BotCon

BotCon
Status	Active
Genre	Transformers
Inaugurated	1994
Most recent	2023
Organized by	Agabyss Enterprises LLC
Filing status	Private company
Website	http:// botcon /

BotCon,briefly known as "The Official Transformers Collectors' Convention" (or OTFCC), is an annualconventionforTransformersfans and collectors. BotCon has been held annually since 1994. BotCon is asyllabic abbreviationfor "Robot Convention"but also refers to "Autobot"and"Decepticon",the protagonist and antagonist robot factions in the many continuities in the Transformers franchise.

Featured BotCon guests are usually involved in the creation of Transformers media in some respect, whether asvoice actorsfrom the animated series, artists or writers from thecomic books,or actualHasbroemployees.Fun Publicationshas held the convention for a number of years, with 2016 being its final year.It was replaced by the now defunctHasCon,Hasbro's own convention, in 2017.

History

Display cases for upcoming Transformers at BotCon 2006

Cosplayersat BotCon

Cosplay of theCombaticonSwindleat BotCon 2011.

The first BotCon was held inFort Wayne, Indiana,United Statesin 1994. Organized by brothers Jon and Karl Hartman, the convention had 180 attendees. BotCon was organized in 1995 by Raksha, a prominent figure in the fan community, and in 1996 by Men In Black Productions, headed up by Dennis Barger. In 1997, the Hartmans brought Glen Hallit, a fellow fan, into the fold, forming 3H Enterprises (based on the first letter of the organizers' last names).

In 1999, BotCon Europe took place in Clapham Common, Wandsworth, South West London, England.

At BotCon 2002, Hallit announced that 3H had secured the official Transformers convention license, as well as licenses to producecomic booksand start afan club.Shortly thereafter, the Hartmans were removed from their organizational duties, leaving Glen Hallit as the sole organizer of the new company, 3H Productions, Inc.

In the winter of 2002, 3H sought to expand toEurope,holding an official European convention inCheshunt,UK.However, the event, which was held in conjunction with the main BotCon 2002 in the US, had much less advertising and the registration did not open until a couple of weeks before the convention. Since the attendance at the European BotCon had been much smaller than the main show that summer, 3H decided it was too much work to hold two separate conventions, and officially announced that they would never hold BotCon outside the US again.

In 2003, the convention changed its name to "The Official Transformers Collectors' Convention" (OTFCC), due to the Hartmans' ownership of the BotCon service mark. The fandom held dueling conventions in 2004, as 3H held OTFCC inChicago, Illinois,while the Hartman brothers revived the BotCon name for their final convention inPasadena, California.That fall, 3H Productions lost all of its Transformers-related licenses, leaving the convention in a state of limbo.

In early January 2005, Hasbro announced on its official website thatFun Publications,owned by Brian Savage, had been awarded the convention and fan club licenses. The Hartman brothers and prominent fans Pete Sinclair, Benson Yee, and Rik Alvarez were invited to form an advisory council to help ease the transition of organizing the convention for the new owners. Once the Hartmans' service mark was transferred to Fun Publications, BotCon regained its status of being the official Transformers collectors' convention.

On February 2, 2020, people started to observe new activity on the official BotCon website. On February 3, 2020, Karl Hartman announced BotCon 2021. In a post on the Official BotCon Facebook page, Hartman said, "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".

BotCon got special attention from Transformers licensees, as shown by this promo for the2007Transformersmovie.

Panorama of the Dealer Room at BotCon 2008

Over the years, BotCon has featured many individuals who have worked to bring the Transformers multiverse to life, including voice actors, animation staff, and Hasbro design team members.

BotCon returned in 2022 under new ownership (Agabyss), with a brand new convention in Nashville. The return of the convention on August 26, 2022, marks a new era for the once official transformers convention. While Transformers are still the main focus, the convention will also embrace other properties that many in the fandom already enjoy. (see botcon )

Transformers Hall of Fame

At the 2010 BotCon, Hasbro introduced a "Hall of Fame" awards ceremony to commemorate the people and characters of the franchise. Hasbro selected the first four robot inductees, while fans worldwide voted for the fifth. In the end,DinobotfromBeast Wars: Transformerswon the votes. Among the human inductees wereBob Budianskyfor helping create the franchise through comics and personality profiles,Peter Cullenfor giving Optimus Prime his voice, andHideaki YokeandKohjin Ohnoof Takara Tomy for creating many of the franchise's toys.

For 2011,Steven SpielbergandMichael Baywere inducted for the success of theTransformerslive-action film franchise.

In 2012, the first posthumous award was given to voice actorChris Latta,who died in 1994. Wheeljack, one of the characters he voiced in the original series, was selected as the Fan's Choice recipient.

Exclusive toys

One of BotCon's most popular features is the exclusivetoysmade available to the attendees. The toys are different every year and are not retailed anywhere in the world. The number of exclusive toys increased significantly in 2005 after Fun Publications became the official license holder of the convention. The identities and designs of the toys were originally kept a close secret until the opening of the convention, but in the later years of the convention the organizers often chose to reveal one or more of the exclusives ahead of time due to repeated problems with stolenprototypesbeing sold oneBay.In 2008, organizer Brian Savage ordered all eBay users selling these prototypes to return them to their rightful owners.

Although the toys are always unique, financial costs prohibit the creation of entirely new molds. As such, the toys areredecosorrepaintsof previously used toys given new identities, occasionally switching allegiances and even gender. Beginning in 2003, some of the exclusives were given new, retooled heads to further differentiate the new characters from previous uses of a mold. As the number of exclusives offered at each convention grew, so did the number of retooled parts. Since then, it has been standard practice to produce three or four newly tooled heads (or other parts such as wings in the case of 2007) for each BotCon. After the convention, exclusive toys usually become valuable collector's items in the community, particularly among fans who missed the convention.

The Transformers Collector's Club also releases exclusive figures, which are also remolds and repaints of regularTransformersfigures.

External links

• Official site
• Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club
• Transformers conventions attendee figures and information