View the pics here. Gonna do this article just like the Botcon one where I’ll be compiling all my live moblogging entries from the event post by post, time by time. Unlike the previous article though, I used proper punctuation, capitalizations, etc, to save some time on proofreading.

 

1. At Orlando Anime Day. 10:49a

 

Figured I'd arrive a little later to avoid a line. Scrap that idea. Line is long as hell and it's past 10:30a. Shit started at 10a. Stopped by Wendy's for some grub cuz I didn’t eat breakfast. Got here and snapped a couple pics. Waited a few minutes in this ridiculous line then saw the video room nearby so I'm gonna chill in here til that line dies down. Was just me and one other chick in here but some other cats have shown up. Guess they said FURK DAT! line too. It's supposed to be 1st eps only and so far I've seen the end of Precure, Axis Powers Hetalia (sucked), and they're showing an ep of something I already downloaded a while back but didn't like. It's clearly a fansub they're showing as the TV Tokyo logo is present onscreen. They're streaming from a laptop through a projector onto a decent sized screen. Lots of jailbait jits and narutards here. Line is still a joke. I'm gonna finish my grub and go take a piss after. Oh yeah, I'm wearing my ankle weights. Ain't went walking all week so this should make up for it.

 

2. Line is still long. 11:22a

 

Took my piss and the bathrooms COULD be nice but there's toilet tissue and paper littered around the floor. Manual flush, manual sinks. None of that automatic shit. The fancy built-in soap dispensers don't work either. Took me a minute to figure out to use the ones bolted to the wall. Had to tell that to a kid who was as dumbfounded as I was. Water is cold and free. That damn line is so absurd that people are just hanging in the lobby or video room where I am to pass the time. Better than standing up. Hetalia shorts air between the 1st eps. They have a schedule of what they're showing on the video room door but I think posting that info online or on a cheap flyer would be smarter so people know when to come back to watch a certain show. They're showing Giant Killing now. A fucking soccer anime. Everyone in here had a side comment about that cuz who knew? Something for everyone, I guess. Not my cup of tea as I don't care about soccer at all in real life so naturally a damn cartoon ain't gonna interest me in the slightest. Pretty much all ages and all races here for this con and I think that's cool. I'm here alone since not one person in my circle gives a flying shit about anime. Judging by the noise in the lobby, that line ain't went down by too much. This video room is totally free. Anyone can just waltz on in so if you're in the area, got nathan goin' on today, and you dig anime, this is the spot cuz it's all family and 1st eps. Parking is free too!

 

3. Got into the sales floor and... 12:54p

 

It's pretty small. Not as big as I was expecting. I didn't wait much more than 10 minutes in the line after it finally trickled down. My Megacon wristband got me in for a buck. Otherwise it's 3 bucks. They give you a raffle ticket for the contests (whatever the prizes are for those) then they stamp your hand to get into the sales floor. Cashier had a nice ass rack. The rest of her was skin and bones so she must be stuffed, pushed up, or just straight up fake ass titties. Don’t matter to me at all cuz she’d still get that hit with no hesitation. These nerd ass murdafurkas is a trip. I'm talkin' hardcore nerds. I'm a geek. These cats is NERDS! Straight up and down on the real. And it's all love. So far I ain't seen shit worth buying. I only did the outskirt booths. Gonna go back in and do the center booths next.

 

These fools mostly just hanging out and they got a lot of 'em here. There was some other meeting taking place earlier. I mean a real business meeting, totally unrelated. Nerds was in the lobby dancing and making noise and shit. The people in the meeting ain't had much choice but to step out and see what all the commotion was. They all dressed professionally and shit, lookin’ all outta place with these con attendees and shit, and they gotta put up with these jits. Shit was funny. Bet they'll reschedule they shit next time so ain't no nerdcons goin' on. Lots of people in costume but I ain’t take many pics of them. I probably won't be here long after I finish up inside. This is good for those that wanna hang but there really ain't much to do. Sales floor ain't got enough vendors, Video room ain't showing much of shit I ain't already seen or can't download my damn self. No other activities to do here. I'm gonna finish up inside then that's about it for me.

 

4. Almost audi. 1:56p

 

Ain't see shit worth plunkin' down dough for except Pocky and ramune. Seen 'em both a million times, just never tasted either. I got the original flavor ramune and strawberry pocky. $2.50 for the ramune. I asked the vendor what it tastes like. He said that's like asking what Coke tastes like. Then I told his ass what Coke tastes like. He couldn't say much after that except to just try it cuz it's just like a soda. He had another flavor but he said doing that would be like trying Cherry Coke instead of the original flavor 1st. He had a point and since it was my 1st, he had a sale. I bought a warm one since I wasn't gonna drink it right away. Paid a buck for the pocky. Cat had ramune too for .50 cents less but he had all but the original. I could tell a lot of these mofos had authentic imported shit from the magazines to the toys. Just not enough merchandise or activities to fill my time so I'm bouncing early. Coulda took a ton of pics of the costumed peeps but those'll be everywhere online and it won't be much of nathan that ain't been seen already from other events. I'm sure the regular hotel guests who ain't familiar with this type of shit think Orlando peeps is freaks. We just multicultural is all. Gotta love this city. One bitch talked so god damn loud inside who was lookin' at dvd's, gotta wonder how the hell anyone would wanna talk to her ass. Bitch was annoying. Nice tits for her jit ass age, but annoying. Gots to have thick walls when fuckin' bitches like that. Anyway, I'm flexin'.

The video above is some of the sights and sounds from the event which, of the exciting variety, were few and far between. I gotta say, it wasn’t as much fun as it coulda been. Anime day should be exactly that: anime day. A full fucking day revolving solely around anime and related merchandise, including manga, of course. Here’s some suggestions to the people who put this shit together. I understand leasing space costs a bit of change. Excluding that, Showing first episodes of anime is a really good idea. I ain’t shitting on that at all. It’s a way to introduce newbs into the culture. One prob is shitty fansubs. You do wanna check for quality on those cuz if there’s too many translation and spelling errors, amongst the many other types of errors that exist with them, you’re gonna lose people. Some of the fansubs were just like what I described and made me quickly not give a shit about what was on the screen.

 

Another idea is anime movies. Where the fuck were they? Either the tv shows and movies coulda been integrated or there shoulda been separate rooms for each. Other than the idea of pre-listing the showtimes on a flyer and online like I mentioned in my moblog posts, showings coulda been spaced to give people time to do other shit. Like 1 hour of tv shows, 1 hour break, movie, hour break, another movie, break, 1 hour of shows, break, etc. You get my drift. Hell, trailers for upcoming anime would fit perfectly. Other things to do? Other than hanging out with the cosplay crew, there was nothing else to do. An important part of anime is music. Where were the listening stations? Tell people to bring their own headphones, setup cd or mp3 cd listening stations, and it’d be all gold. Cd players don’t even cost 5 or 10 bucks anymore.

 

So you’d have anime tv and movies, the sales floor, listening stations…hmmm, what else could they do? Oh, I know, how ‘bout a costume contest at the end? For anyone who was willing to stick around all day, there could be a pre-registration for those who wanted to enter. It wouldn’t be cosplay, just a judging event to see who has the best quality costume. They could do an America’s Next Top Model or Miss America theme for it. Have ‘em walk down a runway, get judged, and slowly but surely the number would slide on down to just 1 anime-inspired winner. Could be an hour or two for that event and it’d probably be fun. You know what? How come there’s never been a non-bodybuilding Mr. America pageant?

