Editing BotCon 2006

[[Image:Bigfist.jpg|right|thumb|300px|In honor of [[Michael Bay|Michael Bay's]] "Giant ****ing Robots are Coming" initiative, a Giant ****ing Robot Fist was present at BotCon 2006.]]

'''[[BotCon]] 2006''' was the Official Transformers Convention in 2006, run by [[Fun Publications]]. It was held in Lexington, Kentucky from September 28 to October 1st, though only the last two days were open to the general public.

==Merchandise==
Vast quantities of [[exclusive]] merchandise was debuted at BotCon 2006, in addition to "exclusive" merchandise from previous Transformers conventions and FunPub-run GI Joe conventions.

===Convention-exclusive toys===
*'''Convention Box Set''' - This set of five toys was only available to those who registered for either  the 'Primus Package' or the non-attendee 'Iacon Package.' The set also included a badge, the Convention Comic, and five [[redeco]]ed [[Planet X]] [[Cyber Planet Key|Cyber Planet Keys]] made to look like the [[Golden Disk]].

:*'''[[Rattrap|Axalon Rattrap]]''' - An orange, silver, bronze and black redeco of [[Ransack (Cybertron)|Ransack]].

:*'''[[Rhinox (BW)|Axalon Rhinox]]''' - A green, brown, gold, and black redeco of [[Cybertron]] [[Landmine (Energon)|Landmine]].

:*'''[[Cheetor (BW)|Axalon Cheetor]]''' - A yellow and teal remold of [[Clocker (Cybertron)|Clocker]] with cheetah-print seat covers and a new head sculpt.

:*'''[[Dinobot (BW)|Darksyde Dinobot]]''' - A grey, black, brown, and blue redeco of [[Longrack (Cybertron)|Longrack]] with [[Hoist (Armada)|Hoist's]] head.

:*'''[[Optimus Primal|Axalon Optimus Primal]]''' - A black, white, red, and blue remold of [[Crumplezone (Cybertron)|Crumplezone]] with a new head sculpt.

*'''Attendee-Only Bonus Toy''' - [[Tigatron|Unit 2/(Tigatron)]], a white and teal version of the Cheetor exclusive toy with tiger-stripe seat covers, was provided as a bonus to those who picked up their 'Primus Package' box set in person.

*'''Convention Souvenir 2-Packs''' - Two sets of two bagged toys, limited to 500 of each set.

:*'''[[Megatron (BW)|Darksyde Megatron]] and [[Waspinator|Darksyde Waspinator]]''' - A purple and black remold of [[Red Alert (Armada)|Cybertron Defense Red Alert]] with a new head and a green and yellow redeco of [[Skywarp|Machine Wars Skywarp]].

:*'''[[Laserbeak (G1)|Laserbeak]] and [[Buzzsaw (G1)|Buzzsaw]]''' - Red and orange redecos of [[Divebomb (Energon)|Divebomb]] with clear-purple [[energon weapon]]s.

===Comics===
*'''Convention Comic: ''Dawn of Futures Past''''' - A prequel comic to ''[[Beast Wars]]''.

*'''[[Spotlight Issue 2-Nightbeat|IDW Preview Comic: ''Transformers: Spotlight - Nightbeat'']]''' - A preview of the second issue of the [[IDW]] [[Spotlight]] series, with no ads, a sketch variant cover, the two normal covers included inside at full size, and a preview of the movie adaptation comic at the back of the book.

Free copies of the then-current issue of [[Master Collector]] and small teaser posters for the [[Transformers (2007)|Transformers movie]] were also distributed for free near the entrance to the dealer room. Both pre-registrants and walk-in attendees recieved these.

==Guests==
===Hasbro employees===
Along with standbys [[Aaron Archer]] and [[Eric Siebenaler]] of the design team, [[Forest Lee]] (writer of the biographical information for the large majority of the ''[[Cybertron (franchise)|Cybertron]]'' line) was in attendance, as were a number of Hasbro marketing and administrative persons, such as [[Greg Lombardo]].

