The Intergalactic Highway

Hi everyone,

I am still in the USA (typing this from a computer in Hacker's University library) and I'll be leaving for England later today.

I just wanted to say that Botcon was awesome, and our large group of Bwint members did a great job of promoting the site. We all had a lot of fun. A report of events, complete with pictures, will be up next update.

Anyone else who went to Botcon can post their thoughts here, if you like!

>Sapphire<

Yay, I am also posting in the same library sitting across from sapphire. I'm just waiting for my class to roll around. Blah!

Botcon was amazing and I had a great time. I wish everyone could have attended. I will try my best to work around my schedule to get my side of the convention into a report complete with pictures.

Well I'm pretty tired right now, so I shall write whatever I can rememeber for now then edit later. The people specified in here except for the actors shall be revealed byu their internet ID's to protect their privacy.


VAMPYERBA'S PERSPECTIVE OF BOTCON 06'

I left for botcon 2006 on wednesday the 27th. I arrived in louisville and was greeted by Hacker. I stayed with her at the campus for a bit. Later on we picked other people up including outtsyder, miss special, and sapphire. I was so excited to meet sapph as I have been speaking to her for over 3 years, SHe is just as nice in person as she is online Anyways, much didnt happen until thursday evening. Our group from bwint.net, which included about 15 0r 16 of us, were waiting in the lobby about to go into one of botcons room for a program called MSTF. Everyone else was in the MSTF, but we were just chillin in the lobby for a bit.Suddenly the room went silent. I looked to my right, and low and behold I saw my absolutly favorite actor: Scott Mcneil! I had wanted to meet him for years so i was quite in shock. My first instinct was to look at Sapph cause we all knew how excited she was to see him. Her hands went right over her mouth and Scott shouted at her and she burst out "I'm your biggest fan!!" He went over to her and gave her a huge hug. We ll introduced ourselves to Scott. I was standing to his left. He turned over to me and saw my card that was attached to me, which said where I was from. He turned it over adn said "Oh, from Winterpeg! Chicago thinks they have bad winds, well theyve seen nothing til they've been to Winnipeg." I agreed andwe started chatting about my city. He said He went there before in winter, and was heading off portage and main, and had to go throught th tunnels. He said it was like a whole labyrinth there, adn that winnipeggers are like underground mole people in the winter who stay in the tunnels to keep warm (lol so true!!).He then went on to say how he just ate dinner and a whole cow had to be killed to feed him, as he stuck out his stomach to make it appear larger. He was sooo histarical in person. I was still in shock and it didnt quite click to me that I had finally met Scott.He asked if we would be at the panel tomorrow and we said yes. He said he would not going on unless we were there. He then turned to sapph and did a rattrap immitation saying you gotta promise me, in which sapph yelled "I promise rattrap!" It was sooooooo CUTE. He then had to leave and go to his hotel room, while we went to the MSTF show. MSTF is a kind of theatre presentation, where transformer episodes are playeed, and 3 guys are sitting there criticing them horribly. It was soooo histarical We all laughed so hard. At the end, they played the pilot episodes for beast wars. My favorite part had to be when they were chosing there names. The part where Cheetor says "I'm Cheetor" And Optimus replies "hmmm, Interesting".... one of the critics added in his Optimus impersonatinon "you're more retarded than I thought you were." That got us all roaring! So anyways the next day, they had the voice actors panel with scott mcneil, richard newman, pauline newstone, and blu mankuma. I got to ask a few questions in which I have myself on tape. I was sooo nervous. One part I didnt get on tape was scotts impersonation of gary chalk. He has a story about Gary in the studio (he does a funny impersonation of his voice, he makes it sound sooo goofy). ANd gary had to make this belch. So he chugged back a soda and tried to burp, which started out good, but then turned out into poor gary getting sick all over the floor. Anyways, when the panel was done I went to scoot and asked if he remembered me and said of course and brought up winnipeg again. Then I gave him a card to bwint.net. He said he had visited it before, but would now go there officially. Then he noted That I was all sparkly, and how he loves sparkled(of course he said it in his silly voice). Later we went for autographs. I only got to fit in time for pauline and blu. Pauline was very shy and quiet. WHen I went to Blu, he was very friendly and excited. He's got such a distinctive voice. Later on, we met up with Ben Yee, who is widely known in the transformers fandom, for his website, huuuge transformers collection, and his help on some of the beast wars episodes. We decided later on to invite him for dinner. Sapph, spesh, hacker and I were driving in the car when we got call from Dragonsflayme. She had asked the voice actors if they wanted to come as well, and they accepted! We all started screaming in our girlish voices. We went back to the convention to meet up with everybody. Scott and Richard said they were coming, but blu and Pauline were unable to as Blu had run into some friends and Pauline was exhausted. SO off we went to the cracker barrel. Sapph, Miss Special, Beast Bot, Crab, Ben Yee and I shared one table, while every one else was scattered over 2 other tables sitting with Scott and Richard. Our dinner was lovely.Ben shared some great stories of his with us. Miss Special Sapph and I wanted to have a moment with Scott and Richard and tell them about how Beast Wars brought us together. I would go first. I had so much to say to them. How much I looked up to them, how Beast Wars had been in my life for 10 years, how much I had wanted to meet them and never thought it would happen, and how grateful I was to have them at dinner with us. As I went over to their tables both Scott and Richard turned to me adn Scott jokingly said "Now what" with a huge grin. I said I was kinda nervous and Richard said it was okay and to go on. I got about 2 sentences in, and then I started to cry. It had meant so much to me that they were there, taking time out of our lives to get to know us, I cant even remmber what I had said but I broke down. I started appologiseng profusly when RIchard was comforting me saying it was all right and how sweet I was. Then, Scott stood up in front of me. I looked at him, and