ToyLanta 2022 Report

 

It's time again for ToyLanta! The annual toy show is something I look forward to all year and I can't wait to have some fun. As usual I'll be updating each day, so keep checking this post for all the adventures I'll be having. I'll be updating my Instagram and Twitter all weekend, probably more often than here. So be sure to follow me on those for cool pictures from the show.

Friday-

I arrived at the show Friday evening just after 6pm. The day prior was a mix of sleeping off the work night and con prep. I slept between the grocery order, running to the ATM, getting stuff from store the grocery order was missing, and avoiding a tornado on the way back home. Spring is setting in here in the south, that means tornadoes. 

At the con I met up with Shawn. Friday is a dealers room preview and lobby swap party. The dealers were setting up as we checked some out. The dealer space is massive and we only saw about a half of it as well as the Makers Lab. Makers Lab is an area full of tutorials for customizing toys and creating stuff to go with them. It's always neat. This lead to seeing Buddy before heading to the hotel restaurant for some dinner. 

We ended up chatting and eating for a while and missed the lobby swap. However I think we had a better time. Shawn presented me with Shnaw, the Huddle House Sharkticon. In turn, I gave him StarViper a Zone Base exclusive Targetmaster. He'll pop up here soon. Toylanta is home to a lot of custom toys and those were the ones we made.

I headed home after eating my salad for the night around 10pm. Today's haul was Shnaw. A indie Sasquatch action figure gifted by Shawn. ReAction clear Merman and black Skeletor. Not to mention a Sasquatch mini figure made from recycled coffee mugs. I'm eyeing the room for Gobots tomorrow! But first, I'm going to finish this fig bar and get zome sleep.

Saturday-

I woke up at 7am and watched AEW Rampage off my DVR while making breakfast before heading to the great toy show. Getting there with a little timr before the Transformers panel, I took a little time to look around before going to the panel room. Then raking my place up front and talked with the folks in attendance for a hour. Afterwards Shawn and I went to the downstairs lobby area as Rebel Alliance solders ran about with ice cream makers screaming that the Empire is coming. 

Shawn presented me with a large box full of Transformers. Dude up and gifted me a metric ton of robots. Thanks Shawn! We then took the box to my car before eating at tge golf course restaurant. The hotel has a golf course with a pretty good restaurant, probably should have mentioned that first. Great hamburgers. We then went around through both floors of dealer rooms. More time was spent in the Makers Lab as well. An awesome painting tutorial was being held and I spent some time talking CAD with the 3D printer guru.

More time was spent in the dealers rooms untill they shut down for the day. We found some chairs to take a break. I called the Mrs while Shawn fell asleep. We apparently was next to a door because a dealer was loading up his truck. Well, his girlfriend was while he had apparently drank a bottle of vodka and was busy making an ass of himself. We managed to escape to the hotel restaurant for some soda and tiny baked potatoes with carrots that the menu called 'fingerlings'. We had planned to participate in the parachute drop, but apparently nobody showed up except for us. So the parachute toy catapult was being disassembled as we walked up. It was about 7:30PM and time to head home for the night. Dang, I'm worn out.

Today's haul was a box containing a metric ton of Transformers in was cardboard box gifted by Shawn. Two Wendy's Gobots (don't remember the names currently, blue jeep and a blue jet). Brimstone the Rocklord, and a triceratops Tamagora. A great time was had and we've still got Sunday to go. I plan to revisit the table with ReAction stuff and grab the knight Arthur from Ghouls n' Ghosts and some more Gobots. There was a suprsigly lagre amount of Wheeled Warriors and Metal Man action figures, not to mention Battle Beasts. It's time to get some sleep before the last day. 

Sunday 

I woke up again around 7am and fixed myself some breakfast while watching Golden Girls. Admittedly I wake up around this time normally of I'm not working as it's time to take my medication, but this weekend it's because of Toylanta! And also to take my medication... that's not as exciting though. It was Sunday, the last day of the show and last time to soak it all up. My Mom came with me today, she collects dolls and wanted to see if they had anything good.

We got to the show around 10:40am. First stop was showing Mom where the 'pink room' was. While there's assorted dolls around the dealers room, this was a room full of nothing but dolls. A dealer in noticed my Blockbuster Video t-shirt (auto correct suggested t-shit) and we talked about the glory days of that wonderful store. Shortly afterwards, Shawn found us and we hit the big dealers room. While looking around Mom found a dealer full of dolls whom also was retiring and looking to liquidate. A hundred bucks later, Shawn, Mom, and I walked a ton of doll stuff out to my car. 

