who is not happy about this weekends Botcon?

I myself am happy and disappointed b/c BBTS was not there alot of toys were not there that i wanted and optimus prime truck was not there.

But i did meet some great people from other states (keith,Bryan, & jen) the pantels were GREAT the sat. night party was good but the food SUCKED.

What do u Think??

oh and Botcon 2011 in Ca. sucks to put my wife said i can go ... so i am

 

I'm a little disappointed too.
I did general admission. It was only about an hour and 1/2 drive from where I live.
I didn't check the PDF schedule at the Botcon website and so I missed Peter Cullen's autograph session. I got there just before 10, but had to park in MGM and then get shuttled back to the Dolphin. So I got into the building around 10:40, only to find that Cullen's (only) session was ending in 20 minutes. I was so mad. That ruined the entire day. I'm pretty sure that they scheduled him at that time intentionally to screw the Gen. Adm. folks. The organizers should be ashamed.

I hung around for only about two hours and I ended up buying 7 loose figures. By 1pm my wife and I went to lunch at Downtown Disney and then headed home. I probably won't go to another Botcon.

 

Not what I thought it would be to be perfectly honest with you. I was really looking forward to seeing BBTS there but they weren't. At least my favorite store was there TF Source they're the place to get your TF stuff. But besides that it wasn't I expected but I meet some really cool people from this board (you know who you are) Anyway I'm pretty sure I won't be going to Botcon next year maybe I'll buy the non-attendee set. I thought certain dealers jacked up the prices on their stuff.

 

My wife and I are regular convention-goers and avid costumers, but we've never been to a Bot-con. We've seen so many videos of transforming costumes and we were really looking forward to seeing some of those. We only went on Sunday and there werent very many costumes around and none that transformed. My wife was kinda dissapointed about that, even though that's not really the convention's fault.

I was hoping to meet some of the podcast guys, I ran into TJ and got to catch up with him since we last met at Metrocon,so that was cool! But if I HAD to pick something to be dissapointed about, it would be that I didnt get to meet the rest of the podcast crew, again, not really the con's fault either.

We really did enjoy the show though, and will definitely go back when it comes around near us again!
Later

 

I was very disappointed. There weren't a lot of guests, the dealer room was lacking, and there wasn't much revealed I didn't already know about. It was my first, and probably only, Botcon and I expected a bit more. I did talk to some Botcon veterans and all said there were not as many exhibitors this year as in years past. I don't know if it was the economy or haphazard planning.

Peter Cullen saved the show for me. It was a pleasure to meet him and be around him.

But overall, for the price I paid, it wasn't worth it. Yeah, I was still able to find some hard-to-find toys at fair prices and Peter Cullen was great, but it was a second rate con. I wasn't expecting San Diego or anything, but I thought Hasbro would be a bit more first class than it ended up being.

 

It was impossible for any general admission folks to even get in line for Peter Cullen. I got there at 6:30 a.m. and there were already 160 or so people in front of me. According to legend, the first guy in line was there at 1 a.m. The line was closed around 8:20. You had to have been pre-registered to be in line.

I completely agree with you. Not cool on the convention organizer's part.

 

I'm a little disappointed in BotCon...being OVER!  

It was the most toy robot fun I've had in ages.

 

I was unaware that the line started THAT early.
I understand that Mr. Cullen is getting older and it has to be hard to sign all those autographs, but I really would have appreciated a second autograph session later in the afternoon, or even on a different day.

 

This was my 10th Botcon...

And honestly, there were good things and bad. I think it was just "bad luck" (as it were) that there were fewer "reveals" - most of the cool stuff they showed off was during the designer panel, and was just sketches because it was all coming out much later.

The dealer room WAS smaller than usual, and it seemed like there were far fewer people there than last year or the year before... But I think a lot of that had to do with being at Disney, where it was hard for people to GET to the 'con unless they stayed at a Disney hotel, etc...

The exclusives weren't bad, though. And there were interesting guests. I just think the 'con was hurt by poor choice of location, freak coincidence of the production cycle, etc...