he had tears welled up in his eyes. Then He was trying to joke and hide his face alittle. I couldnt belive that it meant so much to them. WHat I had said really effected them. Scott gave me the worlds biggest hug. ANd let me tell you this, no one can hug like scott. He hugs you with his whole body, and makes you feel important. Richard gave me a big hug as well. Sapph and miss special went on to tell them how Beast Wars has had an impact on them (without crying lol).Then we paid for our meals (Ben Paid for our tables...the sweet heart!). We went outside in front of the restaurant to take group pictures. Charade had a great idea. She called, Landray DepthCharge on the phone, and then handed it over to scott without telling her who would be on the other end. We all had a good laugh. We then went back to the hotel and went to sleep. The next day I went in line to se scott and richard. I saw richard first. He said "Hey Jennifer" and asked hhow Iw as doing and if I was doing good today. I felt so happy that he knew my name. I then went over to Scott. There was a couple in front of me talking to scott for several minutes. They then asked for a pictured and he accpeted. So they stood in front of me. I guess Scott noticed me because he said one second to them, walked past them, said ":Hey Sweetie" and kissed me on the cheek, then took the picture with them. I was so touched, I wanted to cry again lol. Then Scott asked me how I was and gave me another huuuge Scott hug! Then, the other voice actors panel was on. I sat down and waiting several questions to ask mine. I raised my hand and richard pointed "Yes, you. Oh Jennifer hi!" That just made my day, being adressed in front of every body Then, the lovely Scott piped up "She's from Winnipeg". I Said "This ones for Scott. WHat were your thoughts on the romance between Blackarachnia and Silverbolt and how did it effect Silverbolt?" Then he said "Infected??" "No, effected." He then went on in his SilverBolt voice "I always protected myself" I bursted into laughter...I said effected not infected...the silly guy. Then he went on again as Bolt "Us heroe's have to protect ourselves you know" He then went on about how Venus made it VERY easy to act out the love story and every once in awhile he'd say "Okay guys you gotta leave, venus and my love s cene is coming up!" What a guy. ANother person asked what their favorite catch fraise from each character was. Pauline said that she didnt remember a specific fraise but she remember airazor saying "Oh Tigatron" alot. Well, you know where that one went. Some one said "Do you guys need a moment" and Blu said "We already had our moment" which then scott added "Yeah you guys can't see whats going on behind these tables!" LOL. LAter we had a fanfiction reading, of myself and Sapph reading Mr.Crowley. I think it was the next night but I'm not too sure, Zucca read Death Shall never part us, and he sure can do a good silverbolt .The next day I visited Blue and Pauline again. Pauline was a bit more chatty as she was opening up. I told Blu what I ahd told scott and richard the night before, but I didnt cry this time. Blu said I just made his day, then sadi he needed a hug, and gripped on to me hard. He gives very powerful hugs. Later that night we had to dinner to attend to. It was OVER croweded so we stayed out in the food court, and laughed with eachother. We spotted Scott with a bunch of people (including his gorgeous girlfriend.) Later on I went over to him to just say hello. He looked up at me, as I was all dolled up and said "Wow, look at you!" and gave me another huge hug, and of course commented on my sparkles again, and kissed me on the shoulder. We were taping this all, and suddenly Sappire exclamied "Dance Scott Dance!" jokingly, not expecting him to do it. He then jumped up and did a little irish like jig, which got us into another fit of laughter. Dragonsflayme had her remote controll rattrap with dinobot riding on it, and was making it ride across the floor. Now, I dont know where this came about, I guess Scott was just being Scott, but he then was pretend to be a robot, using very slow motions and speaking ina monitone voice "Hi, I am Scott Mcneil, this is my domain." ANd then hung his head down as if his power went out. Dragon tapped him then he bolted up again saying "I am Scott Mcneil" he even laughed at it a little. Then scott went off on his way and we went back in the dinner hall to play bingo, and watch the awards.We later spotted Blu at a table when Miss spesh said we should all bombard him with hugs, which we did. He laughed and said when you give someone a hug you gotta make it big so the person will remmeber it and will keep coming back for more. Apparently later on he came off the elevator exclaiming "Hugs for everyone!" lol. The next day was the final day. I said my goodbyes to Pauline and Blu first. Blue asked me if I would be attending the next year and I said I couldnt promise but it was doubtful. The he said "No, you're going to be the 1st in line, right?" I laughed and said okay. Later, right before botcon ended, I said my goodbyes to Richard and scott. I could feel my eyes welling up but kept it together. Richard said I woukld have to attend next year, because it was closer to me. He said he wanted me to send the pictures I took to him so his daughter could see how botcon works, so he gave me his email (yay).He signed an autograph that said "You go, girl!" I then went to Scott, I really felt emotional. He too gave me his email (double yay!), and said he checks them every day, but is nautaurious and replying. Then he stood up and gave me the final biggest scott hug. He cupped my face with his hands and told me to keep it up, and kissed me on the cheek. We then left to get our stuff and went back to Hackers house for another fanfiction reading. Sapph read a day at the funfair, which delived soooo many laughs. It was hillarious. We then watched Sineads movie : V for Vendetta. Sinead and Zucca had to leave, so we said goodbye, Sinead was so sweet adn saying how much this all meant to her, so we both hugged eachother and cryed...again.I also said bye to Barron who would be elaving at 4am. Then the rest of us went to sleep. Now, I am at the campus on Louisville with Sapph, Ouuty, Stellar and Hacker. I will be going back home shortly. I had to most amazing experience of my life. I have never been happier. I am so grateful for all my friends for coming out, and to Ben Yee and the voice actors. Ben always made sure we were having a good time. And for Scott and Richard, they made me feel truley important. They will always have a special place in my heart. I will never forget BotCon 2006. I'll be sure to psot the video footage and pics as soon as I can. Til all are one.