We came back and I made a point to grab a ReAction Knight Arthur from a dealer and looked for more Gobots. During the look I made a vaccum form sign for the wife in the Makers Lab and grabbed her some Baby Yoda stickers from a Star Wars booth. Most of those are already on her laptop. I found some more Gobots, two were more Wendy's Gobots.

I was thinking that was the last of the set, but after getting home discovered there was two more I didn't see at the show. That's a need to get so I can complete the set quest I'm now find myself on. After some more browsing we called it a day. The show was winding down and so was I.

I found Shawn and Mom sitting on some chairs talking to a GIJOE cosplayer and got some pictures of Mom with him. Goodbyes were said and I hope to see Shawn again at next years show (dude, you better). Mom and I stopped at a RaceTrac for slushies and donuts on the way home. We got back to my house for a nice homemade bbq dinner the Mrs had waiting.

My haul for Sunday was that ReAction Knight Arthur in magic armor, two more Wendy's Gobots (the names escape me, red car and helicopter bots), and an orange BuggyMan from Gobots. Not to mention the stuff for the Mrs, whom loved her sign (it's now hung in our bedroom). It was a good show this year and well packed with a lot of people. After all this time of covid-mania running wild, things honestly felt back to normal for the first time.

ToyLanta 2021

After last years covid-19 induced cancellation, ToyLanta returns for 2021 in a new location! I'm really looking forward to the great toy show and have been preparing myself for it for awhile now. I've got my backpack ready with an ample supply of sanitizer and face masks. This year will be a different kind of con for me. Instead of staying all weekend like normally, I'll be going for just a few hours each day. Not that I don't want to do the whole weekend. Even with the covid numbers dropping as much as they have, we're not out of the woods yet. I'm just trying to be as safe as I can. Hopefully next year I'll be able to do the whole weekend, I'm just thankful to have this experience this year even as limited as it'll be for my own safety.

If you're coming to the show, the annual Transformers panel hosted by Dusty and myself is on Sunday at 2PM. Normally we do this on Saturday, but I don't make the schedule. If any of you are there, feel free to say hi! I'll be periodically updating my Instagram from the con over the weekend. Keep checking for new pictures from the show. Or hey, maybe give me a follow so it'll be on your feed. I tend to post multiple pictures in a post, so be prepared to swipe through a lot.

FRIDAY: After an interesting backroads ride to the new location that included crossing the local haunted bridge, I arrived at the con around 7pm.  While getting my badge Buddy walked up to say hi. He then took myself and another dude (sorry I forgot your name dude) down to the Goo-Con showcase room. The room will be having all sorts of demonstrations on customizing and other toy related creations. I really liked the custom molded figure heads that go with a dying resin demonstration. It was neat.

Buddy went to find some food and I explored a little. One thing I learned fast was to switch from a cloth mask to a paper mask. I get hot fast and thought I was going to pass out for a second. Toylanta's new home features a much larger con space. So I didn't have time to check out the entirety of the dealers room preview before it closed for the Lobby Swap Party. I did price a few Rocklords though as that's my focal point this year. I've been kicking myself for not picking them up at the last show and don't plan on making that mistake again. Tomorrow I'm bringing plenty cash and buying some rock robits dammit. There was a surprising amount of M.A.S.K and Dino Riders. Good prices too.

One dealer did have some hand knitted Star Wars characters and I grabbed the last Grogu for the Mrs. The Lobby Swap Party was as usual a hodgepodge of folks with random stuff for sale/trade. I was very surprised to see a good amount of Starcom stuff. I ran into a guy with a boxed Mighty Max Skull Mountain. We chatted for awhile and admired the art on said box. Good times.

Another guy had a decent amount of Transformers and Super Sentai. I was interested in a Cohrada vs Saberback set. He wanted 30 for it, not bad, but passed. I already have them. *shrug* With Kingdom making beast modes cool again, I hope someone younger gets to have the same fun I did all those years ago with them. That's the best kind of joy, a mixture of discovery and amazement.

There was a good number of Shogun Warriors around, leading to a lot of accidental fist misfires. Just awesome anarchy of the most random kind. I ran into Jimmy and his wife. Talked with them a bit before heading home. For some reason the drive took FOREVER, but thankfully the Mrs had pizza and buffalo wings waiting. I was starving.

