Wow.
Whoa.
Cool.
Those are the three words that best describe my very first Botcon. It almost feels like a wonderful dream, and yet it was a dream that came true. I shall proceed to describe my experience in vivid detail, or rather, as vividly as my memory permits.
Friday
I'd left home the day before and driven to Peterborough, where I would spend the night at my friend and fellow Botcon attendee Fletch's apartment. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of turning down his offer to sleep in his bed, insisting that I'd be alright with the floor and a sleeping bag. I hadn't slept in a sleeping bag since summer camp many, many years ago, so I'd forgotten how @#$%ing uncomfortable it was! I literally did not sleep a wink. Not one. Nor did it help when I tried moving to his very narrow, very oddly shaped couch. Even more uncomfortable than the floor, it was. Gah. Nevertheless, I got up at 5AM sharp, took a hot shower, downed some coffee (which I hate), and packed the car. Fletch awoke from an apparently bad sleep as well, and we were off. Anticipation and caffeine are an optimal combination for driving on no sleep.
The traffic along the 401 in Ontario and I-69 in the States wasn't bad. Not bad at all. The only delays were when we came across some very extensive construction in Indiana, which took us quite a while to get through. The weather was also very strange. We encountered about every condition save for hail and snow: fog, heavy rain, searing heat, sunny blue skies, black clouds, the whole kaboodle. At some point, I called Black Zarak to say hello. It was both strange and neat to hear his voice, having only communicated with him previously through email. A taste of things to come. We arrived in Fort Wayne around 2:30 PM, much earlier than we'd expected. With the help of the directions provided with our registration material, we made it to the Holiday Inn without difficulty. I'd told our roommate Gordon that we'd meet him in the lobby at 4:30PM, and he wasn't in his room when we arrived--obviously over at the convention. So we headed over there, me half walking, half running. Prepare. Prepare...
The first thing I noticed upon entering the Hilton was the large mass of people milling about. Transfans, no doubt. We were directed over to pre-registration, which had been carefully organised according to registration number. The badges were nicely designed, with a picture of Jetstorm, but the first thing I noticed was that they'd misspelled my name.Instead of "Daniel M. Suh," I got "Daniel M. Sub." Arrrgh. At least they got my ATT name right. We also received a booklet containing a schedule of events, guest star bios, a BW poster modelled after the TFTM poster, and a complete list of preregistrants. Funny, they spelled my name correctly in the list. Sheesh. We then headed back to the lobby, where I immediately recognised a number of the people from wiigii and ATT. Walky, Rob Powers, Windchaser, Trixter, Doug Dlin, Phil Zeman, etc. I suddenly felt very shy. After all, these are veteran Botconers I'm dealing with, a very close-knit group of people. Sounding like an idiot (at least IMO), I squeaked "Is anyone here from ATT?" Introductions went rather smoothly, I think. Hooper X glared at me in a strange way, which I'll assume was meant to be friendly. I found that the easiest way to relax was to talk about toys, pointing out certain features on Beast Mutant Soundwave for example. Some guy (darn, what's his name) had Mechatron, and it looks pretty cool. But why, oh why, does it only accommodate Basics and Deluxes?
The person whom I really wanted to meet was Nightwind. I had her Japanese Tigatron all ready for her. But for some odd reason, while I'd been able to call her cell phone from my car phone earlier, I couldn't get through using any of the hotel phones. And she wasn't registered under her own name, so I was kind of screwed. I figured that the best thing to do was to wait around and hope that eventually she'd get sick of waiting for me to call and come down to the lobby herself.
Finally, I saw a red-haired woman wearing a black T-shirt with "Nightwind" printed on it. Yay! She recognised me immediately as well, thanks to my "Sue" T-shirt. We greeted each other, and I handed Tigatron over to her. She showed me a picture of her little daughter Maya. What a cutie pie. Give her fifteen more years, and Nightwind'll be beating off those boys with a log. Heh. She also introduced me to her roommates, Judy and Mike.
Men in Black Collectibles had set up their shop in a room on the second floor, some distance from the video room. Why they did, I have no idea. I heard rumours that they were barred from the convention room, but quite frankly, I didn't care what the reasons were. I snapped up a MIB Sky Shadow at retail price, yay! Some of their others prices were not nearly as reasonable though. $250 for a boxed Sky Lynx or Omega Supreme. No thank you. Mike and Judy each purchased loose Shockwaves, one purple and one gray. I tried to demonstrate its flimsiness in laser cannon mode by assuming a John Wayne stance and whipping it out quickly, but the gray barrel piece went flying off and almost hit Nightwind in the face. Oops! Fortunately, we all took it in good humour. I also pondered whether old Dotface--I mean Shockwave, had ever kissed a girl. What with having no mouth and all. Maybe that's why he hates the female Autobots so much? I also overheard someone mentioning that Spqqky had a figure called Apelinq up on eBay. Apelinq? Who the heck was that? I already knew that Shokaract was a recoloured Rampage, but I'd assumed, as had most other attendees, that the other exclusive would be Cataclysm, a recoloured TM Cheetor. Hmmmm . . .
Fletch and I left the Grand Wayne around 4:15 PM to meet Gordon. He was waiting in the lobby of the Holiday Inn when we arrived, and we hit it off right away. I found him to be quite like he was in his emails to me; open, friendly, knowledgeable, and a little younger than I'd thought he was. Our room turned out to be fairly nice as far as hotels go, with a good-sized bathroom and comfortable beds. Gordon was attending the Botcon dinner, but Fletch and I would have to fend for ourselves. I ended up getting McDonald's, while he chose Subway. On that note, the McDonald's in Fort Wayne was pretty lousy, with rude staff and dingy tables and floors. After dinner, we returned to the video rooms and watched various G1 eps. Robobase was outside the video room with a big box of loose figures and spare parts for trade. Having written several reviews for his site, I went and struck up a conversation with him. Nice guy. I also learned that some G1 figures are really unimpressive, at least compared to BW and BM. And finally, I came to the conclusion that Override is Thrust's great granddaddy.
Around ten, people started returning from the dinner. But what was this? There was no Cataclysm! No, it had all been a Machiavellian scheme concocted by the devious 3H! Instead of a purple, green, and black Cheetor, there was a gray, black, maroon, and vac metal silver TM Optimus Primal, Apelinq, packaged under the BM logo. The gorilla mode looked very garish, IMO, but the robot mode pics seemed more promising. Shokaract's G1 style box was nice, but I still think that Antagony and Sandstorm had better packaging by far.
We met up with Gordon again and returned to our hotel. He showed us the other exclusive dinner item, a Botcon plate with Megatron and Optimus Prime painted on the top, and the Botcon 2000 logo underneath. We went to bed around 11, but stayed up talking well past midnight. Gordon had warned me previously that he had a tendency to snore, but he didn't that night. Or if he did, I was too tired to hear it.
Friday had been an interesting day. Hopefully though, tomorrow would be a lot better.
Saturday
Some Minor Spoilers Ahead.
Forgot to mention in my Friday report that I ran into White Dove after eating dinner at that awful McDonald's. Recognised her as I was walking past due to her white cloak that she said she wears. She was kind enough to offer me a Ducky for my TM Megs, but damn it all, I must have left it somewhere in my room at the Holiday Inn! Sorry, WD. It was very well made.
Saturday:
What a nice sleep. Probably would've been a lot nicer if I could have slept in, but Gordon and I knew that we'd best line up for the dealer room early. So we arose at 6:30 AM, showered, got dressed, and headed over to the Grand Wayne. Fletch, who isn't a toy collector, remained snug and snoozing in his cot. Lucky bum. Then again, he was the one who ended up using the cot both nights, so I guess he ain't that lucky.
Even two hours before opening, there was a line outside the dealer room. Gordon and I sat down behind a kid from Tennessee who was there with his mom. I suppose if I were younger, I'd have dragged my poor mom along too. A guy standing behind us showed us pics of a Jazz costume he made for Halloween one year that--get this--actually transforms! You had to see the pics to really appreciate the effort. He basically hunkers down on his knees and pulls the roof over his head, but it's still pretty darned cool.
Breakfast consisted of a Fruitopia and blueberry pop tarts courtesy of a vending machine. Yummy.
