Interview with Lady Wreck on the Transformers Trifecta

You're listening to All Things Transformers,

version 2 .0. Your ears do not deceive you, TFGO

and Mike has taken over All Things Transformers!

Yes, that's right, Steve is off playing with

his rubber duck ear. I don't know, something

Beast Wars Megatron would do. I am TFGO and Mike

and in episode 33 of All Things Transformers

version 2 .0, I wanted to do something a little

different and I got the okay from Steve to do

so and last episode, in episode 32, a couple

months ago, we had the... annual TFCon pre -show

that we do with Proto Man. You know, he gives

us the skinny of what's gonna go on at the convention,

who the guests are, what it was like putting

it together and everything else. Well, this year,

instead of doing three separate post -con shows,

we're gonna do one show, transforming convention

season. Joining me is Lady Rek. Hello. Hello.

It's good to be here. How are you? Yes. Lady

Rick is the mistress of the underbase. She cracks

her whip over there all the time. I'm the one

that's pulling my hair out trying to edit everything,

yes. Yes, that's right. She has been on three

episodes of our other podcast, The Pull Bag,

reviewing robots in disguise with myself and

Ender. It's been explosive. Heads and limbs and

guns. Oh my and your ears are bleeding after

three hours of podcasting, right? Oh My god episode

31 and 32 Combined is over five hours of podcasting

So I'm sorry listeners, I'm very sorry lady wreck

is here And what we're gonna do in a few moments

is I wanted to do something different Larek went

to all three major Transformers conventions.

I did the trifecta this year. Yes. Yes, it was

a good old triple play. She went to BotCon, TFCon,

and Auto Assembly. BotCon is the US brand Transformers

convention. Only official Hasbro. Yes, only official.

TFCon is the quote unquote official Canadian

Transformers Convention and Auto Assembly is

over there where the Brits live. Yep. So there

is that. Why don't you give the folks a little

bit of background on yourself and what got you

into Transformers? Well, what got me into Transformers?

Well, a lot of things got me into Transformers.

The biggest thing being the the the 86. Movie

during that year the series as well. I fell off

the wagon for quite a few years Got back on after

the movies came the the the the US big screen

Movies came out and I had two little boys at

home and I wanted to get back into some of the

shows that I watched as a kid that I thought

that they would enjoy and I kind of got in for

them but also for myself and then I got sucked

into it completely and now I'm podcasting and

running a Transformers comic review of all the

current stuff that's coming out now and and the

fandom has been great if been sucked into that

as well so i don't know you you're i'm here to

stay in your i'm yours i'm sure those are words

james roberts wants to hear from you oh absolutely

there is an out you know there's a list out there

of people of who who are trying to to to be his

number one fan, I'm one of them on the list.

There's a crew of us that were like, oh, now

I am, now I am. Yeah, we haven't gotten really,

really violent yet. Keyword there being yet.

Yeah, keyword being yet. I'm sure eventually

one of these days like now we'll have an all

out war on Twitter somewhere and it'll be epic

and it'll be, you know, it'll radiate through

the fandom for years to come. so before we get

into your recaps of each of these conventions

what possessed you to want to attend three because

these are all you know let's not kid ourselves

us as the hosts and listeners the each of these

conventions is very expect can be very expensive

so what how didn't you getting to go to all three,

how did that come about? Well, I had heard about,

you know, people doing the trifecta. It was like,

oh, are you going to do the trifecta? And so

I was like, oh, it's a brand now, right? But

I had heard good things. And the thing is, is

I honestly really wanted to see what the difference

was between all three. They're the biggest ones

that are out there. And I thought, well, dang,

you know, I want to see how does each convention

do their thing. How did I feel going to each

one? Which one would I say is the one that seems

to be the total package and that type of thing?

Not that I wanted to compare everything, but

I'm a generally optimistic and positive person

so I thought if anybody is going to do it and

do it in a way that seems to be fair to everybody,

I think that I could be that person. I want to

do it for the experience but also just to see

where it rates in my book and put it out there.

I'm glad that you asked me on the show specifically

for that so that I can put my opinion out there

and put it on a podcast forum where people are

like, ìHey, what do you really think about this

?î That was kind of the thinking behind it. I

mean, I didn't I didn't have somebody say hey

go do this for us and we'll podcast Oh, no. No.

Yeah, I I knew from following you on Twitter

and everything else when you were saying or you

know earlier in the year this year about oh,

yeah, I'm going to all three and you know, yeah,

I mean there's a difference in as a fan wanting

to attend the convention and doing it for website

coverage or online blog. There's a huge difference.

I mean, you know, sure, you network, you, you

know, you talk to people and you, you know, you

make new connections for, you know, internet

activity or connectivity and all that. But there's

a big difference in going to BotCon to have fun

and have the experience and going to BotCon with

like six different cameras, 12 different microphones.

You know, I mean, there's a huge difference in

that. So, yeah. Yeah, I mean if I'm going I wasn't

it was just me as a as a fan going I did I did

spend well, I won't get into that when we talk

about each of the the conventions but the the

point of it being is that I you know, I just

had a My husband makes he makes pretty good money

and not like I'm not saying that we're rich or

anything like that But we still have a budget

we still have things that we got a plan for and

stuff like that, but Just I happen to be lucky

enough to have this year made that trip on a

reasonable expense to go to all three and I wanted

to also in addition to all that meet people that

I hadn't met that I'd like only met on social

media or have been following me on a podcast

or on TF not TFW on RFC or or even the under

base and I had yeah so it was one of those things

where I went as a fan to meet fans to see the

difference between the three and just to have

an overall good time so awesome and we'll be

back with BotCon coverage after this hey everybody

this is Dan Kilbazan voice of g1 bumblebee and

you're listening to all things transformers all

right so in this first part of episode 33 Miss

Lady Rek is going to talk about BotCon, the official

Transformers Collectors Convention. BotCon 2013

was held in San Diego, California. June 24th,

27th, I believe? Something like that, yeah. Something

like that. It was early in the season. Yeah,

pretty much. Guests include off the top of my

head general more shower. Yeah, it was the 37th.

Yeah, okay. Yeah Guests off top my head without

looking at bot cons website included general

more shower from the movies included the kid

from the old commercials the entire cast of rescue

bots Yes And a bunch of other people so yeah,

but those are the main people yeah, yeah Walk

us through From planning to actually being there.

How did you go? Like what was your thought process

in? Did you say that you wanted to do? Everything

right, you know not everything right away But

did you say you wanted to have the full -on convention

experience of doing every single thing they had

available to you or no I I basically went on

like when they finally announced when they were

when and where it was gonna be I happen to live

in Arizona. So luckily for me This year being

in California. I thought okay, I'll drive And

at first I was actually going to go in with a

couple of friends and actually go into it like

a suite Which in the past I've been to a couple

other This is like I think my third BotCon and

in the past like I've known I had friends that

had done this thing where they rented a hotel

and they had like a couple of people and they

had like two or three different rooms. And so

I've been kind of cautious about that because

I am a girl and there's a lot of guys that go

to this. But one of my friends, everybody will

know him, it's John Bailey, John 3 .0. He and

his wife were going to go and so they reserved

a room, actually a suite and they had a couple

of rooms. Ended up not working out, but I was

going to actually stay with them and just like,

you know, pay a share of it so that it wouldn't

like, you know, it wasn't going to be free or

anything. I was going to pitch in and all that.