SATURDAY: The Mrs came with me today to the show. We got there just before 1pm and man there was a lot more people there today than Friday. After looking around I soon discovered most of the Rock Lords I had priced were already gone.

Dammit.

One guy did have 2 Granites though, so at least I got one Rock Lord this time. If I see anymore tomorrow they're coming home with me. Dammit. I was seeing a good bit of Gobots in questionable shape. Sunday's bringing of 'everything must go' may have them priced well enough to buy. There was a fairly priced Diaclone Multiforce that just may find itself my property as well. Almost bought a Creepy for $20 before I noticed the one missing claw. There was a random Deathsaurus missing partners and weapons on a booth that I was happy to see there.

There was a Lego guy with tons of custom mini figures in one dealers room. Got the Mrs some Mandolorian and some great Master of the Universe figures. He had a movie He-Man left that I may end up getting as well.  It had an extra big sword as it should.

The Kaiju Attack table had a good selection as usual and I got some vintage sofubi Ultraman monsters. Probably getting more tomorrow. Ended up in some conversation with him as well. That guy has been at the show the past few years and I'm glad to see him each time. There was a good bit of tokusatsu toys around the tables this year. Not just stuff that's popular in America either.

I almost bought a Cassetteman before realizing it was a bootleg and the dealer was non-the wiser. Shame, but I felt it best not to inform the guy. Didn't want to risk the potential argument. One guy tried to sell me some rather poor shape Battle Beasts for $20 each. I guess he liked extra nope on his hell no burger. I visited the creators room and watched Buddy give a lesson on air brushing. Considering he's been a successful artist for a really long time, that's something special. Hopefully those hoping to learn took notes.

We left close to 5 and headed home. The drive home was much better than last night even with a stop at Circle K. Taco Mac was Doordashed soon after getting home.  It was really good. I've never had a taco from there.

SUNDAY: I got to the con around 12PM for the last day of the show. My panel was at 2, so I had a little time to look around. Ran into Marten and chatted with him for a few minutes before heading into the con area. After a quick stop in the restroom to put some eye drops in (allergy season) I ventured into the dealers room and laid eyes on a glass box I didn't see before.

Inside it was various robot figures and a very familiar blue and gray bot. The robots tag said 'unknown Japanese Transformer $5'. I realized it was a Convertors SDF-1 and bought it. A tour around the room led me to the booth that had the Granite I bought Saturday.

It was Sunday, so folks were making deals. I eyed the robots and just couldn't pull the trigger on any. They had a Scorp in great shape for $20. I decided to think on it and soon found myself at a booth looking at bagged figures pinned to a corkboard. I picked out a Loco for pretty cheap in seemingly great condition and then noticed a Scorp in another bag also looking pretty good for $8. I took them over to the dealer and they cut me a deal without even asking. $15 total mofo.

I headed downstairs as it was closer to 2PM at this point and that's where the panel room was. Looking around the downstairs dealers rooms landed me back at the Lego table where I found another Grogu mini figure for the Mrs. She stayed home today and I wanted to get her something.

The same guy also was selling emulation portable systems and I got a Gameboy looking device prelaoded with a lot of NES games. Mixed in with the selection was a bunch of unlicensed games. Hello bootleg Mario games! I then ventured over to the retro gaming room and played some Collecovision before chatting it up with the guy who ran the room.  A quick run to the restroom and I went to the panel room to get ready.

I figured the panel would be a ghost town since it was on Sunday and with the pandemic attendance was weird this year. Good number of people, not many as usual, and not as many guests either. Totally understandable. Generally my panel is on Saturday when the bulk of the folks are there, Sunday is a short day with most people heading out.

I was surprised to see a small group of people come in, including some teens who happily had just bought some Cybertron toys. We had a great conversation and the time just flew by.  Before I knew it the panel was over and I decided to take one more walk around before heading home.

Everything was closing and I took a minute to watch the dealers pack up. It's a nice way to mentally end the convention I guess.  Headed home to a home cooked pot roast dinner. It had been a chilly weekend, so that was the perfect meal.

Toylanta 2019

It's time again for the greatest toy show in the world, Toylanta! I'll be attending all weekend and will be updating this post each night, so be sure to check back throughout the weekend! Also, be sure to check out my Instagram as I'll be updating it more frequently throughout the weekend from the show!

