It's off-topic to mention this, but I should point out that there actually is enough food in the world for everyone. The problem is distribution. I could cite sources, but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble. However, minus that petty detail, I agree with your post 100%.
Is it okay if I just say "I'm one!" and leave it at that for now? I'm accused of being an FP apologist as it is.
It seems to me that FP is reaching more fans than any previous version of the club (well, there isn't much to chose from, I admit) has done. And it's certainly not like the former club didn't divide the fans.... Seem to me it was FAR worse then than now.
You don't like it, don't buy it. If you want the toys you pay for them, plain and simple. Seriously no one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to buy them. Look at it this way the toys cost $329 no matter what, but you have a choice of getting a bunch of free stuff or not. That free stuff being admitance into the convention and all the other perks. Some people have this mindset of if they can't get them, then no one should get them. Sorry you can't afford everything you want in this world, but guess what, that's life. Bitching about how you can't get these figures without paying "scalper" prices, is laughable. Complaining how you can't afford an exclusive figure when there are kids out there who can't afford a deluxe Transformer that can be found at any store, makes me shake my head. Here's a simple equation. Exclusive = limited = rare = more valuable = costs more. Some people think FP should charged what normal retail or even slightly over and make 100,000 of each toy, so that everyone is happy. Guess what would happen next year... The club would have 99,200 toys left over and there would be no Botcon ever again. Spoiled brat mentality if you ask me. I'm sorry for the rant, but my god, how many conventions are out there that have this much effort put into it for Transformers. We should be thankful to the club for giving collectors a place to gather and share their common interest.
I agree with you up to a point. As far as this year's set goes - absolutely you're right. (infact I think if you want a glam-rock optimus, you deserve everything you get) Where I don't agree is where they put the remaining seekers in the set last year. That is metaphorically for people who buy the regular toys, putting a gun to their head. I think that sucked, even though I got a set myself. I'm not flying over this year - thank Christ. It wouldn't hurt FP to knock a few quid off to non-attendees. That's how most businesses would work.
We used to spend quite a bit to reserve figures from the convention without ever seeing ANY of them. By now, I have faith in FunPub, this being my 10th convention year, but there has always been a leap of faith involved.
Hahahahahaa, sorry NGW but Noisemaze agrees with you. That right there should show you the error of your ways!
Some people start their auctions low and people bid them up. Really you can't blame the sellers. If they started a Botcon TC at 9.99 and only 1 person bid on it, well that's what they'll get. I know that will never happen, but it's a hypothetical. Though I will confess I bought an extra set for the purpose of selling to make back some of the cost that I'm paying for a hotel. I'm entitled to one loose set. I have not nor will I ever buy additional packages just to have more toys to sell. Since loose sets are only sold to those who bought the boxed set, I can't imagine anything else to do with them. Some may sell them to a friend for cost and some may display both sets, but a majority of people sell them. Some may hold on to the loose set for a long time, but if they have any thought about selling them at any point in their life than they are doing exactly what everyone else is doing, with the one exception of doing after a longer period of time. If they sold the loose sets to anyone including non-attendee, I probably wouldn't buy an extra set, so that fellow collectors can get them. Look at the junkion forum for all the people selling MISB or MOSC figures. I'm sure some of them bought those figures with the purpose of eventually selling them. If boxed figures didn't sell for any more than loose figures, than I guarantee you there would be a lot more open toys. Someone at some point said if you don't open the figures they'll be more valuable and so a lot of people didn't. There are a lot of people on this board that probably won't be collecting in 30 years. I think it's safe to assume they want the value of their collection to go up verses giving them away to a goodwill because they're worthless. There is of course an element of risk on the part of the person buying the set. Look at the 2005 set. They don't go for much at all. FP still has box sets left over. That could always happen again. I'd rather people buy multiples and have FP sell out than for them to have left overs and potentially not have as many or any exclusives the following year. The thing that drives me nuts is the people who spend twice as much for a retail figure that just came out, when all they have to do is wait a few weeks. In the end, I don't like scalping either, but I don't think buying the one extra set that you're entitled to as scalping. Buying 3 extra box sets and 3 loose sets with the purpose of selling is. Manipulating supply and demand is what I view as scalping. BTW: Love the story about taking down the scalper. Very entertaining.
