BotCon 2002

Oh, sure. R.E.V. gets top billing. Just like always.

BotCon 2002 was the Official Transformers Convention in 2002, run by 3H. It was held in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, from July 26 to 28.

Preceded by: BotCon 2001

Followed by: OTFCC 2003

Venue

BotCon 2002 was held at the Grand Wayne Center in downtown Fort Wayne.

Merchandise

Convention-exclusive toys

• Cyclonus, a redeco of Beast Machines Jetstorm
• CatSCAN, a redeco of Beast Machines Night Slash Cheetor
• Glyph, a redeco of the Generation 1 Bumblebee keychain
• Tap-Out, a redeco of the Generation 1 Cliffjumper keychain
• An Optimus Prime lollipop

Fiction

• Enter the Wreckers, Part 2: "Betrayal" comic

Guests

Hasbro employees

• Aaron Archer, Snr. Design Director
• Michelle Field
• Andrew Frankel
• Joe Matico

Takara employees

• ?
• ?

Voice actors

• Dick Gautier
• Neil Kaplan
• Michael McConnohie
• Peter Spellos
• Wayne "Wankus" Lewis

Comics and animation

• Derek Choo-Wing
• Richard Epcar
• Adam Fortier
• Simon Furman
• Bob Forward
• Steve Kramer
• Pat Lee
• Chris Sarracini
• Tom Wyner

Events

Friday

• Pre-registrant semi-formal dinner, starring Seafood Louis. Highlights included:
• A screening of "First Encounter", the first episode of the upcoming Armada cartoon. The audience was highly enthusiastic about the episode, bursting into cheers when Optimus Prime first appeared (and spoke, revealing Garry Chalk's voice). Little did they realize what they were setting themselves up for...
• Dinner attendees received a bonus gift of one Deluxe size-class Armada toy and one Mini-Con 3-pack. This was supposed to be a great treat, as the Armada toyline was just beginning, and these would have been as-yet unreleased toys. However, the first Armada toys had unexpectedly hit stores a few weeks early, just before the convention, and thus many of the hardcore fans present at the dinner already owned them.

Saturday

• 8:00 Botcon 2002 Begins! (in theory. In practice, probably closer to 8:30.)
• 9:00 Video Room Opens: Robots in Diguise episode 1 begins
• 10:00 Autographs: Epcar, Forward, Kramer, Wyner
• 11:00 - 1:00 Autographs: Gautier, Kaplan, McConnohie, Spellos, Wankus
• 12:00 Botcon Merchandise Area closes for inventory check
• 12:00 Editor/Writer/Director Panel: Richard Epcar, Bob Forward, Simon Furman, Steve Kramer, and Tom Wyner
• 12:00 Robots in Disguise episode 9 begins
• 1:00 Botcon Merchandise Area reopens
• 1:00 Autographs: Epcar, Forward, Kramer, Wyner
• 2:00 Hasbro Presentation: The brand team offers unique insights into the development of our favorite toyline. Previews of upcoming toys covered later-run Armada redecos and Generation 1 reissues. A Hasbro rep comment offered the first faint teasing hint that a toy for Unicron might be under development. The original Generation 1 gun-mode Megatron toy was infamously shown in a hideously bright blue-and-orange color scheme, which still wasn't enough to get it past child safety laws.
• 2:00 - 4:00 Autographs: Gautier, Kaplan, McConnohie, Spellos, Wankus
• 3:00 Robots in Disguise episode 17 begins
• 4:00 Voice Actor Panel: Dick Gautier, Neil Kaplan, Michael McConnohie, Peter Speollos, and Wankus
• 4:00 - 6:00 Autographs: Epcar, Forward, Kramer, Wyner
• 6:00 Botcon 2002 ends for the day

Sunday

You would never see these three together again.

• 9:00 Botcon 2002 Day Two Begins!
• 9:00 Video Room Opens: Robots in Disguise episode 25 begins
• 10:00 - 11:30 Autographs: Gautier Kaplan McConnohie, Spellos, Wankus
• 10:00 - 11:30 Autographs: Epcar, Forward, Kramer, Wyner
• 12:00 Preregistration toy merchandise becomes available to the public
• 12:00 Dreamwave Comic Book Panel: Pat Lee, Chris Sarracini, James Raiz, and Simon Furman talk about the new comics
• 12:00 Robots in Disguise episode 33 begins
• 2:00 Charity Auction: An assortment of unique items will be auctioned off to benefit Make-a-Wish
• 2:00 Autographs: Simon Furman and Titan Books
• 3:00 Convention Organizers Panel: Glen Hallit and Jon and Karl Hartman will field questions about this and next year's shows
• 3:00 Robots in disguise episode 39 begins
• 6:00 Botcon 2002 ends

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External links

• BotCon 2002 in the BotCon Archives
• Steve-o's BotCon 2002 Report: Zobovor Edition