2014 Adelaide & Brisbane Supanova (November) - Peter Cullen

[griffin]

I had no idea that there would be a Q&A panel with Peter Cullen, otherwise I would have made mention of it.

It took me ages to find it on the Supanova site about it, and finally found it hidden away on page 32 of the 56 page program guide PDF (which is half advertising, so is a lot bigger than it needs to be).

FOR BRISBANE...

Peter Cullen
- Autograph & print $50 (at Supa-Star Signing Area, when not at Seminar or at Photo session)
- Photo $60 (at Roy's Photo Studio)
(Token's for both are to be bought from the Supanova store)

Friday
Seminar at 3.40pm (Cosplay Theatre)
Photos at 4.30pm (Roy's B)

Saturday
Photos at 3.55pm (Roy's B)

Sunday
Seminar at 12.40pm (Cosplay Theatre)
Photos at 3.55pm (Roy's B)

All three areas to find Peter Cullen at the Brisbane Convention Centre are all on the right-hand end when you enter the hall.

Page 28 & 29 has the map of the event.

For anyone interested in Alan Tudyk, who is there more for his non-Transformers works...

Alan Tudyk (Autograph $50, Photo $60)

Friday
Seminar at 2.00pm (FilmInk Features)
Photos at 3.45pm (Roy's A)

Saturday
Photos at 11.30am (Roy's A), 4.00pm (Roy's A)

Sunday
Seminar at 3.10pm (FilmInk Features)
Photos at 12.00pm (Roy's A), 4.40pm (Roy's B)

Convention Hours...
Friday - 1pm to 8pm.
Saturday - 10am to 6pm.
Sunday - 10am to 6pm.

[griffin]

I just had a query, for those who've been to a recent Supanova...

Since they have a professional photographer and allocated sessions for the main guests, does that mean you aren't allowed to take photos of the guest, or of them with you in it?
If so, do the guests enforce it? Like, if I was accompanying someone who was wanting to meet Peter Cullen, I can't take a photo of them while he is talking to them, because the guest will say that they want/need their commission from the professional photo session.
(I don't have the patience to search through their 56 page program guide to find the fine print, but there is a mention on page 4 that Commercial use must require authorisation first.)

Since I've met or seen Peter Cullen several times already, I was planning to be the "designated photographer" for others, if the guests allowed for some posing... or even if it is just of them with the guest without a proper pose.

Also, do they only allow people to enter the autograph area if you have a token? I have no interest in autographs, but would still like to say hello if I can, to show my appreciation of his work over the years.

Did anyone go to all three days at the Adelaide one? Which day had the smaller crowd?
I was thinking Friday might, due to people working or being at school, but then thought Sunday might, if you get people wanting to be first to the show and its exclusives or guests.

[loophole]

The Friday night is just a official opening night for the event, where you will get your wristbands for the event which allows entry in and out otherwise you get the wristband on the day you go.
You will also be able to buy photo and autograph tokens which I highly recommend as it cuts out a lot of queuing on the day.

The only way to get a photograph with a guest is if you pay for it with a token, you will not be allowed to take photos while they are doing autographs.

I don't know whether the Brisbane has a big guest or not but I found this year to be relatively quiet compared to other cons that I have been to before... so lining up shouldn't be too bad...

Hope that helps a little

[Robzy]

I only went on Sat, and Peter Cullen was probably the equal biggest attraction that day (along with Jack Gleeson from GoT), in terms of numbers of people lining up to see his Q&A and for Photos (at least, from what I saw). Pretty popular and well worth it.

I didn't go Fri night, but a friend did, and she said Peter was on stage at one point talking to the crowd (and unscheduled Q&A perhaps?).

They're pretty strict about photos/video when you line up, and even during his Q&A... It's hard to stop everyone, but they've kicked people out before for filming/pics. In fact, an usher told someone near me to put his phone away during Peter's session yesterday (he was just holding it), so I think they're pretty full on.

As for entering the autograph area without a token... you can line up, but they won't let you up to the desk (ie, a family can stay together, but only the people who have tokens can approach the desk/celebrity). It's not so much the Guest enforcing it, as the strict Volunteers.

