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Zen's Review of the 2004

About a month ago I heard there was going to be a Transformer convention in Mt Laurel, New Jersey, on April 10th, 2004. Naturally I marked the date on my calendar, right in the middle of Easter weekend, and decided to make the journey from my homeland of Baltimore, MD. $9.00 in toll fares and 2 hours later, I arrived at the hotel, but before getting into the convention proper, I'd like to make note of some strange things I saw in traveling.
First of all...Interstate 95 is evil. I've run around no fewer than 5 different states this year, and only on this trip did I have to fork over any money in tolls. My Hall of Fame trip didn't have any tolls at all, and that was a 6-hour ONE WAY trek northward through Pennsylvania and eastward through south central New York. A couple of other trips I've taken to PA have been toll-less as well. This jaunt, which I accomplished from beginning to end in just under 7 hours, set me back $16.00 in toll fares alone. Maybe next time I'll go by way of PA, rather than Delaware.
Another strange thing is that there are no self-service gas stations in New Jersey (according to the gentleman who pumped my gas for the return trip). I also saw no police cars in that state. And the drivers on the NJ Turnpike were, well...very good drivers. They scrupulously obeyed the posted speed limit (65 mph), and they stayed in the right lane, which was great for me since I was screaming down the highway in the left lane at speeds of 75-80. I'm not really sure why they were so conscientious, but I'm glad that they were.
Once at the hotel I parked my truck toward the back end of the spacious (and crowded) parking lot. I entered the hotel and saw a line snaking all the way around the corner, about 75 people deep. Most of the attendees wore some kind of TF paraphernalia (myself included, geeked out in my Decepticon logo cap), and those who weren't were generally dressed in the black garb favored by sci-fi lovers of all stripes. Only 5-10% of the people present would have been inconspicuous in any other setting. I was in my element.
Another 30 or 40 people filed into line behind me. The convention was supposed to start at 9, but it didn't actually open to the public until around 9:30. I waited in line for about 15 minutes, since there was only one person collecting the entrance fee of $10.00 per person. This didn't bother me at the time per se, since I'd budgeted most of the day toward enjoying the show. At any rate, I was in the dealer hall by 9:45 or so.
But before entering the convention proper, I was delighted to see a 9-foot tall Optimus Prime silently greeting the convention goers. It stood sentinel behind a table featuring various kinds of TF-related artwork, including a needlepoint representations of, among others, Megatron and Sideswipe, which for whatever reason did not turn out in any of the pictures I took with the ol' Cybershot. Once I entered the dealer hall, I saw wall to wall TF items for sale, amidst a sea of humanity.
The hall itself was large enough to house all of the various dealer tables with room to walk around and gawk. There were so many people present that a larger hall may well have seemed cramped for space. I did have to turn around more than once simply because I didn't feel like elbowing my way through knots of people (here's a representative crowd shot for your viewing pleasure). The crowd thinned out a little by 11:30 or so, after I'd decided to take my booty and run for the hills.
Most of the dealers present were unknown to me, except for Small Blue Planet, but all of them had some kind of treasure for sale. Oddly enough, I only saw one Fortress Maximus for sale (pictured with an Armada Unicron and a G1 Powermaster Optimus Prime, among other things). The dealer, who came from Baltimore (Crawl Space Collectibles), set a price of $400, which was way too steep for my taste, but the toy was complete (although dusty), and HUGE. I'd never seen a Fort Max up close...the thing was about the size of a 3 year old child. It dwarfed the Unicron figure (15 inches from tip to toe) by about 9 inches. It used to retail for $89.99 or so back in 1987-1988. My father refused to let me buy one, which was just as well. A sealed, boxed figure would go for about $900-$1200 now. Go figure.
I set a loose monetary budget of about $150 for expenditures for the day (with an additional $40 for travel expenses), and kept to it, although the temptations were everywhere hearkening to my wallet. Most of the vendors didn't take plastic, which, although a trifle inconvenient, probably saved me a good deal of money. I came with 2 purchases in mind: a convention-exclusive Dreamwave Transformers #1 (with Dinobots falling from the sky), and a sheet of reproduction faction decals (for, among other things, the G1 Optimus Prime I took apart and painted recently). These set me back a total of $15 ($10 for the comic, and $5 for the decals, courtesy of reprolabels.com). As for other stuff...I wasn't seeking anything in particular, but I kept my eyes open for a Fort Max reissue circa 2000 (a recolor, missing some of the guns from the original article). Didn't find any. I did find a lot of other things, though.
One of the main exhibits was a so-called "20 years of Optimus Prime" collection. Basically every single variation of Optimus Prime or Optimus Primal (from Beast Wars/Beast Machines) was stuffed into a four-shelf bookcase. I could probably list 25 variations off of the top of my head...but that would fall way short of what was actually on display. The bookcase was packed. I took about a dozen pics of this display, but only a few of them turned out with any sort of clarity, to say nothing of how long I waited to get my uninterrupted view. As it stands, here are three pics: 1, 2, featuring a Crystal G1 Optimus Prime, and 3.
Several of the vendors had a good selection of Takara reissues, although the price point for some of the items varied from dealer to dealer (in general, the prices were corrected by 10:30 or so). I was pleasantly surprised that there wasn't very much price gouging going on. A Takara reissue Starscream I found at a local shopping mall for $45 was on sale at the convention for $30 (I spent $35 on the Toys 'R Us reissue). Most of the Takara reissues went for $30-$40, the notable exceptions being G1 Optimus Prime ($75), Megatron ($70), and Soundwave ($50).
There were also LOADS of loose toys (like these), as well as a few boxed toys (like here and here). As a rule, most of the stuff for sale was TF-related, but I did see a couple vendors offering vintage G.I. Joes, as well as another dealer who had nothing but Robotech/Macross stuff. Another stand or two specialized in comic books, one had very little other than reproduction labels, while yet another just had TF statues. But smack dab in the middle of the dealer hall was a place that specialized in T-shirts and posters. $31.75 later, I had my hands on a long-sought Curious George shirt (Curious George knocked out after sniffing a bottle of ether), as well as a Pac Man shirt which said "Eat Me", with a picture of the 4 ghosts (Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde). I spent about 2 hours walking around like a kid in a candy store (with a whole bunch of other kids, large and small, old and young).
Prior to picking up any of the other stuff (the comic, labels, and T-shirts), I'd decided that I was going to leave with at least one high-priced item. A number of the vendors had the Japanese Masterpiece Convoy, a really souped-up Optimus Prime. The figure is sold stateside as 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime at a price point between $65-$80. The figures are identical in their articulation and transformation, but they sport a number of esthetic differences. The 20th Anniversary figure has shorter smokestacks (safety feature so children don't poke their eyes out, or something), and so-called 'battle damage', which amounts to some recoloring/discoloring in various areas. The Masterpiece figure has the full-sized smokestacks and no battle damage, which in my opinion gives the figure a cleaner appearance. The Masterpiece figures sold for between $99 and $120 at the early stages on the convention. I picked up one from the Small Blue Planet stand for $100. What follows are a few pics which compare the figures in their various aspects:

