Charticon 2013 Exclusive - Baleful

I had the privilege to be on the staff of Charticon 2013, a Transformers convention held in my hometown of Charlotte, NC back in the summer of '13. The brainchild of a friend of mine, Arkvander, one of the exclusive items available only at the show was a new head for the Botcon exclusive Spinister figure. The mold Botcon chose to use for Spinister was pretty good, but the head looked off. Arkvander worked with Wheeljack's Body Shop to cast a new head. Also included in the package with a G1 style tech spec.

The head itself looked much more like the G1 character and was a much needed add-on to the Botcon exclusive. The head attached via a simple ball socket on the neck so it was as easy as popping the old head off and popping the new head on.

Sorry for the glare. I never opened my specimen so the plastic bag it was contained in gave off a reflection of the flash that I couldn't edit out. For a garage kit piece, the head looked amazing and the paint job was spot on. I really don't know much more about how this came to be a Charticon exclusive, but it was nicely done.

On the back of the cardboard packaging was an add for a set of exclusive Mastershooter Collectibles "Targetmasters" Nit-Picker and Firebrand that was available at the show. This really helped round out the new look of the Botcon exclusive Spinister.

Charticon was a blast and we recently got the guys back together to celebrate it's 5th anniversary. Lots of great memories were made that day and if the show were to ever rise from the grave, I'd be there with bells on.

Charticon 2013 Transformers Panel

Back in 2013, I helped some friends of mine put on the very first un-official Transformers convention to be held in my home state of North Carolina, Charlotte to be exact. August 9th through the 11th, 2013...a time I'll never forget!

While my role in helping plan and staff the show was smaller than some of my friends and cohorts, the lead honcho of the show, Arkvander, asked me if I'd put together a panel for the convention. I immediately was flattered that he'd ask me to do something such as that, but what on earth would I begin to talk about? In the grand scheme of Transformers and the collecting community, I was/am a nobody!

I went back and forth trying to figure out what the topic of my panel would be. Would I talk about unreleased G1 transformer toys? Would I go into the related series such as Beastformers in Japan? I remember being at a crossroads for so long that I began to get really nervous as August was quickly approaching and I had to get something nailed down.

I eventually decided to do a brief history lesson if you will on the Transformers toy line in Japan. Granted I'm not an expert and I probably left some key stuff out, I created a Powerpoint presentation for Charticon. I was really nervous about presenting it, but thankfully my good friend in attendance, Allen Greenwood, stepped up and volunteered to sit at the table on that big stage with me.

I can't remember how many people were in the room for my panel. I know a lot of people couldn't bare to pull themselves away from the awesome dealer room, but for those that never got a chance to witness the panel, you're in luck! I recently found my presentation buried on an old SD memory card and after some fancying Googling and I found a way to share this presentation online.

The slide show is below, of course there is no commentary however so you're only getting part of the experience. Anyhow, the slides will change after 15 seconds or so, but you should be able to follow along. Enjoy!

So, what did you think? I know, I know...it's not professional in any way and I'm sure I left out some key points. In the end however I had a blast putting it together and presenting it. After I got into it, I really felt comfortable on stage. Thanks to my friend Arkvander, Allen Greenwood and the rest of the guys (you know who you are) for helping put together such an eventful and memory filled weekend. Until the next Charticon?

Breaking News: TFCon comes to Charlotte, NC

A year or so ago I had the pleasure in helping a fan organized Transformers themed convention become a reality in my hometown of Charlotte, NC -- Charticon. While the show was a success, it was financially exhausting to our main backer and organizer, Arkvander. While we hoped to have another show, it was starting to look like that wasn't going to happen.

I knew a few of the guys I was involved with did't want to take no for an answer. I knew they had the drive to keep on pressing and to try and find a way to make another show reality. Then yesterday afternoon in our group's private Facebook chat, a few of them said they had a big announcement coming later in the day.

In a partnership with TFCon, the newly developed USA version of the highly successful Transformers fan convention would be coming to Charlotte, NC in October of 2015! Yes, even this guy was surprised at the announcement!

It's still very early obviously so I don't have many details. While I'd like to be involved in this show, I haven't been approached. I'll be throwing my name out there to help in any way possible of course. With Charticon I helped organize the charity auction benefiting A Child's Place and I hosted one of the many fan panels.