Friday Report

After the wife got home from work, we ate Publix subs and went to the show.  Traffic was pretty bad and we got there a little later than wanted. Early dealer room sales was wrapping up as we got in and got badges. Met up with Shawn in the lobby whom giffted me a New Age Toys Bugbite! We looked around some of the dioramas  and the lobby swap before the State of the Hobby panel. During so I grabbed a Gobots Tanks figure for $5.

The dioramas included an epic World War Z scene, an SS Flagg decked out with Night Force vehicles, and a large recreation of the Death Star trench run. The Death Star was seemingly made with all sorts of containers and random things like WD-40 lids and egg cartons. Really neat.

After the panel more talking was had in the lobby before the wife and I departed for the night. We stopped by Walmart for a few things and I grabbed a Gears for Shawn who hasn't been able to find one. Friday night at the shown is mainly a social night and it sure is fun to take it in.

Saturday Report

After a good nights sleep and a great breakfast, we got to the show around 10am. The line was still insane even by 10. Fortunately, I already had my badge and we went in. Man, the dealer selection this year is great. A giant variety of different things. Lots of indie toy guys, which I love. I buy toys all year long, so when I go to a con I prefer to find the more oddball stuff that won't be at Walmart. Nothing like a glow in the dark Storm Trooper with a cat head to sell that point!

One of the indie toy groups had a vending machine full of their own merchandise. I sunk about 2$ into it and got one of his Chewie Rolos (a plastic Rolo with a Kenner Chewbacca face) and a bunch of his pins. Another dealer has a free bin and I walked away with a Whispering Willie and a 2$ Ultraman figure. One guy who always has a good booth had a Waduros. I'm still debating on pulling the trigger on it. It's not complete, but so hard to ignore.

A dealer who had some Battle Beasts informed Shawn that he'd be setting up more for Sunday. So needless to say the heat is on! Fun was had and the wife and I got lunch at the hotel restaurant. Holy crap they had amazing food. The absolute best salmon burger I've ever had.

Afterwards we went to the panel room for the Kenner Designer panel. That was amazing. Apparently the Kenner designer created the Jurassic Park logo while coming up with stickers for the lines vehicles. During the product pitch Spielberg loved the sticker so much he made it the logo for the movie. Not long after that wrapped up was Dusty and me for the Transformers panel. We had a good crowd that made for a fun panel.

As our panel ended, the dealers room was closing. We found our way to the lobby for the parachute drop, which was as crazy as ever. Someone had begun throwing a toy plane from the balconies which became a slighty dangerous situation every so often. We talked ghosts a little before checking out a few room sales parties. Pretty fun, but the last one we went to had the best selection of stuff and stunk heavily of poots.

The wife and I headed after a fun day of the show for some rest. Toylanta is a great con and this year is going down in the top years.

Sunday Report

Aftet hibernating all night and a great breakfast, I got to the show around 10:30am (the wife stayed home) after a stop for a can of Java Monster (was momentarily confused that I gave the casheir too much money, fortunately was wrong ). I lucked up and got a front row parking spot (a first) and went right on in and right to the guy who was bringing more Battle Beasts and he didn't. Dammit. Spent some quarters in another indie toy guys vending machine and came out great! Got a tiny Gameboy cartridge, a tiny NES controller, amd a glow in the dark little bear. I bought a great Necronomicon as well. Found Shawn and we worked our way through dealers.

Sunday is the day for deals as everyone is packing up. Scored a non-transforming Galaxy Megazord I'd been eyeing all weekend for 7$. I don't have any real attachment to that Megazord, but it was such a nice looking robot that there was no resistance. One dealer that always has stickers and  buttons at the shows booth is a tradition of mine and I made a point to stop by.

Shawn and I sat down and chatted for a while before deciding to take one more walk around the dealers room. I hoped to get a better price on that Wauduros, but no luck. It was just too incomplete for the price sadly. Battle Beast selection was slim with most dealers having a handful a little over priced, which was a shame, but there's always later opportunities for better luck.

Didn't buy any Transformers, which was ok as I buy them all year long. Fortunately there was ample amounts of them there for those who were looking for a particular toy. One dealer had a great display of a few prototypes though. A Fall of Cybertron Kickback and Starscream was in that case for viewing.  I had a hard time pulling the trigger on some Rocklords. They were in great condition, I just think I'll be able to find some later cheaper. Problem with so many dealers is you have so many options that it can be overwhelming. No the worst problem to have at a con ;)

We struck up a Zoids conversation with some dealers that went longer than I realized (and somebody didn't adjust his watch for DST) and before long it was time to go (we had our grocery pickup scheduled for 4pm). Said my goodbyes to Shawn and said goodbye to Toylanta for another year. Next year will be at a different location, so it's kinda a bittersweet ending to a great con this year (I like the location). Though a roomier dealer space would be nice.

