BotCon 2013 Brochure released (events and guests)

[griffin]

The Info Brochure is finally up, with details of the toys, some main events, and prices (plus a guide for what exactly your package contains, and the extras your package is eligible for).
After 9 years of their weird package names, they finally have a good idea to make the contents more visually obvious.

Basic Details....

COSTS
$365 - Primus Package (access to all non-Golden Ticket events, boxset, attendee figure)
$665 - Golden Ticket (Primus Package plus extra items)
$175 - Protoform (Primus Package, but NO TOYS)
$365 - Iacon (non-attending option - Boxset posted to you, postage extra)
-
Add-on items (must purchase an applicable main package first)
$275 - Loose Set (5 toys from the Box set)
$90/$190 - Minicon/Golden Ticket Minicon (for family members that want/have to tag along - NO TOYS)
$120/$110 - Wednesday tour Adult/Kids 3-9 (San Diego sight-seeing + 3 hours at San Diego Zoo)
$90/$83 - Thursday tour Adult/Kids 3-9 (Seaworld)
$120 - Custom Classes (2x Wed, 2x Thur)
$75 - Unpainted & assembled Custom Class toy (one per Primus/GT package)
$??? - Extra toys at the Convention (usually a "big" pair, "small" pair, and 3-pack of clones/drones)

Main Events
Wednesday - San Diego Tour (7.45am - 6pm) Historical tour of San Diego & Harbour, plus 3 hours at SD Zoo.
Wed PM - Boxset pickup for those on the tours or classes.
Thursday - Seaworld (8.15am - 5pm)
Thur PM - Boxset pickup for everyone else, & BotCon store opens for all other items.
Wed & Thur - Custom Classes (4 in total)
Friday AM - Fan Film screening & MSTF
Friday PM - Outdoor Movie Screening (1986 Movie?) & Golden Ticket exclusive reception. (food is free at GT event only)
Saturday PM - Casino night awards party. (food provided)
(looks like no Hall of Fame this year, or formal dinner?)

NOTE - Convention Panels and Dealer Room are on Friday to Sunday, BUT, only Pre-registered attendees can access them on the Friday. Walk-in day-ticket holders can only attend Saturday and Sunday.


We also have the first two guests revealed (which is really early for FunPub - a welcome change, as they usually promote the toys to scalpers and investors, and leave the actual "fan" reasons for going to the Convention until after pre-registration has sold out).

James Horan - voice of TFPrime Wheeljack.
David Sobolov - voice of TFPrime Shockwave & Beast Wars Depth Charge.

(I can see that they got the voice actor in to play the role of this year's membership toy in case they have a script reading panel this year)


For those planning to register, READ THE FOLLOWING THAT WAS EMAILED OUT TO MEMBERS...

You will have approximately a week to read the information and ask questions before we open registration sometime next week. Before we open registration or send a question, please review the answers by clicking on the FAQ.

You need to CHECK your account at TransformersClub.com/shop to ensure that your account is current as you may need to renew in order to receive the membership discounts. If you are receiving this email, you have an active account with the club, but make sure you know your log-in and password (can be retrieved at TransformersClub.com/shop click on My Account).

If you are registering with another member, you will need THEIR log-in and password to receive member pricing.

If you complete your order with non-member pricing, we CANNOT adjust your pricing. Please understand what you are ordering and confirm the pricing before you check out. If you do not think you are getting the correct pricing, do not continue. If you continue, you are agreeing to the pricing you are being presented.

Per your request, we have added another 2 minutes to the timer.

We suggest that you make a list for each person of the items you want to select for them BEFORE you begin registration. Then you can work from that list.

Please take a look at the souvenir T-shirt and Hat you can add to your order at the end. Images of these items will be on the BotCon site in the next couple of days.

If you have not read the Information tab brochure, please do so before you register as you have 10 minutes to complete your registration before the system puts your items back into stock. You cannot hold them in your cart longer than that amount of time, however you can start over.

