My wife loves cute things. Like completely LOVES them! So it's no surprise that she loves the Minions (and to be fair, who doesn't?). When she learnt that Kevin, Stuart and her new favourite Bob were coming to Manchester as part of Capital FM's #MinionsOnTour ahead of The Minions movie, well there was no question we were going.
So we turned up in Piccadilly Gardens just after lunch and I'll admit I was expecting it to be absolutely heaving but instead there was barely any line next to the Minions tour bus. A guy from Capital FM came over and told us that the Minions were having a little break and would be back soon. Then he saw that Jane was wearing a Minions t-shirt and had a Build-A-Bear Minion Bob with her and told her that she'd won a Minions suitcase!! Just like that! Turns out that the first two people in line wearing Minions stuff at every time slot won! And it wasn't just a suitcase! The case itself was stuffed full of Minions goodies from beach balls to an umbrella! Considering we'd just come out for a laugh and a quick photo it was a fantastic bonus!
The meet and greet itself was over extremely quickly but we got some good pictures and the Capital FM staff used our phones to take them, there was no trying to sell you a picture for an obscene amount of money so that was nice. And Jane loved it, for me that was the most important thing.
After leaving the Minions we decided to head for the Manchester Film and Comic Con at Event City. By this point it was gone two and to be honest I didn't think we'd get in. I have nightmarish memories of last November's MCM Comic Con in Birmingham where we queued for close to 3 hours just to get in the door and then could hardly move as the hall was that crowded. It wasn't exactly a fun experience, in fact I'd probably call it one of the worst I can remember and I've been going the Birmingham Comic Con/Memorabilia show since the Star Wars Special Editions came out! I have fond memories of meeting so many stars there, with Star Wars' Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Ray Park and Smallville's John Schneider being some personal favourites, and of spending way too much on things you just couldn't find in UK stores, but last year's event was just insanely busy. It'd been steadily getting busier for the last few years but I'd never seen it like that before. As fans we live in a golden age of comic book movies and TV shows, the things we love are no longer niche, they're main stream. It's an incredible time to be a geek (and I use that term affectionately), but standing in that queue my friends and I all agreed - we missed being geeks before it was cool. When you could just walk up, pay on the door and walk in without even thinking about having to queue.
Imagine my surprise then when we turned up at Event City and were able to just walk straight in the door. No queuing for hours, just walk up, pay and walk in. Inside was the same. There were plenty of people in the hall but it wasn't congested. We were able to walk freely through the aisles. After my karate grading last month I treated myself to an Ultrasaber and, being the big kid I am, I decided to take it with me to the con. I didn't have a costume (next time...) but it felt fun just carrying it around. I even had the space to give it a few spins (something I couldn't have done at the MCM Comic Con without hitting at least half a dozen people).
I ended up not actually buying anything (good job really as Jane borrowed all of my cash for her purchases) but it was great to meet a few fellow ultrasaber owners. As we smiled at each other and raised our lightsabers in salute across the aisles it felt like being part of a special society. And seeing some of the amazing Jedi and Sith costumes walking around I definitely want to get a costume in time for The Force Awakens. But the highlight of my afternoon was when a little kid waved his lightsaber at me, beckoning me for a duel. I playfully tapped his lightsaber a few times before offering him mind to hold. I'm not sure who was happier, the boy or his father, as they both hold the saber with pure joy on their faces.
Yeah, May might have been a really busy month for me, but this day was a fantastic way to end it.
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