I could write a whole article extolling the virtues of this excellent toy. To the credit of the convention, the 20th Anniversary figure sold for no more than $75 all around, although with the relative availability of the product, overpricing would have been foolish. I was more impressed that the Masterpiece figures went for such a good price (leaving aside the question of how 'good' a $100 price for a toy actually is). I've seen it go for upwards of $150 on sites like Ebay (when you factor in shipping costs), and I'm sure a few people would have picked it up for that price at the convention. Kudos to the vendors for keeping it real!!
Another thing which struck me was how polite most of the attendees were. People were holding doors for each other and patiently waiting for a view of some cool sight or another. They would also say 'excuse me' and 'thank you'.
The hotel itself seemed like a pretty nice one. It was tastefully decorated and it looked like the kind of place where conventions of various kinds were certainly held in the past (I think this was the second Cybercon Expo held at the location). However, at one point, being a little under the weather and thirsty, I purchased a lukewarm bottle of water for $2.00. Didn't sample the rest of the fare (hot dogs and soda, mostly), but I wasn't impressed with the catering. I'm not sure if that was the fault of the convention organizers or the hotel itself, but I'd prefer to spend money on something cold next time. Understandably, though, the food was not the main event.
On the whole, I'm not really sure there was much more to the convention except for the dealer room. Sure, there was a playable demo for a Transformers: Armada PS2 game by Atari which looked neat, and there was a microphone on hand for...something. There was also a raffle for various door-prizes which I didn't enter, but on the whole it looked like the entire show WAS the dealer room and the entrance lobby with the 9-foot Optimus Prime. For my part, I didn't really care about other bells and whistles, so that was no disappointment. But it did seem like there was something missing. I'm not really sure what that is, though.
On the whole, I had a really neat time at this convention. There's another one (Wave 2, apparently) in early November which I will definitely check out. It was a time to mingle with others of my oft-mocked ilk, although I didn't really talk to anyone except for a man who had come to the convention with his son. The father was waiting for a reissue of Metroplex, which I nodded at but doubted at the same time. Playing the old 'fly on the wall' role I've mastered so well over 26 years, I heard a few remarks which stuck with me for whatever reason:

  • (a man on a cell phone)--"Jerry finally got his Springer".
  • (a voice in the crowd)..."come on, man. There's a complete Metroplex going for $85"
  • (a father speaking to his son, about 20th Anniversary Optimus Prime)..."It's $75 here, which means it's probably $40 or $50 at Toys 'R Us". I pointed out that the convention price was actually cheaper than that particular toy store, and after short deliberation, he bought the figure.

Only at a Transformer convention...

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