What what what? That buffet was awesome the day we did it...my only gripe was that I'm not a fan of the wet style of scrambled eggs, I prefer them dry. Everything else though was great, even the bacon was cooked to the right consistency.

 

for my first botcon, i very much enjoyed it

 

As a dealer it was a good con.

Aside from that, I hate to say it, but the con seemed a little dull. Maybe that's just because it was an offmovie year and there really wasn't much in the way of new stuff going on. No new shows, no new toy lines, no new guests, etc. It's just an off year.

Here is a vid I made walking around the dealer room:
20120428_153400.mp4 - YouTube

 

This was our first botcon and WE LOVED IT! My oldest little girl wanted this for her birthday and she got everything she wanted and more! first thing she bought was a bumblebee hat and we walked by Dan's table and stopped and he hugged her, signed her hat and TOOK PICS OF HER THAT ENDED UP ON HIS FAN PAGE AND PERSONAL PAGE (that he ended up adding us to!) We were picked for peter cullen and he said happy birthday to her as optimus! It was amazing, my husband and I have a huge issues with over crowded spaces but it was absolutly perfect IMHO. Buster Jones, from what I was told, had just had eye surgery done and was having a few issues with his eyes on friday but by saturday afternoon was wonderful and he spotted my daughter in the dealer room from one of the panels gave her a big hug and took pics with her (again with her bee hat on, she refused to take it off) You know it was a good time when your kids asks when we can come back! Some of the prices from dealers seem OUTRAGOUS! Luckily I had a dealer buddy there and he pointed me to the right people (we totally <3 megamus, he made my hubby's weekend) and again not sticking to the limits for the exclusives pissed my hubby off to no end because by the time we decided to get them they were sold out... over all it was awesome! I loved it not being on a coast personally, we wouldn't be able to go otherwise

 

I love reading all the stories here, it really gives a feel for the experience to those of us who couldn't make it this year. Thanks to everyone for sharing, sounds like there was a lot to like, with enough drama and clandestine dealing to keep it all interesting.

I went to my first ever Botcon last year in Pasadena, and am hoping to go again soon. I would have liked to go, maybe i'll get to take my boys in the future.

 

I agree with most... Botcon this year was not the greatest, but it wasn't the worst.

The sales floor was smaller compared to last year's Botcon in Pasadena, but there were definitely good deals here and there... I managed to score a MISB Crystal Convoy for $150, a MISB Clear ROTF Prime for $190, a MISB Henkei Inferno for $50 and a MISB Transformers Generations Vol. 3 Exclusive Skids and Screech for $40.

The best part of the sales floor, at least in my opinion, was seeing what Azusa had for sale.

Throughout the convention he pulled out some awesome stuff, like he normally does at every Botcon, and I managed to score these from him...





The reveals were decent... The SDCC Exclusives look great, MP10 coming stateside was good news for those who didn't want to shell out $$$ for the Takara Tomy version, FOC Toys look promising as does the Subscription Figures.

Selling out of SG Junkions, TFCC Runamuck and SW's Headband sucked, but having friends pick them up for you at costs made me look over that fiasco.

The Hall of Fame was cool... Who doesn't like a free dinner?

Casino Night was fun, but I was more interested in going to the bar and having drinks with friends and hanging out with the girls from Health Source... Funny that nobody mentioned the other convention / conference going on right next door... This Botcon was packed with LADIES and it was cool hanging out with them... Definitely one of the best parts of the weekend.

So to sum it up, Botcon 2012 was cool and to me it was more of a social gathering where you got to meet and hangout with people that you normally know through user-names and interact with via keyboard on the internet... It's always nice to put faces on names and hangout with them in person.

Hopefully next year's Botcon will be bigger and better, but just as fun as they always are.

Also, to everyone I met and hung-out with (even for a brief time)... It was cool meeting you and/or seeing you again.  

 

Don't hang around Curamen, he'll just get you to spend all your money once he runs out of his own!

 

I can't help it... If I can't jump on a good deal, I'll pass it to the next person... You're lucky you were right next to me.  

Plus, you know that piece is hard to come-by and the price we paid for it was practically the cost of shipping from Japan.  

 

This was my first Botcon. And I had an amazing time. I haven't found any other tf fans in my neck of the woods so being around so many people that share my interest was amazing. Went in on Thursday night and got my boxset and exclusive without a hitch. (My surname being lopez, I went throught the almost nonexistant i-l line). And I really dig the exclusives this year.Overlord may not be a perfect match but he's close enough that a couple of third party add ons could go a long way. I felt the dealer room was just the right size, large enough to move around comfortably enough. I eschewed the autograph lines, but still bumped into Buster Jones and Gary Chalk, they're cool people. The mstf panel on Friday was hilarious. The tfcc, idw, Derrik Wyatt, and hasbro panels were amazing. And the peter cullen panel was heartwarming. Prices in the dealer room were great. But my hunting list is diverse enough that I was able to find something I wanted at just about every booth. Including Robot Masters Reverse Convoy and Lioconvoy for cheap. My small complaints? The auction event needs a few low dollar items. I only had 3000 credits and nothing started at that price. And my only other major complaint is Hasbro's dissmissal of the guy who asked the question about case assortments. And that only a handful of the figures revealed in the panel showed up in the display case. The lines were nuts, but being able to strike up conversation with anyone in line made the lines move that much quicker

 

This, so much of that went to dealers who just pooled it all to get stuff to sell. I will say though I am damn glad they did some kid stuff at the beginning, the kids all got something out of it. To hell if I did least my son scored  

 

That's me but I was in cosplay during the weekend...

