Hello all. I am of limited budget and therefore am opting to not registering in the normal sense. That being said, I just have a few very general questions I'm hoping some of the convention vets can answer:

1.) What can general admissions get you?

2.) I'd want to approach the dealer's booths to buy some TFs, of course. I also want to meet David Kaye or at least get his autograph. Can I chance upon meeting the voice actors in their booths or buy TFs at the convention from the dealers through general admit? Can I see the shows? Attend classes?

3.) I'm only planning to go on the weekend dates (I work all day every weekday). General admit is $15 and show starts at 10 AM but Early Bird admit is $50 and starts just an hour earlier. Are there huge advantages to getting there an hour early I don't know about that explains that price hike?

4.) What does one usually bring to one of these things? I was just planning to bring a camera and maybe a small backpack to haul my loot in, and maybe my Animated Cybertron Mode Prime and BW10 Megatron for Mr. Kaye to sign. I'm gonna have him scribble all over'em. Are these things allowed (again, assuming the gen admits are allowed in there)? I'm concerned most about the backpack being allowed.

5.) How many people usually end up showing up for these things? Is it jam-packed to the point of suffocation or is there a light crowd?

6.) I read on the Botcon website also that certain registration types give you a program. Can a general admit get a program too? It doesn't have to be the fancy one, I'd just like to know when what's going on at a convention for logistic purposes.

7.) Are general admit pre-sale tickets an option? I saw they were only available on the day of the show and I wanted to confirm one way or another.

Thanks.

I went to Botcon in 2002, so I have to leave most of your questions for those who've gone more recently, but I can say that I'd honestly be shocked if you had a problem carrying a backpack in the dealer's room. People often buy more swag than they can carry in their arms; I'm one of a duo who filled an entire army bag with toys, dumped it in the hotel room, and took it back for more during TFCon 2006.

You will want to bring a camera, a backpack, anything you want signed, money, and set aside some of that money for food/drink.

The point of Early Bird admission is, if you want to get something that will be in short supply, you want to get into the dealer's room fast and grab one before they vanish.

I guess the only things I really want would be the ROTF toys, but I would be able to find those everywhere anyway. Are there souvenier/exclusive figures that they will be giving out on the floor or something? I read some things about it somewhere but I'm still a little confused about how that works.

I'll try to answer these as best I can. I've never gone as a General Admission, but here's what I have observed and can recall



We can cover two of these questions by lifting a blurb right off of Botcon's site:



So, yes, you can get into the dealer room, no problem, with General Admission.

As for shows and classes, pre-paid attendees are given first opportunity to attend the panel discussions, then after all of the pre-paids are admitted, the walk-ins are allowed to enter. That probably sounds more sterile and authoritarian than I mean it to, but that's the general gist. As far as classes go, I don't think there are any classes after Thursday (this based on the schedule for last years' con), but you'd have to pre-register for those anyway. So, no, you can't just walk in and join a class. But, since they're not on Sat or Sun, that shouldn't be an issue for you anyway.

From past experience, you're not going to just "chance" a meeting with the VAs in their booths. The booths are a separate area, outside of the dealer room, and the line forms up pretty quick. If you want stuff autographed, you're going to have to leave the dealer room, get in line, and wait. HOWEVER, since you're going general admission, you have to pay a little extra to get a wrist band, or something, in order to get stuff autographed. If they catch you in line without an wristband, they'll ask you to get out of line and go get one. Unfortunately, you'll have to move to the back of the line when you get back. You may find that others will be nice enough to hold your spot in line, but I wouldn't necessarily count on it.

BTW, Kaye's going to be a big draw on Saturday, as that will be the only day he's there. So get in line quick.



Paying for early admission would get you into the sales room earlier, so you're more likely to find that figure you're looking for, and you'll probably be able to buy the autograph bands at that point as well, so you'll get a better spot in the autograph line. That's really about it, so it's your call



Backpack shouldn't be a problem, but just remember that you're wearing it, and be wary of your turn radius. The aisles in the dealer room are narrow and crowded. Turn too quick with a full backpack, and you could knock someone into a booth, or clock a kid.

Bringing toys to sign is no big deal. That's what most of the rest of us do anyway. The camera's a bit shakey, depending on what you want to do. They may or may not let you get a picture WITH the VA (or whomever), depending on how the line's going. On the whole, you can almost certainly snap a shot OF whomever, as they're signing someone else's stuff. And I say "almost certainly" because some of them don't like having their photo taken. Pauline Newstone (BW Airazor) is really the only one I can think of. It's rare, but it does happen. Greg and Dave shouldn't be a problem though.



Depends on the time. Saturday's usually pretty jAam-packed (sorry, I had to ), but depending on what panels are going on, the crowd (at least in the dealer room) could thin a little. Sunday will be thinner as time goes on, since there will be nothing left to see at the con, or people are done shopping or are heading home (I, myself, have to leave at 11AM, to get to the Burbank airport for a 1:20 PM flight, that still won't get me home until 11 PM).

I don't think FP ever releases the attendance numbers, so it's hard to get an accurate read on the real number of people, but Friday/Saturday it's alot. Especially Saturday.



I do believe that as a walk-in you will get a program. If not, they print the course of events on the back of the tags that the pre-registrants wear, so if you find someone with a tag (not hard to do), you can find out what's going on when.

Also, they'll usually put the schedule of events up on botcon.com before hand, so you could print out a copy of that and carry it with you.



