It is with a sense of relief as well as accomplishment that I
look back on this year's BotCon. I am most definitely relieved that it's
over -- but I'm also glad I had the opportunity to do it. Had someone
told me ten years ago, when I first plunged into my involvement with
the Transformers, that I would someday be running the second
international fan convention, I would have laughed them out of the
galaxy. "Oh, no," I'd have said dismissively, "not me. I just live the
dream quietly and express my love for the characters by writing stories
and collecting. I don't interact with people."
But at some point, the characters and the stories became
strong enough to make their own demands of me. "This is your
chance," something seemed to be telling me, "to create a tribute
according to your own vision and share it with others -- to see to it that
the fandom in general and the Decepticons in particular are treated
with respect, at least for the span of one weekend." I could almost hear
the voices of the characters urging me onward -- Megatron's
impassioned encouragement, Soundwave's unfailing reassurance, the
other Decepticons watching, waiting, hoping, supporting.
Admittedly, I made every effort not to turn BotCon into
"Decepti-Con." There are Autobot fans out there too, after all, and I
was striving for an event that all fans could enjoy -- Autobot
supporters, Decepticon allies, dealers, collectors, fans of the cartoon
and comic, the MUSH/Internet community, and those who revel in
debating various aspects of the fandom and the creativity that goes
along with it. But at the same time, it was my chance to correct
some long-standing mistakes, and I took it. Some of them are subtle
things. Usually, any time you see the Autobot and Decepticon symbols
together, the Autobot symbol is always listed first. No matter whether
that comes from an official or a fan-created source. All the BotCon
paperwork had it reversed. The Decepticon symbol always preceded
the Autobot one. I figured it was about time.
Some of it was less subtle. I took the liberty of writing new
tech specs for three of my favorite Decepticons to turn them into
BotCon trading cards on the back cover of our magazine. The most
significant change is Soundwave. I have always felt that his Hasbro-
given profile was garbage, so I wrote him the way I perceive him.
Whether or not anyone else shares my view, the new version is "out
there" now in a semi-official form, and will maybe cause one or two
people to see him in a new light. I also took the opportunity in that
magazine to promote a character who was unjustly ignored all these
years: Nightbird.
But one correction was blatantly obvious. After months of
being jerked around and lied to by Hasbro, I finally managed to
wrangle an exclusive giveaway toy out of them. It was only a re-
colored Go-bot, of course (the only figures they gave me a choice of,
and even then, not colored entirely to my specifications -- I did not
request that godawful fluorescent yellow!), but I was able to make the
packaging myself, including the personality profile and tech specs. So
I made Nightracer -- an old character of my own, a female Decepticon
sharpshooter -- the first female Transformer ever to be released in this
country, and the first-ever female Decepticon to be made as a toy
anywhere. Since Hasbro had been too cheap to give her the proper
colors, or even provide her with the symbol of her allegiance, I painted
blue racing stripes on the featureless black cars and made my own
Decepticon symbol stickers. Obviously Hasbro didn't think highly
enough of the fandom to do things right; that part of it, as I said at the
convention, is up to us, the fans.
So was it worth it? Almost a year of planning and
preparation; time, stress, expense, and complete responsibility if things
went wrong; the confusion of advertising, negotiating with the
convention center, hotel, bank, and various printers, none of which I
had ever done before; the long nights at 24-hour photocopy shops in
mortal combat with color printers and unfamiliar software; the fear
that not enough dealers would show up and attendees would be
disgusted; the battle to get the magazines, t-shirts, magnets, schedules,
and Nightracer cards finished; the attempt to scrounge up reasonably
interesting panel discussions; the precarious transport and display of
almost my entire collection of non-toy TF items, most of which would
be irreplaceable; the uncertainty until the night before the con whether
the laser show was going to be ready; the coordination of security at
the convention center, inevitable problems with the tapes in the video
room, and non-stop rushing back and forth at the con itself; Hasbro's
last-minute cancellation and refusal to speak about next year's toys;
and the constant mailing, mailing, mailing beforehand and
afterward.... When it all came together -- the dealers, the laser show,
the videos, the panels, the chance to meet some long-time friends and
contacts for the first time, and 350+ fans from five countries, many of
whom later told me how much they had enjoyed it -- then yes, I think
it was worth it.
When I look at the Nightracer toy and the Soundwave trading
card -- when somewhere in my mind's eye I think I catch a glimpse of
Megatron nodding to me with a fractional smile and a satisfied
approval in his gaze -- then I know it was worth it.
Watch the shadows.......
--Raksha the Plumed Serpent
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