BotCon 2005: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:43, 19 March 2009

Here's the plan. We get the convention, and we hold the fandom ransom for... one million dollars.

BotCon 2005: Changing Gears was the Official Transformers Convention in 2005, run by Fun Publications. It was held in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Frisco, from September 21st to September 25th, though only the last two days were open to the general public.

The convention was the first to be run by Fun Publications, and thus inaugurated a number of changes. The return of the "BotCon" name, an end-of-the-summer date, larger exclusive sets and higher preregistration costs all marked a break with previous conventions. The scope of the convention expanded as well, with pre-convention tours, special access dealer room "previews" for higher-paying attendees, and an onslaught of activities and panels throughout the weekend. Another new element was having several panels run two times, rather than being one-time-only events.

Preceded by: OTFCC 2004

Followed by: BotCon 2006

Venue

In Dallas, if you're going to cross the street, you're expected to get in a car to do it.

Botcon 2005 was held in Frisco's Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco Hotel and Conference Center. Though posh and accommodating, this center is not located within easy walking distance of anything. Many fans resorted to a quarter mile hike across grass fields and vast parking lots to reach a nearby shopping mall for food.

The center is conveniently close to Dick's Sporting Goods, which may be reached via the Gaylord Parkway, just off Parkwood Avenue. Yeah, somebody didn't think this through very well.

Merchandise

Compared to previous conventions, BotCon 2005 featured vast quantities of exclusive merchandise. Fun Publications also ran their own sales booth, offering a wide range of standard retail Transformer toys.

Convention-exclusive toys

Convention Box Set - This set of seven 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 and the Convention Comic.

Deathsaurus - An blue and black remold of Robots in Disguise Megatron with a new head sculpt.

Buzzclaw and Dirge - Purple, black and yellow redecos (in different schemes for each figure) of Beast Wars Buzzclaw.

Fallback - Brown, tan, and silver redeco of Energon Strongarm, intended as a renamed version of the Generation 1 character Outback.

Ironhide - Red and grey redeco of Energon Tow-Line with a new head sculpt.

Ricochet - A black and red redeco of the Generation 2 Cyberjet Hooligan mold, Ricochet is a new character.

Chromia - White and green redeco of Energon Arcee with a new head sculpt. Chromia was one of the female Autobots from the Generation One cartoon series. However, many fans have pointed out that Chromia's color scheme, headsculpt, and personality profile all resemble Moonracer, a different character entirely. According to convention representatives, they could not secure the Moonracer name, so they simply dubbed the character Chromia instead.

Attendee-Only Bonus Toy - Flamewar - Black redeco of Energon Arcee, given free to pre-registered attendees. Flamewar does not have the new headsculpt found on Chromia and Flareup.

Convention Souvenir 2-Packs - Two sets of two bagged toys.

Flareup an orange redeco of Chromia, and Ratchet a white redeco of the Energon Tow-Line mold with the new Ironhide headsculpt and a new Energon weapon, sold together in a pack limited to 500 packs.

Virulent Clones - A pack of two blue redecos of Beast Wars Buzzclaw, limited to 400 packs.

Legends of Cybertron Ramjet - White and blue repaint of Legends of Cybertron Starscream given away at the Hasbro booth.

Comics

Convention Comic: Descent Into Evil - Taking place at an unspecified time between G1 and Beast Wars.

Guests

Hasbro staff

Greg Lombardo, Director of Marketing
Aaron Archer, Design Director
Eric Siebenaler, Lead Designer

Voice actors

Wally Burr, voice director of the Generation 1 cartoon series and occasional voice actor
Michael Chain, voice of Generation 1 Hoist, Powerglide, Red Alert and Skids
Brian Dobson, voice of Armada/Cybertron Red Alert
Michael Dobson, voice of Armada/Energon/Cybertron Starscream, Energon Signal Flare and Cybertron Brakedown.
Paul Dobson, voice of Beast Machines Tankor and Obsidian, Armada Sideways and Nemesis Prime, Energon Rodimus and Superion Maximus, Cybertron Landmine and Overhaul.

Actor

Colton Dearing, child actor who appeared in the Transformers Cybertron toy commercials

Comics and art

Events

Wednesday

8:30pm: Check-in for Thursday tour

Thursday

7:30am: Tour: Fort Worth - Where the West Begins. This tour began a FunPub tradition of locally-themed pre-convention tours of the various cities where BotCon occurs each year.
6-10pm: Check In/Registration Pick-Up, divided into two shifts.
10:00pm: MSTF presentation

Friday

7:30am-2pm: Dealer setup
8:00am-noon: Contest Entries setup
9-5pm: Walk-up and Late Check In/REigstration
9:00am: So You Wonder how We Do the Voices? - Dobson Brothers panel
10:00am: Transformers Rarities - Rik Alvarez panel
11:00am: Hasbro/Takara Working Together panel
Noon: The Transformers Return to Comic Books - IDW panel. Contest area closes for judging.
1:00pm: You can be the next: Transformers Idol! prelims, with Wally Burr and Pete Sinclair. Courtesy Room opens. No word on what the "Courtesy Room" is.
2:00pm: Sales Room opens for "Private Preview". This is if you spent a whole lotta money. Voice Actor autograph sessions begin.
Hourly door prizes begin.
4:00pm: Contest entries open for viewing. Second round of Voice Actor autographs.
5:00pm: Everything closes. EVERYTHING.
7:00pm: Casino Night Charity Event
10:00pm: Casino Night Charity Auction

Saturday

7:30am: Walk-up Late Check-In/Registration; Dealer Room setup
8:30am: Dealer Room opens for Private Preview. Again, this takes money.
9:00am: "Early Bird" admission. More money! Hourly door prize giveaways resume. Finals for the You Can Be the Next: Transformers Idol! begin.
10:00am: Dealer room opens to the general public, who can come in to view its sad, picked-over corpse now that the fans have had their way with it. Hasbro New Product Unveiling panel begins. Voice actor autograph sessions begin.
11:00am: Costume contest
Noon: The Transformers Return to Comics - IDW panel (repeat).
1:00pm: Transformers G1 Voices - Michael and Wally
2:00pm: Transformers Club Roundtable - Brian Savage
3:00pm: The Making of the TF Animated Movie - Paul Hitchens
4:00pm: Transformers Rarities - Rik Alvarez
5:00pm: EVERYTHING CLOSES. GET OUT.
7:00pm: Awards Dinner and "evening program"

Sunday

9:00am: Dealer set-up
9:30am: Dealer room opens to all
10:00am: So You Wonder how We Do the Voices? - Dobson Brothers panel (repeat)
11:00am: The Making of the TF Animated Movie - Paul Hitchens (repeat); first autograph sessions begin
12:00pm: Designing Transformers - Hasbro Team panel
2:00pm: Transformers G1 Voices - Michael and Wally (repeat)
3:00pm: Drawing to win 2 trips to the 2006 convention.
3:30pm: All exhibits and dealer room close. Hearts are crushed. Now what is there to live for??

Hasbro displays of upcoming toys focused on mid- to late-run Cybertron toys, most notably Primus and Metroplex.

A nearly life-sized Optimus Prime statue greeted guests as they entered the dealer room. A jungle diorama displayed the convention toys in a re-enactment of the "Descent Into Evil" comic.

Notes

BotCon '05 occurred in the weeks following the disastrous arrival of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Given that, many fans were somewhat anxious to find that Hurricane Rita was bearing down on the Texas coast shortly before the convention began. The hurricane's remnants turned east upon landing, however, and the Metroplex got nothing more than a few clouds and a stiff breeze.

<tr>

<span style="font-size:125%;font-weight:900;">You left a piece out!</span><hr /> This article is a stub and is missing information. You can help Transformers Wiki by <span class="plainlinks">expanding it</span>.

</div><small>What's needed: photos. some toys announced at the Hasbro panel.</small> </td></tr></table> </center>

External links

BotCon.com's archive of BotCon 2005

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''[[BotCon]] 2005''' was the Official Transformers Convention in 2005, run by [[Fun Publications]]. It was held in Frisco, Texas from September 21st to 25th, though only the last two days were open to the general public.
+[[Image:Descentintoevil-cover.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Here&#39;s the plan.  We get the convention, and we hold the fandom ransom for...          one million dollars.]]
+'''[[BotCon|BotCon]] 2005: Changing Gears''' was the Official ''[[Transformers brand|Transformers]]'' Convention in 2005, run by [[Fun Publications|Fun Publications]]. It was held in the [[Dallas|Dallas]], Texas suburb of Frisco, from [[September 21|September 21st]] to [[September 25|September 25th]], though only the last two days were open to the general public.
+The convention was the first to be run by Fun Publications, and thus inaugurated a number of changes.  The return of the "BotCon" name, an end-of-the-summer date, larger exclusive sets and higher preregistration costs all marked a break with previous conventions.  The scope of the convention expanded as well, with pre-convention tours, special access dealer room "previews" for higher-paying attendees, and an onslaught of activities and panels throughout the weekend.  Another new element was having several panels run two times, rather than being one-time-only events.
+:''Preceded by: [[OTFCC 2004|OTFCC 2004]]''
+:''Followed by: [[BotCon 2006|BotCon 2006]]''
+==Venue==
+[[Image:Botcon2005-thevastemptyplainsoftexas.jpg|right|200px|thumb|In Dallas, if you&#39;re going to cross the street, you&#39;re expected to get in a car to do it.]]
+Botcon 2005 was held in Frisco's Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco Hotel and Conference Center.  Though posh and accommodating, this center is not located within easy walking distance of ''anything''.  Many fans resorted to a quarter mile hike across grass fields and vast parking lots to reach a nearby shopping mall for food.
+The center is conveniently close to Dick's Sporting Goods, which may be reached via the Gaylord Parkway, just off Parkwood Avenue.  Yeah, somebody didn't think this through very well.
 ==Merchandise==
-Vast quantities of [[exclusive]] merchandise was debuted at BotCon 2005, in addition to "exclusive" merchandise from previous Transformers conventions and FunPub-run GI Joe conventions.
+[[Image:Ratchettoytimelines.jpg|right|200px|thumb|]]
+Compared to previous conventions, BotCon 2005 featured vast quantities of [[Exclusive|exclusive]] merchandise.  Fun Publications also ran their own sales booth, offering a wide range of standard retail Transformer toys.
 ===Convention-exclusive toys===
 *'''Convention Box Set''' - This set of seven 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 and the Convention Comic.
-:*'''[[Deathsaurus]]''' - An blue and black remold of [[Megatron (RiD)|Robots in Disguise Megatron]] with a new head sculpt.
+:*'''[[Deathsaurus|Deathsaurus]]''' - An blue and black remold of [[Megatron (RiD)|''Robots in Disguise'' Megatron]] with a new head sculpt.
-:*'''[[Buzzclaw (Timelines)|Buzzclaw]]''' and '''[[Dirge (Descent into Evil)|Dirge]]''' - Purple, black and yellow redecos (in different schemes for each figure) of '''Beast Wars''' [[Buzzclaw (BW)|Buzzclaw]].
+:*'''[[Buzzclaw (Timelines)|Buzzclaw]]''' and '''[[Dirge (Descent into Evil)|Dirge]]''' - Purple, black and yellow redecos (in different schemes for each figure) of ''Beast Wars'' [[Buzzclaw (BW)|Buzzclaw]].
-:*'''[[Outback|Fallback]]''' - Brown, tan, and silver redeco of [[Strongarm (Energon)|Strongarm]], intended as a renamed version of the G1 character Outback.
-:*'''[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]]''' - Red and grey redeco of '''Energon''' [[Tow-Line (Energon)|Tow-Line]] with a new head sculpt.
+:*'''[[Outback|Fallback]]''' - Brown, tan, and silver redeco of ''Energon'' [[Strongarm (Energon)|Strongarm]], intended as a renamed version of the ''Generation 1'' character Outback.
-:*'''[[Ricochet (Descent into Evil)|Ricochet]]''' - Black and red redeco of the ''Generation 2'' Cyberjet [[Hooligan]] mold, a new character.
-:*'''[[Chromia]]''' - White and green redeco of ''Energon'' [[Arcee (UT)|Arcee]] with a new head sculpt. Chromia was one of the female Autobots from the Generation One series. However, many fans have pointed out that Chromia's color scheme, headsculpt, and personality profile all resemble [[Moonracer (G1)|Moonracer]], a different character entirely. According to convention representatives, they could not secure the Moonracer name, so they simply dubbed the character Chromia instead.
+:*'''[[Ironhide (G1)|Ironhide]]''' - Red and grey redeco of ''Energon'' [[Tow-Line (Energon)|Tow-Line]] with a new head sculpt.
-*'''Attendee-Only Bonus Toy''' - '''[[Flamewar]]''' - Black redeco of ''Energon'' Arcee, given free to pre-registered attendees. Flamewar does not have the new headsculpt found on Chromia and Flareup.
+:*'''[[Ricochet (Descent into Evil)|Ricochet]]''' - A black and red redeco of the ''Generation 2'' Cyberjet [[Hooligan|Hooligan]] mold, Ricochet is a new character.
+:*'''[[Chromia|Chromia]]''' - White and green redeco of ''Energon'' [[Arcee (Energon)|Arcee]] with a new head sculpt. Chromia was one of the female Autobots from the [[Generation 1 (cartoon)|''Generation One'' cartoon series]]. However, many fans have pointed out that Chromia's color scheme, headsculpt, and personality profile all resemble [[Moonracer (G1)|Moonracer]], a different character entirely. According to convention representatives, they could not secure the Moonracer name, so they simply dubbed the character Chromia instead.
+*'''Attendee-Only Bonus Toy''' - '''[[Flamewar|Flamewar]]''' - Black redeco of ''Energon'' Arcee, given free to pre-registered attendees. Flamewar does not have the new headsculpt found on Chromia and Flareup.
 *'''Convention Souvenir 2-Packs''' - Two sets of two bagged toys.
-:*'''[[Flareup]]''' an orange redeco of Chromia, and '''[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]]''' a white redeco of the ''Energon'' Tow-Line mold with the new Ironhide headsculpt and a new Energon weapon, sold together in a pack limited to 500 packs.
-:*'''[[Virulent Clone]]'''s - A pack of two blue redecos of ''Beast Wars'' Buzzclaw, limited to 400 packs.
+:*'''[[Flareup|Flareup]]''' an orange redeco of Chromia, and '''[[Ratchet (G1)|Ratchet]]''' a white redeco of the ''Energon'' Tow-Line mold with the new Ironhide headsculpt and a new Energon weapon, sold together in a pack limited to 500 packs.
+:*'''[[Virulent Clone|Virulent Clone]]'''s - A pack of two blue redecos of ''Beast Wars'' Buzzclaw, limited to 400 packs.
