Botcon 2006: Sapphire's Report

Venue: Hyatt Regency convention centre, Lexington, Kentucky

Dates: 28th September - 1st October, 2006

After my second delay at Chicago o'Hare (the first was en route to Canada for the Gathering) I finally touched down in Louisville and had a warm reception at the airport from Miss Special, Hacker and VampyerBA. I was so glad to see them! We chatted while Hacker drove through a wicked storm to her house in neighboring state Indiana. There we met up with Outtsyder. We were all pretty tired after so much travelling, so we hit the hay.

The next morning I was first up. Hacker had left early to go to class. Once VampyerBA, Sara and Outtsyder were awake we sat around the table and chatted ‘til lunch. Hacker finally returned with Stelartron, a friend of Outtsyder's and fellow transfan.I cannot recall exactly at what time Baron arrived, but I do know that Baron is a really cool person and it was great getting to know him better over the convention (something I'd be doing with many Internet friends and acquaintances). We then drove to Lexington where we checked in at our hotel room at La Quinta. Before we actually got the room, however, we met with Sinead who glomped us. She was SO hyper and SO excited to see us. She picked up and carried my massive behemoth of a red case up stairs! She was simply amazing! I also met her friend Ehren, who seems like a really nice guy. Through Sinead I also met her friend Charade who I’d only spoken to a little via email and once on AIM. I got to know Charade a whole lot better over the next few days and she turned out to be an awesome individual, so very kind and generous.

That evening Hacker drove us to the Hyatt Convention centre where we queued to pick up our registrations packs. Miss Special created a Bwint sign to attract attention. VampyerBA had really perked up over that time and we were chatting away merrily and getting along great. We were in the same queue for our packs because we both have surnames starting with ‘B’. The boxset was beautiful (though I am not too keen on the Dinobot and Rhinox, the others are lovely) and we got a surprise free gift of Tigatron (pre-BW) too. The other merchandise on offer was far too pricey for me so I just bought the Botcon shirt. I scoffed at the price of the Botcon exclusive Megatron and Waspy toy. Nice as they were, they cost 100 dollars! No friggin way I said! I bought them later. >_> As an investment, mind you! lol. Anyway, registration lasted a few hours and in that time we met up with Crab, Sydney and Monarch. I soon learned that Crab gives good hugs. :D We also met up with Beastbot. We followed Beastbot around the streets outside the convention looking for food. We called into a store and THEN found a pizza place. Most hadn’t bought anything at the store and so they ate pizza, but Miss Spesh and I were content with a cookie and piece of banana cake respectively. I chatted with Charade and told her how much I adored Rampage. She remembered that conversation as the next morning she gave me a beautiful gold crab broche. She said that she sold jewellery and thought I might like it (she gave it to me as a gift). Aw.

After pizza we went to watch the MSTFs. For those who don’t know, MSTF is mystery science theatre for Transformers. They play episodes of Tfs on a big screen and a panel of pseudo-comedians mock the episode.While we waited in the lobby to go in, a certain Beast Wars VA walked past our group, recognised Outtsyder and stopped to chat. I had spotted him before anyone else and stared, physically unable to make a noise or gesture. I tried and failed to alert Miss Special but that was okay, because Outtsyder made enough of a noise introducing Scott McNeil. I am surprised at me. I was very composed when meeting my favourite actor, Elijah Wood. But I was totally in awe of Scott. I had to be pushed forward, wide eyed with a hand over my mouth, to see him. Outtsyder introduced me and Scott gave me the BEST HUG EVER. Seriously. This guy hugs with his entire body and just radiates warmth and affection. I just stood there in shock and then blurted ‘you’re my hero’. Oh, feel the fangirlness, lol. I am ashamed. But you know something, he IS my hero, because before Elijah Wood and LOTR and before so many other things I’ve become a fan of, Beast Wars was my passion. I loved it from when I first saw it at 10 years of age in South Africa. I’d been pining to go to a Botcon and meet the VA of my favourite character for years and years. And finally, there he was. He was so nice to me, and gave me a second hug when he saw how startled I looked. Aw. Everyone made a fuss around me, all my friends realized what a big deal this was for me, and I appreciated it. That was the first of many awesome moments at Botcon 06. Anyway, Scott met everyone in the group and gave hugs and handshakes and talked about the huge cow he’d just eaten and Winnipeg (where VampyerBA is from) and other such things ‘til we finally let him go get some sleep as he was jetlagged. We then watched the MSTFs.