This years show was a great time and just what I've been needing after a few hard weeks at work (even had an earache all weekend, thank God for ear drops). While some of the things I hoped to find didn't happen (my favorite dealer didn't have  anything I wanted in his infinite baskets of neatness... a first), I still got some great things and just had a great time. Which is exactly what I wanted.

Haul:
New Age Toys Critter gifted by Shawn
Tank Gobot
Whispering Willie Corps! figure (free!)
Large Ultraman sofubi
Stool Sample (3D printed stools in a biohazard baggie give  to me by an indie toy guy)
1 'Chewie' Rolo and assorted  buttons from one indie toy guys capsule machine
Gameboy cartridge, NES controller, and glow in the dark bear from another indie toy guys capsule machine.
'Summer reading club' Necronomicon from same indie toy guy as the video game toys and stool sample
Galaxy Megazord figure
Two translucent Godzilla minifigures in red and blue
A Soundwave holding Blaster ala 'Say Anything' sticker
Sheet of Toyhax symbol stickers gifted by Dusty,

Toylanta is like a month away

Toylanta is a month away and I'm pretty excited. Been making a mental shopping list that I won't adhere too, but I'll still make it. I really enjoy this con. There's no fandom drama or personalities crowbarring their way into the forefront, just a bunch of like minded people wanting to have a good time. The dealer space is this amazingly huge nebulous that just keeps expanding into each nook and cranny of the con space full of just about anything. While I'm certainly looking forward to the Transformers panel Dusty and I will be running, I'm really excited for the Kenner designers panel. That's going to be awesome. That and the parachute drop. It's always insanely fun and maybe a bit dangerous.

I'm really looking forward to this one dealer who has a huge set up of just random stuff. A back wall of things like Sideshow Dolls, and a table full of various bins. There's gold in them thar bins. Random themed bins with random prices lined up and fun to look through. Not to mention, the Micronauts and Transformers assorted around the dealers space. A little extra digging and you can find some really unique things. Oddball bootlegs or random Diakron figures. Stuff that you didn't expect to find. There's always this pair of dealers, facing each other in the same ailse each year. One just has a ton of cool stuff, including a plethora of fairly priced TF. The other, tons of capsule toys and sofubi. I like to plant myself on that aisle and just take it in.

There's a few places local to the con to eat, but I know I'll eat at the McDonald's at least once. It's nearby and a Big Mac is my favorite con food. It's time to prepare my con backpack for the show. I've got a new Samurai Tactical Backpack waiting to hold whatever random Cobra Viper I pick up. I do need to get a new hand sanitizer to clip onto one of the straps. Sure, I could just reuse the one from my TMNT backpack that used to accompany me, but it's very important that I match the sanitizer to the backpack. This is the utmost most serious of businesses to business and I won't take any exceptions to the business. I mean business. That's how you do business.

GI JOE Japanese theme

This weekend the final Official JoeCon is happening and it's a shame to see another official convention go. I went to one in 2007 and thought it was great as well as my involvement in Toylanta which was originally known as Joelanta (and still maintains the original convention within the show itself) makes me really appreciate the fan base and the franchise. While not as hardcore of a GI Joe fan as others, my love for it is strong and I always hope for it's return to glory. I've always appreciated the shared Sunbow animated Universe and while the traditional GI JOE theme without a doubt is classic, there's something special about the Japanese intro music isn't there?

Save the date!

Henshin Cyborg Shonen Cyborg commercial

Coming back from Toylanta, which was formerly known as Joelanta (as it was originally a con for 12 inch Joe fans), conversations are still fresh in my mind. One gentleman had plenty of Henshin Cyborg figures and I enjoyed chatting with him about them. He was older than me and is from the pre-internet generation that relied on pen pals and the like to help him track down these great toys from another country. Sometimes I feel older than I am talking with younger fans about the early days of the internet and what it was like before the internet was really a thing. Back pages of magazines with various classified ads for fans and collectors, ordering catalogs and getting on fanzine lists. Then I talk to this guy, or hear stories of the guy who used to form grassroot letter writing campaigns to get things produced and I'm taken aback and amazed. Somehow those old pages in the back of toy and video game magazines don't seem so archaic.