We do reserve the right to limit any member's quantities if we deem them excessive.

Please note that we have added a NEW item this year. Because of the concern of people not being able to participate in the class, we are offering to each registered attending member the opportunity to purchase an assembled unpainted Class Figure. This is limited to one per person, per package ordered. However, that person must pickup their items at registration. DO NOT create phantom attendees to get additional Class Figures as you will not be able to pick them up. This is NOT a souvenir and is NOT subject to the Golden Ticket souvenir rules. In addition, we will not pre-announce the figure or class kit mold, it will be a surprise!

I'll send out an email when the link is live.

[griffin]

A quick tip for those intending to register and go... perhaps try to be near your computer during the hours of 5am-11am (Eastern time) from this weekend and rechecking their site every half hour, as that seems to be the time they've been opening pre-registration.
Also, be on their twitter account, as I think they tweet it before they email it.

If you aren't aiming to get anything limited (custom classes, golden ticket, unpainted toy), don't stress, as you shouldn't have a problem getting basic registrations for at least 24 hours after it is open.

[UltraMarginal]

A quick tip for those intending to register and go... perhaps try to be near your computer during the hours of 5am-11am (Eastern time) from this weekend and rechecking their site every half hour, as that seems to be the time they've been opening pre-registration.
Also, be on their twitter account, as I think they tweet it before they email it.

I wouldn't worry too much till maybe Monday or Tuesday, they did say about a week to read the brochure and figure out what you want.

and I totally agree with watching the Twitter account as that is sometimes the first mention that registration is open.

just my 2c

[griffin]

I hope it isn't until Wednesday, as I get back Tuesday night. But you can never tell, as they sound very rushed this year (in the email they were almost warning us to get ourselves organised very quickly).
I wonder why there is such panic this year... perhaps they are needing the money soon to pay for things, and couldn't release the brochure until something in it was verified or authorised. It's not like 2010 (I think it was that year) when they had the pre-registrations open just a month before the convention, because of their new online ordering site wasn't yet ready. On this occasion, the Con is still 4 months away, which means there is something else prompting this rush for our money.

[griffin]

I was just looking at the membership subscriptions, and noticed that mine requires renewal by Sunday... so was wondering if the rush was to get people to sign up to BotCon before their memberships expire - not to be generous and have people get two BotCon discounts from the one year's membership (a $170 saving from a $40 fee for Americans), but perhaps it is a means of convenience, to get existing members to renew at the same time, before this year's toy cut-off (March 16th).

So even though they could risk having some people not renewing and getting two BotCon discounts this last 12 months, if they were clever, it could become a marketing pitch to remind people to renew their registration when they log in to register for BotCon (to get $85 discount within a day of paying $40 to get it).

[Bidoofdude]

I won't be going, I guess. Maybe next year?
The theme didn't really interest me anyway.

[griffin]

Sorry for flooding this topic... I'm just getting all excited at the moment, as BotCon Season is now starting.

I was reading the comments on the TFW board, and noticed an almost "meh" response this year from fans... it almost feels like FunPub won't sell out their Boxsets this year, and aside from the Custom Classes the other limited items may not sell out fast either.
The boxset of toys isn't inspiring too many people (not sure if it is the mould choices, or the era itself that is putting off people... or just tired of FunPub in general, so are more critical now of their efforts).

Then came the Hall of Fame element of the Brochure...
I think it was good that some people were pointing the finger at those people & sites that didn't take it seriously with Erector and Swindle in the last couple years. Hasbro gave us a warning with Erector in 2011, and then fans (and sites) were at it again last year with Swindle. I guess if fansites (TFW2005 and The Official Club site were the main offenders) weren't going to respect the concept, Hasbro weren't going to waste time trying to offer at least one serious element at BotCon.
A bit sad if that's the case, as it would have been nice to at least keep inducting humans into the HOF, which gives us the concept without risking disrespectful character submissions.
Naturally I had a rant over there about it... ... because those in America who can get to BotCon fairly easily take it for granted, and then spoils it for those of us who have to spend a lot of time and money to go to a BotCon (if something is removed due to a vocal minority).

