A great event for those into everything Sci-fi, Steam-punk, Comics, Memorabilia, Signings and Cosplay.
9.00 am on the 22nd of March, Hall 4 of the NEC. Press passes on, we gathered with bated breath, as the throng is herded. Us, along with the other 27,937 visitors over the weekend, (which is a good increase on the last show!) ready and waiting for the shutters to go up and reveal this years Birmingham Comic Con.
We were confronted with lots of stalls and trestles filed to the brim with all the goodies a collector and cosplayer could wish for.
As we took in what was on offer, imagine our joy when we spotted this off to one side.
The creators of Robot Wars favourites, such as Behemoth, Big Nipper, Terror Hurtz, Merlin and Turbulence, Robots Live Ltd are the UK’s Biggest and Best robot entertainment show. They do shows all over the country and will also turn up at your birthday party using their new tow-able arena. The robots range from as little as 1Kg up and over 1000kg 
and they can pack quite a punch, as the Mantis found out from Odo, (the tall White One) as he lost his head, (now modeled by our very own reviewer and editor Erica).
They presented a twenty minute show highlighting the range of robots, with Battleaxe taking his frustrations out on a beer barrel by bashing it with his big hammer and tossing it about with his pincers as he spins around.
The main designer and builder is son Alan Young and the show is introduced by his father, Mike, as he comperes the fights which are always great to watch, as you never know how they will turn out.
Check out the short video of Mike Young introducing the show.
In the main seating arena talks, promos and demonstrations are given throughout the day finishing up with the Cosplay Masquerade run by Joe “Granny Gertrude” Black. (Cosplayers Uk-The Movie).
Granny has been helping out at
Birmingham for about 7 years and openly encourages players to enjoy and take part in the event and has seen the Birmingham Comic Con Cosplay scene grow steadily over this time.
With time restraints, the Masquerade is limited in numbers to around 45, with those that have made their own costumes having the choice to be Judged by their peers as well as demonstrate their posing or singing skills.
We couldn’t help but be impressed by the sheer variety of cos-players we saw, with a surprising lack of gender specificity in costumes (we saw many female Ezio’s and Doctors for example) and were also pleased to see that the hobby is evolving into something accessible to all age groups and walks of life. As Granny pointed out, it is a great ice-breaker and a good way to meet like minded people and we can only hope that the trend continues in the positive direction it is currently taking.
The winners and runners up get prizes worth up to hundreds of pounds, in the form of materials and other things to help feed their passion for making costumes and accessories.
With so much to be seen and had, we couldn’t help ourselves and had to start buying things, such as Cosplay swords (wooden), Pocky, T-Shirts (lots of other vendors are out there, these are just a few of the ones we visited) and one of my faves Fairy Tail. But there was everything to be found, from storm trooper outfits to original My Little Pony’s.
Road Rash Reviews would like to thank all those who let us bug them and take their photo’s and a big shout-out to Dave Axbey, Thanks.
Why not have a look at our Saturday Gallery, and don’t forget, watch this space for part 2!
