BotCon 2000, the seventh annual US national Transformers fan convention, conducted in organizer 3H Enterprises' backyard of Fort Wayne, Indiana at the Grand Wayne Center from 28-31 July 2000, was a great success. My own reports, reviews and synopses on the individual components follow. Text is copyright Phillip Thorne and The Non-Sequitur Express, ©2000, all rights reserved. Page last updated 7 November 2000.
Glen Hallit, Jon Hartman, Karl Hartman
Sunday, 13:30-15:00
Many conventions feature a final panel (variously called the debriefing, organizers panel, Q&A, or wrap-up) at which the organizers summarize attendance statistics, and entertain questions, comments and suggestions about the prior few days. [Disclaimer: the following synopsis is to the best of my recall and incomplete scribbled notes; plus I left midway through the panel to retrieve my Quintesson masks from the art room. Statements have been rearranged into topical clusters. Any misrepresentations or misquotes are entirely my fault.]
First, Glen thanks all the staff members, announces Dan Khanna is now BotCon's primary art provider, that the charity auction raised $2000, and mentions his daughter was born on 9 October. There were 1138 preregistrants and over 400 walk-ins, continuing the trend of ever-greater attendance.
Problems of prior years
Registration and dealers room lines have historically been a problem, and 3H made that a priority at BC00; they believe they solved it.
The art/display room
Amid the twenty tables and thousand packaged items of the Hartmans' comprehensive Transformers collection, including the latest "Beast Machines" toys, there was one notable absence: Rattrap, of which prototype photos have been released. It seems his release has been pushed back to 2001.
The contests
No, 3H admits, they didn't go quite as planned. The contests themselves were off in an untraveled corner, and while a single sign announced the timeslots, it was in an inconspicuous location; additional signs scattered about the GWC were planned, but failed.
The dealers room
3H intended to publish a map/index of the room, but had to abrubtly alter the layout when they realized there was only a four-foot aisle alongside the BotCon merchandise booth -- an incipient fatal traffic snarl. One attendee mentions the massive crowd queued for the dealers room, and how it obstructed access to the adjacent panel room. He suggested opening the dealers earlier, or the panels later, so the rush could subside.
Where will BotCon 2001 be?
Can I recommend a location?
Will it ever visit Canada?
3H doesn't know yet, but they will be dictatorial about the choice. As mentioned in prior years, location depends on availability (in July, BotCon's preferred month) and venue rental price. BotCon's attendance has now reached an awkward number; Ft.Wayne's the Grand Wayne Center is just the right size for current volume and traffic, but most other possibilities are too large or small. 3H's database indicates most attendees are from the US midwest. Future BotCons will most likely *not* be in Canada, because of (a) the hassle of dealers going through Customs and (b) mass currency exchanges. Yes, Canadian attendance is rising, but it's still a minor fraction. Anyway, Rochester NY is very near Toronto ONT.
BC97's plans for theatrical showings of TF:TM were thwarted when 3H discovered all the prints were in France. Recently however, a fan (one Andrew Southam) assembled a complete copy, and made it available to 3H. The original BC2k plan was to shuttle the 1100 preregistrants in four shifts to a 300-seat theater several miles away, but at the last minute the 2400-seat Embassy Theater (a restored 1928 movie palace adjacent to the GWC) had a cancellation. This (a) made for a superior experience and (b) reduced 3H's costs considerably. Andrew has extended an open offer to loan the print whenever it's needed.
(Incidentally, this was not only the first theatrical screening for at least one seven-year-old whose eyes gleamed afterward (according to her mother), but for Glen Hallit as well.)
Why was the Hasbro timeslot altered?
Can we screen in the future to avoid offensive questions?
Why don't they answer certain questions?
The Hasbro reps' flight changed to an earlier hour. The reps are here as a courtesy, not an entitlement, and while tough questions may be warranted, insulting ones are simply impolite. 3H will probably include slips of paper in BC01's registration packs, so that questions can be pre-screened. This may also cut down on repeats and unanswerables. [Before BC00, Rob Powers (??) suggested on r.t.t.m. that a queue be front-loaded with useful questions; a better cross-section can be achieved that way.]
Some questions are beyond their purview (an engineer won't know about marketing) or expertise (1984 toys), others are confidential (future releases), and others are simply irrelevant (comics, TV) -- to these, the only responses will be puzzled glances or polite evasion.
Ace Fipke of Mainframe canceled, because he was promoted to VP of Creative Development. (See www.mainframe.ca/ABOUTUS/MEDIA/index.html#apr11_00)
3H tries to get Frank Welker (Megatron, Soundwave) *every* year, and he'd love to attend (he canceled for BC97, but sent a recorded message). They've even tried to get him just for the dinner, but he's in such demand that he's *always* busy.
3H keeps a tight lid on the identity of the exclusive merchandise, because people like to be surprised. If they shared the secret with even *one* outsider, it would inevitably get loose.
