I am still PO'ed about the promised exclusive PVC Skywarp from the PRIOR TF club I joined.

 

:tfmad   *Shennanigan'd*   :tfmad

 

http://www.seibertron.com/infozone/convent...clusives052.jpg

 

So yeah, I think I will wait until I see that this club is actually sticking around, and the exclusives are actually worth buying before I drop money again KTHX.

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There was some big drama story behind that.

 

Something about 2000 units, botcon, money and stuff.

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BANKRUPTCY"D -  :lol

TFCC membership is horrendously expensive if you live outside the US. I think the main problem with the TFCC is that many fans just feel that they're not getting value for their money... (especially non-US fans who pay an extra hefty premium).

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:pfx

 

Really not going to join considering how much it would cost me and how very little I would get in return.

 

 

As for the pics. It was nice to see them, but I really wouldn't have minded if I had to wait for Hasbro to make them available to the general public; esp. since this happened the next day, but if it had taken a month it also wouldn't have mattered to me. So what if the club and it's members are the first to see the pics? For me it really doesn't matter if I see pics of new stuff 5 months before they're released or some 3 to 4 months before release.

They just want to nickel and dime us to death some more.

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Fixed

I think Hasbro expects too much from the fandom. They see how us collectors will drop a huge amount of money on toys, but in reality, a small percentage of the fandom actually does this. They must see it as a stereotype, and as a result, their club and convention is aimed at the high-end dream, leaving most of the fandom not willing to pay that price.

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Hasbro does not run the club. Fun Publications does, after paying a hefty, hefty licensing fee to Hasbro. After paying this huge fee, FP needs to make money. $40/year($.77/week) is evidently too much for a large chunk of the fandom to pay. If that paltry amount is too much for the majority to pay, then FP has to target the higher end market that will pay more. It's just economics. It might leave many fans out of the club, but it's probably the only way for them to turn a profit.

 

It'd be great if the club could be cheaper, but it can't be with Hasbro's huge licensing fee.

 

(I don't know how true it is, but the only rumor of a figure I've heard is the fee is over $10,000/year)

 

ok, the cheapest route is $40 a year...

 

for that you get 12 issues of classified ads, 6 "newsletters", and a repainted toy... hmm oh yea you can also buy stuff from the store at *gasp* retail price. 

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Whatever a person's taste in color(no color will be loved by everyone), a limited run basic repaint likely costs at least double retail, so about $15, then $5 to ship it. That's $20 of the $40 already. Future remolds will eat up more money. Full color printing isn't cheap, so say about $2/newsletter and $1 to ship each, that's another $18. So it's up to $38 out of the $40 not including the classified ads(which some think are a detriment not benefit), plus the exclusive/early content, plus the website/forums, plus the club store(which will have exclusive merchandise), plus a $50 discount on a Primus/Iacon package for Botcon.

 

The club is easily providing $40 of content in value, it may not be content you want, but the value is there.

 

International memberships, yep, not a good deal. International Hasbro offices should do something.

 

As far as the club store having *gasp* retail prices.... not much FP can do about that when Hasbro charges them just as much as other stores. The club store probably even has a slimmer profit margin than Wal-mart, Target, etc. that order in bulk. HASBROTOYSHOP.com even sells their stuff at retail prices. It'd certainly be cool to get things at below retail, but that's just not possible. Hasbro won't discount to FP, they won't even discount to THEMSHEVLES and their own web store. I would guess Hasbro won't discount things becaue that'd upset the big retailers tremendously and that would kill Hasbro.

 

The only thing I've ordered from the store is a case pack of LOC wave 1 & 2. It shipped very fast and I got it looooong before wave 2 was every found in stores. The price was also lower than retail by about $1 per figure. With shipping the total was less than I'd pay at retail with tax, not to mention gas money. So I saved a few bucks and got items that most wouldn't see for months... sounds worth a buck or two.

 

They just want to nickel and dime us to death.

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FP certainly is trying to nickel and dime fans to pay for Hasbro TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS-ing them with the licensing fee.

 

^ Yeah depending on how they do, Hasbro may just stop conventions and what not all together.