 

Now you’ve got tv and movies, merchandise, music, and costumes. Only thing missing is internet. I know that’d be a stretch but it can be done. Perhaps screencaps of the official sites for the anime shown in the tv and movie rooms or upcoming trailers could be shown throughout on cheap, networked monitors. Cardboard cutouts for photo opps. Fan made anime would be another great idea too. And let’s not forget the food. If some japanese chef wanted to cook up some authentic cuisine from popular anime scenes, that’d be pretty sweet. It’d be a lot better than the hamburgers and hot dogs that were being served. Tupid itch who was selling the shit didn’t even put the lettuce, tomato, cheese, and other shit on ice or keep them cooled. I could smell the rankness of the shit. I wouldn’t have paid a penny or eaten shit that she was serving. She might have gotten paid cuz some of those idiots may not know any better when it comes to food safety. But FURK DAT! Not ya boy.

 

Maybe I’m a bit grandiose in my vision for things but if you’re gonna do something, do it right and make that shit memorable. I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t have gotten sponsorship to make it happen considering the number of people in attendance. It was a lot. Problem was, there wasn’t shit to do. I planned on staying all day but left in only a few hours. The line for admission to get in the sales floor coulda been handled a lot better. A lot of things coulda been done a lot better. Will I be going next year? If it’s gonna be like this, probably not. There’s a bigger vision for an event like this but someone’s gotta make it happen. It ain’t me cuz I ain’t got nothin’ to do with and no affiliation with these cats. If they read this, hey, if there’s gonna be improvements, I’ll support ya.

 

As I was leaving, another chick was on the phone ahead of me. By her tone and her words, she wasn’t exactly putting the event over on a positive note to whoever she was talking to. I didn’t get to hear it all cuz I stopped to take some pics but anyone could tell what she was talking about and how she was talking about it. She came to have fun, there wasn’t much to be had. I agree with her on that one. To the event organizers, if there’s gonna be a day 3, step up your game. I know you can do it. The raffle prizes are one thing (I didn’t win shit), discount admission with the old Megacon badges are one thing, both are great ideas, but there’s gotta be more. And more don’t necessarily mean more expensive. Git-r-done (can’t believe I just said that shit).

 

Let’s not forget about the Pocky and ramune. I wasn’t impressed with either. My fucking Pocky was melted so I couldn’t eat the individual sticks. Every time I tried to pull one out, the damn thing broke. So I just ate that bitch like a pizza. It’s about as light of a snack as one can imagine cuz it ain’t gonna fill you up at all. Not even close. If you’re gonna buy this shit, ask if it’s been in a cool or warm environment. Cool equals eating them the way they’re supposed to be eaten and enjoyed. Warm equals my experience where you gotta bust open the whole package and just eat all of them like it’s one big block of candy.

 

According to the label, The ramune was from an American distributor in New York called Hadson Toko Trading and has a citrus flavor to it like Sprite. So how come that sales floor vendor couldn’t just say that shit? Fool almost lost a sale but now I know why. Cuz the shit really ain’t nothing special at all. He made his money, I’ll give him that, but don’t expect to get much for yours. It’s purely a novelty drink. Pain in the ass to open too. I thought that marble on the inside melted or was a piece of candy that you could get out after you drunk down all the liquid but that ain’t how it work. It’s just there because of that alien face it creates when looking at the bottle from a particular angle and I’ve read that kids like that shit for some reason. Furk dat bullhit. You can break the bottle to get at the marble if you’re desperate. It just ain’t nowhere near enough product for the money. That shit ain’t worth a buck and the Pocky ain’t worth half that in my opinion. Still, I tried something new. That’s what I’m all about and that’s what makes life worth living.

 

View the pics, wallpaper, and swag by clicking the respective links.

 

This was my first time using the moblogging feature from my webhost. Didn’t wanna kill anyone with excessive tweets so I kept things onsite. Turns out to be a better feature than twit cuz I can get all my thoughts out as they come without any character limitations. For future events I attend, that’s how I’m gonna do it from now on. The subcategories will be set under the micro blog main category and, like I’m doing for this one, they’ll be reedited for grammar, punctuation, etc. That’s mainly cuz my phone is a couple years old and the email program on it don’t work to send updates so I had to use the mobile web client and it doesn’t format text. It appears as a giant glob of text so my job for this first article is to make all the corrections but all my thoughts will remain intact and at the end I’ll do some final thoughts.

 

Since this was a multi-day event, I’m gonna break it down day by day, post by post.

 

6/25/2010

 

1. Late to my own party.

 

I thought it was fucking Thursday but it turns out it’s fucking FRIDAY and I missed a lot of shit already. I thought I had to fucking work today and shit! I’m off to the Dolphin now!

 

2. I’m here! 2:44p

 

I'm thinking it was yesterday and shit. Woke up and put in some hours at my 'sort of' day job. Watched some tv and then went back to sleep. Woke back up, hit my computer to get ready for my other gig and my Outlook gave me a 24 hour birthday notification...my own! I was like "Why?" Then it hit me...IT'S FUCKIN' FRIDAY! Started scrambling when I realized my mistake. Brushed my teeth, washed my face, took a shit, got dressed, and bounced as fast as I could. Didn't eat a damn thing yet so I brought a cheese danish cake that I hadn't finished with me along with my ankle weights for exercise. Gettin' here was easy enough but the Disney signs is bullshit as usual. Ended up at the All-Star Resort. Asked the gate attendant where the Dolphin was, he said 8 lights back the other way. I passed the shit. Traffic light timing and slow ass drivers were a real bitch. On my way back, saw the big ass hotels. How the fuck I passed 'em the first time, I don't know.

 

They want 12 bucks to park and online it said 5 for Botcon. Parking lot was full anyway and the parking guy said to park at the Swan; same price. I was like, FURK DAT! and parked for free at Fantasia Gardens which is right across from the Swan. Only a 10 minute walk to the Dolphin so it's all wood. Saw other cats doin' the same shit so apparently they know how shit work. Asked a bellman where Botcon was, went that direction, followed the signs for package pickup (cuz that’s what I was there to do first and foremost), and ended up at a totally different convention. Lots of hot bitches coming outta there too, mostly white. Went back up the escalators and went another way and found where I needed to be.

 

Long as hell ass line to get in that private sales floor. I thought I was ass out for my pre-registration but I found the booth. Skipped right past that damn line. Got all my shit that I’ll talk about later. Lady handing out the goodies even agreed that the paint scheme on the exclusive figures sucked. Plus the city the event is taking place in, which is vitally important in my opinion, ain’t featured on the Botcon t-shirt. Just the year and washed out, faded, graphic from the exclusive figure box. She said I ain’t miss much but a couple panels and contest judging. Last night was basically the same shit except worse as far as a line is concerned and the club store sale last night was the same shit as today except for all the people so I came out good on saving time after all. Only missed the Takara Tomy panel.

 

Now it's sales floor time and the line will be gone by the time I get back. I already bounced from the hotel and I’m typing this on my phone in my car, AC on of course! It wasn’t such a bad day after all and I learned something new: park here at Fantasia and you can walk right on into the pool area of the Swan/Dolphin and nobody won't say shit. Saw a lady do just that with her kids. Got a new chill spot now and it won't cost nathan. Time for me to go snap some pics.

 

3. Inside the sales floor. 3:17p

 

I failed to mention they give you a pass for $5 daily parking for the weekend and the back of the badge gives the whole convention schedule which is convenient. My camera batteries are dying and I ain’t got backups. That sucks. There’s supposed to be autographs later on but I ain’t too concerned about that. Sales floor ain’t massive and prices are fair. Nothing I really want except Masterpiece Grims and that comes out July 1st so I ain’t gonna be spending a dime out here. Nice to see some of the merchandise anyway. Lots of stuff I never seen before or even knew existed.

