Auto Assembly Unveils It's First Ever Exclusive Toy For 2013

[Andy Turnbull]

After listening to requests from our attendees for over a decade Auto Assembly, Europe's largest Transformers Convention, is proud to announce that it is able to unveil that it will have its FIRST EVER Exclusive Toy available for its 2013 convention taking place this August...



ROBOT MANUEL X is an exclusive repaint of the critically-acclaimed third party toy Demolition Crue Apex from Mech Ideas and is being produced into the Robot Manuel X convention exclusive being brought to the convention in conjunction with Sensible Collectibles.

Supplies of this toy will be extremely limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis and to ensure that as many of our attendees are able to get this toy, they will be limited to a maximum of ONE per person.
Robot Manuel X is available to pre-order from the Auto Assembly website NOW for those of you who have already purchased tickets for the convention for just £45 and you can then collect your toy when you arrive at the convention. When ordering you will need to provide your Auto Assembly 2013 ticket number or we will not be able to process the order and it can be ordered from www.autoassembly.org.uk/auto-assembly-2013-exclusive-toy-order-form/




If you have not already booked for the convention, tickets are still available and they can be purchased from the site at: www.autoassembly.org.uk/auto-assembly-2013-ticket-bookings/

Please note that as this is a third party toy, our normal restrictions for the sale of third party products apply so they can not be supplied to anyone under the age of 18.

The toy will be available to fans who attend the convention and those who purchase the Auto Assembly 2013 Non-Attendee Pack which will be made available through the convention's website shortly which will include the toy, one of our exclusive t-shirts plus other mystery items which will be announced in the near future.

Any supplies of the toy remaining after pre-orders and Non-Attendee Pack orders close may be available at the convention while stock lasts.

This toy is one of a two-part set and his “spark-mate” will be made available at another Transformers Convention this Summer which will be announced at a later date.

We will be joined at Auto Assembly 2013 by Dan Gilvezan (G1 Bumblebee), Neil Kaplan (RiD Prime) and Steve Blum (TF: Prime Starscream), as well as comic guests Simon Furman, James Roberts, Andrew Griffith and many more.

Auto Assembly 2013 is Europe's largest EVER Transformers convention and is taking place over the weekend of 9th - 11th August 2013 at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. To book your tickets or find out more including details of all the dealers attending, all of our guests and a full schedule for the weekend, visit the website at www.autoassembly.org.uk


Hope to see you all in August!

The Auto Assembly Team

Web: www.autoassembly.org.uk / www.ct-alpha.com
Auto Assembly Europe: www.autoassemblyeurope.eu
Youtube: www.youtube.com/autoassembly
Twitter: www.twitter.com/auto_assembly
Forum: www.autoassembly.org.uk/forum
Email: [e-mail]
Tel: [phone]

Auto Assembly is sponsored by

Calloway Custom Designs - www.shapeways.com/shops/callowaycustomdesigns
Big Ds Toy Chest - www.bigdstoychest.co.uk
Toyz And Gamez - www.toyzandgamez.co.uk
Kapow Toys - www.kapowtoys.co.uk
TF Source - www.tfsource.com
Robot Kingdom - www.robotkingdom.com
Transformers @ The Moon - www.transformertoys.co.uk
TransformersAnimated.com - www.transformersanimated.com
Titan Books - www.titanbooks.com
Big Bad Toy Store - www.bbts.com

[blueshift]

I approve!

I can't say I'm a fan of the name, mind. I guess it is "Robot Man X" but wanting it to sound a bit more 'realistic'? He also has the colour scheme of Salt Man X which is a far more exciting name, unless I'm missing something obvious here!

[The Doctor]

Wait. Hang on. I call shenanigans.

Dealers are not allowed to sell third party items but the convention toy...is a third party toy. Double standards.

I take it dealers will now be allowed to sell third party toys?

-Ralph

[blueshift]

Apr 14, 2013 17:42:34 GMT The Doctor said:

Wait. Hang on. I call shenanigans.

Dealers are not allowed to sell third party items but the convention toy...is a third party toy. Double standards.

I take it dealers will now be allowed to sell third party toys?

-Ralph

They were last year I believe. I seem to recall loads of them!

[The Doctor]

Well I was on a dealer stall last year and third party stuff was not allowed. The third party stuff was pretty much in the bar or under the metaphorical table as far as I could see.

-Ralph

[Bogatan]

No 3rd party allowed.

