Botcon 2014 is nearly upon us. Signaling 30 years of franchise history, the convention is sure to be one for the books. This year’s set will follow the theme of pitting Decepticon Pirates against Cybertronian Knights. Join us after the break for a look at each of this year’s exclusives!

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Terri Hawkes, the English voice of Sailor Moon, was recently a guest at the Florida Anime Experience, her first anime conversion. She talked a bit about her experience and then fielded a number of questions about her time on Sailor Moon.

Amongst other things in this panel Terri talks about jobs she did with Tracy Moore, fighting the Negaverse, her favourite episode to record and dodges a question about which Sailor Scout is her favourite.

Terri Hawkes was the second voice of Sailor Moon, following a few episodes recorded by Tracey Moore. She voiced the majority of the first two seasons of the dub so she’s likely the voice most fans associate with the character, besides the original Japanese voice of course. In later seasons Linda Ballantyne provided Sailor Moon’s voice.

Check out Sailor Moon Obsession for more about this panel and the convention.

The location for the 2012 GI Joe Collectors’ Convention will be New Orleans, Louisiana. The con will take place starting June 21st through June 24th. Hotel information will be coming soon, but at least you can start planning where you won’t be during those days. The June/July convention time slot is usually saved for Botcon, the official Transformers Collectors’ Convention, both run by Fun Publications. The significance of this should not be lost. The GI Joe movie sequel, GI Joe: Retaliation, premieres one week after the date of this convention.

We’ve already had plenty of coverage for the main set of exclusives, the Animated Stunticons. Motormaster. Dead End. Breakdown. Wildrider. Dragstrip.

The convention attendee exclusive is Animated Fisitron (think IronFist from IDW’s Last Stand of the Wreckers). He uses the Ratchet/Ironhide mold featuring a new head sculpt.

More exclusives and pictures after the break!

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HASBRO CELEBRATES ITS TRANSFORMERS BRAND AS “ROBOTS IN DISGUISE” INVADE PASADENA FOR 17th ANNUAL TRANSFORMERS CONVENTION

TRANSFORMERS Fans From Around the World to Experience “MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE” Brand Exhibition Of The Epic Global Entertainment Franchise

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (May 31, 2011) – Thousands of fans from around the world will celebrate the enduring popularity of the iconic TRANSFORMERS brand from Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), as the 2011 TRANSFORMERS fan convention known as “BOTCON” returns to Pasadena on June 4-5. Less than a month before the highly anticipated debut of the new Paramount Pictures film TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, Hasbro, in partnership with The TRANSFORMERS Collectors’ Club, will be offering opportunities to engage in and learn about the TRANSFORMERS brand that can only be experienced at BOTCON.

Attendees will be able to preview upcoming and yet-to-be seen TRANSFORMERS toys from Hasbro’s 2011 product line, including movie toys and figures based on the TRANSFORMERS PRIME animated series as well as interact with TRANSFORMERS toy designers. BOTCON will also be fans’ first time to see, in person, Hasbro’s new KRE-O line of construction sets based on classic TRANSFORMERS characters and attendees will have the opportunity for a chance to win a limited amount of KRE-O TRANSFORMERS toys before they go on sale. Convention goers can also attend panel discussions and interactive workshops led by TRANSFORMERS experts, purchase exclusive TRANSFORMERS products sold only at this year’s convention and buy, sell or trade TRANSFORMERS toys from hundreds of dealers.

You can see the full release after the break.
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@Botcon twitter account gave us a peek at the new convention comic by showing us a panel featuring the Trypticon Prison. The name of the story is called The Stunti-Con Job and promises to be a treat for Transformers Animated fans with designs by Derrick Wyatt (Art Director for the show), story by Marty Isenberg (Story Director for the series, and art by Marcelo Matere (IDW artist who pencilled the Animated comic).

@mmatere @DerrickJWyatt Here tis! Trypticon Prison… WAIT till you see the guards! 😀 http://twitpic.com/4jo26b

If they are continuing their plans for the show in the comic and if the Allspark Almanac was any indication, the guards would have been minicons. It is more likely, though, that we will see some other repaints as the guards though in order to include characters that would be included in the convention souvenir sets. We’ll know soon!