We were soon joined in line by Dinogrrl and Rob Jung, the Tranny Master himself! Come to think of it, those two butted! Not that I was complaining. As far as I'm concerned, Rob's about as cool as a Transfan can get. He turned out to be a very friendly and witty guy. He also did what I was too lazy to do; go over to McDonald's and get a proper (relatively speaking) breakfast. Dinogrrl was also very nice. She's from Australia, and apparently this was her first Botcon as well. Someone came along and told the crowd that they had to start lining up outside, so the four of us ended up just inside the entrance. Better than sitting on the pavement at any rate. We had ourselves a nice conversation about Beast Machines, and the personalities of the Dinobots as we counted down the seconds and minutes to 9AM. Then who should come along, but Wonko the Sane himself, Benson Yee! Sure, he's never been in any movies, but let's face it, among Transfans, Ben is something of a star. My first impression of him was like that of Rob Jung: friendly, down-to-earth, and clearly excited about the events to come. Unfortunately, he and his friend, Rob Yee, had lost their luggage courtesy of those blundering folk at the Fort Wayne airport. Guess there are some advantages to driving down after all, aside from economics.
The line continued to grow, as did the excitement. Finally, the doors opened, and the masses surged forth. It wasn't quite as insane as I had feared it would. No one, thankfully, sprinted or tried to climb over one another.
Being in a dealer room for the first time is something like being six years old again. It was that wonderful feeling you get when you're walking in the aisles of TRU or Wal-Mart and suddenly come across some new toys. Everywhere I looked, there were Transformers. G1, g2, Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Japanese lines, a collector's dream! I spent the first five or so minutes just walking around the entire room, marvelling at the sight of it all. I think it was at that point, more than any other point during that weekend, that I felt most grateful about having come to Botcon.
It was also at that point that I realised I'd forgotten to pick up my exclusives. Forgetting that you could grab them at any point before noon on Sunday, I raced back out again and got in line to receive Shokaract and Apelinq. Fortunately, the line was very effective, with Jon Hartman checking off names as each person came up to receive his or her toys. I waltzed back into the dealer room proudly bearing my exclusives. Time to shop!
The first items I got were Bazooka and Sling, of the BW Neo line. I purchased them at Rugby's Starbase, which had a wide variety of toys on display. Thank the Matrix that they also provided bags. It'd have been awful trying to stuff two or more boxed items into my knapsack. Later, I snapped up a FKTM Tarantulas from them as well. I have to say that I really like the new colours, even more than the original's. "Metal Force Ranty," or "Goth Ranty" as someone else dubbed him. Also got a Thrustol from another dealer for $27, which I understand is a good price. I'd been considering getting a TM2 Blackarachnia, that is, until I saw the prices. $90 at one table, $100 at another! I don't care what anyone says; those prices are nuts, pure and simple! Ben Yee himself mentioned to me later that he would never pay any higher than $35 for one. No BA for me.
I saw the Bludgeon toy for the very first time. His Pretender shell looked okay, considering that it was virtually a statue. But good gosh, his robot is tiny. Really, really tiny. As tiny as Bumblebee if not more so. He looked so cute, I couldn't resist mocking him. I waved him about and said in a squeaky little voice, "Hi, I'm Bludgeon. I'm a master of Metallikato! Fear me, bub!" Suddenly, I was grabbed around the throat by Rob Jung, furious that I would dare to insult the great Bludgeon. "Your tongue is sharp, warrior," he snarled as he shook me in his massive grip. "I shall rip it from your mouth and wear it as a trophy!" Yikes. Good thing Robert Powers wasn't there as well, 'cause then he'd have probably held my mouth open while Rob Jung extracted my tongue. Funny guys, these Transfans.
I ran into Black Zarak and Astrotrain. A sweet couple if there ever was one. They'd just bought a Supreme Cheetor, so naturally I requested a gander at 'im. Neat toy, and hella huge to boot. Rob happened to come across us as I was describing my incident to them, and promptly began throttling me once more! I also got to meet Raksha, the advocate of Decepticons, adversary of all things Beast Wars, save for the toys she was selling. Again, she struck me as very nice and polite. Mind you, I didn't try to get into any debates with her, at least not then. Also got to see Avatar, the very beautiful albino Burmese python.