 

4. Botcon day 1 is a wrap. 5:43p

 

The private sales floor preview was ok. Typical of a con. Booths filling up the floor and mostly selling Transformers merchandise. Saw some DB Kai (only Piccolo), M.A.S.K., Voltron, and other shit too but it was 98% tf stuff. They had a giant Bumblebee and a Chevy Camaro. I’ll get that pic with me in it some other day though. Not many people in costume but there were a few I snapped. Activision had a big booth with the 'War for Cybertron' game designer doing an interview with 'The Daily Buzz' and signing posters they were giving away for free. I ain’t stick around to get one. Didn’t care that much. They also had the game to play there on Xbox. I’ve got reservations about the voice acting cuz it wasn’t sounding to authentic or real enough for my ears.

 

I’m just outside of the main hall typing this up on my phone. Fat chick sat next to me and was in relief to be sitting down. Here I am wearing 10lb ankle weights and I’m feeling fine. Lots of age diversity here but I’d say it's the same percentage of white people here as there was tf merchandise on the floor. Plenty of chicks but, well, they're either fat or ugly. Mostly all of them are stereotypical geeks or nerds. Some are just busted while only, and I mean ONLY, a few look halfway decent. Lots of lazy moms too. They had a little kids play area where the moms just kicked back on sofas while the kids had fun with tf toys and shit. Had an area behind a black curtain that I didn't guerilla like I normally do. I’ll find out about that later, I’m sure. They had a lot of japanese tf's, art, comics, and video games for sale and a mock matrix statue but the quality wasn't good enough for me on that. Too generic. You name it, they probably had it here if it was tf related; even used and broken toys.

 

There was japanese snack food but if you get hungry here, you're fucked. Disney food ain't gonna be cheap and ain't nothin' around within walking distance either. You're better off eating a fat meal before you come. Not like you're gonna be sweating or overexerting yourself unless you’re a smoker and you gotta do your biz outside in Florida heat. Eat hearty and it'll last you the day. People are slowly but surely trickling out. No drama from nobody. It wasn't overcrowded at all. Prices varied from booth to booth but mostly reasonable. I’ll wait till the last day to buy shit, come to think of it. Maybe those shirts'll be discounted. Some cats took credit card payments and that's what I like: smart merchants, cuz I don't carry cash. You accept credit, you increase your chance for a sale. Simple as that.

 

I’m assuming Stan Bush's peeps were the ones selling his cd's. Bob Budiansky and others were doing photo opps and autographs but I ain't got nothing I’d want signed by anyone. Saw Masterpiece Grims but FURK DAT! Lowest price I saw was $150. Same shit as online.  Patience is a virtue. Fansproject had some items. Their Combaticons (that’s what it is although that ain’t what it’s called) set looked awesome. Wasn't for sale but when it is and if it's reasonably priced, I may consider it. Finally saw their version of Ultra Magnus. Nice design but not enough detail or articulation. Seibertron.com had a booth. Where was tformers at?

 

They had a hall of fame area with photo opps along with the trophy. Just a big (yet really nicely designed) sign but not any human inductees. There were some toy displays showcasing who was gonna be inducted. I’ll get that self pic tomorrow or Sunday. Contest judging was off limits. Had some cool toys there that'll be open for everyone to peep on the weekend. Had door contests but I ain't enter. Another thing to do later. Absolutely nothing left to do here so I’m bouncing. Sun is still shining. Shoulda brought some swim gear for the hotel pool. Oh well. I know about it now. Since I live here, I can peep that anytime.

 

5. A couple more things... 6:01p

 

I got time to kill so I’m straight loungin' on this Disney sofa. Curious about cell service here? I got Sprint and it's spotty. Still get my speed in the right areas and none in the elevators so just a heads up. Your carrier may be worse, equal, or better. Something to keep in mind. Obviously I’m sending all this from my phone so I do get service. It's just spotty like I said before. Met a family in the elevator. Dad said seibertron.com is having a get together at the cabana by the pool. Anyone's invited. If you're reading this, now you got a place to be if hittin' up the parks wasn't on your agenda. I got a big ass sugar stain from that cheese danish I ate earlier on my pants right below my crotch. Looks like a big ass cum stain. Was just in the bathroom taking a piss and forgot to clean that shit off. I’m still at the Dolphin peeping the scenery while I’m here and got time. Might as well make the best of it.

 

6. Not leaving just yet. 6:14p

 

They got some big ass banquet for another con here. If they ain’t checking badges, I’m gonna sneak that shit and cop some free food. Hope I don't give myself away with my Megatron shirt on. Gonna wait for that line to dwindle and make a move. The little boy dressed like Starscream gets tons of attention and photo opps. Him and his moms ain't left yet either. Some of these cats are staying in the hotel cuz there was a Botcon discount on room rates so that may be the reason unless they trying to get a free meal like me. I’m near the front desk now. Some chick singing for everyone in the lobby as entertainment. She don’t sound bad and easy on the eyes too plus she just gave props to Starscream boy.

 

7. Epic fail! 6:41p

 

Managed to make my way up to the top floor which is called the 'preferred guest floor.' Took a pic next to the sign to front. Finding the elevator for it was a bitch. Regular elevators only go up to the 11th floor. Top guest floor is 20. There's 2 more above it but employees only. Not that it mattered cuz I went up there anyway. Roof door was locked. No photo opps up there. Just trees and rooftops out the window. Coming down was fun. 20 whole floors. First few floors, I could feel those g-forces and it was smooth sailing after that. Went back to that banquet and ol' girl said it's only for the American Heart Association con. Furk it. I tried. Headin’ home now.

 

8. Day 1 final thoughts. 7:07p

 

Well, it's day 1 for me. Can't really pass judgment on the event since the main festivities haven't begun yet. In my car now so I know it's safe to park here at Fantasia without getting towed. I guess anyone who reads this and is attending the show will gank my idea and there won't be any parking spots tomorrow. Hope that don't happen! AHA got some tight itches amongst their ranks, lemme just say that real quick. Having peeped my Botcon exclusive swag, the toy colors suck except for Sky-byte. The t-shirt is cheap as fuck. Looks like some low grade, ironed-on bullshit with dim colors and pixilated images. The Botcon logo on the certificate of authenticity is pixilated too.

 

The Decepticon Slice giveaway bonus figure is just a Wheeljack repaint and the japanese tf cartoon dvd's for sale inside by some vendors are in english meaning it's the shitty Australian dub. Don't waste your bread on those. Go to tv-nihon's forum and get the subtitled downloads in the original language. My ankle weights are damaged (hole in one of them) so I’ll either do a patch job or the old buy new item but return old item deal. You know how it work. Low on gas so gotta hit up some fuel, eat, cut my hair, and get ready for tomorrow. Already know I won't be able to get a workout in so that's part of the reason I’m wearing the ankle weights. Gotta get my fitness on where I can.

 

9. A few other observations. 8:17p

 

I just realized that the Binaltech figures are heavier than the Alternators. Doesn't surprise me that Hasbro would cheap out on the materials. The Optimus Prime Dodge truck is the same way. Takara's version is very noticeably heavier than Hasbro's yet the diecast War Within figures got some weight to 'em. Considered scooping some of those but I ain't even buy 'em when they were on the toy shelves for cheaper. They were going for around $20-30 on the floor. Tomorrow's a new day (and my birthday). Can't say much about the fun factor of the con till that day is a wrap.

