Auto Assembly

Last updated

Official Auto Assembly logo Auto Assembly - Small.png
Official Auto Assembly logo
Attendees at Auto Assembly Europe 2011. Attendees at AAE 2011.jpg
Attendees at Auto Assembly Europe 2011.
Dealer tables at Auto Assembly Europe 2011. Dealer tables at AAE 2011.jpg
Dealer tables at Auto Assembly Europe 2011.
Simon Plumbe and Peter Casselo, some of the organisers of Auto Assembly Europe 2011. Simes and BigPete at AAE 2011.jpg
Simon Plumbe and Peter Casselö, some of the organisers of Auto Assembly Europe 2011.
Simon Furman, the guest of honour of Auto Assembly 2011, being interviewed by Lars Eriksson, one of the organisers. Simon Furman and Groundsplitter at AAE 2011.jpg
Simon Furman, the guest of honour of Auto Assembly 2011, being interviewed by Lars Eriksson, one of the organisers.

Auto Assembly was a Transformers convention held in Birmingham, UK and run by the science fiction fan organisation Infinite Frontiers. Auto Assembly was first in development from 1994 under the names BotCon UK and Ia-Con. It was officially founded in 2000 as "The Auto-Assembly" by Sven Harvey.

Contents

The first event was held in October 2000 and was held annually (except in 2002 and 2007 when it took "gap years") until the final event in 2015. The event was originally called "The Auto-Assembly", and came to be referred to colloquially as "AA".

Sven Harvey stepped down from his role with the event between the 2008 and 2009 conventions due to various issues unrelated to the event but has now returned to the team. Head of Infinite Frontiers Simon Plumbe is now the owner of the convention, working with a team of volunteers.

The convention started life as a small-scale event, intended to be an occasional Transformers-themed equivalent of the meetings held by the Star Trek fan club Alpha Quadrant (which itself grew from the Delta Quadrant '96 convention run by Infinite Frontiers). The first event was expected to have a relatively small number of fans attending — smaller than the Star Trek meetings — although this figure was exceeded. Sven's original idea was to grow the meetings over time and then launch the Ia-con convention as an annual event based on the meetings, which originally were to be quarterly. "The Auto-Assembly" ran on October 22nd, 2000 and was run by Sven with Simon in a support administrative role. [1] From the first meeting, however, the event grew rapidly and by 2003 "The Auto-Assembly" name was so strong a brand that calling it Ia-con would have been a confusing move. Auto Assembly 2003, only the third event, had expanded to a full-scale convention, though at that point it was referred to as a Transformers Collectors Fair. The growth of the event and the friendliness of the fans in attendance actually converted Simon into a Transformers fan in the process.

The convention attracts fans from all over the UK, Europe, and as far afield as America and Australia and currently holds the European attendance record with 1064 fans attending Auto Assembly 2015 from the UK and Europe.

The convention has a range of activities, including dealers tables, guest talks, autograph sessions, toy and art displays, video screenings, competitions, charity auctions, workshops (added for 2009) and more. Auto Assembly 2009 featured the convention's first live band as part of its programme — former boy band turned rock band, Next of Kin. In association with sponsors every year, the convention also gives all of its attendees a "goodie bag" filled with complimentary gifts, which have included a range of items, including postcards, comics, magazines, stickers, PlayStation 2 games, posters, and snacks.

Regular guests at the convention have included Transformers comic writer Simon Furman, artists Andrew Wildman, Lee Sullivan, Geoff Senior, Simon Williams, and colourist Jason Cardy. Past voice actor guests have included Wally Wingert (Sideburn and Mirage from Transformers: Robots In Disguise ) and Neil Kaplan (Optimus Prime and Ro-Tor, Transformers: Robots In Disguise), David Kaye (Megatron from Beast Wars , Beast Machines , Transformers: Armada , Transformers: Energon , Transformers: Cybertron and Optimus Prime in Transformers: Animated ), G1 actor Dan Gilvezan in 2008 (Bumblebee) and for 2009 Beast Wars actor Ian James Corlett and G1 actor Gregg Berger.

Auto Assembly: Target 2006, inspired by the Marvel UK comic story of the same name, had the Auto Assembly debut appearances of artists Guido Guidi and Mike Collins, and the first UK appearance by its guest of honour voice actor David Kaye along with its regular comic guests.

In March 2006, the convention expanded its activities further with the launch of the Auto Assembly Podcast which featured the normally expected chat and news updates, but also included interviews, competitions and music. The podcast was hosted by Simon Plumbe and Sven Harvey, who ran the event at the time.

