NEC, in Birmingham, UK; CBn Forum member 'Gri007' reports on the event

Hi there,
I was looking after Terry Mountain for the weekend, and was sitting on Joe's left.
Glad you had a good time - whilst I was there the whole weekend, I didn't get the chance to look round all the show, but did manage to meet Nick also - his collection of classic toys were awesome.
Sadly Jenny Hanley was unable to make it due to a family illness.
Here's a couple of pics of me with some of the Bond stars.