VampyerBA

Dang. That sounded really fun.....at least the parts of it I read. I gotta go to one of these someday.

ashd iwhsdv ieoshvi ihosdh indf.

*just woke up after sleeping for not as long as she needed to*

I got home about 12 hours ago. Report to follow eventually.

Ya know, the folks over at BWTF are close to me. Very few people are disliked. It's like a group of friends that you can go to with anything. Here at BWInt, it's the exact same thing. People you can trust with anything and everything. And now that I'm home, I think I'm in a state of disbelief that I was lucky enough to share Botcon '06 with you all.

Only two things, outside of the obvious news and shopping, stood out for me from this. But it was those two things that made this one of the biggest events I think I've ever experienced.

Getting to hang out with Benson Yee and the VA's of Beast Wars on a personal level is something not everyone gets to do. And it wasn't just something out of charity, either. It was something special. They took the time out of their busy scheduels to get to know us personally. I mean, heck, it's not every day you get the email of Richard Newman and Scott McNeil. Those two are really amazing guys, along with Pauline and Blu. I got a man-hug from Blu on Casino Night. *snicker* I'm still amazed at how friendly everyone was. 'Specially Ben.

The other thing that made this trip stand out, and is the entire point of this post, was being with everyone from BWInt.

I'll openly admit, that in addition to feeling extremely tired and dead on my feet on Thursday night, I felt really shy. Even felt a bit like the Third Wheel, so to speak. Kinda like 'Hey, I'll tag along, if ya guys don't mind...' kinda deal. I think that was mostly 'cause I don't say much around here. But ya know, once Friday was up and rolling around lunch time, I started to feel more in-place instead of out-of-place. And before I knew it, you all were like the cool new kids who everyone couldn't get enough of.

By the time Saturday rolled around, I realized that I was gonna be very sad to leave the next morning. So I did as much as I could to savor the time I had with everyone. The dinner was very fun and enjoyable, as was Bingo. Despite the fact I was one away from winning in several games. >_>;... Teaching Sapphire how to play Blackjack was fun, too. If that last game wasn't the last game, I would've made over $1,000 in playing chips. *blinks*

Sunday morning, I was really sad, 'cause I knew I'd have little time to spend with everyone. I'm dissapointed that not everyone was there for the last video I took of everyone giving their comments, but hey, there's always Botcon '07!

I feel retarded, though. XD Upon re-watching the clip, I realized I studdered in the clip. I said "Beast Wars International, Botcon 2006!" When I meant to say "Beast Wars International at Botcon 2006!" Oh well. I also just wanted to say that if I wasn't with you guys, I would've probably be wandering around, gawking at everything without accomplishing anything. XD No joke. And besides, what guy in their right mind wouldn't wanna spend an entire weekend with a bunch of cute girls?

But ya know... I came to Botcon knowing I'd get to meet some really great friends for the first time. And I left Botcon knowing that I'd get to see my best friends again soon. Transformers has given me really good friends before, but none as great as you guys. Really.

I know I didn't say much at Botcon. Like I told Saph, I'm really quiet. But hey, since I'm crying a wee bit now, I'm letting it all out. As Ben put it on Sunday, you all are the best representation of the fandom. I've got a little add on; you all are the best representation of what the meaning of the word 'friend' is.

Though I will contradict myself right now. If BWTF is made up of my friends, then without a doubt, BWInt is made up of my family. Thank you all for this amazing experience. I know I'll never forget it.

the hghlight of the botcon weekend for me was two things

1: findng out that next years is in rhode island((a ferry ride/ hours drive from me))

2: metter saph, vamp, and everyone else. you were all just so nice and i cant wait to introduce you guys to little curse like i said i would

OMGWTFBBQ!!!!111one

Man, last weekend was the best. Now I'm back to boring old college and I'm sooo bummed, it just sucks so much in comparison.

Isn't Botcon '07 here yet!?!

Can't add anything else you guys haven't said already. I'm gonna have to take a picture of all the toys I got at the 'Con in one pic or something, now that I've spent a few hours actually getting them all out of their boxes...

And DUDE, Ben Yee was the best. I still can't get out the sneak-peek Cannonball pics he shared with us to be included in the Astrotrain short story to be released with the exclusive early next year... Cannonball's ship is the best ship EVER in TF History. It's THAT awesome.

