Ah cool, it’s a great store! As you can see from my video the products are largely merchandise rather than figures but there’s a bunch of exclusive items so there’s some unique bits to pick up. It might be worth coinciding a visit with a comic con or wait to see if they announce a fan event to make your trip a bit more substantial as the store although cool is a long way to travel if you’re coming from another country. Outside of the TF store I don’t think London has too much to offer a TF aside from Forbidden Planet. It’s worth keeping an eye on the TF stores socials as they seem to be adding new items regularly plus they have just added a bunch of mainline toys so looks like the store is improving all the time. You could even drop them a message to explain you are travelling a long way to see if they have any events coming up, they were pretty helpful with me when I wanted to visit for the preview evening. Cheers!

@@s-wo8781 I don’t know Magfest but relaxing in a hammock playing Switch sounds like a good time!

I agree that it would be great if they expanded the comics offering adding more comic guests for panels and meet and greets etc. But MCM has been a pop culture leaning convention since its inception. They used to be a much bigger anime and manga influence, now I find it a little broader. Plus the MCM does stand for Movies, Comics and Media which is what the convention covers. It’s a shame Birmingham no longer has a dedicated comic con like Thought Bubble or ICE. Thanks for the comment, cheers!

That’s awesome to hear, glad you had a great time, cheers!

Good vision to spot yourself. If you see me at a future Con feel free to stop me and I can film you properly if you want. Cheers!

@@GeekExplorers Well, I'm rather distinctive with the sequins on the dress and the sparklies. And my CrunchyRoll bag As for meeting you, I think it'll be easier for you to find me, seeing out from inside the Jessica Rabbit head isn't easy especially with the restricted vision.

Will keep a look out, cheers!

I think my comments might still be stuck in your approve queue 😅

@@morrigankig Hmm not sure I can see it on my tablet through he studio app, assuming you mean the message about your costume being distinctive due to the sequins. I gave a reply shortly after you posted it saying I would keep a look out at future conventions, cheers!

Thank you, I think they’re on the second wave of them now, really fun spin on Turtles/He Man. Cheers!

Thank you! Your costume was amazing! It probably looked really funny in the run up to stopping you. We recognised your costume as you entered the bottom of the isle but because it was crowded and you might have wanted to look at the stalls didn’t want to stop you until you came out the other end where there was more of a clearing. So basically chased you down the aisle. 😂 So cool to see more obscure retro character done so well, loved the costume! Thanks for taking the time to pose, cheers!

@GeekExplorers again thank you! It really made me happy when you recognised the character, they were awesome toys. I love the 80s and 90s. I was a big fan of the Visionaries, but I always thought the Supernaturals were cool! Their holograms and figures were larger, and very interesting in their sculpts! They definitely shouldn't be forgotten! Hopefully I will see you at another convention! Cheers!

@ChristopherAdamSerge Skull was actually the only Supernaturals figure I had. All this Supernaturals talks is making very tempted to try to hunt one down at the December toy fair. Cheers!

@@GeekExplorers That's brilliant 🙂. I hope you managed to find one. Take care

@ChristopherAdamSerge cheers!

I live in Birmingham so not too often unfortunately, hopefully I’ll swing by there some time next year. Thanks for watching!

@@GeekExplorers your a really underrated KZbinr

@B-127-guy thank you, the channels been growing much better recently. Thank you for the support, appreciated!

Sorry to hear that! As mentioned in my video I was expecting to be able to get a SS86 Prime so was disappointed in that respect. They had a very small selection of SS and Legacy figures on opening. I think the small selection was to do with supplier availability. Hopefully going forward they will follow through with the intention to do fan events when new release come out. I don’t think they’ll ever have exclusive figures but will have exclusive merch, like the T-shirts and comic covers etc. They seemed very open to feed back and suggestions for future products so I think it’s worth dropping a message as if there’s demand for certain items I’m sure they’d want to get the right products out. Thanks for the comment, cheers!

