We’ve got three pieces of news from the folks at Botcon this evening. First is some unfortunate news – voice acting legend Scott McNeil, who voiced Dinobot, Waspinator, Silverbolt, and Rattrap in Beast Wars, is unable to attend this year’s convention.
To counter this bad news, some good – the indisputable voice of Grimlock, Gregg Berger, will instead be attending Botcon 2016. Gregg will be joining fellow voice actors Judd Nelson, David Kaye, and Venus Terzo for a script reading on the opening Friday of Botcon.
The update email that conveyed this news also makes mention of the future of the Transformers Collectors Club – rather than paraphrase, we’ve repeated the message below:
Please note that March 16 is the last day you can join the Transformers Collectors Club. If you are interested in receiving the discounts for BotCon, the 2016 FREE Membership Incentive figure and/or purchasing the TFSS 5.0 (to be revealed in full at BotCon 2016) you will need to be an active member as of March 16. All memberships will end December 31, 2016. Hasbro looks forward to sharing new plans for the Collector’s Club with you in the future.
We appreciate your support over the last 12 years and wish the brand well in their new endeavors.
Autovolt 127
Exactly My Point.
I feel too many BotCons play it too safe with the same faces who don't get me wrong are great guests but they need to mix it up a bit.
Hopefully Hasbro's new convention will actually do this.
I mention this on twitter and Khary Payton said he would have loved to have been a guest. *sigh* Imagine him, David Kaye and Gregg Berger. Three Grimlock VA's in one panel.
mrduce1018
They have explicitly stated that as long as you are an active member by March 16th you will be able to buy TFSS 5.0. One would assume you would be also be able to make purchases through the club store too as you need an active membership to order the 5.0.
Thelonicon
I'm pretty sure one of the emails indicated that anyone who was still a member after the March 16th deadline (aka someone who will get Ramjet) is eligible to purchase the subscription even if their membership expires before they go on sale.
Edit:
griffin-of-oz
I'd recommend ringing them up about it, as you will get the 2016 toy (Ramjet), but you might have trouble buying the fifth Subscription set or Skywarp, as they aren't likely to be listed for pre-order until after BotCon (late April/May), which will be after your membership expires.
They might be able to manually renew your membership if you are likely to want the fifth Subscription set or Skywarp.
Ikkstakk
Got a question, can't remember if it's been addressed: I have a subscription that I bought on April 3 of last year. Is it going to auto-renew this coming April 3? I've tried buying a new subscription on that account and it won't let me as the current subscription is still active.
Hollywood Hoist
Yeah, but the convention will never be ideal for a lot of people. I'm personally still waiting for San Diego Comic Con to come to Washington State.
G.B. Blackrock
More or less what I said, then.
California is far easier and cheaper to get guests to. Harder for fans, yes, but easier and cheaper for them. That's the inevitable trade-off.
Kranix2k
Actually my criticism of "choice of venue" would mean holding the convention in California 3 out of 5 years recently.
G.B. Blackrock
I'm willing to bet that you would agree with the vocal group of others that have considered Pasadena a poor "choice of venue" (or, perhaps just that they've used it so often? Either way, if I'm mischaracterizing you, I apologize in advance).
What is seldom acknowledged is that, while Pasadena may indeed be harder for fans to get to (those that don't already live here, of course), it tends to be much easier for the majority of potential voice actor guests. I've never done a full survey of past conventions, but the data is all there on BotCon's site for anyone who wishes to do so. I'd be willing to bet that Pasadena BotCons have had more and better guests than most non-CA BotCons.
Guests cost money, after all.
Hollywood Hoist
There is so much to take into consideration for guests. Since so many conventions you have to pay for the autographs, maybe some guests don't do free signings, even if they're getting an appearance fee.
I'm not surprised that the replacement guest is someone who has been to several Botcons. Given it's about a month away, they need to have flight, hotel and schedule figured out for who ever they get. Having a guest they're already familiar with makes it a lot easier.
