BotCon 2022 announced - AUG 25-28

[griffin]

Well to be fair, Botcon didn't start out as officially affiliated to Hasbro. So technically they are just returning to their roots.

There was probably a non-compete clause when Hasbro decided to do their own thing which I would assume has expired now, allowing them to pick up the pieces and try and get back to doing what they love. There's a fair bit of good will in the Botcon name, so it would be silly not to use it.

I still claim that Kentucky was the best Botcon.

To answer your question about an Australian going to something... You'd probably be better saving up and just going to something like San Diego or NY Comic-Con. The way the TF specific cons are structured I wouldn't suggest its worth the money any more unless you've made friends in the hobby that you want to catch up with.

Even though BotCon didn't become "official" until 2003, they were supported and endorsed by Hasbro from the beginning in 1994, producing exclusives and presenting panels & displays each year (except in 2004, as there was a (paid) licensed convention at the time, and Hasbro couldn't be seen to be involved in that year's BotCon).

The BotCon name is still iconic, and if Hasbro had the sense to see the value of a proper fan-run convention by working with the new BotCon people, it would draw in a lot of people (Hasbro interaction and reveals are the bigger drawcard), there is still value in the BotCon name... as a Convention, not as a brand for hocking merchandise as the new owner is doing. As one of the biggest fans of BotCon, I have no interest in buying "BotCon" merchandise that isn't "Transformers" merchandise (because they don't have licensing to do that), and doesn't have anything to do with an actual convention event, as I buy the BotCon branded items (like t-shirts) because it is a keepsake of living the event.
I know that they have had some novelty items that have proven popular over the years, but usually they have something Transformers related on the item as well.

If an Australian fan wanted to go to a Transformers convention in the next year or so, the biggest one that is exclusively Transformers would be the TFCon that they have on the West Coast or Los Angeles, as it will have the most Transformers guests (the drawback for purists though is that TFCon is mostly funded by 3rd party producers, so it is very much a "3rd party convention with Transformers guests"). Otherwise, for a convention that isn't exclusively Transformers, the SDCC is indeed one that is very popular... which can make it very difficult to get into, and expensive.

[griffin]

This kinda says it about the scope of this new event... the second BotCon guest to be announced is someone so obscure that I didn't even know who it was (probably more because I haven't seen the Netflix cartoon, so didn't know that she was even in it) - Jeanne Carr - voice of Predacon Blackarachnia in the Netflix Kingdom cartoon.

[griffin]

All of the guests might have been announced now, and there aren't a lot.
Then again, it could be quality over quantity...

Frank Welker - various voices (he is noted as a VIP guest, so he might not be accessible to people who don't pay for a VIP registration)
Simon Furman - writer
Bob Budiansky - writer
Michael Mcconnohie - voice of Gen1 Tracks & Cosmos
Jeanne Carr - voice of Netflix Blackarachnia
Melodee Spevack - non-Transformers roles (this version of BotCon is emphasising that they are a "all robot convention" so we could see more non-TFs guests)

Exclusives. (note - the website is very slow to be updated, as all four have been revealed on social media, but only two are on their website so far)
Just because they aren't partnered or supported by Hasbro, they still wanted to have toy exclusives... without resorting to unauthorised "3rd party" toys that would prevent Hasbro from having anything to do with them in the future.
So this year they have four toys that are being produced by a toy company called 52 toys, that does convertible cubes (called BeastBox and MegaBox), transforming into animals or licensed characters.
The BotCon people are saying that their exclusive redecos of four of the Megabox/BeastBox toys, homaging Transformers characters... but they aren't obvious. Again, they are probably making sure that they don't do anything obvious to upset Hasbro, because even if it is a non-Transformers mould, if it looks identical to the colours of a Transformers toy with that same beast mode, it wouldn't look good.
The toys - a white alligator (no idea what it homages), a black/purple dragon (again, no idea), an orange tiger (BW Tigatron's prototype colours), white/blue/green kangaroo (homage to Shattered Glass Soundwave).


Registration was opened up today, and about 12 hours later, they had sold out of one of the two custom classes. (25 places per class - currently 9 spots left)
It looks like guest autographs are an additional cost with this new mob, as the registration packs include autograph vouchers.
Kids 12 and under are free, while additional passes for family members that don't get any of the extras are us$90 each.

