TFcon

TFcon
Status Active
Genre Transformers
Venue Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale, Hyatt Regency Reston
Location(s) Toronto, DC
Country Canada, USA
Inaugurated November 10, 2002
Most recent October 21–23, 2016
Attendance 2500
Organized by Action Figure Collectors Association
Website http://www.tfcon.ca/

TFcon is a Transformers fan convention held annually since 2002 in the Greater Toronto Area. The convention was created to give Canadian the opportunity to celebrate their love for the Transformers franchise. Now the largest fan-run Transformers convention in the world, TFcon will be held for the 16th consecutive year in 2017 with events occurring in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in July and in Reston, Virginia in September.

Description

TFcon is Canada's premier Transformers collectors convention, and the second most-attended Transformers convention in the world. The event features Canada's largest dealer room for Transformers merchandise, guest question and answer panels and autograph sessions, the 3rd party product presentation and question and answer panel, Transformers trivia contest, plus art and costume contests.

History

The first TFcon (at that time called TransformersCon) was held in Hamilton, Ontario in 2002. Organized by Aaron Black and Colin Douglas, the convention had a modest 190 attendees. In 2003, TFcon got its first special guests in the form of Joe Ng and Dreamwave Productions team. In 2004, it got its first convention exclusive in the form of a variant convention exclusive cover of Transformers #1 Vol. 3 published by Dreamwave Productions. In 2006, the first 3D merchandise exclusive was released, a "stealth" recolor of the Cyclonus Hard Hero Bust. In 2007, TransformersCon finally got its first transforming toy exclusive, an unlicensed and downsized version of the Dinobot Slag in his green Generation 2 colors dubbed "Flamethrower". In its first 2 years the convention was moved around Ontario, but now finds a regular home in Toronto, Ontario. As of 2008, this convention formerly named TransformersCon is now officially called TFcon at the request of Hasbro. In 2009 TFcon expanded to a 2-day convention by merging with the 80s Toy Expo on the Sunday of the event. This was necessary due to many dealers completely selling out of merchandise on the Saturday requiring a dealer room restock if a 2nd day was to be added. Starting in 2012 TFcon has been hosting a charity auction for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.[1] In 2014 TFcon expanded to two shows a year, with one in Canada and one in the United States.

Dates and locations

  • 2002: November 10 – Lawfield Arena, Hamilton, Ontario
  • 2003: June 22 – Holiday Inn Burlington Hotel & Conference Centre, Burlington, Ontario
  • 2004: March 12–13 – Holiday Inn Toronto Airport East, Toronto, Ontario
  • 2005: March 25–26 – Doubletree International Plaza Hotel Toronto Airport, Toronto, Ontario
  • 2006: April 28–29 – Doubletree International Plaza Hotel Toronto Airport, Toronto, Ontario
  • 2007: April 27–28 – Doubletree International Plaza Hotel Toronto Airport, Toronto, Ontario
  • 2008: June 20–21 – Doubletree International Plaza Hotel Toronto Airport, Toronto, Ontario
  • 2009: April 24–26 – Doubletree International Plaza Hotel Toronto Airport, Toronto, Ontario
  • 2010: July 16–18 – Doubletree International Plaza Hotel Toronto Airport, Toronto, Ontario
  • 2011: July 29–31 – Delta Meadowvale Resort and Conference Centre, Mississauga, Ontario
  • 2012: July 27–29 – Delta Meadowvale Resort and Conference Centre, Mississauga, Ontario
  • 2013: July 25–28 - Delta Meadowvale Hotel and Conference Centre, Mississauga, Ontario
  • 2014: July 11–13 – Delta Meadowvale Resort and Conference Centre, Mississauga, Ontario
  • 2014: October 24–26 – Hyatt Regency O'Hare, Chicago, Illinois
  • 2015: July 17–19 – Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale, Mississauga, Ontario
  • 2015: October 16–18 – Embassy Suites Charlotte Concord, Charlotte, North Carolina
  • 2016: July 15–17 – Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale, Mississauga, Ontario
  • 2016: October 21–23 – Hyatt Regency O'Hare, Chicago, Illinois
  • 2017: July 14–16 – Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale, Mississauga, Ontario
  • 2017: September 29-October 1 – Hyatt Regency Reston, Reston, Virginia
  • 2018: July 13-15 - Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale, Mississauga, Ontario
  • 2018: October 26-28 - Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel & Conference Center, Rosemont, IL

