So How Was Botcon 2012 Overall? Options

[*Deathblade]

posted my thought a while back

It was kinda...meh. I always go with the wife, but this year I made an effort to actually meet people. I went to several parts parties, like sidecutter's and megamus. It was pretty cool. I picked up a few cool 3rd party items.

The hotel was pretty swank, but I would have preferred the frisco location, with it being within walking distance of the mall and the super kick butt breakast buffet that was complimentary. Glad we werent anywhere near that bar on a low floor, as it was noisy there into the wee hours...yeah the chiro girls were hot....some of them anyways.

All in all it was pretty underwhelming. One of the coolest things was David Kaye remembering me from the 2007 convention. We only talked briefly then, but it was still cool he remembered.

The dealer room....gets less impressive each year. Nothing against the dealers, but the difference between even 2005 and this one was stark. Most prices were even more ridiculous than ebay. $900 for an ok condition boxed trypticon!?....not to mention dealers going UP on prices as the convention went on. Crap like $100-$120 for FE bulkhead, $100 for HA soundwave....I look on ebay and see HA soundwave for $65 shipped. Captive audience I know but come on. There were some deals to be had, but they were few and far between, other than the usual good booths, like the japanese guys and bodhar. There was really no difference from ordering the stuff online. After you get over the spectacle of seeing boxed G1 items and super rare pieces, the magic kinda fades.

Peter Cullen panel was pretty OK, though it had the obligatory someone gushing about cullen being their surrogate dad, the super wierd eye rolling groan inducing question from some girl (I am beginning to think its the same girl every year-do cyber sheep sleep? or wtf ever she asked several years ago) and several people that felt the need to give a personal monologue rather than ask a question. The only one I am cutting a break is the guy who had obvious disabilities, though it did get pretty awkward. Cullen handled it like a champ though.

Casino night....should be handled better. I didnt even know they were playing bingo downstairs until like 10:30. Someone just randomly mentioned it, and there were no signs. Also how is it people get ridiculous sums of credits, like in the 40,000 range? from the charity balloons? I KNOW people cant just be buying up all that phoney money, because if you dont buy anything its worthless after the auction, and neither blackjack or 21 have very high payouts. Really makes going to the auction kinda pointless other than spectacle. Oh yeah TFW staffers, the 'YEEEEEPPP!!!" was slightly chuckle worthy the first time...eye rolling by like the 70th one.

Since I am always with my wife, i dont get to meet that many people, so its always more about the toys, the reveals, and the selection of purchasable merchandise..all of which were meh this year. I really dont see going to another con unless I absolutely LOVE the set, or I can piggyback a vacation onto it, like vegas or disney. I only went this year because it was only a few hours drive.

[Daytonus]

Botcon is always awesome for me as long as some of the Allspark staff is there for me to hang with. As long as the toys are decent--and my standards are really low--and we get some neat reveals, I'm satisfied on the actual Botcon side of things. I do find myself doing less and less of that stuff each year.

[Loki Corvinus]

It was a good time.

I didn't care too much for the hotel. It looked nice but had things like fleas on the couches in the lobby, strawberry like substance on the floor in my room, and scratches in the windows in my room. Staff was very friendly though.
Randy

It's funny you should mention that, because me and my friend were starved due to the lack of vending machines that may actually have food in them. I went to add some onions to the hotdog and found a few bugs crawling inside the food. I showed the the guy in charge of the food area and all he did was apologize and walk away with the food. Then he vanished. Other than that, I had a great time at the location.

This post has been edited by Loki Corvinus: May 18 2012, 09:12 PM

[Walky]

The coffee shop would microwave breakfast sandwiches for you for six dollars.

[Fangwing]

The coffee shop would microwave breakfast sandwiches for you for six dollars.

Extra?

[Walky]

Naw, altogether. Their breakfast sandwiches came frozen and prewrapped, and they just heated them up for you. Generally when you overpay for something at a coffee shop, they at least put some extra effort in there so it feels like it's slightly worth it!

[Loki Corvinus]

Naw, altogether. Their breakfast sandwiches came frozen and prewrapped, and they just heated them up for you. Generally when you overpay for something at a coffee shop, they at least put some extra effort in there so it feels like it's slightly worth it!

