Quote:
Originally Posted by Corvicron
I think you guys where tough on botcon, and I apprecate that its comming from guys that decided to make their own convention. Too many people bitch but don't do anything about it. If TFcon wants to be the heavyweight you're certainly rising to the task.
I think most people are being too hard on the excustives for this years Botcon, it was a theme exciuted well. They have had issues with poor heads in the past but this year no custom head was anything but great.
And please don't scream like that on the podcast again it came out of nowhere and bothered me so much I had to post it here.
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Honestly, I wasn't trying to be tough on Botcon, but I've been to DOZENS of conventions, and Botcon being the big daddy of them all, I was a little disappointed in the overall convention. And that opinion has NOTHING to do with my personal affiliation with TFcon. Don't get me wrong, I had a FANTASTIC time, but that was mostly due to being in California and spending time with 4 of my good friends that I don't get to see that often.
It's hard to give this year's Botcon a good grade, when 2 years ago you had both Steven Speilberg and Michael Bay show up - even if it was only for a short part at least you got to sit in an Audience with those two present. Plus the addition of many G1 voice actors and almost the entire Prime cast, that's a pretty big deal.
This year, we had Glenn Moreshower and the guy that played Tommy Kennedy. Who in my opinion, almost seem like joke guests "Hey, check it out - We got that guy from all 3 Transformers movies, Look the kid who talked to that big Powermaster Prime in little seen segments of G1"
And really, I saw very very small children at this convention - Most of the attendees were grown adult collectors, I'm not sure who the entire cast of "Rescue Bots" was supposed to appeal to.
And while the dealer room was large, the selection of dealers was just O.K. like we said, there were very few unique dealers - Say if the primary reason I was traveling was to purchase Transformers, I would have very disappointed, it's a long and fairly expensive trip to come, I would have done just as well with a closer convention like TFcon or Steel City Con.
Also, I thought the exclusives this year were pretty weak. If like me, you aren't a fan of Machine Wars or G2 there wasn't really much for you, and these aren't cheap figures either most Botcon figures will run you about $40-50 each on average.
Plus keep in mind, how much are you spending to go to something like this for a Canadian
Flight - approx $600
Hotel - approx $200-300 (if you are splitting a room with people, could be more if you stayed on your own, like 400-500)
Food - approx $150-200 for the weekend (more if you like to drink)
Admission - $375 if you get a Primus package
Exclusives - Easily another $200-400 depending on what you want to get
Plus other expenses like Transportation and if you want WiFi or do any of the Botcon Tours or what do see the city...
So already we're looking at $1500-2000 and we haven't even included dealer room spending money or other spending money if you go out in the city.
For that kind of investment, I'd really want my socks to be knocked off, and this year - they weren't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robimus
Doing something about it would require simply not going, not making ones own convention 
Anyway, keep in mind that the Slag crew are vetran convention attendees who have attended likely hundreds of these types of things - When one gets out and attends dozens(or hundreds) of these things they get to see what everyone is doing and it gets easier to see the faults.
I liked the sound of the small lineups, for both Exclusives & Autographes. But only 22 total Vendors sounds pretty lacking, as did the G1 availablity. And it wouldn't be lacking at another smaller convention - but this is Botcon - this is suppost to be the grand daddy of them all for Transformers fans - and it sounds like I can see just as many Transformers Vendors at C4 in Winnipeg(if not more), so something is definitly off about that. |
Well said Rob. You summed up how I felt very well.
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Originally Posted by Bruticus82
IAN, I agree completely on the free wifi at cheap hotels!
The more expensive the hotel, the more they nickel and dime you for "extras" like wifi, breakfast, etc. etc. It bothers the hell out of me.
I don't mind paying for the wifi, but when the hotel is $300, throw in free wifi and charge me $325 instead - don't charge me $300 for the room and 12.50 a day for wifi...
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Honestly, one of my biggest Pet Peeves. When I travel I rarely spend much time in the hotel. It pisses me off to no end when I stay at a nice hotel and they want $8-$12 for WiFi - yet when I'm staying at a small hotel/motel like Motel 6 or Microtel, that provide everything I really need (Clean Rooms, Bed, Bathroom) they provide FREE WiFi and usually a free continental breakfast. For most of the time half or less of what I would pay for a higher end Hotel chain.
And don't even get me started on Hotels that charge for parking
Quote:
Originally Posted by Undrave
So what would YOU guys do for a Botcon set theme?
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Honestly, anything in the "Classicsverse", a TRUE G2 set (None of this late G1, Euro stuff, Unreleased G2), or a Diaclone based set.