Auto Assembly 2008 was notable by having its first display from Hasbro featuring the unveiling of handmade resin versions of Transformers: Animated Optimus Prime, Megatron and Bulkhead being given away through a prize draw from an online competition. It also saw the world debut of the trailer for the Transformers: Animated game for the Nintendo DS from Activision. The convention also attracted a great deal of media attention and was attended by a television camera crew from Central News who filmed for a news broadcast, a radio broadcaster from BBC Radio WM attended, and a live interview with Sven Harvey for BBC Radio 5 Live took place early in the day.

The first Auto Assembly Europe convention was held in November 2011, was held in Uppsala, Sweden. It was organised as a joint operation between the Auto Assembly organisers and the Nordic TransFans Association. [2]

In March 2015, it was announced that Auto Assembly 2015 would be the final Auto Assembly event due to conflicts with the health and personal lives of the team members at the time. Auto Assembly itself is continuing with other activities including the publication of its fanzine The Cybertronian Times.

The convention has definitely come to an end now with TF Nation taking its place, but the Auto Assembly and Infinite Frontiers website continue, and the founder is running the Autobase Birmingham fan club which is closely linked to the Spacedock Birmingham Star Trek fan club and is maintaining ties with Transmasters UK (TMUK). Ia-con is still in development.

Convention Exclusives

Each year the convention produces a full colour fanzine, The Cybertronian Times, which features articles, artwork, fiction and reviews covering all eras of Transformers. In previous years, this fanzine has featured contributions from Simon Furman, Lee Sullivan and Simon Williams. Additional convention exclusives have been produced, including postcards from 2003 onwards and pin badges for 2005 and 2006.

Convention Dates

Twelve Auto Assembly events have been held to-date, relocating as new venues have been needed to accommodate the growing attendance figures. Attendance figures are listed in brackets after the venue.

Convention Guests

The convention has been joined by a number of guests over the years. To date, the following have attended or are scheduled to attend:

Notes

The Auto Assembly Forum

The Auto Assembly Forum is run by convention committee head Simon Plumbe, with the help of the moderators. The forum is not as busy as many of the larger Transformers forums, but is still a vibrant fan community. It was founded on 19 August 2003 following Auto Assembly 2003 to act as a support forum for the conventions, but it quickly developed into a thriving community all of its own. The forum was closed in the Summer of 2011 due to dwindling usage and was relaunched in September of the same year on a new server to coincide of the relaunch and redesign of the conventions website.

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megatron</span> Transformers character

Megatron is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Transformers media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. Megatron is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a faction of sentient, war-mongering robotic lifeforms that seeks to conquer their home planet of Cybertron and the rest of the known universe. He serves as the archenemy of Optimus Prime, the leader of the rival Autobot faction. As with all Cybertronians, Megatron has the ability to transform between his robot form and various vehicles or weapons. His alternate modes have ranged from a Walther P38 handgun, a particle-beam weapon, a telescopic laser cannon, and a Cybertronian jet, depending on which continuity he is depicted in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grimlock</span> Transformers character

Grimlock is the name of several fictional robot characters in the Transformers robot franchise. He is usually portrayed as the leader of the Dinobots, which are a subfaction of Autobots who can transform into metal dinosaurs. Grimlock was known for his dialogues being spoken in third person. In 2007, USA Today surveyed people as to which Transformer they would want to appear in the second installment in the Transformers film series; Grimlock came in tied for second with Devastator, and he appeared in the film instead of Grimlock. Despite this setback, Grimlock eventually appeared on screen along with his Dinobot friends in the fourth installment of the Transformers film series.

Transformers is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, such as vehicles and animals. The franchise encompasses toys, animation, comic books, video games and films. As of 2011, it generated more than ¥2 trillion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arcee</span> Transformers character

Arcee is a fictional robot character in the Transformers franchise. She has been depicted as a female Autobot, usually pink or blue in color. Being the most famous of the Female Autobots, she has made more appearances and has had several more incarnations than any other female Transformer. Originally she turned into a car while some of versions have later turned her into a motorcycle. Arcee's design, alternate mode, and personality vary depending on continuity. Usually colored pink and white, she has also been depicted as a blue-colored character, and Botcon storyline saw her reformatted into a Maximal spider.

Soundwave (<i>Transformers</i>) Transformers character

Soundwave is a fictional robot character appearing in various Transformers continuity lines within the Transformers franchises. His most well-known disguise is that of a micro cassette recorder. Throughout most of his incarnations, he is an underlying loyal lieutenant of the Decepticon leader Megatron. He is commonly depicted as Megatron's communications officer and in some interpretations, only speaks when mocking the Autobots.

Jazz (<i>Transformers</i>) Transformers character

Jazz is a fictional robot character from the Transformers franchise. He is usually portrayed as a music-loving robot who speaks using Black Vernacular English. In certain continuities he is shown as being Optimus Prime's good friend and right-hand man.

