TF Con 2014 reviews/ Report

[Swalloweddark]

Post all your pros, cons and neutrals here and even if you have an outsourced report from the weekend!

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Report form the Mississauga News http://www.mississauga.com/whatson-s...in-meadowvale/

[Swalloweddark]

This year, like any year, I enjoyed the con. Didn't really spend alot of my time in the dealers area as alot of my stuff was pre-commished and All I had to do was pick it up and I supported our locale artists but that's it. I think the only actually merch I bought was Animated Prowl and Jazz, wanted grimlock but coul;dn't find him this year. I know last year it was full of animated stuff and I had a hard time finding universe stuff. Weird how the years flipped. OH! and I bought Sharknado Pop! Cause we needed it for a Christmas gift, woot to shopping early!

Most of my enjoyment came form meeting all the people that attended which was from this board and cross-border to making new friends. I spent alot of my time chatting it up with those that wanted to stop and talk and discuss the flow of the con or Transformers in general~

Out of all doubt, I was able to make it to the cosplay contest to watch which was at 11 am and felt all worthiness left me when Shockwave and then Prowl got up on stage. ~PROOOWL~ I did not know one was coming, I would've though a Jazz cosplay together T_T but there is next year. All cosplays were amazing though and we were only up to pick up more pre-commished stuff. Yey to early pick up~

The Cosplay contest that early still bugs me to be honest because like I thought it took us a good 2 hours or so to get into our cosplay and by the time we got down there everyone had already undressed Saaaaad. HOWEVER, We did run into Prowl and only got to talk shortly because I believe he was on his way up to change. Saaad. I really wanted to talk with the Soundwave and Shockwave but...There is always the internets. We got alot of questions to where all the other of the cosplays were on Saturday and I can only assume , what we expected, happened. We would've had an awesome group of photos.

I also, surprisingly, did not find the Hallways THAT busy this year compared to last. I thought attendence was up? I remember last year we couldn't even get down the Hallway with Bob and this year, I had no problem with my wings and being beside Chromia. That totally weirded me out because we were prepared to face traffic. We also had alot of people unamused that the con was 'small' because of the lack of traffic. What? They are probably the same people who complain when its too busy and they have to wait in line for like..3 hours. @@; You can't make anyone happy.

Another con of mine was the Voice actors in the same area of entrance, artsits and dealers. I don't care who disagrees with me but that was a stupid idea. When you entered you had to go through the line to get to the dealers doors there and then when you came out from the artist side you had to cut through the line again. It was better when they were downstairs as it would take that clog out of the main area and keep people moving. Plus with the dealers, artists, entry and VA's all there it made it very warm due to the amount of people in one area.

Two cons out of all the fun I had this year isn't bad. I also want to thank everyone again for the compliments on my Windblade Cosplay! By Sunday the heat was taking its toll but it stayed together for the last couple of hours that we were there.If you have any pictures, feel free to message me because I would love to see them and add them to my album with credit.

Looking forward to Next year~!

[Metroplex79]

^ I think they had to save the downstairs room for the concert.

Since, according to the schedule, that downstairs room was only for the concert, so I'll assume it's to cut cost to not have to rent that room for a 2nd day?

The only critique I have at the moment was the thin "program", previous few years (especially last) were great. This year's seemed kinda thin and was more of an oversized short comic.

[Dragon Knight]

Worked there as a dealer this year, so it didn't really give me much time for pannels or autographs, it's a different experience when you're there to work and not as an atendee.

Met a lot of new friends, and it's always a pleasure seeing old ones.

Had a few people that tried to low-ball us, to the point where the offer sounded insulting but other than that no real major problems.

Except when it came time to pack up to leave…I HATE the cargo elevator so much. The elevator takes a long time to get to the dealer room floor, and it didn't help that the ShelfLife guys was holding everyone else up.

One thing I would like to request for next year is if we can have a member of the staff on call to man the elevator at least during the set up and teardown processes, that would make our jobs a lot easier.

[Knockout]

Originally Posted by Metroplex79

^ I think they had to save the downstairs room for the concert.

Since, according to the schedule, that downstairs room was only for the concert, so I'll assume it's to cut cost to not have to rent that room for a 2nd day?

The only critique I have at the moment was the thin "program", previous few years (especially last) were great. This year's seemed kinda thin and was more of an oversized short comic.

I got more of the guide itself was an afterthought, it really wasn't even a guide just a comic book. Inside of it should of been the comic, plus pages talking about the con, a letter from the con chair or something, detailed bios on both VA and artist guests (so people who aren't familar with them could get to know them), a dealers room map, artist map, information about the concert and the performers, some info on the panels and other events plus the adds and coupons and what not. Isn't that what a guide should be?

