Botcon 2015 - Chicago June 18-21

[fatbot]

To all members: We have not put a link for the general public at BotCon.com yet so you will need to click this link: http://www.botcon.com/BotCon2015/

After this goes out to the members and they have first shot at the rooms we will roll it on the main site.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BotCon is headed back to the Midwest in 2015, show to be held in St. Charles/Chicago, Illinois June 18th – June 21st!

Fort Worth, TX – October 23rd, 2014 – Fun Publications, Inc., licensee for Hasbro’s official Transformers Collectors’ Convention BotCon, announced today that next year’s award-winning convention will take place at the Pheasant Run Resort June 18th thru June 21st in the great city of St. Charles, right outside of Chicago. In 2015, fans from the Midwest and across the world will be able to celebrate another exciting year of the Transformers brand at this amazing event! You can make your hotel reservations now at BotCon.com.

In the coming weeks, pop culture enthusiasts from around the world will be able to register for BotCon 2015 through the BotCon.com online registration system. Fans and collectors who register for BotCon as a Primus package holder will receive a five-figure convention set, admission to the Friday private sales room experience, priority seating at all panels and seminars throughout the weekend and admittance to the Saturday night Casino Night and Awards party. Finally, Primus package attendees will also receive a special bonus Transformers figure to go along with their convention box set. General Admission for non-registered guests will be available on Saturday and Sunday only.

For all the information regarding the BotCon show activities, hotel updates and the exclusive figure offerings, remember to stay tuned to BotCon.com. And for a sneak peek at this year’s convention set theme be sure to check out Transformers Timelines Issue 10, on comic book shelves this December!

About Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is a branded play company dedicated to fulfilling the fundamental need for play for children and families through the creative expression of the Company's world class brand portfolio, including TRANSFORMERS, MONOPOLY, PLAY-DOH, MY LITTLE PONY, MAGIC: THE GATHERING, NERF and LITTLEST PET SHOP. From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, digital gaming and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its global customers with innovative play and entertainment experiences, in a variety of forms and formats, anytime and anywhere. The Company's Hasbro Studios is responsible for entertainment brand-driven storytelling around Hasbro brands across television, film, commercial productions and short-form. Through the Company's deep commitment to corporate social responsibility, including philanthropy, Hasbro is helping to build a safe and sustainable world for future generations and to positively impact the lives of millions of children and families every year. It has been recognized for its efforts by being named one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" and is ranked as one of Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens." Learn more at www.hasbro.com. © 2014 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

About Fun Publications
For 20 years, Fun Publications, Inc. has been a Hasbro licensee offering fans and collectors of pop culture memorabilia news, exclusive product and family events through different print offerings, websites, collector clubs and brand specific conventions such as GIJoeCon and BotCon. Located in Fort Worth Texas, Fun Publications reaches a large audience, serving the United States and many other countries such as Japan, Great Britain, Brazil, Australia and Canada. For more information visit TransformersClub.com, GIJoeClub.com, GIJoeCon.com, and BotCon.com. BotCon is a registered trademark of Fun Publications, Inc. © 2014 Fun Publications, Inc. All rights reserved

thoughts? comments?

[Krayt]

Registrations soon?

He'll I haven saved up for another iacon pack this year!

[MayzaPrime]

As my wife just said 'if the planets align we will be going'

I have been hanging out for a Botcon in Chicago for a number of years.

[griffin]

Typical...

I don't get up until 11am this morning, and do cleaning around the house until about half an hour ago, then find that my phone had run out of power during the night so didn't get the 9am txt from UltraMarginal.

So seven hours after it was announced, I check the reservations site, and only two days are still available (15th & 16th - which means Wednesday onwards is already sold out).
And neither of the Resorts phone numbers are working to phone in a reservation (maybe too small to have a phone manned during the middle of the night).

Perfect, all the wrong things aligned in the universe again, for a second year in row.

(Did anyone here book a room, just in case you go... and would just cancel it if you didn't need it? It's a good thing to do, being too early to decide, and is why the rooms book out so fast.)


Looking it up, this resort is about 45kms west of Downtown Chicago.
According to google, it would take about 52 minutes by car to drive there (64 kms by road), or 2 hours by public transport (bus/train).
Also, the main airport (O'hare) is 40 minutes by car - due to being 50 Kms by road.

Okay, looking up google maps, it isn't as remote as I was expecting.
Across the road is a Hilton, and a block over to the west is a Country Inn. At least if this Pheasant Run stays booked out, there are two other options within 500 meters.
Also a block to the west is a Walmart and a Target... so two of the three main toy sources in America (TRU being the third).
Both stores will have an extensive grocery section, so "real" food won't be a problem... and as for "faster" food, at this retail precinct there is a McDonalds, IHOP (drool), Chili's (American franchise), Olive Garden (another franchise), Chipotle (Mexican themed franchise), On The Border (yet another Mexican themed restaurant - rather odd for a northern state).
A bit of a walk further (about a Km or two), is Panda Express (Chinese), Subway, Papa Johns Pizza and DeGeo's Burgers & Gyros.


