How a single fan might have ruined BotCon for everyone

Nevermore · Post by **Nevermore** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:53 am

Read this over at the Allspark.

So apparently some idiot taped the Hasbro panel presentation at BotCon. Y'know, the "no photos allowed or this might never happen again" sneak peak of upcoming toys thing. Complete with Leader Starscream.

And then he recently uploaded the thing to Youtube. I hear the quality was pretty bad, but it's a matter of principle. Fans instantly reported him to Hasbro, and boy, there must have been a lot of vitriol directed at this guy.

And he seemed to enjoy it. He seemed to like being singled out and virtually ganged on.

The video was quickly taken down by Youtube. So he tacked it onto the end of his Jetfire review in a "HA HA CAN'T KEEP ME DOWN" way.

No word yet whether Hasbro are considering not to have a preview panel at the next BotCon, or whether the goodwill of the rest of the fandom (or "sheepish obedience", as the guy might call it) might be enough to not have a single idiot join the experience for the rest of the fandom.

But boy, this guy is so hated right now. And since he was very open about his identity online, it appears that people now know his real name and other personal details. He'd better not show up at next BotCon.

Oh, and apparently people on 4chan are considering uploading it too just to stick it to the Transformers fans.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:16 am

Ruined for everybody? Do people go to BotCon solely to see upcoming toys then?

Seriously?

What did they do before Hasbro got involved then?

Nevermore · Post by **Nevermore** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:20 am

Now he signed up at TFW2005 under a new name and started a thread in the news forum just to stick it into everyone's faces.

Vin Ghostal · Post by **Vin Ghostal** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:50 pm

RUINED FOREVER.

Post by **Blackjack** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:59 pm

...

No comment.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:26 pm

If he's getting off on the notoriety best bet is just to ignore him and let Hasbro deal with it if they want.

Ruined for everybody? Do people go to BotCon solely to see upcoming toys then?

Throwing rotten fruit at the IDW board would be the main reason I'd have thought.

Post by **Clay** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:07 pm

Yeah, I wouldn't say ruined for everyone, but it does seem like an incredibly jerk thing to do on the part of the spoilsport.

Ackula · Post by **Ackula** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:22 pm

Nevermore wrote: So apparently some idiot taped the Hasbro panel presentation at BotCon. Y'know, the "no photos allowed or this might never happen again" sneak peak of upcoming toys thing. Complete with Leader Starscream.

I'm surprised that their security is so shitty at the event that no one saw this guy bring in a video recorder, little alone notice he was recording the panel. Unless it was a shitty cell phone video, but it still seems like someone would have noticed him doing it during the panel.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:24 pm

There might not be a Powerpoint presentation of toys that are going to be warming the shelves in a matter of months?

OH THE MOTHER****ING HUMANITY.

Post by **Clay** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:25 pm

Ackula wrote:I'm surprised that their security is so shitty at the event that no one saw this guy bring in a video recorder, little alone notice he was recording the panel. Unless it was a shitty cell phone video, but it still seems like someone would have noticed him doing it during the panel.

Cellphones can record video now.

Halfshell · Post by **Halfshell** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:35 pm

inflatable dalek wrote:Throwing rotten fruit at the IDW board would be the main reason I'd have thought.

Mmm. Transforce used to exist for the dual purpose of giving Simon Furman something to do and giving the rest of us an excuse for a piss-up.

Rurudyne · Post by **Rurudyne** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:36 pm

Cliffjumper wrote:There might not be a Powerpoint presentation of toys that are going to be warming the shelves in a matter of months?

OH THE MOTHER****ING HUMANITY.

Maybe they could get Ben Stein to narrate the next Powerpoint presentation?

Or let Bill Shatner sing it?

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:42 pm

Halfshell wrote:Mmm. Transforce used to exist for the dual purpose of giving Simon Furman something to do and giving the rest of us an excuse for a piss-up.

Since when have you needed an excuse?

Actually, though they'll never publicly admit it this leak has probably been good for Hasbro in the long run. I didn't even know there had been a secret presentation a Botcon, if I was less jaded learning about it might have inspired me to check the video and get all excited about forthcoming toys.

Post by **Clay** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:01 pm

After giving this some thought while running the morning errands, I think it's in Hasbro's best interest to keep doing the upcoming presentation thing regardless of whether or not it gets taped and leaked. The only people who could possibly be interested in it are adult toy collectors, and anticipation is very powerful thing.

Having stuff just show up in the toy aisle isn't quite as grand as making the potential buyer oggle over it for months on the internet. Granted that fans are a very small subset of the buying pool, but a 30 minute presentation in front of a room full of nerds has to have a great advertising-cost-to-sales ratio.

Nevermore · Post by **Nevermore** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:35 pm

Clay wrote:The only people who could possibly be interested in it are adult toy collectors

And competitors.

Keep in mind, the stuff they show in these panels is very very early design stage/prototype stuff. Time enough to have a competing company rip off a design.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:44 pm

And thus presumably be sued - the designs would presumably be copyrighted (or whatever nebulous term) before anyone outside the Hasbro offices saw them, even if it was just a bunch of nerds. The figures are as easy to rip off at any stage - that'd still be a problem when the first grainy pictures begin circulating the internet at any point. It's not easy for any company to rip off a design from a 2-D picture, after all. Let alone to build it and mass release it before someone the size of Hasbro can.

The guy's obviously a bit of a dick, but beyond being discourteous it's really not the end of the world - I have little sympathy for any impatient prototype hunters who'll have to wait a little longer to see pictures of some random toy.

Nevermore · Post by **Nevermore** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:02 pm

Things the BotCon panels had the scoop on:

Classics.

Classics Megatron as a gun.

Universe Cyclonus.

ROTF Bludgeon.

ROTF Lockdown.

Also, in addition to ZOMGLOOKAWESOME prototype photos, there's an extensive Hasbro Q&A.

And just because YOU don't attend BotCon and miss out on it anyways doesn't mean it's okay if those who DO attend won't get it either.

secretcode · Post by **secretcode** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:21 pm

Nevermore wrote:Oh, and apparently people on 4chan are considering uploading it too just to stick it to the Transformers fans.

Not true. I've been browsing 4chan since BotCon and nothing has come up about it.

secretcode · Post by **secretcode** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:31 pm

Reading the guy's Twitter account it seems he thinks it's his right to be able to post pictures of... well let me just quote him.

"I hope they dont' do anymore previews, they're bullshit if you can't take photos or video. **** IT."

I'm wondering how this will effect ComicCon...

Nevermore · Post by **Nevermore** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:45 pm

secretcode wrote:Reading the guy's Twitter account it seems he thinks it's his right to be able to post pictures of... well let me just quote him.

"I hope they dont' do anymore previews, they're bullshit if you can't take photos or video. **** IT."

I'm wondering how this will effect ComicCon...

I don't see that anywhere on his Twitter account...