[SofaMan]

Saturday was the quieter day, but that was mostly the weather. It was very wet and thundery, and quite muggy.

A photo token will allow you to get a professional photo with the guest and up to two people.

Sometimes the guests take a wander about the floor, and some of them are quite happy to join in on a photo with people, but it's very much up to the individual guest.

I took a few photos of Peter Cullen during his Q&A, and a friend filmed his Optimus Prime monologue - no-one said anything to us, but I think if you tried to film the entire session a volunteer will probably see and ask you to stop. They're mostly not complete hardarses about a few photos, but as long as you're not being excessive and egregious there's a little bit of a blind eye turned.

[griffin]

For those planning to go to it this weekend in Brisbane, save time and money by buying them online (if you trust online purchases).
http://www.moshtix.com.au/v2/event/s...ane-2014/73109

This page has the breakdown of the different tickets available, and the cost if you buy the ticket at the convention or online.
http://www.supanova.com.au/tickets

[griffin]

Some piccies from Friday... in case there was anyone still on the fence about going Sunday. (Peter Cullen has a second Panel about midday Sunday)

Ravagecat (and his offspring) and I went in by bus, arriving just a few minutes after 1pm, and they started letting people in at 1.15pm. We met up with JustOwen about half an hour later.
There was a lot of people already lined up, which didn't seem to be necessary, as I couldn't see anything inside that needed people to get to first or else they'd miss out. Even the guests didn't show up for autographs until almost 3pm.
When we got to the end of the line, we were near door 1, and the entrance was all the way at the end at door 4.


Near the entrance there were a couple storm-troopers, taking donations for a charity from people who wanted to have their photo taken with them.


Inside, square tabled booths at the entrance end of the hall, while the autographs and panel room was at the other end.

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In the middle there were these rows of smaller tables, that were mostly artists and creative item sellers.


Some of the bigger exhibitors...
EB Games had a huge store and gaming area.


Rockband game, for people to do a bit of karaoke.


A 360-degree photo booth, which I had the impression might even generate a CG image of you.


Timezone, with their competition area to win a pinball machine.


Model competition. (not a huge amount)


A free gaming area.


A wrestling ring with live wrestling three times a day.


Some custom made items to take photos with (for a fee). The Tardis was a weird aqua colour. The DeLorean was okay, but had a number of extra props like the hoverboard and 2015 cap.


A row of Star Wars scenes for photos (for a fee).

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Custom-built Daleks.

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And a custom-built Optimus Truck from the first three Movies (it had Australian drive, so wasn't an actual movie truck). It might even be the one that belongs to a person living on the south side of Brisbane.

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Dispensor wasn't impressed. He called it a Knock-Off, and that KOs are evil.


Ravagecat posed for a photo with the Truck. His son hopped into the shot, but I took this first photo just as he was about to be shoved off to one side, because "this was daddy's toy".


One of the businesses who had a booth, who sold metal sculptures, had made a large Bumblebee.


And some heads to sell.


(Continued in next post, to keep the posts smaller)

[griffin]

(part two pics)

Some of the smaller exhibitors that were of interest for obvious reasons...

One selling statues, including one of those Megatrons that was about $3,000.


Some of their other statues.


Toynk... who is an American toy business, that has set themselves up in Australia with an Australian website. I bought some MOTU classics from here (I was not expecting to buy anything, but they were cheaper than importing them).


They had a fair few Masterpiece Transformers.


They also had a couple of "titans" and a $300 MP Optimus with a note on it to encourage people to buy it to get signed by Peter Cullen.


Another toy dealer with a couple Masterpiece Transformers (for $20 less than Toynk).

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There was another booth that had all their books, old and new, done up in a binder form, adding in blank pages between each page to turn it into a souvenir note-book. There were several old Transformers books and annuals, which the old guy running the booth was very proud of his project.


TFIDownunder was there selling toys, most of which was Transformers.

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And another board member, Miles-Prower, selling his artwork.


Madman were there selling DVDs, including a lot of their Transformers releases. Beyond Entertainment (who sell Rescue Bots) also had a booth, but were not selling any of their Transformers DVDs (and I didn't take a photo).