This year's exclusives were Shokaract (a Rampage redeco) and Apelinq (TM-Optimus Primal); the latter made only a cameo appearance in the "Omega Point" comic exclusive, but will be significant in next year's storyline.
Where was Cataclysm?
How about a recolored Aerodrone called "Starscream"?
How about a Unicron?
How about a Headmaster Arcee?
How about (insert G1 toy)?
How about (insert Japanese toy)?
Many fans believed one toy exclusive would be Cataclysm, a character from the Furman "Omega Point" story; this was not an intentional red herring. As Glen pointed out, his appearance on the promotional poster did *not* imply a future incarnation in plastic.
"Beast Machines" toys are not yet available to 3H for redecos (repaints), and the name "Starscream" might not be either; the trademarks of many of the G1 characters have lapsed.
(Related: This affects 3H in several ways. They had to argue with Hasbro to include the name "Blurr" in the program book to identify John Moschitta's character; Hasbro insisted the (tm) mark *not* be attached. One exclusive concept was a bound copy of Marvel's "Transformers Universe," but no-one seems sure how many names have lapsed, and a trademark search for each costs $600-$800.)
[Author's note: apparently it's more complicated than just searching the US Patent and Trademark office database at www.uspto.gov. For instance, look up "bonecrusher," "silverbolt" or "jetstorm." Hmmm, it seem's Hasbro's patent attorney is one Kurt R. Benson. And "botcon" is registered to one Jonathan Hartman of Kendallville IN.]
"I have an idea to make everyone happy," suggests one fan. "Get a Retrax, painted as Unicron, and a pink Arcee as the Headmaster." The rotund Unicron prototypes from 1986 (seen at BC96 and on the web) do not have molds, therefore toys cannot be made. Custom toys are just as impossible, due to the enormous cost of design and tooling. Many of the G1 molds are worn out, but Hasbro isn't sure which. 3H couldn't request a *specific* figure; Hasbro'd have to test each mold in turn for safety (presumably of the plastic output), charging each time. Also, many G1 figs are boring without their decals, and *those* have to be safety-tested as well. Finally, many of the Japanese toys don't meet U.S. safety standards.
The plate
The 300 Friday night dinner attendees each received a boxed ornamental plate with an image of Optimus Prime, Megatron and Cybertron. 3H has wanted to do a commemorative plate for some time, but only this year located a manufacturer.
The comic
Andrew Wildman (computer coloring/effects) and Geoff Senior (pencils/inks) were former freelancers, but they've both recently gotten full-time jobs; in computer graphics and at Helicopter Graphics (UK), respectively. As such, the artwork didn't get produced until late, and 3H missed the deadline for the printer. Instead, they had to use a local Ft.Wayne shop, one not equipped to easily do a 40-page comic; the per-copy price came out at $9.25, not $4.20. In regards to future four-color efforts: exclusive control of the Transformers property has reverted to Hasbro; Marvel Comics can't interfere.
The program book
This year's 8.5-by-11 program book featured a color centerfold of the BW characters arranged in the pose of the TF:TM poster, in addition the the usual schedule and guest bios. One fan points out that it's not very practical, and requests a pocket-size schedule that can be more easily consulted.
The canvas tote
One of last year's exit-survey merchandise suggestions was a large bag in which purchases could be carried. As an experiment, 3H had 200 canvas tote bags printed with an image of Cheetor (??). [At the Friday night dinner, after the tote was unveiled, one of my table fellows, an Andreas Harrison, claimed *he* had made the bag suggestion; but he'd specified a *plastic* bag, because it's cheaper.]
The badge
The lanyard
BotCon identifies attendees with a (manually!) laminated, color-coded namebadge (BC00's were blue-Jetstorm for attendees, yellow-Megatron for staff, red-Tankorr for guests). Custom fabric lanyards (collectible, reusable) emblazoned with "BotCon" and the Autobot and Decepticon sigils were available for $3 purchase; free lengths of twine were also available. During the weekend, many a badge escaped a lanyard's plastic clip, which didn't actually overlap; there was a gap just wide enough to pass the flat badge. Had they not arrived on the very Friday of the con, Glen would've brought the glaring design flaw to the manufacturer's attention -- and assured us he would yet have stern words with them.
[Author's note: Twine or otherwise, the badges swing like pendulums and invariably flip out of view; most conventions use plastic pin-on badge holders instead. Myself, I dispensed with the neck loop and secured the card immovably to my shirt using a pair of pilot's wings from Fort Wayne International.]
There's some mention of stickers in regards to walk-in attendees, and how they're more cost-effective than just-in-time hand-laminated badges.
Future exclusives
BC97 featured a 2-CD set including the unreleased tracks of Vince DiCola's score for TF:TM (those not included in the 1986 Scotti Brothers release), plus songs by Stan Bush. Glen has been trying to assemble an album of incidental music from the G1 show, but has repeatedly hit snags. Due to TF's increasing pop culture status (see third-party licensee T-shirts), there might be professional licensees competing.