Today is the final part of my 2009 BotCon pics. Part 2 appears here.

Cosplayers

Warpath
 

Sideswipe
 

Now that is one sexy Cobra Agent. I let her terrorize me any day.
 

Contest Entries

I’m not sure what the contest was for exactly, but there were plenty of impressive entries.

I’m not sure what this was so I’m just gonna lump this in here. Looks like some kind of Photoshop tutorial for TFs.
 

Last but certainly not least…

Tyrese! Yes ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Tyrese Gibson! Chief Master Sergeant Epps made a surprise appearance on the last day of BotCon, and the crowd just went wild! The fans stormed around him to get a chance to shake his hand and get his picture taken in the dealer’s room. I don’t know if Hasbro planned this or not, but the whole thing really felt like a surprise b/c it was not advertised at all. The lucky fans who were close enough during the surprise lined up for a chance at his autograph, but he only stayed for like 20 min and they ran out of stuff to sign real quick. I only managed to snap this pic of him from a distance, but it was still cool. Good to know that Tyrese cares about his fans.
 

Well, there you have it, my experience at BotCon 2009. It was unforgettable to say the least and I’m disappointed that I won’t be going this year. It is definitely on my radar for next year. But before I sign off this post, I should mention the stuff I bought at BotCon 2009. No trip to any anime/toy/comic convention is complete without acquiring some loot, and so with that, I proudly present a list of my BotCon 2009 Haul:

Henkei Thundercracker
Alternator Prowl (used)
Alternator Hound (used, and missing gun)
Alternator Skids
Sound Label Soundwave (spark blue)
Revoltech GR-2 (no. 021)
a Decepticon pillow
… and probably some other stuff that I can’t remember now.

TransFans unite… and heed this call… Transform and Roll Out!

Part 2 of my BotCon 2009 pics continues today. In case you missed it, Part 1 is here.

“Unreleased and Upcoming” Toys

hehe… I put that in quotes cause at the time all these were not released, and planned for the rest of 2009 and part of 2010 (I think all have been released as of this writing). As such, they were all behind glass display cases, standing prominently for the eager TF fan to drool over.
 

The toys in the middle and bottom rows are 2009’s BotCon Exclusives, the “Wings of Honor” set of 5 figures. Don’t remember who they are, but all repaints. I think it was about $200 for the whole set. Not sure who are the guys in the top row.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Deluxe and Scout class figures. I still don’t have any of these 🙁
 

ROTF Leader class Prime, Meg, Jetfire. I have Prime.
 

Same toys, different angle.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Voyager class figures. Again, I don’t have any of these 🙁
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Voyager class figures out of the box.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Deluxe class figures. I have Sideways, Sideswipe, and Breakaway.
 

Various “upcoming” ROTF Deluxe class figures out of the box.
 

ROTF Devastator!
 

Human Alliance Bumblebee. I really wanted these at the time, but I’m not feeling the robot mode.
 

Human Alliance Bumblebee and Sideswipe.
 

25th Anniversary Soundwave re-issue! He comes with 4 cassettes, one of them (Ratbat) never re-released in the US since the 80s. Being the G1 purist that I am, I knew I had to have this set, despite the fact I already have two other Soundwave re-issues. He ended up being a SDCC Exclusive, but that would not stop me. I ended up getting him thru ebay. I paid $64 shipped, but he’s worth every penny.
 

G1 and ROTF Soundwave and Ravage, side by side. Cool.
 

Fast Action Battlers. I don’t care for these at all.
 

Here we have various store exclusives. Titanium Thrust and Prime were Target Exclusives and they appear on the bottom shelf to the left. I have Titanium Thrust. Next to them are Ultra Class Powerglide, Hardhead, and Skyfall, Walmart Exclusives. MP Skywarp on the top shelf is another Walmart Exclusive. Next to him is the TRU Exclusive Whirl and Roadbuster 2-Pack. Not sure if Ultimate Bumblebee was an exclusive, I know I’ve seen him around and I think at a bunch of places.
 

25th Anniversary Insecticons and Perceptor, and a ROTF Fallen figure.
 

As I look at these now in June of 2010, I’m amazed at how many of them I actually managed to find and buy. Nothing stops me when I want my TFs.

Stay tuned for Part 3… Transform and Roll Out!

BotCon 2010 is coming up in about a week. To celebrate this upcoming event, I thought I post pics of BotCon 2009.

Last year I attended my first BotCon. It was in Pasadena, in Southern California, not too far from where I grew up. Now I live in Northern California so in a way it was kinda like a homecoming, but of course I’m there for the robots.

BotCon 2009 was awesome! To be surrounded by people as passionate about Transformers as I am, the feeling was just overwhelming. I would love to go again this year in Florida, which also gives me a chance to check out Walt Disney World. However, going cross country would require some planning ahead of time, which I never really got around to. Maybe next year.

I did not have a blog in the summer of 2009, so this is as good a time as any to post the pics. Enjoy!

Convention Displays

“Revenge is Coming!” At the front entrance.
 

