BotCon 2015 theme and characters

[griffin]

Apparently Pete from BotCon was doing a podcast yesterday, and it seems that he might have accidentally had a few of this year's Convention toys behind him that briefly got into shot.

Now, the screenshot is very blurry, but people are claiming to identify three of the toys...
- a blue GEN DLX Rattrap (likely to be Packrat)
- an olive TFPrime VOY Breakdown (Hound perhaps?)
- and a blue GEN VOY Springer (thought to be Battletrap)


What are your guesses of the toys and characters?

[Hursticon]

Crap!

If the theory about Packrat being one is correct, I'm gonna need to find a way of getting a hold of one of those. >_<

[Firestorm]

packrat eh?
meh. this set doesn't seem to interest me so far. I was considering trying to go to Botcon this year (1st time ever) but money is tight and if that's the kind of set we're getting this year then I'm less stressed about trying to get it. maybe I'll just hold off another year.
speaking of which, how does attending botcon work anyway? I've heard you have to pre-book things months in advance and stuff.

[llamatron]

Just gimme a Flywheels from Blitzwing, pls. And presumably if Battletrap from Springer is in the boxset, Flywheels from BW would be in a Souvenir set.

[griffin]

speaking of which, how does attending botcon work anyway? I've heard you have to pre-book things months in advance and stuff.

(a lot of what is below is pasted from previous BotCon topics, so there might be some duplication... and very lengthy, sorry)

You can pre-register if you want to be able to do "everything" (Wed-Sun) and have the money for it, OR, pay on the day for single-day access which is cheaper but limited to ONLY Saturday and Sunday DAYTIME events.

Pre-registration is something that can be up at any time, as they don't have a set (or even rough) schedule, but most years it has been 3 months before the start of the Convention (best has been just under 4 months, worst has been 1 month). So if this year is like the most common, it would be the end of March.

In regards to pre-booking things in advance...
Most of the main costs will be paid over a period of time so that it doesn't all hit at once.

5-6 months out - book hotel (as soon as it is announced) - if you are definitely going you could consider a pre-paid hotel to get the cost out of the way, otherwise most hotels will charge one night at booking, which is some of the cost covered.
3-5 months out - Airfares & Insurance - as early as you can, usually helps get cheaper fares. (and passport if you don't already have one)
2-3 months out - register (as soon as it is open) & Club Membership if you don't have it (for the BotCon discount).
0-3 months out - book and pre-pay other activities you want to do while over in America, and use this time to save up trip spending money.
0 months - spending on your trip and Convention, then .
After - Accommodation paid on check-out... and any credit card interest if you went a bit too crazy on the trip.


Approximate amounts of the main costs (AU$)
- Return Airfares to America (Los Angeles), $1000-$1500 (sale fare), $2000-$2500 (full Economy).
- Return Airfares within America if not in LA, $300-600 (depending on your package deal with your airline)
- Travel Insurance, $100 (MUST GET TRAVEL INSURANCE WHEN TRAVELLING OVERSEAS)
- Pre-registration, $500-800 (depending on how many add-ons you include)
- Club Membership, $82 (MUST JOIN THE CLUB BEFORE REGISTERING TO BOTCON - it will save you $85, which ends up getting you a free toy & magazines)
- Accommodation, $150-200 per night (if not sharing, and are staying at one of the Botcon hotels)
- At-show toys & merchandise, $300 if buying all 7 toys and t-shirt.
- Additional spending would then include toys, food, transport and entertainment. (give yourself about $50 per day outside the Convention, and then whatever you want to spend in the Dealer Room)
NOTE - sales tax is always extra in America, and in California can be about 8% on purchases, and about 15% on hotels.

