I've been a club member since nearly the beginning. I've never been to a BotCon, but I have most all of the club, BotCon, FSS figures going back to about 2005 or so. I've always felt that it's a chore to track down the figures at insane prices after BotCon. On the other hand, Hasbro and SDCC exclusives are far more painful to obtain, and the HasbroToyShop website is notoriously horrible - crashes, random listings appearing and disappearing, waiting weeks for listings to post, etc. Remember SDCC Metroplex? If they have a subscription service where you can get all their exclusives all year (perhaps at some kind of markup) or a preorder system, then I'm OK with it. Otherwise, I'm vary wary.

 

The vocal minority are actually people like you. Thousands of people attend BotCon each year. People at the show have a blast and ask most anyone there and they will tell you how smooth things go. People keep coming back for a reason, they have a great time!

As far as the Club, there has been missteps, but over 12 years they do happen (look at the fiasco over the WheresRey and the Play Doh thing for Hasbro). The difference between the vocal minority that you are part of and the vast majority of Transformers fans is that most people understand that mistakes happen, are willing to accept apologies (which Fun Pub has done on numerous occasions) and are able to move on with their lives and enjoy the hobby. Others just want to stay bitter and tear others down. Maybe you should try the former.

However with the confirmation that the club & convention coming to a close, that sucks to hear... Especially with no clear future for either to continue. No more Transformers convention, I guess I can start saving each year for NYCC or something :/

 

Honestly, I don't remember ANYONE like that....

 

No more Transformers conventions? Surely one jests. What of Cybcon? Dairycon? TFCon? That one in the UK that I can't think of the name of? What I see is the demise of what became an overly expensive show, but ultimately was one of many Tranaformer conventions. Will people miss it? Sure. But they also might enjoy touring the other conventions and saving a crap ton of money(I for one, want to attend a Dairycon at some point.). That said, NYCC is a blast and I highly recommend it. The panels are a blast and so is the overall scene. And if we have an official con in the future again, I will pendingly welcome our new overlords.

 

Oh god. Fuck those prices. I remember when I heard the price for one a friend wanted Inasked the staffer if they were nuts.

 

I know there were some who didn't want it to be true. If someone refused to even acknowledge the possibility, why does it matter? There are certainly fans who didn't want FP to lose their license, and are probably disappointed right now, why kick them why they're down?

 

Wouldn't go for the autographs  

Perhaps I should specify "No more in the *states"
Wouldn't mind the one in the UK. I actually would like to do Tokyo Toy Fair, gotta learn Japanese first, however...

 

There's TFcon in the states now and Dairycon has been running for years in Wisconsin. I feel like there's another TF Convention in the states that I'm forgetting but maybe I'm thinking of Cybfest.

 

How about, no more "official" TF cons? I'm pretty sure that's the gist of what he was getting at.
I'm also fairly certain that's what this is going to mean. There's not going to be a "if Hasbro can keep the costs down" because there's not going to be the slew of collector-oriented toys anymore. It's now going to be the lowest-common-denominator for all of us.
All of this is purely my speculation. I would also guess Hasbro's presence and offerings at SDCC is all we're going to see from them, convention-wise. SDCC has morphed into the sort of event that gets them what they want, marketing-wise.

 

stad basically got it  
I like meeting up with friends at the TF conventions, however Botcon is the one I've ever experienced my money's worth... I haven't been to Dairycon, but if it stays in one place I'd likely only go once and call it good.
Tried TFCon USA the first year they did it, wasn't really worth the price of admission IMO, honestly. I had my fun in the lobby and bar, and bought all my toys in the room sales. For a small show it was nice, but having been spoiled by Botcon on a few things, and hearing all of the crazy hype TFCon gets... I went in with all of those great expectations. And came out with this fun Mushroom Kingdom Techno Toon Titans set..... But that's about it.

 

i hope you enjoy your toys. and i hope you didn't buy them as an investment, as their value is tanking. but the people who run funpub are shitty, and giving them money is shitty. i'm not absolved of this. i bought some of their shit before finding out what kind of people they are.

poll says different. i guess go with what makes you feel better. your opinion on the matter seems moot since you're tight with pete and brian the racist. i know lots of people that have gone to botcon. the prevailing opinion was people had fun in spite of the con, not because of it. anecdotes are great!

 

Cybcon is no longer around, it's been replaced with CybFest NW which will be celebrating it's 3rd show this year. The official date will be announced "soon". CybFest NW can't have the guests, exclusives and events like Botcon, but we can keep people waiting for an announcement  

While I think CybFest NW and other fan conventions are a lot of fun, having the official support of Hasbro made a lot of, one of a kind experiences happen. I haven't been to TFcon or Dairycon and I'm sure there are some great experiences to be had, but we'll never get a Hasbro tour, party at Paramount studios or after hours at Universal Studios.