From a different angle.
 

That little girl snuck in there when I was taking this pic :).
 

Real life movie Optimus Prime in alt mode!
 

How did they get this truck in there?
 

Close up of the Autobot insignia. Now that’s bling.
 

Movie Bee!
 

Bee’s about to pee on that guy. I call it Bee Pee.
 

Dealers

This was one of the first dealer’s booths near the door. I think this was the official Hasbro booth where they sold toys (they had another bigger booth for events). At the time the TF figures you see here were all either unreleased, or just barely released.
 

Same dealer but to to left. I was feasting my eyes on these deluxe figures for the first time.
 

This is the “Gears of War” set, all accessories to make Classic figures more G1. I really wanted a set, but at $45 it was kinda hard to justify. Also a preliminary figure of Optimus in his Hearts of Steel incarnation, later released as Knight Morpher.
 

Same dealer, just slightly panned up in angle to show their nice statue of G1 Optimus. Looks like this was the RobotKingdom booth. I do not buy from them online b/c their shipping is simply ridiculous.
 

Stay tuned for Part 2… Transform and Roll Out!

2010 is looking to be a banner year for FansProject. Their next offering are two figures called Explorer and Munitioner. Hardcore G1 purists should instantly recognize them as Blastoff and Swindle, respectively.

Late in 2009, Hasbro released a Target exclusive Bruticus Maximus set under the ROTF line. This is a set of 5 Combaticon figures that will combine and form Bruticus Maximus. The toys are essentially a repaint of Energon Bruticus Maximus. Target retailed the set at $29.99. Some stores even sold them at clearance prices over the Holidays, I’ve seen with my own eyes the price dropped to either $24.99 or $19.99. Apparently they weren’t flying off the shelves if Target felt clearance was necessary. I did think about buying the set during that stretch, considering that the Combaticons are my favorite combiner group, something that I’ve mentioned repeated on this blog. However, being the G1 purist that I am, I decided against buying it because I felt the figure did not at all resemble the G1 Combaticons. And to make matters worse, not all molds in the set are distinct. Onslaught, the leader figure that forms the body, is a unique mold. However, Brawl and Blastoff are both tanks with identical molds, and Vortex and Swindle are of the same helicopter mold. This was a complete turnoff. There is also a similar set released under the Universe line (in slightly different colors). I’m not sure when it was released and if it was a store exclusive.

I should have known by now that whenever I complain about a certain aspect in TF figures, the people behind FansProject would have the same complaint. So right after Target sold out of the Bruticus Maximus set, FansProject announced the figures “Explorer” and “Munitioner”. Explorer is a space shuttle while Munitioner is a jeep. FansProject is not affiliated with Hasbro so it’s not like they can outright advertise what these figures are meant to be. But G1-ers immediately recognized them as Blastoff and Swindle, and the fact that only these 2 are produced is to properly give the ROTF Combaticons the right molds for these 2 characters. But yeah, right as I learned of this new development, I started to kick myself for not buying the ROTF Bruticus Maximus set.

FansProject have recently released more finalized pics of Explorer and Munitioner. The figures themselves look great and are obviously G1 inspired. But it also looks like the figures will come with accessories that will make Bruticus look more G1 as well. Words can’t even start to describe how kick-ass this set looks with the FansProject add-on. I’m posting a few select pics below. For all the pics check out this blog entry on the FansProject site.

You can bet your boron compressor that I will be buying Munitioner and Explorer when they are released. I would’ve done that anyway, but after I saw these pics, I knew I had to go track down the ROTF Bruticus Maximus set. Of course all dealers from every website I can think of would mark these up. Getting it at the clearance prices, or even at MSRP, was now extremely unlikely. And so last month I bit the bullet and bought the set from an ebay seller for about $50. This price was actually quite reasonable. I see many dealers ask for much more. I picked up the set at my local PO last weekend and below are some pics.

I won’t be opening this set until Explorer and Muntioner are released. Then I will give them all the proper review it deserves.

And since we’re on the subject of Combaticons, I want to take this opportunity to show off my G1 Combaticons. I still have them all to this day. Onslaught is getting loose in some of his joints, and there are obvious sticker wear to all 5 figures. But other than that they are all complete and in pretty good shape.

Sharp G1 observers will have noticed that Onslaught appears without his blue chest shield. I have the piece, I just forgot to put it on him when I took the pic.

I also have some repainted Combaticons from Robots in Disguise. Technically they’re not called Combaticons in RiD. They are called Commandos, and the names of all the characters have been changed. This is the Urban Camo set (I believe there is also a Desert Camo and a Snow Camo set). The combat trailer is Mega-Octane, the tank is Armorhide, the space shuttle is Movor, the jeep is Rollbar, the helicopter is Ro-Tor, and the combined form is Ruination. Pics appear below.

Let’s face it, all the combiners post G1 have been lame. Hasbro just doesn’t want to properly do one for some strange reason. So once again it’s FansProject to the rescue. I can’t wait for Explorer and Munitioner.

Combaticons… Transform and Roll Out!