BotCon 2012

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Date	April 26, 2012}}
Dates	}}
City	Dallas, TX}}
Venue	Hyatt Regency Dallas}}

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BotCon 2012 was held in the Hyatt Regency Dallas in Dallas, Texas, from April 26 to April 29, 2012.

Run-up

September 7, 2011, BotCon's Twitter feed started hinting at BotCon 2012's exclusive toys.<ref>http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=82117</ref>
The Diamond-exclusive version of "The Stunti-Con Job" had a full page ad advertising BotCon 2012, and hinted at the mold of one of its box set toys.<ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/484645-teaser-botcon-2012-rid-more-classics.html</ref>
On December 5, 2011, the date, location, and hotel for BotCon 2012 were announced.
On December 24, 2011, the brochure went live.
On December 27, 2011, "BotCon 2012: Figure Reveal!" revealed the first images of Gigatron.
On December 30, 2011, Shattered Glass Tracks was revealed.
On January 3, 2012, Shattered Glass Soundwave was revealed.
On January 5, 2012, registration was intended to go up, but required more testing. Instead, Shattered Glass Treadshot was revealed.
On January 6, 2012, at 6:22pm EST, registration for attending packages went live. Both (larger) customization classes were sold out within minutes, Primus sets were 50% sold and "Golden Tickets" 70% sold by 10pm.<ref>Archived BotCon tweet</ref> To apologize for the registration's lateness, art turnarounds of Metalhawk's new head were posted online. Those numbers were at 60% and 80% by the following day.<ref>Archived BotCon tweet</ref>
On January 18, 2012, Iacon Packages were available for purchase. A few hours later, BotCon's Twitter status stated that 50% of the Iacon Packages were sold. Primus Packages were 85% sold.

Venue

When you're done giggling at the giant you-know-what, you can point out your window to where Kennedy was shot! Hours of fun for the whole family.

The Convention Center of the Hyatt Regency Dallas is home to BotCon 2012. It's "one of the city’s most consistent AAA Four Diamond Dallas luxury hotels," full of restaurants and shopping opportunities, and it's smack dab in the middle of downtown Dallas, Texas. This 28-floor hotel is three blocks from the JFK Memorial and across a parking lot from a giant PlayStation Move controller. In the summer, they have AnimeFest there, host to overpriced Pocky, Scott McNeil, and all manner of unwashed webcartoonists. But unlike AnimeFest, BotCon 2012's dealer room wasn't partially out in the hallways.

The hallways are very extravagant.

Merchandise

Convention-exclusive toys

Be excellent to each other... and party on, dudes!

Transformers: Invasion box set ($340, bagged $250)

Shattered Glass Ultra Magnus, a retool of Transformers Optimus Prime
Shattered Glass Turbo Tracks, a redeco of Transformers Turbo Tracks
Shattered Glass Soundwave, a retool of Universe Classics Series Ironhide
Shattered Glass Treadshot, a retool of Transformers Special Ops Jazz
Classics Gigatron, a retool of Revenge of the Fallen Bludgeon
Classics Metalhawk, a retool of Generations Thunderwing

At show souvenir packages

Shattered Glass Optimus Prime and Classics Kick-Over, the former being a redeco of Transformers Optimus Prime and the latter being a retool of Transformers Jazz
Shattered Glass Octopunch and Classics Spinister, redecos of Transformers Sea Spray and Dark of the Moon Vortex
Shattered Glass Junkions (Wreck-Gar, Scrap Iron, Junkheap)

Customization Exclusive

Shattered Glass Longarm

Attendee-Only Bonus Exclusive

The Bard of Darkmount, a redeco of Generations Darkmount

Hasbro

Other merchandise

Shattered Glass Soundwave headband accessory & card set

Fiction

"Invasion" comic

Guests

Hall of Fame inductees

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Simon Furman
Chris Latta (posthumously)

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Voice actors

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Writers

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Fun Publications

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Hasbro employees

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Rik Alvarez (IP development)
Aaron Archer (IP development)
Clint Chapman (marketing)
Chris Hicks (design)
Mark Maher (model artist)
Bill Rawley (design)
Mike Verret (marketing)

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Hasbro Studios employees

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IDW Publishing comics

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High Moon Studios & Activision

Matt Tieger

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Jagex

Eddy Dew (community manager, Transformers Universe)
Steve Huckle (art director, Transformers Universe)
Kelly Vero (lead writer, Transformers Universe)

Events

Wednesday

8:45 AM	Dallas Tour
9:00 AM-5:00 PM	Transformers Customizing Class
8:30 PM	Golden Ticket Package Pick-Up
9:30 - 10:30 PM	Tour and Class Package Pick-Up