 

Almost ran out of gas on I4. Hit up a chevron in Lake Buena Vista. $2.87 for regular unleaded! I only put in one gallon to get me to where I needed to be. Across the street at the 7-11? $2.67! The Racetrac down the street from my house where I went to gas up fully? $2.57. Man, you talk about gouging motherfuckers. These tourists must not have a clue that they're getting hosed.

 

6/26/2010

 

1. Gettin’ ready to head out. 8:03a

 

Some other things from yesterday... the official pin that came with the exclusive figures is good quality. It has a secondary piece that says 'Walt Disney World.' Hell, would be nice if the damn shirt said that to give people some clue as to where it's being held. I remember emailing the Botcon site since they were asking for help with distributing flyers. Gave them my address, at their request, to mail them to me. Guess what? I still ain’t got shit in the mail yet and that was weeks ago. Pretty safe to say it ain't gonna happen at this point. That's just bad biz. Where I live, I coulda potentially got worldwide visitors for the con and definitely a good chunk of affluent locals. Too late for that now.

 

Some toys of note: The Fallen repaint looked pretty sweet. Leader Class Starscream is pretty big but still ugly as sin. Same applies to Cybertron (or was it Energon) Omega Sentinel. Planet mode Unicron is pretty flimsy and ugly. Live action TF movie 2 megs' left arm...man, can't even describe how it makes him look like a cripple. There are people like that and wheelchair addicts at the con too since I’m mentioning physical deformities. Some of them zipping around pretty fast on their motorized chairs. Would love to get one of those at Wal-mart or something one day just to see what it's like but I know, I know, there's people who really need them. Spoil sports! I’m at the Embassy now gettin my free on. There actually is a spot in the Dolphin for regular food but it comes at a price. Might not have a choice but to hit that up if I can't find the employee cafeteria (which I know is there cuz I ate there before). Watch out for bad breath. More people than I thought had halitosis yesterday! I got a brand new pack of lime melon Orbit so I’m good.

 

2. Good day so far. 10:11a

 

I’m in line for the Hasbro panel. Damn line so long it creep down from the 3rd floor to the 2nd. Got a lot of pics so far. Saw the Motormaster truck, Ironhide, and Cliffjumper outside. Wanted to make sure I knew where the Disney cafeteria was (found it) and saw a line as I was driving around looking for a new, closer spot to park. It was for Botcon general admission. Ended up parking in the employee lot for free so now I know 2 places to park for free on Disney property. Went into the sales floor with an unpeeled banana I brought with me from Embassy and they told me to put it away. Tucked it in my bag so they can't say shit. Only exhibitors can bring in food of any kind. Chewing gum is ok for everyone, I learned.

 

Hit up the Autobot Alliance Academy (that thing behind the black curtain). It's primarily for kids but if you're young at heart, you can make it fun. The actors stay in character. You go in and stand in front of a green screen, choose a tf themed background, and get your pic taken for some sort of id badge that you can download online (ain't did that yet). Pay attention cuz you gotta say sir and shit like that. My officer was a pretty hot chick. Guess I lucked out. You're basically shooting a Nerf gun at cardboard cutouts. Make sure not to hit any Autobots! Not that it matters for shit. You get your hand stamped at the beginning and get a list of your hits by the officer at the end. There's a snack stand out now. Overpriced as furk. Saw the sign for the Swan/dolphin this time on my way here on the road. Guess I wasn't paying close enough attention yesterday. Also saw $2.61 gas...ON DISNEY PROPERTY! How the fuck? The line started moving so I’m inside sitting for the Hasbro panel. Plenty of room for everyone.

 

3. Hasbro panel. 10:52a

 

Cell service is much faster and better today. Hasbro is pretty adamant about no photos or video cuz they said if shit show up online anywhere, they won't do Botcon again. They're talking about the Prime cartoon. Said it's full cgi and based on earth. Optimus is leader (duh), there's a female (Arcee in motorcycle form). Ratchet, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and one other are the Autobot team. Megs, Starscream, and Soundwave are some of the dcons. The toon is gonna be 26 eps and appeals to old and new tf fans. They're still working on the last few show scripts. Should air in the fall. Full cg models not finished yet. There were technical difficulties when starting the preview for the audience to see. Welker's doing a lower tone for Megatron. Cullen is spot on for Optimus. Character designs are movie-esque.

 

Question time: Megatron turns into a jet cuz he don't wanna look like an earth vehicle. Hasbro don't know when Prime will air in Canada. 26 eps is standard for a cg show season, 13 for cell animated, 65 eps is vital show count for an animated show's success. They don't know anything about the toys or if the show will be on sites like Hulu cuz that's not their specialty since they only do production. They said a little known fact is that ALL Transformers have an astrological sign. The writers have scripts up to 4 seasons already. I think they said the show would focus on bots more than humans. Bumblebee turns into a sports car. Prime is a truck, kinda like in the movie. Cliffjumper won't resemble Bumblebee according to them. He’ll have his own unique look and transformation. No exact date for the show’s premiere.

 

4. Hasbro product panel. 11:52a

 

Bulkhead is apparently another Prime character and I noticed on the sales floor the japanese tf animated packaging is far better than the US. Hasbro's doing a rundown of the Hunt for the Decepticons toys and said there's an online integration. From what I see onscreen, there’s too many repaints. Terradive and Tomahawk look decent. Generations Megatron don't look so hot. Blurr and Drift look similar. I might cop Drift if he gets a better paint job cuz he’s too plain right now. Not enough color. They admit the Power Core Combiners are blatantly not as accurate as they could be cuz they wanna experiment with different ideas so they're easy for kids to handle. To hell wit 'em all! They're all ugly in combined mode. I’d be happy to pay the premium for better figures. Even these damn things have repaints.

 

The Destrons combiners will be the new Stunticons. Uh uh, no deal. It’s ugly as sin like the other ones. They admitted their in-package instructions for toy transformations is subpar and they’re working on it. They use repaints since a particular character may fit the universe of a toy line they have planned. Stickers from toy promos will get looked at for cross-promo ideas so that they're not wasted like they are now. They may look at using other batteries other than Hasbro branded ones in toys. They want everyone to know that Takara isn't really separate from them since they all work together on everything. They get some color scheme ideas from retailers. Some toys from the movie characters don’t come out cuz they don’t want too many of the same looking toys on the shelf. They're aware of some bad toy molds as far as quality of materials and are working on making it better.

 

5. Das how u do dat shit! 12:47p

 

Got some time b4 the next panel starts. Walked around to take a piss and then found my way to the employee cafeteria. Changed my shirt to the more casual black button up I’m wearing tonight for the hall of fame ceremony from the FURK DAT! shirt which is probably too risqué for Disney. I was gettin’ some stares when I strolled on into the back area here. That prompted the change of clothes. Got me a big ass plate of white rice and ground beef with veggies for just 4 bucks. Cashier ain’t even ask if I was an employee or not and ain’t check or look for no ID either. Don’t even look like she can speak english anyway cuz she ain’t say hi, thanks, or nathan else. She just took the dough and that was that. Fine by me. Got me some good food and good quantity of it too. Fillin’ me up damn good.