Bumblebee (<i>Transformers</i>) Transformers character

Bumblebee is a fictional robot character appearing in the many continuities in the Transformers franchise. The character is a member of the Autobots, a group of sentient, self-configuring, modular extraterrestrial robotic lifeforms.

There have been three main publishers of the comic book series bearing the name Transformers based on the toy lines of the same name. The first series was produced by Marvel Comics from 1984 to 1991, which ran for 80 issues and produced four spin-off miniseries. This was followed by a second volume titled Transformers: Generation 2, which ran for 12 issues starting in 1993. The second major series was produced by Dreamwave Productions from 2002 to 2004 with multiple limited series as well, and within multiple story continuities, until the company became bankrupt in 2005. The third and fourth series have been published by IDW Publishing with the third series starting with an issue #0 in October 2005 and a regular series starting in January 2006 to November 2018. The fourth series started in March 2019 with issue #1 and is currently still being produced. There are also several limited series being produced by IDW as well. In addition to these three main publishers, there have also been several other smaller publishers with varying degrees of success.

<i>Transformers: Generation 2</i> TV series or program

The Transformers: Generation 2 was a Transformers toy line that ran from 1992–1995, in conjunction with a corresponding comic book series and edited reruns of the original cartoon beginning in 1993. The prior Transformer television series, comic books and toys became known as 'Generation 1' or G1 retroactively, and are now officially referred to as such by toymaker Hasbro. Generation 2 was discontinued as the first Beast Wars: Transformers toys began hitting the shelves.

Transformers Generation 2 is a comic book series based on the Transformers: Generation 2 toy line, written by Simon Furman. It was published by Marvel Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Optimus Prime</span> Transformers character

Optimus Prime, known in Japan as Convoy, is a fictional character in the Transformers franchise. The Transformers characters were developed for an American market after Hasbro representatives visited the 1983 Tokyo Toy Show. The characters were modified and the coloring was changed; notably, Optimus Prime was colored red, white, and blue. The popularity of the Transformers toys resulted in comics, movies, and a TV series.

Transformers: Generation 1 is a toy line from 1984 to 1990, produced by Hasbro and Takara. It was a line of toy robots that could change into an alternate form by moving parts into other places, and it was the first line of toys produced for the successful Transformers toy and entertainment franchise. The line was originally called The Transformers, with "Generation 1" originating as a term coined by fans of the toys when the Transformers: Generation 2 toy line was released in 1992. Hasbro eventually adopted the term "Generation 1" to refer to any toy produced in that era.

<i>The Transformers</i> (IDW Publishing) Comic book line

The Transformers is a comic book line by IDW Publishing based upon Hasbro's Transformers characters and toy line, featuring many writers and artists across multiple series. It is notable for being the longest continuously running Transformers continuity to date, beginning in October 2005 with The Transformers: Infiltration and ending in November 2018, after the six-issue Unicron event comic. The following year, it would be rebooted and succeeded by a new comic book series on 2019.

<i>Transformers: Animated</i> American superhero animated series

Transformers: Animated is an American superhero animated television series based on the Transformers toy line. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios and Hasbro Entertainment and animated by The Answer Studio, Mook Animation, and Studio 4°C (shorts). The series debuted on Cartoon Network on December 26, 2007, and ended on May 23, 2009; running for 42 episodes across three seasons. In Japan, the show debuted on April 3, 2010, on both TV Aichi and TV Tokyo.

Transformers: Beast Wars is the name of several comic book series by IDW Publishing, based upon Hasbro's toy line and the original television series.

<i>Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen</i> (video game) 2009 video game

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a third-person shooter video game based on the 2009 live action film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It is the sequel to 2007's Transformers: The Game, and the second video game adaptation of the live-action Transformers film series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game were developed by Luxoflux, and ported to Microsoft Windows by Beenox. The PlayStation 2 and Wii versions were developed by Krome Studios, and the PlayStation Portable version was developed by Savage Entertainment. All versions of the game were published by Activision, and released on June 23, 2009 in the United States. Australia received the games one day later, and Europe on June 26. A sequel, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, was released in June 2011, based on the film on the same name.

<i>Transformers: Prime</i> 2010–2013 CGI animated television series

Transformers: Prime is an American computer-animated television series based on the Transformers toy franchise by Hasbro that aired on the Hub Network from November 29, 2010, to July 26, 2013. The series focuses on the Autobots of "Team Prime", consisting of Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead, and their human allies as they attempt to protect the Earth from the villainous Decepticons and their leader Megatron.

Smokescreen is the name of several different fictional characters in the Transformers robot superhero franchise.

References

  1. ↑ Convention Founder
  2. ↑ Auto Assembly Europe official website Archived 30 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.