Fan Art and Customs From Botcon 2009

Friday, May 28th:

Well, after arriving at 9pm, to pick up my Attending Figures and Registration info, we wait outside for a lil, talking to my fellow TF fans. How cool!


Though the line was quite long (about and hour and a half to get to the Registration Table) the line for the Club Store was even longer.

At about 1:15, I head back to the hotel, tired, but hapy to be at my first BotCon, all toys in hand! Woo-Hoo!!

Saturday, May 29th:

Back at around 9 am, I was able to set u my custom for the contest. There, I ran into the man Kingbotz, and his AWESOME entry. I wasn't able to take pics, but it was short, as we were ushered out, as the dealers were setting up in same area.


From there, me and Roykop hung out, and checked out the TFA Panel, hearing the animators (Derek Wyatt FTW!!) and watching out takes and clips of the show.


Later, I ran into Roberto and Scott, the writers of the TF movie. As we talked about old times (Yeah, right! ) they were cool enough to snap a pic with me.



Well, off to lunch, and back later for more BotCon madness.

The custom contest has some great entries, ans some PRETTY stiff competition. I took pics of most but, mainly of some of my favorite stuff.


The last one is an AWESOME piece by the man KINGBOTZ. I would be happy to lose to this entry! Unfortunately, I think they included my Prime's wingspan in with his measurements so, I was moved over into the diorama competition. However I've had SOOOOOOO much fun, for no worries!

I also got to meet one of my favorite bashers, and a huge helper in my customs work, Tony of TonyzCustoms!!!! I think I scared him a lil....I was all sweaty


The customs competition winners won't be announced until after the party on Saturday, so we'll all know then. have a look at the attachments to see even more pics.

dude i wish I could be there to meet all you guys I am stuck working in ohio dam

Yeah and IM stuck with these BOZOZ! (looks at family) Yeah man have fun. looks great

DUDE !!! *is jealous*, ..................
I can't believe I have to wait a whole year to meet you.

Awesome stuff, bud!

I'll be there next year for sure....I wanna see contest results! I thought that was today

We gotta give people time to enjoy the con themselves though

Patience, young Padawan

contest is saturday. btw, Earl, they probably were kind enough to let you take a picture with 'em cause they were scared of you they're quite a bit smaller'n you are!

I am going to assume Redline and Superquad are over 7 feet also. I'm pretty sure Alphamagnus is up there, Autobotx23 seems about 9ft tall ...is there a height conspiracy and minimum for Radicon Mods? hehe.

, seems that way don't it

We rightly can't disappoint Kickback's quote of the Radicons.

Hell I'm glad that you're sharing your experience with all of us. Thanks! Oh and definately post the pics of all the contest entrants tomorrow if you get a chance...i'm eager to see a few of them especially yours autobotx23.

Apparently we have some scaling issues

well, Autobotx23 its great to see one of my Radicon idols enjoying himself. since i'm sixteen, i can't go to BotCon. But i'm happy that ROTF figures showed up in the Valley here (because the valley usually gets figures MONTHS after their release date), so here's hoping you win the Custom Contest!

OK, this is killing me !!!!!

Somebody has to know who won ?
Am I fixing to celebrate or RIOT ?!?!?!?

Hey! I'm a contender then! 6 foot 7 and 315 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal. (Okay only 220 pounds of it is twisted steel and sex appeal, the rest is just lard-a$$)


I too must know the winners! ABX23, I need more pics PLEEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Updated!!!

They don't announce the winner until at the Paramount Party Saturday night, so Ill let you guys know this evening.

How the hell is your Prime considered diorama ???

Awesome stuff E!!....good to see Tony there too....

I'm glad you guys are having a blast man....wish I was there with you guys.

Ah well...TFCon 2010 right?!!....that goes for you too Tony

Fixed

Not bad but I actually expected more entries. Seems to be going down every year.

My predictions:

Paperformers Drift (My favorite)

Animated Swindle Plush

Burn-Out Prime


Anything scratchbuilt tends to win over repaints.





The diorama's, especially the Animated ones, are fantastic!

