Thursday, June 11, 2009

Nerdy Nerd Nerd: A Convention in Pasadena


This past, past weekend I was in Pasadena, Ca for Botcon. Which, For those of you who are not familiar with, is an annual Transformers convention based on the Hasbro/Takara toy line from the 80's, featuring a dealers room, various art/film contests, special Transformer related guests and from time to time a movie premiere or two. Botcon is usually held in a different State each year, which is something I personally look forward to. How else would I have been able to visit such places as Kentucky or North Carolina without actually being kidnapped and transported there against my will ( The people in Kentucky were actually very friendly. I was quite surprised!). So I was a little disappointed that Botcon was held in my actual State and not too far away from my house this past May (2009). Though the closeness of this year's location did save me about $1,500 in hotel and travel costs which was rather nice. This year's convention was the 25th anniversary of the Transformers toy line and featured a special party at Paramount Studios and a preview of 2 scenes from the upcoming film. Seeing 2 scenes from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, presented by director Michael Bay, was a pretty nice little surprise. Though I would have preferred to have seen the actual film, but I do not think it was ready at the time. A few of the stars from the film were present as well to sign autographs and take pictures with. Weird Al from the original Transformers Movie in the 80's as well as the recently canceled Transformers Animated cartoon was also there and very, very courteous to all his fans. I actually felt sorry for him as he had to put up with some rather stupid questions or comments from his so called fans. But that is the nature of the beast at such conventions or any fan based convention.

One of the things I personally love about the conventions themselves, aside from being able to buy so many toys I missed when they first came out or the exclusives only sold or offered at the conventions. Is the art contests they have. So far I have won each and every year that I have entered, and the crystal trophies are really nice. So far I have only won 2nd and
3rd place crystal trophies, but I am going to try harder for 1st next year. especially since the cash prizes are all that bad either, as I have been able to use the convention dollars to buy merchandise the following day and get whatever remained in cash. Which isn't half bad actually. I have also been featured in Toy and Hobby magazine for some of my custom figures and 2D Black and White and color drawings, and truth be told I have not tried as hard as I think I should or could have. Hence I am pretty confident that I can take first place next year during Botcon 2010! Wish me luck!




I am hoping that the 2010 location is somewhere more exciting or somewhere I have always wanted to go, like Texas ( Purely for the Barbecue), New York ( I have only been to the airport so far), Chicago, Miami, or somewhere in the the Boston/Rhode Island area ( I have actually been to both of these places, but I would have liked to have spent more time there sight seeing). The location of the convention is usually announced around late December or early January each year, so we have a ways to go before we will know anything for sure. I know they have been tossing around Detroit as a possible location as well as Florida I believe, which could be interesting with Disney world and Universal Studios, but only time will tell. More updates as I know more. Feel free to comment on your personal experiences and/or if you have any questions.

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