I'll give them credit - they've given us an extra two months notice to recent years (usually it is a Christmas announcement)... but the location is very unusual and "remote" compared to previous years (not close to an Airport or a CBD). I think they are going to struggle to get a lot of people to attend, let alone get many walk-ins. They usually struggle to get Americans to travel more than a couple states, so a central state like Illinois may look like a great idea, but for some reason it puts off people in the most populous states of California and New York. (and people will weigh up the added cost and time getting to the Resort from the nearest airport, which is also referred to as the most expensive in America - higher fees mean it costs more to fly in or out of there)

(I haven't read comments on the global fansites yet, as I'm still investigating things from my end... and try to get a reservation.)

I'll try ringing up the Resort again in a few hours when it is dawn over there... and will book a room at the Hilton or Country Inn as backup.


If I go, I will probably try to get in there on Monday 15th and check out the two department stores before other fans start arriving... then spend the entire day in Downtown Chicago on Tuesday sightseeing/exploring (it will be 12 years since I was there last... and I can look for Movie locations used in TF3 & TF4), before the Convention activities begin on the Wednesday.
I also want to do something else before I get to Chicago... so might spend 2-3 days somewhere on the way, which could allow me to arrive early on the Monday and get to the stores first.

[griffin]

For those wanting more info about the Pheasant Run Resort, their website is here.

It doesn't look very big, with its main feature being a golf course, plus a Wellness/day-spa type thing and three pools.
It houses several themed restaurants (the New Orleans one sounds interesting, with All You Can Eat options), plus a couple of live theatres for entertainment.
Wireless Internet throughout the resort seems to be a key marketing element as well. (probably only to hotel guests though, so inconvenient if you have to stay elsewhere)

Their constant usage of the words "near" and "easy access" when referring to Downtown Chicago and O'Hare airport is misleading. They note that it is "less than an hour" into Chicago.... at 52 minutes in average traffic, I wouldn't be boasting that when they are also using the word "near".

Their FAQ and contacts page for future reference for people.
It also mentions how to get to or from the airport or Downtown Chicago.

[MayzaPrime]

I plan to try to get in on Tuesday, and then check out on Sunday and head into downtown Chicago to stay a few nights with a friend.

If we can and if everyone wants to... I would like to try and organise all of the Aussies to stay in the same spot.

[griffin]

Staying in the same hotel would be nice. With the main Resort selling out, if they don't release more discount rooms, I'm likely to be at the Hilton across the road if it is cheap enough. It sucks that it isn't the adjoining hotel, but this year I was able to work with it, and it was a bigger distance than between these ones.

I'll go look at rates of the other two hotels in a minute, to see what prices they were. (and try to find out how much PR Resort was charging at the BotCon rate, and their normal rate)


I had a thought...
What if FunPub have chosen Chicago for next year, to put off people travelling to Chicago again a couple months later for TFCon. I was actually thinking about going to TFCon next year if BotCon wasn't nearby, but now I don't know if I'd want to go there twice in one year.
And the timing of the announcement is also to compete with TFCon, which is on this weekend from today... so if there is any announcement of a TFCon for 2015, FunPub have snuck in with their announcement to make it look like TFCon are copying them instead of the other way around.

[fatbot]

I'm on my phone so no link, the 3rd is " the loose cannon" Shattered Glass Stepper. An orange repaint of RTS Jazz with black flames down the side & a blue /purple repainted Nightstick as his targetmaster partner

[griffin]

Link to the Youtube reveal.
Shattered Glass Stepper with Nebulon.

The orange reminds me of some Euro Gen1/Gen2 toys, but if the gold colourings work, they will pop out nicely.

So he says that it is a second chance at doing a Mirror Universe Stepper/Ricochet toy, because they ran out of time on the 2008 version (because they do too many toys each year), and so now this Stepper toy is being made out to be Ricochet's brother in the Mirror Universe.

Well that ought to confuse people... who try to follow the technicalities of Transformers, or cares about FunPub toys.
In the existing toy universe of Hasbro/TakaraTomy, Stepper IS Ricochet (like Convoy is Optimus, or Jaguar is Ravage... even TFWiki retconned Stepper into Ricochet so that they were on the one page - - which IMO the character pages should be titled according to their first official name, otherwise they have to keep changing Character pages whenever an existing Japanese character gets a Hasbro version/name years later, but that's sidetracking a little).

But now in the Mirror Universe, they are separate characters, with Ricochet being a maroon toy for BotCon 2008, and Stepper being and orange toy for BotCon 2015.

So does that mean other Hasbro characters that have different Japanese names (like Convoy, Bumble, Jaguar, Lambor) will start showing up in the Mirror Universe as separate characters?

[BigTransformerTrev]

I must admit I'll be putting the shout out for anyone who can be good enough to grab me a Battletrap (giving the screen a pleading, wide-eyed puppy look right now) - the other two dont hold much appeal for me personally

Wonder if this means at some point we will get a redeco of Gen Blitzwing as Flywheels to complete the pair (hope hope hope!)