If Hasbro does put on a convention themselves, there will be some pros and cons. Hasbro supported FP in the character choices they made. However with Hasbro doing it, it'll give the designers a chance at those characters that have flown under the radar like Scrounge. I'm sure the convention will have more of a marketing vibe to it. The cast of Rescue Bots, Prime production team and the creators of Animated were brought in to promote the current television project.

It'll be hard for some to justify a flight and hotel to attend any fan convention. By what people have said the main TFcon is the closest thing to a Botcon sized convention. If TFcon gets a lot of hype, it's because people have had a really good time. The enjoyment of any convention will all come down to what the individual wants. Some fans are only interested in the dealer room or autographs or just hanging out with friends.

I've been curious about TFcon, but knowing that 3rd Party is a huge part of the convention, it'll not be necessarily worth it to me. That being said, TFcon can do what Botcon would never do and highlight those 3rd party figures.

 

I do enjoy the toys. Not all of them are interesting to me, but I view them as souvenirs from a vacation. I certainly don't view any figure as an investment, given that you brought it up, I'm inclined to think you view Transformers as something you can profit from. If that is true, I don't knock you for it at all, I personally don't view them like that.

I don't agree with any of the FP staff being "shitty". Through the 8 years of going to Botcon, I have had nothing but positive experiences from them. I do not deny they have made many mistakes over the years, but nothing that earns them the title of being "shitty". Maybe you had an experience that does earn them that title, but I haven't.

While the poll shows that there is some disapproval of FP, the number who have participated is a fraction of the number of people who are a part of TFCC and attend Botcon. The thing about these forums is a lot of things posted here are the extreme point of views (hate it and love it). There is no doubt there is a group who dislike FP and the way they handled the license. It's funny you know people who had fun in spite of the con, because those I know who have gone, myself included had a blast because of the show.

 

They haven't "lost their jobs" per say. They are an independent organization (FunPub). Regardless of the rhetoric, it does not bode well for them.

Not too much to hope for a good plan, but maybe too much to think they will have an answer at Botcon. That's like saying, "Hey....this company we just fired who is running this wonderful con for you this weekend....well, here is their replacement...."

Hey HH, you are a good dude. I've seen you post in this forum for years and you are always positive and have good etiquette, but don't poop on Hardreturn. He is a good dude as well, and a classy one at that....and a damn good photographer  

I understand where you are coming from, but I can't disagree with Hardreturn. As a professional myself, I have been treated pretty crappy face to face by members of FunPub at Botcon. I don't flaunt my "professional" card either because I am not like that. I have also seen them be very condescending to other convention attendees and, quite frankly, they could be just like me, a doctor or lawyer, and no one deserves to be treated that way, regardless of who you are.

Botcon was lots of fun for many years. Mainly because for a while it was the only gig in town for those of us to go to. Times have changed. Not only are there many cons to attend, but a lot of folks "hobby money" is now going to 3rd party toys whether you like it or not. Official or not, fans have many nicer toys to spend their money on than a $400 "box of repaints". I am not trying to belittle those folks that love and enjoy the official exclusive toys....for cripes sake, I have 7-8 boxsets in my closet....it is just the new reality. Throw in the fact that employees at Funpub are not professional, and it makes many fans very soured, including myself  

Hasbro, does not have any great alternatives honestly. I just feel that they probably heard enough complaints about Funpub. I am eager to see what the future holds, but I do not have high expectations. I mean let's face it, any exclusive they come up with will be a repaint. Personally, I am ok with it, but the fandom, in general, is tired of it. It will have to be very clever repaints, and probably not the gouging set of 15-20 exclusives that end up costing attendees almost $1000. The last few years of Botcon got ridiculous. I never purchased Botcon exclusives for the investment, but it sure did burn the heck out of me to find out how many of those toys got clearance for dirt cheap prices just a few months after the con  

I'll offer this piece of advice......don't get hung up on the "officialness" of a convention. Just go because you enjoy the brand and the friends you will make. I have gone to both official and non-official conventions and I've enjoyed them both. I just don't enjoy seeing folks who spend lots of their hard earned money get treated like insignificant pee-ons by the company they just gave that money to  

 

Actually, I am kind of hoping the toys' value will tank, at least in the short term... so I can pick up all the ones I'm missing on the cheap.  

