For the second straight year I went to Wisconsin for Dairycon earlier this month. I had a great time, and brought back great haul. If you haven’t heard, Dairycon is the longest-running Transformers Fancon ever!
| Wisconsin Haul | TF Haul at Dairycon | Dairycon Exclusive Haul |
To start off, I brought back a few non-Transformers items. Picking over the decaying corpses of several Toys R Us stores, I found the first and second series of Stranger Things figures. I had no luck finding these in Massachusetts…until I got back from Dairycon. That’s how it goes sometimes. Also at TRU I found a Game of Thrones The Wall Playset. I only wanted it for the Tyrion Lannister figure, but since TRU is the only store where I’ve ever seen it, and it was already on clearance, I figured I’d better grab it.
I satisfied my Star Trek obsession with a One:12 Collective Mirror Universe Spock I picked up at Dairycon. The only other non Transformers items were some Marvel figures, Marvel Legends Avengers Infinity War Captain America, and Avengers Infinity Wars Deluxe Rocket & Groot. Seems Wisconsin is getting all the good toys lately.
Now on to the Transformers!
This was interesting. At Target I found this Transformers Movie Birthday card. It uses the 2007 logo, but is dated 2010. I’ve never seen this one before. It’s not the first time I’ve found a birthday card with an older date and logos, but eight years is a long time.
Found The Last Knight and Rescue Bots t-shirts at Walmart.
Topps Wacky Packages has been including Transformers party stickers since 2016. This is the first time (as far as I know) that they used them on the packaging. Yes, I’m that ridiculous. Found these at Target.
Also at Walmart I picked up some new birthday cards. Interestingly there was one G1, one The Last Knight, and I think the third is using the art for Cyberverse. That would make it the first Cyberverse item I’ve seen available.
This was one I actually had on my list to find in Wisconsin. It’s a wooden sign from Hobby Lobby. There are no Hobby Lobby’s near me (at least not conveniently near me, there is one up in New Hampshire, but I don’t get up there very often). It cost as much to ship home as to buy, but it was worth it.
I’ve had the PEZ Connectibles carded (Bumblebee, Optimus Prime) for a while, but I’ve been looking for a second set, and they had them at Hobby Lobby.
I think I went to a dozen Walgreens over the week or so before my trip. Would you believe the first one I went to in Wisconsin had Cyber Battalion Shockwave? I didn’t believe it. Read my review here.
I actually passed on this twice before I realized it was new. Back at Toy Fair it seemed the only new Rescue Bots Flip Racer announced was Speedster Boulder. So I was surprised to realize this Bumblebee was new. I am 99% sure he wasn’t in the save wave with Speedster Boulder, so I think he was in wave 4. I’ve only seen him at Toys R us, so I think his existence has flown under the radar. Also, for you variant hunters, I’ve found variants on almost all the Flip Racers toys. The ones in the cases with Speedster Boulder and this Bumblebee are all different from their first release. They have paint differences (light and dark). This includes Blades from the Launcher set. The single carded version of Blurr is also different from the ones that came in the three pack. Read my review of Flip Racers Bumblebee (and Speedster Boulder) here.
Found a Transformers issue of Cereal Geek at a Comic store in Madison (can’t remember the name).
I got these from Fred. They are Surprize Drinks. These two are missing the toys, but I don’t have a Bumblebee or an Optimus Prime. I haven’t been able to find these in Massachusetts. Still looking for more of them.
These are from Beast Wars II Kabaya Ramune W. Still need to find the other six, but it was a start. (Thanks Bryan!)
Now on to what I actually got at Dairycon. (Click the names below the picture to read my reviews.)
Transformers: Adventures 2-Pack Deluxe Strongarm vs. Deluxe Phantomjaw
Beast Wars: Metals Deluxe Silverbolt
Beast Wars: Metals Deluxe Transmetal Airazor vs. Basic Fuzor Quickstrike
Transformers: Cloud Voyager Shockwave
Got this one without instructions, but it was cheap and I really like this Shockwave. If anyone has the instructions for it and is willing to part with them, let me know.
