The structure of the show will inherently change by adding X, Y and Z. Also, for those who enjoyed Fun Pub's method of "convention for elites with the $$$", this will also probably fundamentally change. I'd be surprised to see admission and a 5-piece box set rolled into one $400 price point from here on out. Instead, you'll probably go through a similar ticket process, ala Comicon. This is good AND bad. Good in that you don't have to pony up for exclusives out of the gate. Bad in that you may end up standing in line and missing out on panels while you're waiting for an exclusive set of repaints.
I know Hasbro could put on a much larger convention. My point was if they did an all brands together, that it's possible that over a 3 day weekend, less focus would be put on Transformers. It is possible to give each major brand a Botcon sized con that all happen simultaneously. I'll wait and see before passing any judgement. A Hasbro run show certainly adds a lot of possibilities.
I have the impression that Hasbro doesn't know or care what their adult fans want, and a sinking feeling that an event like this would serve up mediocre content geared toward their primary audience (children) with Hasbro expecting us to lap it up. I don't trust them to overcome this disconnect to be able to put all of their lines in one event in a way that makes everyone feel like they have enough content relevant to their interests.
Please be respectful of other hobbies / franchises. We don't need posts shaming or making fun of other brand's fans.
I'm sure Hasbro sees the horizon. What's the average age of a Botcon Attendee? 40? 45? JoeCon is probably even older. They want the target demographic family event, not the senior citizen collector con.
I question that assumption. FunPub was in the business of putting on conventions. That's what they knew how to do, and that's what their entire business was built around Hasbro has NOT been in the business of putting on conventions. Any effort they put toward this is a fraction of their enterprise. I simply cannot believe that a "Hasbro brands" convention can exist without the Transformers portion of that convention being diminished compared to what BotCon was.
I feel the same. You can't really judge a convention without seeing how the first one goes. It could be a complete mess but it could also be something great with each brand getting a time to shine, we won't know until the first one is held. However I still don't like the name. Said it before and I'll say it again, HasbroCon would've been a better choice, no need to abbreviate something that sounds worse when abbreviated.
But what about the non-major brands? What about vintage brands? Considering they worked directly with FunPub to organize BotCon for 24 years. Uh, no. This would be a good thing. As when we're old and dead it's going to be younger fans who keep the franchises going. Well, duh. You can't give any brand the same focus in a joint con as a focused, exclusive convention. That's why fan conventions exist. To give those brands that are strong enough to carry that fanbase a place to celebrate it specifically. That's been TFCon's role in the past few years. And now that role will be even bigger w/ Botcon likely going away to be replaced by a larger brand convention.
Indeed. Panels normally reserved for Transformers voice actors may now be scheduled for GIJoe toy vehicle designs, MLP voice actors or a "look back" at Visionaries and what we can expect in the future. While none of those are bad, in unto themselves, they can't help but scale back what was once an official TRANSFORMERS convention. Time will tell if this is a good or bad thing, overall. But for those who only want a focus on all things Transformers, the fan conventions will be where the goods are.
This is pretty much it exactly. Bring as many fans together as possible. As far as the dealers go, I'm sure that Transformers will still dominate the bulk of their booths, but almost all of them offer more items/product lines. I'm sure the dealers would clean house having G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, Gem and all their other stuff there. Seems like this is a great idea if it's what we spect it to be.
They didn't end Botcon. They just didn't extend the license to FunPub. FunPub can still run a BotCon if they wanted to...it just wouldn't be officially affiliated with Hasbro...meaning no more Hasbro toy exclusives.
Botcon isn't becoming HasCon, Hasbro is starting HasCon. Can you imagine being the fan of literally any other Hasbro property right now and seeing a bunch of Transformers fans acting like they're the only ones who matter? And if FunPub doesn't run BotCon, there's thankfully also TFCon which seems to be getting more and more positive feedback as time goes on.
BotCon was the official license for conventions based on the Transformers property. With the license ending, BotCon can still exist - it just won't be "official" anymore. However, I doubt Brian Savage would run the show(s) without the official tagline with it or without the free push of money from Hasbro on certain expenses. He doesn't seem the type to throw away a lot of disposable income with no guarantee of recouping those expenses. HasCon looks to be the official Hasbro convention - which allows all Hasbro-owned properties to be featured. All those board games, NERF (the #1 boy's toy), My Little Pony, Transformers, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., Littlest Pet Shop, Jem, etc. Others have stated the benefits of this. Having a show you have to "share with bronies", or "fearful Hasbro will focus more on MLP than Transformers" is really insignificant. You want an official Transformers-based show? Apparently Hasbro didn't think an official one had the legs to continue to be sustained any longer. Let me introduce you to TFCon or one of the many other fan-run conventions across the United States and Canada. But it's still early. So let's see how it plays out.
Unless you're a G.I.Joe collector, in which case it's gonna be another round of 'maybe something interesting next year'.
We're the only ones whose major, 22-year-old convention is ending to have this take its place. And monetarily, aside from MLP, we pretty much are the only ones who matter. We're the only ones with a successful billion-dollar movie series, certainly. TFCon will undoubtedly move further into the 3rd party scene from here on. If you don't buy 3rd party, or if you're a dealer who doesn't sell 3rd party, there's decreasing incentive to attend TFCon.
I think a lot of people are overlooking the fact that this could be absolutely huge and encompass of all of the best pieces of all of the franchises. If they decided to have this thing in a major convention center (i.e. Vegas) and rent out the bulk of the convention space, we can get everything we want and then some. Don't overlook the fact that Hasbro has significantly more resources to throw at this thing than FunPub or any other smaller outfit. I'm going to be optimistic and hope that this thing is better than any of the other conventions that focus on a single brand.
If they decide to combine all their properties into one convention the tickets will be almost as unobtainable as SDCC. It will just drive the diehards to TFCON and expose them to more 3P stuff than they would've been exposed to at Botcon (which they obviously have a problem with hence all the 3P banning). I just see this doing the exact opposite of what they're trying to achieve. Personally I prefer TFcon anyway. It's a way more laid back atmosphere, and I actually get to buy exclusives I care about. Where else can you get a Croctimus Prime?