John Moschitta
Alec Willows rocks! He's one of the funniest people I've ever had the privilege of encountering, full of wit and wisecracks. His "I'm hung like a spider" line drew tons of laughs. Ian Corlett was also quite funny, especially due to the fact that he sounds like Cheetor in real life. Venus Terzo, well, she's quite the stunner. And talk about your sparkly personalities. Could this really be Blackarachnia, who's so often cynical and deceitful? I asked Mr. Willows about what it was like reading the lines for "Other Victories." Like Scott McNeil and "Code of Hero," he too didn't know that his character was going to bite the big one until he came in to do his lines. Poor guy.
After the panel was over, myself, Gordon, Black Zarak, and Astrotrain got in line for autographs. I passed the time by examining BZ and Astro's Supreme Cheetor some more. Neat figure overall, but I highly doubt that I'll be shelling out $50 for it anytime soon. I did think it was neat how Cheetor can actually flip someone the birdie. Okay, he can only do it to someone behind him, since he lacks wrist articulation.
We were all under the impression that the Hasbro panel wasn't about to start for at least an hour. Then, about half an hour into the wait, someone who passed by casually mentioned that the Hasbro panel was going on right then and now. Doggone it! I'd never heard any announcement beforehand, unless it had been made while we were at the voice actor panel. Black Zarak and I rushed off to catch a glimpse. I didn't stay for very long, but I was there long enough to hear someone ask whether there would be a Savage/Noble toy coming out in the near future. The Hasbro people debated amongst themselves for a few seconds, then responded by saying that "it would make a good present for under the Christmas tree." Neat! Still, I reserve my judgment until we've seen some pics. I was not present when a certain individual stood up and began making all sorts of tasteless and inappropriate comments about the Beast Mutants. But I did hear that he got booed and shouted down by the rest of the audience. Good. If I'd been there, I'd have probably been booing the loudest. Number one, I like the Beast Mutants. And number two, Hasbro is doing all of us a big favour by sending reps to Botcon each year. They should not be rewarded with such vulgarity and lack of tact. I can only hope that the fierce reaction of the crowd towards that dimbulb convinced the Hasbro people that not all Transfans are like that.
Anyway, it was a real pleasure to meet Alec Willows in person. He kindly wrote "More Energon!" on Ranty's blister card and noted that he liked the recolour version better than the original. Ian and Venus signed my Botcon poster with "Beasties Wishes" and "Ultra Gear!" Venus sympathised with my lamentation that the TM2 BA toy had never made it to Canada. What a sweetie. And I'll say it again, she is quite a stunner.
At a later panel, we got to see some of the storyboards for TFTM that featured some scenes that never made it to the final cut. The first was where Devastator recovers from the Dinobots' attack and begins attacking Autobot City once again. Ultra Magnus comes along in car carrier mode and deploys Tracks, Sideswipe, Mirage, and Red Alert. Yes, Magnus actually carries other Autobots, for once in his life. The five of them all fire their missiles at once, and the blast causes Devastator to separate. The Constructicons then get into a laser battle with the Autobots, in which Red Alert is fatally shot. What's with all these Autobots dying and no Decepticons getting the slag? Then again, RA was never one of my favourites. Sorry, but he wasn't.
The second scene was where Optimus Prime confronts Megatron. Just as Prime is saying "One shall stand," Dirge tries to make a sneak attack from behind. Without missing a line, Prime nails him with a backhand, hoists him up by the leg, and piledrives him, all with one hand! And you're saying Prime's the one who gets killed?
Yet another highlight was the display room containing the Hartmans' TF collection, plus the entries for the art contest. It was like being in a museum. Every TF you could ever imagine, still in its original box or blister card. I almost went down on my knees in awe. They also had the upcoming BM figures on display, which, naturally, attracted the most attention. Silverbolt, strangely enough, is packaged in his robot mode, possibly due to the fact that his condor mode is something of a joke. Nightscream has his own box art. Why in the heck does Guanoboy get such an honour and all the others don't? Blastcharge, Skydive, and Nightviper look pretty neat, as does the Target exclusive Magmatron. Magmatron retains his original colouring--at least this one did. The Deployers and the Beast Riders are intriguing, though I'm not entirely certain whether I'll get any of them or not.
