Botcon, TF2 Toys Press Release and Gallery

Botcon started today in Pasadena, California and for those lucky attendees they will get a chance to look at and probably purchase toys from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen toy line. To mark the occasion, Hasbro has issued a press release. For the rest of us, you will just have to make do with the gallery of 112 Hasbro provided images here. At least until the official release date of Saturday morning.

PAWTUCKET, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 2009 TRANSFORMERS fan convention, which is in Pasadena on May 28 to 31, is destined to be one of the biggest and most exciting TRANSFORMERS gatherings ever! In addition to celebrating Hasbro’s TRANSFORMERS brand’s 25th anniversary and anticipating the June 24th debut of DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, new toys and merchandise from the second movie in the franchise go on-sale from coast to coast beginning Saturday morning, May 30th.

The convention, which is known as “BotCon” (with syllables taken from the two TRANSFORMERS factions AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS), is annually the largest official gathering of TRANSFORMERS fans in the world and is open to both TRANSFORMERS collectors and non-collectors — and the young and young-at-heart.

BotCon will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center located at 300 East Green Street in Pasadena, Calif., and will be open to the public on May 30 – 31. Special activities are planned on May 28 – 29 for attendees who purchase multi-day packages.

On Saturday, May 30th, kids ages 5 to 14 will be able to participate in the TRANSFORMERS Challenge, which will award prizes based on how quickly kids can convert TRANSFORMERS toys from robot mode to vehicle mode. Kids may qualify in the preliminary round from 9:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., with the fastest competitors moving on to the semi-final and final rounds that will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. All kids participating will receive a TRANSFORMERS toy, and the fastest kids in both the senior and junior age division will receive a HasbroToyShop.com gift card worth $500. Official rules are posted on www.BotCon.com.

Additionally, BotCon attendees will have the opportunity to learn how to draw TRANSFORMERS characters from Hasbro’s designers, see toys in the new 2009 TRANSFORMERS toy line, buy, sell, and trade TRANSFORMERS toys from throughout the franchise’s 25-year history at more than 200 tables of merchandise, and attend panel discussions and seminars led by TRANSFORMERS experts. Special activities for kids will be held throughout the weekend in the Hasbro booth.

For fans not able to make it to southern California this weekend, they can head to their favorite toy retailer and be among the first to purchase the new toys based on the upcoming movie TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN.