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Auto Assembly 2003 will now be held on Saturday, 2nd August 2003 at the Britannia Hotel, New Street, Birmingham. Auto Assembly is being run by Infinite Frontiers in conjunction with Transformers dealer, SKRV. For full details on Auto Assembly, including prices and booking information, check out the website here.
We’ve also set up a forum for the event here for those that wish to ask about it and find who’s going.
Auto Assembly, Europe’s Premier Transformer Convention, has started podcasting. Here’s the email announcing the release:
Hi everyone!Just thought we’d let you all know about a new development we’ve been working on to compliment the Auto Assembly conventions that you might be interested in… Podcasts!!
Basically, we’re producing a series of what can be best described as FREE downloadable radio shows in MP3 format and each show is going to be a mixed bag of things. The main thrust of the show will be to bring you all the latest news and developments of each forthcoming convention with a lot of news being exclusive to the show, weeks before it will appear on the website or the Auto Assembly forum. As well as that, the shows will have interviews, chat, competitions, music, live “phone-ins” and much more besides!!
The first show is available now is runs for 35 minutes and you can find it at http://www.autoassembly.org.uk/podcast.htm and we have even set up a section on the Auto Assembly Forum dedicated to the podcasts at http://autoassembly.proboards7.com/index.cgi?board=podcast
Anyway, we hope you enjoy the show and if you want to comment on it, you can get in touch at podcast@autoassembly.org.uk or chat about it on the forum. See you around on the board and hopefully we’ll see you at Auto Assembly Target 2006 in June!!
Simon and Sven
Auto Assembly Target 2006
2007, the year that Transformers becomes a major Hollywood franchise, but the UK will be lagging slightly with the announcement that there will be NO Auto Assembly 2007! This means that there will be no UK Transformers convention in 2007, with the cancellation of Transforce 2007 last year. This will mark the first time since 1998, when Beast Wars was keeping the Transformers brand alive, that no Transformers focused convention will take place in the UK!
TheTransformers.Net hope both Auto Assembly and Transforce both return in 2008 bigger and better than ever, with the full support of the UK Transformers community.
Here is what Simon Plumbe of Auto Assembly had to say
“Auto Assembly, Europe’s largest Transformers convention, has sadly decided to have a break and not go ahead with running a convention in 2007, the year of the release of the long-awaited live-action Transformers movie…Since Auto Assembly 2006, convention organisers Simon and Sven have had to deal with a large number of personal issues that have placed a great deal of strain upon themselves and many of these are likely to continue well into 2007 including many personal health issues. This is going to place a great deal of pressure on both of them and we both feel that this would place too many compromises on the quality of any Auto Assembly convention that we would want to run and that we wouldn’t be able to dedicate as much time to it as we would want to.
Rather than delivering an event that might not live up to the standards that we would want to bring you, we have decided to have a “gap year” and come back refreshed so Auto Assembly WILL be back in 2008, bigger and better than ever!! We’re looking at past events to se how we can improve on what we’ve done before, how we can add new activities and events, we’ll bring you the best dealers and guests we can and as we’ll have longer to prepare we’ll be able to bring you the best charity auction EVER!!
We know that all of you who are regular Auto Assembly attendees and those of you who were planning on attending your first Auto Assembly convention in 2007 will be disappointed, but we think that it’s better for you all to be able to attend an event where we, as organisers are in one piece physically AND mentally and we’re properly prepared than something that’s rushed and where the team really aren’t in a state to be there and do anything and give 100% to the event so you get the best convention we can possibly give you and we all hope that you’ll join us in 2008…
However, we’re not going to sit on our laurels and do nothing in 2007 and we DO have some great plans in store for the forthcoming year…
First up, we’ve been quiet with them for a while, but we’re going to start recording the Auto Assembly Podcasts again! We’ve already got the second half of our interview with Transformers artist Simon Williams lined up that we started in the third show and we’ve got a massive library of almost 500 pieces of music at our disposal so expect to see the fourth show online for downloading soon…!
Show four is already in the pre-production stage with the music currently being selected and the show notes being prepared. We’ll be editing the interview with Simon Williams shortly, and all being well, we’re hoping to start recording soon and the show should be online in the next 3-4 weeks!