I did not attend the charity auction, but I did see the items on a table outside the room at one point, and I got a look at Nightscream's tech spec. He has an intelligence of 9.9!? Funny, based on he acted on the series, I'd have given him a 3.9. His motto is "Let's make some noise!" Ugh. At this rate, the next series of TFs will include one whose motto is "Yeah baby, yeah!"
Once we'd finally returned to our room, I decided that I wanted a peek at Shokaract. Carefully, I slit open the box and pulled out the treasure inside. It was love at first sight! His colours were actually somewhat different >from the photos on the box. He looked very cool, very fearsome, and very fun to play with. I decided that he would be my companion for the evening, like Pikachu to Ash. Wisely left his small rifle and missiles safe in the room. On our way to find sustenance, we ran into some Allspark guys, one of whom had successfully bid on Primal Prime. How much did he bid, you ask? $605, if I recall correctly. Yikes! OTOH, Hasbro is apparently releasing only 10,000 Primal Primes, so it will no doubt be a collector's item.
We ate dinner at Arby's, which was a decided improvement over McDonald's. Raksha was there with Avatar (wonder what the staff thought about that?), as was the Allspark guy who had gotten Primal Prime. I sauntered over to take a closer look at him, and had Shokaract point his tri-barrel cannon straight at Primal's head! You may well be the living reincarnation of Optimus Prime, but that still amounts to nothing next to he who possesses the Matrix of Conquest! Bwahahahahahah!!!
Then it was time for the movie showing. Rather than try and ship select numbers of preregistrants off to some theatre twenty minutes away, 3H had managed to book the Embassy Theatre just across the street. It was one of those old-fashioned placed with a balcony and lots of fnacy decorations lining the interior. Very appropriate indeed. I only wish I hadn't left my camera back at the hotel. Quite a few people were very interested to see what Shokaract was like. I believe I was one of the few people who removed theirs from the box. I, we, quite enjoyed the attention.
Watching the movie in a theatre full of Transfans was nothing short of incredible. Absolutely incredible. The energy levels were off the scale. People cheered when Brawn and the other Autobots met their demise on the shuttle. They whooped when the Dinobots made their appearance. "Gooooo Grimlock!" They hollered when Starscream met his untimely end. One of the funniest points was when Galvatron made his debut. Right after Unicron said, "Behold . . . Galvatron!," someone (I later learned it was Chi) shouted "YOU SUCK!!!" Everyone who heard it laughed. I think he basically summed up how the majority of people feel about Galvy with those two words. Another funny moment was when Grimlock tells Wheelie he doesn't like him, and gives him a good slap. You should have heard the cheers, and the cries of "Step on 'im!!!" We hate Wheelie! And when the movie finally ended, the result was a standing ovation. What an experience.
After the movie, me, Gord, and Fletch returned to the video rooms. We arrived just in time to catch "Five Faces of Darkness Pt. 3." I actually enjoy that mini-series. Any ep that has Sky Lynx seriously beating the oil out of Predaking is A-okay in my book. I stepped out on "Webworld" to use the washroom, and ended up showing Shokaract off to more people. What can I say, I enjoy attention. Missed all of "Webworld" though, silly me. The next ep was "Carnage in C-Minor," which was met by lots of boos and people getting up from their seats, including us. Gordon and Fletch eventually returned to the hotel, but I stayed on to watch more eps. At one point, when I stepped out for a drink, I heard someone playing the piano down in the bar, and people applauding. In retrospect, I should have realised who it was right then and there, but my deductive reasoning failed me that time. Later, as I walked into the bar, I passed by a thin man with a pony tail. "Who was that?" I asked the crowd. The answer: Vince DiCola. Missed a private concert, d'oh!
Around midnight or so, I departed from the Hilton. It had been another long day, and while I would've liked to have stayed and watched more Season 3 eps, I was simply too tired to do so. Time for beddy-bye.
Sunday
In life, nothing lasts forever. All good things must come to end. But there is a continuance...
