Last Saturday, when the stars had aligned perfectly, myself and PJ woke up to a rare day off together. After a quick trip to the vet with Little Cat (she’s fine, just a spot of conjunctivitis) we arrived home to an exciting text from the wonderful Ana Catris. She had a table at the Cardiff Tattoo & Toy Con and wanted to know if we fancied a spot on the Guest List. There was no way we could refuse!
This is only the second Cardiff Tattoo and Toy Convention but you’d never know it. With over 100 award winning tattoo artists, toy designers, retailers and comic book artists there’s something for everyone. We arrived at the Mercure Cardiff Holland House Hotel at 11.20am and were greeted by a very welcoming crew, headed up by the amazing Iz. Our wristbands were attached and, gripping the map tightly, we set off to find Ana.
An Ana Monster in her natural habitat
CTATC was spread over 3 floors with each floor having its own collection of tattoo artists and retail stalls. Everywhere you went you could hear the buzz of tattoo machines at work. We found Ana on the third floor, sat opposite Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett). A quick catch up (and a sketch request by PJ) and we were off to explore what else the con had to offer.
Ground Floor
This is where the majority of the tattoo artists were as it is the biggest space and in the main hall I counted at least 8 rows of tattoo stands. Before entering the hall, the foyer held its own delights. An amazing cupcake stall, a large taxidermy display (including some adorable 2-headed ducklings that PJ wouldn’t let me buy *sulky face) and some friendly ladies selling all manner of Superhero themed housewares and clothing.
Entering that main hall was exciting in itself as R2-D2 was guarding the doorway and beeping at everyone who came near. Of course, I had to stop and snap a photo.
The main room in the Mercure is pretty darn large. As you entered, you were met with retail stalls which included the lovely folk at Beadasaurus and some rather expensive signed photos. Venturing further in, the tattoo wonderland began. After marvelling at the number of people contorted in to awkward looking positions to get their tattoos done, we were dazzled by the sheer level of artwork. Every stall had a portfolio of their work and there were some really amazing pieces. A lot of stalls also had “Walk-in” spaces available with prices clearly displayed. I managed to restrain myself (or rather, my lack of money held me back)
First Floor
Heading up the stairs to the first floor, we could hear Darth Vader’s breathing. The 501st UK Garrison were in attendance and really making their presence known. This time their line-up included Storm Troopers, Darth Vader and a Sith Lord with rumours of a certain Bounty Hunter maybe joining them at some point. The room held more tattoo artists, including the lovely Chloe Black, and the Fish 4 Comics stall.
The 501st UK Garrison and Jeremy Bulloch
Second Floor
The first room on this floor was home to the Star Wars.. uh.. stars, Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett), Alan Ruscoe (Plo Koon), Nathalie Cox (Juno Eclipse) and Toby Philpott (Jabba the Hut) as well as artists Ana Catris and Dylan Teague. PJ wanted a signed picture of Boba Fett, so we headed over. Jeremy Bulloch was a really friendly guy who was happy to chat about Star Wars and all the other TV/Film projects he’s been involved in. Unfortunately, we didn’t get time to speak to the other Star Wars guys due to how busy their tables were and us being pressed for time by this point.
The second room on this floor hosted more tattoo artists, including Physical Graffiti who I’ve talked about before here. We stopped briefly to say hello to Tasha Pollendine and I couldn’t resist picking up this print from her table. Also on this floor, although we only briefly popped to these rooms, were a tattoo ink wholesaler and a piercer.
Owl Print by Tasha Pollendine
Overall
Considering we entered the con thinking there might not be much to hold our interest, we were there for around 4hours. The level of artwork was outstanding and it as fascinating seeing so many people getting tattoos (and more than a little increased my desire to get another one). Having checked social media, I’ve seen nothing but glowing reviews for the event and kind of wish we could’ve gone along for the Sunday too!
At £15 for the day and £25 for the weekend (both include free entry to the Convention Party that was held in The Full Moon), it might not sound cheap but was definitely worth it. The crew were fantastic (I’m a little bias though as it’s the crew I often work with at cons) and the hotel staff were friendly. All the tattooists were professional but welcoming and it didn’t even feel awkward stopping to watch someone have a tattoo done.
I can’t wait for next year now and, who knows, maybe I’ll take advantage of one of those Sunday Walk-in spots.
So many tattoos
Some of the Retail stalls
Tattoo Artist “Research” and our trusty map
Did you attend the con? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Laters xx
(All views, opinions, thoughts, feelings and pictures are my own)
The Dunwich Blogger 