Today has been my first online access in over a week since I left my area for BotCon, and I slowly, painfully, gradually compiled my BotCon report in my own board first, before I would get around to posting it elsewhere. It took me a while (with a lot of clicking the "Edit Post" buttons in order to "save my work"), but now it's finally over. I'll C&P it all right in here:

* * * * * * *

Sunday-Wednesday, September 24-27

Just cramming the first four days of the trip all in one, because there really wasn't anything all that eventful (not positive, anyway) during the Greyhound ride. I think I ended up getting reminded why I told myself after Greyhounding it to OTFCC '03 that I was never doing this again, no thanks to an almost-six-hour layover in Billings, Montana. And no surprise, the end part of my journey on Wednesday afternoon was marred by my last bust getting to Louisville over half an hour late (a trend that plagued most of us other BWInt-&-Hangar travellers, some even suffering from worse delays). But fortunately, all of us -- at least those of us who were staying with Hacker over the weekend (a number of primarily-BWInt BotCon attendees were staying at a hotel in Lexington) -- somehow reached our destination safely. Most of this day -- for myself -- was spent on making a beeline for the shower (I mean, c'mon, three days on a Greyhound?!), having dinner, and meeting with some of the group in person, including some old friends (like Haxx, Sapph and Miss Special) and a few others for the first time (like VampyerBA and Baron; the latter would arrive on Thursday evening). More were expected to arrive the next day, both in Haxx's area in Indiana and in Kentucky itself. All I had was my own willpower to prevent myself from exploding from the anticipation....


Thursday, September 28

After trying to grab some sleep, Sapph, Spesh, VampBA and I stayed to have breakfast (or brunch), while Haxx headed back to the Greyhound station to pick up my Lieutenant, Stelartron. After settling her packed bags and working out some additional plans (i.e. Haxx driving Sapph, Spesh and VampBA to the La Quinta hotel in Lexington), Stelly and I hung out together while waiting for the time when we'd join Haxx's mom to pick up Baron from the airport. We had to head straight to the BotCon site after picking up the Baron, due to the time being fairly late-ish in the evening, and just about all of us had the earliest-timeslot letter (6pm) to pick up our registration materials and exclusive box sets of pre-BW Optimus Primal, Cheetor, Rhinox, Rattrap and Dinobot. And like last year, also on sale at the convention's souvenir table were two more exclusive two-packs: a pair of repaints of the Energon Divebomb mold as Laserbeak and Buzzsaw reformatted from their old G1 bodies; and, as expected, Megatron (from Cyb Defense Red Alert) and Waspinator (the repainted RiD-style jet). I wasn't sure which one I'd buy at the moment (still mulling over my financial tools; cash, credit and debit), so I held off on buying anything until later (and hoped to God that, by the time I decided to buy a set, they wouldn't sell out).

We had a number of hours before the MSTF (which pretty much means "Mystery Science Transformers") show would start at 10pm. During that "empty" timeslot, we met up with some of the others in our Alliance, including Sinead, Beastbot(X), Crab, and a bunch of others. During this time, I received word from Beastbot, our resident Toy Master and self-designated "Hasbro slave", about the first toy exclusive to the TF Collectors' Club store; Astrotrain and his Mini-Cons, repainted from the Armada Jetfire in grey-&-purple, and with a different head (just like G1 A-Train). He also told me that the main Mini-Con that will come with him, based on Armada Jetfire's Comettor, would be named... Starcatcher. (I am SOOOOO glad they didn't go with the joke name of "Cowcatcher"....)

During our mill-about and meet-up in the hotel lobby, amongst all the other fans who had pre-registered in advance (and there were quite a few), I was kind of distracted among the hang-out, because I didn't notice a certain Aussie-Canadian in a white baseball cap come over to me... Scott McNeil himself! (And yeah, I actually was a little surprised that he went out of his way to meet me; was completely unexpected.) Scott and I met up and talked casually for a few seconds, as I was about to introduce him to the others in our Alliance... and right now, I just have to say, "Poor Sapph... she couldn't have been ready for this!" The look of absolute shock on her face -- even as I was calling her "the legendary Sapphire" while intro-ing her to Scott -- was totally priceless. And the rest of the group was also (mostly) in hysterics as well (in a good way, of course). We were able to talk with Scott for a few more minutes before he had to scramble off to his hotel room, and we went outside to find some dinner; we chose a pizza place to settle in, where I met some long-time veteran TransFans, Phil "SkyJammer" Zeman and Doug Dlin, who were two of the three people who organize and perform the MSTF shows (the third one, MSipher, was not with them).

Later that night, we returned to the convention center and found some good seats for the MSTF show. And as has been a tradition for many BotCon and/or OTFCC events over the years... the show started late due to some technical difficulties (they seem to encounter this every year). But finally, they got the ball rolling, alternating between the live on-stage skits and the mocking of the episodes. This year's victims: two of the "Go-Go-Go-Bots" shorts (not the old '80s Tonka GoBots, but the animated shorts for the kiddie-oriented Go-Bots Transformers), "B.O.T." from G1, and the Beast Wars 2-part opener (fitting, for BW's 10 anniversary)! Some of the live-action skits ranged from pretty funny to hysterical, including a painful (on purpose) bit with Phil Zeman on acoustic guitar and singing horridly off-key, claiming that he'd be writing the score for the new movie (leading to the others snatching the guitar away from him, preventing further assaults on our ears). Incidentally, just before we left after the show was over, I gave Zeman a compliment on the show (it was definitelly better than last year's), and because of the guitar gimmick, I briefly nicknamed him "Honky Tonk Man". Let's just hope he doesn't start whacking people upside the head with that guitar...! With Thursday night's activities at an end, we flocked together again and (barring some mishaps) made our way to our shack-up bases, hoping to charge our personal power cells with enough juice in order to operate the next day.