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I suspect if FP can't be profitable then Hasbro would be unlikely to sell the license to another company. And any other company would be more unlikely to want to buy the license.

you can please some people, some of the time. but you can't please all the people all the time. or something like that...i'm not big on sayings

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correct.  personally, I don't care.  I'll see the images eventually. 

I think Hasbro expects too much from the fandom. They see how us collectors will drop a huge amount of money on toys, but in reality, a small percentage of the fandom actually does this. They must see it as a stereotype, and as a result, their club and convention is aimed at the high-end dream, leaving most of the fandom not willing to pay that price.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hasbro does not run the club. Fun Publications does, after paying a hefty, hefty licensing fee to Hasbro. After paying this huge fee, FP needs to make money. $40/year($.77/week) is evidently too much for a large chunk of the fandom to pay. If that paltry amount is too much for the majority to pay, then FP has to target the higher end market that will pay more. It's just economics. It might leave many fans out of the club, but it's probably the only way for them to turn a profit.

 

It'd be great if the club could be cheaper, but it can't be with Hasbro's huge licensing fee.

 

(I don't know how true it is, but the only rumor of a figure I've heard is the fee is over $10,000/year)

 

ok, the cheapest route is $40 a year...

 

for that you get 12 issues of classified ads, 6 "newsletters", and a repainted toy... hmm oh yea you can also buy stuff from the store at *gasp* retail price. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Whatever a person's taste in color(no color will be loved by everyone), a limited run basic repaint likely costs at least double retail, so about $15, then $5 to ship it. That's $20 of the $40 already. Future remolds will eat up more money. Full color printing isn't cheap, so say about $2/newsletter and $1 to ship each, that's another $18. So it's up to $38 out of the $40 not including the classified ads(which some think are a detriment not benefit), plus the exclusive/early content, plus the website/forums, plus the club store(which will have exclusive merchandise), plus a $50 discount on a Primus/Iacon package for Botcon.

 

The club is easily providing $40 of content in value, it may not be content you want, but the value is there.

 

International memberships, yep, not a good deal. International Hasbro offices should do something.

 

As far as the club store having *gasp* retail prices.... not much FP can do about that when Hasbro charges them just as much as other stores. The club store probably even has a slimmer profit margin than Wal-mart, Target, etc. that order in bulk. HASBROTOYSHOP.com even sells their stuff at retail prices. It'd certainly be cool to get things at below retail, but that's just not possible. Hasbro won't discount to FP, they won't even discount to THEMSHEVLES and their own web store. I would guess Hasbro won't discount things becaue that'd upset the big retailers tremendously and that would kill Hasbro.

 

The only thing I've ordered from the store is a case pack of LOC wave 1 & 2. It shipped very fast and I got it looooong before wave 2 was every found in stores. The price was also lower than retail by about $1 per figure. With shipping the total was less than I'd pay at retail with tax, not to mention gas money. So I saved a few bucks and got items that most wouldn't see for months... sounds worth a buck or two.

 

They just want to nickel and dime us to death.

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FP certainly is trying to nickel and dime fans to pay for Hasbro TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS-ing them with the licensing fee.

 

^ Yeah depending on how they do, Hasbro may just stop conventions and what not all together.

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I suspect if FP can't be profitable then Hasbro would be unlikely to sell the license to another company. And any other company would be more unlikely to want to buy the license.

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You addressed everyone in the thread except for me.  :tfsad

and me....

You addressed everyone in the thread except for me.  :tfsad

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I am still PO'ed about the promised exclusive PVC Skywarp from the PRIOR TF club I joined.

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Hey, that's what the free year of membership to FP's club was for! :thumb  I realize "Geewuners" would have like Skywarp, but for me, a TRANSFORMER club is better with a TRANSFORMER, not a soft plastic "action figure" ;)

 

and me....

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It seems to me that Hasbro should be taking a more active interest ('specially gearing up for the movie) in making this club work well.

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I agree. It would take Hasbro's doing to get a discount club store. Hopefully Hasbro lets the club use G1s and Alternators as exclusives too.

 

Happy? ;)

:lol

[rant]

TFCC ripped me off on shipping & charged me scalper prices when I bought stuf from them in the one dreadful year I was a member. I'm glad I see the images early if it upsets them. I could've waited for the images though, I rarely get caught up in all the hype about a toy anyway.

[/rant]

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*ahem*  :wave