===Voice actors===
BotCon regular, veteran voice actor, and all-around-crazy-guy [[Scott McNeil]] was once again in attendance at the convention. Fellow ''Beast Wars'' voice actors [[Richard Newman]], [[Blu Mankuma]] and [[Pauline Newstone]] attended for their first BotCon.

Last, but most certainly not least, was [[Peter Cullen]], voice of [[Optimus Prime (G1)|Optimus Prime]] both in the [[Generation 1|G1 Cartoon]] and the upcoming film.

===Comics and art===
[[Chris Ryall]] and [[Dan Taylor]] attended to represent [[IDW Comics]]. [[Simon Furman]], writer of a vast portion of the ''Transformers'' mythos, was also present to discuss his past projects as well as his current projects with IDW.

A majority of the artists who were currently working on Transformers art in an official capacity, including [[Don Figueroa]], [[Alex Milne]], [[Dan Khanna]], [[Jake Isenberg]], [[Drew Eiden]], and [[Marcelo Matere]] were in attendance as well.

==Events==
FunPub scheduled a large number of events to take place over the course of the convention to keep attendees entertained and informed.

===Wednesday and Thursday===
Wednesday and Thursday were the slowest days of the convention, primarily for the benefit of preregistrants. However, there were a few panels on those days, including the classic "MSTF" spoofing of Transformers episodes on Thursday night and a Transformer customization seminar on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. (The customization panel cost extra, but the attendees got a badly-painted [[Scrapmetal (Cybertron)|Scrapmetal]] out of it with the option of giving it the [[Cobybot]] head.)

===Friday===
Friday was the first day the convention began in earnest, though it was open to preregistrants only.

Major events included...

*A voice actor panel with Blu Mankuma, Scott McNeil, Richard Newman, and Pauline Newstone.

*A panel with the Hasbro design team, where the design process was explained and the shelved design sketches of [[Classics (2006)|Classics]] [[Cosmos (G1)]] were shown.

*A panel with Simon Furman.

*Autograph sessions with the ''Beast Wars'' voice actors.

*A midnight screening of the then-newly remastered Sony 20th Anniversary edition of ''[[The Transformers: The Movie (1986)|The Transformers: The Movie]]''.

*The first round of "Fandom Feud," a trivia competition whose rules bore no resemblance to Family Feud whatsoever.

In addition, the dealer room was open from 2PM to 5PM.

===Saturday===
Saturday was the first day in which walk-in attendees were allowed.

Major events included...

*A panel on cartoon creation with [[David McDermott]] and Aaron Archer.

*A panel on the Collectors' Club newsletter hosted by [[Pete Sinclair]].

*Autograph sessions with Peter Cullen, as well as the ''Beast Wars'' actors.

*The Hasbro New Product Unveiling, the major panel of the year. Attendance was standing-room-only for walk-ins. The majority of the Classics line was shown, as well as a preview of the special features for the Sony TFTM DVD, and a "sizzle reel" for the 2007 Transformers movie. It was during this panel that the design team professed that they were huge fans of the Cincinnati Bengals.

*Another Voice Actor panel.

*A roundtable on the Transformers Club run by [[Brian Savage]].

*A Q&A panel featuring Peter Cullen.

*The annual dinner.

===Sunday===
Sunday was the day when the show wound down. Most of the panels were repeats, and the dealer room opened late and closed early, but most attendees still managed to enjoy themselves.

Major events included...

*More autograph time with the Beast Wars voice actors.

*The final round of Faction Feud.

*A panel with the IDW comic creators.

*A repeat of the Simon Furman panel.

[[Category: Conventions]]<div id="wikia-credits"><br /><br /><small>From [http://transformers.wikia.com Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki], a [http://www.wikia.com Wikia] wiki.</small></div>