the Good
- the even itself was generally well run. Great location, good facilities. Pretty much what we've come to expect from Fun Productions. No complaints from me.

-Rhode Island was a great place despite everyones issues getting there.

- Autograph wristband was a great idea, although it didn't alleviate the Cullen line, but that's to be expected.

- the Exclusives were great, and the additional sets seemed (to me at least) to be more reasonably priced than previous years.

- Great guests. Yes we'd seen many before, but the scriptwriters panel was pretty awesome and I'll never grow tired of seeing Peter Cullen.

the Bad
- Way too many lines.
Take the Hasbro/Club Toy Shop, the Friday morning when it opened, the line didn't move for TWO HOURS because of two guys at the cash desk taking forever. While that's their perogative, something should have been done to get the line moving again like an extra member of staff to help out. That was seriously frustration personified. And that was the only line I participated in. From what I heard; registration was also a nightmare for a lot of people.

- Hasbro/Club Toy Store
I know there's a lot of product, and the staff aren't full time on the thing, but some product familiarity would have gone a long, long way to speeding those lines up.

Also, NO CASH REGISTER? C'mon, you can get them from Wal-Mart for crying out loud. Someone with a cash box is only going to slow things down further. Pain.

the Ugly
- The Westin Providence Hotel
Boy, do they ever love their hidden charges. Also the staff were rude pretty much the entire time of my stay and were not very welcoming in the least.
I know this is completely beyond Fun Productions control, but it was really the only thing that really sticks out as a sore spot for the entire trip.

- Impossible to buy booze after six o'clock in Providence, srsly like wtf mate?  


I was impressed with 2005's Botcon, and it was -tiny- compared to 2007, so major points for pulling it all off so well. Can't wait to go again.

 

The Good
Location
Rhode Island was a lovely area, one of the best I've been to.

Exclusives
Reasonably priced compared to previous years.

Panels
There were some good panels.

The Movie.
Everyone in the theatre I was in was pretty well behaved and there wasn't any incident's that I could see.

The Bad
The lines.
I really enjoyed being told I had to wait till 5:30 to pick up my stuff even though the line for my collection was almost gone, and then when finally getting in line and getting to the front to have the person serve me start talking to someone else.

The TFCC store.
Needs to be separate from the pick up for the souvenir sets or at least start processing the stuff far quicker. And it needs a cash machine. Not some old lady with a cash box for the various people dealing with cash paying customers.

The wandering around trying to find where panels were.
We turned up late to the start of both board wars to support our team cause we didn't have a clue where it was on both days.

The Ugly
The Westin and the hidden room charges. Also they speed you had to get your room key into the lift just to get to your floor.

 

Overall, I've got mixed feelings
Good
- the toys are great. Can't say enough.
- the Hasbro tour was fantastic. I cannot believe some of them get paid to do that.
- the dinner was a VAST improvement over last years. It was still unorganized, but a vast improvement.
-David Kaye. Stand up guy, and super nice.

Bad
- like everyone else said, the lines. I won't beat a dead horse.
- also pointed out, the moving of the panels. We were 15 minutes late to one, because we went to 3 different places looking for it, and the "staff volunteers" weren't really any better informed than we were. (not their fault)

Ugly
-the Westin pretty well sucked. Not worth the $$$. Plain, cheap room, and EVERYTHING cost extra. Also, no free (or even cheap) parking. Parking alone cost $100 for 4 days. Rude and unhelpful employees. The only nice and helpful ones were the valets and bellhops, but they wanted tips, afterall.
-other people. The hotel employees weren't the only rude ass people there. At Bingo, a dealer literally pulled a prize out of my son's hand because they got his card checked first. It's pretty damned low when a grown man takes a toy from an 8 year old. Many people saw it, and many people weren't happy about it. Rudeness seemed to be a theme all weekend long. BUT, many of the people I met in line were fantastic.

Overall, not a bad experience, but not the most enjoyable one I've had either.

 

The Good
-The company. Going to Botcon, especially if you're a member of a board (and ESPECIALLY if it's this one) is like going to a huge family reunion full. A lot of people who were first timers this year, and who plan on going next year, will see exactly what I mean.
-The Hasbro tour. BEYOND fascinating to see how the toys we all buy are designed and marketed.
-STAN BUSH. Holy SHIT, guys. I was dubious about him being such a prominent guest, but damn, he was awesome.
-The movie screening. Great movie, and everything seemed to run well.

The Bad
-The exclusives. I seem to be in a minority, but I felt the boxed set was very average. And the quality control on them was TERRIBLE. Not to mention that because the foam was cut so stupidly tight around the figures, my Thundercracker's wings are warped so that the missiles don't point straight. Nice one, FP.
-The Dealer Room. Compared with last year's it was nothing. Also, considering it's movie year, I expected to see a LOT more cool G1 stuff for sale, not just a few bits and pieces from maybe 3 or 4 dealers at sily prices.