@@GeekExplorers they did have a exclusive comic but like most things on the shelves - no prices, I asked one of the staff if they had any of the Legacy toys which im currently collecting and he looked at me like I was talking another language lol, unfortunately i dont think ill be rushing back

Lack of visible prices is a pain, when I was there they were still stick pricing up so had to ask a bunch of times, it deffo puts me off buying things as I don’t want to get caught out at the till. At least you gave it a try, fortunately there’s plenty of great sellers online like InDemand and Kapow or in person like Forbidden Planet etc. Cheers.

Thanks you, it was a fun place to visit and really great couple of days so easy to be enthusiastic about it! My next videos already filmed so will try to remember for the one after, cheers!

🐄🐄🐄? 😀

Well of course it’s important to tick the box of culture before you get to the good stuff! 😂 Hopefully this will be successful and they’ll put one on your side of the world too! 🤞😀

Cheers, hopefully should be back for the Xmas meal in Dec, did want to come the other night but needed to finish my latest video. See you soon, cheers!

I did speak to the team behind the store and said although I thought the store looked great plus I had a great time it was a big omission to basically have no Transformers outside of a bunch of core class and a few Soundwaves. I totally understand their reasoning. So the thinking is although the store was full of collectors who had come down especially that’s not likely to be their day to day regular customers. Their main customers are going to be average Joe thats likes Transformers but isn’t a dedicated fan. So they’ve gone for mass appeal collectibles and entry point items like the comics. Then the plan is to have special release events where they get in a bunch of main line items, Studio series and Legacy and have all the fans down to do their pick up and meet up for a socialise. As for myself and possibly other collectors even if they stocked TFs it’s likely I’ll still be using online stores or Smyths as they’re more convenient and better priced. As it’s an official store I’d be very surprised if they have discounted items or clearance deals. I would be prepared to travel down for special events as it was loads of fun meeting people and chatting so I’d do one or two pick ups for the added experience. Yeah I’ve seen the Ark store that would be amazing. Hopefully if this stores successful they can expand. Would love to try a bowl of Energon cubes! Cheers

@@GeekExplorers It'll be interesting to see if that pays off for them. It's a bit of a trek through London which is awful for many so I don't know if they'll have that much casual trade rather than more serious fans of the franchise. I like the idea of visiting there but there's nothing I'd actually buy there at the moment so not worth the hell of travelling through London.

I’d never been to Battersea and was pleasantly surprised really liked it as a shopping centre, though deffo at the premium end. There’s a cinema, some sort of attraction to maybe go up one of the towers and loads of food options so can spend a bit of time once there. Although lunch was a mixed bag there were a bunch of £15 deals for a drink main and side which is an okay price but it was not a filling portion 😬 The stores attached to a pepper pig store so I think they’re hopping that will be an extra draw to siphon off dads who are board by cartoon pigs, hopefully it will do well so we get more like it in other cities or an expansion. Bonus shout out to the book store that was next door their clearance section had some great graphic novel bargains.

​@@GeekExplorersI'm an average Joe that's just getting into Transformers and this would be the perfect place for me to buy one. I really think they screwed up. I feel like us casuals or non fans would even be willing to pay more just to get our first one from the Transformers store. It's all fine fixing it later and getting Transformers in then but if you mess up people's first opinion of you, it's hard to bring those people back. I've seen a lot of people writing this place off as somewhere to buy Transformers branded tat but not a place to go for actual Transformers

As with any store everyone is going to have a different experience so there’s no doubt differing views to line out there. I had a great time, found all the staff to be friendly and helpful and will probably visit again. Hopefully they’ll follow through with stocking Studio series and other mainline figures and then run fan events. I’d totally be up for events if it feels like it will be worth my while attending. ie having an exclusive experience and coming away feeling like I’ve had additional value. I’ll mostly stick to using Indemand, Kapow, my local comic shops and Smyths for collecting. It’s super early days for this store so we will just have to see how it goes.