*Puts hands up* I'm, one, I'm one! Bought a non-attending Boxed and Loose set last year and joined the fan club at the same time. I have to say that I've been very happy with all of them and have done the same again this year. On the subject of reselling sets - the price is determined by the market (as it is in all capitalist economies). If someone wants to pay $700 for a set then someone will sell it for that. The cheapest way to do it is to buy from the source in the first place.
I would have no problem with FP lowering the price for the non-attendee. I would also have no problem if they allowed loose sets to be purchased by anyone. From FP point of view, they need people to attend the convention and if they offered what a lot of people want in the first place at a lower price, than that may reduce attendance. A lower attendance affects many things including less exclusives , less special guests, a shorter convention, or possibly no exclusives or convention at all. If charging what they do is what keeps FP doing Botcon and where they can make money than I'm all for it. After all they are a business and they're doing it to make money. As for the seekers, if Botcon didn't have them, then they most likely wouldn't have been made. So it's a matter of not everyone can have everything they want. how many times has Hasbro released some seekers (HOC, Titanium, Cybertron repaints, movie repaints). The fact that they released the classics seekers at all, is great in my book. I love the "glam rock" Optimus. Now I'm hoping for Jazz to have a headband and makeup and Goldbug to have glitter.
Emphasis added. Your concern is that the fandom is somehow 'split' by the convention, yet you show no desire to actually interact with the fandom in person. "All the important stuff" can be seen online? Oh, I'd strongly disagree with that. -Trent
It's a poor business model to offer the exact same thing, but charge you less if you don't actually come out to the convention itself to spend more money there, I think. Fuuuuck me I better fax my reg in tonight. ;_; I hope the boxes don't sell out this quick too, for totally self-centred reasons.
Online store credit. You couldn't actually spend it AT Botcon. Give up, bro. I've been saying that for years now, and no-one ever listens. I agree with you man. Botcon is DAMN expensive for attendees, and people seem to forget that.
I hope they continue on doing weird themes like this year's exclusives instead of the crazy "should have been closer to mass released" figures from last year.
QFT, although some areas of the fandom are more vocal than others. Me personally, I think it would be better to have non attendee sets be lower in price, I can't see how that would be a bad thing. Of course I also think we should be seeing pics of what we're throwing our money down on, faith isn't something I use when it comes to my money sorry guys.
I actually tend to agree, but I do think the "holding a gun to your head" line needs to be put to rest. Taking the other side for just a second, some people have said that if non-attendee packs weren't available, that a lot of the problem would go away. I'm not sure one way or the other, but it opens up a question. If people could only pay the $280-ish (member's price) to go to the convention, how much would the toys sell for on eBay? On one hand, the non-attendee package sets the price in many people's minds, causing people to be more willing to pay that for the figures alone. If there was no way to get the figures for that price from the supplier, would the eBay prices necessarily be higher than $280-ish? Some of argued they would be, but I'm not so sure. On the other hand, we don't exactly a lot of previous point of reference. Before the FP days, the toys were purchased a la carte from the convention costs. So even though you had to pay, say $42 (OTFCC 2004) for the convention, the price of the toys were known to be $40 and $45 for that year. Of course, that year isn't a good example since Megazarak was overproduced enough that $40-50 is still a "going price" for that figure, and possibly would still have been even if you had to pay, say, $120 for a "package" including the convention and both figures. And the going price for an AM G2 Breakdown is well above the total cost of the convention and the breakfast (which you had to go to get the figure) combined for BotCon 2004. In any event, who's to say what would have happened if the previous conventions used an FP pricing model? I wish more people would notice this, as well.