Special guests

  • 2002: None
  • 2003: Joe Ng, Roger Lee and various members of the Dreamwave Productions team
  • 2004: David Kaye, Pat Lee, Joe Ng, James "Brad Mick" McDonough, Adam Patyk and Rob Ruffalo.
  • 2005: Garry Chalk, James "Brad Mick" McDonough, Adam Patyk, Joe Ng, Alex Milne, Matt Moylan, Karl Hartman and Pete Sinclair.
  • 2006: Don Murphy, Michael McConnohie, Joe Ng, Alex Milne, Rik Alvarez, Rob Russ and Erik Ko.
  • 2007: Michael Bell, Joe Ng, Alex Milne, Matt Moylan and Matt Hansen.
  • 2008: Gregg Berger, Alex Milne, Matt Moylan, Espen Grundetjern and Hasbro Canada
  • 2009: Dan Gilvezan, Derrick J. Wyatt, Alex Milne, Matt Moylan and Hasbro Canada
  • 2010: David Kaye, Mark Ryan, Derrick J. Wyatt, Marvin Mariano, Dan Khanna, Eric Bauza, Alex Milne, Matt Moylan and Hasbro Canada
  • 2011: Simon Furman, Garry Chalk, Paul Eiding, Joe Ng, Marvin Mariano, Dan Khanna, Alex Milne, Smith Hart, and Hasbro Canada
  • 2012: Bob Budiansky, Scott McNeil, Neil Ross, Wally Burr, Derrick J. Wyatt, Andrew Griffith, Josh Perez, Silas Zee, Dan Khanna, Matt Moylan, Ben Dolle, Chris Ho and Hasbro Canada
  • 2013: Dick Gautier, Jack Angel, Venus Terzo, James Roberts, Marilyn Lightstone, Livio Ramondelli, Casey Coller, Alex Milne, Andrew Griffith, John-Paul Bove, Josh Perez and Marvin Mariano
  • 2014 (Toronto): Gregg Berger, Garry Chalk, Susan Blu (via Skype), Neil Kaplan, Aaron Archer, Sarah Stone, Andrew Griffith, Alex Milne, Marvin Mariano, Matt Moylan, Dan Khanna, Ben Dolle (Peaugh), Chris Ho (Vangelus) and a live performance by The Cybertronic Spree.
  • 2014 (Chicago): Dan Gilvezan, Alan Oppenheimer, Venus Terzo, Aaron Archer, Bob Skir, James Roberts, Andrew Griffith, Sarah Stone, Casey Coller, Josh Burcham, Josh Perez, Ken Christiansen, Brendan Cahill and J.E “Rik” Alvarez
  • 2015 (Toronto): Peter Cullen, John Moschitta, Jr., Michael McConnohie, Richard Newman, James Roberts, Alex Milne, Livio Ramondelli, James Raiz, Marvin Mariano, Josh Perez and Matt Moylan.
  • 2015 (Charlotte): Gregg Berger, Dan Gilvezan, Richard Newman, James Roberts (via Skype), Flint Dille, Casey Coller, Brendan Cahill, Corin Howell and Josh Burcham.
  • 2016 (Toronto): Frank Welker, Dan Gilvezan, Ian James Corlett, Jim Byrnes, Flint Dille, Alex Milne, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Brendan Cahill, James Raiz, Marvin Mariano, Josh Perez and Matt Moylan.
  • 2016 (Chicago): Michael Bell, Gregg Berger, Garry Chalk, Richard Newman, Bob Budiansky, Jon Bailey, Jason Marnocha, Frank Todaro, Nick Roche, Alex Milne, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Andrew Griffith, Casey Coller, Brendan Cahill, Corin Howell, Josh Perez, Josh Burcham and Matt Moylan.
  • 2017 (Toronto): Michael Bell, Arthur Burghardt, Alec Willows, Scott McNeil, Aaron Archer, John Barber, Alex Milne, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Nick Roche, Andrew Griffith, James Raiz, Marvin Mariano, Josh Perez and Matt Moylan.
  • 2017 (DC): Neil Ross, Jack Angel, David Kaye, Aaron Archer, James Roberts, Alex Milne, Casey Coller, Sara Pitre-Dorocher, Andrew Griffith, Josh Burcham and Matt Moylan.
  • 2018 (Toronto): Hal Rayle, David Kaye, Garry Chalk, David Mendenhall, James Roberts, Aaron Archer, David Wise, Nick Roche, Alex Milne, Sara Pitre-Dorocher, Josh Perez, James Raiz, Matt Moylan, and more TBA.
  • 2018 (Chicago): Stephen Keener, Bud Davis and more TBA.

Exclusives

  • 2002: 2002 Convention Exclusive T-shirt with artwork by Derek Douglas
  • 2004: Variant cover of Transformers #1 Volume 3 published by Dreamwave Productions with artwork by Don Figueroa
  • 2005: Convention Exclusive Dinobots Poster and 2005 Convention Exclusive T-shirt with artwork by Joe Ng
  • 2006: Stealth Cyclonus Hard Hero Bust, Alternate Cover to Transformers vs. G.I.Joe #1 with art by Joe Ng, and the 2006 Convention Exclusive T-shirt with art by Alex Milne
  • 2007: Exclusive Justitoys G2 Flamethrower toy, 2007 Convention Exclusive T-shirt, and the Alternated Masterpiece Lithograph featuring art by Alex Milne
  • 2008: 2008 Convention Exclusive T-shirt
  • 2009: Exclusive FansProject Powered Commander toy, 2009 Convention Exclusive T-shirt and the Universe Divided Lithograph featuring art by Alex Milne
  • 2010: Impossible Toys Night-bird toy and 2010 Convention Exclusive T-shirt
  • 2011: Headrobots Stronghold & Toxin, the Perfect Effect PE-11 Night Ops Version and 2011 Convention Exclusive T-shirt
  • 2012: iGear Shafter, Headrobots Garrison and Perfect Effect Shadow Bat
  • 2013: iGear Roswell, Mech IDeas Project Z, Mech IDeas Prototype X and iGear Van Guardian

Third party panel

TFcon has become a central hub for the promotion and reveals of new third party Transformers.

  • 2011: The 2011 panel started with a brief history of third party Transformer products.[2]
  • 2012: In 2012 toy company FansProject displayed a number of its upcoming releases, including its original design, Steel Core.[3]
  • 2013: Featured upcoming produces from BTS Toys, FansProject, Keith's Fantasy Club, Maketoys, Mastermind Creations, Perfect Effect, Renderform, X-Transbots and others.[4]

References and media reports

TransformersCon 2004 documentary appears on Metrodome's 2004 release of Transformers season one DVD set, as well interviews with voice actors David Kaye & Garry Chalk from TransformersCon appear on the Madman Beast Wars 2006 Season 2 DVD sets. TFcon was featured in the Shout Factory Season 3&4 DVD in the Special Features Featurette "The Autobots, The Decepticons & The Fans", including mention in the "Special Thanks" section of the special feature credits.

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