I didn’t articulate it very well but the question I put to the team behind the store was that the store looked great plus I had a great time but there was basically no Transformers outside of a bunch of core class and a few Soundwaves. I think I was more abrupt than I meant to be 😬😂 and to be fair I understood the idea behind their decisions. So the thinking is although the store was full of collectors who had come down especially that’s not likely to be their day to day regular customers. Their main customers are going to be average Joe thats likes Transformers but isn’t a dedicated fan. So they’ve gone for mass appeal collectibles and entry point items like the comics. Then the plan is to have special release events where they get in a bunch of main line items, Studio series and Legacy and have all the fans down to do their pick up and meet up for a socialise. As for myself realistically even if they stocked TFs I wanted I’d probably still be using online stores or Smyths as they’re more convenient and better priced. As it’s an official store I’d be very surprised if they have discounted items or clearance deals. I would be prepared to travel down for special events as it was loads of fun meeting people and chatting so I’d do one or two pick ups for the added experience. Cheers!

@@GeekExplorers I went on opening day for a Legacy Leader Class Soundwave as i spotted it in ToysAreRuss's video from the Tuesday,, but by the time I got there, it had gone, and the staff didn't really know anything about them. Didn't even bother to check out back to see if they had any more. I won't be going again unless it's a special event with guaranteed stock.

@AFCManUk wow that sucks, hopefully they’ll improve as they go. I imagine they’re so new they’re still figuring things out. I was specifically after a SS86 Prime, luckily I managed to pick one up at Comic Con yesterday.

​@@AFCManUkthis is the problem. I'm seeing a lot of people saying they'll improve over time but they should've known better before opening the store. They should've known that a lot of people would want to buy actual Transformers and want staff that know about the brand. Not just the fans coming in but also the non fans and casuals like me. And you only get one chance to make a first impression. A lot of people have a negative view of the place now either from their trip there or from hearing about other people's experiences.

I’m sure they would have liked to have had more figures available but with openings there’s lots of moving parts at play and bumps along the way. As I say I hope it goes well for them, the people representing the store seemed like they had good intentions and were very open to listening to feed back. You could contact them directly and offer your thoughts.

Hi no it’s just a regular shop so you can just turn up and walk in. It’s open 10-8 Monday to Saturday and 12-6 on a Sunday. Cheers!

@ okay great thank you

No worries, hope you have a good one if you visit!

Hi if you mean my video is underrated? Thank you very much, cheers for the comment!

Ah no way, that’s so cool, I should have done some better research. Thanks for the info 😀

@@GeekExplorers kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHauY6h_i6mogbMsi=pwYK4YJLQOrBwC8n

Oh nooooo Toronto! lol thanks for the share!

Ah awesome, the wrestling was really good fun, the performers and all involved did an amazing job!

Good shout, thanks for sharing, Cheers!

With the times we are in it’s good to seek out some positivity! Cheers!

Painful wake up aside it was a good one, only thing it was missing was some Turtles 😂 Have a good day!

Hey there, thanks for coming to say hello, always good to chat! Thanks again for posing, see you at a future Con! Cheers!

Did you spot yourself? 😂 Hope you had a good time!

@ I didn’t but thx!

No worries, maybe next time, cheers! 😀

Me too 😂😂

@@kirstyholden9481 we’re u dressed up? Bc I recognise the pfp

Glad to hear you enjoyed seeing the convention, they’re even more fun in person! 😀 Thank you!

No worries, hope it’s helpful for you! Cheers 😀

😂😂 In UK pounds they’re about £60 which is an absolute premium for such as small figure but it was more affordable than the bigger bots. So it would have been a bit of a one off treat. Seeing that Powerglide again made me really regret not picking him up 😭😂

Thank you, yeah it was a really good one. Though it might have been a mistake to get the arcade turtle as now I want the other 3 😂 Have a good week, cheers!

Hey Mate it was great to meet you, always happy to chat. Awesome costume, amazing effort! Cheers!!

Cheers mate, thanks for taking the time to watch and leave a comment! Have a good day!

@ You too and your welcome

Cheers!

Thank you! Yeah, it was a great weekend, good to hear you enjoyed it!

The convention opens at 9 on a Saturday. If you have priority you can arrive before 9 get your ticket and go through to the Boulevard until the Con opens. For example today the Con opened at 10 but I was in the Boulevard about 920.