They are!! i really liked the one with prowl and Bumblebee in the winter forest. I didn't know about the scratchbuild, but that Drift Paperformer rocks hard! He'd be a well deserved win, if he gets it. I was all worked up about winning, but the contestants I got to meet while setting up have all been so cool. Believe it or not, that 24" Prime is scratchbuilt!!! How sweet is that!!!

I was also looking forward to meeting you, sir, but hopefully I can do that in the future. Bring HOS Megs!!!

Definitely ax23! Hopefully next year.


Wow! That Prime is really 24" tall? At first glance I thought it was a MP Prime with extra detailing. The knees threw me off but I stand corrected. Very nice custom!


On a side note, how about the Hasbro Panel discussing companies like Fansproject? I wonder if Hasbro will really be pursuing legal action against them or if it's a threat?

If I had a guess (I do! ) I'm betting their beef is the springer and the "junkion" they have penned for future release, and not the rodimus armor or that elephant TF. I think they might pursue action, yes, and possibly not just those Asian companies, either.

Lobo, I think the number of entries is going down each year due to frustrations over the way these things are judged. If they would actually come out with a good list of guidelines, people would actually UNDERSTAND just WTF the judges look for and people wouldn't have such a bad taste in their mouths.

where is all the the parts of that tetra jet in 'bot mode? I see PART of the top area is on the sides of the shins, but the rest? I smell parts-former

As do I! But for a "model" or 3D example, it does rock hard!

oh I agree. I've been wanting to figure out a way to actually pull one off all the way for awhile now. I have to admit that allen's been prodding me about it for quite a while. In fact, he brought it up, as it was something I'd dismissed eons ago as I didn't think I myself was capable of pulling one off, but maybe...

You met Orci and Kurtzman!? Lucky lol

I noticed this person in one of your pics:


Holy shit, is that, Cleaveland from Family Guy?

I'm giddy that Hasbro has made Slipstream an official Seeker name. fook-yeah! Gen Magnus and I be trippin' now!

Awesome!!!

wow, awesome stuff. Tony looks exactly like I thought he would hehe.

Look who showed up at Botcon too...our pal Frenzy

Cool art!

What's the story on that Optimus? At first I thought it was just an MP repaint, but then I actually looked at it. Who did it, what's it made out of, etc etc?

Great pics, thanks man!

This. The pictures alongside it make it seem like a fully scratch-built, perfect-transformation Optimus Prime! I read the Radicons forum quite frequently, so I thought I knew what to expect of the Botcon entries, but this Prime took me completely by surprise.

Who made it? Can we have a gallery???

*Right-click Save-as* LOL Thanks man! Was so great meeting you(and your wife). Post up the pic of us with Ratchet too!!!(mine didn't come out as nice I think.)


After talking to Earl I really am going to try for next year far as it may be.

If I remember right it was all on his back. Not sure if they had to be taken off and plugged back in or not though.


Wish you came punk, me and Earl wanted to see ya(and Autobot X).

Somebody share the results !!!!!!
You guys are killing me !!!!!

yeah i,ve noticed that too that there seems to be less entries... it,s really a shame because allot of incredible pieces out there arent shown at botcon.. i didnt realise it was because of the judging... what are the guidelines anyway ?

hasbro better get with the F%#@ing program.... fan made toys and accessories, whether for profit or not, only helps hasbro.... i have bought figures i wouldnt normally buy, simply because i could buy and add on kit to make a somewhat shitty figure worth my dollar.... if hasbro pursues any legal action, theyll have lost one collector who has spent over 100k over the last 25 years on their plastic crack.... Hasbro get with the program.... does an auto manufacturer sue people for after market parts which in some cases are superior? do computer and parts manufacturers sue people for making a better fan or cooling system to enhance system performance? i think the fan projects only enhances things.....

i hope an exec at hasbro or tomy/takara realizes pursuing any action will hurt their intellectual property way more than any money these guys would make.... or just hire them on to make add on kits or do the damn transformers right.

well thats my 2 cents and now im broke....

I really can't pick out which I like more than the other. They're ALL amazing pieces of work.

But my god that Unicron piece blew me away!!!

I call bullshit on Hasbro trying to stop FP. FP is bright enough to rename the characters, and frankly, that's all then need to do. As long as there are subtle changes from the Habsro owned variation they will be find. Look at all the KO stuff, most those companies even use the same names and hasbro images.