 *'''''Legends of Cybertron'' [[Ramjet (Universe)|Ramjet]]''' - White and blue repaint of Legends of Cybertron Starscream given away at the Hasbro booth.
 ===Comics===
-*'''Convention Comic: ''[[Descent Into Evil]]''''' - Taking place at an unspecified time between G1 and Beast Wars.
+*'''Convention Comic: ''[[Descent Into Evil|Descent Into Evil]]''''' - Taking place at an unspecified time between G1 and Beast Wars.
 ==Guests==
 ===Hasbro staff===
-====Transformers====
+* [[Greg Lombardo|Greg Lombardo]], Director of Marketing
-* [[Greg Lombardo]], Director of Marketing
+* [[Aaron Archer|Aaron Archer]], Design Director
-* [[Aaron Archer]], Design Director
+* [[Eric Siebenaler|Eric Siebenaler]], Lead Designer
-* [[Eric Siebenaler]], Lead Designer
 ===Voice actors===
-* [[Wally Burr]] - Cried.
+* [[Wally Burr|Wally Burr]], voice director of the ''Generation 1'' cartoon series and occasional voice actor
-* [[Michael Chain]]
+* [[Michael Chain|Michael Chain]], voice of ''Generation 1'' [[Hoist (G1)|Hoist]], [[Powerglide|Powerglide]], [[Red Alert (G1)|Red Alert]] and [[Skids (G1)|Skids]]
-* [[Brian Dobson]]
+* [[Brian Dobson|Brian Dobson]], voice of ''[[Armada (franchise)|Armada]]/[[Cybertron (franchise)|Cybertron]]'' [[Red Alert (Armada)|Red Alert]]
-* [[Michael Dobson]]
+* [[Michael Dobson|Michael Dobson]], voice of ''Armada/[[Energon (franchise)|Energon]]/Cybertron'' [[Starscream (Armada)|Starscream]], ''Energon'' [[Signal Flare (Energon)|Signal Flare]] and ''Cybertron'' [[Brakedown (Cybertron)|Brakedown]].
-* [[Paul Dobson]]
+* [[Paul Dobson|Paul Dobson]], voice of ''[[Beast Machines (franchise)|Beast Machines]]'' [[Tankor (BM)|Tankor]] and [[Obsidian (BM)|Obsidian]], ''Armada'' [[Sideways|Sideways]] and [[Nemesis Prime (Armada)|Nemesis Prime]], ''Energon'' [[Rodimus (Energon)|Rodimus]] and [[Superion Maximus|Superion Maximus]], ''Cybertron'' [[Landmine (Energon)|Landmine]] and [[Overhaul (Cybertron)|Overhaul]].
 ===Actor===
-* [[Colton Dearing]]
+* [[Colton Dearing|Colton Dearing]], child actor who appeared in the ''Transformers Cybertron'' toy commercials
 ===Comics and art===
+==Events==
+[[Image:Botcon2005-iamoptimusprime.jpg|right|200px|thumb|]]
+===Wednesday===
+:30pm: Check-in for Thursday tour
-==Events==
+===Thursday===
+* 7:30am: Tour: Fort Worth - Where the West Begins.  This tour began a FunPub tradition of locally-themed pre-convention tours of the various cities where BotCon occurs each year.
+* 6-10pm: Check In/Registration Pick-Up, divided into two shifts.
+* 10:00pm: [[MSTF|MSTF]] presentation
+===Friday===
+* 7:30am-2pm: Dealer setup
+* 8:00am-noon: Contest Entries setup
+* 9-5pm: Walk-up and Late Check In/REigstration
+* 9:00am: So You Wonder how We Do the Voices? - Dobson Brothers panel
+*10:00am: Transformers Rarities - [[Rik Alvarez|Rik Alvarez]] panel
+*11:00am: Hasbro/Takara Working Together panel
+*Noon: The Transformers Return to Comic Books - IDW panel.  Contest area closes for judging.
+*1:00pm: You can be the next: Transformers Idol! prelims, with Wally Burr and Pete Sinclair.  Courtesy Room opens.  No word on what the "Courtesy Room" is.
+*2:00pm: Sales Room opens for "Private Preview".  This is if you spent a whole lotta money.  Voice Actor autograph sessions begin.
+*Hourly door prizes begin.
+*4:00pm: Contest entries open for viewing. Second round of Voice Actor autographs.
+*5:00pm: Everything closes.  EVERYTHING.
+*7:00pm: Casino Night Charity Event
+*10:00pm: Casino Night Charity Auction
