He was around as he was also at the 88 Films table, buying some wonderfully titled DVDs and later talking with Calum at the bar, but I saw him late on Saturday and he said he had spent much of the day in bed!

You a haggler Dem? ;)

I'm not opposed to a spot of haggling Reaps.

Perhaps not in this case as i'd be holding other people up who want 35 dvd's signed. :lol:

Don't like big black marker scrawls on my discs I'm afraid.

Me neither. It's either a simple photo from a person's stall or nothing.

Charging for signatures on fan's own items is a funny one for me and seems to be increasingly the norm at these sort of events, probably taking the lead from the bigger events such as Collectormania etc.

As an example, I have the signatures of John Morghen and Deodato from previous years at the Festival of Fantastic Films (I think 2007 and 2005 respectively) and wasn't charged for either, whereas I would imagine both were charging this year, although I didn't test this as I already have their autographs. I also have the signatures of the likes of Jean Rollin, John Hough and Lamberto Bava, again at no charge.

It's a shame this more cynical approach has infiltrated the smaller festivals but I suppose it's just par for the course these days. The most I have paid is £20 for George Romero, although I took this on the chin given the status of the man within the genre. I'll never forget a bloke a few ahead of me in the queue getting 10 items signed and handing over 200 notes :loco:!!! I do like to get a signature since it's a nice memento of the day and meeting the person but, these days, I will only bother if it's someone who I really hold in high regard (eg. Lenzi at last year's festival), although it's obviously a matter of personal choice and what you can afford. For me, the best approach was Robin Askwith, who charged £3, all of which went to charity :first:.

Shameless: Manchester Halloween Festival
 

I don't really take photos, or even get them taken with anyone. But yeah, I did hit the town with Richard and James from 88 Films on friday night. A couple of really nice guys who are really passionate about what they do.

Yes, both Ruggero and Johnny Radice were charging for autographs (£15 a pop) but that didn't seem to dissuade anyone – one guy handed over six things for Radice to sign! At the Spaghetti Cinema event, none of the guests (Ruggero, Me Me and Luigi Cozzi) charged for signatures and apparently Ruggero happily signed 18 things for one person!

I understand they aren't necessarily paid for attending – if they are I don't know how much – and just do it to meet fans and people with whom they have worked in the past, or to help sell a book and guess the money will help to cover hotel rooms, airfare, taxis and food and drink for the weekend.

I personally like to have things autographed by the director/writer/actors (perhaps as many as possible) for my collection of film memorabilia, not to sell on for a profit or anything as tacky as that.

I was the person Ruggero signed 18 items for at the Spaghetti Cinema event and although he happily took the time and signed my items he did make a comment that at a convention it would have cost me over £200 to have my items signed.
This time i got Shameless's Washing Machine and Grindhouses Cannibal Holocaust signed and paid £30 for the privilege and got a photo with him as well so i don't feel so bad paying because of the Spaghetti cinema event.

I have managed to obtain 100's of autographs over the last 5 years but this is the second time i have had to pay for an autograph as the only time before is when i went to the London comic con and met Zach Galligan from Gremlins.

If the guests were to lower the price to £5 per autograph on your own items then more people would get items signed and the guest would make more money in the long term in my opinion.

I bet the people in the queue behind you just loved you. :mob: