A Veteran's Guide to Botcon

Hello, everyone. The staff here at Seibertron.com realized that with BotCon rapidly approaching, some of you (especially the first-timers) might have a few questions about the event. So without further adieu, allow me to present "A Veteran's Guide to BotCon."

On to the hotel! - Okay, so the big time has arrived, you've flown out of your local airport and are now in California. Whichever airport you fly into (most people are using LAX or Burbank), or whatever hotel you have booked a room with are not likely to be anywhere close by. That means you'll need to find a way to your hotel. Of course, the airports will all have rental car agencies on or around the premises but not everyone will want to brave LA traffic. The good people at Fun Publications have arranged a discount if you would like to take an airport shuttle to your hotel. There is also an extensive bus system and plenty of cabs available if you prefer.



Wednesday and Thursday Activities - Each year, Fun Publications offers customizing classes and tours of the area. Unfortunately, if you haven't already signed up for those you will have to wait until next year as registration is closed and normally is well in advance of the event. If you did sign up, Botcon.com has provided the following information about when and where to show up.

Customizing Class members will meet at the Sheraton Hotel. Room location is the Colorado Room. Class times for Wed & Thurs. is 9-5 pm. No one will be seated after 9:15am.

All Tour Guests (Wednesday & Thursday) need to meet in front on the Pasadena Convention Center @ 300 E Green Street to depart for tours. This location has been changed from what was stated in the confirmation letter you received. See brochure for details on times and events for each tour.

All class and tour participants get to pick up their packages on Wednesday night @9:30 PM in the Pasadena Convention Center in front of Exhibit A.

On Thursday night, starting at 6 PM there will be registration and package pickup at the Pasadena Convention Center. When you received your confirmation letter, you should have been assigned a package pickup time. Please note that all times are using the PACIFIC time zone so please adjust accordingly. When you arrive at the Convention center, make sure to bring that letter with you, along with a photo ID. If for any reason you have lost your letter, you can still get in using your photo ID but it will slow down the process a bit. Please remember that no one can pick up your package for you. Registration is actually a lot more fun than it sounds because if you're a Primus package holder it will be the chance for you to finally pick up your box set and free attending figure. The lines will be arranged alphabetically so make sure you are in the proper line. When you get to the front of your line, the staff will generally make you inspect your set and make sure everything is okay with it. Even if they don't, please do so anyway just to ensure that there are no broken or missing pieces, scratches, etc. If you are a Primus attendee, you will get a survey to fill out. Please do so as this will be not only your chance to vote on your favorite websites (Seibertron.com) for the Saturday Night Awards at Paramount and also this will serve as you entry for a very special drawing on Sunday (more on that later.) By the way, even if you a Mini-Con or Protoform attendee you still have to go through the line and register.



Okay, so by now you'll have your nifty little name badge and it comes with a big perk. It gives you the right to get into the line for the Transformers Collector's Club Store. The line will likely be extremely long, but it will be worth it as this will be your chance to buy exclusive souvenir figure sets as well as many more items (I believe the ROTF toys will be available at this booth starting Thursday night which will bare a special gold foil sticker stating its authenticity of being a very first release figure). Provided the rules stay the same, you will be allowed to purchase one of each souvenir set available. They verify this by physically punching your name badge. In past years, they have generally offered 2 2-pack sets but it is rumored that there might be even more this year. Prices on these will not be actually announced until Thursday night itself and do tend to vary. Last year if you bought both sets it ran around $200 but there is no guarantee what this year's sets will cost. If this sounds ultra expensive, please note that like the boxes sets, these souvenir sets have extremely limited production numbers and will not be available at regular retail stores. Generally there are pictures of the items towards the beginning of the line. The staff will then pass out order sheets for you to fill out as you wait. This is done to expedite the process. Please not that the club store is only open until 10 PM PACIFIC.



Friday - The Mayhem begins

Friday’s events are definitely a perk of being pre-registered,, especially the “Private Sales Room Preview.” However, I’ll start at the start. If for whatever reason you either a) couldn’t arrive earlier or b) just simply missed the pre-registration deadline, starting early Friday morning there will be “late registration.” This works essentially the same way as it does Thursday night, except that the lines are far shorter. If you simply arrived to the convention late, just bring your photo ID and confirmation letter as mentioned before. If you haven’t registered for a package at all, now will be your chance to do so. As of right now, there are less than 60 Primus packages (with 2009 boxsets, anyway) available but if you want the 2009 set, I’d advise getting there as early as possible if you’d like one. Late registration begins officially at 9:30 am. If you simply want general admission, you’ll have to wait until Saturday to purchase that. Also on Saturday, the club store opens once again, this time at 9 AM. If you haven’t picked up the exclusives yet, now would be the time to do because they always end up selling out. If you already purchased your exclusives on Thursday and would like more, you should be able to buy one more of each, unless any rules have changed.



Between 9 AM and 12:50 PM there are a series of panels. Panels are pretty fun, they are usually essentially Q&A sessions with a featured guest or guests. Every once in a while, the guests just speak on their own without that much audience interaction, but like I said, usually fans will get their chance to ask a question or even two depending on time constraints. So, want to know how to ask a question? Depending on the audience size for the panel, you’ll either get to raise your hand or get in line to ask via microphone. Either way, as long as you line up to ask it early, your question should be addressed. Another good reason to attend panels is that you can often be privy to inside info like news on upcoming projects, toy release dates, heck, maybe even a movie spoiler or two. After a lunch break, one of the main events of BotCon begins at 2 PM and that is the “Private Sales Room Experience.” If you have that rare “must-have”, this is the time to swoop in and buy it. Don’t be afraid to ask a dealer for something you don’t see as sometimes they won’t have room to display everything initially. Last year I snagged a Huffer/Springer 2 pack for $75 from a dealer who hadn’t got it out yet when other dealers were asking about $125. I could write 30 pages just on the dealer’s room and even show you a bunch of pictures of the room from previous years but you won’t get the full experience until you’re actually inside it. The best way to sum it up is to say it’s like climbing inside a giant toybox. Meanwhile, the autograph sessions begin featuring Gregg Berger, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtman, Stan Bush and Vince Dicola. Please note that this is the only day that Orci and Kurtzman have been scheduled to sign autographs.



