Moderator: Club and BotCon Forum Staff
To be clear, BC Productions is a new, jointly owned production company created for the purpose of acquiring the rights to BotCon from Fun Publications.
and running the convention in the 2020's.
So there are people on board from the 3H era, namely Karl, as well as some from the FunPub era.
It's a mix of people who have been involved with the event in all iterations.
When they asked me to be one of the shareholders, I couldn't refuse!
Having attended since 1997, I felt a tangible sense of loss when it ended in 2016.
Whatever you consider the ideal form of BotCon to be, I think it's irreplaceable as an event,
and needs to be preserved by people who have existed together with it over the years.
We know what the 3H era, the FunPub era was.
As to what the BC Pro era is, we'll all define it together as we live through the distant future age of 2020!
And I have graduated from second-tallest Transformers fan to second-tallest Transformers convention organizer...
Shadowman wrote:This is Sabrblade we're talking about. His ability to store trivial information about TV shows is downright superhuman.
Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'
In this case, the term “BOTCON” describes a feature of applicant’s Class 41 services, specifically, that applicant is providing conventions about robots. As shown in the attached dictionary definitions, “BOT” is short for “a robot” and applicant’s identification of services shows that applicant’s services relate to robot toys. Moreover, the dictionary definitions show that “CON” is short for “A convention, especially one for science fiction enthusiasts.” Applicant’s identification of services shows that applicant offers conventions, and applicant’s attached webpage confirms that applicant’s services include conventions and their website featuring information about toy robot shows includes information about toy robot conventions. Further, the attached evidence also shows that other entities use the full form of applicant’s mark, the phrase “robot convention,” to describe their own conventions and conferences featuring robot toys.
Oxford Dictionary: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/bot (bot)
American Heritage Dictionary: https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=bot (bot)
Oxford Dictionary: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/defin ... /con#con-2 (con)
YourDictionary: http://www.yourdictionary.com/con (con)
RoboCon: https://nightshininginc.com/robocon
Thus, the phrase “BOTCON” is descriptive of applicant’s services because the applicant’s services include conventions featuring robots. Moreover, the individual terms in the mark do not take on any new or composite meaning when used together beyond their individual meanings. Thus, the applicant’s mark is refused because it is merely descriptive of a characteristic of applicant’s services.
Good Morning. This message is kindly directed at my fellow fans of the Transformers franchise. You’ll want to read all the way to the end, but please do read from the beginning. This message is cross-posted at www.allspark.com. Please credit them if linking to this post.
A BotCon story.
In 1994, the first BotCon was held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, organized by my brother Jon and me. Over the next several years, it was organized by Raksha in 1995, Dennis Barger in 1996, Glen Hallit and ourselves 1997-2002, and finally with Pete Sinclair in 2004. Through various ups and downs, it was determined that BotCon 2004 was to be the last BotCon. For those that weren’t there, I put together a retrospective video set to music, called Requiem, which was shown at the final panel.
The last text on the video read something like this:
Thanks for the love.
Thanks for the laughs.
Thanks for the tears.
BotCon 1994-2002, 2004
Thanks for the memories.
The End
?
As one might expect, that question mark was met with applause through the tears. The truth was that no one really knew what the future held with BotCon, but I wanted to give the fans in attendance a little bit of hope. To quote another staple from 1994: “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
As it turns out, Brian Savage and Fun Publications took over the reins for BotCon from 2005-2016. During that time, the concept of how BotCon operated was expanded greatly. The toy offerings were increased, and guests from every era of the franchise were plentiful. The size and scope of the convention grew to proportions that Jon and I could never have imagined.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the convention, even from its earliest days, was its ability to draw people together who have the same interest in this toy line. Newcomers to the convention were invited into conversations by “old timers.” There was a sense of belonging for many that attended, which went past the toys. People got to know each other on a personal level. Those people who saw each other every year got used to seeing each other every year. It was like a big family reunion. I’ve always felt that way. I saw people who were at some of the early BotCons grow from somewhat awkward late teen-agers and early twenty-somethings (I was definitely a member of that group!), to confident adults, some of whom with families, who brought their own children to BotCon. The second generation had begun to enjoy what their parents had introduced them to.
