BotCon '96 - Robert Jung

360+ new messages in alt.toys.transformers, and instead of reading all of them, I add to the volume. What am I, crazy? Probably, but since I started this, I might as well finish it. Here, then, for whoever cares, are my thoughts on this year's TransFan love-fest, BotCon '96.

The Inevitable Comparison

Everyone else is going to be comparing BotCon '96 to BotCon '95, so I will too. While '95 was an exciting and fun and delightful gathering, '96 was merely ... adequate. What could have been a great convention was reduced to being only a good one, and the two big boat anchors were (1) a lack of coordination, and (2) a lack of "fan intimacy."

The lack of coordination at BotCon '96 surprised me. I thought Men-in-Black were veteran convention-organizers, and would have expected them to have things down to a science (or something close). Instead, delays and confusion were the norm -- dealers and attendees were stymed by registration problems; admittance checking was lax (MIB used general-purpose "Hi my name is XXX" badges to identify one-day, weekend, and early-dealer-access attendees. Not only did they run out of badges early, but they were often lax at checking them); easy-to-find convention signs and schedules were missing; scheduled events were all either late or quietly cancelled; and in general, confusion and improvisation were the rules of the day.

When it was first announced that Men-in-Black were running BotCon '96, some fans expressed regret that the con would be a dealer-focused shopping spree. Not being familiar with MIB before, I had to wait until BotCon '96 to have those regrets confirmed. If you wanted to buy stuff, BotCon '96 was great -- but if you wanted to do MORE than shop/trade, you had to be ready to find your own fun. The fan-oriented, non-shopping aspects that made BotCon '95 such a blast were either muted or absent this year. The only good discussions were the Kenner representatives, and the trivia contest/quiz show -- the Fanzine panel was a rushed, 15-minute introduction of some editors, for instance, and a panel on next year's MIB robot convention (RoboCon) was too self-serving for my tastes. And while the BEAST WARS pilot was shown over the weekend, there wasn't anything resembling a dedicated video room, unless you count the cobbled-together showing on Saturday night, where fans sat on the floor to watch Japanese tapes while being reminded to "keep the noise down" so as not to bother the Baptist convention next door. The display room was definitely low-key this year, and the number of art contest entries was down from '95. Even the 10th anniversary party for TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE was merely adequate: here's your cake, here's your cup of water, sit down and watch the movie, whee.

I don't want to give the impression that Men-in-Black are despicable, because they aren't. The charity auction on Sunday was a wonderful gesture, raising over $5,000 for the Chicago chapter of Toys For Tots, and having MIB donate 100 BotCon-exclusive Onyx Primal toys was the topper on the sundae. But moments like that were few and far between. The only thing MIB delivered for '96 that Raksha couldn't deliver for '95 was the Unicron prototype -- while it was neat to see Unicron, dorky-looking as he was (*grin*), I'd gladly trade in the prototype's presence for the intensely wonderful, warm and friendly fan-oriented fun of '95. I'd definitely love to see it if Raksha or some other fan (I hear rumors that Jameel was looking at the job) would take a crack at BotCon '97, and my unscientific straw poll of '96 attendees echoed those sentiments.

Kenner Speaks -- And Everyone's Excited!

Yes, folks, Kenner representatives were at BotCon '96, and the news they gave are sure to please TransFans everywhere. While BEAST WARS has been dividing fans for a while now, Kenner managed the impossible task of making everyone happy and giving them things to look forward to. Here's a random sampling of the salient points:

• BEAST WARS toys are kickin' butt in the stores, placing #3 in action figure sales overall, right behind STAR WARS and POWER RANGERS.

• There are 35-45 new toys being developed. BEAST WARS fans will be thrilled by the wide variety of critters in the pipe, and non-BW fans will be thrilled to hear that cars, planes, and "other incarnations" are in the works!

• These new toys are, for the most part, not recycled designs, but all-new creations. Expect LOTS of articulation and intricacy, designs that will make the current BEAST WARS toys (and the Cyberjets, and the later G2-toys) look stiff by comparison.

• Old characters are returning for both product lines (BEAST WARS and the non-beast Transformers)! An Arcee Transformers will be coming, but her final incarnation is still a mystery.

• The Kenner folks seem to be aware of the screwups in the G2 line -- too many recolors, too many wanton slap-an-old-character-on-a-new-toy insults, too much concern with rushing stuff to market. The reps say they're going to move away from that, which sounds hopeful...

• Dark Horse comics is in negotiations for a BEAST WARS comic. There is a greater continuity to the entire BEAST WARS mythos -- the apparent confusion in the cartoon will be clear over time, and the comic (if the deal works out) will adhere to the same continuity. Hints that Beast Warriors have been influencing human history raised a few eyebrows... ("Tarantulas shot JFK!")

• Die-cast metal toys will not be returning because of costs. But with the advances in action-figure technology, metal is no longer needed to make the toys cool.

• About half of the costs for a toy right now is in the packaging alone. Don't throw out those cards, kids!

I'm sure other fans will remember more than I have, but the bottom line is a hopeful one. I'll still continue to wish BEAST WARS the best of luck, but if Kenner delivers on their promises and bring out new jets and cars and whatnot with better detail and articulation, I'm in.

Other Stuff

And to go totally ballistic, here's a potpourri of the rest of my BotCon '96 impressions, both inside the 'con and outside of it...

• The art contest had waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too few entries. I'm especially surprised and disappointed at the low turnout of 2-D art. The last-minute nature of the contest was surely the cause of the problem (thanks to Raksha, Starshadow, and her husband Frank for throwing it together), but that could have been avoided with better advanced planning.

• Rumors abound of splintering in the BotCon '96 ranks. I don't know the details, so I won't go into them here, but I'd be suspect about any attempts by Men-in-Black to shift blame to other parties...

