We have received a press release from the Transformers Collectors Club regarding the release of the Botcon comic to comic stores! Transformers Timelines 6, The Stunti-Con Job, will be a 48 page supersized edition with 16 extra pages of Allspark Almanac content by Jim Sorenson and Bill Forster.
Additionally, the TFCC have launched a contest to win a Botcon Animated Minerva, only 75 made. Read on for details on this contest, and also the full press release from Fun Publications regarding Timelines Issue 6. Coming this November – BotCon Commemorative edition of Transformers Timelines Issue 6: The Stunti-Con Job featuring the Allspark Almanac Addendum!
This SUPERSIZED 48-page edition of TRANSFORMERS: TIMELINES offers the first ALL-NEW comic continuation of the TRANSFORMERS: ANIMATED cartoon series. Dubbed season 3.5, this brand new comic adventure “Stunti-Con Job” is written by TRANSFORMERS: ANIMATED Story Editor MARTY ISENBERG with new concepts and characters developed by Cartoon Network’s Art Director DERRICK J. WYATT. Also included is 16 pages of ADDITIONAL Allspark Almanac content developed exclusively for this awesome comic offering. A must read for TRANSFORMERS fans!
story – MARTY ISENBERG, MATT YOUNGBERG & DERRICK J. WYATT
writer – MARTY ISENBERG
art – MARCELO MATERE & THOMAS DEER
cover – THOMAS DEER
November
48 pages, FC
$7.95
And now… The Ultimate Transformers Timelines Animated Comic Contest!
We want to make sure every comic shop across the U.S. carries this amazing Animated offering and we want you to help. Best part? You can win a 2011 Transformers Animated Custom Class Minerva Figure limited to under 75 built.
Simply visit your favorite Comic shop(s) and ask them to order Transformers Timelines Issue 6: The Stunti-Con Job. Solicitation appears on page 298 of September Previews.
Whoever gets the MOST solicitations ordered at their comic shop* will receive a 2011 Transformers Animated Custom Class Minerva. The owner of the comic shop with the highest number of orders will receive a signed 2011 Transformers Timelines Issue 6, a TF3 Razer DeathAdder Gaming mouse and a BotCon 2011 Exclusive Fisitron figure.
Grand Prize – 2011 Custom Class Transformers Animated Minerva
First Prize – TF3 Razer DeathAdder Gaming mouse and Vespula Mouse mat
Five (5) Runner up Prizes – Transformers Timelines Issue 6 Signed Copy (Signed by Marty Isenberg, Marcelo Matere, Derrick J. Wyatt, Abby Collins and more!)
*For Contest Rules and Regulations please visit www.transformersclub.com
Ikkstakk
The contest ended September 28. How long before we hear who won?
Pete Sync
Yes… All info is at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club
Will be in 8/31 Previews
Sideswipe80
I'll ask again, can i pre order this from my comic shop?
airfox
Or if you live somewhere with no comic shop.
QFT.
I was looking forward to the contest when it was announced on twitter last week, but after reading the rules this week, I'm severely disappointed.
-airfox
Pete Sync
You would win that bet…
caitlindevi
I got a prescription for this from my Doctor…I have a medical need for animated
Valkysas
I bet this is that official thing Marcelo Matere tweeted about a while ago.
muffinhunter
Leaving aside the fact that "subscription" and "prescription" don't mean the same thing, what you want is actually exactly what this is: the BotCon comic with added content. You never needed to be a Club member to get this, and the way you obtain it now is through a comic shop, not the Club, so the Club's shipping methods/times don't apply at all.
BB Shockwave
Great, addig stuff I'd have bought even as a stand-alone comic into some TFCC material I'd had to be prescribed into for a long time to get, not to mention their horrible international shipping methods and timelines.
It'd have been better if they made this into some Botcon comic that everyone could buy at Botcon… or even pre-order. Without paying a prescription fee.
