BotCon 2009

BotCon 2009 will be held May 28-31 in Pasadena, California.

Preceded by: BotCon 2008

Run-up

In 2008, the club forums were changed from BotCon 2008 to BotCon 2009, with the tag line of "For one young Autobot..."

• On December 24, the BotCon website was updated with the date and location.

• On January 6, 2009, Brian Savage posted a teaser in the club boards:

OK, while we are working on finalizing the convention details, brochure and registration forms, we wanted to start the speculation game:

"For one young Autobot..." is all we have revealed so far. While we tend to guard the convention sets and souvenirs closely, I want to let you know that we are very excited about what we have waiting in the wings!

The set we have planned features a select team of Autobots never before featured in G1 in this way. The timeline we are spotlighting is new, yet very familiar...

Let the games begin!Brian Savage

• Pete Sinclair then later added two more teasers:

Far be it from me to wreck your all's ideas. I just know that this year's set is going to rule!Pete Sinclair

But who said I was giving a clue? Maybe I am just here to add a little mayhem, to get my TCC squad all riled up. I know, I know, I will probably get attacked at the show.Pete Sinclair

• On February 20, 2009 the brochure was posted, revealing the set theme to be the Elite Guard, making Pete Sinclair's posts unrelated.

• On February 24, the first figure, Kup was revealed. The next day, the link to the registration forms were sent to members via email. By March 2, all loose and Iacon sets had sold out.

Venue

BotCon 2009 was held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California.

Merchandise

Convention-exclusive toys

Young Kup has his Earth mode millions of years before it existed!

BanzaiTron. This mold has never looked so good.

• Convention box set
  • Kup, a retool of Cybertron Red Alert
  • Flak, a retool of Cybertron Defense Scattorshot
  • Landshark, a redeco of Energon Landmine
  • Thunderclash, a redeco of Energon Rodimus
  • Scourge, a retool of Cybertron Sideways

• Attendee-Only Bonus Toy
  • Leozack, a redeco of Energon Starscream

• Customization Class Toy
  • Shattered Glass Thunderclash, a repaint of this box set's Thunderclash

• At-Show Souvenir Toys
  • Skyquake and Banzai-Tron, redecoes of Energon Starscream and Energon Mirage
  • Three Sweeps, redecoes of this box set's Scourge
  • Elita-1 and Razorclaw, a redeco of Cybertron Thunderblast and a retool of Cybertron Leobreaker

Guests

Hasbro employees

• Aaron Archer
• Joe Kyde
• Forest Lee
• Greg Lombardo
• Bill Rawley
• Eric Siebenaler

Voice actors

• David Kaye
• Gregg Berger
• "Weird Al" Yankovic
• Michael McConnohie
• Peter Cullen
• Mark Ryan

Cartoon Network

• Marty Isenberg
• Derrick J. Wyatt
• Matt Youngberg

Generation 1 writers

• David Wise
• Bryce Malek
• Flint Dille
• Paul Davids

IDW Publishing comics

• Josh Burcham
• Casey Coller
• Mike Costa
• Andrew Griffith
• Shaun Knowler
• Joana Lafuente
• Marcelo Matere
• Alex Milne
• Chris Mowry
• Robby Musso
• Nick Roche
• Chris Ryall
• Andy Schmidt
• Jim Sorenson
• E.J. Su
• Denton J. Tipton
• Josh van Reyk

Live-action Movie

• Alex Kurtzman
• Roberto Orci
• Michael Bay
• Tyrese Gibson

Music

• Vince DiCola
• Stan Bush
• Holger Fath

Events

Fun Publications scheduled a large number of events to take place over the course of the convention to keep attendees entertained and informed.