Whatever my involvement may be (or may not be), I'm still on sitting on cloud 9 today over the announcement. For many reasons I've decided my days attending Botcon were done, but to have a show with the record of TFCon land in my backyard is great news. Especially the timing as I've had a lot of not so great news lately on the personal side of things.

From what Google tells me I have readers of this blog all over the map. If you are in the South East however then I urge you  to go ahead and start making your arrangements to be in Charlotte (well technically Concord, NC) this fall as I'm sure this show will be amazing.

Charticon: Aftershock

Many of you that regularly check out my humble blog already know my feelings about the Charticon 2013 event. I didn't have many regrets, but the one I do have was not being able to help out in the creation of the custom figure, Aftershock.

Before I give a little bit of background info, stop and do yourself a favor and head on over to Mostly Transformers Redux and read the background story of Aftershock by his creator, Arkvander (what? you thought I was going to say Primus?). Go ahead...I'll wait.

.... Done?

How awesome was that of Arkvander to share that story? A big part of the creation of Aftershock was the taking apart all of those Generations Warpath figures. This was done in Arkvander's basement across a few Saturday afternoons, however each time the group got together I was stuck working. I don't usually have to work that many Saturdays over the course of the month, but back in February it seemed as if I was working every weekend. This kept me from being able to help with this project more than I wanted to. Thankfully I was given some sneak peeks into the process as things went along and was even asked for my advice in a couple of areas.

For this post I'm going to break it down into two sections: packaging and the toy itself. I'm doing this because the whole presentation is so beautiful both the custom packaging and the toy deserve the proper attention.

1)  THE PACKAGING

The G1 die-hard fans will remember that the 1988 Targetmasters were originally packaged on blister cards. While blister card packaging is cool and all, boxes are just that much better. So the template Arkvander ended up using was the Headmaster box and boy did this turn out beautiful! Ever since I saw the mock up of the box, it was hard keeping my mouth shut because I wanted to tell everyone just how awesome and professional this looked. In addition to the Headmaster layout, Arkvander also threw in a few tidbits that hearkened back to the Japanese packaging, such as the blue window used for Targetmaster Pinnacle.

I also want to mention just how well made this box is. The materials used are very close to that of an actual G1 box. I'm also happy to announce the plastic used for the windows is very clear and very sturdy. None of that OTFCC plastic window syndrome going on here!

Following the typical G1 box layout, the top of the box features a transformation sequence of sorts for Aftershock and his two Targetmaster partners. You'll also notice a beautiful box flap that shares the same iconic G1 layout...just with a few words omitted so a certain toy company wouldn't sue the pants off of us!

I know Arkvander had the box art commissioned, but I never knew who that artist was. Doesn't really matter since it's a rockin' image!

The sides of the box feature Aftershock and his Targetmaster companions in both robot and alt modes. And yes, Aftershock came sealed.

The bottom of the box is just as beautiful...which is a shame really since most people may never actually look at the bottom of the box. If you are a MISB collector at least you can flip Aftershock over and see what is actually packaged inside the box.

I have to say that the back of the box is just as impressive as the front. What I learned about my buddy Arkvander through this process is that he can write and draw very well. The image you see was hand drawn and the tech spec was written by none other than Arkvander. Before we jump to the tech specs, let's dissect the back. Notice the D-299 in the upper right corner? I was asked if we should try to integrate some of the Japanese package elements into Aftershock's box and I have a hearty "Yes!". For unknown reasons, the original Japanese ID numbering ended with D-203 (the Pretender Gilmer / Submarauder). #s 204-300 were unused. D-301 is Wilder (aka Headmaster Jr. Fangry), so it made sense for us to use D-299 for Aftershock and D-300 for Snipenose. You'll see more of the Japanese influence once we get to the innards of the box.

Along to the top of the box we have a new "More than meets the eye" type slogan for Charticon.

Arkvander is a huge fan of the G1 style tech specs, so this has faithfully been recreated here...even down to the stat line that requires the red decoder!

So I wouldn't have to type the whole tech spec, here is the text part for all of the fellow tech spec fans to read.  (P.S. - Leadlobber is Slugslinger's brother)

Perhaps my favorite aspect of the box's back are the Shark Points. I was glad that I didn't know everything that was to be put into the box layout as it was fun turning the box over for the first time and seeing this.

