Word reaches us from the good people at Fun Publications – the registration for Botcon 2013 is now live. Register for this year’s convention in San Diego CA June 27-30 by heading over to the Botcon homepage!
We hope to see many of you there!
by Sol Fury under Conventions
Word reaches us from the good people at Fun Publications – the registration for Botcon 2013 is now live. Register for this year’s convention in San Diego CA June 27-30 by heading over to the Botcon homepage!
We hope to see many of you there!
EightiesKid
There will be a schedule, it will come out closer to the con, and if you bought the Primus set, you will get a name tag that has the convention schedule of events on the back of the name tag, it's a very useful touch.
I will probably be going on Friday and Saturday. Would love to go Sunday as well, but not sure that I'll be able to do that. One thing I'd love to experience this year is the hotel room-to-room dealing, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to hang out that late in the day.
xMostWanted559x
since we are getting closer to this, im thinking of attending sat and sunday, is there an actual schedule that is followed each day? or do you guys go all 4 days?
EightiesKid
It definitely is a little odd to have Botcon and SDCC so close together. For me personally it is a dream come true, since I get to go to both cons, but it does make the budgeting a little tough. Both cons can get expensive very quickly.
I'm looking forward to more announcements on Botcon, ie. more exclusive reveals, more guests, additional programming, etc.
megamus
True that on SDCC. I guess they got a great deal on the space, why else would you compete with one of the biggest if not the biggest Conventions out there! I also agree with your point of view on the numbers and the convention set. I cannot say I am in love with this set by any stretch of the imagination and that should factor in to the low numbers. But the numbers in general can be skewed as you have mentioned so it's kinda a mood point to throw out percentages like they do. I can say I sold 50% of my collection but if you did not know how big it was it would not mean that much to you. I also agree if the non-attending sets sell out, they will shift the amount of attending to non if it suits them, it only makes sense as they are trying to sell everything. In all I think they do a great job but could use some tweaking IMHO.
G.B. Blackrock
Dealers do (as I understand it) have more trouble getting to CA than to other venues. But you're right in suggesting that, even if a single, central location were chosen, the dealers would likely just be the same ones all the time.
All that said, I do think the numbers dropping (at least, that's how it seems. None of us know actual numbers. At best, we see percentages, and those are muddy since we don't know what they're even percentages of) have more to do with the fact that the toys have generated a lukewarm (at best) response, and less to do with the location (although I do think that San Diego's distance… and the proximity of this year's BotCon to SDCC… is a factor).
(As an aside, to date, that BotCon that was in Kentucky was the one BotCon outside of CA that I've been able to attend thus far)
megamus
I've had the pleasure of having the convention close to me several times, once in my backyard. I understand it is nice to have it close but here is my main concern. Speaking from a collecting point of view the dealers room is very important to me. The main reason I go is to look for new acquisitions. New dealers mean better opportunities to find what I'm looking for. The same dealers over and over again produce less variety. To me the panels and to a lesser degree the convention figures are second. If it were not for hanging with people I only get to see once a year I probably would not be going this year. But once again, those numbers are dropping. Several people whom have gone for years are not coming. Now I cannot say for sure its the location but a new venue couldn't hurt.
Omegax80
Sometimes I think we look forward more to the at-convention exclusives over the Box Set. This year's set makes me wonder if the at-con 2-packs and 3-pack will be better/more sought after?
G.B. Blackrock
Since I live in CA (although not in San Diego), I'm not the best person to respond. I certainly don't have the impression that you're the minority, as I see TONS of complaining every time CA is so much as suggested, let alone actually chosen for a given year (FL, quite bluntly, has only ever been used once, and so that's hardly a fair inclusion. It's being on a far edge of the country notwithstanding).
IMHO, part of the problem is that, unlike many other conventions that are in the same place every year (SDCC, for example), BotCon has created an expectation of being held in different locations all the time. Now that this expectation is being denied, people are understandably frustrated.
Like I said, I'm not the best person to say, since I'd obviously be happy if it were in CA every year. That said, I do wonder if BotCon would do more folks a favor by simply selecting ONE location (wherever that would be) and making it known to all that THAT is where people need to expect to save up and go.
I don't think that will ever happen, mind you. Just a thought.
megamus
I know I'm gonna hear it but I think I a lot of this has to do with the location. I used to love trying to guess where Botcon was going to be held. All over the US…..Now if I pick California or Florida I have about an 90% chance of guessing right…..
I am very happy for those fans whom have enjoyed having the convention so close but give others a chance, give other dealers, local dealers a chance to attend and setup. Fresh blood!!! I have said it before and I will say it again. I plan on going where ever they have it but I think I am in the minority on this.
G.B. Blackrock
Possible, but unlikely.
I hasten to add that the point about non-attendee sets being closer to sold out than attendee sets is misleading. We know that there's really only one type of physical set (what I call "box sets" to set them apart from "loose sets"), and FunPub has always reserved the right to hold back box sets to give to attendees first and foremost (they DO want people to actually go to the convention after all).
But if, come late May, with only a month left before the convention, there are still hundreds of box sets still unsold, you'd better believe they're going to be happy to sell them to attendees and non-attendees alike.
So I consider that line about non-attendee sets being almost sold out to be pure spin.
LegendAntihero
You say that like it's a bad thing if they don't sell out. Keep it in stock kids will find out about the con and give them time to save up money for it
Bogatan
Glad they are doing better than I expected, but put in perspective last year they reached nearly 60% in just over 24 hours. (A bit of a guess they had 50% after 3 hours so I would have thought they would have been close to 60 after 24 hours) The year before it had sold out by now. Looks like they sold around a half to two thirds of last years numbers in the first 24 hours and they haven't made up any them in the week and and a half since.
Last year they hadnt even started selling Iacon packages 10 days after Primus was available which may make those numbers better or worse.
Star Saber
You have to admit, that despite all the hate, the toys do sell pretty well. It probably has less to do with SG though, but more to do with the fact that most of the time, they're using popular characters (along with some good molds), which probably helps some sell more (I still see Octopunch, who's a lot less popular, a lot for example). I imagine if a future set contained some alternate versions of Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Starscream, Jazz with Megatron, Hot Rod etc as add-ons, they'd probably do well too. That's probably why the BW set is also one of the more sought after ones.
Insane Galvatron
60% is still just barely over half. Considering the largest surge of orders come in early, this set still may not sell out until the show.
ducti748
I'm calling B.S. they're trying to make ppl think its closer to sellout so if you're stalling to hurry up and buy.. Hopefully I'm wrong cause if this doesn't sell they'll go back the well and we're stuck with shattered glass forever
Star Saber
Isn't it possible they made fewer sets?
Big Filipino
I was shocked when I read that email as well.
Hollywood Hoist
I just received an email from fun pub. It looks like they're 60% sold out and non-attending are almost sold out.
It looks like the sets doing better than we thought.