I'm back from Leicester! And I'm 20! I'm not happy about either of these things, because Leicester was great! Frankly, so was being 19! But I'm only going to talk about Leicester right now!
The trip didn't start off all too great, being honest. Setting aside the heatwave and the nerves, Bristol Coach Station is simply not a pleasant place to be. The tiles had gunk caked into the gaps, the walls were a sickly discoloured yellow, there was a foul odour around the place, and there were people just openly doing crack on the benches. Sitting right next to the security officers. Just really sub-optimal conditions to be in, generally speaking. Unfortunately for me, I'd showed up with plenty of time to spare (better early than late), so I was stuck there for about half an hour. I did eventually manage to get on the coach though, and that was much better.
For one thing, it was air conditioned.
I sat at the very back with a nice chap who was headed even further north for a festival, and we made some light conversation before settling down with our phones and zoning out for the long haul. The rest of the trip passed largely without incident (though there was some commotion about a Toilet Ghost) until we reached the Greater Birmingham Area.
It cannot be stressed enough how grim Birmingham was. I saw so very very much in Birmingham, but there's one memory that sticks out as a particularly pertinent summary of the place: a derelict building with a tattered & faded poster reading "PRAY FOR US" stuck to the side. In fact, the only place I saw that wasn't in an advanced state of disrepair was the casino.
With no intention to stick around, I scarpered out of Brum as fast as I could on the next coach to Leicester. Nobody sat beside me, so the trip passed entirely without note, and before I knew it I was there. Leicester was... also not great. Don't get me wrong, it was no Birmingham, but it was still a run-down unpleasant place to be. I didn't have much time to spend gawking at the city centre though, and was quickly on the next bus to the leafy outskirts where my airbnb laid. At least THAT bit of Leicester turned out to be rather pleasant.
The airbnb itself was great. Nice house, spacious room, great views, beautiful garden, wonderful hostess, friendly cat, no notes. Just a really nice place to be in. I unfortunately didn't get to spend all that much time there due to having to go out to get dinner & then leaving at eight in the morning, but it was a very nice place indeed, and I'll try and book it again if I'm ever again in Leicester. I had dinner at a local korean place & it was Good, I picked up some stuff I'd forgot at a local Sainsbury's, took a shower so I'd be clean for the con, and went to bed.
Well, I tried to go to bed. It was a brisk 25 degrees outside, and somewhere closer to 35 inside. Even lying naked on top of my bed covers, I was BOILING. I felt like a lobster getting cooked alive. It was an awful, awful, wretched experience. My breakfast for tomorrow spoiled in the fridge, and my phone refused to take any more charge for fear of overheating. All things being equal, I was Severely Fucked.
I somehow managed to grab hold of 6 hours of broken and low-quality sleep in the midst of the ordeal, and woke just in time to pack my things and get on the next bus for the convention. The bus was delayed and running late, but the driver fucking FLOORED IT and RAN MULTIPLE RED LIGHTS (!?!?!?) so I got to the entry queue with 10 minutes to spare. I moved to the back and took my place. Right behind a neo-nazi.
And don't get me wrong, when I say neo-nazi, we’re talking full black sun tattoo and everything. Entirely unambiguous. His kid was pretty fucking cool though, kept pointing at every mobile suit he saw and naming them with shocking accuracy. I only hope he doesn't pick up his father's worldview too. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the nazi got turned away by security because I didn't see any more of them for the rest of the con, so that's good, and before I knew it I was on the con floor.
I immediately beelined for the dealer room to get my hands on the limited supply con-exclusive models. As did everyone else. It was like a swarm of locusts barreling towards a field of unguarded crops, and the con team wore the expressions of horrified subsistence farmers, but I managed to get everything I was seeking (after a brief attempt at getting a discount on bulk-buying raffle tickets) and scarper back to the main floor... just in time for me to realise how Fucking Hot it was. The worst of the heatwave had passed, but the con hall had Evil Insulative Properties (not helped by the large crowd of people that had still yet to disperse to the various wings), so the temperature in the main hall was hovering around a crisp 28 degrees. And yet, onward we persevered.
I kind of just pissed about the con floor for a bit, taking stock of everything on offer and everything for sale, then went to my first panel of the day. Which I immediately left, because I wasn’t finding it very interesting. Upon my return to the con floor I was greeted by none other than the Lieutenant of the Anti-Earth Union Group - Quattro Bajeena! It was in truth nothing more than a cosplayer, but you’d be hard pressed to realise that given how *incredible* the cosplay was. I don’t want to leak my face (or his!) to here, so you’ll just have to trust me, but it was *incredibly good*.
Tempted by the now-empty tabletop game table, I played about half a game of Robot Rebels and had a great time - but you’ll hear more about that one shortly. After that, and a brief second visit to the dealer’s table, it was time to voyage upwards to the panel room once more for an actually VERY INTERESTING panel on weathering. It was somewhat impaired by the panel room only having One Camera that needed to be manually focused on various things by a somewhat panicked crew, but it worked out okay in the end. The panelist had a very interesting take on brands of gear and paint, being that “essentially every brand is the same, just pick whatever you like” which is an incredibly refreshing point of view in the current Influencer Hell we live in. I'm hoping to put some of the techniques he demoed to use in the near future - especially the sponge technique he used for rust detailing.
