CybCon 2005

This year, CybCon was held in a larger facility than the previous two years but still in the same area. With it came more dealers and a much better show. Set-up began before 9am this year which was good since there were plenty of early birds this year. Some of the local guys from the 2005 Boards were among the dealers as was Joebot from Portland and Kicks Hobby to name a few. One of the best tables there was from the guys at Rabid Squirrel Productions who decided to bless us with the world premiere of their Cyber Fembot A.R.C. and Cyber Fembot A.MD.C. kits. These are absolutely amazing and they apparently did very well with preorders at CybCon. See their site in the link above for more information on these amazing pieces.

Soon, ten o'clock rolled around and we let the masses into the room. My wife, Zeatha, manned the front table handing out the SWAG bags (which contained an updated CybCon universe profile book as well as a C-Bot or later - to the dismay of at least a couple fans - Stormsword Mini-Cons) to the attendees, survey forms, and collected admittance fees from those who hadn't yet paid. There was a large variety of merchandise ranging from G1 to Galaxy Force and money seemed to be no object to some of the fans. Personally, I only spent $23 on a couple Galaxy Force toys, Fang Wolf and Autolander. I know these will be out eventually in the Cybertron line, but I'm weak. Joebot, once again, had THE table to be at. There was hardly a time when he wasn't mobbed. He certainly has the touch at these shows.

This year, we had a ton of prizes to be raffled off ranging from our exclusive, crazysteve-made Cybertronian mini bot Jazz to Armada Unicron to decoys to comics and so much more. Several items were raffled off every hour on the half hour. Returning this year were the contests we had from the previous CybCon shows. This year, the toy used for the transformation contest was G1 Scourge with toys donated by Joebot. The winner, Pat Nguyen, won a G1 Scourge along with reproduction labels to make it look new again. This was a lot of fun. Scourge is certainly a challenge in a time trial let me tell you. An hour later, at 2pm, was the trivia contest. After a gruelling tournament, Pat Nguyen once again emerged victorious, a CybCon Jazz as his prize. I wasn't present for most of the Beast Wars Transmetals tournament an hour later, but from what I hear it was just as tough as the other two contests. The winner was Stephen Day who walked away with a CybCon Jazz. Congratulations to everyone. After the last raffle of the day, we auctioned off a few items. A complete set of Stormsword jets went for over $90, a set of G2 Gobots went for over $60, and the last CybCon Jazz went for a whopping $115! I find these prices amazing. So, congratulations to the winners of the various auctions.

CybCon 2005 was a lot of fun and better, in my opinion, than the previous two years. With the help of the surveys the attendees and dealers turned in to us, we'll be able to have an even better show next year. Thanks to Allen Greenwood and Jackpot for their wonderful artwork used on the Jazz and C-Bot toys respectively, Joe who provided us with the C-Bots, crazysteve for painstakingly crafting the Jazz toys, Fred's Workshop for his support and the Stormsword toys, Landcross for videotaping the event, Zeatha for once again manning the front gates, and Greg for putting up with all of us and hosting a great show. Thanks also go out to everyone who came this year. We hope you all had as much fun as we did and hope to see you again next year.

Click HERE to read crazysteve's report on the Making of Minibot Jazz!!!

Below are the CybCon universe entries for both C-Bot and Jazz. Enjoy!

C-BOT
ALLEGIANCE: CYBCON
FUNCTION: SEMI-UNIVERSAL DOMINATION
FIRST APPEARANCE: CYBCON 2005

"I'd be happy with just the universe, though."

Profile: Deep in the jungles of the Pacific Northwest, renegade scientists at a secret Binaltech laboratory created C-Bot: a maniacal Scraplet bent on dominating as much of the galaxy as he can honestly expect to manage. His neural matrix sprang into operation nine months after a monopolistic PC operating system was ravished by Kremzeek. Upon awakening, C-Bot immediately turned his deadly powers against the scientists who created him. A few bandages later, the humans put him in a slightly stringer cage, where to this day he plots and strategizes against all who would oppose his rule.

Abilities: C-Bot's rocket fists and laser eye-beams are unparalleled amongst the galaxy's transforming letters. His claws can exert enough force to puncture the exoskeleton of an ant, and his searing ocular rays an ignite nearly 20 ants per minute. If C-Bot ever found reason to quarrel with the ant world, there would assuredly be trouble. It is only by the grace of whatever deity is responsible for ant well-being that such a fate has not befallen their ranks. Also, C-Bot can fly, though not very high or far or well.

Weaknesses: C-Bot has no known weaknesses... relatively speaking.

Strength: 1 | Intelligence: 9 | Speed: 2 | Endurance: 3
Rank: 10 | Courage: 10 | Firepower: 3 | Skill: 6

JAZZ
ALLEGIANCE: AUTOBOT
FUNCTION: SPECIAL OPERATIONS AGENT
FIRST APPEARANCE: TRANSFORMERS #1 (MARVEL) / "MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE" PART 1

"Do it with style or don't bother doing it at all."

Profile: Jazz loves alien cultures and is always looking to learn more about those outside of Cybertron. His extensive knowledge in this area and ease at adapting to alien environments makes him indispensable as Optimus Prime's right-hand man. Always remains calm, cool, and collected, Jazz always accepts the most dangerous missions as he likes the challenge. He is often referred to a danger-loving daredevil with a bottomless bag of tricks. Jazz would rather dazzle you with his style and finesse than complete a mission the easy way.

Abilities: In robot mode, Jazz' weapon of choice is his photon rifle, which he wields with amazing accuracy. He also has an overhead flamethrower he can use, but rarely does so as he feels it's not nearly as "civilized" as his rifle. Jazz also possesses a full-spectrum beacon in his front grill and a high-powered speaker system which he uses to create disorienting sound and lights shows to confuse his enemies. He also makes occasional use of a rocket-powered skateboard that doubles as destabilizer cannon. In vehicle form, Jazz can reach incredible speeds, second only to Blurr. He can use his beacon and speakers in this form as well.

Weaknesses: Jazz can be distracted from his assignment if he encounters some new, alien behavior patterns that he finds interesting. This can sometimes lead to driving off a cliff to getting blasted by a Decepticon Skyraider.

Strength: 5 | Intelligence: 9 | Speed: 9 | Endurance: 7
Rank: 8 | Courage: 9 | Firepower: 7 | Skill: 10

Toy Gallery:

C-Bot

Jazz