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BotCon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BotCon
Cosplayers at BotCon 2011
StatusActive
GenreTransformers fan convention
Inaugurated1994
Most recent2026
Organized byAgabyss Enterprises LLC
Filing statusPrivate company
Websitehttp://www.botcon.com/

BotCon, previously known as the Official Transformers Collectors' Convention (OTFCC), is an annual convention for fans and collectors of the Transformers multimedia franchise and related merchandise.

The first BotCon was held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States in 1994. It has 120 attendees.[1] In 2015, BotCon was recognized by Guinness World Records as the "longest-running Transformers convention".[2]

Featured BotCon guests are usually involved in the creation of Transformers media in some respect, whether as voice actors from the animated series, artists or writers from the comic books, or Hasbro employees. Fun Publications held the convention for a number of years, with 2016 being its final year.[3] BotCon remained defunct until returning in 2022.[4]

BotCon has had numerous event-exclusive toys, including the first version of the character Apelinq. Apelinq debuted at BotCon 2000 and was designed by organizer Glen Hallit. The character would later appear in the 2023 film Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.[5]

Event history

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BotCon

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Year Date(s) Venue City Guests Notes
1994[1] July 16 Grand Wayne Center Fort Wayne, Indiana Tom Bowman and Carl Fritz
1995[6] August 5-6 Dayton Convention Center Dayton, Ohio N/A
1996[7] July 12-14 Clarion Resort Rosemont Rosemont, Illinois George Boznos and Anthony Gaud
1997[8] August 5-6 Dayton Convention Center Dayton, Ohio Dawn Berryman, George Boznos, Stan Bush, Peter Cullen, Vince DiCola, Bob Forward, Simon Furman, David Kaye, Jerry Palmer, Venus Terzo, and Andrew Wildman
1998[9][10] June 19-20 Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California Susan Blu, Garry Chalk, Vince DiCola, Larry DiTillio, Jennifer Donahoe, Andy Espenshade, Bob Forward, Simon Furman, David Kaye, Bryce Malek Scott McNeil, Doug Parker, Rob Tokar, Andrew Wildman, and David Wise
2004[11] June 19-20 Pasadena Convention Center Pasadena, California Fumihiko Akiyama, Wally Burr, Peter Cullen, Paul Davids, Tom DeSanto, Flint Dille, Dan Gilvezan, Bryce Malek, Michael McConnohie, Tadao Tomomatsu, David Wise, Bob Prupis, and Alison Segebarth
2007[12] June 27-July 1 Rhode Island Convention Center Providence, Rhode Island Peter Cullen, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Rachael Taylor, Tyrese Gibson, David Kaye, Daniel Ross, Stan Bush, Ernie Petrangelo, Brian Goldner, Vickie Stratford, Joe Kyde, Greg Lombardo, Aaron Archer, Eric Siebenaler, Jared Wade, and William Rawley
2008[13] April 24-27 Duke Energy Center Cincinnati, Ohio Simon Furman, David Kaye, Alex Milne, Tara Strong, Derrick J. Wyatt, and Aaron Archer
2009[14][15] May 28-31 Pasadena Convention Center Pasadena, California Gregg Berger, Stan Bush, Peter Cullen, Paul Davids, Vince DiCola, Flint Dille, David Kaye, Bryce Malek, Michael McConnohie, Alex Milne, David Wise, and Derrick J. Wyatt
2010[16][17][18] June 24-27 Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort Lake Buena Vista, Florida Bob Budiansky, Jeff Kline, Kōjin Ōno, Peter Cullen, Hideaki Yoke, Paul Eiding, Scott McNeil, Drew Eiden, Karl Hartman, Lanny Lathem, Greg Sepelak, Pete Sinclair, Trent Troop, Jesse Wittenrich, Ben Yee, Rik Alvarez, Aaron Archer, Joe Kyde, Forest Lee, Greg Lombardo, Chris Oliveri, Lenny Panzica, Matthew Proulx, Bill Rawley, Eric Siebenaler, Tomoya Miyake, Brian Wilk, Jeff Kline, Mike Vogel, Casey Coller, Bill Forster, Dan Khanna, Marcelo Matere, Alex Milne, Chris Mowry, Jim Sorenson, Stan Bush, Matt Tieger, and Hironori Kobayashi
2016[3][19] April 7-10 Galt House Hotel Louisville, Kentucky Gregg Berger, David Kaye, Judd Nelson, Venus Terzo, Winston Bolen, Josh Burcham, Brendan Cahill, Ken Christiansen, Casey Coller, Archie Cunningham, Thomas Deer, Brandy Dixon, Matt Frank, Andrew Hall, Adam Hicks, Dan Khanna, Marcelo Matere, Alex Milne, Robby Musso, Josh Perez, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Rob Roberts, Hayato Sakamoto, Brian Shearer, Derrick J. Wyatt, Silas Zee, Stan Bush, Vince DiCola, Kenny Meriedeth, Ken Rose, Pete Sinclair, Aaron Archer, and John-Paul Bove This would be the last year BotCon was held until 2022
2022[4] August 25-28 Embassy Suites Nashville Downtown Nashville, Tennessee Gregg Berger, Bob Budiansky, Jeanne Carr, Simon Furman, Laurie Hymes, David Kaye, Michael McConnohie, Melodee M. Spevack, Frank Welker
2023[20] August 24-27 American Dream Mall East Rutherford, New Jersey Travis Artz, Susan Blu, Bob Budiansky, Garry Chalk, Jessica DiGiovanni, Simon Furman, Scott McNeil, Robby Musso, and Venus Terzo
2024[21] June 27-30 Grand Wayne Convention Center Fort Wayne, Indiana Aaron Archer, Gregg Berger, Paul Eiding, Robby Musso, and Alec Willows