On another related note, those $6 sandwhiches were free after the coffee shop closed. After my trek through the post apocalyptic streets of Dallas at night, I asked the lady at the front desk if there was anywhere that was open I could get some food at for me and my friend. She came back with a sandwich and a chicken wrap. I asked how much she wanted for them, and she let me have them for nothing because the shop stocks fresh ones the next day.
Lesson. If all the fast food joints in the area close at 8 PM in a specific part of town, it's probably for a reason.... I found a Mickey D's with a pair of closed doors, and this big burly native lumbered out in front of me to hit a call button on the door. Then a McDonald' employee opened a little metal slot and asked for his order. By this time, our sphincters had thoroughly puckered when we realized the metal drop box must surely exist to keep the nice night folk on the outside. Lo and behold, Mr. Lumber Beast flipped his pocked out and politely let a, " Want some green?" tumble out of his stoned maw. We couldn't get back to the hotel fast enough...And..you know what? Maybe that lady at the front desk just pitied us....

[Daggor]

On another related note, those $6 sandwhiches were free after the coffee shop closed. After my trek through the post apocalyptic streets of Dallas at night, I asked the lady at the front desk if there was anywhere that was open I could get some food at for me and my friend. She came back with a sandwich and a chicken wrap. I asked how much she wanted for them, and she let me have them for nothing because the shop stocks fresh ones the next day.
Lesson. If all the fast food joints in the area close at 8 PM in a specific part of town, it's probably for a reason.... I found a Mickey D's with a pair of closed doors, and this big burly native lumbered out in front of me to hit a call button on the door. Then a McDonald' employee opened a little metal slot and asked for his order. By this time, our sphincters had thoroughly puckered when we realized the metal drop box must surely exist to keep the nice night folk on the outside. Lo and behold, Mr. Lumber Beast flipped his pocked out and politely let a, " Want some green?" tumble out of his stoned maw. We couldn't get back to the hotel fast enough...And..you know what? Maybe that lady at the front desk just pitied us....

These are the kinds of stories I want to hear about Botcon!

[TrnsfrmGod]

On another related note, those $6 sandwhiches were free after the coffee shop closed. After my trek through the post apocalyptic streets of Dallas at night, I asked the lady at the front desk if there was anywhere that was open I could get some food at for me and my friend. She came back with a sandwich and a chicken wrap. I asked how much she wanted for them, and she let me have them for nothing because the shop stocks fresh ones the next day.
Lesson. If all the fast food joints in the area close at 8 PM in a specific part of town, it's probably for a reason.... I found a Mickey D's with a pair of closed doors, and this big burly native lumbered out in front of me to hit a call button on the door. Then a McDonald' employee opened a little metal slot and asked for his order. By this time, our sphincters had thoroughly puckered when we realized the metal drop box must surely exist to keep the nice night folk on the outside. Lo and behold, Mr. Lumber Beast flipped his pocked out and politely let a, " Want some green?" tumble out of his stoned maw. We couldn't get back to the hotel fast enough...And..you know what? Maybe that lady at the front desk just pitied us....

These are the kinds of stories I want to hear about Botcon!

Then, in the same vein, I offer the following (and I'll warn you up front, it's boring (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-fire.gif) ) :

Thursday night, some of my friends decided to make a late night run to TGI Fridays. I'm talking 10:00-11:00 late night. As we were walking one of them commented that we needed to be on our guard, and stay "North" of Main Street, as "South" of it was gang territory (directions in quotes, since I don't recall what the actual instructions were).

Well, we had to cross Main street to get to the restaurant, so I guess the point was moot, but we did make it there without incident.

We ordered our food, ate, and it was roughly midnight as we were getting ready to leave. The manager recommended that we try to get a ride back to the hotel. If we couldn't get a shuttle, then he could give us the number of a cab friend of his. Well, the hotel apparently doesn't run shuttles past a certain time. We tried calling the cab, but got no answer, so we were back to hoofing it. Before we left, the manager basically wished us luck and recommended that we "stick together."

Thankfully, we made it back to the hotel without incident. Honestly, there wasn't even another soul on the streets. I don't even recall seeing any cars for that matter; the place was just totally dead.

Like I said, pretty boring, but I have to admit that the fact that the manager recommended that we stay together was a little chilling. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-bee.gif)

[Loki Corvinus]

Thankfully, we made it back to the hotel without incident. Honestly, there wasn't even another soul on the streets. I don't even recall seeing any cars for that matter; the place was just totally dead.

Yeah, wasn't it? That's what I mean by "post apocalyptic". It was like at any moment you went around the corner, you half expected it to play out like the city scene in The Walking Dead.