BotCon 2022 announced - AUG 25-28

[griffin]

After a false start last year with Covid cancelling their first attempt at returning as an independent unofficial convention, the new owners of the BotCon trademark have announced a convention for August this year, from the 25 to 28... in Nashville Tennessee.
(I totally missed this announcement on December 31st, because it didn't show up on the main places I browse the net, so I have had to do a fair bit of research this week to catch up.)

They made the announcements through facebook and their website has been updated, which includes links to the hotel for bookings.

BotCon 2022 - Nashville, Tennessee August 25-28


The BotCon 2022 hotel block is now LIVE!

BotCon returns next summer, and what better way to relaunch this legendary show than by hosting the convention at the brand new Embassy Suites in downtown Nashville, TN. This trendsetting space opens its doors in 2022 and will be the largest Embassy Suites in the United States!


* Every room available is a spacious suite featuring kitchen area, dining space, front room for entertaining, and floor to ceiling windows for an amazing view of the city.

* FREE daily made to order breakfast for all guests.

* Complimentary two-hour reception for guests each night featuring appetizers, drinks, and adult beverages.

* Level 30 Rooftop Pool & Lounge overlooking downtown Nashville.

* Multiple bars & restaurants on site.

* One block away from Nashville's amazing Entertainment District.

* Only eight miles from Nashville International Airport.

Keeping with tradition, BotCon 2022 is a destination convention. A place to take family and friends to meet other fellow fans, and to explore all the sights and sounds of this world class city.


Be sure to check out all the info on the hotel and local attractions. If you think this is all pretty exciting, just wait until you see everything else we have planned for the show.

Do not miss the return of the worlds first and largest convention featuring everyone’s favorite robots. BotCon 2022, presented by the awesome crew at Agabyss.

Agabyss is the online store business that is the new owner of the BotCon trademark.
The hotel is very expensive, but apparently in a part of the city that doesn't have any other nearby cheaper options.
The normal nightly rate is said to be about us$400, but the discounted BotCon rate is about us$250... which is over au$360 per night!!! Including taxes, the four nights would cost over au$1600!
Plus, if you were parking at the hotel, it is an extra us$45 as a one-off parking fee.
The rooms are supposed to be all extra large (to fit 6-8 people), and has a number of included extras, but with most people going to these toy conventions often going on their own, there are no cheaper, smaller room options (even if you were able to find people to share with, you cram into a cheap room and spend most of your day out of it, and most of the day asleep). It seems that the point of this particular hotel is to be high-end and expensive, which isn't something a toy fan like me is wanting to splash out on, as the room will hardly be used when awake, and the priority of the budget is on buying toys.
So that's a lot for an event, before you even pay for the event or flights or buy anything at the event... an event that may yet prove to be on the small side if it doesn't attract too many sellers and attendees, because it is a new event without any Hasbro backing or toys. As it is, the location is very obscure for access to too many guests, unlike the events held in California, which is the home/workplace of most actors and voice actors we would see at Transformers conventions. (just look at the long rollcall of guests at the TFCon event in March, just because it is in California)

Where Nashville is located in America...


The location of the hotel, which is supposed to be "downtown"...


And the satellite view showing a lot of empty space taken up by carparks (notice that it is next to a building that has a roof shaped like a guitar (without the neck).


Just note, if you are thinking of going and try to look up the hotel without going through the BotCon links, this is the third Embassy Suites hotel in Nashville, and being owned by Hilton, there is also at least one more Hilton hotel as well. On this map the two red Xs are the other two Embassy Suites hotels.


By the way, this particular hotel being used for BotCon this year... hasn't been completely constructed yet. It is supposed to be ready in time for June, as their website is taking bookings from then (but doesn't note that it is not currently available). Apparently it was meant to be completed for January, but I guess with covid delays with construction, the opening is 6 months late. Wouldn't it be ironic if another covid variant surge delayed the completion again, preventing BotCon from happening... they probably shouldn't have had the convention on so close to its opening.
This was an image from google maps street-view from January 2021 (a year ago).