[Bogatan]

KO not allowed.

[Bogatan]

AA made a big deal of it because of Botcons stance.

[blueshift]

Apr 14, 2013 18:02:02 GMT The Doctor said:

Well I was on a dealer stall last year and third party stuff was not allowed. The third party stuff was pretty much in the bar or under the metaphorical table as far as I could see.

-Ralph

This is probably me completely misremembering then and thinking of a different year.

[kayevcee]

From what I can tell, the rule has been relaxed. So long as the purchasers are over 18, dealers can hand out as many Quake Waves and such as they like.

Back on track, I'd say "I didn't see this coming" (in fact I did on Facebook) but a South American deco of Apex or Geminus did occur to me just after they came out. They're big figures popular with Marvel comic fans and they're surprisingly inexpensive. Not much more than a deluxe from Takara.

I just hope "Rodriguez Man Z" or whatever his mate is called doesn't wind up being a Sweden Exclusive a AA:Europe. Sweden's expensive, man

-Nick

[blueshift]

Apr 14, 2013 18:11:38 GMT kayevcee said:

From what I can tell, the rule has been relaxed. So long as the purchasers are over 18, dealers can hand out as many Quake Waves and such as they like.

Back on track, I'd say "I didn't see this coming" (in fact I did on Facebook) but a South American deco of Apex or Geminus did occur to me just after they came out. They're big figures popular with comic characters and they're surprisingly inexpensive. Not much more than a deluxe from Takara.

I just hope "Rodriguez Man Z" or whatever his mate is called doesn't wind up being a Sweden Exclusive a AA:Europe. Sweden's expensive, man

-Nick

I'm a fan of obscure TFs, though it would have been nice if it was a more bespoke exclusive. As it is, it seems that this was more product that the third party company wanted to put out and shopped about for a convention, rather than "Yes, what the UK needs is an Argentinean Transformer!"

...I guess AA is just hoping now that we don't go to war with Argentina over the Falklands by the summer!

[The Doctor]

That would certainly make for interesting marketing.

-Ralph

[Bogatan]

I was hoping for RacknRuin.

[Bogatan]

But two figures was optimistic.

[The Doctor]

I doubt they are well known in Argentina!

-Ralph

[Bogatan]

So will Twintwist be at TFcon or AA Europe?

[Philip Ayres]

Apr 14, 2013 18:28:37 GMT Bogatan said:

So will Twintwist be at TFcon or AA Europe?

You mean Salt Man?

[Philip Ayres]

Apr 14, 2013 18:28:37 GMT Bogatan said:

So will Twintwist be at TFcon or AA Europe?

You mean Salt Man?

[Bogatan]

Yes, or whatever it will be named.

[Deleted]

To answer the third party issue, up until 2011 we had a general ban in place. We changed our policy in 2012 making significant changed and we introduced a formal third party policy that we published on the website. Basically, while some products were still prohibited (iGear's seekers, WST Dinorobots, KOs and a number of other items) we basically allowed items that were on generally safe grounds legally when it came to copyright and trademark infringement.

In a lot of cases we were able to apply a blanket ban to some and general approval to other lines, but there were some grey areas so we had to ban / approve specific toys but really it's a case of how close a toy is to the original, how old the original is and whether the trademark / patent has been renewed (as US design patents expire after 15-20 years if not used or renewed) so it's a legal minefield in checking what we can / can't use!

In the case of the 2013 toy, it's considerably different to the original in terms of its look, transformers in a totally different way and while it can be said is inspired by it, there is no disputing that a fully articulated toy could be mistaken for a jumpstarter a few inches shorter!

[The Huff]

Robot Manual X! Should have called him Robot ManuEl X and he could work in the hotel as a waiter!

Still great that we have another UK Exclusive after all this time. Well done to the team!

[Deleted]

ordered my one yesterday

...now i'm broke

[Marc Graham]

Slippery slope in my book. Not really interested in this, as there is no character and only of any interest because it resembles a jump starter with more articulation.

Intellectual property is complex, the style of a character is copyrighted and this is sailing close to the wind at best.

I am slightly confused by the stance of AA, but they are free to go in whatever direction they choose, I have always seen AA as a good meet up with some dealers and easy access to guests in a laid back environment. Not sure this toy adds much, but I am sure plenty of people may very well enjoy it, power to them, just hope this doesn't hurt AA in the long run.