On Tour

Wallace & Gromit - BUILD YOUR OWN KITS - Gromit & Feathers McGraw London Toy Fair 2024

More cheese Gromit! Neil was once more at Toy Fair and during his visit frequented a few stands such as Paper Engine with their Build Your Own Kits. During last year's visit Neil was delighted by the wonderful STEM paper and card kits produced by Paper Engine and this year the line is getting some new additions.

Cobi Product Overview - London Toy Fair 2024

This year at The Toy Fair saw the return of Cobi as a presence at the event. So naturally near got out the camera and was given a tour of the stand by Lee Crocker the UK & Eire Country Manager for Cobi Toys Ltd. Look out for their new models in the video and reveal of a new license in time for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Lawless 2022 - Gallery of Original Art

Lawless 2022 had a gallery of original comic art and other illustrations. Classic pieces that formed the pages of the comics that entertained generations of children (young and old). Curated by artist Graham Bleathman who had brought pieces from his collection. BP's own Neil brought a few of his own so it is with some pride we present our record of this temporary but still glorious of exhibition spaces.

For tickets for this year's Lawless (2023) sponsored by The77; https://lawlesscomiccon.co.uk/

Mike Collins @ Lawless 2022 draws DESTRO (GI Joe / Action Force)

Having already gained an illustration from Lew Stringer in his copy of Action Force: The Battle Years (a Kickstarter exclusive) Neil manged to gain another from top artist Mike Collins. Since Mike has provided the cover for Action Force Volume 2 (another Kickstarter exclusive) his contribution was at the end in the form of an advert for the second book!

For tickets for this year's Lawless (2023) sponsored by The77; https://lawlesscomiccon.co.uk/

Mike Dorey @ Lawless 2022 draws BILL SAVAGE (Invasion! / Disaster 1990)

Bill Savage appeared in the first issue of 2000AD and the Invasion story is reprinted in volume 62 of the 2000AD Ultimate Collection (which is issue 60 in delivery terms!).. But who better to draw our plucky resistance fighter than series artist Mike Dorey.

For tickets for this year's Lawless (2023) sponsored by The77; https://lawlesscomiccon.co.uk/

Lew Stringer @ Lawless 2022 draws COMBAT COLIN (Action Force / Transformers)

Neil took along his copy of Action Force: The Battle Years (a Kickstarter exclusive) to Lawless 2022. Lew Stringer, who was a guest at Lawless, is the creator/owner of Combat Colin. Colin Doobrey-Smiff, otherwise known as Combat Colin, appeared as a comedic back-up strip in Action Force) and thanks to this convention encounter has been added to the front of the book.

For tickets for this year's Lawless (2023) sponsored by The77; https://lawlesscomiccon.co.uk/

Lawless 2022 - A Celebration Of British Comics

With the next Lawless approaching the pressure was on to get the BP visual record of the 2022 event uploaded. So Neil and his intrepid team of one (Neil) has put the hours in and here is the result. But not resting on his laurels Neil has assembled a total of 5 videos. This video covers the event in a "Cinéma vérité" style.

Wallace & Gromit BUILD YOUR OWN KITS - London Toy Fair 2023

If someone said cheese would you think of an onion or just smile? Well if you were a fan of Aardman Animation's Wallace & Gromit it would definitely be the latter.

So imagine Neil's enthusiasm that he returned to The Toy Fair 2023 in order to revisit the stand of Paper Engine. A company with a fine line in STEM paper and card kits that happened to be unveiling a series Wallace & Gromit build your own models.

So please watch and maybe like(?) Neil's video where he is given a tour of the Toy Fair stand by Geff Newland, Paper Engine's creative director, and they both forget the title of the third outing of the Wallace & Gromit series...

LINKS

For Build Your Own Kits; https://buildyourownkits.com/

For the Wallace & Gromit's Rocket; https://buildyourownkits.com/product/...

For Wallace's Techno Trousers; https://buildyourownkits.com/product/...

For the side-car plane; https://buildyourownkits.com/product/...

Here is a link to the BTHA list of this years 25 hero toys. https://www.toyfair.co.uk/british-toy...

MEGO - Marty Abrams Interview - London Toy Fair 2023

Originally founded in 1954 by Dave Abrams, Marty Abrams, now commonly known as “the father of action figures”, took the helm of the Mego company in 1971 and shifted the direction to licensed action figures.

Join Bruno as he interviews Marty on all things Mego!