 

Paid with some spare cash I had in my wallet so not sure if they take credit or not. My friend be shittin’ on me cuz I’ve had so many jobs in my life. A lot of that was temp work. One spot back in the day was the Dolphin. If I ain’t had that past experience, I wouldn’t know shit about this little hidden treasure. They got internet computers with a printer down here running Windows too. I guess Disney was like, FURK Vista and 7. No cell service in this cafeteria at all so I’ll send this when I’m back topside. Employees and security cams are everywhere. I went into the boiler room at first cuz I made a wrong turn. Had to ask how to get to the cafeteria which was risky. Hey, I made it and naybody said shit or furked with me. Good bday for me so far.

 

6. Deez peeples iz strayt foolz! 1:10p

 

Mofos can barely get a bottle of water compared to what I just paid for my food. Now they're serving hot food in the hall and the herd is eating it up. I think the joint that’s serving the food in the hall is called nick's stop and shop or some bullshit like that. They got pizza, chicken fingers, and other shit. If bottled water cost 3 bucks, I’ll bet that shit is twice as much. And what's fucked up is that there's cold water fountains and stations everywhere for free. Only an idiot would pay for water here unless they still trippin' on that bottled water is the best water kick from a few years ago.

 

The female talent base has vastly improved but that really ain't saying much. Employees are the ones driving the marks high. Damn housekeepers I saw in the cafeteria was mostly jits and white girls (and not bad lookin either). Used to be Haitians, Jamaicans, and spics that ruled that roost. Can't nobody say that Americans don't wanna work cuz I just saw different. People finally realizing these days, you better take what you can get cuz if you don't, somebody somewhere waiting to take that spot. Never thought I’d see the day when young white itches would be willing to clean up after someone else. Times have a'changed. Next panel is 10 minutes late but just now starting. I’m in the corner charging up my phone.

 

7. Voice actor panel. 2:00p

 

After some voice comedy, Paul Eiding says he prefers to work with other people like in the old days cuz he can feed off of others as opposed to modern voice acting where you work alone and do 30 takes of the same line and they're mixed together. Scott McNeil says he's still in contact and works with his fellow Beast Wars cast. Eiding says he'd love to work with Daws Butler. He jokingly said he never liked Frank Welker and that he's a jerk. Mcneil says he was referred to as the Canadian Mel Blanc and no voice actor would exist without him. Eiding says it helps to have an agent to be a voice actor and to start auditioning whenever you can. All his work is through SAG and AFTRA. He's blessed to get paid to do what he does even though he's literally gotten a penny paycheck before and sometimes they have to look like idiots when they act. Mcneil says it's more important to be an actor rather than just a voice and praises Mel Blanc for creating characters instead voices.

 

Eiding says video game and animation voice acting is very similar. He and Mcneil are doing a mock convo between Metal Gear and Rattrap. Eiding says this is his very 1st con ever. He doesn't know why the producers wanted Perceptor's voice to sound the way it did. Mcneil says his favorite gig was Beast Wars. Eiding says his was Metal Gear and NoZone from Toxic Crusaders. Eiding said he voiced 'English as a Second Language’ and he’ll never forget learning that ORange is pronounced AWrange. He's worked on almost all of the Pixar films. Says he was in Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc and Pixar lets the voice actors have more freedom in the creative process. This was a very entertaining panel with a packed house. Half of them gave a standing ovation at the end. Methinks most are here for the Peter Cullen panel though.

 

8. Peter Cullen panel. 2:59p

 

It finally happened! I SAW SOME OTHER NIGGERS! I ain't even kidding. Other than myself, I was the only black person I saw here. A black couple and their kids just sat in front of me. What a relief! LOTS of stereotypical nerds here. I mean, they actually LOOK like nerds. place is crawling with 'em like roaches. Saw the worst looking costume I ever seen. I don't know what the hell that cat was going for but I did get the pic though. Yep, these people are packin’ it in here for Peter Cullen. It’s starting about 15 minutes late. Staff said there was no time for autographs and pics and to stick to q&a. Cullen got a standing ovation and said we're the greatest crowd in the universe using Optimus Prime's voice. He was downtrodden when Ironhide and Prime were killed off in the original animated movie. It was unexpected and times were hard for him after that. He feels Prime as a character hasn't changed much and still represents the same things. He no longer does the voice for Eeyore and did a mock convo between that character and Prime where Prime told him when he learned of Cullen's job loss, "Whose butt do I kick." Optimus is his favorite voice to do. When he was gone from G1, he thought it was because he didn't do a good enough job and he didn't care about any other Optimus versions after his were killed off.

 

A fan asked what would happen if Prime met Invader Zim. Didn't seem like Cullen or the staff knew who Zim was and they moved on. Methinks Cullen is hard of hearing since he tilts his head when people ask questions. He said Welker is the king and loves working with him again on the Prime cartoon and that we'll all love it and he gave the Hub network a plug. He doesn't remember the work he did on Megas XLR when asked a question about voices he did on a second season ep. He'd love to do a western. He did the voice of KARR (Knight Automated Roving Robot) from Knight Rider. He'd like to work with or has enjoyed working with Jonathan Winters and June Foray. He prefers playing a good guy and based the Optimus character on his brother Larry in the Marine Corps at the time. He gave the Prime cartoon another plug and he's grateful to us fans for his success and he loves us. Ended by saying the famous 'transform and roll out' to a standing ovation.

 

9. Transformers Collectors Club panel. 4:08p

 

Wasn't paying much attention cuz I was on my laptop. Lots of people want Shattered Glass GI Joe and tf figures for the clubs. The exclusive G2 figures were intentionally cheesy so that explains a lot. They can't make figures that Hasbro may have plans for in the future. They'll never do Animated figures for undisclosed reasons. They get lots of ideas from the forums. They went over their design process and showed the 2011 figures. They were asked why no location was on the shirts and said putting Walt Disney World on them would open up legal doors they don’t wanna deal with. FURK DAT! Orlando woulda been good enough but they made it seem like they never thought to do that. Fools is stupid. They should treat the event like it really is a big deal and a city should court it like a WrestleMania or some shit. Money is money. They said they'll improve the online registration but aren't as communicative as they could be since there aren't many of them working behind the scenes.

 

Contest winners (some of the names will definitely be spelled wrong): Fan film (none were shown at this panel) 3rd place is ‘The Waiting Game’ by Ben Harpill. 2nd place is ‘Real World Icon’ by John Bailey something. 1st is ‘Transformers Stop Motion Experience’ by Shawn something. 2d art cg 3rd place is ‘Alternators Catalog’ by Jeff something. 2nd is ‘Innocent’ by Chopper (probably not the rapper). 1st is ‘Hallway Snapshot’ by Melissa Emory. 2d art hand drawn color 3rd place is ‘ROTF samurai’ by Mike something. 2nd is ‘Transformers v. Gobots’ by Richard Walker. 1st is ‘Down the Barrel’ by Daniel or Danielle something. 2d art hand drawn b&w 3rd place is ‘Hoover Dale I’m good.’ 2nd is ‘Dinobot Crisis’ by something Hernandez. 1st is ‘Astrotrain Can Paint’ by Brian Miller. Custom figure 3rd place is ‘Masterpiece Fortress’ by Michael something. 2nd is ‘Senator Ratbat’ by Vernon Moore. 1st is ‘Masterpiece G1 Jazz’ by Jared Trout. Diorama contest 3rd place is ‘The Pepsi Challenge’ by Shane something. 2nd is ‘The Death of Prime’ by Robert Oris. 1st is ‘Heavy Metal War.’