The whole time Miss Spesh was whispering “play Beast Wars” and it wasn’t looking like they were going to til the last hour when they played the pilot episodes. They did a good job making fun of it, or rather, of Cheetor. I mean, they mocked the episode a little, but most of the time they ruthlessly picked on Cheetor (and a few other characters). We had much fun laughing at it. I mean, those aren’t the best eps of BW, and Cheetor leaves himself open to mockery, silly kitty. I briefly spoke to Dragonsflayme and her friend, V, who arrived during the MSTF. They left early, though so we didn’t see them after. We headed back to the hotel, chatted some and then hit the sack.After not very much sleep we got up and dressed in our Botcon clothes, or at least I did. I wore my RT t-shirt. First thing we did was go to the VA panel at 9. That was friggin awesome, dude! (And here's where all intelligent speech from me goes out the window, heh!) Scott McNeil (Rattrap, Dinobot, Waspy and Silverbolt) and Blu Mankuma (Tigatron & Tigerhawk & Vok) and Pauline Newstone (Airazor) and Richard Newman (Rhinox) were there. They were all very entertaining to listen to. I adored Richard who was so friendly and chatty, and Blu was such a loveable fellow, too. Pauline was very shy and quiet, as is her nature, but she opened up a lot more as she got over the initial shock of how big and amazing conventions are. Richard is a small, thin guy, not at all like the big burly fellow we imagined would be voicing a big dude like Rhinox, so that was surprising! Pauline’s speaking voice IS Airazor, so that was great to listen to. Scott stole the show, eating five doughnuts while he was at it. He’s a riot. I think VampyerBA filmed some of the panel. I did too, so I shall try and get some clips up soon. We had such fun listening to them and their stories… They were just fantastic! We stayed after that panel for the ‘Transformers Designs Decisions’. I don’t know why we stay for such panels, because 5-15% of it is interesting for a BW-only fan and the rest really isn’t. I'm sure if you're a general Transformers fan, then they're very interesting. Oh well. I think after that we met up with Zucca who picked up his package. He'd just been fetched by Sinead and Charade. It was nice to see him again. Crab tagged along with us as we went and had something to eat and then we came back for the Creating History panel by Simon Furman. He does the comics and wrote the final episode for BW, but we forgive him since he thought he was writing a season finale, not a series finale, when Hasbro told him halfway through the script.