So we're splitting it up and all that. It turned

out that it didn't work out. But luckily. This

is the first year where I was able to actually

get into the hotel. So when he said that he wasn't

sure if he was going to be able to go, I went

ahead and reserved a room. And that's what I

ended up doing. And he and his wife ended up

not being able to go to BotCon. So I was kind

of sad. And they were kind of sad. And everybody

was sad. But it all worked out. So I got in,

which is the first time in the three years that

I've been that I was actually able to get into

the hotel because in the past, because they announce

it so late and because they don't really give

a lot of notice, they tease it on their Twitter

and everybody's waiting for weeks on end to get

into the show. This was the first year where

I did not have a problem getting a hotel room

at the hotel. So I was pretty happy with that

because sometimes it's kind of hard to get in

with the hotel there. And I've kind of run into

some frustration in the past. And I don't know

if that's just because... They put it up and

like it sells out so quickly I don't know why

it does and I've heard some theories on what

it is and I'm not gonna You know hypothesize

what it is. It's just it's a frustration It is

something that will keep I think some fans from

going because it is hard to get into the hotel

Especially if you're coming from a distance now,

I've done, you know three three different conventions

and I'd say by far Coming from a long distance

being able to actually stay at the hotel where

the convention is actually being held is a real

big draw and That's that's definitely not working

in bot cons favor the fact that it sells out

like that and that so I mean It was really really

glad that they had it on such a huge location

this year and that was really really good for

them. I did drive I Wasn't planning on flying

because I thought hey Yes, it's a six -hour drive

for me, which that's nothing. I just pop in an

audio book and I'm on my way. I can make that

in an evening. Husband comes home from work,

say, hey, love you, say goodbye to the kids and

I'm off on my way. I can be there before it gets

too late and too ridiculous. That's what I did

this year and that was never a question. I was

going to drive from the get -go. connections

out there a little bit and ask anybody that was

local here in Phoenix that wanted to go if they

wanted to carpool and it you know No one really

did go so I think a few people might have carpooled,

but they didn't carpool with me Which is which

is fine there. There is a huge TF W2005 forum

group here. We are very active. There are quite

a few and I know even more of them now because

I went to BotCon this year and I met up with

a whole other... group of people that I hadn't

connected with here. So I'm really amazed at

how big of a following there is here in Phoenix.

So hopefully maybe one year they might consider

coming to Phoenix, bring the BotCon crew here.

That would be great. I'd love that. But if they're

in California, I'm planning on probably continuing

to drive there. Now, if it goes distance wise

somewhere else, I'm not sure if I will, but at

least for this year, I think after this last

year, I think I've gotten the full BotCon experience.

Now, planning, I didn't really, I wasn't planning

on... doing like crazy business and going to

every little thing that they have. I definitely

had some things that I definitely wanted to go

to. I wanted to go to all the IDW panels because

I kind of follow that for my own podcast. And

I love all the IDW guys. They're just great.

And I love hanging out with them. I love, you

know, just hearing what they have to say. I love

talking with them about comics. And so it's not

even just comics, but just as people, they're

they're so approachable. It's great. Let's see

what else Yeah, I knew that this year was gonna

be very Rescue bots centric because all of the

cast was there as guests I Looked to see what

artists were gonna be an artist alley. They had

a lot of artists this year an artist alley so

in that they really just kind of hit a really

good vein of a lot of The artists still had to

pay to come to come but there there were a lot

attending this year And so I definitely wanted

to to hit as many of the artists and artists

how not hit them in the face Yes, but maybe you

know, let them hit my wallet and buy some stuff

and and you know Go and talk to them and and

to get some commissions and you know buy stuff

so but yeah that was pretty much the planning

that went into it is that I just I wanted to

to get some of the artists and you know see some

of the panels and hey even meet you know meet

some rescue bots people so that was kind of fun

yeah Now did you did you hang out with Callie

at all for the Puggles? I did actually I didn't

like you know go and knock on her door and stalk

her or anything I mean like when she was in artists

app when she was down on the floor The first

day I she was tweeting out there, so I knew she

was there I came over and actually helped her

set up her table. It was great and I bought a

puzzle Of course, I didn't get there the first

day though because like I could help her set

up But then I had to leave because I wasn't like

officially Officially there with her but she

she got swarmed like when the first two hours

like her stuff goes out But I did get a first

no, I didn't get a first aid it was a red alert.

I got red alert So yes, with her table, it's

definitely a must. You have to hit hers first.

They had her at the first artist alley table

that you came right in the door and she was like

right there and she sold out so fast. It was

like, dang man, you're a big supply, big demand

here. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I saw a couple of

the pictures that she had tweeted out with the

line. Oh yeah. Wow, the line is crazy. The line

early in the day. You have to hit her table first.

Part of it is the fact that they put her right

at the door and it just it's like you're right

at the door. It means you're going to get hit

first and you are going to sell out. She sold

stuff really fast. Yeah. Think she was I think

that first day she was sold out in like an hour

and a half or less something like that She did

hold back like, you know, she oh, yeah. No, she

she held back for you know She brought out like

60 the first day 60 the second day, you know,

she brought out in little waves Yeah, but but

yeah that that's crazy the other thing that You

are think I believe you're thinking about this

or at least wanting to do what you didn't get

to do and I wish I wish somebody I knew got to

do it so I could see video of it or whatever

else was that Tour of IDW. Oh my god, I would

have just I didn't do the big tour like with

that was very costly. It was yeah. No, that's

what I mean I said I wish I knew that I wish

I knew of someone who did do it. So I did get

a chance to go after the fact Yeah, it was more

It was just one -on -one basically. Oh, yeah

I didn't do the whole thing where I got to sit

and you know talk with all the artists and eat

lunch and all of that stuff I did contact I was

it I went to the IDW booth and One of the guys

said, hey, just come on over this morning and

we'll have you take a look around. It's not a

big business. The extra perk that they were doing

was the fact that all of the artists were going

to be there and all of the writers and then the

CEO was going to be there as well. They made

a big to -do out of it. And when I got there,

I think it was the last, it was like Monday morning,

guys, when I went, it was after the convention

was over with and everybody was kind of getting

back to work, as it were. They still had the

sign up that there was a sign outside the IDW

studio that said, you know, welcome guests. It

was cute. It was fun. I got the really fast tour,

let's just say that. I got to see basically everything

that they did, but I didn't get to meet all the

people and all that stuff. I didn't get any of

the goodies or anything like that. I got a chance

to sit and just chat with John for a few minutes.

He showed me around the offices. where everything

gets done and and then later on that afternoon

I was able to go to their their storage facility

where they like bring all of the comics in and

send all of them out and where IDW limited kind

of has their their HQ and how they put all of

their stuff together and it was really interesting

to see that because all of the stuff that the

IDW limited does is All hand done like they get

all of the stuff shipped to them separately and

then they have to hand Put all of the if they

got like art prints that go into the sleeve that

have the box and the books and everything together,

they hand put that together. And so they make

sure that everything is like undamaged, that

everything was done correctly, that they're all

in there and that it's folded correctly. They

even like one of the guys, they wear gloves because

they don't want to put fingerprints on the books

as they're putting them into the sleeves and

everything. So getting to see what they do with

that. Was kind of cool and then of course sometimes

in shipping like when they order some of this

stuff They get it sent to them and before they

put it together They open the box up and inspect

it and sometimes some stuff comes damaged So

they had like a whole section of stuff that had

come that somebody had dropped the box and had

dented a whole bunch of books. And so they couldn't

sell them because they had been dented. And because

this is a premium price that they sell things

for. And so to see like a whole stack of books

there that were like. Basically dented and they

couldn't do it. It's like it's a cost to the

to the company that they can't get back So I

was like, oh man, but I think eventually they

do find a way like they they they find a way

to offload them in one way or another But they

can't really get the cost back that they So it's

like, oh my gosh, it really sucks when that happened

But sometimes that can account for some of the

delays I mean they might not talk about like

all of the delays that that come out but yeah

when they have these big orders of things that

are just that expensive, you know, that can play

a factor and when things come out. So, yeah,

it was a great experience. I enjoyed going out

and hanging out at the IDW offices and just,

you know, getting a chance to see that, even

though it wasn't with the big group. But yeah,

I didn't know anybody either that that went to

that either. So. Yeah. So, okay, so who else?

What celebrities did you want to see when you

were there? For me, celebrities are a little

bit different than other people's celebrities.

My celebrities, of course, are all of the IDW

people and the artists. So I wanted to see all

of those guys, especially people that I had never

met before. Like Alex Milne. This was the first

time I met Alex Milne. The first time I met Marigrid.

Let's see who else. There's a lot of people there.

The first time I officially met, who else did

I officially meet? I met Robbie Rousseau. My

brain is spinning right now because it's been

a couple of months since I was there. Let's see.

Oh, I know I'm going to miss somebody. Oh, Josh

Burcham. I had never met Josh Burcham before,

so that was cool. And then I saw guys that I

met already like last year that that I've already

got like, you know. good talking with them all

the time. Anytime I see them, it's like, oh,

it's seeing my buddies again, right? I got to

see Andrew Griffith, Livio, Remindeli, Casey

Coller. I mean, just like everybody else that

was there that I hadn't met for a while. Oh,

and I met Joanna Lafuente for the first time

too. So that was fantastic. She was fun. And

it was exciting just to meet the people that

are like really long distance that I've never

seen before. So there's that. I did get to meet

a few people that I didn't expect with the the

I went to the panels for the rescue bots characters

and all that and they were fantastic to see the

energy that just bounces between the character

like the people that played the characters basically

but one of the people that has been following

The rescue center that I've been doing with Nicole

hailstorm in the fandom One of our fans happens

to be the one of the writers That's on the show

and her name is Nicole Duboc And so I got a chance

to meet her too And the fun thing about this

is that I don't know how she knew about this,

but she wanted to get one of my wrecking rules

So one of the other ladies that works with her

I don't even know who she was because I don't

even remember what her name was She said I want

to buy a shirt for Nicole. I was like, oh cool.