Gnash-Man Party (ZX Spectrum+2) by Ionian Games | Crash Live 2022

Neil has slipped his chains and attended the CRASH Live! event at Bank's Stadium Walsall. In this thrilling instalment he's pinned down Jason of Ionian Games (Joefish) who seems to have created witchcraft on the humble Spectrum.

More info on Jason's creations here.

Comics Salopia 2021 Launch and Comics Trail #ComicsTrail2021

Comics Salopia 2021 took place earlier in the year but fear not as Blastprocess was there.

In this belated coverage introduced by Festival Director Shane Chebsey you see the comics guests in attendance and take a tour of the Comics Trail.

Apart from meeting the artists there were comics masterclasses for children and a comics trail featuring the local area (Shrewsbury). Composed of 9 pieces of art at selected locations each piece had been created by a noted comics artist and the accompanying text was written by British Comics Legend John Wagner.

#ComicsTrail2021 For more on Comics Salopia head over to their website;

https://comicssalopia.com/

or over on Facebook;

https://www.facebook.com/COMICSSALOPIA

For more on Shrewsbury

https://www.shrewsburysopen.com/ and on Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/originalshrewsbury/

WAIT ON THERE'S MORE!!

Shane Chebsey recently launched his latest Kickstarter project and there is still time to join in;

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scarcomics/dead-by-dawn-returns/description

Big Chief Studios Visit Pt 3 of 3 | Doctor Who BOBBLE BUDDIES - Dalek Assault and Dalek Invasion

In part three of this visit to Big Chief Studios Neil was treated to an EXCLUSIVE reveal of the new classic DALEK Bobble Buddies - Dalek Assault and Dalek Invasion! Plus a look at the various Doctors in the line both small and big!

Many thanks again to Big Chief Studios https://www.bigchiefstudios.co.uk/col...

Why not visit Big Chief Studios; https://www.bigchiefstudios.co.uk/ and taka a look at the Bobble Buddies while you're there!

Big Chief Studios Visit Pt 2 of 3 | Doctor Who 9th, 10th, 11th & 12th Definitive Doctors & Excl K9

Part 2 with the FIRST REVEAL of the new 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Doctors [DEFINITIVE EDITION]. Plus a classic series Supreme Dalek and an EXCLUSIVE weather worn K9.

Neil was delighted by this surprise reveal of these prototypes of the Definitive Editions of the 9th (Christopher Eccleston), 10th (David Tennant), 11th (Matt Smith) and 12th (Peter Capaldi) Doctors. Of course any adventure will have its perils and thanks to battery issues the video had to be supplemented with material from digital cameras and mobile phones.

A big thanks to Mark of Big Chief Studios for his time and trouble.

These are remarkable collectables and Neil will be ordering them so look out for future coverage.

For more on Big Chief Studios; https://www.bigchiefstudios.co.uk/

Big Chief Studios Visit Pt 1 of 3 | Doctor Who - Third and Thirteenth Doctor 1/6 Collector Figures

Neil was invited down to the reservation, the headquarters of Big Chief Studios! Here he got to see all manner of marvellous things.

In this instalment we got to see production samples of the long awaited Third and Thirteen Doctor figures. Of course any adventure will have its perils and thanks to battery issues and the camera focus issues the video had to be supplemented with material from digital cameras and mobile phones.

However we hope that you enjoy the video and support Big Chief Studios as these are remarkable products. A big thanks to Mark of Big Chief Studios for his time and trouble.

All recording and editing by Blast Process utilising a range of cameras!

More to follow - so don't forget to subscribe!

For more on Big Chief Studios click here.

BACK TO THE FUTURE – THE MUSICAL | OPENING NIGHT REPORT

BACK TO THE FUTURE – THE MUSICAL | OPENING NIGHT REPORT

BY NEIL KENNY

I was fortunate in getting a ticket for the opening night (20th February 2020) of the Back to the Future – The Musical at the Palace Theatre and Opera House Manchester.

This was all very last minute planning having spotted the single available seat the preceding day on the theatre’s website.

Outside the venue

Outside the venue

I arrived early in order to collect my ticket from the Box Office and there were people in costume everywhere. At one point I ended up talking to a party of Marty McFly’s (and one Doc) all the way from France as we waited in line for Bob Gale (who wrote the film) who was at the bar signing autographs. Alas that plan came unstuck when he was called away (but more on that later).

