BotCon

With BotCon 2008 just over 3 weeks away, many more guests are being announced for the event. IDW have now revealed who will be at their panel.

On the panel will be IDW Editor Denton Tipton and writers Simon Furman and Chris Mowry, who is writing the Transformers: All Hail Megatron series.

IDW Publishing panel: All Hail!
New IDW Publishing Editor Denton Tipton makes his BotCon debut alongside Transformers Movie Sequel co-writer Chris Mowry, who will be signing copies of his all-new comic that is also debuting at the show. The panel discussion featuring Denton, Simon Furman, Marty Isenberg, and possibly others will discuss the newest epic-in-the-making, The Transformers: All Hail Megatron! Plus advance word and advance art from the Revelations Saga, Transformers Animated, and much more! Questions, comments and heckling are encouraged during this lively discussion.

Voice actor David Kaye has been announced as the first guest to be appearing at next months BotCon 2008 convention.

Most fans will know David as the voice of Megatron in Beast Wars, Beast Machines, Armada, Energon and Cybertron and now man who voices Optimus Prime in the latest series, Transformers: Animated.

Expect more guests to be confirmed for the convention soon.

With BotCon 2008 next month and the Transformers Animated and Universe lines launching in June and September, more and more images of the figures being released are showing up early.

Two new galleries have been posted on AC Toys via Comus of TF08.net, the first featuring three Universe deluxe figures - Prowl, Tankor and Sunstreaker. The second shows 3 BotCon 2008 Exclusive figures - Botcon Blurr and Ricochet and this years Transformers Collectors’ Club figure - Nightbeat.

Expect more figure galleries to appear soon.

The members only section of the official Transformers Collector’s Club website has been updated with the Transformers Timelines text story, “Gone Too Far”.

The story follows Jackpot and Hubcap on Axiom Nexus in one of their adventures. I won’t spoil it for you but the word Transtech is involved.

The story is written by Greg Sepelak and Trent Troop, with illustrations by Evan Gauntt.

Another auction from eBay seller EToysHunter shows some detailed pictures of BotCon 2008 Exclusive Optimus Prime, from the “Shattered Glass” figure set, which has now sold out completely.

As with most preview galleries, there are lots of photos of the figure in both transformations and with many different angles. The now finished auction of the evil Autobot leader can be found here.

The Official Transformers Collectors’ Club have put up a video of this years free club exclusive figure, Topspin. The figure is a repaint of Energon Blackout, originally released in 2004.

The figure is free to all club members who have an active membership before 16th March and is the fourth in a series of 5 that combine together to form a gestult.

BotCon.com has been updated with the first look at the Attendee Bonus Figure for this year: Ricochet. Again, like most of the BotCon figures, it is a repaint of another Cybertron figure.

BotCon.com have sent out an email to members, giving an update on the availability of BotCon 2008 packages and other related news pieces.

his is going out to all members. If you have received a confirmation email concerning your registration, this notice does not apply to you.

The demand for this year’s BotCon figure sets (both boxed and loose) has been unprecedented… and they are now officially SOLD OUT. Since manufacturing of the sets has already been completed, we are not able to obtain additional quantities.

In order to accommodate those who are still planning to attend, we are providing you with two new options:

1) You can still come as a Primus Package holder and we will substitute a 2005 BotCon Boxed Set Descent into Evil (click here to view) - at the reduced cost of $250 for Club members, $300 for non-members - and in addition, you will receive this year’s free attending figure. Loose sets are also available for $130 for Club members and $165 for non-members.

So that you can see what you will be getting this year, we have decided to do something we have never done before…we are going to unveil the free attending figure this Friday! This is the first time we have shown the free attending figure before the start of BotCon!

2) We are creating a new attending package designed for this year only!
The Energon Package includes admission to all events (just like the Primus Package, including the Casino Night Awards Dinner) a convention badge, pin and comic/program (no toys). The Energon Package is $180 for Club members, $230 for non-members.

If you have sent in a registration since February 14, we will be emailing or calling you to find out which package you want to switch to.

Attached you will find the current registration form with the new options.

Thank you, once again, for your support! We look forward to seeing you in Cincinnati!

Brian

PS. For those of you who have already registered, confirmation letters will be going in the mail this week.

If you still need a hotel, The Millennium Hotel - 800-876-2100 or 513-352-2100

Botcon.com has been updated with previews of the latest BotCon 2008 Shattered Glass figures, Starscream and Razorclaw.

Starscream is a repaint of Cybertron Starscream and features a colour scheme similar to Generation One Jetfire. He features more paint applications than the previously seen test shot. Razorclaw is a repaint of Overbite from the Classics Minicon Predator Attack Team.