That's awesome She's like and so I didn't have

the shirts on me right then but she said come

back tomorrow and and I'd like to buy one for

her and so one of my wreck and rule shirts got

bought by her and then when she got one I think

two other people bought one too. So There might

be some people that work on the cast of rescue

bots that own my shirt I love them. They're they're

great and I feel bad because I haven't gotten

back to to reviewing rescue center because it's

been really really crazy busy and and Nicole's

gotten in her accident whatnot so it's it's it's

been challenging and I've just been too too busy

to to pull it push in another podcast so I'll

just I'll get to it as we can as I can get to

it but but yeah That was a blast. I did not expect

that. And it was really good to have that happen.

I like little happy accidents like that. Now,

are you one of those people that has to go to

the dealer room? No, not necessarily. I did spend

time, of course, in the dealer room because Artist

Alley and the dealer floor was in the same room.

quite a bit of time in the artist's alley. I'd

say most of my time in the artist's alley. But

I did walk around the floor. I did go into a

couple other places. But I usually don't go there

to find toys. And so I usually don't make too

many. Rounds outside of I mean I went to the

IDW booth a lot I Checked out what they had in

the way of shirts and stuff because I always

like you know adding to my shirt collection as

well Not just you know providing another collector's

item for people who might want a shirt But yes,

so I did I did go around the doula room and there

were some really cool people there And I did

actually because I know this is the first year

that we've had big bad toy store for a while

I went and said hi to a few of those guys and

asked them about their their time there and you

know They they were really great and they were

completely approachable and he asked some questions

and stuff like that said yeah, I'm I because

I Said that I was there from RFC And that I wanted

to see how they were doing and how their sales

were just because I knew that this is the first

year in a while And they said that they actually

did pretty good I don't know if they were like,

you know, they're trying to quote me stuff. But

yeah, yeah But it was it was good. They were

they were completely approachable and they were

very professional about it. So yeah That's awesome.

Now the what panels did you go to see? Were there

any panels that were scheduled that conflicted

with something else that you wanted to see? Was

there any of the hard choices you had to make?

Not really, because they didn't have multiple

panels on at the same time. They only had one

panel room that had stuff. So I did go to everything

that I... I'm trying to think now what ones I

did go to what ones I skipped I didn't go to

the third party one where they talked about all

the third party stuff But I did go to the official

Transformers one where they had like, you know

All the stuff that that Hasbro was putting out.

I went to all of the IDW panels I went many were

there there were two actually there was one that

was on the publishing side and then one that

was actually just for IDW comics They talked

about like Dark Cybertron and they tease things

and stuff like that Both were great they you

know two different things that you know Hasbro

publishing they covered all of the the extra

little tidbits of stuff that's coming out like

The the transformable book I know I'm saying

this wrong because it's not necessarily It's

not That's not what they called it. They called

it something else. I can't remember what it's

called. They also talked about the covenant of

Primus, the book that's coming, the Retribution,

Transformers Retribution, which is the third

in the series of Exodus. They they talked about

all of the publishing side of things that they

were that they were doing that IDW May have had

a hand or may not have had a hand in but it's

all the stuff besides the comics And then of

course the comics they talked about more than

ECI robots in disguise. They teased dark Cybertron.

They talked about monstrosity They talked about

regeneration. So it's just kind of across the

board And then they also spent a little bit of

time talking with some of the the artists that

were there as well now Before the bot con actually

kicked off I did I was approached by levio and

he asked if I'd be interested in maybe doing

just a creator panel And asked me if I'd like

to to to host that To moderate it and I said

sure you bet so I came With the plan, because

he said he was going to contact the people that

ran BotCon and see if there was space for it.

And it turned out that it didn't work out. But

I planned a whole panel discussion. I planned

on introducing and talking the creators and just

about them. I had that all planned, so they didn't

do it. Which was fine. I mean, I'm not like,

you know, I'm really hurt that they didn't do

it It's like nice it happens like that. Sometimes

you just kind of come prepared and See where

it goes and that's what I did. I had a whole

thing prepared for it and it didn't work out

So I was alright that That would have been my

first time ever hosting a panel So I probably

would have freaked out anyhow, but it would have

all turned out of course, but you know I was

prepared either way but John actually, because

they were having, I think, a few little technical

difficulties just before the IDW panel took off.

So for like about 15, 20 minutes, he kind of

held it together with something similar to probably

what I would have done for a whole hour. Because

he's an expert like that because he does this.

He has to deal with PR all the time. Yeah, you

know, I'm sure that it was no problem whatsoever

kind of throwing it out there getting it together

and hey, you know Well, while we're waiting,

let's talk to some of the creators So that was

fun but yeah, that was I Got as many panels as

I could I tweeted about as many stuff as I could

Yeah, it was it was fun. It was good What was

the BotCon nightlife like? It was sorely lacking,

to be honest. Really? It wasn't like... No certain

creators drunk on mechanical bowls or anything

like that? Oh no, that was stuff that happened

with the... Transformers Prime had kicked off

and and you know Merrick good tweeted about that.

That was fantastic. I loved it No, the thing

is with My nightlife was actually a blast but

a bot -con as a convention Providing a whole

lot of nightlife. It was okay. I wouldn't say

that it was like the best But the biggest problem

was that, OK, after going to three different

conventions and having been going to conventions

for the last three years, the biggest thing that

I think that fans enjoy at a convention is hanging

out in the bar and just chatting and drinking

and having a good time. just hanging out. BotCon

does try to make it like a family thing. They

had like the movie on the lawn, which I didn't

go to because I was with other people. And they

also have Casino Night. And Casino Night is great

if you are one of those fans that happen to decide

that you're going to get the box set this year.

If you're not a box set attendee, you don't get

to go to Casino Night. because that's for full

weekend passes who have bought the box set. Right.

This is the year that I decided to go as a mini

con, which there have been some people out there

that have said the mini cons are like not even

human. That's the way that they're kind of treated

at BotCon. And I have to say I kind of agree

with that assessment. The good thing about it

is though that I was able to attend casino night

because that is kind of in the mini cons repertoire

of what they're able to do in terms of buying

stuff at the store, though. It was kind of limited

for the mini con and that's where it's kind of

frustrating because The general public gets to

have more perks than even the mini con doesn't

in some ways because of that But I still had

fun Like I said, they had the the movie on the

lawn and they had the the casino night the the

real kind of downer is is that the bar there

closed they had a bar that was right there on

the hotel grounds and it was a very good size

in the past there have been smaller bars and

so it hasn't been nearly as as enjoyable but

and and this is the the problem that happens

quite a bit when you go to bot con is the fact

that the bar usually and ends and closes up very

early compared to where the bar ends at other

conventions now I mean I don't know how late

bars usually open and stay open till but at other

conventions usually it's open really really late

because fans are there hanging out and hey you

know they're making money if they're you know

if you're at the bar you're more likely gonna

be buying a couple beers and that's money in

the in the bar's pocket but at BotCon this year

it closed at they had the last call for alcohol

at 11 30 and by midnight they were closed up

and by 12 30 we had you know Hotel security asking

people to leave and go go to their hotel rooms

because they were keeping people up which is

Understandable, but here's the thing is that

they have a hall we could have gone into the

bar But because it closed we didn't have that

and the one thing that I've kind of noticed and

this is the biggest thing that I think really

is the tipping point for for BotCon is the fact

that at other conventions fans, adult fans, really

spend their whole year working toward hanging

out with their friends. And then when the bar

closes at midnight, it's kind of the deal breaker.

I think a lot of the criticism, I think if that's

just the one thing that I could say that BotCon

would change, I think they would notice after

a couple of conventions of allowing that and

making it available for adult fans, that the

criticism might die down a little bit, that people

would be all right with it more than they have

in the past because getting a chance after waiting

a year to go to a convention where you know all

your friends are going to be at, where you're

going to buy toys, where you're going to get

to hang out and listen to panels of voice actors

or what other people that BotCon arranges to

have for panelists. Think after a year of planning

for that and then not being able to hang out

on The campus where their convention is happening

and and being able to hang out with their friends

I mean, it's just it's just that added touch.