Lumpy
that's pretty right on… i don't have a store, but i've worked for almost every local comic shop in town. if i was an owner, and had enough money in the bank, i'd probably try to win just to keep her for myself, and sell the other prizes… and most likely just try to sell the books for $5 to get them to move quicker… but i'd also have to make sure to set an extra stack of the books near the counter so that it grabs more eyes… but again, all of that is hypothetical as i don't own my own store…
thedreaded1
I applaud TFCC for coming up with something original for a contest but I don't think a lot of shop owners are going to increase their order numbers for this book. Comic book stores are closing up left and right. Between the economy, rising comic book costs, and the push for digital content; there isn't a market for this type of contest.
Ikkstakk
So here's how it breaks down, and someone please correct me if I'm off somewhere.
Comic shops can order books at roughly 50% of cover price. (For indies and low-print-run books like Timelines #6 it may be less, but I'm just ballparking all of this anyway.) So for Timelines #6, let's say they can get them for $4 per copy. They could therefore order 50 copies at a cost of $200, the stated value of the comic store prizes. If that's enough to win them the contest, they receive the mouse, the signed copy and Fisitron, which they will obviously resell. If they can get $200 for these items, they break even. Any sold copies of the 50 books they ordered is icing.
Where this goes hazy is the value of the prizes. A quick eBay check shows the mouse going in the $60 range. Fisitron, as an item never sold at retail, technically has a retail value of $0. The store can put whatever price it wants to on the figure. Most eBay sellers seem to want $100-$150, but of course those are all Buy It Nows and not a reflection of the figure's actual value. And the signed comic, again, technically has a retail value of only $7.95. The autographs will bump it up, but by how much? Again, the store can put whatever price it wants to there. Is it worth $40? $40 being the minimum price the store would have to sell the issue for, assuming they sell the mouse for $60 and Fisitron for $100, to make back the $200 they spent on 50 copies of Timelines #6.
And then, of course, a store owner will surely guesstimate how many copies of the book he can sell. 10 copies sold will net him $40 (remember he spent $4 per copy, so he's in the hole by half of the issue's cover price). If he runs a large, urban comic store, 10 or even 20 copies might be a reasonable guess. If his store is rural, probably not. Now if he can make $200 by selling his prizes, and another $40-$80 for the copies he can sell, he may not care that he's left with 30-40 copies he can't sell. But in my opinion, $40-$80 is a pretty slim profit margin for this prospect. And this is if he wins. If he loses, he's out $160-$200 unless he can miraculously unload at least 25 of the issues he ordered.
I'd love for some store owners to chime in, here. Is this a fair evaluation? Would you be likely to take this gamble? What about other wrinkles, like the fact that just because you have a $40 signed copy of Timelines #6, a $60 TF3 mouse, and a $100 Botcon-exclusive toy for sale in your store doesn't mean they'll sell before the end of the month, thus messing with your budget? Would the prizes be of more value to you as prizes for your own in-store contests?
GrantB
That sounds like a great way to do it, and probably way more effective.
Lumpy
Cool, i'll be sure to look for that next week and get my order in.
Pete Sync
September Issue… Hits newsstands on 8/31
Thank you for the suggestions. Some good points…
Lumpy
I see demand for Animated, but not that much, especially for an $8 book… It's a cool concept, but as someone stated it'll increase sales on the book that won't have nearly as much demand behind it… that said, I'm still going to order it, and encourage my store to order a few for the shelves, but I know they won't order enough to win in the end.
I'm still stoked to get this comic though, just wish this contest was maybe a random drawing from any store who orders 10 or more, instead of biggest order… I've got all the other years Diamond Edition's as well, except 05 (but there wasn't a Diamond version that year, IIRC)
which issue of Previews will this be in Pete?
Pete Sync
Yes, first runner up gets mouse and gaming pad.
Shop owner gets Mouse, Fisitron and signed book.
Ikkstakk
Ah, got it. So the mouse is a prize for the winning store and also a prize for the first runner-up in the contest. For some reason I wasn't interpreting that correctly the first time.
GrantB
When I said "loser", I merely meant non-winner. I edited my post to change it to "non-winner".
The "fools" part, though, was interpreted correctly, and my use of the term was clear and intentional.
samtastic
That's great! I love those contests. I ran out of time on a few, but prefer those