BotCon 1999

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Date	July 16, 1999}}
Dates	}}
City	St. Paul, MN}}
Venue	St. Paul RiverCentre}}

BotCon 1999 was held on July 16-July 18, 1999, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Venue

BotCon 1999 was held at the St. Paul RiverCentre in downtown St. Paul, overlooking the Mississippi River. The convention space included a display room, panel and video room, and a main hall with dealer tables and Hasbro displays. A covered walkway linked the convention center with the Days Inn - the official hotel for that year.

Merchandise

"Scorponok? Never heard of him."

Convention-exclusive toys

• Sandstorm, a tan and orange redeco of Scorponok
• Windrazor, a white and pink/purple redeco of Silverbolt

Fiction

• Parts 1-3 of "Reaching the Omega Point", a text story bound in with the convention program. 22 pages. Part 1 had been sent out as a preview in pre-registrant packets.
• Convention attendees were shown an early screening of the first Beast Machines episode, "The Reformatting". The episode was so freshly finished that the music soundtrack had finished its final mixing just the night before. Response was overwhelmingly positive, so much so that a second screening was arranged a few hours later.

Other

• Optimus Prime and Megatron lithograph prints, composited from hundreds of Generation 1 cartoon still shots.
• Four different watches with leather wristbands each bearing a different faction sigil (G1 Autobot, G1 Decepticon, Maximal, and Predacon) on their faces were available on the pre-reg forms and randomly assigned to each attendee. A fifth watch bearing the Transformers logo was available only in a gift set at the convention.

Guests

Mainframe Entertainment

• Asaph Fipke

Voice actors

• Jim Byrnes
• Scott McNeil

Events

Although not specifically listed on the Program Schedule, a Trivia Contest utilizing a custom Transformer-themed "Trivial Pursuit" board ran both Saturday and Sunday with teams of two competing for a set of framed original Beast Wars renderings specially commissioned from Mainframe. Each contained a group portrait of either the Maximals or Predacons. Due to the expensive nature of these pieces (over $1000 each according to Glen Hallit) for the first time at BotCon there was an entry fee of $10 for the contest.

Friday

• Afternoon: preregistration packet pick-up
• Evening: an informal pizza dinner gathering, with a welcome from Glen, Karl and Jon, an introduction of the two voice actor guests, and the unveiling of two exclusive lithographs of Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Saturday

• 10:00am: Doors open. Video room begins with "The Agenda" Parts 1-3 and "Optimal Situation" begins airing in the video room.
• 12:00pm: Fan Panel #1
• 1:00pm: Hasbro/Mainframe presentation, including screening of "The Reformatting"
• 3:00pm: Miscellaneous Video Showcase, highlighting other works by Jim Byrnes and Scott McNeil
• 5:00pm: Fan Panel Number 2
• 6:00pm: Main Hall closes. Due to popular demand, "The Reformatting" is screened a second time.
• 9:00pm: Video room closes.

Sunday

• 8:00am: Video room opens with Generation 1 episodes
• 10:00am: MSTF panel; dealer room opens
• 12:00pm: Voice actor panel
• 1:00pm: The Transformers: The Movie
• 2:30pm: Botcon Organizer Panel
• 4:00pm: Main Hall closes. It's over. Go home!

Notes

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

• Ian Corlett was scheduled to be a guest but had to cancel on short notice due to the birth of his new son.
• The audio for the Beast Machines pilot was completed on Friday and a copy shipped overnight to BotCon via Federal Express so that fans could see it the following day. How's that for dedication?
• 1999 marked the first year that Hasbro allowed 3H to use existing trademarks for their exclusives.
• It also marked the first time a convention-exclusive toy was offered in a sealed bubble on a card.
• BotCon 1999 actually made money as previous BotCons had been less than profitable.
• The location of next year's BotCon was announced in advance at the Wrap-Up Panel. Another first.
• Several people were injured after being nearly trampled in the Dealer's Room by greedy fans clamoring for a free Snapdragon. As a result, the "free toy toss" tradition started by a couple of dealers in the last few hours of BotCon was discontinued.
• Some selfish bastard stole one of the convention center's "announcement" signboards for BotCon. 3H was forced to pay for it out-of-pocket. May that douchenozzle rot in Hell for all eternity.

External links

• BotCon 1999 in the BotCon archives

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