The Botconocalypse is off to a fantastic start. The absolute highlight of Friday morning was Bob Budiansky's panel. He was entertaining and engaging and well prepared with a slideshow of Hasbrotastical informations that I will be analyzing in the days immediately after I get back home from Botcon. Most of the information and anecdotes he's already given in previous appearances and online interviews over the years but this was the first time I've seen him so enthusiastic about it all. Back at Iacon One in '06 his delivery was such that he seemed unsure that any of what he was saying was interesting to anyone and he seemed humbled by the whole experience. But the Bob of today is on fire-he's all, I'm Bob Friggin' Budiansky and I invented goddamn tech specs and I don't care what anyone says, "Car Wash of Doom" was awesome fuck yeah! Getting him to sign my special project was equally mind blowing but before we get to that here's the traditional "walking in to Botcon" video I do every time I go...
The dealer room is really nice and big with lots of room to walk through. It's a lot less crowded than Pasadena, although that may just be because this is Friday and the crowds still might swell when general admission shows up Saturday. I think a couple regular dealers are missing, most notably Big Bad Toy Store. Maybe they'll be there tomorrow. My favorites like Bancho Hige, Alex Bickmore, Brett and Curt from TF Source are there. There's lots of big displays from Hasbro and there's no movie Optimus Prime statue or truck this year but there's BOTH a movie Bumblebee statue and Camaro. The statue is better than the one they had in Pasadena last year. It's crazy awesome.
AND NOW...THE ENCYCLOPEDIA HASBROBOPLASTICA!
By now everyone who reads the Roboplastic Apocalypse knows I love me those old Hasbro Toy Catalogs from the 80s. Well what I did with all mine was tear out the Transformer pages and collect them in one massive scrapbook I call the Encyclopedia HasbRoboPlastica. It has all the Transformer related regular Toy Fair catalog pages from 1984 through 1990. Yeah I ripped up those books that cost me several hundred dollars to collect but what the hell. The way I look at it either I have done the greatest thing ever or I've committed a mortal sin against my truck king Peter Cullen. But it's totally worth it and the book is truly awesome to behold. I've spent hours looking at these pages when they were parts of the catalogs and I could spend even more looking at them as they are now. Then with the chance to meet legendary guests who made huge contributions to Transformers like Bob Budiansky and Hideaki Yoke, I figured it would be awesome if I could get them to do a cover page for me. And they did! Mr. Budiansky wrote "The Transformers" in English and Yoke san wrote the same thing in Japanese and they both then autographed it. If god is at all serious about preserving old toy catalogs then I am totally going to hell for this, but what really worries me is not eternal damnation, but that I am scrapbooking.
QUCIK RECAP OF BOTCONOCALYPSE 2010 FRIDAY INCLUDING SHOUT OUTS TO THE FOLLOWING FELLOW MACROCRANIANS:
- After the Takara Tomy and Budiansky panels I met up with Colin and Zack and had a fantastic $15 hamburger and even better conversation
- Once the dealer room opened I briefly saw the one and only Ras Hardicker!
- Ran into my personal Robot Heroes Anthonty Brucale from TFU.info and Robo Rob and Brian Kilby from RFC!
- Finally I am surrounded by people not just in robots costumes, but SEXY ROBOTS COSTUMES!
- FlickrMacrocrania has been updated accordingly.
1 comment:
Damn, I must be pretty predictable. Look for Bumblebee, find my sorry skidplate. I don't know whether to laugh or cry about that... so I'll laugh. ;)
I so would have taken that statue home. He would have been so loved. The car, too.
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