And just 4 years before that (FEB 2017) that entire area was just a carpark (with another building under construction that will be on the far side of the hotel). Even the big building on the left side of the image above was still just starting to be built... making this whole intersection completely transformed to the locals in just 5 years.


It will be interesting to see who and what they announce over the next 6 months.
(I might have gone if covid wasn't a thing.... but it is just too much hassle and cost for something that may not amount to much, because the main things I would go for are not likely to be there.)

[griffin]

The first guest has been announced - Michael Mcconnohie (Gen1 voice actor for Tracks and Cosmos).

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Just having a quick check for flights alone and that's somewhat expensive. Not too sure I'd be willing to bother, especially since without Hasbro backing, it is essentially just another 3rd party fan convention, something like TFcon would be more likely to grab my attention.
Plus those room, sheesh, they're pricey! bUt they sound like a small house, since they have an attached kitchen, dining and lounge area. If you were to work with some pals or taking your family along and share the cost it would be ok. But it seems somewhat excessive and not to my tastes.

[griffin]

Yeah, way too expensive, just to stay there. If you are hiring a car to use while over there, the room rate and parking fee (and tax), would be about us$500 per night... that's almost au$700 per night. Just one night there is almost the total accommodation cost for some of my years at BotCon.
The thing that this new mob seem to have forgotten, is that most attendees are wanting to be able to spend money in the dealer room, but just like FunPub (who had people spending several hundred dollars on the dozen BotCon toys), it reduces your total spending budget at the event, which the dealers wouldn't be too happy about, as they are spending a lot of money on their registrations, but have customers who have a thousand odd dollars less to spend.
And the hotels in that area are just as expensive, meaning that a cheaper hotel could be some distance away, which would be inconvenient for any evening events or early morning events.

At least the covid restrictions between the two countries are now relaxed... but I would be surprised if anyone here goes, as this is BotCon in name only, and is unlikely to have much going for it to look or feel like a previous BotCon. I think they will have limited number of guests and dealers in the dealer room, and will have some weird non-Transformers toys that would be similar to 3rd Party toys... and I would imagine that the new owner of BotCon being a toy dealer won't care too much about 3rd Party toys being at the convention, particularly if Hasbro are not going to be involved with this new convention.

[Bidoofdude]

To an outsider like me, what's the point in having the name BotCon if it's going to be a limited dealer room with no Hasbro affiliation/license for exclusives? I know those exclusives were a terrible ordeal and outrageously expensive at the time (still salty over the impossible to obtain "Rainmaker" set), and there are plenty of other reputable conventions that don't have any Hasbro affiliation, but I would think BotCon's whole thing would be that it's the "big one", the granddaddy of all the TF conventions. To return it pretty much in name only with everything that made it such a big thing and under a prohibitive pricepoint for most fans and fan families is missing the mark- they would have made major bank essentially reviving the event as it was but with more streamlined or improved versions of those old flaws.

Thing is, are there any international conventions that are worth the trek for the average Aussie fan? The big other ones I've heard of are Auto Assembly, TFCon and TFNation, but it seems like an extraordinary amount of planning, if it's even financially viable, and a large travel and length of stay burden for a lot of them.

[KELPIE]

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.

[DELTAprime]

I know those exclusives were a terrible ordeal and outrageously expensive at the time (still salty over the impossible to obtain "Rainmaker" set)

I'm all for there being no "Botcon exclusive" figures from Hasbro. As terrible as it is now with limited production run figures like the Centurian Drone and the ER Coneheads, at least it's a better situation than having figures exclusive to a show most fans can never attend.

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

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.

Yeah, I was thinking along these lines as well.
When Botcon was Funpubbed and "official" I had some determination to go to one, but as time cranked on, I slowly came to the conclusion, that unless I arranged a trip to America as an overall holiday, it's just not really worth the effort.
And because Botcon would often be around mid-year (broadly speaking),a lot of Comic-con things would steal Botcon's thunder.

Oh, I might have to look into the Tokyo To Show actually, wonder if it's on this year.
*edit* Yes it is. But Business only.
Thinks about making up some dodgy business card...

[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.