• Okay, guys, I know we love to MST-ify TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE, but this is getting a bit excessive. People were acvitvely avoiding the movie because the rowdy crowd was making it impossible to actually watch the darn thing, and I think that's a crime. Someone suggested the idea of an "official" MST-ifying of the movie, where a few convention-designated actors toss out lines from a script, and everyone else shuts up and enjoys the show. I have to admit that it's an idea that deserves SERIOUS consideration.

• Personal surprise #1: more people preferred my Jetfire Cyberjet repaint over my Circuit Breaker action figure -- I had expected it to be the other way around. Maybe it's the anti-human bias at work.

• Personal surprise #2: Raksha has a dog? REALLY??? Who'd a thunk it?

• The Grand Prize winner of the 3-D art contest were the Yarn Masters(!!!), yarn versions of Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Huffer(!?). I dunno, it's probably me, but I can't get that worked up over yarn. (Ah, just say it's sour grapes on my part)

• By now, I'm sure, descriptions of the Unicron prototype are all over the place, and scans are either Any Day Now or already up. It is a dorky- looking toy -- imagine a beach ball with legs -- and I'm glad it wasn't actually released. Still, it was cool to see it.

• The one photo that I really hope comes out well is the one where a dozen fans are surrounding the Unicron prototype, pointing at it and laughing in derision. Yes, it was staged, and I'm glad I did it...

• Saturday night, Doug Dlin was showing a video with highlights from Takara's various post-Transformers giant-robot-toy animated series. Anyone who thinks Spike and Daniel were annoying have NOT seen these -- they're much worse. The highlight IMO was the show with an elementary school(!) full of fourth- graders(!!) who pilot mecha between classes(!!!). In times of distress, the classrooms split open(!), the kids jump into lockers(!!) to reach their 'mechs, and the classrooms and desks transform into command centers(!!!). I won't even talk about the villians, which include a giant animated violin...

  "Hey, I might not know algebra yet, but I'm qualified to pilot this 400-foot- tall killer multiforce combiner superpowermasterbot!"

• I spent waaaaaaaaaaaay too much money on this trip -- I brought over a thousand dollars with me, and by 9:00am Saturday morning, it was all gone. BUT I DON'T CARE! Damn the torpedos, hang the expenses, I'm buying that Victory Leo/Star Sabre box set AND Deathsaurus now!

• Sluttiest toy at the show: the Arcee model kit, imported from Japan and sold by Tony Preto ($95). Arcee is a bimbo here -- high heels, coquish pose, and a robotic rear that looks like she's wearing a thong bikini bottom. Don't even ask about one of the drawings on the box, which puts Arcee in a Marilyn Monroe-esque "Want to play with me?" reclining poses. I'm definitely going to modify this kit before I build it...

• This year's Transformers trivia/Jepoardy! game was a blast, and I'm not saying that just because I got selected as one of the three contestants. Some of the questions were definitely too obscure -- "What is the total number of Micromasters ever released in America?" And the room practically rioted with this, the "Final Jepoardy" brain-buster:

  Q: Which toy has the motto, "Prepare for oblivion!"?
  A: Megatron ATB, the never-released toy on display at the show. ("AGH!" "What?!" "We didn't get to see the back of the box!" "Kill them!" "Aieeeeee!")

• I'm glad that Toys-For-Tots got a lot of money from the auction on Sunday. On the other hand, I'm depressed that most of the expensive items will be sold again for triple the price in the near future. "Well, I paid $400 for this ultra-rare Japanese Go-Bot police car, so I'll ask $1200 for it..."

• It was fun watching the Marine Sergeant from Toys-For-Tots during the auction. You could almost see his eyes pop out at some of the outrageous bids (topped off with $950 for the Megatron ATB toy, and $1000 for the grey-and-green Combat Hero Megatron). "He's paying HOW much for that little toy car?!?"

• My personal highlight of the convention was Saturday night: 18-plus-odd- TransFans, all piling into cars to go out and grab dinner. Notable net.fans who I remember seeing included Raksha, M. "Random quotes" Sipher, Nixtr, Diana Calder, Cosmos, Lizard, Phil "Skyjammer" Zeman, Lia Brown, and Doug "Japanese TF authority" Dlin. We tossed the Nixtr into the trunk of Raksha's car (Soundwave 2); we raided Little Caesars and spooked the clerks; we blocked the aisle of the toy department at K-Mart and spooked the shoppers (especially when someone found "magic fingers rumble," a motorcycle that vibrated in a lewdly suggestive manner); we held the biggest jaywalking session seen on a Saturday night; we waved to passing busses and jets; we hung out in the hotel lobby for no good reason; we went to my room so Doug Dlin could show off his neat collection of post-Transformers Takara robot toys while we ate donuts, drank sodas, and made bad jokes; in short, we acted like drunken maniacs, and it was GREAT!

  (To Kendric and Jameel -- see what you missed by leaving early?!

• For a guy who was attending BotCon '96 "out of protest," Kendric sure seemed cheery. Of course, Jameel was cheery, but that's how he always is...

• My personal most-repeated-line at BotCon: "Give me a name, a .sig, a handle! If you don't have a .sig floating over your head, I don't know who you are!"

  (Which is true, alas, so if I met you at BC96 and forgot you already, that's why...)

• Hex, has your sight returned yet from my repeated flash-bulb-blinding sessions?

The Bottom Line

BotCon '96 was, unfortunately, not as fan-pleasing as the legendary BotCon '95. But it wasn't a wasted trip; I bought most of the toys I wanted to buy, and with the help of a lot of other fans, managed to have a great time anyway. I'm not sure what the convention situation for 1997 looks like, but I'm going to see who's organizing what and where, then wing it from that...