TFcon Toronto 2017 Feedback Thread
 

Figured we could post our thoughts, compliments, concerns, etc here.

The Good:

- I am a sucker for freebies and was unreasonably happy with the free razor and Vitamin Water! Good job arranging sponsors, guys, especially the big one with TCP. They had an amazing booth.

- Well run show again from my experience, despite hotel construction impacting the main entrance area.

- loved the 2nd room of dealers, and kudos on mentioning it every door prize announcement to help people find out and head over.


The Not-So-Good (but not the organizers' fault)

- US prices at some tables, maybe 1-2. Hopefully it was just a "rookie mistake" by those dealers and it won't become common. I'm not a big "make rules" guy but if a rule is needed then I'd support one here. Super frustrating to find a figure you want at a reasonable "$35" price on it, only to hear while going to pay "that's in US and we're charging a 1.4(!) conversion rate".

Anyway that's my experience as someone who just drops in for a few hours on the Saturday. I didn't stay or eat there so no feedback on that experience.

Great job again this year folks! Thanks and big kudos to the whole team!

Re: TFcon Toronto 2017 Feedback Thread
 

I have no complaints, this was a great year. I actually found the dealer's room selection to be great, and got good deals on some japanese stuff. Kudos for making damn sure we knew there was a second dealer's room. The panels were well-organized, too, as were the autographs. You guys run a tight ship.

If I have one criticism, it's that the costume contest always feels really confused and disorganized in a bad way. I'd have liked it better if there was some formal planning behind it, instead of "everyone comes in or whatever." Also, I feel like they should try and get as many costumes up on stage as possible, as unless you're upfront, in front of the stage really doesn't work.

That's literally the only thing, though.

I mean, that and the location. The East Side needs love, too!

Re: TFcon Toronto 2017 Feedback Thread
 

I agree that I really liked the freebies this year- the razor and Vitamin Water was a nice touch. I enjoyed the dealers room and I liked having a second room to explore. I think there was a good selection and TCP booth was a fantastic sight when walking in (plus their prices were really good imo). I kept seeing people thinking the Scott McNeil line was line for the second dealers room, but everybody in the line was quick to correct them if they asked which was nice. All of the guests were amazing and extremely kind and friendly. I don't think I ever saw Nick Roche without a smile on his face.

As far as complaints go, I don't have tons (mainly because we only went to 1? panel (the costume contest) and spent the majority of time either in the dealers room, eating, and being in our own room. I agree that the US prices were a deterrent, we didn't buy anything from booths doing that. I get that the exchange rate isn't great, but if they want US prices or a higher Canadian, put on the sicker both prices so people are aware.

That being said, the costume contest was run..haphazardly. I get that its not a huge contest like at anime conventions, but I think that it could use a dedicated team to help keep it more organized. My personal pet peeve was how people were answering craftsmanship or construction questions..I get that you're cosplaying but you don't have to be in character for questions like that. A major part of cosplay contests that I've been to and watched are people talking about how they constructed their costume and how much time went into it, which I love hearing about as somebody who cosplays as well. Though, I think most of it was being being nervous which is understandable. All the costumes were really impressive, and I would have loved to hear more about the construction of the robot costumes as I would love to try making one myself.

Same as last year, I think mostly my complaints are with the hotel itself and the restaurant. It felt way more disorganized than last year. I know that the sheer amount of people coming in waves to the restaurant is overwhelming, but perhaps they should implement an official line/waiting area. I know Saturday around lunch one of the waitresses was having people wait by the sign and trying to make sure people weren't sneaking to tables so that everybody got seated where they should/fairly. That was great and I think that it should be done 100% of the time no matter how busy they are. Prices were high as always, but that's expected. The themed drinks were great this year too! I could drink the Waspinator all day.