Custom Class - us$99
VIP ticket - us$495
Premium ticket - us$295
Regular ticket - (not yet up)
"Discounted" extra boxset (can be purchased with a Premium or VIP ticket) - us$245 (how is that discounted, as it is just four small toys, and the Premium ticket is just $50 extra for a lot of extras for the 3-day event)

The regular ticket:

• 3 Day pass for Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the show.
• Name Badge/Lanyard.
• All Pre-Registrants receive Agabucks (same as cash) towards the purchase of anything on the website!
• Discounted ticket pricing compared to general admission/door pricing.
• Access to ALL Botcon guest panels and guest autograph.

The Premium ticket:
Premium registrant ticket packages will include:

• Limited 4-Figure Exclusive Botcon 2022 Convention 52Toys BEASTBOX Set with Pin.
• FREE Bonus 52Toys BEASTBOX figure (Limited Edition, will NEVER be sold elsewhere ($50 value).
• Friday Preview day Early Access ($55 value)
• Sat/Sun Entry ($65 value)
• Thursday Night Early Access to The BotCon Store.
• Includes 2 autographs from participating guests.
• Convention Comic Program
• Ability to purchase an extra Botcon 52Toys box set now at a discounted price (see dropdown box below). These must be picked up at the show and WILL NOT be shipped.

Also included is the standard ticket package, which includes:

• Name Badge/Lanyard.
• All Pre-Registrants receive Agabucks (same as cash) towards the purchase of anything on the website!
• Discounted ticket pricing compared to general admission/door pricing.
• Access to ALL Botcon guest panels and guest autograph.

The VIP ticket:
VIP registrant ticket packages will include:

• Original Exclusive Botcon 2022 print designed by legendary artist Bob Budiansky!
• FRANK WELKER professional photo op with VIP access ($60 value) -provided as a digital print.
• Limited edition FRANK WELKER character canvas print.
• Autograph Voucher (Good for one autograph from FRANK WELKER (with VIP access) and ALL participating guests, a minimum $185 value).
• VIP branded Lanyard

The VIP package also includes all Premium package contents:

• Limited 4-Figure Exclusive Botcon 2022 Convention 52Toys BEASTBOX Set with Pin.
• FREE Bonus 52Toys BEASTBOX figure (Limited Edition, will NEVER be sold elsewhere ($50 value).
• Friday Preview day Early Access ($55 value)
• Sat/Sun Entry ($65 value)
• Thursday Night Early Access to The BotCon Store.
• Convention Comic Program
• Ability to purchase an extra Botcon 52Toys box set now at a discounted price (see dropdown box below). These must be picked up at the show and WILL NOT be shipped.

Also included is the standard ticket package, which includes:

• Day passes for Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the show.
• Name Badge/Lanyard.
• All Pre-Registrants receive Agabucks (same as cash) towards the purchase of anything on the website!
• Discounted ticket pricing compared to general admission/door pricing.
• Access to ALL Botcon guest panels and guest autograph.

All registrations in the first day (to midnight of June 5th in their timezone) gets a bonus early-bird pin.

[KELPIE]

Furman and Budiansky at the same convention is a great outcome and obviously Welker is always good value.

52 toys do good stuff, I have a few of their cubes. I imagine news on their dealer floor will be important to this one.

All that said, too much money in a difficult climate for this one. Good luck to them though.

[griffin]

I am thinking that the dragon is probably coloured to homage Snapdragon. And the white alligator is homaging a proposed/unproduced toy for a 1997 Transformers convention (a white redeco of the BW alligator Megatron toy).

