Possible. But it just strikes me funny that out of the plethora of BW actors, they get a G1 actor replacement instead.

The "fault" lies in where, as I said above, they had a lot of choices for the BW 20th. Its possible but not totally believable that NO ONE was available.

It all just smacked of "Since its our last 'Con, we didn't try that hard"

 

At the very least, why not Chalk, the original Primal? You'd think he'd be on their short list.

 

To be fair if they really felt that way with it being their last 'Con they could've just said screw it, we're not getting anyone else to fill the opening. They were able to get Venus when Alec Willows cancelled so you know they had Beast Wars in mind, but after Scott had to drop out I'm guessing the Beast Wars voice actor pool just dried up.

Again they may have reached out to try and get him for the convention and he just had other things to do, it happens.

 

They lost Dinobot so they got a Dinobot.

 

... Fun Pub is also a corporation...

 

You know, I'm kinda surprised they didn't get Richard Newman. He was having financial struggles not long ago. He'd have been a great one. On a side note, I just watched an old X-Files episode with Blu Mankuma in it. Turned to my girlfriend and told her, I've met him! Both were guests at Botcon 06, which was my first. The guests were always around or heading out to smoke. This was years before I quit still. Even got to speak to Peter Cullen three separate times. Got to thank him for coming and shake his hand before getting into his car to leave. I got one on one time with all of them that year but Ms. Newstone. Did get her to sign the box and she was perplexed as to why because her character wasn't on the box. It didn't matter, she was just as important as her colleagues and deserved as much spotlight.  

 

So, your complaint is that, to replace a BW actor, they found a non-BW actor?

There are still 2 BW actors there, and I dispute any suggestion that, because of the anniversary, all actors must/should be BW-related. As long as it's represented, the anniversary is, as well. I, for one, am glad to see a non-BW actor in the mix (even if it's one I've already met from a previous convention).

 

There are 2 other BW voice actors. It's also the Animated Movie's 30th anniversary, so Gregg Berger makes sense. There is nothing wrong with hoping it would be someone different or someone who hasn't been before, but given that FP could have left it with 3 guests instead of 4 shows me that they are trying, they could have easily saved the money and given themselves a bonus at the end of the year.

This is where things get spun out of control. When people fill in the blanks of what's happening behind the scenes. We will never know all that the club goes through to put this convention together. Criticizing FP for something that's beyond their control (voice actor cancelling), seems a little over the top. When FP tries to make up for that loss by adding another actor, even if you don't prefer that actor over another, really comes across as "I just want to hate FP".

 

Yes.  

I'd watch that.

I feel they kept missing the opportunity to get VA's from the more current shows, none of the RID VA's have been to BotCon outside of like Peter Cullen.

Will Friedle, Khary Payton or Troy Baker would have been neat.

 

I would certainly have welcomed VAs from the more current shows. I still have an unopened Knock Out figure I'd hoped to someday get Daran Norris to sign.

 

Troy Baker should have attended BotCon, along with Friedle and Kevin Pollak. I'd be open to paying the Special-Guest-Fee ($130.00 for Nelson) for Pollak. He's a great comedian and actor.

 

Current RID voice actors would have made the convention a must go to for my son and I. He loves RiD and for him to meet some of the voices would have made his day.

 

They can also try John DiMaggio too. I mean Besides RID currently, he was also in the Movies.

 

I don't "hate FP", I've enjoyed FP's Botcons that I've attended, and I'm not criticizing them over a VA cancelling. It happens. My criticism is based on my pet peeve over a repetitive glitch in their planning - guests. And once again, I'm not disrespecting the guests that have attended. They all have been an amazing part of something I love so much. I just question why FP has always chosen from such a shallow pool for their main guests, and heck, even their alternates seem from a short list. You could argue til the cows come home about who could attend and who could not, but with such a huge pool of talent across over 30 years of Transformers, I feel they should've had a wider variety of guests over the 12 years, especially at key "anniversaries", and definitely since this is to be their last Botcon.

I don't know why Hasbro has cut ties with FP. Maybe its simply a "business decision" like they state. But if it ever was a win/lose type of decision, I can't say that their choices of guests was ever solidly in that win column. Of course, neither has the toy sets or their choice of venue.  

 

There is so much to take into consideration for guests. Since so many conventions you have to pay for the autographs, maybe some guests don't do free signings, even if they're getting an appearance fee.

I'm not surprised that the replacement guest is someone who has been to several Botcons. Given it's about a month away, they need to have flight, hotel and schedule figured out for who ever they get. Having a guest they're already familiar with makes it a lot easier.

I view all their guests in the win column. Sure I would have preferred different guests year to year, but that's because I attended 8 Botcons in a row. While I may have seen a particular guest a couple times, there will always be some who have never had the chance to meet them.

You seem to want more Beast Wars voice actors, which is fine. Beast Wars compared to some of the other series has been pretty well represented over the years. G1 obviously gets a huge chunk of the focus.

You're right there is so much talent over the 30 years for them to have several guests back for 2nd, 3rd, 4th time.

 

I'm willing to bet that you would agree with the vocal group of others that have considered Pasadena a poor "choice of venue" (or, perhaps just that they've used it so often? Either way, if I'm mischaracterizing you, I apologize in advance).

What is seldom acknowledged is that, while Pasadena may indeed be harder for fans to get to (those that don't already live here, of course), it tends to be much easier for the majority of potential voice actor guests. I've never done a full survey of past conventions, but the data is all there on BotCon's site for anyone who wishes to do so. I'd be willing to bet that Pasadena BotCons have had more and better guests than most non-CA BotCons.

Guests cost money, after all.

 

Actually my criticism of "choice of venue" would mean holding the convention in California 3 out of 5 years recently.

 

More or less what I said, then.

California is far easier and cheaper to get guests to. Harder for fans, yes, but easier and cheaper for them. That's the inevitable trade-off.

 

Yeah, but the convention will never be ideal for a lot of people. I'm personally still waiting for San Diego Comic Con to come to Washington State.  

 

Got a question, can't remember if it's been addressed: I have a subscription that I bought on April 3 of last year. Is it going to auto-renew this coming April 3? I've tried buying a new subscription on that account and it won't let me as the current subscription is still active.