Thursday

6:45 AM	Fort Worth Tour
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM	Transformers Customizing Class
4:00 PM	Golden Ticket Package Pick-Up
5:00 PM	Golden Ticket Store Opens
6:00 PM	Registration Pick-up Store Opens
6:00 PM	Club Store Opens
8:00 - 9:30 PM	Exhibitor Unload and Drop Off

Friday

7:30AM - 2:00 PM	Exhibitor Set-up
8:30 - 9:30 AM	Club Store opens for Exhibitors Only
9:30 - 11:30 AM	Club Store opens for all Registered Guests
9:30 AM	Walk-up Late Registration
9:00 - 12:00 PM	Contest Setup
9:00 - 10:50 AM	Panel: MSTF!
11:00 - 11:50 AM	Panel: Transformers Filmfest
Noon	Contest Judging
Noon - 1:00 PM	Lunch
1:00 - 1:50 PM	Panel: TCC Comic Panel
2:00 PM	Private Sales Room Experience
2:00 - 3:30 PM	Autographs: David Kaye, Garry Chalk, Simon Furman
3:30 - 5:00 PM	Autographs: Dan Gilvezan, Buster Jones
5:00 PM	Private Sales Room Experience ends
7:00 PM	Golden Ticket Reception

Saturday

7:30 AM	Exhibitor Set-up
8:30 AM	Registered Guests Private Preview
9:00 AM	Early Bird Entry
10:00 AM	General Admission
10:00 - 10:50 AM	Panel: Dan Gilvezan, Buster Jones
10:00 - 11:30 AM	Autographs: David Kaye, Garry Chalk
11:00 - 11:50 AM	Panel: Transformers Comics: IDW Publishing
Noon - 12:50 PM	Panel: Animated Talk with Derrick Wyatt
Noon - 1:30 PM	Autographs: Dan Gilvezan, Buster Jones, Simon Furman
1:00 - 1:50 PM	Panel: David Kaye, Garry Chalk
1:30 - 3:00 PM	Autographs: Peter Cullen
2:00 - 2:50 PM	Panel: Transformers Collectors' Club Roundtable TCC Staff
3:00 - 3:50 PM	Panel: Hasbro Transformers Brand Team
4:00 - 4:50 PM	Panel: Peter Cullen
5:00 PM	Show Closes
6:30 PM	Cocktail Reception
7:00 PM	Transformers Hall of Fame Party and Casino Night Dinner

Sunday

9:00 AM	Exhibitor Set-up
9:30 AM	Registered Guests and General Admission
10:00 - 10:50 AM	Panel: Bee in the City 2! David Kaye, Garry Chalk, Dan Gilvezan, Buster Jones
11:30 - 1:00 PM	Autographs: David Kaye, Garry Chalk, Simon Furman
11:00 - 11:50 AM	Panel: Activision: Fall of Cybertron
Noon - 12:50 PM	Panel: Simon Furman
1:00 - 2:30 PM	Autographs: Dan Gilvezan, Buster Jones
1:00 - 1:50 PM	Panel: Jagex: Transformers Universe
2:00 - 2:50 PM	Panel: Transformers Costuming: Design Your Own Costume! Rosemary Ward
3:15 PM	Draw for Trips to 2013 Convention
3:30 PM	Show Closes

Notes

BotCon 2012 is the first year to offer the "Golden Ticket" level of registration. For an additional $300, a Primus-level attendee can pick up his box set early, buy souvenirs early (and up to three each), sit in the front row in panels, attend an exclusive meet-and-greet with the convention's invited guests, and receive an additional $2000 in fake money for the Casino Night. These were limited to 75, and yes, they sold out.
For the first time, any unlicensed material touching on Hasbro's IP was officially banned from sale at the convention. This included not only all third-party unlicensed toys but also all fan art of Hasbro characters. As Botcon had specifically advertised tables for fan art sale in a special "artists' alley," this was likely a last minute change in policy by Hasbro legal. After an outcry from the community, Hasbro revised their policy to allow the sale of fan art and non-"toy" products.<ref>http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/conventions-15/botcon-2012-fan-art-ban-reversed-174744/</ref>
No TakaraTomy employees attended BotCon 2012 due to the convention directly preceding Japan's celebration of [[wikipedia:{{#if:|:}}Golden Week (Japan)|{{#if:Golden Week|Golden Week|Golden Week (Japan)}}]].
Did we mention Peter Cullen performed the voice of Megatron?

References

External links

BotCon 2012 site

BotCon 2012

Contents

Run-up

Venue