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-   -   TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread (http://www.cybertron.ca/boards/showthread.php?t=73217)

Gumby 07-17-2018 10:29 PM

TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread
 
Didn't see anyone start up a 2018 feedback thread yet so figured I would.


Thanks to everyone who made this show possible. You all did such great work and I had a wonderful time at the TFCon this year (but I do every year lol). Here's some quick thoughts on 2018 and beyond:


-This was the first Mississauga show in which I didn't buy anything from the dealer room. For whatever reason, it just wasn't the same as it usually is both in amount of vendors and variety of product. Has TFCon gotten too big for the location? Do they need to utilize more of the hotel? I don't know, but hopefully that's something that gets looked at for the future.

-TFCon always does an excellent job with the cartoon related guests but this year was exceptionally strong. Having both Kaye and Chalk at the same show is a big deal and hopefully that's something you can do again down the road. Would also like to see Hal Rayle and David Wise return as well. And while I don't necessarily mind paying $30 for names like Chalk, Kaye and Rayle, Mendenhall was a bit steep at that price. Hopefully guest prices overall come down just a touch and we don't see another increase next year.

-Would like to see more of a variety on the comic guests side. It really seems like it's the same each and every year but there's still so many names you could book. Jose Delbo, Phil Jimenez, Kyle Baker, Mark Watts, Jeffrey Mangiat and Richard Marcej to name just a few. Getting beloved creators like Gerry Conway and Marv Wolfman would be big because they rarely get booked for conventions here and comic fans want to meet them BADLY, so you'd get those folks through the door as well.

-The staff/volunteers were great as usual. Always a good time interacting and meeting with other fans at this show and getting to meet new people.

-A shame what happened to artist Nick Roche and hopefully something like that never happens again. Thankfully the fans really pulled together and helped out in a big way.

Dragon Knight 07-17-2018 11:47 PM

Re: TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread
 
The only thing that really bugged me about this year was some dealer's policies when it came to convention exclusives. I got turned away from buying certain ones because I had an Exhibitor pass, and pretty rudely too.

I totally understand that there's limited stock of some exclusives and that they don't want other dealers to resell them for mark up, but c'mon just cause I have the Exhibitor's pass doesn't mean I'm looking to the scalp. Besides, that's not stopping another attendee from just scalping it themselves so I found that to be a little unfair.

Apparently, people with the VIP pass had this exact issue too. I only really want Severo Core anyway so it wasn't that big of a deal, but it still rubbed me the wrong way how it was handled...

Other than that, I agree with the dealer room. It seemed like there weren't that many dealers this year compared to previous ones, and no switchover on Sunday was a bit surprising.

Just felt like there wasn't much variety or lucky finds as there were in past years. There need to be more food options too as the Quest bar absolutely sucks in terms of service it would be nice if the staff could look into bringing in food trucks or something. Personally, I think the show has gotten too big for the hotel and the staff might need to look into going to a bigger venue.

General Tekno 07-18-2018 12:39 AM

Re: TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread
 
Are there any bigger venues though that would still have an affordable hotel to be attached to? The hotel may be pricey on the food in the bar BUT its role as a central hub is kinda important.

Like, moving to a convention center would completely change the character of the show as it would END every day at a set time vs “continuing until everyone leaves the bar.”

Vain 07-18-2018 12:54 AM

Re: TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread
 
I really didn't like not having the lanyard this year. It was convenient to have a schedule on you that was easy to reference and it made a neat souvenir.

If you're going to go with the bracelets, at least tampo them with the logo or something.

Also, please, advertise the exclusives better. It helps us plan our budgets better. Especially since I went in with the intentions of getting both cassette exclusives, g2 Jazz and passed on the severo, but the Drift and Thunderclash ones came out of nowhere. I didn't even see the Drift until it was sold out. (I know of the stock issues and I know that has nothing to do with the con).

Also, I found there was significantly less water this time around?

Otherwise, great as always.

Slayback 07-18-2018 01:18 AM

Re: TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread
 
The Drift and Thunderclash were not announced because there was a huge issue with them getting cleared through customs etc. The rest of the shipment *STILL* hasn't arrived. The decision to not announce them and have them appear seemed to be a bit better than to announce and not have them appear. It can be argued for both. MMC is deeply apologetic and i am working with them to get out orders for people when they do arrive.

Slayback

turbobluestreak 07-18-2018 02:22 AM

Re: TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby (Post 766202)
Didn't see anyone start up a 2018 feedback thread yet so figured I would.


Thanks to everyone who made this show possible. You all did such great work and I had a wonderful time at the TFCon this year (but I do every year lol). Here's some quick thoughts on 2018 and beyond:


-This was the first Mississauga show in which I didn't buy anything from the dealer room. For whatever reason, it just wasn't the same as it usually is both in amount of vendors and variety of product. Has TFCon gotten too big for the location? Do they need to utilize more of the hotel? I don't know, but hopefully that's something that gets looked at for the future.

-TFCon always does an excellent job with the cartoon related guests but this year was exceptionally strong. Having both Kaye and Chalk at the same show is a big deal and hopefully that's something you can do again down the road. Would also like to see Hal Rayle and David Wise return as well. And while I don't necessarily mind paying $30 for names like Chalk, Kaye and Rayle, Mendenhall was a bit steep at that price. Hopefully guest prices overall come down just a touch and we don't see another increase next year.

-Would like to see more of a variety on the comic guests side. It really seems like it's the same each and every year but there's still so many names you could book. Jose Delbo, Phil Jimenez, Kyle Baker, Mark Watts, Jeffrey Mangiat and Richard Marcej to name just a few. Getting beloved creators like Gerry Conway and Marv Wolfman would be big because they rarely get booked for conventions here and comic fans want to meet them BADLY, so you'd get those folks through the door as well.