Toylanta 2018 Report

 *Note- I will be adding to this post throughout the weekend, so please check back as I'll be adding to it periodically, also please check out my Instagram for pics from the show*

Friday- After sleeping off my work night, the wife and I headed to the con getting there around 7pm for the opening evening activities. Roaming around the dealer area as it was being set up and popping in and out of the lobby swap I spent most of the evening with my friends Shawn and Stuart as we chatted about various things. Tons of toys were out and of course I didn't stop by the ATM on the way, so mental note for the morning: bring some cash tomorrow!  So far aside from some random G1 bots (and the mandatory Firecon purchase) I've spotted some great deals on kaiju vinyls and some great custom GIJOE that at least one must come home with me. Shawn gifted me with legion Hound and Dragonstorm, which was most awesome. We came home and ordered pizza on the way home for a great supper. Time for some sleep before a busy Saturday.

Saturday- Saturday started off well enough, we got to the show around 10am and roamed the dealer areas a bit before a run to McDonald's for some lunch. I managed to snag some Beast Saga figures and some Maximal symbol pins. After a Big Mac, we headed to the panel area for the Space Toys panel and it was a treat. I initially thought it was going to be a roundabout of all space toys, but was mostly about lines from the 60's and 70's ran very well by some well spoken gentlemen. One speaker that I enjoyed talked about his time trying to get stores to carry Star Wars toys by way of letter writing campaign

After the panel I met up with Dusty and we went over notes for our Transformers panel as we found Gabe, Mike and Alan. The Transformers panel went extremely well and I'm very happy with how it went. Afterwards we made a rush back to the dealers room where I caught up with Aaron and Tony where we talked about wrestling and the ROH ppv that took place Friday night. While in there I bought the remaining Beast Saga figures from the dealer I went to earlier. That had to be my favorite dealer, just a big set of tables with baskets full of various parts, pvcs, capsule toys, and random toys for great pricing. I plan to visit him again tomorrow to raid his bin of 1$ monsters.

Parachute drop went well, though wasn't as populated as before. Papi's Toys had several paratroopers in use including a Pretender Vroom equiped with a parachute. Surprisingly made for a good drop participant. Here was where my only complaint for the weekend has been. The hotel restaurant was renovating and had a temporary set up in the lobby. Which during a regular day wouldn't have been an issue, during a con was a giant pain. Not to mention, the diners were constantly bombarded by thr parachute dropped toys, so I'm sure they didn't appreciate that. Due to the overall sea of people my wife and I was seated for a table, but never got served prompting us to leave without eating. Though that was probably for the best as word was it wasn't very good.

I spent most of the day with Shawn, whom I shared a great conversation about Battle Beasts with at one point. Really glad he came, awesome dude to hang out with. Came home and ate the rest of the pizza from Friday night. One more day of the best damn toy show going.
 
Sunday- Sunday started off kind of rough as daylight savings time hit overnight throwing me off (really can we just stop doing this) as well as a headache I developed overnight. I took some medicine and fixed a simple oatmeal breakfast before heading out (the wife felt like staying home) stopping only for a can of Monster. It was rainy making for an interesting drive, but in all nothing too bad. Got in the dealers room around 10am and spent the next few hours with my friends Shawn and Stuart whom where heading out soon.

After they left, actually I missed Stuart leaving somehow (sorry man), I poked around for a little bit. Almost bought a vintage Pirantishead before deciding the Imaginext one I'm getting soon would suffice. I did visit my favorite dealer from the weekend and grab a Zenon pvc amd stop by the pin and sticker dealer to grab something for my wife. I decided to check out the custom cars one more time and head home (Sunday everyone is wrapping up and the show wraps up earlier).

Ran into Aaron and Tony at the cars and we chatted for a bit, they were heading out too. As we were chatting Gabe was coming in to get a little extra filming done for his school project, so we came in with him. Spent a little longer farting around with the guys and got a free bottle of Billy Mitchell hot sauce from the Southern Friend Gaming Expo booth who had been selling arcade marquee art and various oddities. I was super close to grabbing the Altered Beast arcade cabinet instruction manual. We headed talked wrestling a bit before all heading out. The great toy show had come to an end for the year and time to return to normal life. The rainy weather got me stuck a little in some wreck traffic. Passing some of the cars moved off to the side of the show, I recognized a few folks I had seen at the show over the weekend. Man, that had to suck.