Now if you dare to open your Aftershock, this is what you'll find waiting inside for you. The toys themselves are housed inside one massive foam brick. This may seem familiar to some as Fun Publications uses a similar method for their annual Botcon box set and now the subscription figures. However this foam brick isn't hard as a brick. It's much more soft and makes it easier to remove the figures. It's still sturdy enough to support the figures inside the box as well as give the box it's form, yet I wouldn't stock pile this foam in hopes of making a dock for outback at Lake Wylie.

You'll also find a little insert highlighting Mastershooter Collectibles and Captured Prey, both of whom this figure would not be possible without their tremendous help. The other insert is a goodie bag of sorts...which we'll breakdown.

Here's a close up of the foam brick. You can see that each figure has it's own compartment that hugs the toy and keeps everything in place.

I'm not sure if this was done intentionally or not, but if you flip the foam brick over you can remove the bottom half of each compartment. This would make removing the toy that much easier if for some unforeseen reason you couldn't pull the toy up and out of the foam.

Once you open up the little bag you'll find that's chocked full of some great items. You've got a G1 styled instruction booklet, a Charticon 2013 catalog, Aftershock - An Inside Look, Japanese style tech spec card, sticker sheet and the classic red decoder strip.

I knew Arkvander was making a catalog, but I never saw the layout prior to opening up my Aftershock.

Open up the catalog and you're treated to the same art from the back of the box, but this time you have some great art of Landshark! Don't worry, if you don't know who Landshark is keep reading. Eventually I'll have a review of Landshark's toy up on the blog.

I love the old school toy catalogs that were packaged with toys, and this catalog faithfully captures that nostalgic feel. On the left you'll see a checklist of all the 2013 Charticon exclusives.

• Aftershock
• Snipenose (custom class figure)
• Baleful (new head for Botcon Spinister)
• Landshark
• 3 different Tech Spec sets

Of course each item has it's own beautiful image laid out. I was able to procure everything from the checklist minus Snipenose. I'm just not skillful (or patient) enough to paint my own TF.

The 2nd insert is Aftershock - An Inside Look. If you did as you were told at the beginning of this post, they you've already had a pretty cool and insightful look into the creation of this awesome custom figure. If you're a slacker, then I'll spare you and share all the details of this insert.

If there is one thing this whole process confirmed for me is that my buddy Arkvander is a perfectionist. The whole Charticon concept came up with the thought of "we can do this, only better" after visiting a different show. Why else would someone take this much time and pay this much attention to detail about every aspect of Charticon? This insert alone shows how much time, effort and work were poured into the creation of the whole Aftershock package.

I don't know if the plan all along was to include a Japanese style tech spec card or not, but I like to think this was done a nod to me. I love these style tech spec cards. I've been known in the past to import a toy just for the card. Perhaps my love for these cards comes from my past baseball card collecting. Whatever the reason, I can't get enough of these cards. One day I'll have a photo database set up to share with everyone of all the Transformer tech spec trading cards I have.

What G1 toy would be complete without stickers? I'm not able to tell you how these stickers were made, otherwise my Charticon privileges would immediately be revoked. However the stickers are of the utmost quality and really helps identify Aftershock as an upgraded G1 Quake.

See, the red decoder film still works like a charm! If you look closely you may be able to tell the film isn't exactly uniform. I blame that on the fact that each film strip was cut by hand here in Charlotte, NC...not mass produced by some factory in China.

Last, but not least we have the G1 style instruction booklet. This was another aspect of Aftershock that Arkvander sunk a lot of time and attention to detail into. Just the folding of the instructions took a great amount of time and work!

The older I get the worse my memory gets, so I actually had to use the instructions to remember how to transform this mold! Thankfully the instructions were very well laid out and easy to follow for this old guy!

So there you have it, part 1 of the Aftershock review. I'm hoping you can see why I'm doing this in 2 segments now as the packaging is just too nice not to give it the attention it deserves. Enough about boxes, foam and inserts...let's dive into the actual toys now!

2) THE TOYS

Hmmm, where to start? Do we take a look at his new Mastershooter Collectible Targetmaster partners, Firebox and Pinnacle? Or at Aftershock himself?

Shortly before the final package design was finalized, I received my order of 4 Mastershooter Collectible Targetmasters from Captured Prey and loned one to Arkvander to measure for the layout. I never really messed around w/ the little guy much at all...in fact I still haven't even opened the other 3! I was intrigued at how the Targetmasters would be and I'm pleased to say that they are awesome!

