The Armageddon Expo's first visit to Dunedin at the weekend
has been declared a success by organiser Bill Geradts,
although he admitted yesterday to having suffered some
pre-event nerves.
Mr Geradts said he hit his target of about 6000 people
attending the expo at the Edgar Centre but, to be ''brutally
honest'', he had been nervous before the show about how many
would come.
Now, he had started thinking about next year's show, for
which the weekend's attendance would be a benchmark.
The expo made a small profit, he said, and many of those
attending had thanked him for bringing the show to Dunedin.
Peter Hambleton, an actor in The Hobbit, fielded questions
from fans like Mackenzie Driver (16), of Dunedin, who wanted
to know how long make-up took each day on the film (about two
hours).
Josh McFarlane (12), of Mosgiel, wanted the actor to ''do
your best Gollum impression'', which he declined, saying he
was in awe of [Gollum actor] Andy Serkis. ''It's almost like
it's sacred.''
Actors from The Hobbit signed big photographs of themselves
in character for $30 or small photographs for $10.
Film fan Malcolm Lay (28), of Dunedin, said getting two
photos signed was worth the money.
''It's not often you'd have something this big come to
Dunedin.''
He would come in costume next year.
-shawn.mcavinue@odt.co.nz
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