I think that that bot con is is lacking Because

let me you know If I was coming from a distance

whenever when I went to TF con and auto assembly

this year I didn't rent a car. I flew as close

to to the convention as I possibly could. I,

you know, came to the hotel. I stayed pretty

much at the hotel the whole time. Having a bar

right there is kind of the best thing ever because

it's right there. I don't have to pay for a taxi

to go somewhere else. And in that, you are incredibly

limited friends. Not all friends are going to

be able to fit into one car and go to a bar.

Having fans from different forums all meet up

at the same bar is kind of helpful if you are

on every single forum. You want to hang out with

your different groups of people that you haven't

seen for a year or have been talking to for a

year. So it's just it's just one of those little

things. And I think if there was anything that

I could suggest to BotCon that would change,

that would make a big change really quick. I

think that would be the tipping point right there.

Personally I was hanging out with Friends that

were artists that happened to work for IDW and

So I was hanging out with IDW people. I was going

and hanging out at like I went to dinner with

Alex not Alex Andrew Griffith and Livio A few

other people like, you know, John Barber might

have been there Might have been there. You don't

remember. He was there. He was there. I'm just

teasing a little bit No, I got a chance to go

out to dinner a couple of times were there IDW

people there I'm I have I also got a chance to

go karaoke with Chris Maori and Andrew Griffith.

And that was a blast. I really had a blast because

I got a chance to hang out with some of the people

that I've talked with over the last year or have

been following their comics or whatever. That

was the best. And it had nothing to do with BotCon,

unfortunately. BotCon was just the meeting place.

It was the vehicle for us getting together. But,

you know, that wasn't BotCon's doing for that.

So I did have a blast in the evenings, but it

wasn't because of BotCon. When I finished some

of that stuff up, then I'd go, you know, when

I get back to the hotel location, then, of course,

I went to the bar. And at that point, I got a

good hour in before. everybody had to call it

a night because it was the end of the bar basically

so it just it sounds like bot con is you know

a 70 year old man living in florida okay it's

4 30 i'm going to bed it kind of does seem like

that i mean casino night is fun it is fun to

sit down and play games and hang out with your

friends and and of course like you know if you

want to do the whole thing and get all dressed

up for casino night and stuff like that. You

can do that, too. And then luckily for me this

year, I got a chance to. I ran it ran into Wally

Burr and after the casino night, because you

you know, you win credits or whatever, you know,

make money and then they have a little auction

afterwards. And so you get to auction. Some people

will go in and they'll. combine all of their

stuff to be able to get some toy or whatever.

But it's all for charity. You can buy more stuff

if you want and that goes to charity. But afterwards

when they had the auction, Wally Burr was just

walking around and he was going to go to the

auction. I sat down, I ran into him and started

talking to him. And that was fun because I was

like, I know people that have tried their whole

lives to get in touch with Wally Burr. I was

like, I'm going to sit down and say hi to this

guy. This is great. And he was charming. He was

he was awesome. It's one of the highlights of

of my summer was getting a chance to just hang

out and be in the presence of somebody. Great.

It was great. Oh, that's fantastic. But yeah.

That was fun. It was a blast. All right. After

this, we're going to come back and Amy's going

to talk about TFCon. Me Grimlock, not Podcaster.

Me Grimlock King. All right. So after Amy wrapped

up her BotCon travels, she headed north to Canada.

Canada, huh? That's right. Canada, yes. Canada.

She went to TFCon Toronto, which is Canada's

largest fan -run Transformers convention. This

was your first time going to TFCon, right? It

was. It was. Luckily for me, like I said, all

of my experience does make it much more awesome

because I know a lot of the artists. So when

I went there, I previously arranged with Alex

Milne. He picked me up. Took me to the hotel

which I flew in to the US side And so I didn't

go the whole way to Canada into Toronto because

I it's like an extra three to four hundred dollars

just to fly that extra little distance over the

border and so I was like I am cheap I Don't think

most fans would like to you know go to a convention

at the cheapest they possibly can. So I did go.

He picked me up and I went across the border

with him and his fiance. And he dropped me off

at the hotel and it was great. I did spend time

there with him and so it was cool. And so, yeah,

I got a chance to go to TFCon. When I was at

BotCon, actually, I ran into the guy that runs

TFCon. I don't remember his name. I can picture

his face, but. and I'm sure there are people

out there that know him better than I do. It's

either Super Megatron or Protoman. No, it wasn't

Protoman. Yeah, I know Protoman. This is the

other guy. He's taller and he's skinnier. Oh,

Colin? Probably that that that sounds familiar

But yeah, he he was there at BotCon and he happened

to say hey You should come to TFCon and I was

like I am actually planning on going to TFCon

this year So it was good to to run into him there.

Of course, cuz you know, he was it was his convention

He was running it. Um, I I mean I ran into him

after the show had started What was another question,

um, how is like Your whole process for TF con.

Okay, so I got there I Checked in you know, I

I knew that I knew of a few people that I knew

were gonna be there But I really wasn't sure

I know of a few people that I follow on Twitter

that go there my whole idea for going to TF con

was to me some of the fans that I've never met

before and Some of the fans that I've never met

before and then some of the fans that that may

have heard me but I haven't met them and so that's

why I went and pretty much stayed at the hotel

the whole time. I didn't like go out and tour

too much around just driving with Alex and his

fiance. I got a chance to see a little bit of

Toronto because we stopped by a store and picked

up a few things so it was on the way. The hotel

was great. It was very accommodating. I really,

really liked the hotel that they have TFCon at.

The interesting thing that I found when I went

from going to BotCon then to a fan run convention

is that they've been having the same... convention

at the same hotels for the last couple years.

TFCon seems to be having had their convention

at the same hotel for quite a few years. The

hotel staff are kind of at the point where it

seems like they've got this really great working

relationship with TFCon because they were very

warm and welcoming and The bar staff were just

incredible. Some people would say that there

were four ladies there and a guy behind the bar

that were running it, and there were some delays

with the food, which was understandable when

you've got that many fans at the bar. There's

going to be some delays and some mix -ups and

stuff like that, and there were some of those.

They were so incredibly cheerful. The ladies

continued to have lots of energy. They did their

best to be very accommodating. And like the last

day, just before, I think that day I was getting

ready to leave, or actually I was the night just

before, the main lady that was kind of running

the whole weekend convention, I went up to her

and of course complimented her because I knew

how much work that they had gone into that. Having

that many fans around to have to cater to is

it's a lot of work I expected that it would be

a lot of work I could see that it was a lot of

work for them And I wasn't like, you know trying

to make it worse for them But I noticed and they

were doing the best that they could do with the

situation And I told her afterwards I said, you

know, hey, thanks. It was great to meet you and

and you guys did a great job I don't know if

anybody ever said anything to you or said that

but I thought I'd say and she was like, oh you're

so sweet and then she asked me are you coming

back next year and It just struck me when she

said that that oh my gosh she does this every

year and she's expecting to do it again next

year and That was a huge kudos points to me at

the TF con like convention the hotel staff I

thought wow now that is really cool that you

have it at the same hotel every year the staff

are planning for you to be there again next year

and they're expecting you to come back next year

and I really really like that little extra to

that convention because of that it was like well

now that's that's cool that is really really

cool that really impressed me. And that's maybe

not something that anybody that goes to TFCon

has ever mentioned, but the hotel, that's a really

good working relationship there that they have.

If the staff is saying, hey, you're going to

be back next year, that's great. The hotel was

great. It was just awesome. Awesome. What panels

or what activities were you planning on attending

for TFCon? Well, the the one thing that I definitely

wanted to hit because Vangelis, who also went

to BotCon this year, kind of teased it. He said,

you have to join the faction feud. So I was like,

OK, what is this? It's basically it's family

feud, except with a Transformers theme called

Faction Feud. And it was hosted by Mr. Vangelis

and. It was fantastic. I did not know what I

was getting myself into. He said basically you

just come if you don't have a group that you

want to like, you know, go and do the game with,

then you can just sign up. And so I went and

signed up. I didn't even know the people that

were on my team, but we had a blast and we got

second place. Oh, sweet. I didn't know any of

the toy questions because they were really heavy

with the toy questions and it flew over my head.

I guessed on a few things and I got it right,

thankfully. But, you know, it was really good.

