Dealers Will Not Be Able to Sell Third Party Figures at BotCon 2012

[Lord_Onslaught]

funny how it becomes property of the Promoter. I can see fun pub then selling any stuff they confiscate later on ebay

 

But hey this will help Funpub sell their crap better. Nothing else to buy?!?

 

Probably since this years box set has so far been a let down

[Shadowpanther]

funny how it becomes property of the Promoter. I can see fun pub then selling any stuff they confiscate later on ebay

 

But hey this will help Funpub sell their crap better. Nothing else to buy?!?

 

Probably since this years box set has so far been a let down

 

Funpub/TFCC nor hasbro/takara isn't legally allowed to confiscate any 3rd party TF items from the fans/atendees.

 

If any botcon 2012 dealer was stupid enough to sign that contact,then turn around & sell 3rd party TF items at the convention. then those botcon dealers deserve to have their 3rd party stuff conficated by hasbro/takara TFCC/funpub.

[Lord_Onslaught]

funny how it becomes property of the Promoter. I can see fun pub then selling any stuff they confiscate later on ebay

 

But hey this will help Funpub sell their crap better. Nothing else to buy?!?

 

Probably since this years box set has so far been a let down

 

Funpub/TFCC nor hasbro/takara isn't legally allowed to confiscate any 3rd party TF items from the fans/atendees.

 

If any botcon 2012 dealer was stupid enough to sign that contact,then turn around & sell 3rd party TF items at the convention. then those botcon dealers deserve to have their 3rd party stuff conficated by hasbro/takara TFCC/funpub.

 

They can not confiscate anything, if they did they would have to return it immediately. Otherwise it would be stealing regardless what the contract between the dealer and fun pub was

[Shadowpanther]

funny how it becomes property of the Promoter. I can see fun pub then selling any stuff they confiscate later on ebay

 

But hey this will help Funpub sell their crap better. Nothing else to buy?!?

 

Probably since this years box set has so far been a let down

 

Funpub/TFCC nor hasbro/takara isn't legally allowed to confiscate any 3rd party TF items from the fans/atendees.

 

If any botcon 2012 dealer was stupid enough to sign that contact,then turn around & sell 3rd party TF items at the convention. then those botcon dealers deserve to have their 3rd party stuff conficated by hasbro/takara TFCC/funpub.

 

They can not confiscate anything, if they did they would have to return it immediately. Otherwise it would be stealing regardless what the contract between the dealer and fun pub was

 

I agree.......

 

Most likely this is a scare tactic being used by TFCC/Funpub & Hasbro/Takara.

 

The scenario I see happening at Botcon 2012 is as follows:

(0)TFCC/Funpub & Hasbro/Takara have a meeting with all the dealers when their doing their table set ups a day before or hours before the botcon convention opens to the public. TFCC will warn the dealers during set up,not to put any 3rd party TF toys for sale/trade on their dealers tables.

 

(1)TFCC walks around the dealers room on hasbro'S/Takara's behalf & looks for any 3rd party TF toys being sold by the dealers on the dealers floor/room. If TFCC notices any dealers selling 3rd party TF toys. then the TFCC stafff ask that or those dealers to remove the 3rd party TF toys from the floor & put the items in their car or hotel room. if the dealer refuses then TFCC can rmove the dealer from the convention floor/room & depending on the scene the dealer makes,the dealer can receive a permanent ban from selling stuff at botcon & may be refused a attendee admission to future botcon conventions.

 

(2)If any attendees are caught bringing in 3rd party TF toys at the convention to trade with dealers or in the swap meats room with other fans. TFCC can tell that attendee to remove the 3rd party TF toys from the botcon convention rooms & areas. the first option given would to tell the attendee to take his 3rd party stuff to his car,hotel or whatever. If the attendee refuses,then TFCC is within their rights to throw the attendee out of the botcon convention. depending on the scene the attendee makes he may get banned from future botcon conventions.

 

(3)My solid guess is TFCC/Funpub & it's crew makes a big announcement before the convention starts when attendees are in line waiting to get in every single day until the convention ends.

 

(4)TFCC/Funpub,Will most likely ask attendees to search their bags & book bags everytime they enter & leave the Botcon convention exit/entrance doors. TFCC/Funpub after or before the search for 3rd party TF toys,will warn attendees not to bring 3rd party TF toys into the convention. TFCC/Funpub will also warn attenddees at the entrance/exits doors not to buy from any 3rd party TF toys from dealers nor trade with any dealers/attendees who have 3rd party TF toys.

