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You have chosen Wisely! I trust all you delicate souls out there will skip that other report. Good choice. I think people look to Transformers as a welcome release from the drudgery of daily life. The last thing you need to do is over-think the only bright spot in an otherwise dreary existence. Geez, they're just toys. Fun to fiddle with, if you ask me. I like them. That's why I'm here.
Now...concentrate on the good stuff. Here is where you will find the more 'typical' Botcon report of yesteryear (along with the appropriate pics). When I say 'appropriate pics', I mean that in my usual style they will be small, grainy, and of poor-quality, because it is tradition after all. (I don't get it; the prints turned out great. The cd they sent me was crap. Oh well.) I won't bore you with the things you've already heard; I'll bore you with things that I tell you. :-) After the pics, you'll find a list of my 'haul' from this year's con. |
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Begin the arrival, the Descent into Room. And what a nice room it was! For only 129$ (plus the 10 dollar room fee, plus the 10 dollar federal fee, plus the 10 dollar state fee, all and each per day, all not mentioned when booking) you get a nice two-room suite:
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The assembled statue that you will have seen a million pictures of by now. Funny story; parts fell off during assembly. They did manage to get it back together. Me, I prefer the G1 anime Prime over this one, but it will do. I was bored waiting in line for pre-reg pickup, so while people were waiting I sold off some of the stuff I took with me (swerve, a couple of ko sets, etc). Speaking of KO sets, skip to the dealer room, and:
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The obligatory picture of Paul (SpaceBridge); Maz insisted that we make his panel, and so we did. I enjoyed the first half. I also visited his booth:
Paul had himself a rare lucky draw KO Bonecrusher, priced at only $195.00, sitting in with the giftsets for quite a long time. I could hardly believe my eyes, so I took a couple of pics of it. Lewis ended up with a $195 lego set at his booth (ironically, the same one he donated to the auction the night before) while Alex ended up with a $195.00 empty lego box. He enjoyed it so much that he kept it there. :-) Kudos to Bickmore for being a good sport. I'm still waiting for Lewis to formally set up a date for me with his sister when she turns 18. |
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These next 3 pictures go together, I think:
Let me explain why. I finally found (after 6 years, so you never have to hear me ask for it again) the large left-wing long-beveled peg Thundercracker wing! I bought a complete T-cracker from one fellow, and took out the wing I needed. I then went to Eric, who sold me an extra left wing. I then sold the once-again complete Thundercracker (minty mint) to Mr Z. Everybody wins! |
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Here's a fun one: The TF Source booth:
 I dunno where Curt's eyes are wandering to, but I got it on tape. :-) Curt's parents are simply wonderful, and helped him run his booth with near-peak effeciency. You know, speaking of effeciency, by the last day of the convention, the lady at the Hasbro booth gave up. She didn't bother checking your tag and stamping it; she was reading her book, and the stamping and toy picking up was completely self-serve. I watched a fellow take the stamper, *pretend* to put a notch in his badge, then take a toy. And then go back a little while later to repeat the process. One per person per day? He likely pulled that off a dozen times. Ben Yee. Nice guy. Little too-heavy on the Beast Wars. We need more G1 flavor in there if you're gonna keep volunteering there, buddy. Alveraz: Like the book, the presentation could have used a little more polishing. Good first effort.
Pete: Luv ya, but you're a lousy plumber. :-) |
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Here's Frank in his stylin' hat:
 Well I dunno about anyone else, but I thought it was stylin. Thanks to Frank for the X-5 robot, which I didn't even know they made! He's in the office now (the robot, not Frank). |
 A random group of unknown individuals posing before some sort of unrecognised statue. |
 More lucky draw gold stuff at the 3F booth. (Did anyone here buy the Megatron?) A friend of ours at the booth remembered Northern, and handed me a package ('here, this is for your big friend'. :-) |
 Shawn, Brian, and Brett, discussing the finer points of parts parties and free beer. :-) Actually, the bulletin board seemed like a good idea, but there was no one large 'parts party' this time around (presumably because of the smaller attendee count this year, I dunno). There were several scattered, 'parties' around the hotel. Maybe better, maybe worse, but I think this might gel better next year. Call it a wash. |
 Orson (Bw Sidecutter) and friend. :-) |
 Another random group of unknown individuals posing before some sort of unrecognised statue. (How many times must we see this thing in pictures?!) |
 Yea, ya seen him a million times already. I'm looking forward to this, as we'll finally have Cybertron in our collection (I'm temped to get a pipe cleaner and mount an orbiting Unicron Head off the end of it). |
 Rose, beautiful as always. If I had to choose... |
 Super pic of the TM Hot Rod with printed correction on box. |
 Sharon and her boyfriend. |
 I love this guy. Come on, say it with me: Vee-hick-el. |
 Some unknown guy. I didn't catch his name. Probably not important. |
 Their identities must remain a secret. |
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And so it ends, this little journey; the gang, yet not a gang, but all posed for the final pic before departure:
 I think their faces say it all. |
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Enough picture crap, how about the toys?! Well, I didn't find much in terms of bulk (thank god, because there was no room left to send it home anyways), but what I did find was spectacular, because it narrowed the Needs List down to just about nothing! :-) For now. Here's what I got, the rarest of the rare, the hyper-specific, impossible-to-find, no way in heck will I ever get them but got them anyways things! And a mighty fine thank you to all those who helped me find them:
Large Left Wing (Long Beveled Peg) for Thundercracker (Yay!)! Holy crap! Finally, after all these years, I don't have to look for these ever again! (Well, except the Jumpstarters. I'll have to look for them until I have them all, I guess.) And the other stuff: I picked up one of those tiniest Primes (you know, that one) in the box for 10 bucks. Got the hybrid convoy from Shawn, blue Prowl from Curt, a new Roadblock variant from Z!, and a hondacity remote from Mono. Thanks again guys! And thanks to Brett, I have a couple of nice pieces of concept art from the bottom of Aaron Archer's desk drawer (that he won a whole stack of at the charity auction, no less). And thank you to those I didn't specifically name; you know who you are and why. :-) There's more, but others can tell it. Just wanted to give a shout out and say thanks to everyone, and looking forward to next year. And so ends this report. The good, the better, and the best! I have a good feeling about where we're headed. Some people think about this hobby way-too much. Knock it off, they're just toys. What, you some kind of psychotic brainwashed consumer, or something?
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