@@GeekExplorers I'm trying to get the exclusive one piece figure but I am only able to come on Sunday - I'm not sure if I should queue in the morning. Are there queues in the boulevard?

Sort of but you don’t need to queue once in the Boulevard. Occasionally someone will stand at one of the hall entrances and then someone stands behind them then people start queuing down the wall. But no one needs to queue you can just go stand by which ever hall entrance and wait for it to open.

Awesome, hope you have a great convention, cheers!

Wow that’s really great of you to say, hope it’s helpful for you. Have a good Con!

There’s normally some in both the North and South halls. It’s looking good for this weekend with Indemand, Kapow and Hasbro all confirming they’ll be in attendance and all in the South hall. Plus I spotted Comic and Cocktails on the exhibitor list also in the South Hall. So hopefully plenty of choice!

Great to know is there any vintage toy stalls there ?

MCM is great for modern toys and collectibles but not great for retro. There’s normally a couple of stalls that carry some vintage but I can’t think of even one that’s exclusively vintage. There’s normally some stalls for vintage comics if that’s any consolation. Maybe we’ll get lucky and there’ll be some this time.

Thanks for letting me know you’ve been extremely helpful

No problem, have a great convention!

@@doctornotsoslim3608 Hasbro are going to have a stand this time so I’m hopeful they are going to go all out, it is still the 40th anniversary after all. I’m expecting Studio series 86 Devastator to be unveiled or at least some part of him. Plus Evan one of the Transformers designers is going to be there so it’s looking positive!

Kind words, thank you! I think my next Cons after this will be Liverpool and MCM Brum, so hopefully catch you soon! Cheers!

Thank you, making this just made me more excited for MCM 😂 have a good week! Cheers!

😀

🙂

So many amazing toys and collectibles, Birmingham Toy Fair is the best! Thanks for the comment!!

@@GeekExplorers you're welcome

Cheers!

It’s self shot

Interesting to hear your thoughts. Though my channel and videos are focused mainly on story (however simple that may be) and giving viewers a taste and idea of what the convention or in this case fair is like through my experience. Just as much as they are about showing what’s for sale or activities at the events themselves. With the overall goal of getting people to get out themselves! Obviously if you are offering to upgrade my camera gear so I can have wider talking head shots let me know 😀 Cheers for the food for thought!

Thank you! 🙂

Haha nice one man, keep up the good work😊👍

Cheers!

Thank you, welcome to the team, happy to have you along for the journey!

There were a handful, almost all of the stands were selling some form of toys, action figures, Lego, cars etc The stand I featured with the customs sells through Etsy. There was also someone that did cut out metal super hero art who I think was selling through Etsy. At previous toy fairs I’ve seen one or two stands selling custom minis that I think were also Etsy sellers.

@GeekExplorers I've been to quite a few toy fairs / comic cons and there were hardly any toy / collectables sellers there. Majority were etsy sellers

Oh right, as I say and hopefully you can tell from the video it was very heavy with toys. Not great for comics, there were some but not loads. The toy selection skewed towards vintage and a big load of cars but there was a bit of everything. The company behind it is BP fairs and they do them all over the UK.

@GeekExplorers I do love looking at vintage toys and comics so may have to go to the next one.

Awesome!

Those are the custom Battle Beasts I mentioned. They’re by a small business called For the love of old toys. They have an Instagram account if you want to find out more instagram.com/fortheloveofoldtoys?igsh=NHdxejhmZzJ3cDMy

I hope the rest of the video delivered with the nostalgia celebration! Cheers!

@@GeekExplorers you're at the top level video production for me now dude 👊🏼

Wow, thank you, appreciated!

I was pretty good this time round, could have definitely spent lots more but had to save some money for the rest of the month. There’s another one in December so maybe I’ll can spend a bit more then! Cheers!

🤷

All the figures on his stand were great! Agreed on the price, it’s justified due to the craft and uniqueness of the figures but with everything else I’d spent my money on I couldn’t afford any this time. Cheers!