When it came to show time I was in seat Z33 – which is at the back – but still had a reasonable view. Next to me was a lady from Scotland who had chosen to visit Manchester after her cruise to Hong Kong got cancelled (due to the Coronavirus) and on the other was a chap who I had encountered before at a Comic-Con. Small world….

But what about the show? Well it was jolly good fun. You cannot help but smile as it tells a familiar but ever so slightly streamlined tale. That doesn’t mean they lose much but they have coalesced it to fit the format. However I also noticed a few lines that snuck in from the sequel movie.

Onstage all sorts of tricks are played to create the locations and some very clever front and rear projection is often used. That and the use of a turntable allowed for some quite creative moments and transitions between scenes. And let’s not forget the car; The DeLorean’s sudden appearance on stage was very dramatic – the audience erupted at that point!

In fact the experience was very cinematic and you actually forgot at times that this was live action. During the course of the show they did things that are normal from a TV and film perspective but are challenging when done live on stage. So praise goes to Biff’s leg for the freeze frame (that was some muscle control) and they also managed to do a fourth wall gag (of sorts).

Being a musical there were obviously a few songs; a surprising variety of styles were employed to match the time period on stage and don’t forget the story’s present day is now the past to us ‘the audience’.

Downsides? Well not many apart from like all venues your experience will be governed by your seat but even where I was I had a fairly decent view of the proceedings. There was a long pause in the second half as a technical problem stopped the action but that didn’t last long and there were a few niggles where some of the magic was momentarily revealed by accident courtesy of rogue stage lighting but that was a very quick incident that most people wouldn’t have noticed.

And the cast?; the leads were very good. Marty is very close to the original with a very similar voice. The Doc is slightly different from the character we knew as he has become a few degrees cooler(!) so that he makes a better fit into the musical numbers. Marty’s parents (all versions) really do convey the characters you remember, Biff has a song with misspoken lyrics like his character and the future Mayor of Hill Valley (oops is that a spoiler!) brings his part to life. In fact the whole company performs well and as I’ve already mentioned the ‘freeze frame’ calls for some rock steady posing.

So I can say that I enjoyed it immensely and the audience clearly did. If you need a reason to go see it and not wishing to spoil the experience so I’ll just say this; where else are you going to see the Doc boogieing on a hoverboard…

The cast make their farewells!

The cast make their farewells!

And finally – I did meet Bob Gale and Alan Silvestri (composer of the music) as they were seated not far from me in the stalls. Really nice chaps who stayed back to meet the crowds.

With Alan Silvestri afterwards

With Alan Silvestri afterwards

And Sandra Silvestri

And Sandra Silvestri

Back to the Future – The Musical is on for 12 weeks only at the Palace Theatre and Opera House Manchester.

Check out the official website here.

Sixteen 12 Product Overview (SPACE 1999 and Thunderbirds) - London Toy Fair 2020

Whilst at Toy Fair 2020 we stumbled across Sixteen-12 Collectables. Well known for their replicas of the Eagle Transporters from Space:1999 they've decided to expand upon their range to include action figures, role-play replicas and studio scale models from Thunderbirds. We were given a guided tour of their stand although due to technical issues it isn't as extensive as we would have liked. However hopefully you'll no doubt smile along with Neil as the Moonbase Alpha Comlock and Stun gun are demonstrated; if of course you're not experiencing flashbacks to that most notorious of Space:1999 Episodes - Dragon's Domain...

For more information on Sixteen-12 visit their website; http://www.sixteen12.com/

Cobi Product Overview - London Toy Fair 2020

While at Toy Fair 2020 Neil stopped by the Cobi stand, where Alexandra, Business Development Director at the company, was kind enough to show us around the stand and showcase a few of their key releases.

Cobi specialise in creating accurate representations of vehicles using their building block system. Unlike other similar brands they have a more real-world approach to how they create their models and use some unique sculpted pieces in their designs to create a less 'blocky' end result.

And although they are essentially still toys that can be played with, Cobi models also make impressive display pieces, which at a distance can be mistaken for die-cast models.

You can see more at Cobi's website below:

https://cobi.pl/en/

Scalextric Product Overview - London Toy Fair 2020

While at London Toy Fair 2020 Neil was lucky enough to spend some time with Sarah Frame, Brand Manager for Scalextric who kindly talked us through some of the most exciting new products coming from this classic brand.

NOTE: Sadly we experienced an audio issue with our usually trusty microphone setup in this video. Our apologises to Sarah that she didn't get to experience the might of our Singstar mics...