Overall- Wow, what a great weekend. I've been having a pretty stressful time recently so this fun weekend was exactly what I needed. As fun as the Botlanta event was last year, it was a lot of work and it was a relief to return to the normal Toylanta. The RFC crew couldn't make the show, instead opting to gather for the weekend at Kilby's house for the weekend. Kilby sent me a portable recorder to make a podcast out of the Transformers panel. Unfortunately the recorder didn't show up until Saturday afternoon, so I regret not getting that recorded, though Gabe did film the bulk of it and offered to give Kilby the audio from that.

The hotel's renovation efforts was mainly a pain for the lobby as that's a main meet up area during a con and it was reduced that area greatly, not to mention had to be unpleasant for diners while trying to eat. Outside of that I really enjoy the hotel and talks of the show eventually moving makes me hope if and when that happens they'll find as good as a space to host the show.

As usual, I pretty much hibernate all day after the show, but also enjoyed some home cooking after a weekend of fast food. Absolutely had a blast and as always makes for great memories.

Toylanta prep

Firecons are kinda my mental mascot for this years con

It's Monday night as I'm writing this. I'm at my desk taking a small break from my work. Despite it only being a 4 day week this week (taking Friday off for the con), I'm pretty busy. I always try to make up ahead of time for time off I take as to not burden my department too much. It's also going to be a long week for a 4 day work week, as I got Toylanta to look forward to this weekend and I'm pretty excited. These days it's pretty much the only con I go to and honestly, it's the perfect con. Just a giant adventure of toys everywhere you look (and even more just out of sight) and fortunately for me, the stuff I'm into usually goes for a pretty fair price.

I like digging in bins for figures, scouring for deals, and this con has plenty. I dig the shows vibe too. Relaxed, laid back, meant to be fun. No anxiety or various fandom drama, just a bunch of cool people enjoying their various hobbies together. The high quality conversations I have over the weekend cannot be replaced. One year I spoke for hours with a dude about discount store fantasy figures. Another about Starriors. Just a great convention.

Fortunately the show is just a short road trip for me, so I just have to plan for the drive each day, which isn't too bad. Mainly anticipate where I'm eating lunch more-so than really anything else. Looking forward to the Transformers panel I help line up each year. Dusty and I are planing some good conversation and hoping those in attendance participate.

I've been slowly working on a list for stuff to look out for, though I wonder just how much I'm going to adhere to it. I don't really buy a whole lot at the show, but what I do get is generally great. I still fondly remember my main purchase of 2016. Aside from some great Beast Wars stickers I got, I hadn't really bought anything until I was about to leave that Sunday ending out the con. As I walked around and said goodbye to friends I dug through one last dump bin and there it was. A gallon zip lock bag containing about 75% of a G2 Bruticus in fairly good condition for 20$. Well shucks.

Just a few more days and we'll see what fun I'll have this year. What's great about this show is it's always an experience. Each year I have a different experience and that's the kind of thing you can't buy.

See you all in March!

Botlanta 2017

So much thanks to my friend Duron Land for the image we used on the standee.

This past weekend held the first ever Botlanta event at Toylanta (formerly known as Joelanta). Toylanta is a wonderful local toy convention that I have the honor of helping out with. Initially it was a GI JOE centered convention that ran for quite some time before broadening it's focus to also cater to other interests. At that point it was renamed Joelanta and the Great Atlanta Toy Convention, and is where I came onboard. They had invited me to operate a Transformers panel that I have had fun doing for years with my friends Dusty Griffin and Brian Kilby (and on occasion Diecast and Crazy Steve).

The panels popularity had grown to the point where it grew into it's become a programming track at the show. Which we have dubbed Botlanta, as the con has a great naming convention going on. Going into this year, the head honchos of Joelanta decided to rebrand the convention into Toylanta to avoid any confusion. Joelanta, Botlanta, and assorted other panels with a massive (and I mean massive) dealer space (there's dealer halls every nook and cranny) make up Toylanta. Which is becoming even more popular (and bigger) as each year goes by.

So this year, I got to organize a Transformers show. While I've organized fan meet ups and ran panels at conventions before, it was a new experience for me. I reached out to various fans within the Transformers fan community to help Dusty, Brian, and I make a panel track. One thing that was important to me was to make this show distinct. I thought each panel should be informative as well as entertaining to those in attendance. I wanted the track to be an experience to remember and a destination to not miss.