-The staff/volunteers were great as usual. Always a good time interacting and meeting with other fans at this show and getting to meet new people.

-A shame what happened to artist Nick Roche and hopefully something like that never happens again. Thankfully the fans really pulled together and helped out in a big way.

As far as autograph prices are concerned, typically 30 is the starting prices anymore and they go up from there.

I've seen Chalk 3 times and Kaye 5 times now. I'm not saying I don't still want more signatures from them, but it's nice to have new faces to shake things up. I came to the show to specifically get Mendenhall and Rayle's autographs. Those are rare appearances.


keep up the good work and see you in Chicago
tbs

wervenom 07-18-2018 08:50 AM

Re: TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread
 
I had a great time this year pretty much the same as every year. Got to hang with my friends, met a lot of new people (well maybe more like faces to names type of deal). Didn't spend as much at the auction or the show as I usually have in the past. Normally I have a ton of things on my want list but didn't have any this year so it was more of trying to see what popped out at me and I really didn't find a lot. I did find a few things unusual like it being TF Con and saw several vendors that had 0 TF related products at their tables. I was under the impression that there were "rules" as to a percentage of TF stuff that had to be there. Also the 2 exclusives the popped up out of nowhere but Slayback has explained that here and the staff did explain there as well so all good. The TF Con staff/volunteers were exceptional as always. the only thing that put a damper on the event was what happened to Nick cause that is a damn shame but the way everyone here and through various other groups came together to help him out was outstanding. I know there was an article written about it as well (or maybe several, I only know of one) but it's just a shock to hear about stuff like that. All in all I think it was a good show.

Omegatron 07-18-2018 10:15 AM

Re: TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dragon Knight (Post 766207)
Just felt like there wasn't much variety or lucky finds as there were in past years.

This definitely. The show seems to be becoming more and more big stores selling the newest stuff and less and less small guys selling a variety from all lines. That's not really a criticism, more of an observation, this kind of drift is probably inevitable in a big successful show that runs for years.

If anything I found the show a bit subdued from previous years, but not greatly, its still going strong and I'm curious to see where it goes from here in future years.

zackmak 07-18-2018 11:01 AM

Re: TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread
 
I also noticed the dealer room was 'light' with the number of vendors. Especially since the other room used the previous few years (the room tucked away by the coffee shop in the hotel) was not used for vendors anymore. It was a children's room, from what I was told. Probably a better idea since I heard nothing but complaints from dealers saying they weren't getting a lot of attendee traffic.

The previous TFcon weekends advertised the SATURDAY as the TFcon, and the SUNDAY as some sort of retro/80's con (eg. in 2014 the Sunday event was called 'Collectible Toy Expo', and in 2016 it was called Action Figure Expo). And even the guest's appearances were tailored to that schedule. Hence, that's why on the Sunday we saw some vendors leave and be replaced by new vendors that sold more of a variety of retro toys, OR, even have the same vendors switch up their product line with stuff that wasn't only TFs. Having attended both days for a number of years, I remember the differences. Mind you, it wasn't a lot. Maybe 20% of the tables...but that's probably being generous.

But at the end of the day, it was still HUGELY a Transformers convention - with the panels to match - so I never understood why the separate advertising. The other annual cons - 80's Toy Expo, or even the Action Figure Expo when in September - offer more of the variety.

This year, though, I don't recall the TFcon event advertising Sunday as something separate. It was TFcon all weekend, which to me is more accurate. Did the convention committee realize it's better to keep TFcon and the other cons separate, for a more true representation of what each is?

Personally, I originally thought the guest David Mendenhall was a pretty 'weak' selection, as he only voiced 'Daniel' in the Transformers series. A human; not a main character = meh!

But I was very surprised when I visited his IMDB. He's been in SO many cartoons. And, he stared in a Stallone favourite movie of mine: 'Over The Top'! Super nice guy in talking to him, as well. So, I bought his autograph. I don't think many attendees knew what else he was in. He was only advertised on cybertron.ca/tfcon.ca as the voice of Daniel, and his table only had Daniel 8x10's and the one 'Over The Top' photo. Personally, I think there should have been a 'nudge' during the lead-up advertising banners and news postings we see online, to list a variety of what the actor had done, with a link to his IMDB. I'm sure it would have created more traffic at Mendenhall's signing booth if more people were informed of his accomplishments, especially since so many of the attendees were children of the 80's/90s. It was BECAUSE he did so many other things, that it made it more interesting (for me) to get his autograph.

Overall, the weekend was not bad. The positives of free parking, great location, water stations, door prizes and good size panel rooms are always welcomed.

On the negative side, the entrance costs were expensive, the doors opening at 10am on Sunday while having a panel at 10am also was disappointing, the red bags given with your entry fee had nothing in them. No comic, no razor (like last year), not even a schedule. Granted, it's hard to please everyone with free swag, but maybe a table where the attendees can pick one item out of five to take, is an idea.

Thanks to all for planning and volunteering! Us in the Transformers community thank you!

herooftheday316 07-18-2018 12:08 PM

Re: TFCon 2018 *Unofficial* Feedback Thread
 
Con was fun as usual, mostly due to the company and friends there.

Dealer room has unfortunately gotten VERY stale. It did not seem as dense as usual. One complaint I have is that certain vendors are super uninteresting. What I mean is that I have been coming to the con for around 6 years and there are at least 3 vendors who I feel have not changed their inventory in the entire time I have been going.

I doubt there is much that can be done about it. Luckily the convention is more about spending time with friends than it is spending money on toys (a huge shift for me since my first con).

-Mike


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