After such a long Saturday, we were all dead tired that night. Gordon and I both slept like logs, despite Fletch's incessant snoring. I know that he was snoring because he started up just as I was falling asleep, and was still doing it when I got up to use the bathroom at one point. We slept in later than we had on Saturday, but still got up relatively early. The reason: I was eager to attend the famous MST3K panel. After reading the previous scripts on Rob Jung's page, and after meeting him and Doug Dlin the day before, I was looking forward to see what they had in store for us.
After having eaten cold leftover pizza on Friday, and vending machine pop tarts on Saturday, I decided it was high time to have a proper breakfast. Since Gordon and Fletch were less excited about the panel, I went downstairs and had the hotel buffet. Mmmmm, French toast, bacon, and sausages. Fattening! While I was eating, I met a young (13 years old) Transfan, Ninja99. He's from Montana and is apparently one of the many lurkers on ATT. Said he likes my reviews; what an intelligent lad! Headed off to the Grand Wayne just as those lazy roommates of mine entered the dining room. I called over my shoulder that I'd meet them at the panel. Arrived just as they were making final preparations to start the show. Got to meet M Sipher for the first time. I got the impression that he was a little pre-occupied, and why not? Wonder how late he, Rob, and Doug had been up rehearsing this thing? Or do they simply wing it each time? I've done the same thing for various history presentations, and come off rather well.
Doug Dlin, Robert Jung, and Greg "M Sipher" Sepelak
Towards the end, Gordon and Fletch started badgering me to return to the hotel with them so we could check out. I reluctantly got up from my seat and started shuffling out of the row, in the dark. Then CRASH! Down I go, skinning my knees on the carpet. Couldn't have waited until they turned the lights back on, no, they had to leave right away! Sheesh. Turns out, check out time was at 12PM, not 11AM like those two thought it was. Sheesh again. Having checked out, we quickly returned to the Grand Wayne. My badge fell off (a phenomenon all too common with attendants that weekend) at point, so we had to go a block back to find it.
The dealer room on Sunday was not quite as hectic as it had been on Saturday, but hectic enough. Once again, I was amused to note the wide range of fans milling about. Especially the number of people with families. What a treat, to be taken to a convention full of toys at the age of six. Would my parents have done that for me? Well . . . possibly, with ALOT of persuasion on my part. There were even a couple of folks with babies.
At this point, I was interested in looking for a BW Silverbolt. Saw one that was going for $25, no thanks. Saw one that was going for $15, marked down from $20. Okay, I'll take it. Saw two that were only $12. Darn!!!
Next, I headed to the art and display room. It was there that I got to talk with Raksha for a bit. I foolishly made the mistake of bringing up the Beast Mutant known as Soundwave. Whoops! She's a nice lady to be sure, but don't mention that kind of stuff around her. Sorry, Raksha. I did manage to ask her a few questions about keeping snakes, since I've toyed with the idea of owning one as a pet. Of course, I'll have to get my own place first. Can't keep a snake in a houseful of people who are afraid of 'em.
It was also there in the art room that I managed to have a decent, in-depth conversation with Ben Yee. I'd met him yesterday in the line for the dealer room, but he hadn't stayed long. I told him about how his web site was the one that really got me started on TFs once again. Had it not been for him, chances are I would never have discovered Botcon, ATT, and all the other wonderful web pages that are out there. Not to mention all the neat people I've met on line. So in that sense, I felt I owed him a debt. He appeared quite touched by my story. We also chatted about writing toy reviews, why "Soundwave" is an appropriate name for a bat/alligator mutant TF, Icebird's colours, and other toy-related issues. Ben was very interested in my Silverbolt figure. Apparently there may be a variant type, with white on the undersides of its wings, which mine didn't have. Glad I could be of help. I mentioned that I was torn between getting Dirgegun and Max B. Ben recommended Dirgegun, but Robert Powers, who happened to be there, favoured Max B. The agony of choice.
As for Robert Yee's entry in the art contest, all I have to say is: WOW!!! He had created an entirely new figure, Rodimus Primal, a red and yellow robot that changes into an orangutan as well as a futuristic vehicle. Rob had also created an add-on trailer section that converts into a battle station, just like with the original Rodimus Prime. And if that wasn't enough, he'd set up an impressive display, complete with lights and sounds, and a laptop that continually showed pics of Rodimus Primal in his various forms. Quite phenomenal indeed. It came as no surprise when I later learned that he'd won first prize in the art contest.
