Simon Plumbe from Auto Assembly got in touch with TheTransformers.Net again recently and sat down for a follow up to our recent interview.

This time Simon had even more news on the convention, including a potentially massive announcement concerning guest line-up…

So Simon, you’ve confirmed Gregg Berger and Ian James Corlett which is pretty awesome, but from our recent conversations you’ve told me that you’re now talking to a THIRD voice actor for AA 09?

A. Absolutely! I’ll be honest though and say that this is entirely down to the attendees. I have been in talks with different sponsors to try to raise money towards getting more guests for the convention, but ultimately it is going to be a case of everything extra being funded from pre-registrations. I have been talking to an actor for a while who is ready to come over and join Ian and Gregg and at a rough guess I would say that if we can get about 500 pre-registrations then we will be able to afford to get them!

Spill; who’s it gonna be?

A. I can’t say right now, but what I CAN say is that we are looking at trying to bring a former Auto Assembly guest of honour back, but it’s all dependent on YOU guys to make it happen!

*ponders* AA08 was my first convention but I’m sure some of theft.netters will be compiling a list of previous attendees as we speak!

Onto competitions; last year you had a free prize draw for all pre-registrants to win a ticket for this year’s convention. Are you planning on doing the same this year?

A. Yes, infact I’m working on THREE big prize draws this time around… well, it IS the 25th Anniversary so we may as well do things in style!! The first one will be the same as last year and every pre-registrant will be entered into a free prize draw to win a family ticket to Auto Assembly 2010 and possibly some other prizes as well! In addition to that, I’ll be running two more prize draws starting in June until pre-registrations close which I think people may love…

The first of these is what I am calling our “Milestone Draw”. Over the last few years, we have set various attendance records for Auto Assembly, and I want to acknowledge these by rewarding those attendees to help us reach those figures again. Quite simply, when a person registers and their ticket number matches each of these key numbers then they will receive a FREE ticket to Auto Assembly 2010!!

Now that’s ever so slightly awesome! Any news on ticket number 5…

A. No, you booked too early! lol Seriously though, we wanted to look at some of the really big milestones for the convention so we’ve set them at 320 (Auto Assembly 2004 which was our first weekend convention), 400 (Auto Assembly 2006), 409 (when we first broke the European record in 2005), 423 (which is the current European record that we set last year), and 500 which is the “glass ceiling” that every UK convention has been aiming for for years!! At the rate bookings are coming in, I have a feeling that someone could reach the 320 target by early June and the 400 one by later the same month!

The final one is another biggie and is where we are literally going to be giving away FREE tickets to the convention this year!! This is something brand new we are doing for Auto Assembly 2009 to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Transformers and to thank everyone for their support over the years, starting in June we will be doing a random draw each time someone registers for the convention. As we receive each booking, we will do a random draw with a 100-sided die and if we roll a 100 then that person will get the price of their ticket refunded in FULL! This will only apply to pre-registrants who book from 1st June 2009 onwards and this will run in parallel with the other two competitions so it’s possible that someone could get their ticket for this year free AND a ticket for Auto Assembly 2010 free!

Excellent! Though I’m pretty sure 5 is a landmark but whatever! J

Still on competitions, over the weekend itself what competitions can we expect to see? Anything new up your sleeve?

We’re going to have our usual mix of competitions – writing (for advance entries), artwork, kitbash, costume competition – inspired by the guys who turned up as Soundwave and Shockwave last year, a quiz or two, kids colouring competitions, and to link in with the live script reading on Saturday night with Ian Corlett and Gregg Berger, we’re opening this up for a few fans to take part as well!!

I’ve been mentioning to Simon Furman about writing additional roles into the script that will be played by fans and once these parts have been confirmed I’ll be opening up advance auditions for these parts! All people will need to do is email me an MP3 of you playing the character or characters you want to audition for and as long as you’re booked for the whole weekend and aged 16 or over then you can enter… even if you’re one of our guests!!

Now that’s cool; Matrix better send a clip in *points at him!*

Last year you even had a little something for people who couldn’t make the convention; will you be offering another non-attendee package this year and if so, what sort of things can we expect to see in it?

A. Yeah, I’m working on another non-attendee package for this year. I’ll be honest and say that last years didn’t do too well. I guess that we didn’t really offer a great deal for the money looking back so this time I want to provide something that will be pretty spectacular and really make people want to pay and be a part of the convention even if they physically can’t be there with us. It’s not going to be a cheap package – I’m looking at a price of about for the UK and overseas inclusive of postage – but when you see what it will offer I hope that people will think that it will be worth the asking price.

First, as with last year, everyone will be allocated a ticket number as will all our regular attendees and as such they will be entitled to a full Auto Assembly goodie bag which will have more gifts depending on how early they sign up. Obviously the DVDs and G1 sticker packs have run out, but everyone will still get the Cheetor and and Grimlock postcards, the Cheetor keyring, the Top Trumps cards, the Reprolabels Auto Assembly 2009 Sticker Sheet and any other gifts that we add. In addition, you will get a personalised convention pass with an Auto Assembly 2009 lanyard.

As I mentioned earlier, everyone will get entry into the Auto Assembly 2009 pre-registrant prize draw but from here on, this is where we add all the extra stuff for the non-attendees… each non-attendee will also get a copy of the convention magazine, The Cybertronian Times Issue 10, signed by ALL our convention guests, all our other convention merchandise which will include a G1 Grimlock keyring, and an Auto Assembly 2009 mug AND a copy of the convention exclusive edition of All Hail Megatron Issue 13, which we will aim to get autographed for everyone.

But that’s not all!! The pack will also include a pair of the Auto Assembly 2005/Auto Assembly 2006 pin badges, a full set of the Auto Assembly convention exclusive postcards from 2004-2008, proxy bidding rights for Auto Assembly’s charity auction, and the big one… a personalised sketch from a random Auto Assembly 2009 comic artist!!! We think this makes for a pretty spectacular package and is incredible value for money.

On top of that, we will offer all non-attendee pass holders the opportunity to turn up at ANY TIME as a full weekend attendee package during the convention by simply turning up at the convention and showing their pass and collecting all of your items on the day for just

If that wasn’t enough, the first 20 people to sign up to the non-attendee package will also receive a copy of Apocalypse Comics’ retailer exclusive edition of All Hail Megatron #1 or All Hail Megatron #12!! All that for just is an absolute steal! The only extra cost we may add is additional postage charges should any competition prizes or auction items are won.

Thetf.net would once again like to thank Simon for his time; AA09 is going to be something else! J