Finally, at mid-day, the dealer room opened up to the sound of a marching band playing the Transformers theme. Cool x 1000! While queuing to get in, I spotted Ben Yee. We hugged and he said he’d catch up with me in the d-room. The Room this year was even bigger than last, apparently the biggest a Botcon had ever seen, with 200 tables and stands of TF merchandise. Geek heaven, I say! It was like a sweet-addict walking into a hall-sized candy store. @_@ I was impressed with myself, as I did not spend any money til after I met up with Ben again. We took Crab around the dealer room since it was his first time at a Botcon as was it VampyerBA's, who she got herself stuck in a 1 hour and 45 minute queue to pay for some BW books she’d bought for her son. She was queuing for the dealer table set up by a few brothers who were selling their entire collection. After that I went with Miss Special and VampyerBA to get autographs. I had Blu sign a print of Dragonflayme’s gorgeous Tigatron painting and Richard to sign a print of Rhinox that I think was made by Hacker. O_o My memory leaves much to be desired. I got distracted by Ben who wanted to go on a dealer room adventure so I decided to get the other VA autographs later, but I did get Scott to see my t-shirt, which he really liked. Yay! We milled about chatting and geeking out and then went to a fedex kinkos to get a print of my RT drawing for Scott as a gift (the original was lost). When we got back to the con, we discovered Dragonsflayme, in all her awesomeness, had realized her plan of getting some of the VAs to attend a dinner with us. Yes, Beast Wars International took Richard Newman and Scott McNeil to dinner at the Crackerbarrel restaurant, with Ben Yee as an added guest! Needless to say we all spazzed with excitement. There were 25 of us altogether, including some people’s family members, and thanks to Dragony's and Beastbot’s parents, we managed to get everyone there. I sat at a table with Ben, Miss Special, VampyerBA, Beastbot, Baron and Crab. The other two tables had the VAs, but I was cool with that because Dragonsflayme had wanted this to be V’s special night (V is a big Scott fan) so she got to sit next to him. Ben made awesome company and told us all sorts of stories and we chatted merrily and ate big meals and there was much fun and cheer. Then VampyerBA took me by the arm and demanded I accompany her while she tell Scott and Richard how much Beast Wars has changed her life. I took the opportunity to give Scott my drawing, which he made me sign (awwww!) and he told me my art teacher was wrong, it was a good drawing (he’s too sweet.) VampyerBA then made her speech about how BW had been such a big part of her life, and started to cry halfway through and Richard told her she was awesome and Scott teared up and said the same and there was much hugging and sniffling. I then took the stand and told Scott and Richard how 5 years ago I’d started a little fansite which grew into BW Int. and how it had brought all the friends they saw there that evening together and how it allowed me to meet my best friend, Miss Special. I also said it had impacted hugely on my life. Miss Special too made a thank you speech. The VAs looked genuinely touched. We went outside after that and posed for photos. Charade organized a phone call to LDC and Scott called her and she flipped out with excitement. I also talked to LDC - she was so happy. Aw. I was able to have some photos taken with the VAs, then a group photo and we said our goodbyes and went back to the hotel, riding on such a high!

We had to get up early the next morning for the first panel (Cartoon Creation). We ooh-ed and aah-ed over the lineup for Peter Cullen’s autograph (Optimus Prime) and happily avoided it in favour of dealer room shopping. I managed to find all the 10th Anniversary BW toys (hurrah!) and VampyerBA managed to find Wayward. She showed us a print she had bought from her and we (Miss Spesh and I) spazzed and headed over to her and told her how much we love her work. Miss Spesh bought a print from her, I believe! I then got Scott and Pauline’s autograph. Scott signed a print that I bought last Botcon and he wrote a nice message. He also liked my Rampage shirt which I was wearing that day. Huzzah! Pauline talked quite a bit with me and signed my BW comic and was amazed that there was an Airazor fan club. I gave her a Bwint card and she apologized for being a technophobe but we said it was ok, we still love her. :DWe then watched the 2nd of the VA panels and enjoyed that one thoroughly as more entertaining questions were asked and we got even more entertaining answers. Scott did a really funny imitation of Gary Chalk (Optimus Primal) and Blu and Pauline were incredibly sweet in reminiscing about their characters’ romance. Richard told some fun stories and was just wonderful. After that I had lunch and departed company with my friends to do some shopping with Silverclaw, Charade and VampyerBA. After that we went back to the con and met up with everyone else. We were there for a short while and then headed back to our respective hotels to prepare for the Awards Dinner Party.

