There's already a thread about Goktimus' distasteful creation. Which heshouldcould have just linked to rather than reposting the pic in this thread. Why not discuss it over there.
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There's already a thread about Goktimus' distasteful creation. Which heshouldcould have just linked to rather than reposting the pic in this thread. Why not discuss it over there.
I made that post in a hurry - so I didn't have time to dig up the thread and post it. Anyway, it was just an example of a blatantly "original" creation that HasTak can't claim any ownership over -- I was never suggesting that anybody actually use that character design (and I did actually explicitly state that too).
The point I was making is that you should be able to get away with design your own unique/original transforming-robot character without impeding on Hasbro/Takara's intellectual property.
But if it really upsets people that much, I've changed it to a "friendlier" version.
A hurry? Sorry, I don't buy that. If you have time to write 964 words, you've got time to search for a previous post/thread you created and link to it. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
So let's bring this back to topic, here's the link to the Chainmasters bios and pics.
Haha true :PQuote:
Originally Posted by jena
So, is this thread dead or what?
I've got some ideas for you Jenna but it'll have to wait until tonight when I've got some time to type it up
Awesome, I'll look forward to reading them.
Oh god, I have missed you guys.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulbot
Heh this thread was a good read! What happened to that jazzy josh guy? All of his posts were essentially "I'm sorry but I don't want to get sued / I'm sorry but I don't want to get involved in anything illegal / I like to hide under rocks". Rinse and repeat. What a top guy
and Gok probably had a few brews before he concocted that idea too lol. Hope you don't bring that up in the classroom man!
Not dead but there has to be serious will to do it. At this point, throwing ideas around is good and this thread is helpful in gathering those ideas and using them as reference.Quote:
Originally Posted by jena
Perhaps trying to pull something like the Parra fair is feasible? (regarding venue size) I guess once we can work out how much a modest event may cost, we can work out what to do within it.
How about we try to find out something like:
- How much would hiring a place like Parra Town hall cost?
- If the event is to last for a couple of days, what do we do to entertain people? It can't just be trivia and throttlebot racing.
- Have some sort of food available. Doesn't have to be grand, hotdogs would do.
- How many dealers can we actually invite in - Maybe we can offer free tables to some Parra fair dealers?
- Can we get somebody of some sort of fame in? It doesn't have to be directly associated with Transformers. We can try to be flexible and get a known local celebrity to come with the excuse that he/she likes Transformers ;) Maybe one of the people from Good game or something.
Well, basics like cost of the venue hiring would be a good starting platform. Once we know the reality of how much something like this would cost at a basic level, we can begin expanding it a bit.
I've wanted an Australian transformers convention since I learned about botcon way back in 2000, but I honestly believe a convention or even a booth at one of the existing pop culture expos wouldn't work. For reasons already listen like price attendance ect a convention wouldn't work. As for expos there is to much competition between franchises and while transformers may be near and dear to our hearts I know that at the conventions a lot of people just walk past the transformers merchandise without giving it a second look. I've seen booths with almost the same stock they started out with on Saturday morning still there Sunday afternoon. For me this suggest that there just isn't enough general interest for a booth or convention.
However what does work is our fan meets. Whether its the parra fair meet that the Sydney guys are always posting there photos of, the Perth meets after their parra fair equivalent that name escapes me or the Melbourne Christmas meet. These things work people come because for the most part the meets are free.
Now what I think should be done is take the concept of a fan meet and build on it. Nothing over the top huge just hire a hall like cat suggested a few pages ago and make it all about the fans. The toys, comics, cartoons and movies. Take everything about the brand we love and fill a hall with it. Make it a day by the fans for the fans don't worry about asking hasbro for help or getting their permission because I really doubt we would get either.
We could have tvs playing the cartoon, toys on display various comics from every publisher that has worked on the brand available to read. That covers the basic selling points of the brand and would entertain us the fans.
We could do the transforming competition that's run at the Melbourne Xmas meet up every year as well as do a trivia competition and have door prizes. I'm sure other people can come up with games.
As for getting other people there we would have to advertise. Tv is probably out of the question it costs to much and as for newspapers well it might be a bit pricey to it would have to be checked out. I think the way to go would be online and fliers. Obviously we would start threads on the variouse transformers message boards and all other pop culture, gaming, film boards that people belong to. Also a Facebook page would get a bit of attention and isn't that how people find out about most things now. Fliers could be handed out at the various existing conventions and at the comic shops, pop culture shops and game stores. I think this would be the cheapest and most effective way of advertising. I'm pretty sure office works will print 3000 at around $120.
At the meet I think we would need to have about two tvs playing the cartoons. G1, beast wars, animated, prime and select episodes from rid and the unicron trilogy. And two tvs with war for cybertron and fall of cybertron (if it's released by then) available to play.
