Official Convention and Collector's Club Releases
An officially-recognized fan convention (usually called BotCon) has been held nearly every year since 1994. The first few conventions were organized by individual fans, but a fan-made company named 3H Enterprises (later changed to :Productions) secured the license to BotCon from 1997-2002. The license was secured by a new organization named Fun Publications in 2005, who have held it ever since.
Because the conventions are officially sanctioned by Hasbro, presenters have been able to produce official, limited-run toys, fiction, and other merchandise for sale at BotCon. The BotCon toys have grown dramatically over the years. In 1994, a single figure was provided for attendees. In 2010, fifteen different figures were available through a collection of box sets, souvenir packages, and customization classes.
Fictional contributions have also increased over the years. Prior to 2005, most conventions released a single comic, often accompanying the toys released that year. Since Fun Publications assumed the license, however, the annual BotCon comic has been supplemented by on-line text stories available exclusively at the official club website, and a bi-monthly magazine sent out to members with a six page comic in each issue. Grouped under the umbrella term "Transformers: Timelines", Fun Publications fiction deals with a variety of existing Transformers franchises, including Generation 1, Beast Wars and Cybertron, as well as new universes created specifically by Fun Publications such as TransTech and Shattered Glass.
Read more about this topic: Transformers (franchise)
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