 

It was my first Botcon and it didn't take me long to realize it was a bit of a gyp. The fact that we aren't nearing a movie premier hurt it, but there could have been a lot more and cooler guests. I think I would have been a lot happier if I'd been able to afford the Primus package and a room in the Dolphin, but I still would have the sense that something was missing. Meeting Matt Tieger and Stan Bush was way cool, and seeing Peter Cullen's panel was great, so it was far from a total waste, but overall disappointing.

 

I was a little dissappointed by the lack of any activities. I went to a couple panels, walked out of tfcc, it was boring me to death. The highlight for me was some ofthw new friends I made only to realize at the end we all had to part ways. You know who you guys are. I was able to get most of the things from my want list an paid well below market value, thanks AMS. One negative thing was that people, it's ok to talk about something else besides transformers. If I can share a room with a couple folk next year I may go.

 

The dealer room was smaller. As a dealer, I can't say I'm upset about that - I ended up having my best weekend ever sales-wise. Losing BBTS alone makes a significant dent in the size of the room... If someone has last year's program handy, they could tell us exactly how many booths were each year.

I though the show was good. Not a fan of the location, other that I'm happy it was East Coast. Being in the Resort made eveything about 50% more expensive than it should have been. (For example, $15 for a burger, chips and a soda is just too much). And the walk-in/Gen admission traffic was a lot lower this year. But going back to the West Coast next year will force us to cut our booth size in half - Just not worth shipping much of our stuff across the country.

 

I don't understand all the whining about BBTS not being there? In my opinion, it's who cares? They carry the exact same stuff as TF Source at usually higher prices. It's not like they have 5 booths of rare and hard to find vintage toys. You basicly end up with 2 sets of 5 booths with the exact same stuff. It makes it look like a bigger vendor room, but thats it. Whats the big deal?

As for the lack of vendors, I imagine its only going to get smaller. 10 years ago a booth at Botcon cost about $75, now it's $350. One vendor told me he spent $3000 on booths, hotels, rental trucks, food, gas etc. before he even sold one single toy. I know I would stay home and sell on Ebay...it would be much more profitable. You all should be thankful that vendors even bother come to do these shows anymore. If you have not noticed, most of the local/regional toy shows are dead or dying.

As for Cullen...nothing was hidden. They fully disclose that if you are not pre-registered you are not guaranteed to get him. You want to see him....then register. Also, you all know he is going to be by far the most popular...you know he has only one session (again fully disclosed) do some fricking planning.

Location has nothing to do with the issues...poor planning does, so how about we all quit complaining about things you have control over. The sense of entitlement so prevalent in this fandom is absolutely amazing. So many here feel that everyone else should bend over backwards to meet thier needs. "He should have 2 sessions", "he should sign longer", blah, blah, blah.

There was plnety of things to do there..There were lots of toys available in the vendors room. There were lots of cool fellow fans to meet. The location was nice.

Build a bridge and get over it.

Should rename this thread "The Whiners of Botcon"

 

I must have been at a different convention than some of you. My wife and I had a great time. The dinner delicious and the atmosphere was fun and electric. I found Moe than enough to buy and at good prices. The panels and communication with Hasbro and the transformers team was superb. I cannot wait until next years event.

 

^^^THANK YOU!!!!


I guess awesome just isn't awesome enough to some.

Ahh, well....

 

Apparently no one went to the second Hasbro panel that had a large amount of new reveals that no one knew about?

Granted the first Hasbro panel was lackluster, the second one hit it out of the park. And if that still wasn't satisfying enough for you then maybe you are at the wrong convention, because there is little else that they could have revealed that would have impressed you apparently.

 

The designer panel knocked it out of the park! The amount of G1 love on display was astounding.

 

Not disappointed in the least. Got to meet Paul Eiding, Hideaki Yoke, hang out with friends I only see once a year, and saw some amazing upcoming products.

 

I had a blast I was just expecting more. It's Like that movie that gets super hyped up and while the movie is great it just doesn't live up
To the hype.

The dealer room was great. Got to meet the guys behind some of the sites I order from. Tempting Toys didn't have any great deals but they were cool and would at least work with you.

I didn't get to go to many of the panels. I was too wrapped up in the dealer room and would lose track of time.

 

That's fantastic. I'm glad you had a good time and have good points.

But people are still entitled to a differing opinion. No need to be so hostile or derogatory.