As for comics a selection of the original marvel run, dreamwaves war within and g1 stories. And idw current books and spotlights. I think that would be a good selection of what has come before and what's currently on offer.
As for toy displays I think just the characters that appear in the cartoons should be displayed. I wouldn't display all of beast wars when only 30 toys appear in the cartoon. Basically Anything that can be seen in the cartoon should be on display because they are the toys most newcomers to the brand will want to see.
I'd say that we could play all four movies at random times during the day but I don't know how legal it is.
I also think that there should be toys available for people to transform and have a play with, its one thing to look but its way more fun to transform and fiddle around with them.
So when people see and play transformers they are going to want to buy them so then were going to need to have dealers at this meet up so people can. There are people we can contact to see if they are interested in setting up a table there. for example ebay seller gus guns is from altona and he might be interested in selling there. Go figure collectable is starting to stock and sell more transformers they also might be interested. I could talk to the guys at my local comic shop and see if their boss might be interested in selling some of his transformer merchandise there. Also there is us we could set up a communal table and sell our doubles and unwanted figures.
As far as location goes the city is central but expensive and we wouldn't want people to have to travel to far beyond the city so basically anything that is a short tram ride outside the city for example brunswick should be fine as far as travel goes and hopefully cost.
To help raise awareness we could do surveys at existing conventions asking questions about what people would want in a transformers convention, how far they would be willing to travel, pay and what they would want in a future convention etc. this information could be used in planning any future conventions but we would also collect email addresses and when a date and venue is set for this we can email these people to help get word around.
We would need food and drinks as well. The boxes of cans are cheap and could be sold for $1 and it would help recoup costs. As for food I'd need suggestion on it.
The cost will be the biggest problem and as much as I'd like to front all the money for this I simply can't afford to. But I think if we as a community could raise the money for it. I'd like it to be held in Melbourne so I'd be hoping that the Melbourne members who like the idea would get behind this idea financially and just important by attending. Alot of work would have to be put in to get a final cost but I think it could be done for under $2500. That would cover the cost of hiring a hall, chairs, tables, food, drinks, advertising etc
I think it would be best to keep admission free but if the cost blows out we could ask for dollar coin donations but we'll wait and see.
Its all over the place but that's my suggestion on what it should be. I'm sure I forgot to include something but it was late last night and early today so that's my excuse. But the main point I wanted to get across and I see that I didn't now that I've quickly read over it again is that this is done by us for us and if we only get one extra person to come then it doesn't matter because the day is about what we love and it would still be fun
Swoop's idea of making it 'for the fans by the fans' as a focal point and expanding from there is great. A lot of his ideas can be implemented and adjusted according to scope.
Advertising can be easy enough such as advertising on the MX paper which almost every commuter coming from the city picks up. We could set up big screens showing people playing WFC as well as showing episodes and random fan made videos from Youtube (as long as they are 'public' friendly). It would be easy to get the computers and screens too since we can use our own which we can bring.
It is certainly workable and implementable but we do need a collective will to do it and that hasn't been our strong point.
^This.Quote:
Originally Posted by kup
I was able to run around and convention organising back when I was a single guy with no kids - but things have changed and I can't do that sort of thing anymore. So while I would gladly attend such events and possibly assist where I can, I'm personally not in a position where I can go about organising/implementing such things. But yeah, we need someone to put their hand up and say they want to do this, otherwise all the best ideas in the world are just gonna gather dust.
Did anything ever come of this?
Unfortunately not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wheelie
Though I'm not against the idea of having one member go around to every state to visit each OTCA branch like a marathon.
*looks at griffin*
A travelling road show would be an idea, as Supanova does something similar to utilise foreign guests (having shows a week apart in different states).
It'd have to be something spectacular though, as I've done 3 of 6 planned cities for 2013 so far, and all I got is three people respond to my meet proposals... and that's with the incentive of bringing any of my toys to try out.
Years ago - Griffin did set up an exhibition at Wharf 8(?) or was it 6? not sure anyway it was in the city (Sydney).
I was the very first fella on the door and I wasn't a member of OTCA then. I became a member afterwards.
Iwouldnt have known of it had I not been scouring ebay and chanced to see and read the promotion griffin had attached on the literature of an item he had for bid (Resissue Astrotrain). Not much promotion of the event I believe.
It had all what Swoop said - an area for the sellers - though it was only Rokdog and Skyshadow actually hehehe - I got a lot of TFs from SS there ;P.
there was anarea where a trivia game was being hosted by dirge. A gamers area next to the sellers and another area where TF cartoons was being shown.
More importantly they had a display area - 10 tables, I believe of TF toys - griffin's - shipped from Brisbane for the exhibition. ;D Plus stuff from other local members to fill in the gaps.
