Well just back from the Stern factory tour, and what is becoming evident is that this year's show is quite a bit smaller than in the past. Previously there were at least 6 buses taking people to the factory, but this year there were only 4 and the factory was much less busy than before.
Once again I got Greg Freres as a tour guide, and no photos were allowed in the production side of the factory - although they handed out a factory infographic to everyone:
Still, we learned a few things: they are making lots of Star Wars, as well as GoT, Metallica, Aerosmith, Batman and Walking Dead as far as I could see. No sign of any AC/DC.
Star Wars had the codename Donut before it was announced, a referece to Princess Leah's hairdo, apparently. And the licence stipulates that there has to be a sticker bearing the Star Wars logo on the outside of the box.
The factory is making (maybe completing?) up to 50 machines a day, according to Greg. And he reckons he is probably the 3rd best player at the factory after Keith Elwin and Zach Sharpe.
There was the usual management bo**ocks in evidence:
Gary Stern was being very humble, shaking hands with everyone and thanking them for visiting the factory, and he also made a very short speech in which he said very little, but promised to talk more at his presentation tonight.
And Zach Sharpe was at the exit handing out free Sternorama badges to everyone as they left. What with the new updates on whats going on at Stern including what software updates are in the works its almost as if Stern have started a concerted PR campaign to become better liked. Perhaps JJP and Dialed In are getting them worried.
The seem to be trying to get all their ducks in a row for something...
That's kind of it. No sign of any Guardians of the Galaxy stuff. More later.