Friday, September 29

We made it to the Convention center in time for the first panel to begin: the Q&A session with BW voice actors Blu "Tigatron" Mankuma, Pauline "Airrazor" Newstone, Richard "Rhinox" Newman, and -- of course -- Scott "(unrolls a 50-foot-long scroll)" McNeil. Scott was a little late (not surprisingly), and he had brought something with him... a dozen box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, of which he had eaten more than half during the panel! The panel began, with the actors asking if anyone in the audience had any questions or comments to make. A moment of uncertain silence later, and Scott got up and joked that the panel was over and "thanks for coming!" After that moment, we finally got things started, with comments on the shows, voice-acting work, pre-lay and ADR dubbing, Beast Wars and Beast Machines, the Cybertron series, and so on. Mankuma sounded pretty cool and relaxed the whole time, sounding like R&B singing legend Barry White; Newstone was the quietest of the group, although she got to make some comments; and Newman turned out to be something of a show-stealer, even though Scott's presence still stood out the most.

During this panel, I got to ask a question for all four VAs, and also noted, "Scott, you've had this question before, but you're getting this anyway. If you could answer the following question in your BW character voices..."

(slight pause)

"You have a hammer, a ferret, and a roulette wheel. What are your plans for the evening?"

HUGE reaction from the crowd, and especially from Newman himself! The responses came as follows...

TIGATRON: I'm goin' to Vegas!

AIRRAZOR: I'm going to Disneyland!

RHINOX: I shall determine which component is the most potent... and merge it with Optimus.

And Scott's had this frenetic mix of all of his guys, with Waspinator saying, "Waspinator want to date ferret!"

Finally, the panel was over, leading to the transition toward Hasbro's toy desgining panel. As Stelly and I moved to a closer row for the next panel, Scott picked me out of the crowd and had me snap a pic of himself with a fan. Being in the right place at the right time, Stelly wanted a shot with me and Scotty together. So he started it out with the usual arm-around-the-fan's-shoulder pose... and I was trying to make it a back-to-back pose. As I was turning while Scott still had his arm around my shoulder... he flexed his arm around my neck and we made it look like he was choking me out, as Stelly snapped the pic! Scott's comment: "That was SOOOO satisfying!"

after the VA panel was completed on Friday, next up was Hasbro's Toy Design panel, where they showed concept art and prototype pics of different TF toys, including the Optimus Primes from Energon and Cybertron. They also showed two unused Planets for the Cybertron series, including the war-like Apocalypse Planet and a Nebula Dark Fleet, which was fairly similar to Planet X; plus an earlier version of the Ginat Planet. Also shown were two different versions of Scourge's Jungle Planet temple, and also revealed why the BW-X Primal and Megatron had Cyber Planet Key slots; the molds were originally intended for the Cybertron line, but held off, and then got revived for the BW-X line. They also showed a concept design for a Classics Cosmos, which Hasbro rep Aaron Archer didn't use, because he thought it wouldn't fit with the trend of cars, jets, and Earth-based vehicles. The response fom the crowd was pretty much covered by three words; "Make him anyway!" There was a question regarding the chances of Masterpiece Starscream ever being released by Hasbro. Archer didn't give a straight answer, but he did say that if it did, they'd make sure he'd be in the cartoon-accurate colors.

Sometime later on, we took a break for lunch, and then made our way to the line-up for the dealer room's opening for 2pm. As we reached the line with about a 20-minute wait, I noticed some fans were running around with... TF Classics toys?! I found out later on that they've been released and sighted now, with these toys having been bought in a nearby TRU. Another unusual moment was the arrival of a mid-sized marching band toward the dealer room's entrance. Their purpose would be revealed minutes later; when the clock struck 2pm to open the dealer room, the band played the TF theme as we entered the room! There was just one little downside... the marching band was with a college that's a rival to Hacker's (BOOO!!!). I might consider making a print-out of the pic (if I took one of the band), and just for a joke, give to Haxx to decorate her dartboard.

The dealer room was pretty darn big, along with a much more impressive list of entries for the Art Contest, including a G1 Devastator statue standing about 5' tall! While perusing over the tables and meeting with some old TransFan buddies whom I hadn't seen in a long time, we eventually got to the second timeslot for the BW VA autographs. While I was getting my autographs from Blu, Pauline, Richard and Scott, I surprised them with some little gifts of my own. Remember those BW-themed mock Motivational poster graphics that I made at the beginning of the year?

http://www.bwint.net/outtsydergraphics.htm (for reference)

Yep... I printed them out, and gave them to their appropriate actors; Blu also got a Unicron one with his Tigatron and Tigerhawk; Richard also got a poster of the Vok along with his Rhinox one (he really cracked up at the slogan on the Rhinox poster). Pauline seemed surprised by her own gift, and just as much when I tlod her I lived in the greater Vancouver area ("You're a local, too?" ). And I jokingly cursed Scott for having so many characters in the show, because... he got five. Including BOTH versions of Dinobot. When I gave them to him one by one, he read out each slogan in the voice of the BW character on it; he seemed to like the Waspinator poster the best.

Soon, it would be about time for the Friday activities to be closed (except for the Game Night, which most of us wouldn't be attending), but we also opened an invitation to the BW VAs if they wanted to come with us for dinner (we chose the Cracker Barrel restaurant). We didn't expect all of them to accept, but we did in fact get not just Scotty, but Richard as well, plus Ben Yee! After a rather hyper-active dinner with all parties involved, most of us were going to return to our shack-up quarters, with a few of us going to see the midnight Advance Preview showing of the 20th Anniversary TF:TM DVD. While this was finally a chance to see the movie in a theater, the experience was kind of ruined by having to wait in a line outside the theater (I'm just glad it wasn't raining TOO hard), and that some crazed fanboys kept shouting stuff during the showing of the movie. But it was finally over, so we returned to "base", hoping to still have enough energy left for the next day....