That's me in white on the side standing over there hehehe
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...otc2006_04.jpg
That was the first and last toy convention purely for TFs here that Ive attended. Unfortunately unless someone does exert that kind of an effort and has the time, money and has no other priority, an Australian Botcon wont be happening soon. :(:(
Griffin's toycon seems a good idea but I dunno how much did he lose on this. I would imagine setting something up like that costed him quite a lot. He already has a lot of costs to burden him so I for one don't wanna add more...
I don't want to get in trouble as trying to pimp things out, because I just want to shine a little attention on it, but I'm currently in the process of organising a pop-culture convention for May next year next year called Ratime (Ballarat + Anime). You can check out the website here, or the Facebook page here, it's still planning and what not at the moment; But I want a big Transformers presence (due to them being in pretty much every single facet of pop-culture) and I'm sure the more fans we have the more selfishly I can make it bigger.:P
That is one awesome collection, I would've been there if I'd known about it..
Yea it was not too well advertised. I can't even remember how i found out about it, possibly searching the net for transformers and stumbled on it. Wasn't until a while later that i joined Ozformers lol. I went to this with a few friends and remember her telling her kids not to touch the toys lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Wheelie
I went with my then girlfriend (now Wife), I was amazed at Griffins collection, and thought he was out of his mind transporting it all down to Sydney just so other people could look at it.
I wasn't a member then either, and it was only a long while after I joined that I realised that was even a related event.
I would love to see something like botcon here, but I'm not sure we have the population density to make it viable.
Isn't it funny we all were there, the usual suspects hehehehe and not one of us knew each other then but we are all now meeting each other on a quarterly basis now heheheh plus any arranged in between social activities (picnics, monopoly games, mini meets):D
I remember it was dirge who first talked to me there -well he was manning the entrance heheheh. He actually told me about OTCA:D while I was ogling the collection ( drooling in the inside). I was staying clear from Gok then, coz well you know, he was playing with a dark saber prop and swinging it like a madman heheheh:D - he also had a yellow Cybertron Ramble with him.... gee my memory works well when it comes to TFs hehehe:p Also I think Skyshadow won the trivia game :o
It felt like a lifetime ago .... but in fact it wasn't really that many years in the past. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by liegeprime
Griffin's collection was / is amazing. I also have fond memories of the previous convention in Ashfield, with fan subbed Japanese TF episodes. LOL.
My first contact with anyone here was in 2003 I believe at Supanova. Goki and dirge were manning a stall there and if I recall correctly there was a diorama of the 'Death of Optimus Prime'.
I didn't actually sign up here until 2006... don't know why.
Your memory serves you right! It was indeed Sydney Supanova 2003! :)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22.../ozformers.jpg
Holy crap... has it been 10 years already?!? :eek:
We had several toys on display. They were:
+ Toy cast of our exclusive comic "On Devil's Ground" (e.g. Road Rage, Crosscut, Venom etc.)
+ "Death of Optimus Prime" diorama
+ Beast Wars battle scene diorama
+ Brave Maximus (in robot mode standing at the front corner of our booth)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...atrixdeath.jpg
I got JafCon black G1 Optimus Prime back in 2000, which was nothing more than a black Optimus Prime (albeit a rather nice looking metallic black). But it was packaged in the exact same box as the regular reissue at the time; same tech specs etc. So I decided to repurpose this toy as "Matrix Death Convoy," and set up this diorama. Even now I still consider this toy as that (thus it's resides on my 1986 Autobot shelf, and not my 1984 Autobot shelf ;)).
Alas I don't have any photos of the Beast Wars diorama which is a shame. One thing we did was to give Rhinox two chain weapons, and we also used a bit of blu-tac to attach the buzzsaws onto the front of the guns to make them look more like the mini-guns that he uses in the cartoon. :D We also used some twist ties to make Airazor look like she was flying IIRC. We also used a rubber band to attach the Matrix onto Hot Rod's body (positioned in the middle, then we just posed his hands on either side). Optimus Prime's 'deathbed' is actually my old VHS copy of Transformers The Movie with the jacket insert removed (an ironic touch). :)
That's exactly how I feel :(Quote:
Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime
I remember that now. Did somebody have a G1 Megatron there? I remember transforming him while discussing the Prime diorama
Hey I was just talking to some friends about a rumour that is going around the scenes. Apparently one of the smaller conventions (certainly not the hub and after reading posts of Jena thinking the hub would jump in would we want them to after last years Melbourne one with Stan Lee line?) that they were considering doing a mecha convention to combine all the smaller mech coloured under one roof. So if this goes ahead and I can keep an eye out (and ear) and if I read or hear any new news I can post it up here for you guys.
I over heard this info while at the cock tail party for heroes and villains last year. One guy was talking to one of the head organisers about the idea and he was really interested in the idea. I remember the guy had a massive transformer tattoo on his back and they took a photo of Steve Blum next to him with the tattoo in the picture.