I had a blast doing it and I highly recommend

anybody that goes to TFCon. go and join the faction

feud even if you don't have a team it's okay

because there are other people there that go

that don't have teams either and and you can

meet new people that way i i the guy that was

our kind of our captain i i he's you know following

me on facebook and i followed him back and i've

been in touch with him a couple times since then

it was just it was really cool to to do that

so The cosplayers there were fantastic actually

I have to say the cosplayers at every convention

this year were right because there was a really

awesome Cyclonus at BotCon this year that was

just like whoa That's more than meets the eye

Cyclonus and I actually met the girl that did

that costume Afterwards because I didn't realize

it was her Just this last I think August I went

to go see What was it Pacific Rim. And she was

there with one of the other TFCon ladies that

I met at TFCon that now I'm like, oh, there's

a big following from the Phoenix area. But we

met up afterwards. In August, I think it was

in August, or maybe it was July. It was after

the convention. And whenever Pacific Rim came

out, the opening weekend of that. I met her and

I was like, oh, so you're the girl that did the

cyclonus cosplay. She's like, yes, I did that.

He's like, oh, that's so cool. I took pictures

of you and I had no idea. Yeah, the TF con group,

they had cosplayers that were pretty amazing.

They had a lady there, a girl that was Rodimus

from more than ECI, and she made Rodimus stars.

And so I got a Rodimus star for Rodimus. And

if you're reading the comics, you'll know what

that is. But if you're not, you'll be like, I

don't get it. Oh, it's fun. Fun. Good times and

auto assembly. They had some really good cosplayers,

too. So this was my first year actually at auto

assembly where I did cosplay. I didn't really

go in and see the actual panel where they had

like all of the cosplayers get up. It was just

me walking past and seeing who the cosplayers

were at TFCon this year. But they were all the

ones that I did see I was I was pretty impressed

with them and then like with TF con what they

do is the first the half Like they have the two

-day convention, right? Saturday is the Transformers

convention and then Sunday they open it up for

all kind of Transformers and all toys and all

All comic books and for like like so it turns

into basically a geek convention Like, you know,

you would get at any regular comic con. And so

that's what we did on that day. So on that day,

all of the storm troopers came out and they had

a really good Darth Vader. It was like Transformers

are being invaded by the storm troopers. It was

great. I had a blast. That was that was fun to

see those guys just kind of tromping around going,

Whoa, wow. OK, so suddenly, you know, this is

this is, you know. We're not in Kansas anymore.

It was great. There were a few of the artists

there that also did the trifecta this year. I

think Livio, Ramandelli, Alex Milne, and I think

Andrew Griffith. All three of those artists did

the trifecta this year as well. Oh, I take that

back. Leo didn't because he he was an auto assembly

this year. OK, my bad. Livia wasn't there, but

he was there last year. Oh, my goodness. Oh,

this is what happens when you start going to

conventions. You say the years start blending

together. Yeah. It's like, wait, did that happen

at this, this, or this one? Oh, goodness. Overall,

what was your overall experience for TFCon? Overall

experience for TFCon, I had a blast. I've had

a few people ask me, so which would you go for

out of the fan conventions, TFCon or auto assembly?

And sadly, I would say auto assembly still, but

only because I know more people there than at

TFCon, and I've gone there for the last three

years. This was my first TFCon convention. And

I remember, of course, my first auto assembly,

which was a blast, too. So I did have a blast.

I got to meet people that I had never met before.

They did their first karaoke night this year,

which was a blast. Oh my gosh. It was like they

did the first first year of auto assembly having

the first year that I went to auto assembly.

They also had karaoke and they've had it ever

since too. But I guess for this year it was a

total win because everybody was like into it

and it went like full speed ahead for like two,

three solid hours before it started filtering

out and people started losing interest. It was

really great. They did a great job. with it everybody

was having a blast I tried the pool the poutine

and I had fun with that I loved it I had it every

night after that because I liked it and I can't

wait to go back to have more um let's see what

else uh let's see I had they did the the two

voice actors that they had there um they had

uh Jack Angel and Dick Gothier yeah Alter Magnus

and Rodimus They I Had fun and they also had

let's see who else they had they had Venus who

played black arachnia. Let's see. Yes, I Know

I'm missing somebody there was some there was

another person. I don't remember who I did get

signatures from all of them wasn't the Some of

them weren't necessary signatures for myself.

I got Jack Angel. I got Dick Gothier. I didn't

get Venus because that was not that I didn't

like her. I think she was great. She still sounded

like they did the they did a panel. You know,

at BotCon, they do the same thing where they

have the script reading. They have it at fan

conventions as well. It might be written by different

people. But they do pull in the voice actors

for that. And she was great. She was. right on

par, like all of them were. They were all great.

The best thing about Jack and Dick were the fact

that when I went down and got signatures from

them, I got pictures with them. And Jack is such

a sweetheart. He had to give me a hug and that

was so great. I loved him. He's so wonderful.

The thing is, is that like he... The scary thing

I guess I you think about these guys are like

the guys that voiced the characters from way

back when and so they Seeing them getting more

and more aged every year is kind of like oh It's

like seeing you know people that you really love

You know getting older and you're like you get

a little worried for them because you're like,

oh my gosh, you know they're not gonna be with

us forever and You know cuz they're like, you

know you get to a point where you're like you

recognize them and you know who they are and

you're like Oh, you know, you hope the best for

them. But seeing them, you know, Jack was still

just as spry as ever. And I did see him a couple

of times, like once in the bar. So I was like,

oh, that's great. I didn't see Dick, though,

because he they did wheel him in in a wheelchair.

So I'm sure at the evening hours are probably

like, no, I'm getting told for this. The other

one was Marilyn Lightstone, who was the voice

of Grasher and Pathfinder. those shows. I remember

seeing it a little bit, but they didn't connect

with me like Transformers did. I didn't get anything

from her, but she did great when they had the

script reading. It sounded what I remember hearing

of her. So her voice is carried over very well.

So but yeah TF con as an experience was really

great. I highly recommend Definitely going to

a fan convention People are so much more approachable

though. That's one thing I really really liked

about going the difference between if you wanted

to compare between a fan run convention and the

Hasbro official one is the fact that you will

probably get a chance to hang out in the bar

and see a voice actor hanging out there. They're

approachable. They try to, at BotCon, they keep

this... big wide girth between you and the voice

actors. But it seems like at fan -run conventions,

they want you to have an opportunity to be able

to go up and say hi to these guys and shake their

hand and ask them how they're doing and actually

just be around them as human beings rather than

just, oh, you're a celebrity and we need to...

Only get your signature and get you out of line

as soon as possible because there's like five

billion other people in line, too Yeah, um the

lines were not nearly as huge as they were at

bot con Not that they they were really big this

year either because it seemed like that. It was

a smaller bot con this year Um, and maybe rescue

bots is not that much of a draw for people. I

don't know for me It was I was like hey rescue

bots is fun. I've been reviewing it. It's great

my kids love it and and I love the people the

The love the people to play the actors because

they're just pouring with personality It was

great and you kind of have to have that with

a kids show because there has to be that much

energy to to make it that cute and Adorable and

you know, you want to scoop there? It's great

But TF con I I really did like it as a weekend

pass person I got a chance to to get in line

to get signatures before the general population

got a chance to do that. So that was very helpful

to get through the lines really quick. And they

weren't really that bad, to be honest. I've been

in longer lines at BotCon. Yeah, I'm sure. And

it was all right if I said hi to the voice actors

a little bit. I know that I've had some people

and I've never really done the BotCon lines because

I've been told, oh, they're really long or the

times that I have tried to get in, they've gotten

cut off. in front of me and that's frustrating

because if you're going to stand in line you're

going to go to a convention where there's going

to be a voice actor you don't want to have to

pay to get a signature from them you want to

be able to get in line and get to go see them

and when you're they have cutoffs that's it's

kind of frustrating because people will you know

get in line way in advance or they're just lingering

outside because all they are there for is just

to get a signature. And if I'm going to drive

from a distance or fly from a distance, I'm going

to want to do that. But I want to have a complete

experience, not just go, oh, I'm only going to

get a signature from Peter Cullen. The only thing

they went to go do is I've had people say that

I've only went here just to get a signature from

Peter Cullen. So they hung out the whole time.

I know we're talking about TFCon now, but I should

have brought this up earlier, but the problem

with BotCon and the whole celebrity thing, who

can get an autograph from Peter Cullen nowadays

because they cap the line or they make it a lotto

or they make it a raffle. I get it. I get it.

He's got he's a very he's the prominent face.

