Editing BotCon 1997

[[Image:BC97shirt.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Transformers...The Convention!]]

'''BotCon 1997''' was held on July 18-20, 1997 in Rochester, New York. It was the first convention organized by [[3H Productions]].  


:''Preceded by: [[BotCon 1996]]''
:''Followed by: [[BotCon 1998]]''

==Merchandise==
[[Image:BC97toy.jpg|right|200px|thumb|This awesome packaging is 2/3 the cost of this set but who cares? It's awesome!]]

===Convention exclusive toys===
*[[Predacon (BW)|Predacon]] Geochemist '''[[Fractyl]]''' in [[Energon Armor]] - A [[redeco]] of "basic" [[Terrorsaur (BW)|Terrorsaur]].

*[[Maximal]] Thief '''[[Packrat]]''' in [[Energon Armor]] - A redeco of "basic" [[Rattrap]].

The two were only sold as a set, although numbers released for the figures confusingly state that there were 600 Packrats and 570 Fractyls produced.
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[[Image:BC97mural.jpg|right|150px|thumb|Simon and Andrew stayed up all night signing these just for you.]]
===Comics and art===

*'''[[Ground Zero]]''' - standalone comic story included with Fractyl/Packrat.

*'''BotCon 1997 Mural Print''' - a print featuring Fractyl and Packrat's back-of-package mural art.{{fact}}

===Miscellaneous===
* [['Til All Are One (CD)|'Til All Are One]] 2-disk CD set.
* Convention T-shirt.
* Namebadge.
* Program guide.
[[Image:BC97decoy.jpg|left|100px|thumb|Dave stayed up ''many'' nights painting these just for you.]]

Additionally, the first 100 attendees who paid for the pre-convention dinner were given a [[Decoy]] hand-painted by Dave Van Domelen, a wooden stand with an engraved plaque, and a laminated copy of a storyboard panel from ''[[The Transformers: The Movie]]''. However, 3H continued to take seating reservations after announcing that there were no more dinner exclusives left.

==Guests==
===Voice actors===
*[[Peter Cullen]]
*[[David Kaye]]
*[[Venus Terzo]]

===Hasbro employees===
*[[Dawn Berryman]], marketing
*[[George Boznos]], designer
*[[Jerry Palmer]], engineer

===Beast Wars Story Editor===
*[[Bob Forward]]

===Marvel Comics===
*[[Simon Furman]]
*[[Andrew Wildman]]

===Music===
*[[Stan Bush]]
*[[Vince DiCola]]

==Events==
===Friday===
*Dinner/Opening Ceremonies

===Saturday===
*Peter Cullen panel

*Bob Forward panel

*Simon Furman/Andrew Wildman panel

*Stan Bush/Vince DiCola concert (evening event)

===Sunday===
*Beast Wars Video Game Presentation

*Beast Wars Voice Actor Panel

*Stan Bush/Vince DiCola Panel

*Hasbro Presentation

*[[MSTF]]

*Quiz show

*Charity auction

*Convention Organizers' Panel/closing ceremonies

==Trivia==
* According to a magazine advertisement for the convention, story editor [[Larry DiTillio]], Hasbro representatives [[Vinnie D'Alleva]] and [[Todd Wise]], and voice actors [[Susan Blu]], [[Garry Chalk]], [[Frank Welker]] were originally scheduled to attend. None of them ended up making the convention, but Welker sent an audiotaped message to the attending fans.

*The same advertisement put the convention in Kendallville, Indiana rather than Rochester, New York.

* Until he was invited to BotCon 1997, Simon Furman was unaware there ''was'' a Transformers fandom! As a result, he allowed himself to forget everything he'd done and was unprepared for an in-depth Q&amp;A session: "I was floundering, and often had to resort to a lame ‘sorry, I don’t remember.’ It was a nightmare... I made damn sure that by the time the 1998 Botcon rolled around I’d re-read/revisited practically everything I’d ever written."[http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?t=5032]
* This year marked the first time a professional comic artist was commissioned to provide original promotional art for Botcon as well as the publishing of an exclusive comic. Both would continue to remain staples of BotCon from here on.

==External links==
[http://www.botcon.com/archive/1997/index.html BotCon 1997 in the BotCon archives]

==See also==
[[BotCon]]

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[[Category:Conventions]]