{NOTE: I don't know f there are size limits to posts, so to be on the safe side -- and because I don't want to deal with another computer glitch today, the rest of my rest will immediately follow this post.}

Saturday, September 30

Despite some early trouble, we made it early on Saturday, where Stelly and I went to the line-up for the Peter Cullen autograph session; we showed up about a half-hour before its start time, and we were in pretty good position. About an hour later, Stelly had her stuff signed, and when it was my turn, I had two items to sign. One was a copy of the "TF Legends" anthology book, and one of only two printed copies that I will *ever* make for an Optimus Prime motivational poster graphic. One of those copies was addressed to Seeks, whom I know will probably never make it to a BotCon, so I wanted to surprise her with a BotCon gift with the signature of a G1 voice actor; namely the one considered to be THE Icon of all TF-dom. I gave the other copy to Cullen himself, and he seemed to really like the gift, saying, "Well, aren't you a sweetheart!" (And I'm sure he meant that in a uncle-y sort of way.)

While I missed the Cartoon Creation panel (due to the scheduling at the same time as Cullen's autographs), I did find out for sure that the rumors of a new TF cartoon coming next year were true. Hasbro wouldn't release any details yet, but they did confirm that it would be US-produced, in contrast to the anime series over the last four-to-five years. Our next stop was Hasbro's main panel of new toys and projects coming over the next year, from the Classics series to the movie, and other current and recently-passed lines. Cybertron is, of course, almost over, and with the progress of the new movie going on, other lines like the Alternators will be put on hold after the release of Rumble and Ravage (the new one that's actually a Jaguar car that becomes a quadruped robot jaguar cat). Classics will be the main series until the launching of the movie, with new Mini-Cons being incorporated into the line, as well as "Legends of Cybertron"-like "Classics" (such as a yellow LoC Hot Shot as Bumblebee). Re-issue Soundwave was confirmed for a Hasbro release, and chances are he may be released with the Soundblaster 2-cassette-capacity chest plate. Some new Classics on the way will include Cliffjumper (repainted from Bumblebee), Ramjet (and dropped a hint of some other jet-based Classics to come) and Grimlock. Regarding the movie toys, two preview figures will be released on or about May 2.

The Titanium line will continue on with some more new stuff, including a new Megatron that really IS War Within Megatron; as well as a 6" Titanium transforming Ultra Magnus that isn't a straight repaint of Optimus Prime (FINALLY!). Some little features from the 20th Anniversary TF:TM DVD were shown, as well as a 2-minute video clip from Paramount showing more action sequences that were being shot for the movie. The response was so huge, the crowd chanted for an encore... and got one!

Some various notes were brought up during the Q&A session with Hasbro. While Maximals and Predacons might not be getting the bigger piece of the spotlight yet, there is a 6" Titanium Cheetor being released. A lot of questions were asked about Classics and Titanium (including possible Classics Dinobots!), and when asked if hasbro could produce one more 6" transforming War Within figure, Hasbro said "Grimlock." Whether or not this WILL happen, I don't know.

A question was asked about a Cadillac XLR Alternator that appeared as a UPC or SKU in a store computer, but Hasbro cancelled the item due to the imminent hiatus. Incidentally, to the chagrin of the crowd, the cancelled Cadillac Alt would have been Megatron.

After the panel was over, Stelly and I took a break for lunch, but consequently missed the second BW VA panel, meaning that I missed out on seeing the other BWInt-ersin their face-paint get-up! But after lunch, we went back to the dealer room, and finally started to do some buying, plus looked at the new items shown in Hasbro's glass cases. Getting most of th eattention were the new Classics and Titaniums, including The Fallen (from Dreamwave's War Within Vol. 2 mini-series)!

After more scoping around, we finally made it to the final panel of the day before the Dinner & Casino Night; the Peter Cullen Q&A. While overviewing his career, Cullen discussed Frank Welker's audition for Megatron, although no results yet have been determined. As for the hopes that Paramount has for this movie's success, Cullen revealed that he had signed a deal... for three TF movies. The conclusion of this panel led to the short rest period before the dinner and casino night that night, although I didn't gamble at all (I suck at gambling). Also, the dinner room became so crowded, that we were also given the option to eat in the convention center's food court if we wanted to. But an announcement was made at the conclusion of the Dinner Night, regarding the time and location of next year's BotCon.

BotCon 2007 will take place in the summer again; the weekend before the premier of the new TF movie... in Providence, Rhode Island... Hasbro's own backyard!


Sunday, October 1

We showed up fairly early that morning to get a snack for "breakfast" (if you can call it that), but most of the places in the center were not open yet. Adding to my frustration was that the ATMs were gradually becoming lacking in cash (though that's not much of a surprise) or just plain going out of service. Shrugging that off, though -- and meeting up with Richard Newman one more time; he called me out before I realized he was there -- Stelly and I made our way to catch the later-scheduled times for the Q&A panels that we had missed before; the IDW panel and Simon Furman's "Creating History" panel, both in a row.

