A look back at Joe Eibe, Botcon Legend

Ah Joe Eibe....... not many of you Transfans know of the name, but you know of the face, the image and the legend. Born in 1966 in California, Joe was your typical cosplayer, he embodied the "Comic Book Guy" while having the personality of Filburt from Rocko's Modern Life.

The man LIVED for cosplay, claiming he started doing it when he was 2 years old. And look how awesome he does it...... LOOK AT IT!!!

Now you ask what really does this have to do with Botcon? Well in 1998 Botcon came into his neck of the woods. Normally Joe only trolled the local anime/sci fi conventions that the good state of California had to offer but finally Botcon came to town. So he put together a Metalhawk costume (from Transformers Masterforce for those not in the know) and hit the TF con scene. Needless to say he left an impression that people would speak about for YEARS to come. One impact was Fumihiko Akiyama (of Transformers Generations guide book fame), when he went on to do a guide about Botcon, he had to show pictures of Joe Eibe's Metalhawk.

You have to keep in mind that prior to 2007 Bay Movies and the female fandom EXPLODING (namely due to fad hoppers), cosplay at Botcon was rather limited, but he brought the bacon.... and no doubt ate it all too.

Joe still cosplays to this day, he has not been back to Botcon since that legendary 1998 year but he did continue to make other Transformers costumes. His first was Optimus Prime (with opening chest to reveal a Matrix), Metalhawk (as we just mentioned), Saber (the smaller jet robot of Star Saber from Transformers Victory), Wreck Gar (He said it could transform if he could just bend forward......... I laughed a bit) and had plans for an Ultra Magnus that never happened.

He said all the costumes today are in pretty bad shape today due to him sweating a lot and it getting into the cardboard and destroying them. You know I can't make any of this shit up, so please dont laugh. In his spare time he likes to write cross fan fiction about the Transformers having adventures with Dr. Who or even the Star Trek crew. Sigh.......... I think we will leave this blog post at that. One up your fandom people!