+===Saturday===
+* 7:30am: Walk-up Late Check-In/Registration; Dealer Room setup
+* 8:30am: Dealer Room opens for Private Preview.  Again, this takes money.
+* 9:00am: "Early Bird" admission.  More money!  Hourly door prize giveaways resume.  Finals for the You Can Be the Next: Transformers Idol! begin.
+* 10:00am: Dealer room opens to the general public, who can come in to view its sad, picked-over corpse now that the fans have had their way with it.  Hasbro New Product Unveiling panel begins.  Voice actor autograph sessions begin.
+* 11:00am: Costume contest
+* Noon: The Transformers Return to Comics - IDW panel (repeat).
+* 1:00pm: Transformers G1 Voices - Michael and Wally
+* 2:00pm: Transformers Club Roundtable - [[Brian Savage|Brian Savage]]
+* 3:00pm: The Making of the TF Animated Movie - [[Paul Hitchens|Paul Hitchens]]
+* 4:00pm: Transformers Rarities - [[Rik Alvarez|Rik Alvarez]]
+* 5:00pm: EVERYTHING CLOSES.  GET OUT.
+* 7:00pm: Awards Dinner and "evening program"
+===Sunday===
+*9:00am: Dealer set-up
+*9:30am: Dealer room opens to all
+*10:00am: So You Wonder how We Do the Voices? - Dobson Brothers panel (repeat)
+*11:00am: The Making of the TF Animated Movie - [[Paul Hitchens|Paul Hitchens]] (repeat); first autograph sessions begin
+* 12:00pm: Designing Transformers - Hasbro Team panel
+* 2:00pm: Transformers G1 Voices - Michael and Wally (repeat)
+* 3:00pm: Drawing to win 2 trips to the 2006 convention.
+* 3:30pm: All exhibits and dealer room close.  Hearts are crushed.  Now what is there to live for??
+Hasbro displays of upcoming toys focused on mid- to late-run ''[[Cybertron (toyline)|Cybertron]]'' toys, most notably [[Primus|Primus]] and [[Metroplex (Cybertron)|Metroplex]].
+A nearly life-sized Optimus Prime statue greeted guests as they entered the dealer room.   A jungle diorama displayed the convention toys in a re-enactment of the "[[Descent Into Evil|Descent Into Evil]]" comic.
+==Notes==
+* BotCon '05 occurred in the weeks following the disastrous arrival of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.  Given that, many fans were somewhat anxious to find that Hurricane Rita was bearing down on the Texas coast shortly before the convention began.  The hurricane's remnants turned east upon landing, however, and the Metroplex got nothing more than a few clouds and a stiff breeze.
+&lt;center&gt;
+&lt;table cellspacing="0" style="width:90%;"&gt;
+&lt;tr&gt;
+&lt;td style="padding:0 1em 0 1em;text-align:right;"&gt;&lt;div class="tti_messageboxdiv" style="width:100%;padding:.5em; background-color:#efefff; border:solid 1px #9f9fff;text-align:center;margin:auto;"&gt;[[Image:Kup_piece.gif|left|125px|Kup piece.gif]]
+&lt;span style="font-size:125%;font-weight:900;"&gt;You left a piece out!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;
+''This article is a [[:Category:Stub|stub]] and is missing information. You can help '''Transformers Wiki''' by &lt;span class="plainlinks"&gt;[http://tfwiki.net/w2/index.php?title=BotCon_2005&amp;action=edit expanding it]&lt;/span&gt;.''
+&lt;/div&gt;&lt;small&gt;'''What's needed:''' photos.  some toys announced at the Hasbro panel.&lt;/small&gt;
+&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;
+&lt;/center&gt;
+==External links==
+*[http://www.botcon.com/botcon05index.cfm BotCon.com's archive of BotCon 2005]
-{{stub}}
+[[Category:Stub]]
-[[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>
+[[Category:Conventions]]