The Ugly
-Fun Productions' attitude. A simple question as to whether we got both the Prime AND Megatron posters as we walked into the dinner we had all payed through the nose for yielded a reply from Brian Savage of "No. Move along. NOW." Dear Brian: I do NOT appreciate paying a fuckton to come to your show to get dodgy exclusives, and then get treated like a 5 year old by you. KthxBYE.
-The Westin. Rude staff, stupid elevators, average rooms.
-The assholes who TALKED through the moment of silence for Shaun & Bill at the party. i wanted to go find them and have a quiet word. Violently.

In all: Convention wise, 2006 beat the crap out of 2007. Social wise, 2007 absolutely PWNED.

 

Good The box set, the exclusives, meeting lots of people, great roommate, the panels (at least, the ones I went to), discovering that taking the public bus to and from the airport cost only $1.50, rather than the expensive shuttle prices, TF room keys, Pepsi Prime for sale, and many other things.

Bad Not getting on the Hasbro trip, even though I KNOW not everyone showed up for the 7 AM trip; a certain site's crowd growing larger and larger Sunday morning for the Hasbro panel, and even refusing to go to the end of the line when I mentioned something; the dickwad trying to tape the panel right after they respectfully asked us not to; higher food prices then at the same restaurants I frequent here in Florida; stupid panel questions.

Ugly Draven vs Subway.  

 

The GOOD:
*Great location, albeit further than I've traveled for Botcon in the past. Downtown was beautiful, and I took lots of pictures.
*The toys.. OMG the toys!
*The social side... seeing friends I've made at past cons and making new ones.
*The party. Big improvement over previous years. Lots of fun.
*The freebies. Makes it worthwhile when you spend so much for registration to at least get something a little extra.
*The movie. I loved it, my friend didn't that much. And, we walked right into our theater. No line! I almost fell over from the shock of it.
*Sharing a room and knocking the price of the hotel into thirds. Much more affordable that way.

The BAD:
*Too many hotels. In future, why can't we just take an entire hotel over? It would make things easier for room trading or whatever.
*The lines. Bleah.
*The panels. I went to only a couple. Too much confusion on where they were, or some of the lines were so long. Too much duplication.
*No 'official' place to gather and hang out once the sales room closed. Everyone just scattered off into a million different directions.
*The Westin. Thank goodness I stayed in the Marriott next door. Lots of people complained about the Westin. I hated that we had to follow people up in the elevator like stalkers just to find room traders.
*The Hasbro Tour. Hellbat and I didn't get to go because we didn't win the lottery. They should have scheduled another one since the interest was so high, even if it was on a different day. (Like Wednesday, perhaps?)
*The fact that a Mini-Con doesn't get a convention pin. Only Primus and Protoform package holders get them. Now, I'm missing a pin. Maybe they should sell them in the souvenir store?
*The dealer room. It seems to me like there were less dealers there this year than last year.

 

The Good
-Providence. Such a great location. I'm glad I snuck away for a few hours one day to wander around and soak it all in. Never did find the Russian Sub Museum, though.

-Hasbro. Awesome staff, great tour, really cool facility, too.

-The Movie. While it had its shortcomings, I was surprised to find myself leaning forward, mouth agape, on the edge of my seat several times during the movie. Definitely going to see it again this summer.

-TFW2005.com. We brought it. 'Nuff said.

The Bad
-Organization. Namely, Fun Publications' and their Luddite attitude towards technology. Ever hear of on-line registration? Cash registers? Competent staff? No offense to Brian's army of blue-hairs, but come on. Here is what my registration process was like:

Faxed in the registration form on the first business day after the weekend registration opened. Several weeks later get a confirmation email saying I was #346. Recieved a phone call sometime in April saying there was some confusion with my address. They had on file my address I used from when I was a TFCC member, and I tell them to use my current address, which was clearly printed on my registration form. Months go by. The Friday before the convention I call FP during their business hours to ask where the hell my confirmation letter is. I wait for over an hour on hold, before hanging up in frustration. I then send an email to the FP staffer who originally sent me the confirmation e-mail way back when. The next day, Saturday, I get a call from Becky Savage herself saying that my confirmation letter that was mailed to me was just delivered to Fun Publications as Return to Sender. I ask Becky to read the address on the letter, and it turns out it was made up of my old address and my current one. Becky then e-mails me my confirmation letter with instructions to print it out and bring it with me. On Monday, two days before Botcon, I get a reply to the e-mail I sent the prior Friday. I was told that the letter was sent to me, and if I don't have it by now, there's nothing that can be done.