 

10. Showroom's closed. 5:38p

 

Changed my mind. I might cop Alternity Skywarp and Binaltech Prime tomorrow since a vendor said he'd be dropping the price but not on Skywarp. We'll see. He ain't the only one got shit to dump before the show's over. I’m right outside the ballroom where the hall of fame ceremony is taking place. Typing this up on my computer. Saw tformers.com on the sales floor. Ain't realize they had a booth til now. Since there's no free wifi here, they had to tether their phones. I could do the same but I got Sprint mobile broadband and use that instead. Can't FURK with SprintSpeed, son! Shit been flying today. I like that shit!

 

Saw Stan Bush at his vendor table but I ain't try to get no pic with him cuz it look like he was charging for photos and shit and I ain't with that bullhit (not a mistype). If I catch him elsewhere, I’ll try and get a quick pic with him. Sales floor was kinda empty in that last hour. I guess cats went to their hotel room or home to get ready for tonight. I sat in on a little of the IDW panel but wasn't paying any attention at all. I was trying to get access to my pic from the Autobot Alliance site but I assume it ain't available yet cuz they said I either put in the wrong code or to wait 24 hours. Guess I’ll wait it out. Changed into my black shirt if they really are going formal for tonight. They're setting up the tables and shit like they gonna be serving dinner. I caught them bringing in 4 cutouts: Megs, Starscream, Optimus, and Bumblebee. They're set between 2 big screens. Didn't check to see if it was front or rear projection. Pretty big ass ballroom. Batteries died again and my spares were already used but figured they'd have at least a little juice for me. They ain't got none so I’m probably not gonna be able to get as many pics as I prefer tonight.

 

The hotel is pretty clean, bathrooms are too. They don't fuck with you if you just lounging. I have yet to see any of them really smile or greet anyone. I guess they leaving people alone now. I thought Disney was the leaders in service but I ain't complaining. It's just like Wal-mart. They don't help unless you ask for it which ain't entirely a bad thing. Just me and some other cats out here chillin' on this fancy furniture. None of them were dressed appropriately and that don't surprise me one bit. This is Florida. We’re casual central and I mean REALLY casual. I’ll be a murdafurka if I see them turn anyone away cuz of how they dressed. Luckily, I found a power outlet to plug into so I ain't draining my laptop battery. Scott Mcneil was signing autographs and doing photo opps earlier too. I was gonna go chill in my car but said furk it. Just gonna hang out til shit start.

 

11. It's begun. 7:21p

 

Had to do something to kill some time so I downloaded DB Kai ep 58. at first I did the 720p torrent then realized my laptop ain't hd capable. Dl'd the 400p from Megaupload. I’ve ditched Taka. They have superior subs but they take too damn long with their releases. Now I do Freeze-subs. my only complaint with them is that their font is too small. The ballroom area here is packed. Looks like some people decided to get dressed while others didn't. Drinks range from $3 water to $7 alcohol and these fools out here drinkin' it up too. Not me. I’ll stick to the free water in the fountains. I’m runnin’ off of battery power now.

 

I went up in one of the banquet rooms here a little bit ago and there was a huge wall display. Like damn near dollar movie theater sized. Shoulda took a pic of that shit. Woulda been sweet as fuck if I coulda looked at my shit on that and you best believe I did try. Went in the back and all that but the doors were locked. Cold as fuck up in that bitch too. Earlier, when I was out loungin' on the furniture, they told us we had to flex cuz they was takin' all that shit out to put these tables out that I’m at now. I was sitting on the floor at one point then went to another table. The music inside the ballroom was loud heavy metal and the piped-in music on the outside where I was is 80's pop. Fuckin’ Terence Trent D’arby. That shit was too conflicting so I said FURK DAT! and went downstairs where I saw a cop sleeping on the damn job. Shoulda got that pic but wasn't thinking about it. That fool sprung up real quick when I walked by anyway. Gettin' paid all that money and for what? I think it was the same cop I saw on the sales floor working security for the special guests’ autograph and pic sessions. If my cam batteries wasn't so low, I woulda been ready for that pic! Still waiting for them to let us in.

 

 

12. Inside eating now. 8:06p

 

Before going in and while everyone was still waiting outside, I had to walk far out of the way for water but I found some. I was surfing on my phone when they started letting people in. Took a seat next to some gay guys. One's here for his 3rd Botcon, his partner’s here for Disney. Some other cats came over and sat at our table. 6 of us at the table now. Roundtables all bunched together but there’s still walking and legroom. They served caeser salad to start out. Unsweetened iced tea. Warm rolls and butter. Shit is pretty fancy. They ain't cheap out on nobody, I’ll give them that so far. Curious as to what the main course is. Don't know if I should get stuffed now or wait.

 

13. Hall of fame ceremony. 10:14p

 

They said they don't want no video or photo being taken when they play the special features. Looks like it's rear projection. Entree was chicken and mashed potatoes. Dessert is some sort of strawberry sponge cake with strawberry filling. Some important Hasbro guys (I don’t remember their names) intro'd the character vids. Really low resolution on them. It’s mostly footage from the live-action and animated movies. They're reading from a paper. Guy named Aaron is butchering the japanese intro of 1st inductee Kohjin Ohno who isn't here. Video quality improved during his segment. Some jap chick is delivering his speech. Hideaki Yoke is 2nd. They're mispronouncing his and the Takara brand name. They said he's the only person to touch every tf ever manufactured. Aaron is fucking up his japanese intro too. They did say this is the first of many halls of fame so I hope they improve on intros.

 

Yoke's speech was short. His english or accent is pretty bad but he said tf wouldn’t exist without us fans. 3rd inductee Bob Budiansky said he was 4th pick to create identities for tf characters. 4th inductee Peter Cullen again said thank you and I love you to us fans. Dinobot won Fans Choice award. They gave us a real nice placard at the end of the inductee announcements. I wish our name was on it but it's still sweet as fuck. Pasadena will be the next Botcon city and will take place June 2-5 2011 at the convention center. Rumor is that they’re going back there to coincide with the release of the 3rd live-action movie. I hope they improve the shirts! Put the damn city on 'em! They'll replay the vids since the 1st videos were crap quality. The ballroom is big and the whole ceremony was well done except for the technical difficulties and japanese language butchering. Hasbro will have a permanent physical hall of fame at some point in the future. They did a final ‘Roll Out’ video and let people take pics with the cardboard cutouts. The placard doesn't show well when using direct flash. I asked to go onstage for a pic but guy said no cuz if 1 person does it, everyone else will follow. Another guy went up there anyway without asking. That’s what I woulda did if I wasn't here alone. Whole deal was pretty sweet. Full moon tonight. Time to go home.

 

6/27/2010

 

1. Thoughts from last night. 8:34a

 

Don't remember if I mentioned it or not but they served a baby squash and a carrot with the chicken and mashed potatoes. Not really a squash fan but I ate it anyway. Nothing special. No particular flavor. The green breading on the chicken is in the same boat and the carrot was too hard. Maybe it was just mine but I’m used to eating softer cooked carrots. Regardless of the gays sitting next to me, the other cats I was at the table with; we was peepin' honeys and talkin' guy shit. Some of the bitches there was fly and on point. Others was lookin' kinda scraggly, especially the tatted ones. One itch had a whole sleeve. No matter what the hell she wear, nathan ever gonna be classy about her ass. It was mostly white chicks in attendance, some was on point, others had no ass and no tits but that's alright. We (us straight guys) all agreed we'd still hit. Flat-chested itches need love too.

