Just got home about 1 hour ago and finished unpacking.And I figured I'd post my thoughts on BotCon

Thursday

About late Thursday morning,early Thursday afternoon I went exploring the hotel area where the Con would be held. And let me tell you from my room to the Convention hall took like a 10 minute walk.AND I'M NOT JOKING  

And who did I meet, but J.E. Alverez.And I was surprised he recognized me from 2003 since I don't recall saying much to him AT ALL that year.But we got to small talking and stuff   But of course he was busy monitoring the set up so we couldn't talk long.Did manage to get my picture taken with him though which was cool.I managed to meet the guy who produces TF LiveWire,pretty nice guy IMO.

Then come 6pm and it's time to pick up my package.And let me tell you it WENT THROUGH SMOOTHLY.It was set up that they were 4 separate line corresponding to 4 or so letters of the alphabet.And 2-3 people from each line got the green light to go ahead.This IMO was smart as it made everything run well

I should mention that the pics we've seen of the boxset don't do it justice.The box is the size of a board game box.Picture a Monopoly box and that's how big the box is  

While in line I met Matt Armstrong from this board.We were both in the same line & I kind of made the connection.Also met Kurt Page a.k.a. Motor_Master,he was surprised that I picked him out like that   Also met Alphie and her husband,Alphie's a sweet one.Such a sweet personality

After exploring the area some more and scoring an Energon Downshift it was time for me to a)Put my stuff away in my room and b)Head down to the dinner party.Along the way I met Draven,got to small talkin' then headed off again.Along my way to the party I met Tricky Disco and Twin Twist.And ended up being fashionably late to MY OWN PARTY  

But the get together went great.I met Neospark1,TobeCat(who I pick out pretty quick to his surprise),KidDynamite & at least a half dozen other board members(However the faces/names escape me.I'll have to look at my pictures)After a decent dinner it was time for group pics

Afterward some people headed off to the MSTF panel which started at 10pm-12am.Me I pretty much just explored some more and met my roomies Soundwave.ca & CdnShockwave about 11:30pm

Overall a good start to the event for me.

Friday

Friday morning I headed off to see Alverez's figures panel.It was a good panel I have no complaints about it.Just that the drama the "No pics allowed" rule caused IMO WASN'T justified as I didn't think the figs were mind blowing.Just different

After that I had to meet Pete Sinclair.He chose me to be 1 of 2 assistants to Wally Burr over the course of the weekend  

Now Pete,he's an EXTREMELY nice guy.Definately not deserving of the "jackass" rep he has on some boards. The key with him is to simply BE NICE.He can accept critiques,just not the attitude.Over the course of the weekend we got to talking a bit.Even watched his booth for him a few times.I like to think he chose me as Wally's assistant because I tried to be the voice of reason/calming voice with all these heated BotCon threads over the past 2 months

I however didn't attend the Casino night so I can't comment on it.

Now Saturday and Sunday were mostly the same thing for me.A mix of a)Eating breakfast b)Shopping and c)Manning Wally's booth.

Dinner event

The dinner event was great.The food came within 5 mins of me sitting down.A meal consisting of rice,vegetable and beef covered in Saussage gravy.With strawberry cheescake as the desert.Sinclair,Burr,Chain & the Dobsons along with the winners of the voice contest did a skit on stage.It was very hilarious,ending with the Dobson's singing some song

The surprise was that there was one gift on the table.Everyone at every table was give a number and the person with the winning number got the gift which was an Alternator.I didn't win but wasn't mad as the gift at my table was Ravage & I just bought the BT version earlier that day

Memorable part of Saturday,I spent a good hour or 2 hanging with Brian Dobson. And let me tell you the Dobson's are a hoot TOTALLY hilarious.They were comfortable enough with me to make Canada cracks...which is okay since they're Canadian

Sunday

Sunday ended we me,Skywarp(of this board) and some woman who Motor_Master was hanging with eating breakfast with Alverez.And he asked us our candid opinions on the Con and the exclusives

Overall it was a GREAT weekend in my opinion.Only disappointment was that I never really managed to attend 1)The Hasbro Panel and 2)The Collector's Club roundtable.

Now the big question "Would I go to another BotCon" I suppose I would,I mean if I feel the need for some R&R and have the money/time.I see no reason why not to go

I personally think the Con's in good hands.It might be more expensive then we're used too.But it ran so smoothly that I feel I got my monies worth  

And the 2005 members I met were friendly.I'm not the most outgoing person,but I know my way around socializing with others 

I'm in the process of uploading my pics,so check the picture thread later.Like in 10 mins

 

Glad to see you had a good time. Sorry I didn't make it to the Thursday dinner. I got lost coming from DFW (I rented a car and drove myself) so I didn't arrive at my hotel (Hampton Inn) til 9 pm. I had a good time too. Met some nice people. Not sure if I would go again. Maybe I would if it was at a city where there was more of a night life. The con was cool and all but basically after 5 pm there wasn't much to do besides going out to dinner and not much else after that.

 

coughcoughAustincough It's just down the road a bit.  

No complaints about the convention proper, but if it's going to be in the DFW area (which I wouldn't be surprised if it is again next year), for the love of God, don't have it in Frisco. That's like one big suburb OF a suburb. I was surprised by how far out the damn thing was, and I live in downtown FW.

There's gotta be a place for it in Arlington. Just south of the airport, sandwiched between the D and the FW, easier access to downtown Dallas, closer to ALL the area freeways (20, 30, 35W/E), Rangers, Cowboys, Six Flags, etc., etc.

 

I've been to Austin and yeah, its a nice city to visit. I wouldn't mind going if they had it in Austin (or anywhere in Southern Cal where I'm from, lol).