So, when word got around BotCon 2016 (confirming what had been known in smaller circles for months prior) that it was going to be the Last BotCon, the mood of the convention for many of us old timers turned very introspective, and quite sad. I’ll never forget speaking to David Kaye at the evening Judd Nelson event that year. I simply went up to him and thanked him for his support over the years. He was one of the first major guests who attended in 1997, and he was back in 2016, almost 20 years later. I asked him if he had heard that this was the last convention. He turned to me with a serious look and said that he had heard about that, and he thought it was some sort of awful joke. BotCon couldn’t be ending. I told him that it was true. He just shook his head.
Sunday came, and at the end of the convention was the traditional organizers panel. This year was different. Many people assembled for what they knew to be the last time. It felt like equal parts retrospective, celebration, and wake. Several spoke about what BotCon meant to them. It meant so much more to many of them than the toys, cartoons, fiction, and guests. It was about the people. It became an entity unto itself. An annual family reunion that, for reasons that no one understood, had to end. Emotions were very raw in that panel. Lots of tears were shed.
Saying goodbye to BotCon was one of the hardest things that we’ve had to do, because of all of the memories that were made there, and all of the friends that were met for the first time there. BotCon was going to end, only to exist in pictures and in our hearts, minds, and memories. It was…
The End.
?
The question mark meant hope.
It means hope. Remember, Hope is a good thing, maybe the best if things, and no good thing ever dies. It just takes a five year break.
As it turns out, Simon Furman was right after all of these years.
It never ends.
The story of BotCon is not over.
It just has a new chapter.
On behalf of myself, Bret Lovell, Andrew Hall and the rest of the BC Productions crew, I am honored and humbled to announce:
BotCon 2021
www.botcon.com.
Bounti76 wrote:Since it is (at the moment) unofficial, I can't imagine they'd be doing any convention exclusive figures to the scale they did in the past. And since Hasbro is doing obscure characters in the Selects line (Lancer, Red Wing, e.t.c) now, I wonder how this convention will do.
Delicon wrote:I assume that it's unofficial but whether it is or not, hasn't been confirmed, has it?
I do imagine that if it was official, there would be a Hasbro press release.
Shadowman wrote:This is Sabrblade we're talking about. His ability to store trivial information about TV shows is downright superhuman.
Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'
JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Delicon wrote:I assume that it's unofficial but whether it is or not, hasn't been confirmed, has it?
I do imagine that if it was official, there would be a Hasbro press release.
Everything points to it being unofficial, meaning Hasbro has no direct involvement in its organization, nor is BC Productions confirmed as an official licensee like FunPub was. Don't forget, Hasbro still has Hascon... whenever that's gonna be held again
They're back at square one, aka 1994 to 2004, or even further if Hasbro chooses to be totally hands-off when it comes to providing stuff. The last part is what I'm eagerly awaiting to hear more about.
In the meantime, this year's RoboCon is in Louisville, KY.Whifflefire wrote:Here's hoping for an East-Coast location, so that I'll finally be able to attend a Botcon.
Shadowman wrote:This is Sabrblade we're talking about. His ability to store trivial information about TV shows is downright superhuman.
Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'
Sabrblade wrote:In the meantime, this year's RoboCon is in Louisville, KY.Whifflefire wrote:Here's hoping for an East-Coast location, so that I'll finally be able to attend a Botcon.
Sledge wrote:Finally! Wheelie will get the credit he's due with a set of five Wheelies.
ScottyP wrote:Kid 1 "What did you get for Christmas?"
Kid 2 "Steve.........What did you get?"
Kid 1 "John Cena!"
Shadowman wrote:This is Sabrblade we're talking about. His ability to store trivial information about TV shows is downright superhuman.
Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'
primalxconvoy wrote:Why is it both Seibertron and Allspark have covered this news (cheers folks!), but TFW2005 have not? Its there some sort of history/politics/sour grapes with them them that I'm not aware of?
Black Hat wrote:Intriguing! Of no use to me whatsoever as it's an American convention, but still, I hope it goes well! I'd be interested to see what they do as far as potential exclusives; some other unofficial cons have 3Ps making exclusives for them, so maybe that?