I found an advertisement that Botcon 2022 is in 2 weeks in Nashville TN, and it's by some company called Agabyss. Appaently they have Frank Welker, bob Budiansky, Simon Furman, Gregg BergerMichael McConnohie, Melodee M.Spevack, Jeanne Carr.

Their exclusives are by some company called 52 toys which I've never heard of, and I've never heard of this before 2 weeks before the event.

Is this real? Is it a good scam? I've never heard of AgAbyss before

https://www.agabyss.com/botcon-2022/

It seems too strange to be real. The non-attendees special toy set by "52 toys" is only $45 less than a premium weekend pass.

I can't be sure but it looks like the convention box is 4 robotic animals that turn into cubes. They won't show us alt modes, but it looks like the animals are a blue and white kangaroo, white gator, a black dragon, and an orange tiger. If they are indeed boxes, I don't understand that craze about just being cubes.

I thought I'd have heard more about this if it were real, and I haven't until now. I don't know how they're using the Botcon title, but there have been hints at TFExpo that someone had the license to the title. The website owners have a lot of toys for sale, seeming to be trying to compete with TF source.

Edit: Ok so 52 toys is the company that makes all the robotic animals like grasshoppers and stuff turn in to cubes. It seems weird that a conventin would go through 52 toys for an official convention.

On Friday, August 5, 2022 at 11:30:50 PM UTC-4, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:
> I found an advertisement that Botcon 2022 is in 2 weeks in Nashville TN, and it's by some company called Agabyss. Appaently they have Frank Welker, bob Budiansky, Simon Furman, Gregg BergerMichael McConnohie, Melodee M.Spevack, Jeanne Carr.
>
> Their exclusives are by some company called 52 toys which I've never heard of, and I've never heard of this before 2 weeks before the event.
>
> Is this real? Is it a good scam? I've never heard of AgAbyss before
>
> https://www.agabyss.com/botcon-2022/
>
> It seems too strange to be real. The non-attendees special toy set by "52 toys" is only $45 less than a premium weekend pass.
>
> I can't be sure but it looks like the convention box is 4 robotic animals that turn into cubes. They won't show us alt modes, but it looks like the animals are a blue and white kangaroo, white gator, a black dragon, and an orange tiger. If they are indeed boxes, I don't understand that craze about just being cubes.
>
> I thought I'd have heard more about this if it were real, and I haven't until now. I don't know how they're using the Botcon title, but there have been hints at TFExpo that someone had the license to the title. The website owners have a lot of toys for sale, seeming to be trying to compete with TF source.
>
> Edit: Ok so 52 toys is the company that makes all the robotic animals like grasshoppers and stuff turn in to cubes. It seems weird that a conventin would go through 52 toys for an official convention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNGEeIlYdDc&t=1s

Found this recent interview with Agabyss talking about Botcon, FWIW.

On Friday, August 5, 2022 at 11:30:50 PM UTC-4, Ob1 wrote:
> I found an advertisement that Botcon 2022 is in 2 weeks in Nashville TN, and it's by some company called Agabyss. Appaently they have Frank Welker, bob Budiansky, Simon Furman, Gregg BergerMichael McConnohie, Melodee M.Spevack, Jeanne Carr.
>
> Their exclusives are by some company called 52 toys which I've never heard of, and I've never heard of this before 2 weeks before the event.
>
> Is this real? Is it a good scam? I've never heard of AgAbyss before
>
> https://www.agabyss.com/botcon-2022/
>
> It seems too strange to be real. The non-attendees special toy set by "52 toys" is only $45 less than a premium weekend pass.
>
> I can't be sure but it looks like the convention box is 4 robotic animals that turn into cubes. They won't show us alt modes, but it looks like the animals are a blue and white kangaroo, white gator, a black dragon, and an orange tiger. If they are indeed boxes, I don't understand that craze about just being cubes.
>
> I thought I'd have heard more about this if it were real, and I haven't until now. I don't know how they're using the Botcon title, but there have been hints at TFExpo that someone had the license to the title. The website owners have a lot of toys for sale, seeming to be trying to compete with TF source.
>
> Edit: Ok so 52 toys is the company that makes all the robotic animals like grasshoppers and stuff turn in to cubes. It seems weird that a conventin would go through 52 toys for an official convention.

Yes, BotCon is back, but it isn't endorsed or linked with Hasbro. Hence 3P exclusives rather than Hasbro-made exclusives.

On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 6:04:55 AM UTC-7, William A. Rendfeld wrote:
> On Friday, August 5, 2022 at 11:30:50 PM UTC-4, Ob1 wrote:
> > I found an advertisement that Botcon 2022 is in 2 weeks in Nashville TN, and it's by some company called Agabyss. Appaently they have Frank Welker, bob Budiansky, Simon Furman, Gregg BergerMichael McConnohie, Melodee M.Spevack, Jeanne Carr.
> >
> > Their exclusives are by some company called 52 toys which I've never heard of, and I've never heard of this before 2 weeks before the event.
> >
> > Is this real? Is it a good scam? I've never heard of AgAbyss before
> >
> > https://www.agabyss.com/botcon-2022/
> >
> > It seems too strange to be real. The non-attendees special toy set by "52 toys" is only $45 less than a premium weekend pass.
> >
> > I can't be sure but it looks like the convention box is 4 robotic animals that turn into cubes. They won't show us alt modes, but it looks like the animals are a blue and white kangaroo, white gator, a black dragon, and an orange tiger. If they are indeed boxes, I don't understand that craze about just being cubes.
> >
> > I thought I'd have heard more about this if it were real, and I haven't until now. I don't know how they're using the Botcon title, but there have been hints at TFExpo that someone had the license to the title. The website owners have a lot of toys for sale, seeming to be trying to compete with TF source.
> >
> > Edit: Ok so 52 toys is the company that makes all the robotic animals like grasshoppers and stuff turn in to cubes. It seems weird that a conventin would go through 52 toys for an official convention.
> Yes, BotCon is back, but it isn't endorsed or linked with Hasbro. Hence 3P exclusives rather than Hasbro-made exclusives.

I wonder what other fan-related activities there might be linked to this con? Art shows, parties, and that kind of thing?

Nice to see this panel, in any case.

It will be interesting to see how things like fuel costs and inflation shape and inform attendance.

I wish the organizers luck!

JB

On Friday, August 5, 2022 at 9:30:50 PM UTC-6, Ob1k...@att.net wrote:

> I thought I'd have heard more about this if it were real, and I haven't until now. I don't know how they're using the Botcon title, but there have been hints at TFExpo that someone had the license to the title. The website owners have a lot of toys for sale, seeming to be trying to compete with TF source.

The BotCon brand name was always owned by the Hartmans, even after BotCon became the official Transformers convention. So it's likely the brand name was simply up for grabs, and it was sold to new organizers. They're banking on name recognition. But, from what I've been able to gather, the big name fan sites are suppressing news about BotCon's ressurection because they don't want it to succeed. More ridiculous fandom politics, in other words.

Zob (went to BotCon once, and that was enough for me)