TRU Fan Event Report

Howdy!
Today, I had the opportunity to go to the Toys R Us Fan Event in Brandon, Florida. This was my first ever 'fan gathering,' and I have to say, I had a great time!

The morning started off at 10, when TRU opened their doors. There was already a small crowd of us waiting outside, and we were able to sign in quickly. TFW member and TRU employee Junior was running this shindig. He had arranged for the entire 'seasonal' section to be taken over for the event- out with the swimming equipment, in with the 'bots! The Toy Addict had set up a dealer table, where they were selling lots of G1 and G2, from MIMB Megatron and a loose, complete monstructor to a couple of 50 cent Jumpstarters. Behind them, the TRU merchandise awaited, featuring all of the Wave 1 toys being carried in most TRUs. Thankfully, I made picking up Optimus a prioirty, as he was quite the hot commodity. Megatron and Scourge ended up selling out as well. Some Energon, Reissues, and Alternators figures were also for sale, including the TRU exclusive Energon Op vs Megs.

Another couple of folding tables were set up for people to chat around, holding the speed transformation contest, the coloring contest, and a kids 'play area,' where Junior had donated some toys for younger TF fans to experiment with. I think E-Megs learned his lesson about messing with Florida sunshine!

Junior had also set up a table showcasing items from his private collection. 1 case featured Japanese PVCs, Robotmaseters, and World's Smallest, to give fans a view of the TF world outside of this country. He had Alt. Wheeljack and Jazz outfitted with labels from Reprolabels. Another display case featured more Alternators, while a 4th showcased the current Cybertron figures (although a couple were Galaxy Force). On this table, there was also a TV set up to run TF commercials from all eras and all over the world. Transformers can even make French sound decent!

One of the event's sponsors (Buddy's) had furnished a big screen TV, which was used to show Cybertron episodes, Beast Wars, the message from Steven Spielberg from SDCC, a couple of music videos, video collection tours, and a special video featuring the 'eviloution' of Megatron, which was highly entertaining.

Prizes were given every hour, including a BT Smokescreen, a G1 Soundwave, Cybertron Starscream and Megatron, a TF Colector's Club Skyfall, and a re-issue Hoist. For each of the contests, even the losers got prizes (my losing effort at the trivia contested neeted a DW Armada #1, a convention Energon comic, and a set of Autobot and Decepticon labels from Reprolabels.

I musn't leave out Hasbro's part in this, either. They were able to give Junior a box of the Cybertron Earth Planet maps. While in about 6 months everyone will have one, I feel lucky to have a sneak preview of some upcoming stuff. It looks great when placed below the Speed Planet map. Hasbro gave enough of these away that nearly anyone who wanted one was able to walk away from the event.

The grand prize package given away at the end of the day included a C- Starscream, an Armada Unicron, reissues Grapple and Red Alert, and probably some other stuff I'm leaving out.

I had a great time getting so see people there. Some I had already met in person, some I knew vaguely from the boards here and elsewhere, and others I met for the first time. Everyone was in a great mood, even politely booing cuz I didn't no crap about Beast Wars during the trivia contest (I earned it).

The possibility of a full-scale con has been brought up by Junior, and I think it's a great idea, if it could be run with the quality of this event. I want to thank Junior and the rest of his staff, as well as the sponsors, for putting together such a great show. I look forward to next year's fan event, or (even better) Tampacon '06.

-Tony!
My meager haul: Cyb. Optimus, G1 Sixshot (no guns, no nosecones), Topspin, Twin Twist, and a G1 combiner bot missing a head (Overbite?) He's a walking shark-thingie. Spent: about $50.

I had a good time meeting some of my fellow board members and checking out some of Junior's collection which was one display. I wish I could have stayed for the whole event but I had to leave for work with about two hours left.

Like omegatron, this was my first fan gathering as well. The good news is, you guys didn't scare me enough to stop going to fan events. The bad news is, I wish it were bigger, but Junior's efforts for putting this together were awesome. I just want to say falt out, you're hard work and dedication were appreciated, at least by this one attendee.

