TF Expo 2022

Been around for 10 years and it's the first time I attended this show.

After three days at ICON, I needed a bit of a guilty infusion to participate in. The TF  Expo was on  Sunday, and tickets were $10 at the door. The show was held at the Stoney Creek Hotel, which is a short drive for me to get to, and it's an enjoyable venue to attend shows in.

I didn't get an artist's table at this show, I just wanted to go, relax, talk and do some shopping for vintage and import items to add to my collection. I was still shell shocked from my Roadshow table sales fail at ICON.

Graphic design/package art on Japanese items always looks amazing.

The show attendance was light, but I also paid for the early bird ticket, so there were more people that eventually showed up to shop.

It wasn't just robots, there were action figure lines like GI Joe...

One of the things I love is digging through stuff for sale. You just never know what deals and finds await. Many of them unexpected!.

and import video games!

The smaller shows can be a lot of fun, because unlike much bigger shows, I feel like I can breathe, exchange stories, and take my time looking at things.

The two panels I attended were great!

There were two panels I attended. The first one was about unauthorized and bootleg versions of Takara/Hasbro items, as well as 3rd Party releases of licensed characters. Nerdy though this is, I didn't find myself falling asleep during these presentations.  

[Left] This was the initial colorway release of the robot that would eventually become Omega Supreme in the Transformers toy line. [Right] I had a budget of $120 I wanted to stick to, but this Machine Robo base was AMAZING!

I loved that the second panel had some great examples of wild rarities brought in from a personal collection to show off.

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with Anime robot design, having seen early Diaclone stuff in stores. So the toy designs, from the sculpts, to the package design, to the toy colors, are all aspects I sincerely enjoy so much.

I believe this is the Brazilian colorway of one of the Jumpstarters from Transformers.

If you've seen Nacelle Company's fantastic series, The Toys that Made Us, the episode I consider to be my absolute favorite is the one dealing with the history of the Transformers. It has some segments with screenwriter, game designer and novelist, Flint Dille.

Flint Dille had some great stories.

Pros like him who've been in the entertainment business for so many years, have a veritable treasure trove of stories that from my personal experiences, are unmatched. 

He covered television and movies he worked on, people in the industry he'd met and had often hilarious or unusual interactions with, but also was talking about his new book, that covered those very same subjects. I meant to pick up his book but didn't make it back over to his table. 

Show Haul: A 3rd Party Soundtrack and some Decepticon Seekers that I got a great deal on.

The vendors had a wide range of prices going on at booths. Sure there were some high price rarities and imports, but there were some amazing finds with good prices. I also picked up some other items I didn't photograph for this post, but I ended up keeping it to about $70 total spent.

This figure is about 4 inches tall, and is a killer 3rd Party option for Soundwave.

After about four or five hours at the show, I had already covered the room and shopped as much as I could. It was cathartic and I was in a great mood. I felt like myself again. 

Thanks for that TF Expo!

Show Overview.

So let's break down TF Expo.

Is it worth it?

Yes, from an attendee point.

If you're a pop culture fan, specifically into Transformers/Gobots/Japanese Bots, this show is right up your alley.

The vendors were all really friendly, and the artists had some amazing stuff there. I wish I'd brought more money to have picked up something from one of them.

This was the second time this show had been in this location. Attendance might have suffered from that combined with coming back since Covid's shutdowns. Its origins were in Witchita, Kansas, and then it moved to the Adams Mark in 2018, and Stoney Creek in 2019.

Expense

1. One Ticket for TF Expo: $10
2. There were variable upgrade tickets for extras

Pros

• The panels were a lot of fun, very educational, and well done.
• The Stoney Creek location is nice and open
• The vendors had price points from items for a few dollars to very cool high price rarities
• Parking was no problem
• The staff was helpful and had some cool and unusual custom exclusives for purchase

Cons

• I didn't know that there were any artists in attendance, maybe that info was announced, not sure.
• The lower attendance did affect the room ambiance some, but the show did have a new location

The Final Evaluation

I hope the show makes a return in 2023. It's a fun show, and if you are a family, it's affordable and very family friendly to attend. Like many smaller shows around this area, it's a good, lower cost experience before one tries going to shows like NakaKon or Planet Comicon.

And if you love robots, collecting, and other 1980/90s toys, this show is a pretty good one to attend for collectors in this niche.

I can't speak to the vending/artist table aspect, but a slower show is always harder to make sales at. Thankfully I did see some sales happen when I was talking to a few of them.

Thank you so much for reading, I am Mario, the Artisan Rogue, and until next time, remember to support artists and local businesses. Be kind to your fellow beings and always take the path less traveled. We all may live in times uncertain, but kindness, understanding, and believing in the good that is in most each and every one of us is what can bring about better days! Keep it real, you glorious bastards.

LINKS

TF Expo

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue
Illustrator, Voice Actor, Writer, Animal Rights Activist

www.theartisanrogue.com