BotCon 2005

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 brand-spanking-new (it had opened only a month prior) 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 empty fields and vast parking lots to reach a nearby shopping mall for food.

On the plus side, however, the Embassy Suites featured a free breakfast buffet (including made-to-order omelettes) where fans could mingle in the hotel's open atrium and save some cash on 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 - A 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 1 cartoon series. However, many fans have pointed out that Chromia's color scheme, headsculpt, and personality profile all resemble Moonracer's, 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

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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/Registration
• 9:00am: So You Wonder how We Do the Voices? - Dobson Brothers panel
• 10:00am: Transformers Rarities - Rik Alvarez panel

This panel heavily focused on chromed and / or clear variants of the G1 Commemorative Series figures, with the host adamantly insisting that they were all legitimately marketed (if not actually released) TF product and that the popular fan term "lunchtime special" was inaccurate. These assertions aside, and the legitimacy of these variants also aside, at that time they were all quite well-known to the fandom and not newsworthy at all. Puzzlingly, the panel gave relatively short-shrift to the world premiere revelations of a handful of TF concepts and prototypes that had never been seen or even reported on previously, such as: Toxitron, Universe Motormaster (a redeco of Machine Wars Optimus Prime), a redeco of Ultra Jetstorm, and an entirely different mold and transformation scheme for Megabolt Megatron.

• 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 (see Notes).
• 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.
• The Courtesy Room was a consuite (a first for BotCon) where fans could sit and watch various Transformers shows as well as munch on some free snacks. Nachos, chips, salsa, apple cobbler, and soda were available.

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External links

• BotCon.com's archive of BotCon 2005