TV Century 21

The convention took up two floors of the modest hotel. Almost every large room eventually housed people or artifacts from the Gerry Anderson worlds.

The hotel is the very model of an early 1960s hotel with strong angular lines that would not have been out of place in UFO. Fairly shortly after, I got my badge and convention kit which included a superbly done brochure that resembled an issue of the earlier Century 21 magazine.

On the ground (US:first) floor was the lobby. On the way out there was an entrance area adjacent to a corridor which lead upstairs to the exhibition. Going the other way past the lobby would take you to the dealer room (see below) and to the stair area leading upstairs. In the stair area was the Sci game demo area with their Gameboys (see below).

Main Hall

Upstairs was the main hall with a large projection TV and hundreds of chairs. Wow. If the number of chairs is any indication of attendees, there will be quite a crowd. Opposite this hall was a normal sized room with a lifesize canvas of Ed Strakers office, this room was a second screening room. Between the two rooms was an open area which was used for registrations and later on, autographs.

Toy Showcase

There was also a nice bar area upstairs and on the way was a narrow corridor with a long glass case. During Friday evening and the folowing morning it became increasingly filled with a wide variety of rare Gerry Anderson merchandise items including most of the Rosenthal/C21 toys from Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90.

There were numerous figures, Fireball XL5s, Stingrays and much more. Quite a haul, and a real treat for all en route to the bar. What happens in the bar stays in the bar.

Gameboy

The Sci game team were in place early and had demo versions of the Thunderbirds for Gameboy available for playing. I am not familiar with Gameboy, but I was impressed by the quality of the graphics and the game looked like fun. If only I had a Gameboy. The game was due out by November, so it should be available now. They are also working on a version for Playstation and PC, but these are going to take longer. The Playstation should be out by Spring 2001 and the PC version out by Sept 2001. A long wait, but judging from the screen shots, it will be worth it.

Dealer Room

The dealer room had about 7 dealers including Comet, TNT and others. They had a wonderful array of items including models, many pre-built ones were on display. There were some scratch built replicas and even some original puppets on display. There was a collection of Captain Scarlet replicas along with 2 original studio puppets. There were plenty of TV21s for sale, of which I got about 15 - albeit in sub-par condition, but better than nothing. UFO laser discs could be yours for only £1500 set or £1000 each. Nah. I don't think anyone bought them, and I suspect that the price of the lasers will drop significantly, especially as DVDs should be out within the next year or so.

 

Gabriel

Right at the main door near reception was parked the original "Gabriel" model T Ford that was used in Secret Service as well as UFO. It is in superb condition and was a popular photo spot.
Pass Gabriel and up the stairs is a wonder to behold - the exhibition room. According to Fanderson's Chris Bentley, this was the largest collection or original items ever assembled. Of course, this is my first fan convention of any kind, so I was happy to see anything at all.