 

The dinner was very social. No assigned seating. You just sit where there's an open spot. It forces you to be social and meet total strangers and I think that's kinda cool. The gay guys were from out of town. One was a lifelong transfan, the other was only there to support his partner and to do Disney so they both win. Another guy around me was a chef. He said I looked like Antonio Tarver. Never heard that one before. The Soundwave video was pretty funny. They played Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll" and made it look like Soundwave was dancing the way it was edited. It was real funny the way they did the fight scene inside Astrotrain between him and the Constructicons from the animated movie. Still not thrilled about Dinobot winning the fan's choice award but it is what it is. Should be write-in voting next time. Jazz shouldn't have even been on that list. Only those who've done something of importance should be. I think it's cuz he's black and got the sympathy or affirmative action votes. Gotta have diversity, right?

 

The placards were a nice touch but I think they should've had people's names on them. I understand it'd be a time consumer to make that happen but it wasn't impossible. I think people shoulda signed their names, age, and location at the tables they finally decided to sit at. Maybe during the entree serving, the servers picked up those lists, and the placards would be properly distributed. That way, since I know they have a diagram of what table goes where, it woulda made things perfect for people to get a name designated placard. But it was the first hall of fame and there's some kinks that are gonna need to be worked out for the next one. I managed to get a chick to take my pic in front of the cardboard cutouts. The placard don't show well cuz of its reflective surface when using flash. At least that was my assumption and that’s how it turned out in my pic. I assume the lower grade the cam, the less intensity of the flash, the better it would appear.

 

Didn't even realize it was another full moon outside after the show. Shit was beautiful. It was a great birthday for me. I didn't even realize I was wearing black and purple to match the Botcon logo till I looked at my pic from last night. Best one I got was of everyone taking pics of the cutouts on stage. It looked like they were celebrities and the paparazzi were swarming them but to a lesser degree. If I knew then it was gonna turn out to be such a great pic, I woulda wallpapered it. Time for day 3. I already took a shit. Just gotta eat and then flex. Gotta fill out that contest survey too. I’ll do that when I get there tomorrow.

 

2. Bob Budiansky panel. 10:52a

 

Short line for him but that may be cuz it's early plus people may not know his name like other special guests. Lots of people here did his panel on Friday. He said he might repeat himself. Now he’s going over original tf character biography treatments by Denny O’Neil and Jim Shooter. He edited them and created others. Spike's original name was Buster but stayed that way in the comics it seems. He did many profiles handwritten. Ratchet was originally a female. Ravage's name was Stalker. Cliffjumper's was Blowout. He showed original power ratings chart and 1985 product listing along with model sheets he got and how he created their identity. Issue 5 of the comic book was the 1st one he wrote. He’s showing the original comic scripts and says he did treatment for Headmasters and the Creation Matrix which became the Allspark.

 

He wanted the Transformers to be like the Metal Men DC Comics characters he grew up with where they could always be brought back to life. He created the character Circuit Breaker from the comics and spoke about how he created Megatron’s name. He wasn't allowed to create characters that shot bullets cuz a kid could replicate it. It was intentional for other Dinobots to have names with one syllable and start with the letter ‘s.’ He never watched the cartoons and just focused on the comics. He doesn't have a favorite or hated tf profile cuz there were too many forgettable characters. More people streaming in now. Probably for the next panel. I moved all the way to the back where it's empty. Too many people piling in and blocking the view.

 

3. Hasbro designers panel. 11:53a

 

There's a LOT of fat people here. Fat murdafurka was running and the ground was fucking shaking. I’m not even kidding! There's a rep from Takara whose english is really bad. They’re showing new product: G1 Legends Prime, Starscream, and Prowl, and the Megs version can be held by Masterpiece Starscream. Scout and Windcharger are others in that line. The Deluxe line will include Skullgrin who looks cool in robot mode, Terradive, Scourge, Tracks, Tomahawk, Mindset, Fallback, Jazz (loud pop from the crowd) with pop-out speakers, and Perceptor (as a vehicle). The Voyager line has The Fallen, Highbrow, Lugnut (from Animated), and Grapple. The Generations line has Cliffjumper (same as the Bumblebee toy), and Thunderwing. The Power Core Combiners consist of the Constructicons (individuals)/Skyhammer (combined name), and the Dinobots/Grimstone.

 

Cybertron Lore concept looks pretty sweet and is made up of The Original 13 (each has an artifact): Alpha Trion, Liege Maximo, Vector Prime, Prima (the 1st Prime and has the Matrix embedded in its sword), and Megatronus/The Fallen. All of them are nice sketches and designs so it’ll be interesting how they look when actual toys are made. Slipstream is in the War for Cybertron video game. They're disappointed that Animated ended (not me). They said stay tuned for more female oriented figures for that demographic. Stay tuned usually means they'll get to it when they get to it, if ever. If the video game does well, they'll make more toys for it. I saw a chick with Autobot symbol earrings (cute) and other chicks with insignias on their back jeans pockets (fat). Took a pic of a kid in a jacked up Ravage costume. She has "I'm a girl" and "donate to Ravage" stapled on her back. Damn shame when you’re that young and gotta explain your gender. The panel dodged some questions due to time constraints and it’s all over now.

 

4. Costuming panel. 12:47p

 

This panel is incredibly unorganized. People ain't fully in costume which they already shoulda been. The techs working the equipment are setting up a slide show on a Mac and it's taking a while to get it setup. Maybe a Windows computer woulda been easier since more people know how they work. It’s mostly kids and females in the costumes. The panel is about how to do tf costuming. A chick named Rosemary is in charge and they’re showing pics of some of the costumes she’s created. Crazy itch even put her cat in a Soundwave costume. Almost everyone on the panel are white chicks. One said she's spending damn near $800 on a costume. Gotta wonder how they recoup that, if they even want to. They got that kinda money to blow, I should try and hop on that gravy train since I ain’t see no men with any of them.

 

Another said she's gonna spend a grand on a Blackarachnia costume. The Animated Blurr costume in the slide show took half a year to make. One of them said she only does it for cons and fans. Gotta love that dedication. Foam seems to be a key ingredient for tf costumes. Knowing the character you’re portraying and being in character when in costume is important. The King Starscream costume uses pvc piping, plexiglass, fiberglass, resin, cardboard, and stilts and cost over $1000. According to them, it won't be walking around at this con. Cheap ass chick said she's spent $20 on a costume so far. As long as you're recognizable is another factor in good costuming. Velcro and glue can be used in construction. Suzie is dressed as a big, purple Shattered Glass Optimus.

 

I repeat, this is a VERY unorganized presentation. That horrid costume from yesterday is a girl named Danielle dressed as Transmetal Dinobot. When introduced to the crowd, she didn’t wanna give her last name cuz of "stalkers." Those are her words. Clearly she musta had a bad experience in the past but god damn, she gotta make it that obvious? The only guy in costume is from Britain. When showing off the costumes, they shoulda been on stage or another platform so everyone could see them instead of the floor where heads and equipment were blocking the view. Something like this should be done bigger and with better organization and professionalism and made very exclusive for Botcon, not just some lame panel. Some lady is plugging the transcostuming website to get people more involved.

 

Photo opps for people in costume is disastrous. It’s just a bunch of truly regular people running things. Organization and tech difficulties show that aspect very well and that ain't a compliment! There’s not as many people here for this panel as the others. Cold as hell in here too. Some of them said they do more than just tf costumes. They do other properties like Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones. Kinda seems like the parents are getting their own fix vicariously through their kids like beauty pageant contestants. Fuckin’ babies crying when people are on the mic speaking. They said don't make a costume that could cut off air circulation and choose good materials that allow for breathability cuz it's easy to get dehydrated. Have plenty of ventilation and don't use materials you could be allergic to. Now people are asking lots of questions and they've stated they’ll give shorter answers cuz time is running out. Another piece of advice they gave is that the costume itself and face area need to be flexible. Hardware, craft, and military surplus stores are the best places to buy materials.

