BotCon '99 - Thylacine 2000

I'm not going to even bother writing up a full report of everything that happened at this amazing, wonderful, super-fun Botcon. Instead, I'll just barefacedly plagiarize the approach taken by, I think, Rob Jung last year, and cut up the most notable events into "good" and "bad". Actually, not much happened that was truly bad; let's substitute "non-good", shall we?

Non-Good Stuff

--Day's Inn. It's nobody's fault, and it certainly didn't darken my weekend. Believe me, I was there for the purpose of seeking out online-friends, not polite motel staff members. And as for food.... eh, one Subway sandwich per day is enough to keep the heart pumping.

--Thieves. Thieves SUCK. I hope your house burns down and the only thing that doesn't get destroyed is the Botcon '99 sign.

--The very end of the Decepticon fan panel. I found the beginning--a combination slideshow / sales-pitch--to be thoroughly enjoyable and well-presented, and most fan comments (even the semi-political ones) were inoffensive and thought-provoking. But at one point, someone started vigorously insulting fanfics that he mentioned by name, over the open microphone. I must assume the organizers of the panel didn't know it was going to happen.

--Unrealistic fan questions aimed at the Hasbro panel, especially regarding "Dark Glass". I'm sure a bit of last-minute introspective thinking would have led most people to decide that they'd have been better off not asking for a series of life-sized TF accessories, or about "Dark Glass", or for die-cast re-releases of obscure supporting characters, or about "Dark Glass" again. Or about "Dark Glass" some more.

--Prices. $1000 for Galvatronvoy. $200 for a loose Monstructor, or $95 for sealed Pretender Monsters. $150 for Skyquake. $75 for G2 Dreadwing. $250 for Dreadwind. $50+ for Giganodragon (which will be released in the US in a month). Though on the opposite side of the coin, there were some great deals to be found... Liokaiser for $120, the Neo Leaders 2-pack for under $90, Star Saber for $150.

Good Stuff

--Meeting everybody! I got to at least say hello to just about everybody I wanted to. In approximate order of contact: Swift, Pic, Perc, Mon, Tengu, Robo, Scylla, Stufticon, Rob Powers, LV, Trix, Walky, Windy, Phil, Dal, Skyf, Grim, Rock, BZ, Bwa, Megs, Wonko, Retrax, Xiphos, Hydra, Steve-o, Tut, ParticleMann, Bald Evil (who scared me!), ViceGrip, Sipher, Raksha, Vulcana, Hooper, Perceptor, Blue Jackal, Mystic Spiral. There must have been more; I apologize to all those I forgot!

Just about the only big name who was there that I wanted to meet, and didn't, was Doug Dlin. You think you can escape me that easily, eh? We shall see!

--Beast Machines! By now everybody's talked about the new show with its cyberpunk/hieroglyphic motif, the basso-super-profundo Megatron, and oh yeah, a whole new origin of the TFs. And let's not forget Cheetor-4 and Tankorr--which I nominate as the most intricately-detailed TF yet publicly displayed. Other cool toy tidbits included promises of multiple sizes for some characters, articulated facial features (Cheet's jaw opens when you swivel his head, as I saw, and the Hasbro guy promised that Tankorr's cyclops eye swivels), color-changers, moving parts visible through transparent exteriors, and Supreme(s). Note, though, that the hypothetical example of a Supreme Cheetor the size of a housecat was, well, just that.

--The voice-actors. Hilarious and accommodating; both risked a lot by admitting that they'd really never followed TF-dom. I hope our "special request" didn't bug too many people. Special bonus points go to Jim Byrnes, who pointed out that it was illegal for people to be photographing and recording Scott and himself.... then claimed "but I don't see anybody doing that anyway." For a drone, he sure does rule.

--The post-show bedlam. I'll never forget Mega-Rex--the toy or the voice!

--The overall simplicity of the convention itself. Everything was in 3 rooms, right next to everything else. Very fan-friendly. At no time did I feel as if I had to make a painful choice between two wonderful events that were scheduled for the same time in different places.

--The bonuses and nice touches assembled by the 3H folks. Those photomosaics are lovely, I enjoyed competing my heart out alongside Steve Stonebraker for the Mainframe exclusive prize-posters, and of course there are the toys themselves. And it was sort of good to see them display a due amount of pride as well--asking people not to complain anymore about Soulstice/Windrazor's paintjob (which, btw, was drastically improved from the early pictures anyway) and just in general managing to run and control such a fun event. Thanks, guys! Though I must echo the sentiment of one of the later speakers at the organizer panel: "We don't want you to burn yourselves out!"

That's the closest thing to a report that I'm liable to cobble together.... Let's see, Indiana is actually closer to home than Minnesota was, so I guess I'll see you all again in 2000!

TTT, *still* thinks the whole weekend lasted four hours, *still* hasn't had the time to open all the toys....