I don't think that would end well for Hasbro. If there is no dealer room, there's not a lot of interest. Sorry, I'm not flying cross-country just to see pretties & hear VAs. I need to be able to also acquire some goodies that I've been hunting for. Sadly, both the 2 Targets & 2 Walmarts by my home suck at getting toys in stock. I have often filled in holes in the collection via a friend who lives in another part of metro-DC grab it from the stores near him or failing that, @ BotCon or AwesomeCon.
Or DragonCon - going strong for 20 years, to the point Fire Marshals have had to shut it down floors at times. (If anything, D*C is an example of the hazards of selling unlimited pre-registrations).
I am the same way. I am pretty picky about my toys. I prefer well made toys with more metal parts to the plastic stuff that is sold to kids to play with. Something on par to Masterpiece collection. I bought Legends class Jetfire. I buy most of my toys at TFcon and that is when I get most of them. The main draw is the artist for me.
This thing that we literally only know about as a name obviously fucking sucks and is a failure and a disaster and an insult. Realistically, this has been coming for a while. FP just couldn't get BotCon over the hump and make it a big show. Whether it was because they were content to keep raking in the $$$ from the 1000-ish diehards who were willing to drop $2k/yr for everything or because they didn't have the vision or the infrastructure or the huevos to go to the next level is irrelevant. Hasbro wants their own Star Wars Celebration, or at least the moving "Star Trek Official Convention" set up that's going on with that franchise. (In fact, I'd bet the license goes to either ReedPOP, who run SW Celebration and PAX; or Creation Entertainment, who do all the Trek/Supernatural shows...)
I was referring specifically to G4/FiM, what with the mention of 2012 and memetic popularity and all. But yes, you do raise a good point-- there are a lot of questions to be had here in regards to all the clashing properties that would end up under the hypothetical Hascon umbrella. At the same time, though, I think Hasbro realises this, and probably won't try to follow the BotCon model TOO closely in creating this new show. I mean, why would they-- they fired Fun Pub from running their official convention, I doubt Hasbro would do so only to basically copy their approach. As for the clash between tones, though, I think there's a lot to be said for crossover between fandoms-- there are a lot of TF and/or Joe fans out there who also like MLP, and similar combinations thereof, and if these same adult fans end up coming to HasCon, I doubt there'd be an especially large "fight" between them, especially if space is allotted for them all. Maybe I just have too much faith in humanity, but I want to believe that people wouldn't make trouble with one another in a public space simply over fandoms. And as for the kids, they'd probably just stick to their own sections and be too busy having fun to bother one another.
Last data I saw was MLP/Monopoly/TF/SW/Magic in 2014. That's leaving out Playskool, Nerf, and Play-Doh as "properties", because Nerf kicks the shit out of the rest of them. (and, FWIW, in an average year, SW and TF combined don't touch Hot Wheels alone.) http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-disney-princess-hasbro/img/toys_games_retail_2014_1200.png
I think keeping all of them sperated would be the most difficult part, but I do agree that any normal individual shouldn't have trouble staying in their parts. I'd bet that it might take a year or two for the staff to truly find a way to balance that out seeing as how it's something you can't exactlt predict. Both brands would have to have their own sections physically for news at least. (As both a TF fan and MLP fan this sounds like heaven though.) I mean, I've never been to Bronycon or Botcon(I've watched videos.) but I think the real clash is just different interests in itself.
Likely such a such a combo show would be much more expensive to attend than a typical BotCon has been. A larger show would also mean a more limited selection of venues and cities too. I'd much rather attend a smaller show dedicated to my #1 hobby: Transformers.
Stereotype much? My son most certainly wouldn't "take over", nor would his peers - male or female - that enjoy MLP. Not anymore than some of the unwashed smelly jackasses I've encountered at BotCon.
Brian Savage or FunPub owns the Copyright of "BotCon". Retains the name until such time as it's purchased. This from the horse's mouth.
Yeah, I mean who's ever heard of a major convention featuring various franchises of equally diverse fanbases?
this could be a convention based on the D23 format from Disney as well.... might show all of their brands instead of just transformers
Gods, please not Creation. Other than their annual ST 3-day event in Vegas, I no desire to ever again attend a Creation-run Con for any of the properties they Con for. Almost as much for 2 days, as it is for 4 for Dragon*Con, and almost/as expensive for signatures?? No TY.
HasCon, will travel. People are overreacting to the pony overlap, no surprise there. Bronies care about the show and fan art more than the toys, and there's not going to be a huge amount of that at a general Hasbro convention. It'll probably be comparable to Botcon 2012, where there were a handful of people on the showroom floor wearing foam pony ears and horns that they bought at the booth selling Starscream wings.
Let's let it happen, first. Then, and only then, we can truly pass judgment. You guys might be all like "OH HELL NAW" only to find out you could've had a good time and those who did attend really did enjoy the hell out of it. Might even be more affordable to attend since it's direct from the factory, no pun intended. Plus, since they have direct access to their own molds, exclusives might be more affordable and easier to obtain. I'm sure Hasbro's been listening to the complaints people have been having, perhaps this is their way of showing us that they're paying attention. I'm all for it.
