Transformers Artifacts of the Week: Botcon 1997 Charity Auction Robert Stack Authentication Letter and Casy Kasem Promissory Letter

These artifacts come with a bit of a story. My friend Zabgoth over the last year or so has been helping Glen Hallit sell off some of his Botcon Memorabilia. Zabgoth had a box of stuff he got from Glen that he took to Botcon 2023 to sell. He hadn’t gone through it before getting to the convention. There were a few things in that box I got, none as amazing as this first one. A charity auction was held at Botcon 1997. (You can watch that auction in its entirety here. It included toys signed by the guests, and some toys to be signed later. One of those toys included a letter confirming the authenticity of the actor’s signature on the toy, and Zabgoth found it in that box.

Yes, that is what you think it is. That’s a handwritten letter signed by the one and only Robert Stack, Ultra Magnus from Transformers: The Movie. If that wasn’t awesome enough, he wrote it on Unsolved Mysteries stationery. This is one of the most amazing things in my collection. I’ve got it up on my wall where I can see it right over my monitor. It states, “As an actor doing voice overs for Transformers – The Movie I state my autograph on the Ultra Magnus toy is authentic and will be given to the highest bidder in the Bot Con ’97 convention charity auction with proceeds benefiting Shriners Hospital.” I still can’t believe I drove from Boston to New Jersey with a Robert Stack autograph in my car and didn’t even know it. It’s just dumb luck that I was able to get this. The Ultra Magnus sold at auction for an unbelievably minuscule $125, and you can watch that specific auction in the video here. (If I ever find a time machine, one of my top five destinations is that auction and bidding way more than $125 on it.) Anyway, after purchasing this, Glen told Zabgoth that he also had another letter, and I had to have that one too.

A boxed Bluestreak was also auctioned off. It went for $250. Casey Kasem sent this, let’s call it a promissory letter, that he would sign and personalize it later and call the winner of the auction to authenticate his signature. His letter is typed and not on Unsolved Mysteries stationery, so it is nowhere near as cool as the Robert Stack letter, but it is signed. You can watch that auction here.

As always, you can find over 22,000 Transformers artifacts from every Transformers series and generation at TFMuseum.com.

Thanks for reading!