Skip to main content

2019 Programme Intro

Brexit. 

It almost sounds like a Transformer, doesn’t it? And just like a Transformer, its most notable characteristic is going to be change. 

I often receive questions about Brexit. Will it impact future guest lineups? Will flights (and everything else) become more expensive? Will I need some kind of funky new super-Visa to enter the UK? And perhaps most importantly, who will win custody of Jim Sorenson?

The truth is, I don’t know. Nobody does. Not even Jim. 

What I do know, however, is the set of values TFN holds which I’m confident will see us through any coming changes. We believe in fandom. We believe in friendship. We believe in people. And that means we believe in you - the TFNation. If there’s one thing this community can definitely handle, it’s a transformation (kibble and all). Whatever Brexit throws our way over the next twelve months, TFN will still be here and you will still be welcome, wherever you reside. 

Of course change can only ever begin in the here and now. So what does TFN have for you this year?

For those of you joining us on Friday (hello long haulers!) you’ll find the most jam-packed intro day in TFN history. Start as you mean to go on, right? Each year I thank the entire crew for their help, but I really must underline that this year as the extra programme hours have increased the workload for so many hardworking con-heroes. Please say hello if you encounter one looking tired!

Saturday will be full of everything you’ve come to expect of TFN and dare I say it, might be sprinkled with some surprises along the way. Watch this space. 

It goes without saying (he says, saying it anyway) that we are incredibly grateful to Gurinder at Gundam Mad for helping us to launch the Gundam Wing in conjunction with Anime Limited and Bandai, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our giant robotic cousins. Suit up and go take a look now - it’s included in your ticket price!

As ever TFN will boast Europe’s largest Transformers trading hall, which now fills double the area of last year’s efforts. If you can’t find your favourite figure in all of that lot, you’re collecting the wrong things! All our dealers are amazing, but be sure to pop over to the Toy Fu stall which, as ever, will be donating all proceeds to Mary’s Meals: a great charity which provides food and education to children living in poverty. 

Saturday night’s Clubcon event will be extra special this year, as we host a three part insight into what could have been for Transformers Animated Season Four. The night will be rounded off by comedy improv’ group The Improvacons, headed by Peter Spellos! Anything could happen!

We’re joined by some wonderful first time guests this year in Gregg Berger, Peter Spellos, Brian Drummond, Marty Isenberg, Brian Ruckley, EJ Su, Andrew Griffiths, John McCrea and a team of Directors from Transformers Cyberverse! You’ll also get another chance to meet returning favourites, all of whom are detailed in this wonderful publication. On that note, I remain eternally grateful to Andrew Turnbull, Ed Pirrie and all of the other amazing contributors to this year’s various art projects. We are forever in your debt. 

Whether you’re here for the toys, the guests or to make new friends, we’re confident  you’ll have a fantastic time this weekend! Just be sure to say hello to lots of people, that’s the best bit!

And remember in these uncertain times; wherever you’re going, wherever you’ve been; you’ll always belong here. 

You are TFNation: Where all are one. 


Billy & the TFNation Crew

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TFNation Blog | In this life

  Tuesdays. They've never sat well with me. Weekends tend to be nice. Mondays are fine, but Tuesdays sneak up on you. Look out for yourself because even with seven days' notice, you'll never quite see the next Tuesday coming. Terrible, awful things with nefarious minds of their own, putting an abrupt stop to your plans for a great week. If something can go wrong it will, but it'll wait till Monday's done. Naturally then, it's the day I've chosen for blogging. Consistency is key so I'm going to make an effort to share stories on Tuesdays from now on. Maybe not every Tuesday, but definitely some and hopefully most. It'll give me a chance to do something which is neither work nor TFN, by way of working on something related to TFN... sounds very me. (That said, should this, in fact, prove to be my first and last Tuesday blog, so long! But hopefully not). So, let's talk about a thing, shall we? Given our most recent Big Broadcast of 2020 announcement ...
Post a Comment
Read more

TFNation Blog | Take a Seat

For every hit single, you'll happen across a few album tracks. This post is sort of one of those, if you pretend for a minute that the rest are hits. As we'll be streaming some of our 2018 Stan Bush concert footage this week , it would feel silly to distract from that with anything else. So here's another short story from concert day, 2018. (Before I go on, I must give a big shout out to Raymond T who has kindly agreed to us using his footage. Hero) Knowing how many people you can fit into a concert hall is one thing, but knowing how quickly you can safely move them in and out is quite another - that would become pretty much the largest issue of the year.  We finalised TFN 2018's guest plans at a meeting held in September 2017. By December 2017, the plans had changed entirely and we were starting again. A scheduling conflict for (somebody you'll hopefully see sometime soon) left a huge hole in our plans. Completely by fluke, Stan also replied to a speculative email ...
Post a Comment
Read more

TFNation 2019

Hello. In case you've stumbled in and found this little corner of the internet by accident, here's a brief explanation. My name is Billy. I am one of the organisers of TFNation, which is a convention for fans of The Transformers and other shape-shifting robots. I'm here to talk to you today. I've toyed with the idea of writing something for a very long time. Almost a week in fact. Writing and me is an unusual pairing. I have a non-robot job which requires me to write to different audiences, in different tones through the day. Come home time, I'm into TFN mode, writing very different types of things to completely different audiences. The end result is that on a Saturday morning such as today, it's difficult to remember my actual voice.  Then there's the issues of time and well, being busy, and before long, the blog format just feels like something other people do. Then there's the elephant in the room. The large, lingering question of "what wo...
Post a Comment
Read more