 

His drunken realization that he knew me was pretty funny.  

 

Was you the G1 starscream?

 

It is kind of funny and sad when you think about how many of us probably ran into each other and never even knew it. Anyone who spent time in the dealer room probably at least passed by my booth, but I only met a handful of people I didn't already know.

 

I think if your Flea Marker sig is correct I was at your booth SEVERAL times rooting through your stuff. Think I might have gotten my son's G2 Grimlock from you as well.

 

Yeah i really dont remember what booth you was at but i probally did look at your stuff and didnt even know it was you. If i did i would of said hi and commented on your flea market finds as awesome.  

 

Hi. That was me. I used to be Happy but, apparently, the older I get, the more ornery I get. I've got from HappyCoconut to AngryCoconut to EnragedCoconut. I've been bouncing around VolatileCoconut for the near future.

Thanks for being entertained by my name  .

EC

 

Overall it was average. Nothing really wrong but nothing stand out either.

Tours were okay, but as usual I personally think they are too long. The two stadiums and lunch on Wednesday would have been enough. The JFK thing we did because we paid for it but rushed through it so we could get back and relax.

Thursdays tour was not so good, but I would have been happier if we had skipped the federal reserve and just done the stockyards.

If its a day trip to Six Flags or Universal or Nasa fine, but there would be nothing wrong with half or three quarter days in other cases. Whale watching, Hollywood tours, Stadium tours and stock yards didnt need an additional activity stuck on. Let us go back to the hotel and rest, its a long bloody weekend.

Registration was no better than normal, the golden ticket did nothing to improve general lines and didnt even appear that beneficial to those who paid for it.

Dealer room was about normal at least for what I wanted. Panels seemed okay but of less interest to me than the last few years. Hasbro having so little to show was disappointing.

Guests were all good, but I'm still not sure the Cullen autographs worked out. My brother who isnt really a fan but enjoys the trip was picked and only could make use of it because I had picked up a SDCC First Ed Prime. A friend who also wasnt that bothered also got his Prime signed but it was still two people who wouldnt have chosen to line up meeting him. It also felt a little impersonal because of the speed everyone went through.

I know people like autographs but I wonder if photo sessions with a nice piece of Prime artwork behind wouldnt be better. Peter Cullen could be sat on a stool and not having to sign might allow him to go a bit longer. Say hi shake hands pose have photo taken and move on, quicker than signing and the photos would provide a little more of a personal memento and potentially eliminate people getting things signed to sell, I have no idea if that is an issue, but certainly wouldnt be with photos.

Toys were a mixed bag. I prefer a stronger theme which supports any weaker figures, but individually there were some really good ones so I cant overly complain about a few duff ones.

Social side of things was as always the best part of it.

Overall: well I was on the fence about next year and honestly this year has done nothing to convince me to go next year.

 

It was kinda...meh. I always go with the wife, but this year I made an effort to actually meet people. I went to several parts parties, like sidecutter's and megamus. It was pretty cool. I picked up a few cool 3rd party items.

The hotel was pretty swank, but I would have preferred the frisco location, with it being within walking distance of the mall and the super kick butt breakast buffet that was complimentary. Glad we werent anywhere near that bar on a low floor, as it was noisy there into the wee hours...yeah the chiro girls were hot....some of them anyways.

All in all it was pretty underwhelming. One of the coolest things was David Kaye remembering me from the 2007 convention. We only talked briefly then, but it was still cool he remembered.

The dealer room....gets less impressive each year. Nothing against the dealers, but the difference between even 2005 and this one was stark. Most prices were even more ridiculous than ebay. $900 for an ok condition boxed trypticon!?....not to mention dealers going UP on prices as the convention went on. Crap like $100-$120 for FE bulkhead, $100 for HA soundwave....I look on ebay and see HA soundwave for $65 shipped. Captive audience I know but come on. There were some deals to be had, but they were few and far between, other than the usual good booths, like the japanese guys and bodhar. There was really no difference from ordering the stuff online. After you get over the spectacle of seeing boxed G1 items and super rare pieces, the magic kinda fades.

Peter Cullen panel was pretty OK, though it had the obligatory someone gushing about cullen being their surrogate dad, the super wierd eye rolling groan inducing question from some girl (I am beginning to think its the same girl every year-do cyber sheep sleep? or wtf ever she asked several years ago) and several people that felt the need to give a personal monologue rather than ask a question. The only one I am cutting a break is the guy who had obvious disabilities, though it did get pretty awkward. Cullen handled it like a champ though.

Casino night....should be handled better. I didnt even know they were playing bingo downstairs until like 10:30. Someone just randomly mentioned it, and there were no signs. Also how is it people get ridiculous sums of credits, like in the 40,000 range? from the charity balloons? I KNOW people cant just be buying up all that phoney money, because if you dont buy anything its worthless after the auction, and neither blackjack or 21 have very high payouts. Really makes going to the auction kinda pointless other than spectacle. Oh yeah TFW staffers, the 'YEEEEEPPP!!!" was slightly chuckle worthy the first time...eye rolling by like the 70th one.

Since I am always with my wife, i dont get to meet that many people, so its always more about the toys, the reveals, and the selection of purchasable merchandise..all of which were meh this year. I really dont see going to another con unless I absolutely LOVE the set, or I can piggyback a vacation onto it, like vegas or disney. I only went this year because it was only a few hours drive.