BotCon 2011

« BotCon 2011 »
Date	June 2, 2011
City	Pasadena, CA
Venue	Pasadena Convention Center

BotCon 2011 was held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California, from June 2 to June 5, 2011.

Run-up

• The original tease for BotCon 2011 was "The invasion has begun..."
• It was announced via Hasbro Transformers Collectors' Club issue 37 and confirmed via BotCon's Twitter feed that the convention-exclusive box set would feature Animated figures within a "Season 3.5" theme.^[1]
• On January 27, the BotCon Twitter feed hinted: "Lots of them. Fast-Furious." Plus, that they appeared in "The Return of Optimus Prime, Part 1," linking to our wiki.^[2]
• Later the same day, the Twitter feed confirmed that they would be the Stunticons.^[3]
• The brochure went online on March 18, and registration began March 21. Primus, Iacon, and bagged sets sold out March 27, at a record of five days.

Venue

You get a car! And you get a car! Everybody gets a car!

Like BotCon 2009, BotCon 2011 was held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California.

Merchandise

Convention-exclusive toys

"I'll probably become some dog's chew toy."

• The Stunti-Con-Job box set ($315, bagged $210)
  • Dead End, a redeco of Animated Jazz
  • Breakdown, a retool and redeco of Animated Rodimus Minor
  • Drag Strip, a redeco of Animated Arcee
  • Wildrider, a retool and redeco of Animated Blazing Lockdown
  • The Motor Master, a retool and redeco of Animated Optimus Prime

At show souvenir packages

• Sideswipe and Toxitron, redecoes of this box set's Breakdown and Animated Optimus Prime
• Shattered Glass Galvatron and Shattered Glass Thundercracker , redecoes of Cybertron Evac and Classics Starscream
• Three Autotroopers, retools and redecoes of Animated Ironhide

Ha ha ha, they'll never pull a G2 Sideswipe agai-- aw, crap.

Customization Exclusive

• Minerva, a redeco of Animated Arcee

Attendee-Only Bonus Exclusive

• Fisitron, a redeco of the souvenir package Autotrooper

Hasbro

• An exclusive "Matrix Optimus Prime" Kreon was distributed by Hasbro's Kre-O booth.

Other merchandise

• A Rescue Bots book and bio cards were handed out by Hasbro.
• The Transformers Universe MMO booth had a create-your-own character workshop which gave you a print-out of your character to take home.

Fiction

• The Stunti-Con Job Comic

Guests

Hall of Fame inductees

• Michael Bay
• Steven Spielberg

Voice actors

Writers

• Flint Dille

Fun Publications

Hasbro employees

Hasbro Studios employees

IDW Publishing comics

Live-action movie

• Tyrese Gibson

Music

• Stan Bush

High Moon Studios & Activision

Shout! Factory

• Brian Ward

TakaraTomy employees

• Hideaki Yoke
• Hisao "Curly" Nishimoto

Autobots

Events

Wednesday

• 8:30 AM - 7 PM Universal Studios Day
• 9:30 AM - 10:30 Package Pick-Up/Tour and Class Participants
• 9 AM - 5 PM Transformers Customizing Class

Thursday

• 9 AM - 5 PM Transformers Customizing Class
• 9 AM - 6 PM Six Flags Day
• 6 PM - 10 PM Registration Package Pick-Up by Groups
• 6 PM - 10 PM Club Store Open for Registered Guests
• 8 PM - 9:30 PM Exhibitors Load-In/Drop Off
• 9 PM Message Board/Room-To-Room Trading Info
• 10 PM Check-In/Registration Closes

Friday

• 7:30 AM - 2 PM Exhibitors Set-Up
• 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Exhibitors Only Private Club Store Sales
• 9:30 AM Walk-up Late Registration/Check-In
• 9:30 AM Club Store Opens Registered Guests
• 9 AM - 12 PM Contest Entries & Kids Displays Check-In
• 10 AM - 11:50 PM Transformers Filmfest
• 12 PM - 1 PM Lunch
• 12 PM - 2 PM Contest Area: Judging in Progress
• 1 PM - 1:50 PM Panel: Stunti-Con-Job Script Reading
• 2 PM - 5 PM Private Sales Room Experience
• 2 PM - 3:30 PM Autographs: David Kaye, Jake Angel
• 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM Autographs: Morgan Lofting, Neil Ross, Gregg Berger
• Hourly: Door Prize Giveaway
• 5 PM All Exhibits & Sales Room Close
• 7 PM Casino Night Awards Dinner and Auction