I was originally in the camp of keeping the factory red used on the Warpath mold, but was told just how great the new shade of red would look. Even though painting the red plastic would cause a lot of extra work, I'm glad that decision was made as Aftershock looks gorgeous in hand.

Aftershock transforms exactly like the Generations Warpath mold which was used, however being a custom painted toy you do have to consider paint wear if you transform the figure a lot. On my specimen, the right fist was stuck down inside the tread cavity and it took me a good 15 minutes to get it unstuck. In the process I chip my nail, got paint stuck underneath my fingernail and bruised the tip of my finger! If you bought Aftershock, I advise you to use caution when Transforming him and the sooner you unfold all his parts into robot mode, the better.

Warpath had a very distinct head sculpt so there was no way we could get around using the original head. Of course even if we could, being the perfectionist Arkvander is, I doubt he would have allowed the Warpath head to be used! He ended up reaching out to a fellow TFW2005.com member to render a computerized model of the custom head and then sent it off to our new friends at GetRightRobot for casting. The head is actually two halves, with the eyes being a part of the back half. I gotta say that both parties involved with the new head have hit a home run.

 

Firebox retains a lot of the original colors of his G1 counterparter, Heater. Note that the double barrel portion of the gun is removable and you can attach one of the other included accessories if you want to mix the guns up a bit from their G1 look.

Pinnacle's overall colors are changed a bit from G1 Tiptop, but it isn't a big deal to me. Tiptop originally had yellow on the upper portion of his arms and the top part of his chest. His thighs did use the purplish-red color, but it seemed to be darker on the G1 toy. Like with Firebox, you can un-attach the barrel and replace it with a different weapon.

Using the 5 mm clips on each Targetmaster, you can clip them onto Aftershock on the top portion of either section of the tank treads. I'll warn you however that the front clips were painted (where you see the guns attached) and when I removed the guns, a small portion of paint came off. I did not plug the guns onto the back portion so I'm unsure if the red paint will come off like some of the gray paint did.

Included with each Targetmaster is a small clip that has to be installed on the weapon's fist peg to allow it to fit in Aftershock's hands. I'm really glad that Mastershooter Collectibles had these guys already in the works because I feel that these guns really complete Aftershock's overall look.

Everyone involved in this project deserves a standing ovation in my opinion. The resemblances when put side by side with G1 Quake are remarkable. I also find it funny that after we selected this mold and character, Botcon announced that they too would be using the same mold for one of their box set characters, Strika. I'll let you be the judge over which one is the superior exclusive.

Of course Aftershock was just one small part of Charticon 2013. There were many many more cool things to witness, buy and partake of at the event, but Aftershock was definitely one of the highlights for me. Only 50 figures were made so if you missed your opportunity to grab this figure and one comes up in the future, don't make that same mistake twice. Buy him on sight. Whether or not you decide to open him, I think you'll be pleased with the finished product and you'll see just how much thought, time and love was put into this exclusive toy.

Charticon - 3rd Party Panel

Since I was stuck manning my table in the dealer room Saturday, I missed out on the one panel I really wanted to see the most - the 3rd party panel.  Thanks to popculturehero, the entire panel has been posted to YouTube!  Check out some of the exclusive reveals of upcoming product.

Charticon 2013

Well, Charticon 2013 has come and gone.  It seemed to have taken forever to get here, but it sure was a blast being able to be a part of the creative team.  I can't remember the last time I was so tired after one weekend...and that is saying a lot begin the dad of two children under the age of 4!

Friday was tough on the old body.  When I arrived at the hotel / convention center we had the task of putting together the whole dealer room.  I've really never given the set up of a convention much thought before.  Setting up all of those tables and constantly taking measurements to make sure you meet fire code was something else.  I don't remember how long it took, but around 3 pm when the pre-registration started there were dealers in the hallway already itching to get in and start setting up their booths.

After seeing some of the finished dealer booths, I can see why they wanted to start early.  Dealers such as MegaToyFan had one monster of a booth.  I knew it would be big when I saw them offloading glass display cases such as you'd see in a retail store.