IDW came on first, with Furman joined by Don Figueroa and Chris Ryall, as they revealed some of the plans for the TF comics they'd be working on in the near future. First of all, they made it clear that their Stormbringer story, despite Optimus Prime's War Within-like look, is not tied in at all with Dreamwave's work. Also, they had stated that, while they would love to complete the unfinished stories that DW had left hanging due to the company's bankruptcy, they can't do it for legal reasons (especially with DW's former employees still being owed money), until those problems are solved. And while the one-shot "Spotlight" issues will be focusing on G! characters only, they're still making plans for another BW mini-series. They will also be releasing a four-issue mini-series prequel for the new movie next year, calling it "Prime Directive". There's also a very small chance that Bob Budiansky -- who's been absent from writing TFs in years -- might consider writing new TF stories (after his new comic adaptation of the original animated movie), but don't bank on it yet. And there are no plans for an Alternators comic, because of licencing. There was, however, a rumor going around claiming that there would be a cross-over story between TFs and Justice League. IDW wouldn't confirm it, although they are planning another crossover with GI Joe.

A short break followed, where Furman and I got to talk for a little bit, catching up on some stuff since our previous RL meeting back in 2004 (where he was the voice director for the live script reading that year). We talked about a nuimber of things within what little time we had left before he was about to start, and there's a small chance that I may be able to conduct an e-mail interview with him for BWInt (and the Hangar as well; possibly dropping a link to it in other larger boards, like TFW2005.com). Later, it was time for him to get to the stage, and the panel was underway (this was the Sunday panel, so Figueroa didn't accompany him this time). He started with some open questions regarding several upcoming TF projects, one of which will be a new updated version of the DK-published "TFs: The Ultimate Guide" book, which will add sections for the more recently-added TF series since the previous edition, and possibly reqork or expand some older articles, depending on convenience. I had asked about a possible expansion of an article on the mythical original Thirteen Transformers from the very beginning of Cybertron's history. Furman replied that he wanted to leave some of that ambiguous, while only identifying a few of them for certain (such as Vector Prime and The Fallen), to avoid story conflicts with other material like convention magazines, larger fan club stories, and the like. That way, the speculation for the full roster would still be open. Other points that Furman discussed include Grimlock (his favorite character, but he doesn't want to overuse him), Death's Head, Marvel Comics being his "spiritual home", and some touches on more stuff coming soon. He did stated that Galvatron is slated to appear in the IDW book, with one really unusual twist... Furman said, "He won't be Megatron." This I gotta see.

The rest of the day wasn't too heavy, already having caught most of the panels that I wanted to see (I hadn't seen the Faction Feud: Board Wars games, though; and only caught a few glimpses of the TF Attacktix games), so Stelly and I spent most of our time checking things out in the Dealer room, meeting with some new and old friends (including another fellow fan who knew me from past BotCons/OTFCCs, specifically the voice-acting tryouts) and getting some pics of the new upcoming TF products in Hasbro's display case. I didn't buy too much stuff, but I think Stelly surprised herself with how much stuff she found. Besides the box set that I already had with my Primus Package (and not counting the free Tigatron, which I gave to Stelly), I had bought the BotCon Megatron-&-Waspinator 2-pack (I lucked out before they sold out), a Golden Disk set from Unicron.com, a Wreckers comic from Decepticon-Matrix.com for only $1, and the exclusive OTFCC '04 Heroes Of Cybertron Seeker 6-pack for only $20 (breaks down to about $3.33 per figurine!). Most of the rest of the day was slower paced, until the BWInt-&-Hangar Alliance eventually regrouped during the last half-hour before closing time. After exchanging some more e-maila ddresses with other fans and friends, and slipping in one last goodbye to Scott McNeil (who was still at the autograph table), it was finally time for us to re-assemble and get our final things done and completed. Most of us would be heading back over to Haxx's place for KFC for dinner, a movie night and have Sapph read us one of her fanfics... the over-the-top hilarious "Beast Warriors' Day Out: The Funfair." Whather or not you've read this story before... I personally think you get an even BETTER comedic effect when it's read aloud. After the story was over, we watched "V For Vendetta"... and now I want to be V for Hallowe'en this year (if I can pull it off).

The remainder of the day, leading into Monday, consisted of some final sleep times, packing up our stuff, and slowly, gradually, saying our goodbyes to each other and making our returns to the airports and travel stations to return home. As of right now, though, the only ones left yet to leave the Indiana/Kentucky area are myself and Stelly... and tonight will be our departure time to our respective homes on both sides of the 49th Parallel. With just over an hour left before the arranged time to return to the Greyhound station, this concludes my text-only parts of my BotCon '06 report. I should probably be able to get my own photos posted up when I'm back at home, by the end of this week.

Outtsyder

I'm glad you guys had so much fun!!! I wish I could've been there! XD

One part I didnt get on tape was scotts impersonation of gary chalk. He has a story about Gary in the studio (he does a funny impersonation of his voice, he makes it sound sooo goofy). ANd gary had to make this belch. So he chugged back a soda and tried to burp, which started out good, but then turned out into poor gary getting sick all over the floor.