After snaking our way through all the rows of exhibits and booths we finally made our way to the Autograph area a little after 2pm. We were surprised that none were there yet, and looking closer we could see their start times ranging from 2.45pm to 4pm.
This was as close as I dared to get to take photos, as all those people in yellow were volunteers, who were instructed to prevent people from taking photos (because you had to pay for professional photos).


This was the area to buy tokens for autographs and photos. I ended up buying an autograph token, in case they wouldn't allow me to enter the autograph area without one. (in the end, I found out that people could go and talk to the guests if they didn't have anyone in their autograph queue, but Peter Cullen was one who had a constant queue)
That person in red doesn't look happy about someone taking his photo...


There were different prices for different guests, and Peter Cullen was $50 for autographs and $60 for photos. Each guest had a range of pictures you could get to sign, but you only get it free if you didn't already have something to sign... which I thought was stupid, but the "yellow-shirt" I was speaking to was adamant that your $50 only pays for a print if you didn't bring something else to sign.
I wanted number 8 (Gen1 Optimus art), so was disappointed that I didn't get one for my $50.
It was also odd that Peter Cullen looked to be the only guest to NOT have a print of themselves for people to select for signing. All eight of his were characters.


After that first hour rush, the token store was mostly empty.
(it's the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man)


At about 3pm, some of the guests had shown up, and people started queuing up for autographs. On the left were the two photo booths for the photos people paid for.


Peter Cullen was one of the first to show up, and all three of us were lined up with our items to sign. Ravagecat had a Gen1 Optimus box, JustOwen had a couple of DVD cases to sign, while I had an old BotCon autograph card. (I already had two things with his signature on them, so didn't have anything I really wanted signed... but this autograph card was pre-signed with everyone but Peter Cullen, so now it is complete.)
Peter Cullen was second from the left, between the guy from Game of Thrones, and Alan Tudyk. Yep, the two Transformers guests next to each other.


On the other end of the row of guest tables were some less popular ones, as I often saw them without anyone lined up or at their table. I felt a bit bad for them.


Peter Cullen didn't have long at the autograph desk, as 40 minutes later his Q&A panel started in the panel room.


He talked a bit about his inspiration for the character of Optimus (from his older brother who was in the military). As well as mentioning some of his other roles, and saying some Optimus lines, which still sent shivers up my spine hearing him do it live.

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After the panel, he had his photo session, so Ravagecat and JustOwen lined up for that while I went off to chat to some guests that didn't have anyone in their queue.
I spoke to Zach Galligan (from Gremlins) because that was one of my favourite child-hood films, I got close to Grant Imahara (Mythbusters) and the pair of Power Rangers actors while they were talking to people and signing things.
But the big one was talking to Dutch... I mean Alan Tudyk. Another of the Transformers people ticked off my list. I told him how he was one of the few highlights of the third Transformers movie, and he said that he had a lot of fun doing the role.

It was after 4pm by the time I caught up with Ravagecat and JustOwen again after they did their photos with Peter Cullen. After we'd spent some time talking to the two Ozformers members who had tables at the convention, and took some more photos of things, it was already 5pm.
Ravagecat's offspring was worn out by this stage, and I'd seen everything I'd wanted to, so we left about half an hour later for the bus-stop, to head back to my place (with dinner on the way).
I think we were all pretty excited about the result of the day, as we had contact with the most iconic voice actor for Transformers, and since all three of us had a birthday within a week of it... it was a great present to ourselves.

My items from the day.
Three MOTU toys.
The program guide with Optimus on the cover.
The BotCon 2012 autograph card that I got Peter Cullen to sign, to make it complete.

Best birthday ever!

[jazzcomp]

I didn't like those queue setups but it basically doesn't allow people to take pictures of them since it's too far unless you lineup. It's really the strict volunteers who are a pain since the guests don't care if you take photos.

Nice writeup/report post, bossbot

[Tfiguy]

Lol! Look at me hard at work on my Paypal App! Nice to meet the Big Boss Dawg Griffin. I hope you's had as good as time as we did! See you all at Gold Coast and Sydney!