[Metroplex79]

Originally Posted by Knockout

I got more of the guide itself was an afterthought, it really wasn't even a guide just a comic book. Inside of it should of been the comic, plus pages talking about the con, a letter from the con chair or something, detailed bios on both VA and artist guests (so people who aren't familar with them could get to know them), a dealers room map, artist map, information about the concert and the performers, some info on the panels and other events plus the adds and coupons and what not. Isn't that what a guide should be?

That's what I said and meant, just not in so many words.

That's why I said the previous ones, especially last year's, were great programs.

[Autobot_Lancer]

This was my first TFCON and I know it's not going to be the last. There were a lot of awesome moments for me. Starting off with finally meeting a fellow board members in which I've only known for the past 6 years via PSN, It was great to finally meet both Renegade_decepticon and Sureshot22. That was followed up with the hunt for Malwave, never in my life have I seen so many Nerf guns being used to hunt down just one person. Meeting Gregg Berger at the bar and chatting with him on Friday was another highlight.

Saturdays dealer room was insane, I never thought it would be possible to blow $1300 in less then 20 mins on plastic crack. Plus being the very first person in line (got there at 5:30am) had its perks, scoring both my holy grails Quakewave and Green Giant. Got some prints signed then went for lunch with a bunch of board members, thanks BF for the Burrito Brothers damn that was good. Took in the Cybertronic Spree with Sureshot22 and for those that hated on them well you guys missed out that was by far one of the coolest things I've ever seen and they were freaking awesome.finished that night off with some laughs watching the faction feud.

Sunday I just took that as a relax day before my flight back to edmonton. I want to thank all of those that I met during this trip. You guys made this a memorable experience that I shall remember for the rest of my life. Matrix holder and Joe you guys were awesome room mates , hope to see you guys again there. I really hope if things go well I will be able to make the trip again next year, but with my wife and I buying a house in the spring it may not be promising. Either way I will return and I hope to see you all again. Thanks again for the excellent time and all the memories !

[FreedomGundam]

I'll do this in point form, it's easier.

1) Great convention as usual, thanks to the Super_Megatron and the rest of the organizers.

2) MAJOR thanks to cannabisprime and CobraCommander for both the rides and the hauls.
Props out to my usual crew: Cliffy, Nem-Pred, Chans, Purple-bot, Plowking, Primebein, GMFan, Proto, Jawz, Brr-icy, Beechy, Fez, Sureshot, Dark Rage, Big_Filipino, Jeff.
Was also great seeing all the significant others as usual (Mrs. Nemesis-Predaking, Mrs. Chansformers, Mrs. Plowking, Mrs. Sureshot, Mrs. Protoman, Mrs. Dark Rage, Mrs. Primebein) and kids.
Always good to hang out with my Montreal posse: herooftheday, Vain, nicoath.

3) Was able to experience the dealer side of the convention by helping out cannabisprime

4) Met lots of people due to pre-arranged sales or prchases mostly. Was great to meet Peaugh, Dragon Knight, grizzly519, MonstaBot, Slayback, Nullray, Autobot_Lancer, Arial (forgot your username!), Shantae (forgot your username too!), Sid (the guy who gave the 3rd-party panel), among others.

5) Top moment for TFCon2014 for me: seeing Retrospex. A little background: many years ago at TFCon 2007 or 2008, I had a prearranged sale with Retrospex. Later, I was in Japan for a vacation and it turned out he was there too, so we met up and hung out for a few days together. Unfortunately, after we split paths at the end of the trip, he disappeared almost completely despite my efforts, and I pretty much didn't hear from him since late 2008. He suddenly messages me 2 months ago saying that he'll be at TFCon this year after 5-6 years of being MIA. When he came to see me in the dealer room, it was AMAZING seeing him again after all these years, along with his significant other (whom I had also met during the Japan trip) and also his 2 kids! Spent a lot of time catching up; great to see you buddy!

[Mystic Metal]

This was my 5th year as a dealer. But it's the only convention I do all year so I wouldn't say I'm "established", but it was familiar.

I found that Sunday was busier than past year's. There were a lot of people coming by and it was nice to see some familiar faces.

I was a little annoyed that even though I had an end table, it seemed really crowded in that area. It may be a good idea to have the dealer spaces taped out next year to ensure no one is encroaching on someone else. I set up on friday, and when I came in on Saturday, my booth felt a little bit smaller. Doesn't help that people are building their booths out into the walkways and setting up display stands in them.

Other than that, it was my best con ever. I only started doing this because of an extended layoff and a baby on the way. Now the kiddies are helping behind the booth and they got a kick out of it.

My daughter got a poster from Sarah Stone. When she was about to autograph it, my daughter looked horrified and said "But I don't want anyone writing on it". Ms.Stone autographed the back, though. She was really nice to talk to.

Hope to do it again next year.

And if anyone missed it, I'll have Metroplex in the baby carrier again.

[Knockout]

I didn't find the dealers all that busy, as an attendee. Compared to last year, that might because people did all their shopping in the morning so come noon, it died down. Heck, we were able to get Windblade with her windspan in there easily.