Breakfast was a whole other ordeal, at least for us. When we got there, the woman who checked us in mentioned they had breakfast from x time to x time, and we didn't think anything of it, but then saw the set up Saturday morning and decided to hit it up Sunday. They had a whole buffet set up, which is something many hotels do for complimentary breakfasts. We didn't see any signs saying it was supposed to be paid for, but they could have been there and we just missed them. No mention of complimentary breakfast on the site either, we just thought maybe they didn't update the site or something. We saw others walking up and serving themselves. We got juice and our plates with a few things on them and sat down to eat where we could find room. One of the waitresses then dropped a bill down in front of us and we were like "huh?" Needless to say, getting hit with a 40$ bill for two glasses of OJ, and two plates of some potato wedges and some bacon was a bit of a shock haha Still, that was probably more of a mess up on our part, we just would have liked more signs and communication from staff. They seemed to all just be hanging out in the back near the register and not walking around. If its not a free breakfast, I think a menu would be best for people to order off of instead of the buffet style that many associate with complimentary breakfasts (at least that's how hotels I've been to here in the US are, not sure about Canadian hotels)

Overall, I had a lot of fun this year and definitely enjoyed myself. I loved the guests and the artists that were there, I got 3 great prints that I really enjoyed. I like seeing artists and more craftsmanship booths, people selling plushies, keychains, and stickers, since I can buy the toys themselves online any time but hand made art and items are one of a kind.

Re: TFcon Toronto 2017 Feedback Thread
 

That was mostly from Captured Prey and yeah, that bugged me too. They had some amazing stuff there for ridiculously low prices...till I actually found out how much it was in Canadian:argh:

I wish the dealers would be more upfront with the Canadian pricing at this show because finding out after the fact is frustrating and I'm sure it only made more work for them too.

And yeah, I was surprised that the Hotel didn't have a convention menu like last year. The prices there were outrageous too. Perhaps the con staff could look into bringing in a couple of food trucks just so that there are cheaper food alternatives for people?

Re: TFcon Toronto 2017 Feedback Thread
 

Loved it!

Massive improvement with the second dealer room. Keep that going!! It made both rooms easier to navigate.

I've been to 7 of the TFCons, and this was my favourite one.

Re: TFcon Toronto 2017 Feedback Thread
 

WAIT A SEC...

Captured Prey stuff was USD? Did it say so on the price tags? I definitely didn't see that... nor was it mentioned when when I (my wife) paid with my credit card. Hmmm.... need to check that purchase.

Re: TFcon Toronto 2017 Feedback Thread
 

Some were priced in US some were in Canadian so it probably depends on what you bought from them.

Re: TFcon Toronto 2017 Feedback Thread
 

Well beyond Captured Prey USD pricing (their conversion was too high @ 1.4 and charging tax) the Con seemed to br well run all 3 days. Can't say much about the cosplay contest as I'm not into it but all good. Didn't hear how much was raised for Charity. Anyone know the final number?

Re: TFcon Toronto 2017 Feedback Thread
 

Yeah, Capture Prey (definitely not a show rookie) did not have any signs of the selling currently... the middle and right sides of their booth just had $xx, but it is US and they did not put up any signs... It sure made a lot of their stuff look like it was really good pricing...

The left side of their booth actually has stickers that said CDN and US dollars, unless that was another seller...

This was a total douche move, so I decided not to buy anything from them.


Also another seller in the rear-left corner of the main room had TR Fort Max for $100 special.. then I saw signage that they are in US dollars.. still a good price though...


I did hear that the second dealer room traffic and hence, sales, wasn't so great... but I don't know first-hand.. too bad it was not closer to the main
hall..

Suggestion: Make Hazel McCallion the expanded dealer room, and Greenwich room the panel room.


Overall, another well run convention.

Re: TFcon Toronto 2017 Feedback Thread
 

One concern I had, would it be possible to require american dealers to have on their tickets canadian prices? I saw a few that had USA prices only and although I was interested in their products I did not want to sit and do the math. It is Canada after all.