But Rob's wasn't the only neat entry. Freds Workshop had created two awesome dioramas. The first was Homer Simpson as Sparkplug Witwicky, with apron, blowtorch, tools, a workshop, and a partly assembled (or is that disassembled) Optimus Prime. His other one consisted of about 200 Topspin and Twin Twist figures, carrying anti-BW and BM signs. Actually quite scary to see so many of them. Watch out, all you Vehicons!
I did not attend much of the Vince DiCola panel, but what little time I did spend there was enough. Let me just say that he is truly a master of the scales, an artist without question. To hear him play the scores from TFTM was an experience in itself. Amidst all the excitement and chaos that weekend, it felt serene and relaxing to just sit and listen for awhile. I rushed out again before it was all over, so as to spend a little more time wandering the dealer room before the 3H panel.
Going back into the dealer room, I recognised a certain ATTer from a newspaper article that he'd put up on ATT a while back. Robowang! He's only 18, but could easily pass for 24. Big fellow too, and quite friendly. Could this really be the same wacky sicko who amuses us so on ATT? Despite his professed love for Decepticons, he told me he'd amassed some Dinobot figures over the past two days. Not that I blame him; the Dinobots do rule, after all! Wanger had his famous Ramjet costume lying around behind one of the tables, and he confided that while it looks great, it's as fragile as a house of cards. Recharge came up to us while we were talking, and Robowang got a picture of the two of us. They told me that Superspy was around somewhere, and I tried to look for him, hoping to finally meet my almost-namesake. Didn't run into him, sadly. If you're reading this, Superspy, there's always next year (hopefully).
The guy who had successfully bid on Nightscream and Silverbolt yesterday at the charity auction had his toys with him, and I got to see them both. Silverbolt's robot mode kinda looks like the one on the show, but the colours are all wrong. The owner was reluctant to transform him into condor mode for me, but I think the pics on Ben Yee's page speak for themselves. His wings become some kind of handheld pincher weapon, but since they curve inwards, they probably look very lame. Nightscream has a built-in disk launcher as well as LEDs. Not that it makes any difference as far as I'm concerned. I have no intention of getting him, simply because the character is just soooooooo freakin' annoying! Plus, the robot mode has that hideous hairdo. Somebody get the scissors!
I finally concluded that the best way to determine whether to get Dirgegun or Max B was to flip a coin. Dirgegun won. Although in retrospect, I probably should'v gotten both of them. OTOH, it gives me something to put on my want list for next year. Dirgegun (see my review) turned out to be quite the awesome figure. Ben Yee clearly knows what he's talking about.
During my final visit to the display room, I stealthily ducked under the barrier and flipped around Magmatron's box in order to view his tech spec. Yeah that's right, I'm a bad boy. While I can't remember the exact words to his bio, he's basically a big time bad ass warrior, come to Cybertron to stop Megatron, feared by all his enemies, respected by his comrades, the usual stuff. His stats are all in the 9-10 range, and his quote is "Till all are one." Neat. Too bad Target isn't in Canada. Guess I'll have to maybe take a trip down to New York when the time is right. Though I will say, I'm unimpressed by the Landasaurus component. That old tail dragging posture is soooooo 1960s.
Finally, it was time for the 3H panel. I took a seat in front of Nightwind and began fiddling around with Dirgegun as the Glen and the Hartmans began answering questions. I asked them why the Hasbro panel had been pushed up from when it was supposed to be, and if Richard Newman (Rhinox, Tankorr) or Blu Mankuma (Tigatron, Tigerhawk) had ever been apporached as guests. They replied that; a) the Hasbro people apparently had some kind of deadline to make; b) They would definitely consider it. Someone asked if Bob Skir really had bowed out of Botcon due to work related issues. 3H responded that they accepted his reason without question, but they didn't blame him if he really had chosen not to face a potentially volatile group of Transfanatics. They repeated much of what I've said time and time before: that all Bob Skir ever did was try to create a new vision of TFs, that he didn't deserve any of the crap that had been flung at him, and that the behaviour of some fans towards him had been nothing short of infantile. At this, the audience clapped their approval. Another person asked what 3H thought of Spqqky auctioning off Shokaract well before Botcon. Their initial response was "no comment," but they then made it clear that they were NOT happy with Spqqky's antics. Wonder if there will be any fallout from this? In addition, there was the question of why BM Rattrap had not been included in the display with all the other upcoming toys. According to 3H, it's been pushed back due to design problems or something like that. At best, it'll be hitting shelves in late November, so essentially it'll be part of the next wave of TFs. Yeah, I'm kinda disappointed too. OTOH, I'd be lying if I said I was ever in love with his toy, judging from the pics I've seen. The robot mode looks like a BM version of Quasimodo, for Pete's sake.