The hall was PACKED. There was barely any room to move. No way could it fit so many hundreds of people. We ate our food while in the line for the buffet and then consumed desert outside the hall in the convention food court, which was much better. Scott had dinner with V and Melissa and we let them be. I ate cake with Miss Spesh, Beastbot, Crab, Hacker and Sinead. After dinner, Scott was mucking about and I went with VamperBA to watch him and while he was goofing around I shouted “Dance, Scott, dance!” as that’s one of my favourite random things to blurt to people. They never do, but Scott did! He broke into a little jig and we laughed like crazy. He then did the robot which turned into him doing a skit about being the Scott McNeil action figure. My goodness but it was so funny! Scott is such a good sport. After that I went inside to check the situation out and through Baron found they were doing Bingo - at last, something I knew how to play! I rounded everyone up and we played Bingo. Out of our group, Hacker won once and got a toy as a prize. We chatted a little with Ben afterwards and then listened to the Awards announcement and the BIG announcement of where Botcon 07 was gonna be (they usually only announce it 4 or 5 months before the date). Sinead squealed with delight at the venue of Rhode Island as she says that’s “just down the road for her”. It’s to be the weekend before the movie. Here’s hoping I can make that one, too. We then headed to Blu’s table to give him hugs, which he reciprocated most warmly. Blu made Miss Special look like a grinning fan girl. Wait…Miss Special IS a grinning fan girl. :pWhen we got back to the hotel room after Bingo that’s when Zucca read his fic. We also chatted a bit and watched an episode of BW on my new laptop. It was late when everyone finally went to their own rooms and VampyerBA, Miss Special and I got to sleep. I apparently looked like a raccoon with the dark shadows under my eyes.

Sunday we woke up late (as in 8:15 or something) and had to rush to pack. I did most of the rushing as I had a ton of stuff to put into my massive case and the room looked like a bomb had gone off in it. We got the con around 11 and did some final dealer room shopping. I bought a Hard Hero Rhinox for 20$ (yay VBA for finding it!) and an Alternators Battle Ravage, upon Miss Spesh’s suggestion. I queued in the autograph line to get Richard to sign the Rhinox and to talk to Pauline, as the day before Sydney had informed me she’d been looking for me. She again apologized again for being a technophobe. Aw, she is so sweet! I got to give Scott and Blu final hugs. Scott made me feel so loved again. I told him he was awesome, which he is. I’ll never forget him. I won’t forget any of them.
Miss Special and I met up with VampyerBA who’d made a friend of a young man (Curse Hawkind on the forums, since he joined a few days ago!) and he was really friendly and enthusiastic. We were delighted to hear he'd be joining BW International. We found Ben and hung out with him for a while and chatted some. That day I also discovered a Beast Wars bag which I showed to VampyerBA and she loved it. Then we all went to lunch. Sadly, it was time to say farewell to Miss Special. I was very sad.

I said goodbye to Zucca, too, but he came back because his plane was delayed til the next day, so that was good. We all then waited for the Botcon draw and no one out of our group won, sadly. Botcon was over so we all left for Hacker’s house for a movie night. All except Crab and Beastbot and Dragonsflayme, who were staying locally at the hotels in Lexington. We said our goodbyes and then crammed into two cars. We bought a big meal of KFC and after we got back everyone all freshened up and settled around yours truly for a fic reading: "Beast Warriors Day Out: The Funfair" ws read from my laptop. I was nervous that no one would find it funny, but fortunately I was wrong. Everyone was roaring with laughter which gave me warm fuzzies. I couldn’t have hope for a better reception. We then watched Sinead’s fave movie: V for Vendetta, which was really quite entertaining. After that Hacker had to drive Baron, Zucca and Sinead back to their hotel all the way in Lexington (another hour and a half’s trip… the poor girl got NO sleep whatsoever that night) so we said our tearful goodbyes to them.

I slept like a rock that night and Hacker woke us at 6am to start the journey that would eventually lead to my saying goodbye to her and VampyerBA at the airport. I had had a spectacular time at Botcon so was very sad to be leaving.
In conclusion, Botcon 2006 was utterly fantastic and all my dreams of what it could be came true. I can confidently say it was the time of my life and I am truly grateful that I had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful friends while I was there. They MADE Botcon special for me and I hope I get to see them all again soon. Here's to a great 2007!