The promo material says that the orange tiger is an "unused 90’s color scheme", which isn't true as of the end of last year, with the Golden Disk Tigatron - so even if this toy and promo material were planned before that, they have had 6-9 months to change the wording.
(the wording in the toy reveals goes to great lengths to avoid any Transformers names, terms, or concepts when describing each figure, except the one that is homaging Shattered Glass Soundwave)


Things are already getting nasty with this new convention.
Not only will TFW refuse to post anything on their news page out of spite over the previous convention organisers (TFW post up news about several other fan conventions - they won't even allow people post new BotCon topics in the news section of their board)... but the people who run the TFCon conventions have registered a BotCon website in Canada to convince people that TFCon is the only fan convention on this year in North America, and goes on about the benefits of TFCon. They also note as a disclaimer at the bottom, that the site is "an information resource only and not intended to infringe on any trademarks." I know that BotCon is a registered trademark in America, so it will be interesting to see if a Canadian hosted website that is marketing events within America, can really be claiming that it is not infringing on any trademarks.
Aside from the trademark issue, I think it is a really low act for one Transformers fan convention to try to undermine another Transformers fan convention. It's not a competition, and the conventions need as much support as they can get to be successful and attract support from Hasbro... which will be harder to do if fans are forced to only attend particular conventions and they all suffer in numbers. It will also mean Hasbro will be more likely to keep their distance from all conventions if they see very public nastiness from any of them.
I was a bit on the fence before with TFCon, willing to ignore their focus on promoting 3rd Party toys over the real things, for the benefit of seeing Transformers guests and feeling the atmosphere of a dedicated Transformers convention... but this side of the people running has me not wanting to support them at all now. The new BotCon people didn't appear to have targetted the TFCon convention with their promotions, and this new BotCon is not going to be anything close to being competition to TFCon, so this attempt at drawing people away from BotCon 2022 was very petty and unnecessary, and gives the fandom a bad image.

[Dkaris]

I have a few Beastbox cubes and love them. The tiger and Dragon look really cool.

[Trent]

I am thinking that the dragon is probably coloured to homage Snapdragon. And the white alligator is homaging a proposed/unproduced toy for a 1997 Transformers convention (a white redeco of the BW alligator Megatron toy).

The promo material says that the orange tiger is an "unused 90’s color scheme", which isn't true as of the end of last year, with the Golden Disk Tigatron - so even if this toy and promo material were planned before that, they have had 6-9 months to change the wording.
(the wording in the toy reveals goes to great lengths to avoid any Transformers names, terms, or concepts when describing each figure, except the one that is homaging Shattered Glass Soundwave)


Things are already getting nasty with this new convention.
Not only will TFW refuse to post anything on their news page out of spite over the previous convention organisers (TFW post up news about several other fan conventions - they won't even allow people post new BotCon topics in the news section of their board)... but the people who run the TFCon conventions have registered a BotCon website in Canada to convince people that TFCon is the only fan convention on this year in North America, and goes on about the benefits of TFCon. They also note as a disclaimer at the bottom, that the site is "an information resource only and not intended to infringe on any trademarks." I know that BotCon is a registered trademark in America, so it will be interesting to see if a Canadian hosted website that is marketing events within America, can really be claiming that it is not infringing on any trademarks.
Aside from the trademark issue, I think it is a really low act for one Transformers fan convention to try to undermine another Transformers fan convention. It's not a competition, and the conventions need as much support as they can get to be successful and attract support from Hasbro... which will be harder to do if fans are forced to only attend particular conventions and they all suffer in numbers. It will also mean Hasbro will be more likely to keep their distance from all conventions if they see very public nastiness from any of them.
I was a bit on the fence before with TFCon, willing to ignore their focus on promoting 3rd Party toys over the real things, for the benefit of seeing Transformers guests and feeling the atmosphere of a dedicated Transformers convention... but this side of the people running has me not wanting to support them at all now. The new BotCon people didn't appear to have targetted the TFCon convention with their promotions, and this new BotCon is not going to be anything close to being competition to TFCon, so this attempt at drawing people away from BotCon 2022 was very petty and unnecessary, and gives the fandom a bad image.

Remember in its last 3 or so years when Botcon officially allied with Siebertron and wouldn’t let TFW post Botcon news? I’d say that considering there are still people involved from previous Botcons in the new one that that would have something to do with TFW’s stance. TFW has always heavily promoted TFCon, but it wasn’t at the expense of Botcon. The Botcon crew were dirty that they weren’t the only show in town. Plus also the ongoing shit fight between Pete Sinclair and anyone on twitter that dares to have an opinion on Botcon is not casting them in a good light.

[KELPIE]

I always understood that TFW had some part of running/owning TFCon?

Seibertron has never played nice in the Fandom. I remember the owner dancing with glee at Archer and the team being replaced.