But in all seriousness, there's really no reason for the toys to lose value. They're official Transformers and they were produced in very limited quantities. As long as there are fans of, say, Animated, the 2011 Stunticons will be fairly valuable. Ultra Mammoth is a work of art regardless of whether the folks who made him are still around. Look how much people still get for some of the '90s-era Botcon toys. No worries. I'd feel much worse about my spending if I'd sunk a bunch of money into, oh, say, 3rd party figures. Now THOSE aren't going to be worth the plastic they're made of in a few years.  

 

thanks so much dude, hope to see you at one of the cons again  

oh, no. when and if i sell it's almost always at a loss. i was referring to the old promises of the club that their toys wouldn't lose value and wouldn't be on sale.

not shitty to you ≠ not shitty. once you move past isolated incident, you really need to take into account how they treat people as a whole. there's a world of horrible people that have been nothing but nice to me.

as i said, anecdotes are fun! but unfortunately not useful. hell, we just had a mutual friend recount one. i'm sorry that i came across as shit talking anyone but brian and pete. hell, there are people who work for funpub that are decent. too bad they work for garbage trash.

statistically, 186 is a large enough sample size to draw conclusions from, even assuming a possible attendance of 10000 people. if the poll were close, i wouldn't feel confident saying so, but this isn't an aberration.

 

TFW is hardly the only, end all be all Transformers fansite. I'm curious how this poll would look on Seibertron, TFormers, Allspark, Facebook, Twitter, and the countless other forms of social media sites. Hell, the rest of the members on this website that don't even know this poll exists! But sure, let's treat this as a controlled form of the entire fandom's opinion.
And you want to talk about my opinion being moot? You're the one spreading misinformed hate, and lies with things like "Pete and Brian the racist." All because you read something on the internet and want to be part of the "cool kids" crowd. But sure, resort to name calling and defaming people's character to fit your agenda so you can sleep better at night.
And that's funny, I'm sure I know a LOT more that have fun at the con because of the con. If you can even get me a list of 100 names (which is maybe 5% of total attendees- ball park estimate) that still wouldn't add up for much (not saying those people's opinions don't matter).

I may check out Cybcon then! Thanks for the tip  
The main TFCon may be the best thing since sliced bread and that's all well and good, but the US show (at least in 2014) was pretty small. It wasn't 50 people small, but it certainly wasn't anywhere near the size of Botcon. I think a lot of the hype comes from folks who want to see more 3rd party stuff, honestly. Unofficial Transformers has a growing fanbase. I think that is the draw for both shows. I'm a fan of Transformers; official from the bosom of Hasbro. Botcon is my preferred convention.
I'm also a fan of transforming robots, too; be they original concepts or straight up IP theft. But not enough to spend money on flight & hotel, so TFCon as a convention doesn't appeal to me  
However for some people it's the opposite, and that's cool too.

 

Believe me I'm not hung up on the "officialness" of a convention. I'm one of the show runners of CybFest NW, and there are many 3rd party figures that come through the dealer room.

I've had good experiences, others have had bad experiences, there is no doubting that. Hardreturn is totally justified in disliking the club. I don't think a person is "shitty person" just for some bad customer service.

The money for the box sets also covers the cost of the convention. Though they do sell the box sets to non-attendees, I view that as a courtesy for those who can't go but still want the figures. I don't know how "tired" the fandom is of Botcon exclusives, since people still go to the con and some non-attendees still buy the sets.

The perceived value of the figures has dropped considerably. It used to be the box sets would sell out before the show, but not anymore. The at con exclusives would almost always sell out, now they're being put on clearance for a fraction of the cost. Even the Attendee only figure has shown up for sale.

It will be interesting to see what the future holds. If Hasbro puts on the convention, they can do things that they may not have let FP do. I worry that the cost won't come down though, since they know fans will pay it, but there isn't a middleman (FP).

I never heard promises the toys will never lose their value, but I do remember promises that the figures will not be sold at retail, which has happened a couple times with the seekers. The club putting the exclusives on clearance certainly makes the future exclusives less appealing at the price they offer at the show.

I guess the question is what does it take to go from being a decent person to being "shitty"? That answer is going to differ depending on the person.

 

The thing I haven't read is someone who likes FP and Botcon calling them out for being racist. It seems to be only people who already dislike FP. No one wants to be associating with a racist or supporting their business, which makes the accusation of racism very manipulative of those who don't dislike the club.

CybFest NW is a fun show, but we are relatively small, approx 250-300 attendees. As of now we're a one day show but we're still growing the it. We hope to eventually be a convention that people will fly in for, but it's not there yet.

 

It's just another way for them to push their ridiculous anti-FunPub propaganda  
I mean seriously, it's like some of these people are either pissed off beyond bitterness because they can't afford the exclusives, or they pitched some ideas and were turned down. That's how childish all of this has become on that side of the fence.
Announce the 2017 date and I'll catch a weekend flight just to come check it out.