[Blitz-Wing]

All they can do is deny access if you're carrying 3rd party stuff. If they seize it and keep it, then they're gonna have legal ramifications to deal with. However, they are within their right to tell a dealer to pack up and leave if they display 3rd party stuff.

 

As stupid as that is...

[puma]

yea, it's a weird line.

 

i have to deal with bootleggers in my line of work who are making counterfeit products based of who i work for and i have to hire police to find these people and write them tickets for selling merchandise without a local tax id and permit. They then can confiscate that product and hold it as evidence.

 

Obviously, my situation is different than that of Hasbro. I assume the price these dealers are paying to set up booths include permits to vend locally. I'd imagine they would ask any vendors who do bring these products to hide it and not sell it. If they do confiscate it, the product could be hidden in Hasbro's "desk" until the end of the con.

[robo_rob]

They have all rights to confiscate the stuff, as the dealers gave them that right when they signed the agreement. Now obviously it would be returned at the end of the show. I believe the kicking out part is if the dealer becomes a problem, which they would tell anyone to leave in that kind of a situation. It's pretty plain and simple, they have a user agreement that must be adheared to. You want to set up shop at their show, you have to do it by their guidelines. If dealers want to sell stuff the official show doesn't allow, they have other options available. These kind of things are pretty commonplace. You know those kiosks at malls? They are given guidelines as to what they cannot sell as well or they are ejected. It's not a big bad guy situation, it's a what the company doesn't want at their show/site. End of story.

 

Honestly, I'm surprised at the outrage. I know, before there was unofficial stuff aplenty, but things change and apparently the legal team has changed the terms. The more the big guys get involved, the more official it becomes. I think it was at OTFCC where I found out even the little signs on the doors had to be approved (I have friends who were staff). Like the slip of paper you wrote your art contest vote on, even that had to go through approval before they could use it. Whenever a group liscenses a property, they have to literally do everything the parent company wants or they lose their liscense. Even your local McDonald's has to adhere to franchise stuff or they lose their franchise and all the money they put into it and planned to make off it.

 

One good thing is, there ARE other options available. Other than web stores, there are a large amount of fan run conventions that don't mind if unofficial items are sold. Take SavCon (I can give better insight on it since I'm on the board). Our guidelines is you need to mostly sell TF related merchandise (it is a TF con) and if it's adult oriented (fan artists do do adult themed commissions sometimes, if they chose) keep it out of general eyesight so we can keep our show family friendly. I know the other unofficial cons do the same (ok, Transfunket allows the adult stuff out in the open) and are open to this kind of stuff. Who knows, maybe in a few years BotCon will relax that a bit, but for now this is a new rule.

 

I doubt it would really affect the con much, maybe a little, but not much. I know the dealer room is a big draw, but the main reason fans go is out of love for TF. So, go figure the official con is all official.

[Lord_Onslaught]

I've already heard from some dealers they will still be selling 3rd party products. apparently they can not sell it in the dealer room but they can elsewhere at Botcon

 

Robo this is an outrage, ok?

 

Botcon used to be fun but every year they get more stringent with the rules that have made it anything but fun.

Botcon was never like this before, and you could sell your own customs or anything else that you wanted buy sell trade, ask the questions you wanted to ask without having to be screened before hand

[robo_rob]

I've already heard from some dealers they will still be selling 3rd party products. apparently they can not sell it in the dealer room but they can elsewhere at Botcon

Which would be fine, and they probably wouldn't care about. I think it's more of a general out in open thing.

Robo this is an outrage, ok?

Smartass :P

 

Botcon used to be fun but every year they get more stringent with the rules that have made it anything but fun.

Botcon was never like this before, and you could sell your own customs or anything else that you wanted buy sell trade, ask the questions you wanted to ask without having to be screened before hand

Yeah, I know. In fact, I really miss the old hippy (for lack of better term) community vibe that has been gone since 04. But as TF becomes a bigger brand, Hasbro is going to be more and more militant about their property and we are seeing that right before our eyes. Basically, things change, regardless if we like it or not.

[robo_rob]

A thought just occurred to me. If Hasbro doesn't put a foot down now, how hard would it be for them to take a stand if Bandai or Mattel (for example) decide to make similar figures? You know, it's different enough to eek by, but still infringes on ip. I'm no legal expert, but I have been told companies have to take a stand early to be able to keep a stance on these matters.

 

Also, I wonder if the blanket unofficial ban is to avoid any gray area. Because they don't mind accessories, art, and the like. But it could be twisted enough.