We’re also going to be doing a “stock-take” of everything we have here at Infinite Frontiers/Auto Assembly and find out exactly what we have lying around! Once we’ve done this, you can expect to see all sorts of goodies on sale ranging from back issues of our convention fanzine The Cybertronian Times, our latest fanzine MiniCT, the Auto Assembly Pin Badges, postcards from all our conventions and other goodies including TF graphic novels, PC games featuring work from Andrew Wildman, and much more. All the proceeds from these will go towards our annual running costs and towards our guest budget for Auto Assembly 2008 and you’ll find items on sale through the AA website, eBay and TFAuctions.com
The stock-take will also give us the chance to see what leftover items we have from our goodie bags from past conventions… and all of these will end up in early goodie bags for Auto Assembly 2008 and we can already confirm some items for the first 80+ attendees so we think we’re already going to have a great selection of free gifts for all of you when the convention returns!!
We’re still going to carry on with our publishing activities and we’ve got some great ideas planned here. The first thing we’re working on here is to take all of the entries from the Auto Assembly Target 2006 fiction competition and put them all together in a FREE downloadable fanzine that will be available on the website in the next 3-4 weeks! Once it’s online, you’ll be able to go to the Auto Assembly Forum and vote on your favourite story and the entry with the most votes will be declared the belated winner of the fiction competition from the convention!
After that, we’ll be working on Issue 9 of The Cybertronian Times. While we won’t be having a convention in 2007, we will still be looking at producing a fanzine and this will be out some time during the year and this will be available to pre-order and buy online sometime during the year with proceeds going towards Auto Assembly 2008’s guest budget. At the same time, we are going to be looking at producing more issues of our low-budget fiction-based fanzine MiniCT which again you can order online.
Finally on the fanzine front, we are hoping to take some of the back issues of The Cybertronian Times that are now out of print and converting these to PDF files. Some of these may be made available freely, the others will be available for a nominal charge but more news on these when they’re ready!
For those of who who want to keep in touch with us online, our forum is still going strong and we’ve recently given it a small restructure to make things easier to find and if you’re not already a member, you’re more than welcome to join. Naturally, all the latest news and developments on Auto Assembly will appear on the forum FIRST!!
To tie-in with the forum, we’re hoping to arrange a series of informal meets and get-togethers for our members throughout the year, and hopefully doing something to coincide with the movie if anyone is interested in seeing it as a group.
Finally, while there won’t be an AUTO ASSEMBLY in 2007, there WILL be an event from us here at INFINITE FRONTIERS… we are currently in the early concept stages of preparing to run a small scale sci-fi and collectors fair here in Birmingham some time in 2007!! It will be a similar event to those found across the UK with dealers and VERY cheap admission price covering Transformers, comics, sci-fi merchandise and everything else.. but we’ll release more details on this as we have it so watch this space!!
* * *
From a UK fan point of view, sadly Transforce 2007 has also been cancelled so right now the UK is without a convention for 2007. Right now, we don’t know if there will be any other events taking place in the UK in 2007 but if there are, rest assured that we will be giving them our complete support.
We know that 2007 won’t be a quiet year for Transformers fans in the UK, especially with the increased activity from Hasbro UK and other related companies, which has in some way contributed to our problems with Auto Assembly as well, which had left us little room to decide when we could have held Auto Assembly 2007 had we been able to but at least there will be things taking place, especially with Hasbro’s expected presence at Memorabilia at the NEC in Birmingham in July.
* * *
Well, feel free to get in touch and we hope to see some of you on the forum, at some of our forum meets, at our collectors’s fair later this year, and at Auto Assembly 2008!
Simon and Sven
Auto Assembly”
With just ten days to go before Auto Assembly Target 2006 on 3rd June in Birmingham, England we thought we’d bring you a reminder of some of the activities taking place for those of you still undecided about whether or not to attend this year’s convention as well as some news on a few more developments…We have a great guest line-up headlined by none other than DAVID KAYE, the voice of Megatron for the last ten years! Backing him up is legendary Transformers writer Simon Furman and our array of super artists – Andrew Wildman, Lee Sullivan, Geoff Senior, Guido Guidi, Simon Williams, Jasno Cardy and Mike Collins!We also have a massive range of dealers who will have a superb range of Transformers toys and merchandise on offer ranging from vintage G1 toys up to the latest releases. There will be plenty of bargains to be had including massive discounts on a range of graphic novels from Titan Books through the Auto Assembly registration desk, some great items from Simon Furman and Andrew Wildman, and a few of the dealers present will even be running free prize draws to win some great toys!!
