Over the weekend I attended Oz Comic Con Melbourne another yearly event that hits our city, this year the show was held at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre again. This particular show has been running for the least amount of time out of the Expo’s run in Melbourne and I have attended the events each year and can say that over the years they have improved in most aspects some are still a little disorganised but for the majority it seems to run quite smoothly. I attended both days of the show, my main reason for going to catch up with friends and to just enjoy myself. The show had a good guest line up with John Barrowman, Robert Patrick and Eliza Taylor as some of the bigger names, although being the Stargate fan that I am I was more interesting in seeing Rachel Luttrell and Paul McGillion again, it being ten years since I last saw Rachel.
On the Saturday a friend asked me to be her wingman, she says wingman I call myself ‘bag bitch’… anyway it’s always more fun to do these things with friends and this friend and I we have a great dynamic when it comes to guest interactions plus we have a great time too. I also decided to wear my Stargate: Atlantis costume, I also brought along another my other friend for her second event experience, introduce her more into our crazy fandom family. The event itself was very busy, the aisles were continuously packed with people walking around and most of the exhibitor stalls were busy with costumers which was very nice to see, in fact the few I spoke to said it was a very successful day for them. I managed to avoid buying anything from the exhibitors for almost the entire day, until right before I was leaving and an Agents of SHIELD poster caught my attention… so that came home with me!
I only attended one panel for the weekend and even that we only saw half of, it was the Stargate Atlantis panel with Rachel and Paul. At the end of the panel though Paul auctioned off some of his scripts from the show and my friend actually won one, she jumped in with a bid at the last minute and snatched it up! After the panel we walked to the stage so she could organise payment for the item and got to have a bit of a chat with them both too. In seeing Rachel she had a look on her face that she remembered me so I said “Nice to see you again Rachel, I can’t believe it’s been ten years since last time” she then came over and gave me a big hug and we continued to chat for a bit. A fellow fan and costumer asked me for a photo with them and when posing Paul decided to sneak into the back of the photo so that was a bit of fun.
I decided as it was my first time meeting him and I was in costume that I would get a photo with Robert Patrick. I brought my token and queued up like everyone else, when it came to my turn to get the photo it was found I had only been given an Autograph token not a Photo so I had to rush back to get it changed, I have to admit in this instant the staff were initially unhelpful and would not process the changeover even though I stated the photos were happening now and I was in a hurry, eventually I managed to find a staff member I knew and they very swiftly handled the problem and sorted out my token so thanks so much to them – this was the only real problem I had with staff over the weekend that and the queues around photographs was rather confusing. In the end though I got my photo and a hug from Robert so I was happy.
Overall Saturday was a great day, it was awesome catching up and seeing friends it was just so much fun. I also have to comment on just how much I love being a part of this amazing community that is fandom and convention attending… As my friend and I sat down having some food we were watching the people around us and I loved seeing how diverse it was, there were people from all ages and races, it was especially beautiful to see a couple in the 70s walking around together in costume, this community has just such an amazing impact on people from all walks of life and I am so extremely proud to be a part of it, it is truly amazing!
Then it was time for the Sunday, I always prefer to attend events on the Sunday because it is always the quieter of the two days and as the show winds down in the afternoon there’s more chance of getting to talk to the actors when there’s no queues. I plan for the day was just to hang around with other friends and catch up so that is what I did, although after a conversation with Paul the previous day I did decide that I needed to get a photo with him, and then decided to get a ten years on photo with Rachel too.
When getting my photo with Paul I walked in and asked him if he was going to do what he promised the day before which was to give me a piggy back and he was like “Yes yes definitely” and then started stretching, but it was amazing… I have given actors piggybacks before but never had one myself so this was a pretty awesome opportunity and thanks so much to Paul he was amazing… we threw up peace signs and the photo was over. Then it was time for Rachel’s, she gave me a hug as I entered and then I asked her to pull a funny face with me!
I also decided to get an autograph from both Paul and Robert, so I waited until later in the afternoon as things quietened down and then got them. When lining up for Robert I got to reconnect with someone I had met at a convention years before, and it was a lot of fun to have a good chat and catch up. I had Robert autograph my Stargate shirt, my shirt that has been going 11 years strong thankfully Robert was able to find some room and signed a pocket he then asked where some other actor’s autos were on it and I pointed them out. The person getting an Autograph after me had a car bonnet which an absolutely amazing airbrush painting of Robert on it, it was really interesting to see the reactions from the actors upon seeing this impression piece of art that Robert then autographed.
Afterwards I got Paul to autograph the photo I had with him, which turned out fantastic, Paul even made a comment that it was his favourite photo from the weekend so far and given I was one of the last autographs he gave that was saying something, but it is a pretty awesome photo! After that done I managed to catch Rachel before she left to show her the photo of us together, had the chance to chat to some of the other guests as well before they left which was good. Before the event finished I decided to make one final purchase and paid the amazing Jason Palmer’s stall another visit and brought myself an Agent May and Agent Carter print!
Managed to catch John Barrowman on stage after his panel where managed to take a few photos and see just how impressive John’s Tim Tam Jenga tower was and although I personally didn’t actually get to meet John this weekend he is definitely a crowd pleaser and adores his fans. Overall the weekend was a really good experience and I’m glad I went, I have some more photos to remind me of the awesomeness and it’s always so great to hang with mates and other like-minded people, as I said I am so proud to be involved in such a beautiful, friendly and diverse community.
You can also see this review published in Women Talk Sci-Fi’s issue 45 of GENews, as part of the Women Talk Sci-Fi – the Next Generation.
Complete Guest List: Rachel Luttrell, Paul Mcgillion, David Anders, David Giuntoli, Callum Blue, Robert Patrick, John Barrowman, Ingrid Oliver, Timothy Omundson, Lucy Lawless, Jake Abel, Samuel Anderson, Jed Brophy, Monica Rial, Rose Mciver, Stephen Hunter, Dana Delorenzo, Eliza Taylor, Dan Ewing, Tim Pocock, Marianne De Pierres, Paul Mason, Doug Holgate, Andrew Constant, Nicola Scott, Tristan Jones, Stewart Mckenny, Jason Palmer, Isobelle Carmody, Wolfgang Bylsma, Dark Oz, Tom Taylor, Livio Ramondelli, Mike Choi, Craig Bruyn, Paolo Siqueira, C.S Pacat, Marc Noble, Katie Houghton-Ward, Michel Mulipola, Dean Rankine, Colin Wilson, Variable, K&Aly Cosplay and Ivy Doomkitty.