You can only buy a general admision ticket at the door



There are bagged sets of extra figures (outside of the main box set) that you can buy. Take, for example, last year. The main box set consisted of Optimus, Starscream, Goldbug, Grimlock, and Jazz. However, there were also two sets of "Souvenir Figures" that could be bought separately, consisting of Blurr/Sideswipe and Megatron/Rodimus. You can walk up to the Fun Pub Store/booth and purchase those souvenir figures, no problem. In fact, it's probably the same place that you can purchase the wristband that will get you not kicked out of the autograph line. They do have bagged sets of the main figures, but I don't recall if you, as a walk-in, can buy them, but I can't think of any reason you wouldn't be able to.

Well, I hope that helps!

EDIT: Ugh....typos abound...

TrnsfrmGod answered most of your questions, but I wanted to add a few quick notes.



As a general admin, you can get into the panels and dealer room. The classes take place earlier, and there's no shows. Panels go to preregs first, then walk-ins, but they've never had to turn anyone away (they came close in Lexington, but there was standing room for everyone).



It's just to get in the dealer room early. Remember that pre-regs are going to have Friday though to already go through it all. That line is liable to be shorter, as iI've heard horror stories of the general admission line on Saturday (like it taking people 2 hours to get in the damn door). I don't think it'd be worth the money, though. Just in the dealer room earlier, when preregs have already been through it, plus preregs get in at 9am on Saturday too. I'd say show up early enough so you don't stand outside that long past 10 am, though. I don't know how early that might need to be, but be there at least by 9 am.



Backpacks and cameras an toys are all fine. As TrnsfrmGod said though, be careful when turning. It might be better to actually carry your backpack in front of you. Get a signing band, and get to the guest signing area early. In 2007 I think it was, the line for signatures for Cullen I think, was full an hour before it even opened. They usually limit you to two things signed, and they probably won't have give you time to take a picture or get a voice clip. Lots of times though people give their camera to the person in front of/behind them, so they can get the stuff signed, shake hands, say hello, while the other person takes a picture. That way, you get your pictures, but it doesn't slow things down.



It's packed, especially Saturday. The dealer room will be tough to navigate. Whenever the Hasbro panel is, that room will be be packed, and the dealer room will clear out. Sunday afternoon things start really winding down. Great time to get last-minute deals though.




No, only on the day of the show at the door.



They'll have ROTF toys at the club store, with a special sticker on the box or something, but they will NOT be hard to get. They'll be in stores a couple of days later everywhere.

The box set is liable to sell out (surprised it hasn't already...even though, they made more this year, and I think the box set mostly sucks). If they have any left they'll be sold at the show, but expect it to go quickly. The attendee toys (which we've seen several eBay leaks) seem to be pretty popular this year, but usually those all sell out early Saturday morning. Maybe they made a lot more of them this year too, so there might be some. But if you're dead set on getting some of them, and aren't going to pre-reg, just get there REALLY early Saturday, and hope for the best.

All the info here is good, but I am more anti-backpack than the others. You'll see when you go. There will be lots of folks with backpacks, especially in crowded areas around the booths and display cases. I ask for people to avoid backpacks - they're great for transporting things, but many people moving about with them in the slow traffic of the dealer room only makes for trouble. I use a messenger bag, and if I have large items to buy/pick up, I use shopping bags (TRU or Target bags work great) and plan on getting them back to my room asap.

I've been a gen admin and a prereg for recent Botcons. The only thing I will say that if you want the convention exclusives, being a prereg will ensure you get them all. I think the at-convention exclusives sold out very soon after the gen admin doors opened last year; in 2007, there were plenty of Springers and Huffers. Also, in the past, if you were willing to sell the exclusives you didn't want to dealers, they were normally buying them for more than you paid for them (normally more if you go for trade value vs cash). If I were going this year, I would probably sell my box set to get some encore and e-hobby figures, and stock up on the at-convention exclusives.

Not to nitpick, but I wouldn't say that prereging will ensure that you get them all. One of my favorite stories to tell is how I missed on the Megatron/Waspinator set in '06 by, literally, one guy. And I preregistered that year.

Now, I grant you that this was on Saturday morning, but I was of the mindset that if one had preregistered, it didn't matter when I went to pick up the figures, because they had enough for all the preregistrants and for the gen admins. Perhaps a better qualifying phrase would be "being a prereg and getting there on Thursday or Friday".

Good point, especially since he will only be arriving on Saturday at the earliest.

The lines for walk-in registration are HUUUUUUUGE and start EAAARLY. Be prepared to get up at dawn.

On that note...

What have the policies been in the past for purchasing exclusives? Is there a limit to how many can be bought? And if not, is there a limit to how many can be bought at one time? (I'm referring to multiples of the same souvenir set)

It really surprises me how often this (and similar) questions come up. I keep thinking this stuff is common knowledge by now.

Anywhos, they punch your lanyard 1 time for each set. They limit package holders to 1 of each set till Saturday morning, then it's whatever, although they'll often limit buyers to 1 of each set through trip in the line. But starting Saturday, you can get multiples.

Wow, you guys rock! Thanks!!

One more question: How is the availability of the ROTF figs at the convention would you all think? I wanna catch'em all, if not there than elsewhere.

We had a blurb on our frontpage (www.allspark.com) from Hasbro last week. They'll be bringing a crap-load ton of ROTF toys to sell at the convention. Complete with special stickers to mark your specialness!

SWEEEEEEET.

This is so gonna unbelievably rock.