BotCon Japan

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Year Date(s) Venue City Guests Notes
1997[22] June 8 Science and Technology Hall Tokyo, Japan N/A
1998[23] December 12-13 Sevencity Hall Hirotaka Suzuoki
2000[24] December 17 Tokyo Trade Center Taito Hall Tesshō Genda

BotCon Europe

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Year Date(s) Venue City Guests Notes
1999[25] August 13-14 St. Barnabas Center London, England Simon Furman
2002[26] November 3 Wolsey Hall Cheshunt, England Simon Furman, Neil Kaplan, and Wayne C. Lewis

Official Transformers Collectors Convention

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BotCon was renamed the Official Transformers Collectors Convention in 2003 after organizers Jon Hartman and Karl Hartman had departed 3H Productions.[27]

Year Date(s) Venue City Guests Notes
2003[28] July 25-July 27 Hyatt Regency O'Hare Rosemont, Illinois Vince DiCola, Gregg Berger, Garry Chalk, David Kaye, Josh Blaylock, Mike Norton, Clayton Brown, Mark Brooks, Simon Furman, Jerry Jivoin, Eric Siebenaler, and Aaron Archer
2004[29] July 31-August 1 Donald E. Stephens Convention Center Michael McConnohie, Dan Gilvezan, Scott McNeil, Bob Budiansky, Simon Furman, Andrew Wildman, Vince DiCola, Greg Lombardo, Aaron Archer, Eric Siebenaler, and Tony Beard This would be the last convention organized by 3H Productions before filing for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Cieply, Michael (29 May 2009). "BotCon: Remaining Transfixed by Transformers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on Mar 31, 2022.
  2. ^ "Longest-running Transformers convention". Guinness World Records. 18 June 2015.
  3. ^ a b BaCon (April 8, 2016). "#BotCon 2016 - Last Transformers Convention From Fun Publications". tformers.com. Archived from the original on Sep 17, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "BotCon 2022 - Summer Convention Returns with Vendor Update". Tformers. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  5. ^ Willis, David (2023-06-09). "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has a particularly wild deep-cut Maximals cameo". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  6. ^ "BotCon Online". botconarchives.com.
  7. ^ "BotCon Online". botconarchives.com.
  8. ^ "BotCon Online". botconarchives.com.
  9. ^ "BotCon 1998 – Headin' Out West". tfsource.com. May 14, 2013.
  10. ^ "BotCon Online". botconarchives.com.
  11. ^ "BotCon Online". botconarchives.com.
  12. ^ "Botcon 07". botconarchives.com.
  13. ^ "BotCon 2008". fancons.com.
  14. ^ "BotCon 2009 Event Coverage Guide". tformers.com. June 1, 2009.
  15. ^ "BotCon 2009". fancons.com.
  16. ^ "BotCon 2010 Event Coverage Guide". tformers.com. June 23, 2010.
  17. ^ "Botcon 2010". botconarchives.com.
  18. ^ "Botcon 2010 Guests". botconarchives.com.
  19. ^ "BotCon 2022 - Summer Convention Returns with Vendor Update". Tformers. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  20. ^ "BotCon 2023 Updates with More Events, Guests, Artists, and Creators News". tformers.com. August 20, 2023.
  21. ^ "Botcon 2024 Guests". botcon.com.
  22. ^ "BotCon Japan 1997". botconarchives.com.
  23. ^ "BotCon Japan 1998". botconarchives.com.
  24. ^ "BotCon Japan 2000". botconarchives.com.
  25. ^ "BotCon Europe 1999". botconarchives.com.
  26. ^ "BotCon Europe 2002". botconarchives.com.
  27. ^ "BotCon TF Convention Changes Name". tformers.com. May 11, 2003.
  28. ^ "BotCon TF Convention Changes Name". tformers.com. May 11, 2003.
  29. ^ a b "The Official Transformers Collectors Convention 2004". fancons.com.
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