I beelined back to the games table for a full game of Robot Rebels once the panel was over, and had an absolute blast. Two other people wanted to join the game, so it was an all-out three-way shootout (with me having one less mech than the others!), but with careful strategy and a healthy dose of luck I crushed my opponents and stood tall atop the mound of wreckage we’d turned the battlefield into. It’s a really fun game, and I’d recommend it to anyone reading this.
Upon my Glorious Victory over all who dared oppose my reign of the games table I was told politely but firmly that I wouldn’t be allowed to do Any More N00b Pwning, so I headed over to the Video Games Corner. Unfortunately for me, every parent attending the convention had decided it was actually the Childcare Corner, so I didn’t get a chance to play about half the games, but what I did play was pretty cool. Even though I couldn’t figure out any of the controls for the Gundam arcade game because it was all in Japanese it was still fun in a “baby sensory video” way, the Gearbits demo was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and sitting in a sad dark corner they had none other than ZERO FUCKING WING!!! MY FAVOURITE STUPID BULLSHIT GAME EVER!!!!! I tragically had to tear myself away from their dinky old Mega Drive before I could beat the game because otherwise I’d have been there all day, but god, what a game. What. A. Game. Hopefully I’ll have a review of it up for you all to read soon.
The afternoon was drawing to a close at this point, and it was time for the penultimate event: the GUNPLA SPEED BUILD COMPETITION. We handed in our tickets, took our seats, and got ready for the kits to be handed out. As we did, a scheme was formed… me and my next-seat neighbour hatched a cunning plot to co-op construct our model & split the winnings. It was a flawless plan! We were guaranteed to win! And it was, as far as I’m aware, not even against the rules! With our plan hatched, we set our eyes on the boxes being delivered across the hall, and saw a sight most shocking. We were going to be building Super Deformeds! Everyone at my table was under the impression we’d be doing an EG or maybe a particularly simple HG, but nope, we’d be putting together SDs!
We took hold of our nippers, got ready to tear open the boxes, desperately waited for the judge to cry “Go!”, and… LOST. HUMILIATINGLY SO, IN FACT. EVEN WITH OUR POWERS COMBINED WE STILL HADN’T DONE FIFTY PERCENT BEFORE TIME WAS CALLED.
AND THE VICTOR WAS SAT AT THE SAME TABLE AS US.
In truth, I can't even be mad. She was simply the better builder. It was honestly a bit scary - she didn’t even need to look at the instructions, it all just came together in her head. She was a good sport though, and we’re actually friends now, so no hard feelings.
There was a second round, for the most creative build, but I was so utterly wiped from the speed effort that I couldn't even bring myself to hold my pair of nippers up. I gently put my runners back into the box, handed in my pair of nippers, and caught my breath for half an hour. The creative builds were judged, a winner was picked, and both sets of prizes were handed out. I can't recall what the creative builder won, but the speed builder got some pretty sick unique kits and the GUNDAM TOWEL, which I'm Very Jealous of.
By this point there was only an hour left, and it was time for the big event... the quiz. Everyone still in the con hall piled into the panel room, the host of the con and founder of the site took pride of place upon the main stage, the grand prize boxes sat alluringly on the table behind him, and we all got stuck in to 45 minutes of Quiz Action.
I lost. There is nothing more to say. It was a very difficult quiz for True Mechaheads and I just didn't know the answers. End of story. But not to worry, next it was time for the raffles!
Which I also lost.
After taking a moment to cleanse myself of bitterness, I headed downstairs for the last time. There was a definite air of melancholy around the premises for those last 15 minutes, but also an air of camaraderie as people exchanged contact details and discord invites and etc. By this time the tables had almost been picked clean - except the funko pop section, which didn't sell a single unit the entire con - so I didn't even really have any opportunities for last-minute buying - but I did manage to get a mobile suit nyandam figure for my mum, which was nice. I swung by the smouldering remains of what once was the dealer’s room for the final time to give them my postage details, and then, well, it was time to leave. With a heavy heart I took up my bags, cast aside my conventiongoers badge, and once more became nothing more than a normal everyday person.
The trip home passed without incident. Rail replacement coach was fine, my train was delayed for half an hour which meant I was stuck in Birmingham for an hour (which sucked!) but whatever, and then I got home and got straight to bed.
Overall, I really enjoyed the con. Perhaps my somewhat dry retelling of events gives the impression of detached disinterest, but in truth I had the biggest dumbest grin on my face for the entirety of the event. It was just good, honest fun! Sure, there were some minor failings, and some rough edges that need to be improved on for 2026, but who cares? I got some wicked model kits! I made some new friends! I played some fun games! I met Quattro Bajeena! It was a great time, and it's a shame the next one's looking to be a year away.
Maybe I'll try and find the money for HotaruCon...