LoL! Garry and Scott were talking about that at the MechaCon. I think the story probably sounded better coming from Garry (since Scott admitted that he wasn't actually there to witness this infamous "belch") but it was hilarious. Fortunately, I have it all on video tape. Anyway, Garry had do to a big belch (possibly for the Robotnik role he had for Sonic Underground, if I'm remembering correctly) so he chugged down a can of Coke. When he said he was ready to belch, instead of air, a plume of foam spit it out, hit his script, and when he noticed what had happened he inhaled it right back into his mouth. LoL The best part, he said, was that it didn't leave a mark on his script. Hilarious. When we went out to dinner that night with him, we told him he wasn't allowed to have any soda. He laughed and went through the motions again. LoL

The whole thing with the goofy impersonation of Garry that you mentioned Scott was doing was hilarious at the MechaCon. It was from a voice Garry had to do (and wasn't entirely fond of the role) and hasn't been able to live it down because Scott's always bringing it up. So when Garry started doing it to show us the voice, then Scott and Alec (Tarantulas) joined in and tore him apart. LoL Scott adding, "We do the Garry voice better than you, Garry." They're so comical. I love their stories. And the voice is rather hilarious.

She called, Landray DepthCharge on the phone, and then handed it over to scott without telling her who would be on the other end. We all had a good laugh.

DC told me about that the other night on MSN. LoL Awesome. You guys crack me up.

Scott totally steals the show! XD And don't say he doesn't because I was at the '03 OTFCC where it was just Garry, David Kaye (Megatron) and Gregg Berger (Grimlock) and there was such a difference with the audience. The questions couldn't be focused on Scott. I love Scott, but all the fangirls. x.X Myyy goodness...

Ya know, the folks over at BWTF are close to me. Very few people are disliked. It's like a group of friends that you can go to with anything.

I used to go there all the time. I need to get back into that site, Crab! >.< I had a feeling these wonderful people at BW Int were like that. And that's so comforting to know. I'm glad to be here also. ^.^

Getting to hang out with Benson Yee and the VA's of Beast Wars on a personal level is something not everyone gets to do. And it wasn't just something out of charity, either. It was something special.

That's exactly how I felt with Garry at the MechaCon, Crab. He allowed us (my mom, brother, his fiance and me) to spend so much time with him outside of the convention/hotel. Not to mention that it came to the point where if he saw us in the hall, he'd stop and chat; it wasn't just the other way around. We ate dinner with him and the rest of the MechaCon/VA guests (Scott, Alec, Brett, Britney, Lisa, some staff, the mascots) one night, and then the next night when the convention ended, it was just him and us four strolling through downtown Lafayette, Louisiana all the way back to the hotel, stopping for ice cream on the way. And then there was meeting him, Scott and Alec at the airport the next morning. Actually, no matter where I went, I was always bumping into Garry or vice versa. It's something you can't ignore; like there's a reason. It was a lot of one-on-one interaction. I definitely agree that that is something that really makes the trip/convention really, really special. They're regular people with little to no egos. I love it. Very down-to-Earth. I would do it all over again.

And besides, what guy in their right mind wouldn't wanna spend an entire weekend with a bunch of cute girls?

LoL Maybe that's the way Garry saw it with us, minus my brother. Then again, we did give him more attention than Scott who was always swarmed by fans everywhere he went. I felt bad for Scott; I don't know how he does it. We had more things of common interest to discuss with Garry also, not to mention all the movies and shows that we had come across with him and could talk about those among personal subjects.

1: findng out that next years is in rhode island

Rhode Island? Interesting. Not too far from PA. Still, I'm already thinking about attending the MechaCon next year. It always depends on the guests, though. Did they say when? Maybe I'll have enough money to afford both. XD I'd love to meet you guys!!!

So, I'm dying to see pictures, you guys!!! Pictures! I really, really wanted to meet Blu (I've seen him in so many movies/shows), and of course Richard (since he didn't make it to the MechaCon) and Pauline (I still haven't met any female VA's! >.< ). And Scott? He's old hats. Kidding! Pictures! And don't forget pictures of yourselves.

I didn't know you were posting when I was, Outty! >.< LoL Now I have to reply to yours!

The look of absolute shock on her face -- even as I was calling her "the legendary Sapphire" while intro-ing her to Scott -- was totally priceless.

LoL Poor Sapphire! I would've paid to have seen that! XD

Yep... I printed them out, and gave them to their appropriate actors;

That's great, Outty! I know they love getting gifts from their fans.

As for the hopes that Paramount has for this movie's success, Cullen revealed that he had signed a deal... for three TF movies.

Schweet. I hope the movie does well! And I hope to hear Frank. That's pretty much one of the biggest reasons I'll be seeing the movie (besides that it's Tfs), to hear all the voices on the big screen. So, I already know what I'm doing July 4th, 2007. LoL

BotCon 2007 will take place in the summer again; the weekend before the premier of the new TF movie...

Ah. Thank you!

and now I want to be V for Hallowe'en this year (if I can pull it off).

That would be awesome! If you get it worked out, you must show pictures! ^.^

By the way, anyone and everyone who went is strongly encouraged to send in a convention report and/or pictures.
...I suppose people who didn't go could also send those in, but that might be a bit difficult.

BotCon.com hasn't put up many pictures yet, but I've already found myself and a few other people in them. I might point them out when I'm not so fuzzy-headed. It's going to be an early night for me.

Well I'm new here.. Met most of you at botcon acctually.. But I have a huge photobucket gallery if anyone wants to take a look at it.

11 pages of various Botcon pics.. Although I haven't had time to go through and delete the bad shots yet.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v605/ ... n/?start=0

Tigran wrote:Well I'm new here.. Met most of you at botcon acctually.. But I have a huge photobucket gallery if anyone wants to take a look at it.

11 pages of various Botcon pics.. Although I haven't had time to go through and delete the bad shots yet.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v605/ ... n/?start=0

Lots of great photos in there! I'm so glad that you took to many!