*Airfares should be planned out with a Travel Agent as early as possible, and if the seats aren't running out, see if you can wait a couple weeks to see if a sale pops up (if there isn't already a sale on at that time).
*Pre-registration should be booked and paid as soon as it is released by the organisers, as some components can sell out within hours or days.
*Accommodation should be booked straight away (details are on the BotCon website above). NOTE that the Hotel might ask for a deposit now, to screen out all those people that book early but never go, leaving a lot of empty rooms that attendees missed out on (and had to book elsewhere). Check the fine-print to see if the Deposit is refundable if you cancel before a set date. If you do end up going, the rest of your stay is paid when you check-out (but they will usually put a hold on the estimated amount when you check-in).
*MAKE SURE YOUR PASSPORT & VISA WAIVER is valid, with enough time left on them to cover your trip. Go to a Post Office at least a month or two before you leave if you need a Passport, and go to this US Government site if you need a Visa Waiver (it is then valid for 2 years, so keep the details recorded somewhere in case you go back to America within that time). Cost for the Waiver is about US$14. (it was free before Obama became President, raising taxes)
*Plan out your time over there, with some backup plans in case something doesn't work out. Maybe print up some maps to help familiarise yourself with all the places you plan to go (look up their addresses), and where you are staying. Have at least 2 or 3 different money sources to utilise (cash, keycard, credit card, pre-paid cash card, etc), and have contact details with someone who can help you out if you need help (either someone else there, or someone back home that is easy to reach and can send you money if needed).
*Be mindful of any differences in the Laws over there. There wouldn't be anything significant if you are over 21.
*BE AWARE OF TIPPING while in America. A lot of "service" jobs over there require payment of a tip on top of what ever you are buying, as it is part of their wage to survive on. There are different tipping rates (at least 10-15% of the bill, or double the tax amount are two examples), but it is up to you as to how much you give, if at all.
*Have fun and don't stress too much about what could go wrong. If you have Travel Insurance, and your airfares were paid way back when you booked them, you only have to worry about getting back to the airport, to get home.


A recommended list of things to pack on a long-distance trip.

Recommended mapping out of your travel plans.

Previous years meets (for an idea how these things are planned and play out)

2014 and here
2013
2012
2011 details
2010 details
2009 details


BotCon Reports of mine (what to expect there)

2007 - Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, Rhode Island -- June 29 - July 1
2008 - Duke Energy Center, Cincinnati, Ohio -- April 25-27
2009 - Pasadena Conference Center, Pasadena, California -- May 29-31
2010 - Disneyworld Dolphin Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Florida -- June 25-27
2011 - Pasadena Conference Center, Pasadena, California -- June 3-5
2012 - Hyatt Regency, Dallas, Texas -- April 27-29
2013 - Town & Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California -- June 28-30
2014 - Pasadena Conference Center, Pasadena, California -- June 19-22

(or go here for an index of the various events over the years)


There's a lot of reading in all that, but it's a big trip... so either go blind and run off adrenaline (like I did for my first one in 1999), or plan out everything with backup alternatives to limit problems and surprises (like I do now).

[griffin]

Re-posting my stats for previous year's release schedule (to show approximate time-frames for anyone curious about when Registration and Toy Reveals have happened in the past), plus some commentary I posted elsewhere...

Location of Con -- 2007 (Rhode Is), 2008 (Ohio), 2009 (Pasadena), 2010 (Florida), 2011 (Pasadena), 2012 (Texas), 2013 (SanDiego), 2014 (Pasadena).
Convention Friday - 2007 (29 June), 2008 (24 Apr), 2009 (29 May), 2010 (25 June), 2011 (3 June), 2012 (27 April), 2013 (28 June),, 2014 (20 June).

Announce/Hotels -- 2007 (31 Dec), 2008 (28 Nov), 2009 (25 Dec), 2010 (23 Dec), 2011 (26 Jun), 2012 (7 Dec), 2013 (12 Dec), 2014 (25 Dec).
Time to Con Friday - 2007 (6month), 2008 (5month), 2009 (5month), 2010 (6month), 2011 (11m), 2012 (4.66m), 2013 (6.5m), 2014 (6month).
Most often 5-6 months notice, with the exception being BC2011 announced at the previous BotCon, proving that it can be done.

First toy reveal --- 2007 (??????), 2008 (12 Feb), 2009 (25 Feb), 2010 (23 Mar), 2011 (28 Jan), 2012 (2 Feb), 2013 (1 Feb), 2014 (11 Mar).
Time to Con Friday- 2007 (??????), 2008 (2.5m) , 2009 (3month), 2010 (3month), 2011 (3.5m) , 2012 (3.75m), 2013 (5m), 2014 (3.3m).
Usually around 3.5 months prior, but this year we were promised December reveals which would have been a new record of 6 months prior.

Brochure out ------ 2007 (31 Mar), 2008 (27 Jan), 2009 (21 Feb), 2010 (17 Apr), 2011 (20 Mar), 2012 (25 Dec), 2013 (27 Feb), 2014 (23 Apr).
Time to Con Friday- 2007 (3month), 2008 (3month), 2009 (3month), 2010 (2month), 2011 (2.5m) , 2012 (4m), 2013 (4month), 2014 (2month).
Usually 3-4 months prior, with 2010 & 2014 held up due to approvals process.