But it’s not just about guests and dealers… we will have a massive art display showcasing artwork from Transformers comics throughout the years including the original UK Marvel titles, Dreamwave, Panini, 3H, along with original toy box art and artwork we have commissioned from top transformers artists for our own convention exclusive postcards and magazines. Featured artists will include Andrew Wildman, Guido Guidi, Dan Khanna, Lee Sullivan, Simon Williams, Jeff Anderson and more! Next to that will be our traditional toy display.
Not content with that, there will be video screenings throughout the day, the unique fan consultation event being undertaken by the British company making a new Transformers product throughout the day, a bar, plenty of chances for you to catch up with old friends (or make new ones!), competitions, and our charity fundraising activities including a raffle and auction…
The charity auction this year is looking fantastic and we have some wonderful items up for grabs. We have autographs from (amongst others) Dan Gilvezan (G1 – Bumblebee), Mike McConnohie (G1 – Tracks, Cosmos; RiD – Ironhide, Hotshot), Neil Ross (G1- Slag, Springer etc), Wally Wingert (RiD – Sideburn, Mirage), and Neil Kaplan (RiD – Prime), original artwork from Andrew Wildman, Guido Guidi, Lee Sullivan, and Simon Williams, signed comics, a signed script to GI Joe vs Transformers The Art Of War #4, and the two highlights of this year’s auction… personalised voice mail recordings from Mike McConnohie and David Sobolov (BW – Depth Charge)!
But that’s not all… we’ve had more great news regarding the goodie bag this year and even though we’ve only got a few days to go before the convention, we’ve just added ANOTHER free gift for attendees!! Thanks to Transformers DVD producers Metrodome, we’ll be including postcards in packs for the first 400 or so attendees at the convention. We don’t know exactly how many we will have but as these are limited you only have a few days left to have a chance to get your hands on these if you haven’t already booked! The postcards are some of the ones that have been included in the DVD box sets but they’re a great extra if you don’t already have them.
Also, thanks to Metrodome, we will be getting a selection of DVD box sets that we will be giving away in the raffle, for prizes in our competitions and some rare DVD test discs from some of their box sets in the auction including – for the first time ever – Transformers Masterforce!!
We DO have places available for you to pre-register and you still have time to get the Metrodome goodies but you’ll need to book quickly! As we have said before, we are likely to have on-the-door places but we don’t know how many so pre-registration is the best way to guarantee admission, especially if you have a long way to travel!
With just TEN DAYS to go, you’ve only got a few days to make up your mind about whether you want to attend Auto Assembly Target 2006 so book online now at www.autoassembly.org.uk and we hope to see you next weekend!
Simon and Sven,
Auto Assembly Target 2006
Hi everyone,
Just a quick update on the Auto Assembly Podcasts… we’re fast approaching the deadline on our second competition so we thought we’d give you all a reminder if you haven’t entered! We’re hoping to record the third show next week so you’ve only got seven days to get your entries in to us for your chance to win a complete set of RiD on DVD along with a couple of postcards signed by cast members Wally Wingert and Neil Kaplan!
To enter, just download the second podcast from www.autoassembly.org.uk/podcast.htm and once you’ve listened to the show, email us your answer along with your name and address by 8 00 pm UK time on Wednesday 3rd May and the winner will be the first name drawn out at random from all the correct entries!
There’s also time for YOU to be on the show! If you want to send us an MP3 with your comments and feedback on the show, or anything else for that matter, just record them and email them to us at podcast@autoassembly.org.uk and we’ll feature a selection of the best on the show. Again, we will need these by 8 00 pm om the 3rd for consideration for Show #3.
The third show is shaping up to be something rather special and our best yet. We will have another great competition, the first part of our interview with comic artist Simon Williams, the second part in our series looking at the history of Auto Assembly this time from 2001 to 2003, more great music including a song from RiD voice actor Wally Wingert, updates on Auto Assembly Target 2006 plus a guest appearance from a G1 voice actor…
Talking of Auto Assembly Target 2006, bookings are still coming in fast for this year’s convention on 3rd June in Birmingham, England and we’re expecting it to be a complete sell-out once again beating the European attendance record and we are well ahead of where we were this time last year. It’s proving to be our most international event yet with bookings coming in from all over the UK, Norway, Germany, Australia and America.
