BOTCON Bound!

 

 

Here we go folks,

Team Pax Cybertron is Botcon bound!  Abe and Gus will be joining me in sunny Pasadena while team member Paul get’s to stay back at home and um….do….really..fun work.   YAY!

 

Stay here for up-to-date postings of our trip to the 30th Anniversary Celebration of Transformers!

 

ROLL OUT!

On the way to Dallas, then Pasadena!

Landed in Cali, tomorrow the fun begins!

customizing class was a blast! Optimus Primal was the figure.

Botcon well under way!

Here’s the good stuff! The toy pics. Hasbro had a great display out.

Then there was the dealer floor, where you could get toys and prints from some of the best artists around!

Friends of the PaxCybertron Podcast, IDW’s Andrew Griffith and Livio Ramondelli were in attendance!

Then it was time for the Universal Studios trip featuring the Transformers Experience!

The Park was great and we even got to spend time with IDW’s John Barber, Andrew Griffith and Mairghread Scott!

The Hasbro Panel left me absolutely giddy with anticipation. It appears Hasbro will continue to cater to both younger consumers with their simplified lines but also adult collectors with a smorgasbord of Generations toys. While only a handful were shown, we will be getting an Arcee AND it appears Combiners will be making a Strong return.  I am most excited for Voyager Class  Brainstorm!

 

 

 

But what would Botcon be without some Cosplay?  Some amazing costumes were designed by a lot of different fans.  While I wish I could have gotten more, here are a handful of them:

 

The TFCC Roundtable panel showed off the Subscription Service 3.0 figures.  These are pretty crummy but you can see better versions at the club website.  While these are a bit more polarizing than 2.0, where people seem to either them or leave them (Personally, I’m the latter at the moment), they sure are some great ideas!

Speaking of the subscription service, 2.0 continues to knock things out of the park, and I was able to snap a picture of Chromedome!  I suspect he may be the next one shipped, but that’s not a guarantee-

Saturday was wrapped up with the TFW2005 party at the Hotel Bar.  It was packed.   And hot.

 

And I was even able to snake a picture with Samantha Newark, the voice of Ariel (Later Elita One) and JEM!  Truly Outrageous!

 

In the end, Botcon 2014 was a  total blast.  I’ve never had so much fun in one brief weekend, and I was very sorry to leave on Sunday (especially seems I missed the IDW panel….)  I hope to make the return journey next year.

While I tried to get as many pictures as possible, there were times when I was so engrossed in conversation and fun that I simply forgot.  I would be remiss though, if I don’t say thanks to some old and new friends that made the weekend special, including IDW’s A squad, Andrew Griffith, John Barber, James Roberts, Livio Romandelli, Mairghread Scott, Sara Stone, Brendan Cahill (and his amazing wife Michelle!), Hasbro’s Mark Weber, The legend himself, Stan Bush, Video Reviewer Celebrity Optibotimus, who discussed with me the ups and downs of the fandom,  Miss @tinyconcorde herself, Maki, Team Member Abe, who put up with my monstrous snoring each night, and a very special thanks to team member Gus @Trypticon_Esq, who showed me the ropes and an amazing time making sure I didn’t miss a thing.   You guys are the very best!

Thanks for reading guys and stay tuned, we’ll have more stuff coming up including a look at the box set and exclusives, a few new AOE reviews, and we’ll be podcasting our thoughts and experience this week too!