Botcon Returns In 2021

[Toph]

www.allspark.com/2020/01/botconspiracy-does-botcon-still-function/

Botcon's facebook and Twitter are active again, as is Transformersclub.com and botcon.com.

A few allspark members have noted that the copyright is still registered to Funpub, and one theorizes they may be trying to turn it into a generic robot convention.
Given Pete's failed attemps to secure other licenses, that actually sounds plausible.

So if true, does that mean we'll continue to get Here's what you coulda had sour grape "exclusives" every year?

[Toph]

Like... After they lost the Joe license, and failed to secure any new ones, I genuinely thought FP was dead. I didn't realize they were just dormant.

[Andy Turnbull]

Guess we will see one way or the other. If it's a Fan event I think they might have a struggle to compete with TFcon.

[Toph]

I think that's being very generous to them!
If they tried to compete against TFCon, I think they burned so many bridges over the years they'll fall flat on their faces.

[Bogatan]

With Hasbro cancelling hascon it's entirely possible someone up high has decided outsourcing really is easier.

[Andy Turnbull]

Quite possibly.

[Bogatan]

It looks like FunPub are out as the botcon site is "pending transfer"

I cant quite imagine Hasbro running it directly but if thet could have bought the name so they can licence out the whole package.

Or another party have bought it and either have done a deal with Hasbro or are going for a fan comvention.

[Pinwig]

TFCon?

[Andy Turnbull]

Feb 2, 2020 10:30:07 GMT Bogatan said:

It looks like FunPub are out as the botcon site is "pending transfer"

I cant quite imagine Hasbro running it directly but if thet could have bought the name so they can licence out the whole package.

Or another party have bought it and either have done a deal with Hasbro or are going for a fan comvention.

Pending transfer could be just to a different domain registrar, not necessarily a transfer of ownership, so I wouldn't read too much into that.

[Andy Turnbull]

Feb 2, 2020 11:16:51 GMT Pinwig said:

TFCon?

Nope.

They'd end up making less, as the license fee would need to be paid, I think their model best suits being unofficial.

[Bogatan]

Feb 2, 2020 11:41:03 GMT Andy Turnbull said:

Feb 2, 2020 10:30:07 GMT Bogatan said:

It looks like FunPub are out as the botcon site is "pending transfer"

I cant quite imagine Hasbro running it directly but if thet could have bought the name so they can licence out the whole package.

Or another party have bought it and either have done a deal with Hasbro or are going for a fan comvention.

Pending transfer could be just to a different domain registrar, not necessarily a transfer of ownership, so I wouldn't read too much into that.

Could be, but its only Botcon, Joecon and Tf/Joeclubs are unchanged.

[Andy Turnbull]

Again, not necessarily an indicator of anything, as you're not going to pay to transfer things that aren't a going concern.

It's all idle speculation right now.

[Philip Ayres]

Botcon's back

www.allspark.com/2020/02/its-official-botcon-is-back/

Good Morning. This message is kindly directed at my fellow fans of the Transformers franchise. You’ll want to read all the way to the end, but please do read from the beginning. This message is cross-posted at www.allspark.com. Please credit them if linking to this post.

A BotCon story.

In 1994, the first BotCon was held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, organized by my brother Jon and me. Over the next several years, it was organized by Raksha in 1995, Dennis Barger in 1996, Glen Hallit and ourselves 1997-2002, and finally with Pete Sinclair in 2004. Through various ups and downs, it was determined that BotCon 2004 was to be the last BotCon. For those that weren’t there, I put together a retrospective video set to music, called Requiem, which was shown at the final panel.

The last text on the video read something like this:

Thanks for the love.

Thanks for the laughs.

Thanks for the tears.

BotCon 1994-2002, 2004

Thanks for the memories.

The End

?

As one might expect, that question mark was met with applause through the tears. The truth was that no one really knew what the future held with BotCon, but I wanted to give the fans in attendance a little bit of hope. To quote another staple from 1994: “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

As it turns out, Brian Savage and Fun Publications took over the reins for BotCon from 2005-2016. During that time, the concept of how BotCon operated was expanded greatly. The toy offerings were increased, and guests from every era of the franchise were plentiful. The size and scope of the convention grew to proportions that Jon and I could never have imagined.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the convention, even from its earliest days, was its ability to draw people together who have the same interest in this toy line. Newcomers to the convention were invited into conversations by “old timers.” There was a sense of belonging for many that attended, which went past the toys. People got to know each other on a personal level. Those people who saw each other every year got used to seeing each other every year. It was like a big family reunion. I’ve always felt that way. I saw people who were at some of the early BotCons grow from somewhat awkward late teen-agers and early twenty-somethings (I was definitely a member of that group!), to confident adults, some of whom with families, who brought their own children to BotCon. The second generation had begun to enjoy what their parents had introduced them to.

So, when word got around BotCon 2016 (confirming what had been known in smaller circles for months prior) that it was going to be the Last BotCon, the mood of the convention for many of us old timers turned very introspective, and quite sad. I’ll never forget speaking to David Kaye at the evening Judd Nelson event that year. I simply went up to him and thanked him for his support over the years. He was one of the first major guests who attended in 1997, and he was back in 2016, almost 20 years later. I asked him if he had heard that this was the last convention. He turned to me with a serious look and said that he had heard about that, and he thought it was some sort of awful joke. BotCon couldn’t be ending. I told him that it was true. He just shook his head.

Sunday came, and at the end of the convention was the traditional organizers panel. This year was different. Many people assembled for what they knew to be the last time. It felt like equal parts retrospective, celebration, and wake. Several spoke about what BotCon meant to them. It meant so much more to many of them than the toys, cartoons, fiction, and guests. It was about the people. It became an entity unto itself. An annual family reunion that, for reasons that no one understood, had to end. Emotions were very raw in that panel. Lots of tears were shed.

Saying goodbye to BotCon was one of the hardest things that we’ve had to do, because of all of the memories that were made there, and all of the friends that were met for the first time there. BotCon was going to end, only to exist in pictures and in our hearts, minds, and memories. It was…

The End.

?

The question mark meant hope.

It means hope. Remember, Hope is a good thing, maybe the best if things, and no good thing ever dies. It just takes a five year break.

As it turns out, Simon Furman was right after all of these years.

It never ends.

The story of BotCon is not over.

It just has a new chapter.

On behalf of myself, Bret Lovell, Andrew Hall and the rest of the BC Productions crew, I am honored and humbled to announce:

BotCon 2021

www.botcon.com.

[Toph]

Okay, I'm tentatively excited!

[Bogatan]

Not Funpub but Petes still involved so depending on where ones issues where with FP lay, then still in either good or bad news territory.

[Toph]

I'd read pete *wasn't* involved?

Edit: Ewww, you're right. Botcon.com links to his store.

[Bogatan]

The store links to Petes Ro-botcon-vention store or something. It seems hes involved in some capacity behind the scenes.

[Jim]

Dipped my toe into another fan site briefly to see if there was any more detail, and wow; it looks like I missed some Drama around Pete? Never been a fan of his, but there was a proper multi-page thread of hate and vague allegations there. And people seem to be being deliberately evasive about the extent of his involvement? Not going to spend time digging into that though.

Personally not really fussed either way about a return of BotCon, licensed or otherwise. It seems to me the unofficial conventions have taken off well and generally with a good atmosphere (one day I'll make it to one!), and there have been plenty of surprising and interesting official fan-targeted Toys lately. But I'm happy for the people for who this is good news!