Everybody wants to get a signature from Peter

Cullen. The good thing about having That is that

for that year, the year first year that I went,

they had Transformers Prime. They did a script

reading of one of the panels or not one of the

panels of one of the shows. And they had pretty

much the whole cast in front of the whole audience.

That was gold for me. Yeah, that was gold. It

was so much fun to actually see them in action

and to be in the same room with Peter Cullen

was just like. You know, you know Ambrosia right

there. Yeah And you know cuz I've never met the

guy I've you know, I'm probably just that fan

girl that would sit in the back just good And

that pretty much was me but I was sitting like

second row I was like within, you know jumping

distance of being in his presence. It was great

But just to see that, that was a good moment.

That was really cool. And I'm really glad that

Balkan was able to do that. And you could only

be able to do that in California because they

won't be able to do that in... halfway across

the country because they're not gonna as much

as Hasbro is really awesome because they make

the toys and you know they still have a business

to run and they don't have they're not made of

money and they can't just fly all of these guys

cast members and all you know anywhere in the

world just for a convention. If they're gonna

do it, it's gonna be in California and that is

the biggest perk That is the biggest draw for

BotCon for me is knowing that when they have

it in California It's very likely that we could

have a surprise of a whole cast being up in front

of an audience, doing a reading of one of the

animated shows, if that happens to be out that

year. Now, you know, Transformers Prime is over

with, so I don't expect it to happen again next

year. But that was a really great moment when

they did that. And I really, you know, that's

the... When you say the whole cast, you mean...

Cat the ones that were attending not the entire

cast of the show Well, they pretty much had everybody

there except the lady that plays RC There were

just like two or three of the of the cast that

weren't there they had ratchet voice of ratchet

Jeffrey Coombs they had sound wave Oh, that's

right. They also didn't have Megatron because

I don't think I was gonna say that I was trying

to Tiptoe around that because Frank doesn't do

any conventions from what I know Frank wasn't

there the the lady that did RC wasn't there there

was just like maybe one or two maybe three that

weren't there everybody else was that's almost

a complete cast well yeah That was kind of cool.

Here's the other thing that I kind of wish that

BotCon would do. If you know that situation is

going to be like that, where you're going to

have a cast of people that are going to be there,

you know, I would be willing if they... Decided

if you're gonna be one of those people one of

those fans That's gonna go and get signatures

from Peter Cullen or whatever and you know that

you're gonna cap the line Would it not be something

that you can ask ahead of time to see if he can

sign like some prints ahead of time and Like

have those for sale in the store Like maybe over

like 200 300. I don't know. I don't know what's

reasonable but work something out. So it's like

if you're gonna get a signature from Peter Collin

great here you know go and actually get a physical

one from him right here here's your line if you're

not going to get into the line because you know

that it's way too long or we've got it capped

off or whatever would it not be something that

you could actually sell They would make money

off of it, too But like I would be willing to

do something like that and get a nice Like a

print of his face or something and have him see

it sign it or whatever or or have him sign something

like, you know Transformers Prime little print

or something like that, you know Something so

that people can get a chance to kind of feel

like they they got a chance to get something

from him without actually Taking up his time

like that. I don't know. It's one of those really

weird things that you just wonder, you know who

maybe the Is something that it would be great

and I don't know if that'd be there's a lot of

little things that I wish that I could do Just

like give like suggestions that aren't like hey

I know that there's a lot of negative criticism

out there about this But have you ever thought

about like maybe getting a group of fans like

from different corners of the fandom and asking?

What are some really good like proactive? Suggestions

that we can do to make it more enjoyable for

fans because hey, you know It's something that

if they really cared about it that they could

actually foster a little bit more enthusiasm

and positivity for their convention if they thought

outside the box a little bit. I have quite a

few suggestions that I would throw at them if

I would feel like they would listen. I'm not

a typical fan. the staff of BotCon point this

out almost every year that I've gone and I've

and I've because I've I've botched it up in a

in a sense where I've gotten there a little bit

late for the casino night and usually they have

dinner and so I'll go run in there and get dinner

by then my friends have already like congregated

somewhere else and they've already had eaten.

So I've gone in, I've grabbed a bite to eat real

quick. The fan staff, or not the fan staff, the

con staff are usually still there eating. And

for the last three years, I've actually sat down

near or at their table and just hung out, not

really talked a lot, but listened in. And some

people will say, well, you know, it's like you're

spying. No, no, I just just generally just kind

of sitting down trying to get to know them. And

every single time they say the same thing, you

know, as the as the dinner finishes up and and

they kind of say, hey, you know, we've seen you

around. You don't seem like the typical fan.

You just don't seem like you belong here. And

I'm like, I take this as a compliment, obviously,

because, you know, I don't look like the typical

fan. Sometimes I don't even act like it. And

I I don't know. I don't cosplay like other people

do and when I'm there I kind of I'm a very conservative

person So like I dress very conservatively and

I just don't look like I belong there And so

I take it as a compliment and you know, they

don't mean it as an insult either So but you

know as a person that because I've I do other

things I'm like Transformers is not the only

thing that I enjoy doing I have other things

that like doing and as a person I'd like to make

a professional, like, entrance into that type

of forum. I mean, I'd love to write comics. I'd

love to write books. I'd love to do some of that

stuff. I just haven't gotten it yet, and I haven't

done anything with it. But, like, so the way

I carry myself is always in a professional manner.

And so I think that kind of wears off on them.

But as a person who does other things, And my

whole life doesn't center around Transformers,

although sometimes it does. I think I could provide

a very interesting perspective that could help

kind of band things together in a sense. I just

haven't had the guts to go out there and say,

OK, hey, guys, Mr. Savage. And I don't remember

who the other guy is that runs BotCon. Would

you be open to some suggestions on a very constructive

sense? Because I could totally be that person.

Yeah, that's probably Pete Sinclair that you're

thinking of. Yeah, Mr. Sinclair, that's right.

All right, so we've veered off of... Yeah, I

know. But that's all right. We're going to take

a quick break. It's all good stuff, right? It's

all about conventions, right? Yes, that's right.

We're going to take a quick break and we're going

to come back and talk about the Brits behind

their backs. Behind their backs. What is this

I sense the taint of primus I think we've hit

pretty much everything that has anything to do

the conventions, right? Well except for that

crazy Brit convention. Yeah. Yeah, we'll get

there speaking of which auto assembly. Yes auto

assembly This is the one you've been going to

for the past three years, correct? This is the

one that I've been going to the longest because

I went to auto assembly before I ever stepped

foot a bot con or a TF con or any other convention

like a comic con ever I went to auto assembly

which the only reason why I did that is because

I started podcasting and I knew so many people

from that I had so many people that I had talked

with that had glowing things to say about it

and I trusted the people that I was talking with

even though I'd never met them before I also

was Nicole also was a very big Vehicle for getting

me interested as well because she had been there

a couple times I thought well dang if Nicole

has gone over there as a single lady and she's

had fun and a blast these guys have got to be

like the best ever and They weren't kidding So

yes, my biggest thing with auto assembly and

I think this plays a big role into how much enjoyment

I get out of it is the fact that I do know quite

a few people there and every year that I've gone

I've met new people and I've Like the first year

that was my first convention every year after

that like Another thing that happened to the

first year that I was there is that we had people

it's kind of funny the the English When they

realize that there's a Transformers convention

going on It's like handing a kid candy for the

first time. Anybody that I've run into, they're

like, hey, what is this gathering? What are you

guys doing here? What's this convention that

you're at? And we say, oh, it's a Transformers

convention. They're like, really? I didn't know

they had those. I like Transformers. It's like

everybody that I've talked to that doesn't know

what we're there for and that happens to just

be knocking along. The English are really good

about that. I've not had the same reaction with

other people. I haven't had that many people

ask questions like, what is this convention here

that you're doing? They just seem to be so communicative

there and enthusiastic that it's kind of fun.

That's one little thing about auto assembly that

I like the fact that people walking past that

are just normals, normal people. Happen to be

really enthusiastic about it when they find out

what it is. So it's it's pretty cool Auto assembly

the other perk that I have is because I do the

podcast I think a lot of the people that run

the convention know who I am So I kind of get

perks that other people probably don't get Get

a chance to go in and walk around the floor before

it the whole thing opens I can go in and talk

with anybody that any of the the the Any of the

guests any of the the the special guests any

of the voice actors that type of thing and I

don't abuse it I'm really really Conscious about

like they're there. They're also running something

for fans and they're not you know, it's They

want to be they keep boundaries. They try to

keep those boundaries and keep the room the the

space for like the voice actors and stuff. I'm

not saying now everybody's just like in their

room and, you know, we're having a party out

there. Although it does happen. You get Scott

McNeil there and hey, we're going to party. Yeah,

you get Scott McNeil anywhere and hey, we're

going to party. Very, very true. Very true. But

yeah, they're they're very professional, but

I also get a chance to kind of get in there and

have an opportunity to to hang out with people

that they don't necessarily let anybody off the

street do. I haven't gotten an official word.