Crazy Steve ran a panel with his awesome collection of vintage toy ads from newspapers and catalogs. Not only is it neat to see those old ads, but as he explained, there was some interesting history displayed in them. Various variations on figures would be in the pictures and artwork that would reference various stages of the Transformers toy line in planning. Dusty, who is a Toy Hacks designer, showed his creative process for making a Repro Labels set and even gave out free sets to attendees! Thanks to my pals at RFC, we were able to produce several panels covering several topics and even put on a live episode of RFC. I was also very pleased to meet two gentlemen (whom I became fast friends with) that had approached me to run a panel on toy displays and even set up an impressive display.

While planning the show, I contacted Derek Yanniger, whom was a key artist on the Transformer Generation 2 comic book. His work was an integral part of the overall look and feel of the comic, which just happens to be my favorite TF comic to date. Derek agreed to come Saturday, and was an absolute treat to have. We set him up with a table to sell his artwork and signatures. In the afternoon, he did a panel with my friend Gabe, on his time with the comic. Derek was such a gracious and outright cool person, it was an all around great experience.

I had spent so much energy into the show that by show time I was a nervous wreck. I just wanted it to be everything somebody coming would want it to be. Fortunately, I had the support of my crew and especially my wife (who made sure I always had a cold soda, or a back rub when I'd take a moment to sit down). Together we all put on a show that I'm very proud of. It was my first time, in a hobby where I don't have many first times anymore. Sunday as the convention was wrapping up and I spent a lot of time with various people at the show talking. Which is my favorite part of these conventions. I get to meet new friends, see old friends again, sometimes meet friends in person for the first time, and generally get to hang out with my friends having fun with something we all love.

I learned a lot this year, which will help going forward in the years to come. Learned what works, what didn't work as much, and what to work on for next year. Seemingly and thankfully everyone that came had a great time. As the show wrapped up and everyone said their goodbyes, I felt like a moment in time was passing. There was a mojo in the air of togetherness that I felt strongly. I can only hope others felt it too and it wasn't just the results my pulse racing all weekend. Shortly before leaving the con, I went into our panel room to say goodbye for the year. As silly as it seems, it felt like leaving home. As an adult, a year doesn't seem so far away anymore. But waiting for next year feels like an eternity.


Check out the Botlanta FB page for pictures and hey, while you're there, please like and share!

Happy Optimus Prime Day

30 years ago today.

So, it's Optimus Prime Day. A Transformers fandom holiday dating back to the days of Transmasters fanzines. What makes today so significant? Well, on February 24 1987, The Return of Optimus Prime part 1 was first aired. Marking the return (it's in the name) of Optimus to lead the Autobots in the cartoon (which was in it's third season, post the 1986 movie).

Now, obviously Optimus first returned from the dead in the episode 'Dark Awakening', however in that episode he was basically a reanimated corpse thanks to the Quintessons. His consciousness gained control over his evil zombie ways and saved the day, but ending as the episode drove in that he was still super dead. Somehow astronauts recued him from that ending at the beginning of TROOP (it's a reach) and Optimus Prime was officially brought back to life as he lit another darkest hour.

At some point during the more early fandom years the date got turned into a holiday of sorts, more as a day of remembrance. It's mostly forgotten in todays fandom aside from the few of us who still get that email reminder from the Transmasters list. The relevance isn't lost on me. Tomorrow I've got a planning meeting for Botlanta (the Transformers programming track at Joelanta). I guess it's the little things sometimes that make you smile.

Transformers at Joelanta 2017

http://www.joelanta.org/

For the past few years, I've been helping operate the annual Transformers panel at Joelanta here in Atlanta. It's been a ton of fun and thanks to it's success, it's grown into it's own event within the convention. This year (2017) the Transformers panel has changed into it's own series of panels in it's own dedicated space. The planning for the event has been fun and the closer it gets, the more excited for it I get.

Joelanta is a wonderful convention in it's own right. It's this amazing nirvana of toys and fun that just can't be replicated. The annual parachute drop is probably my favorite event. Just imagine throwing action figures in parachutes off the balcony of a very tall hotel and you've nailed exactly what it is. Pure fun and a little crazy. I'm also looking forward to the trading party on Friday. Last year I traded a giant ziplock bag full of tiny monster toys for a Green Goblin. I kinda want to take him back and see what I can swap him for. Just see if I can keep it going and see what I get each year.