By the way, if next year is quite larger and you need volunteers, count me in, I'll be glad to lend my hand in making a Florida/Southeast Con a reality.

all in all i had a much better time this year. great displays and an awesome set up for the toy addict(the parts dealer). i got to meet and joke around with a good majority of people and had a great time all around. got to meet some older members from this board and galvatron prime as well. barry as always was in good spirits and dealt with our heckling perfectly. i really appreciate the effort he put in and would love to see something bigger next year if it's possible. if not, hey i'll settle for more of what we got this year. again i had a great time and the company that was around me had a much better energy this year. and for those in our nearest vicinity knew us from one word...... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. hehe.

I had a great time at the event. I got to meat quite a few of the members here (and a future member if he would ever stop lurking ) and a few from other boards.

The event itself was great. I got the chance to finish my Autobot Headmaster set by getting Hardhead, in very nice condition I might add, from the Toy Addict, plus Pipes and Beachcomber bot I have wanted for quite some time.

The displays were very slick and fun to see. I finally got to see some of the Reprolabels in person and they did look good. I'm now going to have to get some for some of the G1 TF I bought, including a G1 Scourge I traded for.

I was also fortunate to get ahold of Cybertron Scourge

All in all the day was great. I had a great time talking to a few board members here and hanging out with them, including Flux Convoy, Death_to_all (who thinks his name is mean ), and Omegatron1 amoung others. I should have a few pics to post this week once I finish off the roll of film in my camera.

hey, i did order my GF flame convoy. only paid shipping more than the american price. that's like buying scourge from any online retailer at msrp. the darker jewel is MINE!! just had to rub it in a little.

Yes, but will he have the G1 transformation sound like Scourge??

I saw one of our clan at the new Target (w/o his Star Wars sister, NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!) yesterday. He says he will be joining the forums soon.

I had some fun, too. My wife was bored as usual and my little boy was not happy at all (he was the 2-year-old you all heard screaming a lot). He was sick, so he had a really rough day. I won the complete G1 Soundwave, on which I will be taking offers to buy. I got the reissue last year, so this one serves no purpose. This one guy offered to buy it from me, but kept saying he needed to get cash. I was bummed when I had to leave early because I was hoping that guy would make it possible for me to buy Jetfire (I really wanted Scourge, but he was already gone). I had a nice day except my son being ill and having to leave early because of it. That's okay, when it comes down to it, he really is more important to me than Transformers.

By the way, Tony, that little shark guy you got is a G1 Terrorcon, Rippersnapper.

That would be artly my fault


Me Tony? or Omegatron Tony?
If me, yes I had Rippersnapper.

Just saying thanks to all those who were welcoming at the fan event, I showed up with the misses and my 2 kids. This was really my first Tformer event of any kind, and it was pretty entertaining. I was the one who got called first for the speed changing contest (Damn Signal Flare), as well as sucking at Beast Wars questions (Like Omega said above).

Overall it was set up decently well, the contests/prizes were definatly not expected and were great overall, even the comics I recieved were nice. (Got an Armada #1 and another G1 issue, if I recall). The videos were alright, my daughter enjoyed imitating those cheering the 'evil'ution of Megatron by going 'wohoo' with her hands up for most of it. Be nice if someone gathered up all the 'transforming' devices commercials and put them on one video, theres dozens of those out now.

It was nice to see the collections etc, about the only thing I could say was it would have been nice to have more dealers perhaps, with other merchandise than old G1 material (Which is overpriced in general IMHO). I was hoping to find some rarer molds from other sets (RID, Armada, Energon) but ah well.

I live only about an hour from Brandon, so if helps needed for next years let me know, otherwise feel free to drop me a line anytime folks!

got my flame convoy today and the differences are soooo minor. i think the jewel is exactly the same. on the upside, yes, he does make the g1 transformation sound when the force chip is inserted. he's probably my favorite tf in a good while. i normally just open a figure and pose it and put it in my cases but this guy i transformed a couple times and played around with the gimmicks and posed him for awhile. granted the arm atriculation is a bit strange, he is pretty freaking nice.

glad to hear you're keeping on that guy about joining too! too many lurkers, not enough sightings contributors.