It's just like, oh, it's just Amy. You can go

in. You know who you are. Just go in. You're

all right. I was like, oh, OK, cool. And I don't

abuse it. So I'm very, very thankful that they

allow that and they tolerate my being, oh, can

I go in? It's really kind of fun. The good thing

this year that they haven't done in PADI, well,

they've done a few things in years past. The

biggest thing about Auto Assembly is that it's

a fan run convention and going there as a fan,

hanging out with fans who are running the convention

who are also, you know, It's just it's a fan

run convention. It's it's fun. It's great fun

and everybody gets to geek out and be who they

are and One of the things that I think they they

really kind of have there as well. Is that the

guests? Like the voice actors They also it's

like they're one of the fans as well. They're

talking about their passion about working on

it and Like they just there's this really really

cool energy there. There's a There's a chemistry

between like Dave Wallace for the last three

two years or is it three? I don't remember has

been the MC that kind of announces everything

and The just the chemistry between him and some

of the voice actors have been very really great

It's like they kind of were talking like they've

been old friends for years Although it might

be the first time that they've ever met like

each other. Yeah, and that's a really really

kind of nice It adds to the convention to be

able to kind of have that energy. And I don't

know if it's just Dave or if it's just something

specific to auto assembly. But each convention

will have something different about them. And

that's one thing that I've noticed about auto

assembly is there is this really, really great

energy there in that regard. It's probably a

combination of a couple of things, but it's really

great. And that makes it feel very accessible.

Everybody gets a chance, we're all in the same

room, all of the voice actors, the dealer room

and the artist. the artist alley is also in one

all in the same room and it's a huge room and

I think the reason why they're able to do that

is because it hasn't gotten too huge although

they are getting there where it's getting like

way way big and they might you know I don't know

if it'll be like that forever but that's what

the way that they've kind of handled it I think

this last year they said they had over 800 a

little over 800 Maybe 833 it's the it's their

biggest by far that they've had in in years before

I don't know if they advertise in the general

area I don't think I've heard anybody say that

they do but a lot of the people that actually

are on the staff that are on the The the inner

council in a sense or what I can't what they

call it i'm i'm i'm not saying it right right

now but they are locals or people that have been

going to convention for the convention for a

while and um, so it's it's run by fans and the

guy that actually runs the show has kind of like

delegated certain things to to the staff and

there are certain staff members that are like,

you know part of the the the group that you know,

controls the whole thing. I'm just there as a

fan. I don't have any clout other than the fact

that I can give suggestions when they ask, but

that's about it. And that's all I've really done

in the past. I've had a few people say, hey,

who would you recommend for a comic person? They're

like, well, this, this, this, this are coming

up. So maybe you might want to get on the end

on getting these people soon. But that's about

it. I don't really. You know, I don't I don't

say you have to get this person because this

person is the best and well It's like it just

you know, I give suggestions, but it's up to

them to do whatever they want but yeah, and The

it's just they also in this situation. They have

a bar in the hotel It's about the same setup

as they did TF con you don't have to when I fly

there I I fly directly to the city and the city

The international airport that they have is like

right next to the to the hotel. So I don't even

have to get a car. I can practically pretty much

walk from the airport to the hotel. That's how

close it is. And it's just really great. And

let's see what else. The hotel is great. I wouldn't

say that this is the third year I think that

they've been at this hotel. The first year they

had it someplace. Actually, I take it back. This

is the second. They had this is the last year

was the first they're still kind of building

that relationship with the hotel and there were

a few hiccups this last I lost you Can it out

there? Huh? I lost you for a second. Oh, okay

There's if there were there were a few hiccups

with a hotel this year, but and it's not a perfect

science like they're They're building that type

of relationship there. I think it might take

a couple years to actually build something like

that. But for the most part, I didn't really

have any problems with the staff. They were mostly

polite and really great and all that English

hospitality. I didn't feel neglected in any way.

I heard a few mumblings of other things, but

it really didn't bother me the way that it bothered

other people. Let's see what else I'm more likely

to see people at the bar that are like voice

actors or guests Than I have in other places

They just tend to kind of ask that of the guests

that hey if you come feel free to go and mingle

at the bar There are lots of fans. I I have seen

it abuse a little bit in the past with some people

and I've Not not because of the the convention

but like specific fans that I've I've learned

who their faces are I know who they are and sometimes

they can push a little bit too close to the edge

They hog a few of the voice actors a little too

much You know which can happen. I mean I that

I that is understandable there are there are

some situations where it gets a little too off,

but With auto assembly they do have like a specific

staff member. That's usually assigned each the

voice actors So if they kind of see that there's

a problem they can make intervene and have an

intervention That does you know, I think they

have had to use that in the past and there the

specific Voice actor that happened to was really

cool about it. And so it was handled fairly fairly

fairly well But you know, it does happens and

that that's always I think a danger whenever

you have like a celebrity and fans get together.

So we don't know boundaries and that happens.

But let's see, I'm trying to think about if there

was anything else this last year, one of the

things that we did that was different is that

they had we played cards against humanity. Now,

any geek out there that's ever played this game

will know exactly what it is. I've never played

it before so this was my first year doing that

and I had a blast. We did it in the bar after

the convention was over with so it's definitely

not a convention -sationed activity. It was just

a fun one of the one of the one of the guys that

I knew brought it with him and we just hung out

and played it and it was good fun. But in the

past that they've had like different things like

the first year I went there they had like a connect

four kind of game show off. You know Smackdown

that happened right every year They've tried

to kind of make it work. And so every year it

might be a little bit different I've already

heard mumblings of people saying that they might

be doing a Jenga one next year seems how there

was kind of a Jenga esque panel in one of the

recent books of more than meets the eye So maybe

that'll be a sticking point. We'll see what happens,

but you know fans We we kind of goof off and

we get you know, we can cause a little bit of

trouble I'm sure little angels are a little devil

sometimes so The auto assembly at the hotel seems

to handle it fairly. Well, they're very patient

with us Yeah, that's that's that's pretty much

it Highly recommend the the big English breakfast

if you go to to auto assembly because you can't

go to England and not have one of their famous

Infamous English breakfasts. They it's really

good there. I I love their food I'm trying to

think if there's anything else. I feel like I'm

not really selling it. Were there any panels?

Did you write any of the panels? Oh, yeah. They

have panels. They do have some smaller ones.

They have an artist. In the past, they've asked

some of the artists, usually one or two, to do

an artist panel or a little, what am I trying

to say, a workshop. And they don't do that in

the main hall They actually do that and in one

of the smaller rooms outside because not everybody

goes to those Although there are quite a few

people that are huge fans all of the artists

that came this year from what I was told did

really well in the sense of they like because

there were so many fans that have Loved their

work for so long to have them over this year

was a great Sell for them. They they were able

to get quite a few people like Commissions and

whatnot that were just because there were just

so many people that wanted to get stuff from

the artists So having artists there is kind of

a big draw There seems to be a lot of love for

the comics in the UK area They did do a a game.

It was a guess versus fans Which is our creators

versus fans, but you know, they get some of the

the fans that are like like fans that have been

fans for quite a long while. I was actually asked

this year to be on that. And I went up against

Alex Milne, which I lost as I should have. I

guess he's awesome. We went movie verse head

to head. Oh, yeah, he totally killed me. Oh,

wow. Actually, we did pretty good for for a while.

And then they started. We exhausted all their

movie questions and. Then they came out with

the other questions and Alex just blew me out

of the water. I was like, you don't go up against

a bear. You really don't. Oh, it was a blast.