In addition to helping set the dealer room, I also had a table of my own to set up.  During this time I was helping Roy set up the tables, my toys were sitting in a hot mini-van.  Thankfully I was told it was OK to go and get my items and bring them in after the majority of the tables were up.  In the back of the room we had two IKEA Detolf cases that a few of us all pitched in to fill with rare Transformer toys.  I contributed several Japanese exclusive G1 toys such as Black Zarak, Dinoking, Sonic Bomber, Zetoca as well as a boxed Diaclone Sunstreaker.  I was told a countless number of times I was nuts for bring Black Zarak with me.  They were probably right, but I wanted to show him off.  Thankfully he survived the ride from SC up to Charlotte.

I wasn't sure what the best way to set up my meager 6 foot table, but thankfully by the time I filled up the cabinet my older brother and wife arrived to help.  It took a while before we finally got everything set up and all the boxed items priced, but the final result looked pretty good.  I was ready to get out of the large dealer room so I headed over to check into our hotel room.  After dropping off our stuff we talked about heading down to the exclusive patio party, but from what we could see from our hotel room it appeared that the party was light on food and I was HUNGRY.  A quick walk to Chili's solved that problem.  End of day 1.

Day 2 started off very early.  The dealer room opened to pre-registrants at 9 am and I still had a few things GetRightRobot exclusive Landshark toys.  Only 50 were made so I'm not surprised it sold out so fast!  I still had a lot to price before the onslaught of the crowd invaded the room.  When I got downstairs a fellow committee member told me that people started lining up outside the dealer room at 5:30 am!  This was mostly to have a chance at getting one of the 50!

All during set up the day before I had my eye on a few items from Captured Prey's booth.  They had 3 tables directly across from me so I had the pleasure of watching a long line build at Sidecutter's table.  By 10:30 am it seemed as if he sold through half of his inventory!  Crazy thing is Captured Prey almost didn't come to Charticon!  I betcha he was glad he did after the first hour of the show!  Thankfully however I got there early enough to buy Mastermind Creation's Hexatron, Fans Project's Last Chance and Downforce.

With my purchases finally behind me, I settled in at my table to hopefully move a lot of the unwanted toys that I brought with me.  Sales were slow starting off, but then things began to roll just fine.  In addition to all of this, it was my lovely wife's idea to set up a early check-in table for that night's charity auction that I was in charge of.

I was worried and nervous all day about that night's auction, but my nerves were calmed by my wife's continuous support and help.  It also helped that several dealers came through and donated some awesome Transformers.  About mid day we even had attendees coming up and making donations.  I was impressed with the overall kindness and generosity of everyone I cross paths with.  Just to the right of us was a empty table that didn't get used for it's intended purpose.  I used this table to set up my little Bot Shot toys to hopefully teach kids how to play the game.  I had the chance to show a few kids the rules of the game, but mostly just gave the toys away to kids that came by w/ their parents.  I thought it was so cool to see so many families there.  I had wished my girls had a chance to come, but we all were so busy it would've been a tad crazy.  The smile on the kids faces when they got a free toy made all the work worth it.

If you spent any time in the hallways then you probably saw several of the awesome Cosplay costumes.  It's obvious these people put a lot of time, effort and energy into their costumes and you could tell.  Just check out that awesome Prowl!

The dealer room closed at 5 pm.  That was a fast 8 hours.  I never really had much of an opportunity to walk around the room to see what the other dealers brought with them, or even to check out all the guest IDW comic artists.  My mind was fixated on all I had left to do to get ready for the auction.  I was tired and hungry and wanted to go eat, but the auction started at 7 pm so we had to fore go dinner.  I won't bother to go into all of the details, but we had some last minute changes made by someone outside our group that threw us for a major loop and delayed the start of the auction by 15 or 20 minutes.  Thankfully our guest auctioneer, none other than Hal Rayle (voice of the Dinobot Snarl and the Insecticon Shrapnel from the G1 cartoon) kept the audience entertained with his unique style of "fumfering".  Once things got started it seemed to go fairly smooth.  We ended up with 50 or so items to auction off for our chosen charity, A Child's Place.  After all the items were sold, I believe we ended up making nearly $3,500 for the charity!  We even had a dealer come up after the auction and ask the charity representative that was present if he could make a donation of new toys.  The next day I was given a stack of new Transformers Power Core Combiner toys!  I was really critical of myself over how the auction went over, but my wife, committee members and people in attendance really came through with lots of positive and encouraging words.  