Registration ------ 2007 (31 Mar), 2008 (31 Jan), 2009 (25 Feb), 2010 (19 May), 2011 (21 Mar), 2012 (6 Jan), 2013 (14 Mar), 2014 (9 May).
Time to Con Friday- 2007 (3month), 2008 (3month), 2009 (3month), 2010 (1month), 2011 (2.5m) , 2012 (3.66m), 2013 (3.5m) , 2014 (1.33m).
Usually 3 months prior, which would suggest March this year if they didn't already promise end of January.
(January would be great, as it would give us 5 months to then plan and pay for travel, especially us long distance fans who can't be as flexible at the last minute when we have to wait until Registration to know what days we need to be there.)

The matter of inconsistency is something I'm not complaining about, and actually accept, due to them wanting to be licensed (which ties their hands and slows up the process, a necessary evil that the fan-run conventions don't have to deal with).
My point is that for this year's BotCon, FunPub assured us twice in the space of two weeks that Toy Reveals and Registration would start either December or January.

- Start of December for people getting #60 Club Magazine, the Toy reveals and Registration are coming soon/December, saying "We will have your first look at the BotCon 2015 figures in December, so stay tuned to BotCon.com for all the details. Also, registration for BotCon will be starting soon."
- December 12th we then get an email from FunPub saying that the announcement of Registration would be January 1st, saying, "In addition, we anticipate that the BotCon registration will go online around the end of January so watch for the set announcements coming at the first of the year."

Delays happen, especially when you deal with Hasbro (I have to deal with it often myself, so will never complain about FunPub being held up by Hasbro), so I have no issue on delays that are out of their control... but please communicate updates when you pass a stated deadline or know that you aren't going to fulfil one.

So I'm not complaining about delays or inconsistency (as it can be seen that I keep going to BotCon despite the mystery of the schedule each year)... I was just hoping that we'd get an update with some new target dates, now that we have missed the dates they already promised to us in the Magazine and Email.

[liegeprime]

Crap!

If the theory about Packrat being one is correct, I'm gonna need to find a way of getting a hold of one of those. >_<

keep an eye on BBTS for a preorder... otherwise keep the other eye on Chimungmung as they've been able to get their own share of exclusive figs as well - I got some from them (Eject and Rewind, Brainstorm)

[griffin]

Apparently Pete from BotCon was doing a podcast yesterday, and it seems that he might have accidentally had a few of this year's Convention toys behind him that briefly got into shot.

Now, the screenshot is very blurry, but people are claiming to identify three of the toys...
- a blue GEN DLX Rattrap (likely to be Packrat)
- an olive TFPrime VOY Breakdown (Hound perhaps?)
- and a blue GEN VOY Springer (thought to be Battletrap)


What are your guesses of the toys and characters?

Another close-up of the screen-shot with outlines to identify another two...
- a blue Classics Bumblebee (Glyph perhaps)
- a red Classics Jazz (almost as frequent as the Seeker mould)

Some people are certainly better with identifying toys from blurry images.

I wonder if that might end up being the boxset five.

[griffin]

I actually played the youtube video of the Podcast while updating the Battery Listing and our TFs Checklist... and Pete's answering questions for the first 59 minutes.
It's well worth the viewing if you have the time, as there are some hints of things in the works, plus some inside info on the running of FunPub BotCons, as well as a bit about him as a fan and collector.
(a lot of this might be a little off-topic for this news topic, but since some of it relates to this years BotCon, the rest that deals with the Convention and Toys in general, isn't worth breaking off and sticking somewhere else)