Transformers: Encore God Fire Convoy
Transformers: Energon Sticker Sheet
Transformers Bookmark
Transformers Tin Signs
Transformers: Legends Deluxe Convobat & Headmaster Megalligator
Transformers: Legends Voyager Greatshot
Transformers: Legends Deluxe Topspin
Transformers: Legends Deluxe Twin Twist
Machine Robot Revenge of Cronos Eagle Robo
Transformers: Masterpiece Barricade
This Transformers: Movie bicycle was a raffle prize. I hoped to win it in the raffle. I didn’t. I bought it from the winner for $20. I regret nothing.
(Note from Fred: I have regret enough for both of us. That dang thing found its way back to my house again!!)
Transformers: Movie The Best Deluxe Laserbeak
Transformers: Studio Series Deluxe Bumblebee
Transformers: Studio Series Deluxe Crowbar
Transformers: Studio Series Deluxe Ratchet
Transformers: Studio Series Deluxe Stinger
Transformers: Studio Series Voyager Optimus Prime
Transformers: Studio Series Voyager Starscream
Fansproject Lost Exo-Realm Pinchar (Dinobot Snarl) and Lepida
Iron Factory Shadow Tengu (Six Shot)
Iron Factory Ultimate Commander (War Within Optimus Prime) & Alleria (Elita-1)
Maketoys Cross Dimension Thunder Manus and Divine Armor (Godmaster Ginrai)
Dairycon Exclusives
Pirate Coins. I’ve got one that looks pristine and one that looks distressed.
This metal Pirate Coin was given out at the Pizza Ranch after party.
There were two amazing posters.
This is awesome. It’s a rubsign sticker for you car.
Dairycon 2018 exclusive t-shirt.
This wasn’t actually an exclusive, but it was in my staff goodie bag. It’s one of the toys for the above Surprize Drinks, a pencil topper. According to the website it’s 1 of 34 toys.
On to the exclusive toys!
Fluffer and/or Wipes
Is this Fluffer or is it Wipes? If you look at the Dairycon website (which, in the interest of full disclosure, I maintain) Fluffer is shown to have red parts and Wipes to have green. I happen to know that they were all made green. So is this Fluffer or Wipes? As far as I’m concerned it’s Wipes as it matches the image on the website. Fluffer then does not exist. Or does she…
I managed to get my hands on one of the Lucky Draws. The black version has red parts, so for me, I’m going to say the Lucky Draw (this one anyway) is Fluffer.
In any case, these look awesome. They are repainted oversized G1 Pipes. Wipes has great paint apps on her chest and torso. I love the silver smokestacks of Fluffer. Both of them come with a sheet that can but cut out to put windows on, but you have to cut them yourself, so I’m leaving them off. You can read Fluffer and Wipes’ bios here.
Raul
You remember Raul? Tracks’s friend. He is now a very cool Titan Master. Love the color scheme. You can read Raul’s bio here.
PsyCloneUs
I do not yet have a PsyCloneUs (working on it). He is the same base toy as Raul with a purple face. You can read PsyCloneUs’s bio here.
Pirate Pete
I ended up with two Pirate Pete’s, and as luck would have it one was a preproduction prototype. The prototype has a much darker purple head. This is one of my favorite of the Titan Master vehicles. That’s a good thing, as there are more to come. You can read Pirate Pete’s bio here.
Stinky Pete
Stinky Pete looks great in blue and yellow. He is the Smashed Plastic (Mirror Universe) version of Pirate Pete. You can read Stinky Pete’s bio here.
Duncan & Windraider
Duncan and Windraider are based on Masters of the Universe Man at Arms and the Windraider vehicle. Love the colors. You can read Duncan and Windraider’s bios here.
Rainbow Doubloons
Rainbow Doubloons looks awesome. He has an eye patch, removable peg leg, and blaster. Read Rainbow Doubloons bio here.
Well, that about does it. I loved my visit to Wisconsin and look forward to (hopefully) going back next year.
Thanks for reading!
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