Bloody hell, 3 years. And its a full convention now, with a slight name change, and panels on the Friday.
I kinda went into this one with mixed feelings though. My selection of increasingly boring mental health issues had been bothering me in the weeks leading up to the event, while Transformers in general wasn't grabbing me that much. Well, except for Bone Shaker, but I already had him, and I'll be talking about his wavemate soon. I was aware of a need for a holiday, and welcomed the opportunity to see friends. But I wasn't really going in with a shopping list or itinerary. My objectives: try to socialise, and do some good work for charity as part of Toy-Fu. We as a group definitely did that last one, although I continue to struggle with the first.
I regretted not taking a taxi to the station almost immediately, as a bus time table proved to be inaccurate and my burden comical. Back in January, I'd collected an eBay order on Toy-Fu's behalf, and while I am stubborn that only helps so much. I got to the station though, and the journey wasn't too bad. I just needed to have a shower afterwards. Having showered, probably to the benefit of all and sundry, I attempted to socialise while waiting for the Toy-Fu crew to arrive. I found this a touch difficult. At previous events I was able to recognise a few people, less so this time. Seemed a slightly different crowd, although I did manage to use the old “is that robot any good?” technique. This however stopped being a concern once the dealer’s room opened for a late night set-up. This made for a much easier Saturday morning, and a generally more chill experience all round. Which was nice. Not perfect though. For most of Saturday morning my brain played the ending theme to Dragon Half on loop. And by the end of it, I was making the sort of mistakes where I wasn't sure if I was overtired or just an idiot. Those options are not mutually exclusive, given how many toys I’d decided to transport via crowded public transport. On the plus side: those toys mostly sold, I think I pulled my weight, saw a couple of friends in person, and I did find it easier to talk to people in a salesman role. I did eventually get to do some socialising after we’d loaded the van, we had a nice meal, but I was fading fast. And really felt it the next day. Because if it wasn’t the physical exhaustion, it was the fucking clock change.
Anyway. A nice and productive time overall. How was the robot side of things? Uhh, kinda neutral. I did manage to attend one panel, and I did manage to pick up a few indulgences. Reading TFN is still a smaller event than Birmingham TFN, and so both traders and events were scaled to match, so I didn’t find that much. The Hotwheels Collaborative was present, and I know if held off to purchase them there, I’d be a lot more hype. Something-something don’t spoil your dinner. I did however pick up four items, with a majority of the money going to Toy-Fu, because I’m like that. In order of increasing size and cost:
Blokees Galaxy Version Defender Megatron: Yeah, so I brought this to build in the bar, as I’d waited too long to get Tarn. Oh well. If/When I do get Tarn, he can have his idol.
Titans Return Scourge: An obsolete, headmaster-styled version of Galvatron’s bearded lackey. It was cheap though, and I kinda vibe with it.
Dr Wu Great Claw: In the apparent shortage of compelling items from Hasbro I’ve found myself drawn to Dr Wu’s assortment of baby citiformers that are also beastbox. It just makes for a nice treat, although I mustn’t let this become too much of a habit. This one seems to split the difference between Energy Dragon and Iron Fortress, but I’m still getting used to it.
Webdiver Galleon: Look, sometimes you just get an urge for something amazing. Its a Japanese-dragon-robot-pirate-ship. And also a video game accessory. Do I need to say more?
I dunno if any of these are blog material, but I kinda like ‘em.
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