Saturday

• 7:30 AM Exhibitors Set-Up
• 8:30 AM Walk-up Late Registration/Check-In
• 8:30 AM Registered Attendees' Private Preview
• Hourly Door Prize Givaway
• 9 AM Early Bird Entry
• 10 AM Exhibit Hall Opens/General Admission
• 10 - 10:50 AM Panel: Transformers Comics: Chaos Begins: Chris Ryall, Mike Costa
• 11 - 12:30 AM Autographs: Morgan Lofting, Neil Ross, Gregg Berger,
• 11 - 11:50 AM Panel: Hasbro Toys - Hasbro Brand Team
• Noon - 1:50PM Panel: Transformers Prime Script Reading: TF Prime Cast
• 12:30 - 2:00PM Autographs: Jack Angel, Flint Dille
• 2 - 3:00 PM Autographs: Peter Cullen, Tania Gunadi, Steve Blum, Andy Pessoa, Kevin Michael Richardson, Josh Keaton, Markie Post
• 2 - 2:50 PM Panel: Dark of the Moon Video Game: Activision, High Moon Studios
• 3 - 3:50 PM Panel: Transformers Collectors Club Roundtable: TCC Staff
• 4 - 4:50 PM Panel: 25th Anniversary The Transformers: The Movie Voice Actor Panel: Flint Dille, Neil Ross, Gregg Berger, Jack Angel
• 5 PM All Exhibits & Sales Room Close
• 8 PM Hall of Fame Event

Sunday

• 9 AM Exhibitors Set-Up
• 9:30 AM Sales Room Opens/General Admission
• 10 - 10:50 AM Panel: TCC Magazine and Comic TCC Staff
• 10 - 11:30 AM Autographs: Michael McConnohie, Arlene Banas
• 11 - 11:50 AM Panel: The Making of Transformers Prime: The Creative Process - Jeff Kline, Mike Vogel
• 12 - 12:50 PM Panel: G1 Voice Actors: Michael McConnohie, Neil Ross, Jack Angel, Gregg Berger, Morgan Lofting, Arlene Banas
• 1 - 1:50 PM Panel: Brand Planning and Story Building Hasbro
• 1 - 2:30 PM Autographs: Gregg Berger, Jack Angel
• 2:30 - 3:30 PM Autographs: Morgan Lofting, Neil Ross
• 2 - 2:50 PM Panel: Transformers Costuming: Design Your Own Costume! - Rosemary Ward
• 3:15 PM Draw for Trips to 2012 Convention
• 3:30 PM All Exhibits & Sales Room Close

Notes

• Jack Angel was scheduled to show up for the "Stunti-Con Job" script reading to voice Breakdown, Ironfist, Rattletrap, and the Autotroopers^[4], but due to his illness, Chris Ho (better known as Vangelus) filled in.
• One unexpected guest (in more ways than one) was Abby Collins—the daughter of the late Chris Latta—who played Minerva in the "Stunti-Con Job" script reading.
• Marty Isenberg and Derrick J. Wyatt participated in the Transformers Collectors' Club roundtable, and could be found freely wandering the dealer room floor.
• For the first time in forever, the only exclusive toys that were leaked prior to the convention were the ones from the box set, which were intentionally revealed by Fun Publications anyway.
• Among the figures previewed during the Hasbro design panel were...
  • Dark of the Moon Air Raid (an AWACS plane), Armor Topspin and Dark Iron (a Sideswipe retool patterned after Quickstrike), plus an exclusive Leadfoot and Twin Twist deluxe 2-pack for Target. Cyberverse figures included Shockwave with Fusion Tank and Ratchet with Lunar Crawler, and an exclusive set based around the October 11, 2010 on-set accident where a police SUV collided with a Bumblebee prop vehicle (said to include a battle-damaged Bumblebee and a pair of characters in police deco, later revealed in the display case to be Barricade and Crankcase).
  • An Amazon.com-exclusive 25th Anniversary Unicron.
  • Items previewed for Transformers: Prime included deluxe versions of Cliffjumper (and its redeco/remold/whatever Terrorcon Cliffjumper), a Vehicon, Soundwave with Laserbeak, Ratchet, and Wheeljack, plus voyager Optimus Prime, Bulkhead, and Starscream. For Prime Cyberverse, Legion versions of Wheeljack, Bumblebee, and Arcee were shown, plus a Commander version of Ironhide.
• The initially proposed theme for this BotCon's exclusive toys was "Toxic Mayhem". The boxset would have included an Animated version of Bug Bite from Hydrodrive Bumblebee, Toxitron from Wingblade Optimus Prime, Jackpot from Jazz (later realized as a TFSS toy), and Kup from Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime. Sideswipe would have had Shattered Glass Sideswipe's deco instead of Generation 2 Sideswipe's deco. The concepts also included an Animated version of Tigatron from Rodimus Prime, an Animated Shokaract from Blackout, Springer from Swindle, and Animated versions of Flamewar, Nightracer, and Antagony from Arcee.^[5]

References

External links

• BotCon 2011 Site