Miko from Transformers Animated and Charticon's own Johnny Charticon

After the auction was a special screening of the 1986 animated Transformers movie.  I really, really wanted to stick around, but it was now nearly 11 pm and I still hadn't eaten dinner.  By now I was grateful my brother Toby picked me up a footlong from Subway for lunch!  After dropping off our computer in our hotel room and got to our car, it was approaching midnight.  We ran across the street to grab a bite from McDonald's, but that particular location is notorious for having a very slow drive-thru.  I told my wife to head down Tyvola to South Blvd. as I knew there was a Wendy's on the corner.  I was heart broken when I saw it was now some Caribbean restaurant!  We ended up heading back to the McDonald's, but wouldn't you know it...the line had barely moved.  So into the gas station next door we went to grab a hot dog and some snacks.  Someone must've not wanted me to eat that night as the guy in front of me grabbed the last two hot dogs.  Nachos and cheese it was.  I washed it down with a Mountain Dew and finished off my "meal" with a king size Nutrageous candy bar.  I hadn't eaten junk food at midnight since I was in youth group with my old church at Fort Caswell.  End of day 2.

Day 3 started early again, but thankfully I had a good night's sleep now that the auction was over.  The dealer room again opened at 9 am so I had to get down there a little early to start slashing prices.  If you've ever been to any sort of pop culture convention or show that is more than 1 day, then you know all the good deals can be found on Sunday.  I still didn't have time to shop as I was hosting a fan panel at 10 am.  I had never hosted a panel before, but I really hadn't had the time to think of it or to be nervous so that was a good thing.  At some point on Saturday I got to meet in person a guy from TFW2005.com I had interacted with for quite some time, Superquad 7.  Allen had offered to sit in on my panel with me and pitch in wherever he could so I gladly accepted his invitation.  When 10 am rolled around we had all of 3 people sitting in the panel room.  This was the same time that the dealer room had opened to walk-ins and combined with being Sunday morning I wasn't overly surprised to see so many open chairs in front of me.  Eric, the co-founder of the show quickly ran into the dealer room and made an announcement of the show and before long, the room started to fill up!  The panel went over very nicely and it seemed that the attendees enjoyed themselves.  I know I did.  I really like talking about stuff that I have an interest in.

After my panel was over I finally had some time to walk around in the dealer room and see what I could find.  I started off at Transformerland's table and bought all but one accessory I needed for my G1 Abominus combiner.  I also found some good deals on a few other G1 figures (Targetmaster Needlenose and Ramjet).  I stopped to speak w/ one of the indie artists in the back corner of the room as I saw he had drawn some gruesome, yet awesome, Battle Beasts cards.  He told me a dealer up in the front of the room was selling Battle Beasts so I quickly made my way to the other side and picked up 3 complete figures.  I made one more trip back to Captured Prey's table and purchased the new Transformers Go! Gaidora figure and tried my luck w/ one of Impossible Toy's new Tetra Jets.  I wanted Thundercracker, but settled for Dirge, or TS-06 Requiem.

The main exclusive for the show is this awesome take on the G1 double Targetmaster, Quake.  Aftershock uses the Generations Warpath mold along with two exclusive Mastershooter Collectible Targetmaster guns and a new custom head.  I kinda sucked when we saw that Botcon had used this same mold, but after seeing the final product along w/ the awesome G1 inspired packaging...suck it Botcon!  I'm still on the fence trying to decide whether to open Aftershock or not.  Yes, Eric "Arkvander" Warren sealed this puppy.  No matter what I do in the end, Aftershock will receive his own post in the near future.

This was an awesome weekend and one I won't quickly forget.  The last time I had this much fun that revolved around Transformers was my last Botcon my wife and I attended, Providence, Rhode Island circa 2007.  Charticon I felt was much more entertaining and having been a part of the creative team that help bring this to reality was extra special.

A lot of people have already been asking when the next Charticon will occur.  We had said that we'd sit out 2014, but I wouldn't be completely surprised if that changes.  Right now we've got our sights set on sometime in 2015.  We learned a lot of what to do different next time.  We learned what worked and what didn't.  In the end though we exceeded our pre-registration goal, our hotel room goal, our walk-in goal and raised a lot of money for our charity.  Our invited guests, talent, dealers and attendees all left with a big smile upon their faces so I call that a successful convention.

If you are in the Charlotte, NC area or you are up to driving, I highly suggest you check out the next show so you can personally see what the hype is all about!