All roads in London led to the Excel Convention Centre at the banks of the River Thames where thousands of cosplayers, sci-fi and fantasy fans, and gamers converge to mark the London leg of the MCM Comic Con. The weather cooperated and it was a warm Saturday and that helped with the massive turnout.

Master Chief and I teamed up for this year’s MCM Comic London as the previous years it was mainly me who went to cover this event. As always, a spare hand is a big help and after enduring long queues to get inside Excel even with Priority access, we finally able to admire the costumes of Cosplayers, check merchandise of our favourite sci-fi and fantasy shows, and hunt for airsoft players as we hope that the airsoft community goes to these types of events as one way of promoting airsoft as safe and fun hobby and that they get to play in costumers, errr… loadouts as well.

We are always fascinated by Cosplay events as it where we find some of the nicest and respectful people around having fun wearing their favourite characters that they see in movies, TV shows, video games, comics, and Anime. The Japanese cultural phenomenon’s impact is on display as the influences in the customes are mainly by Japanese Anime and Manga, then followed by Comics and both transcend their comic book origins and seen in TV series and movies for faster distribution and an even more diverse audience.

Diversity is of course the most obvious display of such gatherings. People from diverse backgrounds, whether colour, social and economic status, and religion band together to share common interests and that’s a hearty thing to see in Comic Cons.

As for the merchandise, you can get your hands on many rare comics, Funko, costumes, t-shirts, and other collectibles in under one roof albeit they are quite expensive. But for those with money to burn, it’s no problem.

We got to see more airsoft players for this event and some are in group. They did not bring airsoft guns as these were not allowed, but they brought replica firearms that have bright colours or tips which are allowed and that’s what matters. Whilst paintball have a business presence at the MCM Comic Con, there is none for airsoft. Any airsoft gear retailer can have a field day there selling vests, pads, uniforms as Cosplayers will always have a way of making them work for their costumes.

We’ll be back next year again and we hope to see more from our community. More photos at the Popular Airsoft Facebook Page and the video of this event to follow.