A few close-up of the nicest pieces I picked up:
One of the extremely hard to get series 4 Action Masters. This series (which contained Sideswipe, Tracks, Bombshell, along with three new characters) was never released in the USA. One dealer from England had a full set of 6 and auctioned them... and I don't think anyone was able to afford more than one or two. I got the one I wanted, however... Sideswipe being one of the few Autobot cars I had as a kid.
Minelba. The first officially released female Transformer toy. This recolor or the US Nightbeat toy is one of the most desired of the Japanese Transformer line.
There were probably a dozen dealers and collectors asking if the Japanese dealers had one. My guess is that they decided to avoid any fights by telling everyone "no" and then just throwing it up on the table when no one was looking. Well, I had just finished chatting with Raksha around noon on Sunday and was passing the Japanese table enroute back to my own... and there it was... dead center on top. Minelba. Considering how "hot" this toy is, I had honestly written off ever getting one. I wouldn't pay the $300+ that US dealers charge. Well, as luck would have it, I was in the right place at the right time and now I didn't have to!
Here's a picture of the exclusives... not just the 99 exclusives, but all of them (well, all that I have). From L to R, top to bottom: 94 Nightracer, 95 G2 Breakdown, 96 Onyx Primal (in the nicer TC97 box), 97 Japan Galvatron, 97 Packrat & Fractyl, 98 Antagany & Vice-grip, 98 Japan Barbearian & Double-punch, Inet Japan Galvatron, and 99 Windrazor & Sandstorm.
I actually picked this up a few months before Botcon... Here is a shot of the Japanese Grand Maximus.
And a few Botcon 99 pictures I was able to salvage:
The Japanese dealers brought a really well done costume of the gorilla Optimus Primal... but, no, it didn't Transform!
And no, this is NOT part of my collection... this is the Action Master Arcee "Prototype". Technically, prototype may not be the proper term, as I was told by one dealer that this was a fan-made item by the same gentleman who made the G2 Skyfire toy (another masterpiece of which there is a pic on my Transcon 97 page). Whatever it's true origin is, it's a very impressive piece and I wish I had one.