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You've read the reports. Everyone told you what the show was like for them. I won't bore you with that. I'll bore you with this instead. :-) McBotcon dropped their flyers and banners on Tfcon *in force.* I fully imagine that next June, Tfcon should do the same to them. It would be a real humdinger. Let the titans fight it out. Let them fight over the scraps. My fandom died in 2004. 30 years of Transformers. Ten years since Hasbro, OTFCC, and Master Collector teamed up and killed it for me. ... ... But for a moment, that Sunday, it was alive again.
 It was an enjoyable walk. Three separate groups of Transformer fans started out from different tunnels - we all met in the middle :-) We each thought it was being held in the *other* part of the complex (the part where the other group came from.) Eventually, a nice lady brought us all to the promised land - in the basement. Sigh. Going Down.
 As a rule, I don't get to make it around the entire room at Dairycon. I promised myself 3 trips around this room. I got one. The reason? Friends I had not seen in ages! I thought Brad was going to jump out from around his table. I'd have hugged him myself, were I not a manly man of the manly persuasion :-) I presented him with a bottle of Optimus Wine to celebrate our reunion. I also had some assistance from my cohort Matt in spreading the good news - in the form of some stylish cards with a certain cow logo on them. Classy, yet subtle. Functional, yet stylish.
 My heart warmed to the fandom again, if only for a moment. Back into character. Off to tfsource. There's a vicious rumor that I like Curt's mom and dad more than I like him. That's completely untrue; I also like Curt's wife more too :-) Heh. It was good to press the flesh with him again. And I agree with his assessment of the fandom. I also like making his ears bleed. Also - thank you for the signs. You guard them well. Oddly, there was a Union Convention, and an Industrial Lubricants Convention at the same hotel. Not used to that. Dairycon only shared their hotel once, and it was with the Miss Wisconsin Pageant - the guys didn't mind :-) But hey, when in Rome...so, while there, I picked up their convention packets, too. (I'm half-metal, so being at the forefront of lubrication is key.)
 Would I go again? Yes. It's great to be with friends in a relaxed atmosphere, I didn't have to run it, and most importantly - now *they* are McfunPub's target :-) OK, tell you what: I'll be their target just *one more time*. But you owe me. Better make it worth my while. My dream: to make more than circuit around the dealer room. Like Scrooge McDuck, I want to swim in the toys. And I'm still a bit torqued that Tony wouldn't come down 20 dollars on that 120 dollar repackage of a powerdasher we all have six times over. That's pretty much it. I probably could have talked him down, but I literally didn't *feel* like it - that may not make much sense, but when you talk all day for a living, you pretty much just want to flip someone the bird and have them thank you for it :-) So really, I'm angry at myself. Either way. I'd post a haul pic, but I didn't take a pic. Or have a haul, really. Except for that empty MasterPiece wheeljack box, which is my real score. I like empty boxes (well, I like talking people out of empty boxes - they start to wonder if their garbage is valuable, which is the *real* thrill :-) Oh, and Curt's sign. And the one from the show. It's hard to explain, but Matt finally found a way to explain it to people: 'Fred likes the worthless things you can't buy -the collectible artifacts.' Well, he actually said it better than that; I was too-busy taking the signs :) But I do distinctly remember him saying he was frightened at how deep down the rabbit hole he'd fallen, that he understands my thinking. Bravo, buddy. Bravo. Speaking of... Matt did an excellent job of getting the keystone Kops to this show. Mike and I have known each other a long time. Made it to many a show. But we're not as fired up as we used to be - almost ended up at the cheesecake factory instead :-) We used to be organised. As the years have gone by, a bit less so. I go where the wind takes me. I thought I remembered the way to the show. We payed the toll, ask for directions, and the booth lady tells us to turn left. So we did. But- the walgreens wasn't there. 'Eh,' I figure, 'Let's just keep going. It feels right.' The last several trips I've made to chicago have been this way. As a result, I have not once made it to my destination. But I've had a lot of fun. This time, Matt was with us, and he checked the map. You guessed it. Should have turned right. Not left. Booth lady, zero. Turned around. There's the walgreens. *That* felt right. Hey - you forgot to loop back to take one of those political signs! I *knew* you were distracting me from something! I just remembered now! Drive me Closer! I want to hit them with my sword!
 So, much like the classic 'Mission Drift', haunted me the first ten years, I fully expect that some version of 'But it feels right!' will haunt me for the *next* ten years. I probably deserve it. The last funny thing I heard before leaving the show: "Fred, you refuse to even make business cards the standard size! Bwahaha!" I admit, that made me smile. Because he caught me. :-)
 The epic Saga continues. (See also: State of the Fandom 2014 | REVENGE of State of the Fandom 2014: TF Con-Job!) |
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