As other people fielded their questions, I suddenly lost one of Dirgegun's missiles. Damn, where'd that thing go? I think I must've looked pretty silly to 3H, crawling around on my hands and knees during the panel. Fortunately, none of them asked aloud, "Just what is that guy doing?" Finally found the missile as people were getting up to leave. Oh, and for those of you who weren't able to attend this year, take hope! The inside of the back cover of the Botcon comic shows a scowling Apelinq, and the words "2001: Prepare to be Wrecked!" Something big is looming on the horizon . . .
After saying some farewells, Gordon, Fletch, and I returned to our hotel for the last time. Gordon went off to catch the shuttle to the airport, and Fletch and I began the drive back to Ontario. At one point, I got on the wrong stretch of highway and nearly took us to Grand Rapids, whoops! We arrived in Toronto around 12AM, and got hit by a nasty thunderstorm on the 401. We finally reached Peterborough around 2 AM. Woke up around lunchtime the next morning, bid Fletch adieu until September, and then hit the road for good ol' Ottawa, and work that night. Stopped off at a reptile zoo on the way, and at Wal-Mart in Kanata, but there wasn't anything new there. Not that it really mattered.
My acquisitions at Botcon 2000 consisted of the following:
-Botcon "Legends Forever" T-shirt featuring Optimus Prime and Megatron
-Botcon comic book "Reaching the Omega Point"
-Botcon Exclusive Toys Shokaract and Apelinq
-BW Neo Bazooka and Sling
-BW2 Dirgegun and Thrustol
-BW Silverbolt, Sky Shadow, and FKTM Tarantulas
-A whole heap of great memories that will remain priceless
I'd like to extend my deepest, most sincere thanks to 3H Enterprises, that trio of demi-gods called Jon, Karl, and Glen. While I don't have a sample of comparison, I think that they did a helluva fine job organising Botcon 2000. The mere fact that Botcon 2001 will be in their capable hands makes me pine for next summer. If there is a Matrix for Transfans out there in the great beyond, then 3H would be welcomed with trumpets blaring.
Kudos to all those who I ran into that weekend. Robert Powers, Doug Dlin, the wiigii gang, Perceptor, Robobase, White Dove, Rob Jung, Dinogrrl, Astrotrain & Black Zarak, Raksha, Mike & Judy, M Sipher, Robowang, Recharge, Robert Yee, Wonko the Sane, Ninja99, and Nightwind. I hope that you enjoyed meeting me as much as I enjoyed meeting all of you. Sincere apologies to those whose names I can't remember--you know who you are! Heartfelt thanks to my fellow Ottawan Gordon, for sharing his room at the Holiday Inn with us. And to Fletch, whose driving skills got us through that nasty thunderstorm in Toronto.
So, would I attend again in 2001? Well ... that all depends. I'd certainly like to. But, I honestly don't know what lies ahead in my future. I may travel abroad next summer for example. And even assuming that I did stay on the continent, the location factor would be the deciding one. If Botcon 2001 is held in some place like, say, Houston or San Francisco, there's no way I'd drive that far a distance, and flying can be expensive. OTOH, 3H did say that the majority of fans tend to live in the Midwest and the Eastern coast. If the convention was held in some place like Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, or Syracuse, I'd say the chances of me attending would be around 80% or higher. And this time I'd book a hotel room early, so that I wouldn't have to walk back and forth each day.
That concludes my first Botcon report. I hope you've enjoyed reading it--I certainly enjoyed writing it. See you all on ATT, and with any luck, in 2001.
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