I'm in! It's less than 2 hours away! The only Botcon I've been to before is Cincinnati '08 when I lived in Ohio.
i wanna go... but ill be down there for 2 weeks during a cruise/comicon thing with the wifey.. cant do both that close..... ohh well..
You people should quit complaining about going to BotCon and SDCC the next month. I've been going to Anime Expo and Comic Con every year for the last 3 years.
And how many people who are complaining about it being so close to SDCC in the same city aren't even going to SDCC (isn't it already sold out). If you are not to SDCC, it is actually a blessing, because under their theory, there should be less people to compete with who don't want to go to both shows. I see the SDCC "issue" as just another thing for people to take hold of to prove their point that botcon should be held in their backyard as opposed SD. Botcon could do a tour of all 50 states and people would complain that they don't like the day that the traveling circus is in their town because they have an oil change scheduled that day. Wish I could go this year, I know a girl who works at a resort 4 miles away from the convention, and looking at the pictures a friend of hers posted on FB tonight from a Christmas party there, it definitely wouldn't be a bad idea to hang out with her and her friends.
You and me both. A coworker of mine went last year and is constantly pushing me to go. He says it's one of those "top 5 things to do before you die" for geeks. Plus, he says the convention is very well run; the only downside is the massive amounts of people. I think there was something like 120,000 people at the last one. Actually, tickets don't go on sale until around March or so, according to a few people I know who went. But it's possible that went up for sale early this time and I have no idea what I'm talking about.
SDCC is certainly a sight to behold, if you've never been. I was debating on SDCC or Botcon this year [depending on where it was gonna be] and im totally choosing Botcon. Its just a lot more intimate and 'focused.' SDCC is kinda too huge, i think. But not that it isnt fun.
The Problem most of us East Coast Folks have is that Cal. Already has E3 SDCC and other cons. WTF!!!!!!! can't they keep it to central or East Coast. I agree with Autobot City The dealers room was expensive...The parts party are where you get the nice deals. Yet I have found that some of he dealers will haggle on the first day. You just have to be firm with them.
I've only been to two but they were both a lot of fun. With that said, they are very crowded, cheaper than some of the dealers but certainly not cheap and if you are not part of the 'in crowd' (which I am not) it can be hard to strike up conversations with the dealers and fans. You should definitely experience it if you do attend a Botcon.
I think the best way to describe them is they are rooms full of toys at more negotitable prices. They have a lot of older stuff mixed in with some newer stuff, but they are interested in selling them so will find good prices for everyone involved.
So, the biggest regular parts party is Megatoyfan. Usually they go as a dealer, but they won't since this year it's in California (or at least they're not planning on it right now). So they set up in their actual room with a ton of their toys and open it up as a place for everyone to buy-sell-trade. Usually they'll take a lot of it down once the convention starts (because they move it to the floor), and still have some in the room and work as a swap-meet the remaining evenings around FP event, but my guess is it'll be full blown this year - however it won't be as much since they can only put up what they can fly. But even at that - expect it to be packed. Usually there's one or two really big nights (like Wednesday and Thursday are usually crazy busy). We have to typically start limiting how many people are in the room at one time, because it gets so warm and crowded (and unfortunately the risk of theft starts up). So, you come to the room everyone that can fit comes in, people put out their shit in the room or in the hall (if the hotel doesn't yell at us), and everyone just looks at everyone else's shit. Since it's not on the dealer room floor, and most of it is just people looking to offload some crap they don't want anymore (like I do), everyone is much more negotiable on prices. Just in general, it's a lot of fun to see what everyone has, to be big huge nerds and chat it up, and probably buy some shit at a great price. Meanwhile as a person bringing stuff, you also get some cash in your pocket. BotCon has a bulletin board it'll put up in the hotel lobby or near the elevators or something. Everyone that wants to puts the list of stuff they have for sale (hopefully along with prices) up on the board, and a room number and/or a phone number. So most people go to the big Megatoyfan room, and also go room hopping with your goods to other people's room, just buying and selling, seeing what you can score. So yeah. It's a big swap-meet.
Also, the parts parties are going to be the only guaranteed place to find third-party releases. They're banned from the dealer room itself, although it's debatable how well-enforced the ban is.
Interesting! This is definitely something I'll have to look into. Not really up on the third-party stuff (cost and value of them are too different in my world), but if it's a chance to find some of my personal grails at lower prices, I'm game.
I would like to attend this. I do not plan on ever going to SDCC So there are no complaints from me. I do not understand the complaints. If people are going to attend both conventions it should not matter how close they are. It will still be expensive to 2 conventions as opposed to 1. How much money can people save if the conventions were further apart? I am not that into the theme Machine Wars but BotCon in general is fun. My only request is to have only new people in the customizing class so that the same people who have all of those custom toys do not hog up the new one. It is supposed to be a class, dammit. Experts who have attended previous classes already know how to customize the toys. Only the instructors should be allowed to attend repeatedly.
Yeah i defiently agree the parts parties are one of the funnest things at the con. I was at the 09 botcon, and mega and g1fan were both awsome to bs with and made me some great deals on some vintige g1 parts to complete my mirage, hound, couple of targetmasters and some botcon exclusives from previous years. Best deals i got there, and had fun doing it to. Oh and some advice, haggle, most dealers and people there will work toward a common price, but don't lowball, and asking a discount if you purchase a lot of things at once is a decent way to get a lower price.
I'm not really interested in picking up any vintage pieces (maybe a couple of Mini-bots for my fiancee), so if I'm hunting for Beast-era and onward, are the Parts Parties still a good thing to shoot for?
