Optimus Prime Rises Up Against Bullies

STONEBORO, PA… A very special visitor rolled into The Great Stoneboro Fair this past Labor Day weekend!  The fair is a family tradition in Western Pennsylvania since 1867.  This year Jason McCurdy, a board director at the Great Stoneboro Fair wanted to give fair attendees a new attraction and with the sponsorship provided by Mercer Auto Wreckers LLC, Christie Diesel LLC, and Jones Performance Products, Inc., the world's only fan-built full-scale AOE replica truck of Optimus Prime, lived up to the task.

The Fiduccia family from the Northeast Pennsylvania area: Joe, Ania, and Ryan are the proud owners of the AOE Optimus Prime replica truck, which is a 2017 Western Star 5700.  Joe Fiduccia, who was not a Professional Truck Driver, had a vision and dream to build a replica of the Optimus Prime truck from the Transformers Age of Extinction movie. Taking a giant leap of faith, Joe sought and received permission from Hasbro in 2015 to have his vision brough to life and to be able to use the trademark and  the Optimus Prime replica truck was born.  25 people were involved in the creation/building of  the truck, which took about a year to complete.

Joe Fiduccia obtained his CDL license and now he and his wife Ania and son Ryan tour North America and Canada. Joe’s son Ryan was 8 years old when Joe had Optimus Prime built and it was, and still remains, Joe’s desire for bringing a special message of anti-bullying when Optimus Prime makes it special appearances at events, especially schools, where they give Anti-Bullying educational presentations. 

The Fiduccias have added some touches to their Optimus Prime truck, including personalized mudflaps which add character to the truck.

Additionally, “Bumblebee”, a 2011 Camaro owned by Larry and Thelma York of Constantine, Michigan made a surprise appearance at The Great Stoneboro Fair!  Bumblebee is a sleek beauty with only 11,000 miles.  The Yorks drove from Michigan to Western Pennsylvania just for the fair!  Larry York is a Pneumatic Tank Hauler for PRM Trucking of White Pigeon, Michigan.

Also on display alongside Optimus Prime and Bumblebee was “Happer”, a 1996 Kenworth W900L owned by Jones Performance Products.