[Aegis]

I was quite pumped when they annouced the foray into Machine Wars, that line has repaints of some of my most favourite toys growing up. Very glad to see some more bright colors and ties to Beast Machines (which unfortunately I never watched, will have to correct that one day).

Not sure about the non club member price, it comes close to my entire collections worth...

[griffin]

A quick tip for those intending to register and go... perhaps try to be near your computer during the hours of 5am-11am (Eastern time) from this weekend and rechecking their site every half hour, as that seems to be the time they've been opening pre-registration.
Also, be on their twitter account, as I think they tweet it before they email it.

If you aren't aiming to get anything limited (custom classes, golden ticket, unpainted toy), don't stress, as you shouldn't have a problem getting basic registrations for at least 24 hours after it is open.

With all the Toyfair stuff in the last week, I totally forgot about this.
It's been a week, so any day now (if there aren't any delays), they should be opening up registration.

Anyone planning to go or to order a non-attendee pack, it is best to have your membership paid for beforehand, so get onto it now.
And join their twitter account.

For the next few days, it's up early for me.

[griffin]

so any day now (if there aren't any delays),

In the last day, this was added to the BotCon site (and apparently emailed* )...

An email has been sent to the current and former TCC members. We have decided to delay the BotCon registration start to the middle of March as we have discovered a flaw in the store software that has been deleting recently renewed memberships. This has only occurred to memberships that were declined two times (credit card not on file for the first two attempts or credit card declined). What it is has been doing is randomly deleting the approved memberships after the third attempt. We have the software company working on fixing this issue.

Thus, we are auditing the entire data file to find the accounts who had good transactions but their membership is missing. It's going to take about 20 man hours to finish this task and make sure everyone's log in works for BotCon registration.

After we finish our audit, another email will be sent to the entire group so that you can go test your account and make sure you see your membership. Your log in will then work correctly for BotCon registration. I apologize for the delay but this will make everything much smoother and everyone much happier. We don't want you have have any issues with your registration or miss out because items sell out quickly.

Meanwhile, make sure you have read all of the Information and FAQs before registration starts.

At least we should still end up with a bit of advance warning, as members will be contacted to check their membership log-in, just before registration is opened.

While you wait for this to start up, check out some of the merchandise for this year - guy's t-shirt, girl's t-shirt, hat, beenie).... which will be available on the pre-registration form, and at the Show if there are any left.
(the shirt is way too boring, having a B&W image on a grey t-shirt - the t-shirt should have been coloured if the image isn't)


**I didn't get the email because my membership had expired, and I've been having trouble renewing it. (not surprising)
Due to their "automated subscription renewal" feature, a subscription was automatically in my cart.... so yesterday I entered in my credit card details to see if that would convert it to being purchased. It didn't. It just sat there, with a billing date that was a couple days ago... so I figured that it was too late for the auto-renewal subscription, and decided to buy a new one manually.
Since BotCon registration could have been the next day, I didn't want to be waiting around for a reply to a query, I just wanted to get the membership organised and be done with it.
But I couldn't buy a new subscription because it said that there was an error, due to there already being one in my "cart" (which isn't actually in the cart itself... it just exists on my account as if it is in my cart for checkout).
So I deleted the one in my account, and then tried to purchase a subscription... but it was still saying that I had one in my account.
I left it, and hoped that maybe the auto-renewal one was just in a state of being processed, so would check it again today.
Logging in, I find that the auto-renewal subscription is now gone, and a subscription is currently sitting in my actual cart (the one I tried to manually purchase).
But before I go to check-out, I look to see if the auto-renewal one was processed... nope, nothing in the purchase history page. So I check out the subscription, and hopefully that is finally done.
(almost as much drama as last year, which required some over-the-phone purchasing while their site was down)