I've been attending Stoke Con Trent since their first convention back in September 2014. I was delighted when our home town (city?) hosted its first comic convention and was very pleased with the organisation, guests and layout. In the five years since then, it's become a regular bi-annual event at Staffs University, and one which I've only missed twice, through a family emergency and unforeseen circumstances.
The convention has grown in scale from one event to the next, and in January 2016 was recognised as 2015's convention of the year. It has new guests with each iteration, and is frequently visited by:
- comic book artists (both Staffs University's own students, but other professional comic book artists, such as Lee Sullivan and Lew Stringer who appeared at SCT 10)
- 1990s TV Stars, including BBC comedies, Gladiators, Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, Star Trek - on one occasion, Garrett Wang, aka Ensign Harry Kim from Star Trek Voyager.
- local cosplay teams - the North Staffs Avengers; North Staffs Stormtroopers and so on (and on at least one occasion, the UK Garrison).
The level of visitor participation in cosplay is also excellent, partly due to . We've met a wide range of characters, from Stormtroopers to Spiderman and Daleks to Nintendo's Mario and Luigi. The standard of cosplay costume is generally very good too (ranging from semi-professional to dress-up-for-the-day). This really adds a signficant element to the whole convention (encouraged by a cosplay competition), so even if the guests don't appeal to you, the range and professionalism of the cosplayers will definitely entertain you.
There's a very wide range of stalls, covering the full range of merchandise, from Lego to Star Wars, comic books to models, posters, and the stars tend to have tables for photos, autographs and so on.
If there is any one criticism I would make of Stoke Con Trent, it's the selection of guests. For example, in the Autumn 2018 convention, in my opinion the organisers over-indexed on Gladiators (there were easily four or five attending) and there was a lack of range of other guests - e.g. from other TV programs or from films. They tend to rotate their guests, but it's worth mentioning that SCT 10 and 11 both have Gladiators headlining (clearly Jet and Wolf are significant crowd-pleasers).
I would not describe STC as a Comic Convention or a Sci Fi Convention, and to be fair, I don't think the organisers would. The first convention is 2014 was marketed as a "comic and memorabilia exhibition"; that subtitle has disappeared more recently. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but please be aware that this isn't a pure comic convention; it's a more of a TV convention with a slight comic twist. By widening the scope of their convention, the organisers have been able to appeal to a much broader audience, and then pull in some of the more famous (and more expensive) stars - this just means that the guest list reads like a mixed bag.
Overall, my criticisms aside, I thoroughly enjoy attending STC, and can recommend it. We enjoy the range of guests, the variety of stalls (including collectibles, and just regular merchandise) and in particular the wide range of visitors who attend in cosplay, and who are all very happy to have their photos taken (but always ask first).
SCT 11 (or XI) is coming up in just over a month, and I'm especially looking forward to seeing the Jurassic World Jeep; the DeLorean car and Paul McGann (star of Doctor Who, among other things). I'm slightly interested in seeing Jet and Wolf (again), but have no interest in seeing any of the other 'headline' guests (Paul Cooper, Justin Lee Collins, Sheila Reid and Clinton Baptiste). Like I said, it's a mixed bag.
The convention has grown in scale from one event to the next, and in January 2016 was recognised as 2015's convention of the year. It has new guests with each iteration, and is frequently visited by:- comic book artists (both Staffs University's own students, but other professional comic book artists, such as Lee Sullivan and Lew Stringer who appeared at SCT 10)
- 1990s TV Stars, including BBC comedies, Gladiators, Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, Star Trek - on one occasion, Garrett Wang, aka Ensign Harry Kim from Star Trek Voyager.
- local cosplay teams - the North Staffs Avengers; North Staffs Stormtroopers and so on (and on at least one occasion, the UK Garrison).
The level of visitor participation in cosplay is also excellent, partly due to . We've met a wide range of characters, from Stormtroopers to Spiderman and Daleks to Nintendo's Mario and Luigi. The standard of cosplay costume is generally very good too (ranging from semi-professional to dress-up-for-the-day). This really adds a signficant element to the whole convention (encouraged by a cosplay competition), so even if the guests don't appeal to you, the range and professionalism of the cosplayers will definitely entertain you.
There's a very wide range of stalls, covering the full range of merchandise, from Lego to Star Wars, comic books to models, posters, and the stars tend to have tables for photos, autographs and so on.
If there is any one criticism I would make of Stoke Con Trent, it's the selection of guests. For example, in the Autumn 2018 convention, in my opinion the organisers over-indexed on Gladiators (there were easily four or five attending) and there was a lack of range of other guests - e.g. from other TV programs or from films. They tend to rotate their guests, but it's worth mentioning that SCT 10 and 11 both have Gladiators headlining (clearly Jet and Wolf are significant crowd-pleasers).
I would not describe STC as a Comic Convention or a Sci Fi Convention, and to be fair, I don't think the organisers would. The first convention is 2014 was marketed as a "comic and memorabilia exhibition"; that subtitle has disappeared more recently. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but please be aware that this isn't a pure comic convention; it's a more of a TV convention with a slight comic twist. By widening the scope of their convention, the organisers have been able to appeal to a much broader audience, and then pull in some of the more famous (and more expensive) stars - this just means that the guest list reads like a mixed bag.Overall, my criticisms aside, I thoroughly enjoy attending STC, and can recommend it. We enjoy the range of guests, the variety of stalls (including collectibles, and just regular merchandise) and in particular the wide range of visitors who attend in cosplay, and who are all very happy to have their photos taken (but always ask first).
SCT 11 (or XI) is coming up in just over a month, and I'm especially looking forward to seeing the Jurassic World Jeep; the DeLorean car and Paul McGann (star of Doctor Who, among other things). I'm slightly interested in seeing Jet and Wolf (again), but have no interest in seeing any of the other 'headline' guests (Paul Cooper, Justin Lee Collins, Sheila Reid and Clinton Baptiste). Like I said, it's a mixed bag.
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