In what has become an annual event, the Supreme Sophie and myself travelled to Birmingham fresh off the heels of our week away in lovely Cromer. Our relaxed and chilled-demeanours barely survived the Norfolk traffic, but nevertheless we fought the good fight until the familiar sight of the Birmingham Hilton Metropole hoved into view. For 3 days, we had our new home in Transformers nirvana.
Since dropping out of anime conventions held at hotels or University campuses over 10 years ago, TF Nation has become my Mecca for meeting like-minded fans and enjoying everything a robot enthusiast could wish for. TF Nation offers a stacked dealer-room, extensive and varied panels, feature events, entertaining guests and an atmosphere that is, to say the least, inclusive and euphoric. I do love me a TF Nation event!
This year the star attraction was the concert on Saturday night by rock legend Stan Bush, but we'll get to that later. As this is a more personal account, let's start with how our Friday went.
Initially, the convention is all about greeting other fans - I was pleased to meet a new face in Ken (fresh from Ireland despite RyanAir's best efforts!) and a few other more familiar faces in the bar. You could see the occasional robot toy on the tables around the seating area, but of course this was just a prelude to everyone's Saturday morning haul. Soph and I watched the opening ceremony which was buoyant and familiar, followed by a fiendish quiz in the Main Hall, our eyes occasionally drifting to the delights of the dealers room at the back of the event. Predaking toys, City-sized Bots and Convention Exclusives dominated with their massive boxes, and my wallet began its battle with the image of an angry Bryony as I contemplated what I could realistically get away with!
Friday is always a chill time at TF Nation - time to check in, maybe drop into the excellent pool and then just flop in the bar. Soph and I decided that an early night would be best (read: not TOO long after midnight) and we settled down before my 6:45am alarm could shatter the peace.
Saturday
This is the main day, and it always starts early. Shower, breakfast and then on to the dealer room queue. This year I was after less in the robot arena as I was pretty well up to date with both official and third party Transformers. The trick would be to find something unique or unusual enough that I'd end up taking it home. However, it has to be said that I really didn't find much at all this year - in quite the anticlimax I picked up an Occular Max Omne from Kapow Toys (it was very heavy for a £50 toy and I was intrigued) and a Titans Return Repugnus, which was really just an excuse to have a fiddle with something as I already have him on pre-order with Amazon alongside the rather splendid looking Punch/Counterpunch toy. And that was it. I almost bought a few items second-hand, but demurred and missed the item in question to more decisive buyers. Honestly this year I just wasn't feeling it for shopping. I've since come to quite fancy the Predaking combiner, but he was gone by Saturday's end, and I'm still not sure I actually want one. You know how toys can be... I was also very fortunate to catch up with a great chap called Andrew B, who spotted me in the hall and came over for a proper chat. You just never know who you'll run into or when at these things!
Outside of shopping, we spent some time in The Forge, where artists and kitbashers (people who use toys to make other characters) were showcasing their talents. Sophie in particular loves the pins and keyrings that fans such as TheManlyLobster (love the artwork) have created. I just love the varied styles on display, in particular I'm a fan of LarryDraws and Coralus. There was also a very interesting project for 3D printing Transformer statues on display - these were very impressive, and for full details I highly recommend visiting Steve Newman's facebook page.
So after lots of wandering around and looking at toys for hours on end (well, until the hall closed at 4pm anyway, which seemed early to me) it was time to have a drink and await the headline event for the convention - the Stan Bush concert.
Stan Bush
For those not in the know, Stan Bush is an American singer/songwriter who penned two classic powerhouse tunes for the animated Transformers movie in 1986. He has also worked on other films such as Kickboxer and Bloodsport. In short, if you need a rock anthem, Stan's your man.
The concert lasted around an hour, and since both myself and Soph lucked out and ended up queuing early, we were almost at the front with an excellent view. The concert was fantastic, made all the more entertaining by the audience singing along and the fact that the band as a whole seemed to be having a whale of a time. I recorded the encore performance of The Touch which I've included below so you can sample some of the atmosphere. The following day I met Stan and he signed my limited edition Transformers Soundtrack LP, as well as the copy of his brand new Change the World album I picked up at the stand. He was very friendly and surprised me with his knowledge of Yorkshire pudding. I sincerely hope he enjoyed his subsequent visit to London. If you ever get the chance to catch Stan Bush live, I highly recommend you do so - in the meantime, you can visit the official Stan Bush website for more music and videos!
Post Moshing
Once the concert ended, I had the distinct pleasure of playing a round of Cards Against Humanity with a lovely chap called Andrew, and Ben from Youtube channel Ben's Collectables, alongside their respective partners. Sophie and I had a wonderful time being terrible, and it was a perfect end to a most excellent day indeed.
Sunday, or the day of "uuuurgh my head"
Ah, the day after the main event is always tinged with the sad knowledge that today is the day you have to go home. Both Soph and I were absolutely dead the following morning, but despite this I managed to drag myself to breakfast whilest Soph stayed in bed keeping furry mascot and gad-about-town Emmental Sloth company. After breakfast I dragged myself into the main hall to see if anybody had restocked (they hadn't) before I blew my wad on the artwork I had ordered from the formidable talent that has deigned to call itself Nick Roche on its trip to our planet. Nick is a lovely guy who seems to remember everyone, and whilst this wasn't my first purchase from his body of work, it was my first commission request. I picked up a Skids and Nautica to go with last year's awesome effort by Kei Zama, but he has also worked for Marvel on my favourite Spidey comic, Renew Your Vows, wherein Peter is married to Mary Jane. Together with their (now teenage) daughter, Annie May, they fight crime as a Spider-Family. It's bloody brilliant, and my second commission was for a standalone Annie May chilling on a rooftop. He knocked it out of the park of course and it will forever accompany my bio on this very site.
Speaking of Kei Zama, she had doodled a very fine Patlabor headshot, which I picked up for a paltry £25! Bargain!
Sadly the day overcame both myself and Sophie after lunch, and we decided the safest way to get home would be to forego the closing ceremony.
Despite my poor show of shopping, I had a blast once again at TF Nation. More than ever, this was about the people, and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone both Sophie and myself spent hours talking to in queues, at the bar, or just in passing. We'll be going again next year, and 'til all are one once again, we'll just keep looking forward to the event.
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