But this year, let's see, Chris McFeely is usually

on it every year because he's awesome. And seeing

Chris McFeely up against James Roberts is always

a fun thing to kind of watch. It's great. Well,

let's see who else was on it. They had all of

the they had all the artists that were there

they had Andrew Griffith Alex Milne Nick Roach

and James Roberts James Roberts was also at TF

con this year I didn't put that in there But

I want to put it in there right now because I

got a chance to hang out with him a little bit

at TF con But yeah, they did and they've done

it every year for the last Three or four years,

I think having the fans against the the the creators

and It's it's neck -and -neck. They they do pretty

good. They you know seeing the artists and the

James Who's one of the writers? Kind of go neck

-and -neck with fans. It's very reassuring. They

really know their stuff I'm sure they kind of

have to but this year they had this little kid

He had to have been about 12, 13 years old. And

let's see, I was on the team. Chris was on the

team One of the other guys that I've gotten to

know through one of the forums was on the team

and then they asked this little kid now the reason

why they did is because every single panel they

had this kid was raising his hand and asking

these really in -depth questions and it really

got the attention of all of us who've been at

the convention for a couple years and go like

Whoa, who is this kid? What is he asking? And

you know, because the chemistry is really great.

And Dave, who's running the you know, he introduces

everybody and he kind of runs the show in the

sense that he's kind of the voice that that kind

of announces everything and talks to the to the

voice actors and whatnot. He kind of, you know,

started talking to this kid a little bit or previous

before that. So found out that this kid has read

everything Transformers Marvel since he was little.

And we're like the kind of the consensus that

was going around. Some of us that were kind of,

you know, impressed with this kid was like. dude

it's like James Roberts except like 20 years

ago right 30 years well you know when he was

a little kid it's like it's the new embodiment

this is the next James Roberts right here So

they had this kid on there and I was just amazed

at the amount of knowledge that was in this kid's

head. It's like, it's a combination between what

you'd expect James Roberts and Chris McFeely

to be at that age, you know? So his name is Jack

and I hope that he comes back next year because

he was an incredible addition to the whole experience

of auto assembly this last year. And his parents

were there so it wasn't like he was there by

himself and they were all like, you know encouraging

and we were like, okay Well, we'll keep boundaries

but kid you're pretty awesome. I shake your hand

So that was that was really cool he went head

-to -head with James Roberts. It was great Sounds

like it's pretty awesome. It was it was a great

experience and again, like I said, I hope Jack

comes back It'll be really cool if um, you know

to see him grow up every year he comes back to

auto assembly like going dude You know see him

go through puberty and you know, it would be

great. It'd be like Oh, he's like the the convention

mascot If I had any say I'd say like go please

come back every year. Oh Well, we'll see it was

just it was really cute to see a kid there that

was doing that so It's the whole point. I mean,

this is a trans Transformers is a a lot of adults

enjoy it but it is in the end, you know, it's

a it's a toy company that it's for kids and You

know, it's just really great when you actually

see the embodiment of what that is in a kid That's

that age that it's for so It was really cool

to see that. Very awesome. Very awesome. All

right. So in total, I'm just guesstimating. You

spent a lot of money. I did. One of these three

conventions. And is it something? You're gonna

want to do next year. Are you gonna want to do

the trifecta again? I mean, you know throughout

the whole episode you said you had a blast at

each one, but I mean What do you want to do for

2014 conventions? I I would I would love to do

the whole trifecta again And the only reason

why I would is because I suspect that BotCon

is gonna be in California again this next year

because it's a movie year I don't know that for

sure and I know there are a lot of They could

very easily do it and it may it's very likely

that they will because it is a movie year And

I'm sure that Hasbro is gonna want to you know

Pimp out the next movie and the best way to do

that is at a convention, right? Your hands excited

for it because you know I'm sure they'll be excited

for it because it'll be close to Coming out at

that point and that'll be great and I want to

do that because of that I would really love to

go and do the whole thing all over again next

year, but at this point in time, I can't really

say that I can. I would probably be able to predict

that a little bit better a couple months from

now when I find out where BotCon is going to

be specifically and at what time of the year

it's going to be. There's a few factors that

go into that. I would definitely do it again.

I don't know if I want to do it like that every

year though. That's the thing is that The only

reason why I got to go to TF con was because

my husband had flight miles that because he his

job that he works for he goes to California at

least maybe once a month maybe once every two

months so he's building up like airplane miles

and I flew specifically in to Buffalo, I think

it was Buffalo. But either Buffalo or Batavia.

I think it was one of those two in New York because

Southwest was flying to there. And so I used

I basically paid for that whole thing for like

seven dollars because we built up Sky Miles.

And so that was that was good. You know, so I

didn't have to pay the flight that went to TFCon.

I really didn't because of that. If I go, now

that I've done it once, I'm like, oh, now I see

how easy it is to do. I might, in fact, just

fly in somewhere where I know one of my friends

is and drive up with them, or I might fly in

there and rent a rent a car myself and anybody

that's going to be flying at the same time. I'll

just take them up so that nobody else has to,

you know, do that. And that's a cost. That's

that's a cost. It's involved. In terms of how

much which convention I spent the most at would

have to be auto assembly because flying over

that pond is a lot of money Yeah, that's a lot

of dough and I've done it for the last four years

because I really enjoy going there, but I also

am I People know who I am there. When I go there,

the first time I went there, I had a blast. I

had somebody make my convention. The guy that

got me into podcasting, Dave Wallace, he sat

me down in a room with Nick Roach, Derek J. Wyatt

and James Roberts and I was just like. It made

my convention. It was like the first convention

that I had ever been to. And, you know, it sent

me down with three people that are just amazing

in their own respectful, you know, careers. They've

just been great. And just to sit in the same

room and be like, you know, I could just, you

know, sit right next to them was just like, wow,

I totally had my fan moment. I was like quiet

as a as a as a mouse, but I was just sitting

there going, oh, my gosh, I'm in the same room

with these people. But, you know, ever since

then. When I go to auto assembly, there's usually

somebody else where I try to make their convention

the same way this year there were two or three

people that I met for the first time that this

was their first convention and They'd never been

there before and kind of latched on to them and

showed them the ropes and you know gave them

a few free things and I made their convention

because of that they said oh you've made my convention

I definitely come back next year because of this

and you know and they they've contacted me on

Twitter and said that it was the best time they

had and thank you and so I Tried to do that for

other people, but I I I like auto assembly for

that. It's something that I don't get anywhere

else that I haven't noticed that I get anywhere

else. And it's good because I have the in there.

People all know who I am. I can parade around

and act like I know what I'm doing. And so, you

know, it's being around those type of fans that

make a convention for me. And so because of that,

I'll probably go back to auto assembly. TF con,

I'm still building my bridges there. I wouldn't

say that it's never going to happen, but I'm

just one of those people that seem to people

like to listen to what I have to say. And you

know, I'm enthusiastic about things and people

like that. And I think it just takes a little

bit of time to build those relationships. I don't

know if that'll ever happen with BotCon. They're

a hard egg to crack. I think that I could probably

crack TFCon. But I'm not trying to make it my

goal. I mean, if I do that, great. But I'm not

going to be a jerk about it. And I'm not going

to expect it. But I like doing that because I

like meeting people. And I like getting to know

who they are. And the one thing that I've done

after this traveling that I've done just to conventions

is that I've really enjoyed getting to know people.

And so I'm not like, you know, I'm not getting

I'm not the biggest prolific person. I, you know,

I'm not anybody important other than I run a

podcast and people seem to like it. I and I get

around and I like to talk to people and stuff

like that. And I just hope that that I can continue

to do that. And that's really what I What I plan

to do when I go out to conventions is to hang

out with fans. Maybe sell a few t -shirts, because

I do that too. And hang out with people that

like Transformers and shoot the breeze. That's

what I like to do. Awesome. Awesome. So it sounds

like it was an overall good convention season

this year. Definitely a good convention. All

right. So where can people get? Wreck -and -rule

where can they get my wreck -and -rule shirts?

Well, you can go to Etsy to wrecked apparel because

that's where I have them up I'm getting ready

in the next two or three weeks to put in another

shirt order So if anybody's out there that wants

a specific one and I don't have it up for sale

now Go and hang, you know, go check out my Etsy

shop wrecked apparel and you can find Or you

can type in wrecker or you just just do a search

and you can find it But you can also find me

on Twitter where I tweet about it at least once

a week and on Facebook where I also do that too

So Facebook is lady wreck. It's a Facebook page

and on Twitter. It's lady of wreck and I put

stuff out there all the time and you can sign

up for a shirt and then I'll email you personally

when it when the order is here and then that

way you can go and and buy away and get your

your your special shirt of wreck wreck wreck

and roll so very awesome yeah very awesome all

right so i think that's going to wrap it up for

this episode of all things transformers um transform

roll out unleash the beast in you all that good

stuff i i don't know till all are one right yes

yes there you go till all are one that's that's

what we're closing the show we will catch you

next time ladies and gentlemen goodbye Till all

are one.