That's what I call customer service.

The Ugly
- The Providence Westin. Yes, it was an extreme convenience to have the convention center on one side and the mall on the other, but that was the only good thing. Spartan rooms, unhelpful staff, meager guest benefits, no complimentary parking, exorbitant prices for what other hotels offer as a free continental breakfast, hidden fees up the ass, grimy windows, no hotel bar ... and the list goes on and on. If next year's hotel is a Westin, I'd better start saving up now.

 

The Good:

• The Biltmore was a nice hotel. Nice atmosphere plus I ran into Stan Bush on the elevators twice.
• The guests were cool especially Cullen, even if he almost spoiled the final scene of the movie when I asked how he felt about "The Rebirth".
• Hearing that Classics will continue at the Hasbro panel.
• The Awards Dinner was great, I wish I stayed longer.
• Seeing the truck that Optimus was in the movie
• This year's MSTF was hysterical. I nearly laughed my ass off.
• The toys both the set and the attendees were cool. Using CD Hot Shot for Springer was weird choice IMO but good.

The Bad:

• The organization was terrible. Epecially in my case because I didn't have ID and took fifteen minutes to straighten it out. Down with geezers, up with technology.
• Waiting for my food at the Popeye's Chicken in the food court.
• The walk from the Biltmore to the Convention Center.

The Ugly:

• The lines were long, real long, especially for the attendee exclusives.

 

You all have summed it up.

What were the hidden charges being gripped about at the Westin? After city and state tax($17 total), a night at the Biltmore was $158(worth it). Parking was $22 a day.

 

A lot of people at the Westin were informed of their hidden charges when they were billed, not when they should have been at check in. And for the money you paid the rooms were, as Lance said, pretty void of facilities for a $100+ a night hotel.

We couldn't even complain about our grievances because the hotels aren't run individually, they're all run from some weird hive mind out of state and can only be contacted by phone. Lame.

 

The Good:

Providence. I don't think there could've been a better location for it. Hasbro's backyard on the movie year.

Tour. Great idea and far exceeded what I expected.

Exclusives. Great looking art on the box and figures are great.

Movie. Seeing with about 15 other TFWers was simply the best.

After hours at Ri Ra. Lots of fun.

Meeting everyone finally. Can't get better than that.

Panels. Especially the Hasbro future toys one.

The Bad:

Lack of lobster rolls. It's New England. WTF.

Biltmore's hallways. Where's the fucking AC?

No BotCon roomrate for Biltmore. Since we added names they decided to charge us more.

Panel details on site. Wish they had boards up showing where everything is.

The Ugly:

Lines. Like everyone else said, the lines were a nightmare. I got my registration done at 4:45PM, got in line for the Alpha Trion stuff and when I finally walked out, it was 6:30PM.

 

Everybody pretty much summed it up. I was extremely lucky to have Kevin who waited in line while I went to talk to people or browse the dealer floor. If I didn't have him, Alphie will be really mad.

 

GOOD
-I've organized the parts party for the past 5 years and this was by far the best.
-Having Botcon in the Summer again, (kicks the joe convention to the side)
-The 80's themed party was great.
-The awsome deals in the dealer room
-The Westin Hotel elevator (those who remember the year where the elevators took FOREVER would appreciate this)

BAD
-The Westin charged for everything.
-The Westin staff can kiss my arsh, talk about rude. We were definately an inconvenience for them.
-The Westin security, having to use a keycard to get to the parts party. That really really sucked.
-THE WESTIN

UGLY
-The trip home, knowing I'll have to wait another year to see good friends and have a lot of fun.

Overall, I loved it. Probably one of the best Botcons I've been to and I've been going since 2000.

 

GOOD
- The whale watching trip was fun at Plymouth, MA.
- Providence is pretty nice.
- The mall nearby to get lunches was very convenient.
- The charity premiere and seeing Rachel Taylor and Tyrese Gibson.
- Peter Cullen
- David Kaye
- Daniel Ross
- Rob Musso, Nick Roche, and Josh Burcham
- Eric Seibanaler (sp?) and Aaron Archer
- The exclusives were really nice.
- 80's themed party and meeting all sorts of TFW people.

BAD
- Poor Peter Cullen's time management. Whoever was in charge of that should be shot. I managed to get his autograph during the second signing session and he was stressed.
- Valet service. I'm not a fan of valet service in the slightest since I found it to be more on an inconvenience than anything else. I refuse to stay anywhere again where I can't even run out to my car to get something without someone playing chaperone. Other than that, the Hilton was nice.
- Me being sunburned the entire time.

UGLY
- Dear God, those lines! Need I say more?