At 5 PM, the dealer room closes and as of now, there are no events scheduled until 8:30 when Shout! Factory presents the Transformers Film Fest. These are fan submitted short films of various types (cgi, stop motion., etc.) with prizes being awarded to the winners during the party at Paramount. At 9 pm, is the official 2009 Seibertron.com meet-up. If you are a bit late because you’re at the Film fest or somewhere else, don’t worry because we will be there for quite a while! Botcon itself has 2 more activities Friday night. At 10 PM they will hold MSTF, where Transformers fans parody all things Transformers from cartoons to the live action movie, all on the big screen. More simply put, MSTF is the Transformers version of Mystery Science Theatre 3000,l for those of you who are familiar. The night will be capped by a special preview of the “Transform Me” fan documentary.



Saturday - The Crowd Grows

The day starts off with a bang, as the dealer room opens for registered attendees at 8:30 AM. This is also the first time “general admission” tickets will be available for purchase. There are 2 pricing tiers involved with general admission. At 9 AM, the cost is $50 and is known as “Early Bird Admission.” The advantage to these tickets is that you’ll get a jump on seeing what’s in the dealer’s room as opposed to other general admission attendees but please remember people who bought registered packages already had their chance the night before. At 10 AM, the general admission price drops to $10 and will remain the same for the rest of the convention. Please note that general admission passes get you in for one day only.



Now, if you ‘re a Primus package attendee and have already hit the dealer room on Friday night, you’re probably wondering what your excuse is to wake up early on Saturday. Well, from 9-11 AM “Weird Al” Yankovic will be signing autographs, exclusively for Primus attendees. At 10:30 AM The great Peter Cullen will also start signing autographs for one hour only. He will also have a session from 1-2 PM but if you are serious about getting his autograph I strongly advise getting in line as soon as you can for the first session. In 2007, Cullen had 2 sessions as well but the line was so long for the first one that at the end of the session, anyone who didn’t get an autograph was given a ticket for the next session and that pretty much ate up the entire second session. If you don’t want to brave these crazy lines but would still like an autograph from a well known Transformers voice actor, David Kaye is signing from 9:30-11 am. Stan Bush, and the voice of Grimlock from G1, Gregg Berger will also be signing from 11 AM-12:30 PM.



There are plenty of other fun things going on during the rest of the day, including several panels (Transformers Animated with David Kaye and “Weird Al” Yankovic, Peter Cullen, Hasbro Review Q &A, IDW Comics, Activision Transformers Video Game and the Transformer’s Collector’s Club Roundtable) and a demonstration on “How to Draw Transformers.” Also note that there will be hourly “door prizes” awarded in the dealer’s room. To enter, just drop by the Club Store and fill out an entry blank, it’s that simple, All of the activities close at 5 PM, except for…

The Party at Paramount

To attend this party, you would have had to have been either a Primus or Mini-Con attendee and then pay an extra $50. For those who did just that, it is shaping up to be a fun event for sure. At 7:15 everyone is supposed to meet on Green Street outside the Convention Center, with the actual party starting at 8 PM. It will include a tour of the back lot, dinner on the famous New York City set and much more. The event will be held Weird Al Yankovic has been announced to appear and Stan Bush will be performing live.

It may be at this point in the evening in which the awards for Best News Site, Best Resource Site and overall Best Site will be awarded to one of the many Transformers Fan sites. Seibertron.com is a 4 time award winning site and we hope to keep that streak going with another award this year.



And if it holds true, the Script Reading may take place at this time as well. The script reading features some guest voice actors and possibly a lucky attendee or to do a custom script that is submitted by an everyday Transfan like yourself as part of one of the many contests being held during Botcon. Last years script called "Bee in the City" featured David Kaye, Bumper Johnson and Tara Strong reprising their respective roles in a Transformers Multi-verse story with help from Marty Ensberg and a couple of lucky contest winners.




Also of note, during the entire convention, there will be hourly “door prizes” awarded in the dealer’s room. To enter, just drop by the Club Store and fill out an entry blank, it’s that simple, All of the activities close at 5 PM, except for…


Sunday - Winding to a Close

Sunday is generally the most “laid-back” day of the convention and this year will likely be no different. However, there are still a variety of panels and autograph signings happening. Also, if you have not done so by now, please remember to turn in your survey because at 3 PM there will be a special drawing for 2 Trips to the 2010 Convention (you must be present to win) When I say 2 trips, there will actually be 2 separate winners of 1 trip each which includes airfare (up to $450, 3 nights hotel fare and a Primus package. Sunday is also a great day to pick up some last-minute deals in the dealer’s room. Dealers are often inclined to give nice discounts towards the end of the convention because it will limited the amount of things they need to bring home with them. They don’t HAVE to do this, but often do. At 3:30 PM, sadly, the festivities draw to a close. However, there is no doubt that it will be an awesome weekend filled with unforgettable memories. We look forward to seeing you this week in Pasadena California and hopefully this article helped answer some of your questions about Botcon 09!