So am I. I dispute their importance. Fun Pub's BotCon was still successful. Hallit's BotCon (for all his best intentions) was not. At all.



(Yes, I'm also fully aware that "Hallit's BotCon" was technically called OTFCC at the time)

 

Agreed, but my use of "running it into the ground" does not strictly refer to financially. Sinclair was burning bridges and increasingly becoming a point of contention between fans and funpub. Notice I never said anything about money, you did. The phrase "run into the ground" merely means to ruin or destroy.

 

I stand by my interpretation as the natural implication of "to ruin or destroy." I think we've hashed out this side-track by now.

 

you mean we've "run it into the ground"?   (thoroughly discussing a topic is actually the first definition of the idiom)
Definition of run into the ground | Dictionary.com

 

You seem a little defensive.

 

I don't think we'll ever fully know why Hasbro pulled the plug. I have my doubts that it was fully or in large part because of fan complaints. The last couple of BotCons still saw attendance on par with any prior years. The complaints towards BotCon / FunPub / Pete tended to be amplified on internet forums, even though a lot of criticism was very valid.

 

And a lot correct.

 

If Botcon no longer has access to official molds then can't they then pull a TFCon and go to third party molds to give us exclusive figures? Or is that too much a risk?

 

Considering the cost of FunPub stuff when official molds were in play, can't imagine the cost of a 3P equivalent. How about they use Steamshield to mass produce painted upgrade kits for existing figures?

Wasn't part of it because Hasbro was going to pivot to Hascon? And we had one, then they took a year off, and then allegedly were going to do one this year until along came COVID and *infinite fart noises*

 

I think Hasbro just wanted to do their own thing but the world may never know... Besides they did enough damage both online and in person. You and I know of their shenanigans at the shows (wristbands/infantilization of attendees “My Scouts”/grabbing people’s badges/sweltering-sweatshop custom classes, lol/half-headed sculpted exclusives/etc). The nicest thing I can say is the BotCon 2011 set was aces. And thanks for the memories surrounding the show(s) which they had no part of.  

 

I think the general assumption is that, yes. To my recollection though we never got a definitive reason, but the writing on the wall (HasCon, Generations Selects, etc.) points to Hasbro wanting to do its own thing.

The memories are truly what made the show  

 

I definitely agree that Hasbro wanted to do their own thing, but I also think that the increasing disatisfaction with funpub helped inform that decision. Like I said, there can be more than one contributing factor for why funpubs license got pulled

 

Hey. So, BotCon will not be offering anything that is often considered 3rd party. Exclusives offered will be items that are considered original IP’s. Brands that utilize trademarks and are their own distinct toy lines.

There will be more announcements so stay tuned!

 

Ok, n00b question, this figure would be 6"? Not the 3.75" 1980s Joe size?

Really not familiar with Action Force other than the UK comic.

 

Are you able to share if BotCon will feature ~ transforming ~ figures?

To add context to that question (and to continue the discussion perhaps from a couple of pages ago), I'm wondering if there is any hesitation from BotCon to utilize a strategy similar to FansProject Glacialord. A transforming figure not based on Hasbro IP, but one that clearly homages the nostalgia of an 80's toy line. To me that skirts the "often considered 3rd party" criteria and moves toward a unique idea.

 

I do like that idea. There are plenty of examples out there of 3rd party transforming robot toys that don't actually evoke a clear homage. For instance, I'm not particularly sure what Fansproject's WB008 is meant to homage except, perhaps, a Diaclone maybe. Taking that mold and recoloring it into a unique color map as a new character would be neat.

 

I bet, legally, they could do a Retro Future style boxy original converting figure.

Where it could get fuzzy is if they tried to mimic a Hasbro gimmick. Like how Glacialord was a team of original characters, but still used Scramble connectors.

 

Brand new molds, though, is a massive cost investment. They'd have to have major confidence in the sales to invest in such an idea.

 

Yes, we did talk about that over the weekend. We have every intention of producing robot exclusives, specifically transforming robot exclusives. There does seem to be some confusion over the idea of a company producing toys of their own. That if you are not Hasbro or Mattel and you’re producing action figures and/or robots, that you’re somehow third-party. No, anything that is a proprietary concept is as was mentioned earlier in this thread, first party. Anything we produce and/or license will be items that are original IP’s.

Now, are there concepts that have been developed that are derivative of other toy lines? Well of course. That was the entirety of the 80s and the 90s LOL. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was released, and then every company wanted their version of Ninja Turtles. Marvel and DC have spent decades copying each other. And of course, there are all kinds of transforming robot toy lines in Japan.

So to sum it up, are we going to offer transforming robot toys? That is 100% the plan. And anything we sell or license will be first party and/or trademarked IP’s.

 

‘This newsie is on it! Give him his newzzz creditzzzz!