I view all their guests in the win column. Sure I would have preferred different guests year to year, but that's because I attended 8 Botcons in a row. While I may have seen a particular guest a couple times, there will always be some who have never had the chance to meet them.
You seem to want more Beast Wars voice actors, which is fine. Beast Wars compared to some of the other series has been pretty well represented over the years. G1 obviously gets a huge chunk of the focus.
You're right there is so much talent over the 30 years for them to have several guests back for 2nd, 3rd, 4th time.
Kranix2k
I don't "hate FP", I've enjoyed FP's Botcons that I've attended, and I'm not criticizing them over a VA cancelling. It happens. My criticism is based on my pet peeve over a repetitive glitch in their planning – guests. And once again, I'm not disrespecting the guests that have attended. They all have been an amazing part of something I love so much. I just question why FP has always chosen from such a shallow pool for their main guests, and heck, even their alternates seem from a short list. You could argue til the cows come home about who could attend and who could not, but with such a huge pool of talent across over 30 years of Transformers, I feel they should've had a wider variety of guests over the 12 years, especially at key "anniversaries", and definitely since this is to be their last Botcon.
I don't know why Hasbro has cut ties with FP. Maybe its simply a "business decision" like they state. But if it ever was a win/lose type of decision, I can't say that their choices of guests was ever solidly in that win column. Of course, neither has the toy sets or their choice of venue.
UltraAlanMagnus
They can also try John DiMaggio too. I mean Besides RID currently, he was also in the Movies.
Hollywood Hoist
Current RID voice actors would have made the convention a must go to for my son and I. He loves RiD and for him to meet some of the voices would have made his day.
Slingshot
Troy Baker should have attended BotCon, along with Friedle and Kevin Pollak. I'd be open to paying the Special-Guest-Fee ($130.00 for Nelson) for Pollak. He's a great comedian and actor.
G.B. Blackrock
I would certainly have welcomed VAs from the more current shows. I still have an unopened Knock Out figure I'd hoped to someday get Daran Norris to sign.
Autovolt 127
Yes.
I'd watch that.
I feel they kept missing the opportunity to get VA's from the more current shows, none of the RID VA's have been to BotCon outside of like Peter Cullen.
Will Friedle, Khary Payton or Troy Baker would have been neat.
Hollywood Hoist
There are 2 other BW voice actors. It's also the Animated Movie's 30th anniversary, so Gregg Berger makes sense. There is nothing wrong with hoping it would be someone different or someone who hasn't been before, but given that FP could have left it with 3 guests instead of 4 shows me that they are trying, they could have easily saved the money and given themselves a bonus at the end of the year.
This is where things get spun out of control. When people fill in the blanks of what's happening behind the scenes. We will never know all that the club goes through to put this convention together. Criticizing FP for something that's beyond their control (voice actor cancelling), seems a little over the top. When FP tries to make up for that loss by adding another actor, even if you don't prefer that actor over another, really comes across as "I just want to hate FP".
G.B. Blackrock
So, your complaint is that, to replace a BW actor, they found a non-BW actor?
There are still 2 BW actors there, and I dispute any suggestion that, because of the anniversary, all actors must/should be BW-related. As long as it's represented, the anniversary is, as well. I, for one, am glad to see a non-BW actor in the mix (even if it's one I've already met from a previous convention).
flux convoy
You know, I'm kinda surprised they didn't get Richard Newman. He was having financial struggles not long ago. He'd have been a great one. On a side note, I just watched an old X-Files episode with Blu Mankuma in it. Turned to my girlfriend and told her, I've met him! Both were guests at Botcon 06, which was my first. The guests were always around or heading out to smoke. This was years before I quit still. Even got to speak to Peter Cullen three separate times. Got to thank him for coming and shake his hand before getting into his car to leave. I got one on one time with all of them that year but Ms. Newstone. Did get her to sign the box and she was perplexed as to why because her character wasn't on the box. It didn't matter, she was just as important as her colleagues and deserved as much spotlight.
BenjaminXavier
… Fun Pub is also a corporation…