Hasbro, of course, has been feeding the excitement, as have the studios, Dreamworks and Paramount, both owned by Viacom Inc. The first preview of the movie was released last summer before the hit Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The 1986 Transformers: The Movie animated film was re-released on DVD, and Hasbro last year put out Transformers Classics, based on the original toy line. This month, it put out another toy line based on the new movie.
This year's BotCon, besides featuring an early screening of the movie, will also include a tour of Hasbro's headquarters in Pawtucket.
Brian Savage, who organizes BotCon, said the movie has raised the awareness of Transformers among the general public. While BotCon has been around since 1994, and last year drew 2,200 people, estimates for this year's convention from June 28-July 1 range from 4,000 to as much as 8,000, Savage said, the biggest BotCon yet.
"I think we'll have a lot more Transformers fans after July 4,'' he said.
On the Net: BotCon: www.botcon.com; TransformersCon: www.transformerscon.com; Glassford's 2006 Transformers comic: www.transformerscon.com/gallery/TransformersCon-2006-Fan-Comic; Hasbro, Inc: www.hasbro.com; Transformers movie: www.transformersmovie.com.
SYNOPSIS (spoiler alert)
On the distant planet of Cyberton the Autobots have been fighting the Decepticons for possession of the Allspark, a talisman that grants its owner unlimited powers. The Autobots spirited the talisman to Earth, hotly pursued by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, who in his quest for domination ended up at the bottom of the Artic Ocean paralyzed by the intense cold. Cue Captain Archibald Witwicky, who discovers Megatron's body. The Decepticons' leader uses the last of his power to etch a map of the Allspark's location onto the captain's glasses and send a message to Cybertron. Fast forward 100 years and Sam Wickity, who inherited his ancestor's glasses, purchases his first car, which he discovers to be Bumblebee, an Autbot sent to safeguard the map. But the Decepticons are in hot pursuit; Blackout and Scorponok attack US forces in Qatar prompting the US government to unleash Sector Seven agents to neutralize the alien invaders. As the battle between the Decepticons, the Autobots and the US army unfolds, Megatron awakens.
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