We are proud to have the biggest guest line-up ever seen at a European Transformers convention which currently has us welcoming of honour, David Kaye (the voice of Megatron in Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Armada, Energon and Cybertron), Simon Furman, Andrew Wildman, Guido Guidi, Geoff Senior, Lee Sullivan, Mike Collins, Simon Williams, and Jason Cardy.
Anyway, good luck with the competition and we’re looking forward to seeing many of you in June!
Simon and Sven
Auto Assembly Target 2006
As part of our charity fundraising efforts, Auto Assembly Target 2006 is running something rather different for it’s nominated charity this year…
For those of you who don’t know, Auto Assembly Target 2006 is raising money this year for the Acorns Childrens Hospice Trust in 2006 – a small group of three childrens hospices here in the West Midlands area in the UK. Their invaluable work has sadly been struggling for funds lately and we are proud to be helping them with our fundraising efforts through our charity raffle and auction which has some fantastic items this year. However, we are also doing something else to help the charity with it’s three centres…
We will be having a drop-off point at the convention where all of you attending will be able to donate all of your unwanted toys which we will be passing onto to the Trust at the end of the convention for distribution to the three hospices where the children can make use of these during their stay. What we would love is if any of you have toys that you don’t want sitting in cupboards that we could make use of and give a new home to.
The toys can be anything from any range as long as they are brand new and still sealed. We don’t mind if you donate a single toy or a box full – just anything you can spare! The only things we must ask are that 1) the toy is new and sealed; and 2) the toy is a European or US release (to meet toy safety laws) and apart from that, it’s up to you!!
We’ve already had a number of toys donated from several ranges including RiD and Armada but as we have said, we will accept toys from ANY range so please be as generous as you can. As a way of saying “thankyou”, everyone who donates toys will be mentioned on the Auto Assembly website.
Don’t forget, with Auto Assembly Target 2006 now less than two weeks away, you need to book quickly to guarantee your places if you want to pre-register and get early entry to the convention! The international cut-off date is now CLOSED because of the time it will take to get your confirmation packs in time for the event, although if you live in mainland Europe there may be time if you book within the next couple of days although this is at your own risk.
While we have officially closed the postal bookings for the UK as well because of the time needed to clear cheques through our bank, we are making daily visits to our bank to pay cheques in so again there is still some time but online bookings are the most convenient for us and the fastest way to pre-register.
The FINAL cut-off date for UK online bookings is SUNDAY 28th MAY and this will allow us to post your confirmation slips on Tuesday 30th May which will ensure that they should reach you by Thursday 1st June at the latest. We must stress that, if you book after this date then we can not guarantee that your packs will reach you in time for the convention so you are booking AT YOUR OWN RISK.
There is a chance that we will have on-the-door places, but these will be limited and we will post details on the Auto Assembly website, forum and issue details through all major Transformers websites as to the estimated number of on-the-door places available on Saturday 27th April 2006. However, as we are well ahead of where we were this time last year, you will need to arrive early! If you are likely to be travelling a distance to the convention, pre-register!!
With TWELVE DAYS to go before the convention, please ensure that you send your bookings to us NOW to avoid disappointment for what is going to be Europe’s biggest Transformers convention EVER!
Simon and Sven,
Auto Assembly Target 2006
Hi everyone!
We’ve been really pleased at the support everyone’s given us so far for the Auto Assembly Podcast and we’re glad that everyone’s enjoyed the first two shows. We’re busy working on the third one at the moment and it’s shaping up to be our best yet and now we’re going to give all of you the chance to get involved…!
We’ve had some great feedback through the Auto Assembly Forum over at http://autoassembly.proboards7.com and through the emails you’ve been sending us but we want to give you the chance to have your say on the next show! If you want to have your views heard on the next podcast, here’s your chance! What we want you to do is record your comments about the show – questions, suggestions or comments in general starting off with your name – and email them to us as an MP3 file to podcast@autoassembly.org.uk and we’ll feature a selection of them in the next show.
Please keep the language clean and to make sure that we can use them, save your MP3s at 128kbps or higher and put “Podcast Comment Submission” in the subject field of your email. Please do NOT send your files to us as WAVs or in any other file format as we will not be able to use them and try to keep your comments to under a minute in length if possible to give you the best chance of being included in the show. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length although we will NOT remove words to change what you are saying.
Don’t forget, there’s still time to enter the competition from show #2 to win a full set of RiD on DVD and we’re looking forward to hearing from you and seeing you at Auto Assembly Target 2006 on 3rd June (and there are still places if you haven’t already booked!)!
Simon and Sven
Auto Assembly Target 2006
Auto Assembly 2006 is pleased to announce that, courtesy of sponsors TFauctions.com, we will be joined by renowned comic artist Guido Guidi for Auto Assembly 2006 on Saturday 3rd June 2006 for the fifth annual Auto Assembly convention in Birmingham, England…
Guido will be at Auto Assembly 2006 and it will be his first ever UK convention appearance. He is joining us thanks to a wonderful sponsorship deal from the Transformers auction website www.tfauctions.com and they will be bringing Guido over to the event. Guido will be in attendance to meet fans, sign autographs, will have a large selection of his original artwork for sale and will be joining our other comic guests on stage for a Q&A session which will include other comic luminaries such as Simon Furman and Andrew Wildman.
Guido signed a deal with TF Auctions earlier this year to make his artwork available online exclusively through TF Auctions, no longer selling his work through eBay and has recently been listing a large amount of original toy box art, G1 Dreamwave comic artwork, pages from the comics included with assorted Armada toys and new IDW cover artwork.
Following extensive negotiations, TFAuctions have now been officially endorsed by Hasbro and has launched it’s brand new look on 21st December 2005. The site continues to provide an alternative to eBay for Transformers fans looking to buy and sell Transformers toys and collectibles. The site has it’s listings broken down into specific ranges to make items easier to find and has sections dedicated to Guido Guidi and more recently Wildfur (Simon Furman/Andrew Wildman).
In addition to Guido, we will also be joined from the comic world by Simon Furman, Andrew Wildman, Lee Sullivan, Geoff Senior, Simon Williams and Jason Cardy and our guest of honour for the convention is none other than David Kaye – the voice of Megatron in Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Armada, Energon and Cybertron!! As with all conventions, our guests are appearing subject to work and personal commitments. We are also in talks with further guests and we hope to be making further announcements shortly.
Auto Assembly 2006 will be taking place on Saturday 3rd June 2006 and once again it will be held at the Clarendon Suites on the Hagley Road, Birmingham, England. Ticket prices are £15 for adults and £12 for children/students etc. (the price increase from AA2005 being due to the guest costs).
As well as the guest talks, there will be dealers from across the UK, video screenings, toy and art displays, competitions, a charity auction and raffle, a fan area, a bar open all day(!) and much more besides! Auto Assembly 2005 was the biggest ever Transformers convention in Europe with over 400 attendees and Auto Assembly 2006 is looking set to be even bigger!
Full details on Auto Assembly 2006 as well as downloadable booking forms are available from the website at www.autoassembly.org.uk and you can visit the TF Auctions site at www.tfauctions.com
Simon, Sven and John
Auto Assembly 2006
Discuss this here and ask question of the Auto Assembly organisers here.
Auto Assembly 2005 has updated news on it’s charity auction taking place next weekend. First, the special guest auctioneer has been announced and it is none other than the event’s guest of honour Neil Kaplan! In addition, Neil will be bringing some rather special and rare items over with him from the US, including items signed by some of the RiD cast including Daniel Riordan, the voice of Megatron!
For the second year running, Wildfur will be bringing a limited edition signed and bookplated version of one of the products they have worked on with them to Auto Assembly! This year, it will be copies of the Transformers War Within – The Dark Ages trade paperback! They are expecting to have around 30 copies of this available so it will be extremely rare and it will be limited to a MAXIMUM of one per person! If you want to get a copy of this, it is highly likely that it will go to one of the pre-registrants who will get early entry to Auto Assembly 2005 so there’s no better reason to pre-book while you still have a chance!!
There will be ONE copy of the bookplated edition in the charity auction available later in the day, but apart from that, this will be your only chance to get this edition of the book!
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