About BotCon/Club toys...
Next issue of the Magazine (#61 - out first week February) will reveal the final sample of LioConvoy (with new head).
Mention of Transmetal Fractyl being an idea that keeps popping back up on short-lists, and a Terrorsaur toy (no idea what mould) almost made it in 2006 (the BW year), but hasn't fit in anywhere else yet. Pretty much given up on the proposed Defensor (RID Optimus redeco) toy now.
Possibly more Japanese Gen1 Characters, but doesn't sound like anything definite for a while. He mentions Liokaiser has been floated as an idea (no mention of what could be used though).
More human figure toys like Marissa Fairbourne is already in the pipeline, as they expect it to be successful... and more are then planned after that lot. The ones coming after Marissa are more of the "crossover" type between TFs & GIJoe, that he says should interest GIJoe fans (must be human characters from crossover comics or episodes if they are toys that would appeal to them).
In the past Hasbro didn't want the two "brands" to cross over or join with the other Brand, but now are quite happy with it.
They are getting more and more freedom with Hasbro for the toys, after so many years working with them. At one time they were being asked to reduce the number of toys at each BotCon due to the number of tools/moulds being used, but now are pretty much unrestrained.
As for the Fiction/Comics, they don't really have anything to do with IDW when planning out their stories because they don't interact with the IDW universe... but apparently "might in the future" (so something is in the works, or a plan to at least).
(this has been talked about a couple times before) 2011 was the year that they were initially planning to do a Shattered Glass Beast Wars set/them, then a Classics Stunticons set/theme... which ended up becoming the Animated Stunticons set/theme.
Any chance for a Masterpiece toy for BotCon - it's possible, but it would be expensive... and royalty issues for licensed vehicle toys (a problem they faced when looking into a year with Alternators as BotCon toys). Plus there are limited ideas for the small number of Masterpiece moulds, which Hasbro and TakaraTomy are already milking for the most likely redeco options.
Deluxe and Voyager size classes are their main focus now. At one time they looked at TF-Cybertron Metroplex (Supreme size) as Omega Doom, but for the foreseeable future nothing larger than Voyager.
Gen1 moulds? - Surviving moulds are limited, and the ones that have been getting reissued by Hasbro and TakaraTomy need to make sense as a redeco... or not be so unique for that character to be acceptable as someone else (eg Gnaw and Highbrow are mentioned - they are too unique to pass off as a different character). Plus there's the extra cost issue with many having diecast parts.
Gen2 redecos of 2015 Combiners - it is assumed that Hasbro would eventually do them, and if they don't, he isn't too keen to keep doing Gen2 redecos. (would rather make them different characters with new heads to go with them)


About the Convention (past and present)...
Got into doing BotCon from the Transmasters Club (in the letters page of Issue 79 Marvel US comic), coming into contact with Jon and Karl Hartman from that. Meeting up in 1993 at some other show, they tell Pete about the planned TFs convention in 1994.
In 1997 he was asked to join Jon, Karl and Glen Hallit to put on the BotCon that year (originally planned for Cincinnati), but declined, beyond early discussions and planning (including him tracking down Peter Cullen).
Has been at every BotCon. Was a registered dealer until 2008, which he had to give up because he was then employed full-time by FunPub.
In 2005 when FunPub got the license, him and other people were signed on by Hasbro to basically guide and help Brian with a Toyline he knew nothing about. He was the Transformers Fan who did more and more work for them each year, to the point of being contracted and then made a full-time employee in April 2008.
2009 was a crazy-busy Convention, due to the new Movie and Animated promotions at that time, giving them their largest crowd of walk-ins. It was also one of his favourite BotCons, for the Paramount Party.
BotCon is NOT likely to ever be merged with the JoeCon. The idea was put to the fans some time ago, and at this time it is not necessary, so won't be forced to happen. (realistically, if the GIJoe franchise continues to dry up, it will eventually be logistically and economically necessary to piggyback on the Transformers convention... but that would be some years away)
How they chose locations & hotels - Hotels actually put bids in (I guess after solicitations for bids are mailed out), and comes down to the minimum space available, the required dates, and the cost per night.
Will there be a Shuttle Bus for BotCon 2015 (because it is 45 minutes from O'hare airport) - something they have recently talked about, so will aim to have something worked out and announced.
Registration for BotCon 2015 - was aimed for end of January, but will now be later... after JoeCon registration starts (which is supposed to be soon). So it's now back to being an unknown, undetermined date. Registration is actually being held up by the Toys... they haven't got the final samples yet, and their preferred schedule is to reveal the toys (and Brochure) before Registration begins.
What to expect at this year's BotCon - wait and see, but this year is "more ambitious"... which says something, after last year's Scorponok was already ambitious.
The future of BotCon - no plans to have two in a year like Transcon, as a way to cover both sides of the country each year.


About him...
Collects mostly Transformers, with a tiny amount of other toys, including a number of other 80s properties.
First toy was Sideswipe in 1984, from his father.
A fan of Actionmasters, would love to see more of them one day... suggesting that if the moulds are lost, it shouldn't take much to engineer one as a template. Would love to do all the Seekers from AM Starscream, including the Coneheads with new heads... then (jokingly, maybe) Shattered Glass Actionmasters.
And if you want to bribe him into doing a particular toy as a future exclusive, apparently he likes Cookies & Cream icecream.


At about the 24 minute mark he finds out that his webcam is showing more than he thought (he would only see the three little squares at the bottom of the screen of each person, which is cropped by about 50%)... so moves the camera so that it doesn't show the BotCon toys, which is too late now.
(unless he's a good actor, it looks like a legit error that has indeed revealed this year's boxset)