 

5. Another con is here. 1:13p

 

There's another con here sponsored by diecastspace.com for the 2010 Magical Weekend of Cars. I saw a cheap ass handscribbled sign for it and decided to peep it. It’s mainly just classic cars and Hot Wheels type diecast shit that I could care less about but free is free. I was on my way back to the sales floor when I saw it. Got a few pics. There’s a 1964 Chevy Cheetah in there. Never saw one of those before. It was for sale. One guy said it out loud to his friend who mentioned the exact same thing to him a minute later. That shit made me grin. Other guy said "I just said that" to his buddy and saw me grinning and mentioned that at least I heard what he said, implying that his friend didn’t. It was a funny moment. Not much I cared to see there. I was only in for about 10 minutes.

 

6. On the sales floor. 3:03p

 

These fools out here charging for empty toy boxes and shit. That shit is crazy. One vendor got a box full of old ass Atari games and older consoles. Bringing back memories with that shit. I ended up getting Alternity Skywarp for $50. It was going for as high as $60 and as low as $45 but ol’ boy who had it at that price sold out. I told that to the guy I eventually bought it from to see if he’d price match but he said he’s only making 5 bucks on a sale. He said he'd charge sales tax if I used credit so I went to an atm (a long ass way away in the hotel lobby) and got cash to avoid that bullshit. Another vendor said he'd never sell it for that low cuz that's about how much they cost. Something's better than nothing though. He had some old Marvel toys with build-a-figure Galactus and Apocalypse. I told him about the new 19" Galactus (made a mistake and told him 18”) coming out and he knew nothing of it. Told him I got that info a while back from marvelousnews.com. He told me about an old Sentinel figure of that size and said it was heavy and bad ass. I went ahead and scooped Binaltech Prime. The Alternator version is plastic. No thanks, Hasbro. I only paid $40. Elsewhere, it was as high as $75 so I came out good by waiting til the last day and stopping by all the vendors before plunking down my cash.

 

Gonna peep fansproject.com for that Bruticus combiner. I saw some of their work on display here like Magnus and Defender. The only issue I got with their figures is the colors don't seem dark enough. Guy I bought Skywarp from wondered why Starscream wasn't selling. If he browsed any forums, he'd know it's the face and color scheme that are the reason none of those toys were moving. I didn’t win a single door prize. Most people are waiting to find out who's gonna win the big contest for Botcon 2011. The t-shirts never came down in price so FURK dem. Giant Starscream mentioned as not making an appearance was all a bunch of bullhit. The damn thing made a full and grandiose appearance on the sales floor with female Megs, purple Optimus, Animated Blurr, and a guy in an Optimus voice changer mask hamming it up. I had to ask for the smaller costumers to move cuz they were blocking the Starscream shot. Damn thing talks in a Starscream style voice and is well done, I must admit, or whoever is inside of it does a good voice. All of the costumers are still doing some comedy bits before the final drawing.

 

7. The winners... 3:12p

 

Wasn't me. It was some little kid and some older guy. And so it ends unceremoniously. got the video of the winners. Things shut down here officially at 3:30p but nathan left for me here so I’m bouncin’. I went to the shirt booth looking for a cool dcons shirt I saw a chick wearing but it sold out. I’m probably not buying it online but might peep their site. Going to Kanes to get my free Papa John’s pizza coupon and calling it a day. fun weekend. I was gonna hit up the Swan pool but changed my mind. I just wanna go home at this point.

 

8. Talk about crash and burn. 7:25p

 

Thought I was all done but nooooo, I saw some more photo opps. I ain't realize the botfolks took cash only for admission tickets. To me, that's fucked up and excludes people. Payment methods should be advertised in advance so people know. Even a lot of the vendors inside managed to accept credit. I saw the Cliffjumper vehicle rolling out as I was walking to my car then saw a guy in the Bumblebee car. I asked if he had the keys to the other ones so I could get a pic of myself in them behind the wheel. Cat said it was HIS car. I was like, oh shit, and thought it was pretty cool the way he souped his shit up. Motormaster's sound system was bumpin' and that damn thing was kickin' like a baby still inside the stomach. Shit was sweet as FURK!

 

I realized the prices people were charging for mp grims was between $150 and $250. Online ain't much more than $150 but I wonder if these people knew about the Toysrus exclusive coming out in just a few days for more than half off what they're charging? Ignorance is bliss in this case. If people ain't know, of course the vendors can exploit that. I got my pizza and managed to get in one bite in the car. Got home, only managed to eat one other slice then I crashed and burned hard. I don't even think I was home for 30 minutes, saw my bed, laid in it, and that was it. I was out! Just now waking back up to type this. What'd I see in the Timelines comic book? Right on the inside front cover? What were the first few words? WELCOME TO ORLANDO! See what I’m saying? Couldn't have been that hard to put that shit on the t-shirt. That shit is important, man. This ain't some backwood, punk ass city. This is fucking Orlando. And the event took place at Disney, too? Man, you gotta be able to market that shit. Can’t be that fucking hard.

And now for the follow-up. The video above is the announcement of the Botcon 2011 winners. Masterpiece Grimlock is delayed as those of us that care know now. It’s gonna be on sale at Comic-Con. Most likely after that it’ll be available to the general public. Nice job by Hasbro to put up an onsale date and shit on their own announcement leaving collectors wondering.

 

Anyone other than me notice the contradictions on the Decepticon Slice giveaway figure? First, the damn plastic package says ‘ages 5+’ but the instruction booklet says ‘adult collectible’ (click here to see what I mean). When you look at the toy, it has dcons insignias on the doors and an Autobot symbol on his chest. Huh? Them fools at the Collector’s Club really need to pay attention to the details or fire whoever the hell is in charge of quality control. Some shit should just be impossible to overlook. If this was as intentional as the crappy colors on the G2 figures, I can give them a pass but that was never explained by anyone. So I’m going with they just fucked this one up.

 

I’ve got some pics from the diecastspace.com event included in the Botcon photo gallery but I did get one wallpaper shot here.

 

Although I sat right next to those gay guys, only because I didn’t wanna sit apart from anyone and horde any seats, I respect the relationship they have. I might talk a lot of faggot shit but that’s just how I am. That don’t mean I’m a homophobe. One of them is a lifelong tf fan, the other was just along for the ride to support his partner and take an interest in his hobby and Disney just happens to be something to do down here so it worked well for them both. I’ve found that it’s incredibly difficult to find a significant other or person in general that’s genuine who gives a shit about anything other than their own self-interests. Not to mention there aren’t many people who are willing to step outside of their comfort zone. That’s just one reason why I do a lot of shit by myself. I don’t know anyone genuine, reliable, available, or financially able who shares or is willing to share in my varied interests (this excludes those not in my immediate local area). I just wanna give props to those two guys for what they have with each other. I don’t see it or even hear about it often enough and it renews my hope that I’ll find something like that someday (with a woman) cuz now I’ve seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears that people and relationships like that do exist.

 

The Fan’s Choice winner aside, one of my big beefs is with the robot hall of fame inductees. Why are Bumblebee and Starscream included? Sure, bee is popular but what’s he ever done of significance? And Starscream failed at every single thing he’s ever done. How the hell does that qualify for any award other than something like a Razzie? Anyway, there’s always next year. Plenty of room for improvement for this event all the way around in every department. Congrats to all the human inductees and contest winners. I had fun and that’s what matters more than anything else.