They *might* send a letter or recommendation to turn it down a notch, or mention that "we are watching" but you can't stop a company from making robot that transform into other things. Hasbro doesn't have a patend on that concept.

He calls himself Maidenjapan on RJ. Here is a thread of his building process!

Link

lol same here.

wow, that 24 inch optimus prime is amazing. a lot of great customs.

Botcon 2009 - BotCon/Other Convention Customs Contest Entries - TFW2005.COM

Botcon 2009 - BotCon/Other Convention Fan Art Contest Entries - TFW2005.COM

Two galleries have been added, one for the customs entries and another for the fan art! MAJOR props to Cataclizm1 for sharing the images!

If ANY of you have any images you'd like to share, by all means contact us!

all awesome stuff, but who/what won???

Calm down, bro! Though i justgot homr, dead tired and decidedly poorer, here we go!

3D Custom Figure Contest Winners:

1st Place: Azusa Fuzita: WST Six-Shot (It was sweet!!!)
2nd Place: Edwin DeLong: Paperformer Drift (Radicons!!! Woo-Hoo!!! )
3rd place: Randy Kinser: Peel-Out Prime

3D Diorama Contest Winners:

1st Place: Daisuke Fukuda: Ultimate Optimus Prime ()
2nd Place: Colin Betts: A Bridge Too Far
3rd Place: Vernon Moore : Plasma Burn

2D Color Art Winners:

1st: Teresa Levy
2nd: Louis Simmons
3rd: Kelsey Zeisser

2D Computer Art:

1st: James Deceptichop
2nd: Peter Billingham
3rd: Chooper

2D B&W Art:

1st: Vernon Moore
2nd: Jeffery Witty
3rd: Patrick Kennedy

I did a quick survey from photos of the past few conventions and came up with this. Numbers are just ballpark. But here's the number of entries just for the 3-D figure.

2004 - 20 entries
2005 - 8 entries
2006 - 37 entries
2007 - 34 entries
2008 - 25 entries
2009 - 26 entries

Going down a little but not much. A lot of it IMO has to do with the location of the convention and how many regular kitbashers can attend.



I think the criteria for judging is pretty straight forward. The judges sheet is shown in the contest guidelines for BotCon's main page. Modeling, Kitbashing, Originality, etc., the descriptions are there. The "Judge's Overall Impression" is the kicker. I think the judges would be more impressed with a mediocre scratchbuild over a excellent repaint. It may not be perfect but Hasbro is judging the contest. I think they'd rather see something new then a figure they made slightly reworked.

My major beef with it is the cards. They're too vague. And just looking at the new gallery, not many people fill them out properly. Why in the hell is 24" Prime, Redemption Prime, Monstructor and Piranacon listed as Dioramas? Apparently my definition of a diorama varies greatly with everyone else.

"Tell us about your work and what inspired you". Well they give you about 3 lines on an index card to fully describe everything that went into making your custom. I guess hit the high points and hope it impresses the judges. Definitely list materials\figures used.

And "How long did it take you to make it?" Who cares? If it took you 1 hour or 20 years it shouldn't have anything to do with the judging.

I agree with you with those points, particularly with the amount of space left on the card. As far as the categories go, I believe that some were moved to diorama due to size constraints. I asked a few times why my piece was moved to 3D diorama from 3D custom figure, but no one gave me an answer (I asked Brian and Mrs. Savage, but they seem aloof/non concerned.)

However, I have to say that it was AWESOME, meeting the other contestants and sharing/retrieving bits of knowledge from them all. I am disappointed I didn't win, but I don't feel ripped or robbed in any way. I'm glad I got a "Participant" ribbon, and my fig had pics taken, a few folks drooled over it.

size does not a diorama make. a diorama is a frickin' SCENE. it bugs me to no end. Also, I think it's not only malarky, but actually really UNCOOL for the judging to go the way it does. It makes anyone who's not a master feel like there's no point in even entering if all they can do is repaint figures or minorly modify one. seriously, it stinks, and I find that to be the root of what is wrong with the contest, too.

Nice pics man... hope to meet you at the next con

Was the Sixshot done by the guy who does the WST stuff every year? Like the springer and such?