It’s Official – Transformers Collectors Club to move on from Fun Pub

See It’s Official – Transformers Collectors Club to move on from Fun Pub, G.I. Joe’s future uncertain | Generals Joes – A blog about the importance (or unimportance) of little plastic men for details.

 

Wonder if Botcon is no longer theirs either.

 

I think I'm less disappointed this is happening and more hopeful it means I'll be able to snag an affordable Predacus perhaps on FunPub's way out the door.

 

Well that sucks. And its also sad to see the current state of GI Joe.

 

Previously linked to here and discussed from here yesterday.

 

I won't say I won't miss them, because I will. Hopefully someone better fills their shoes though.

 

Let's just hope that someone can come up with the same references and dedication Funpub had

 

While it sure looks like it is ending, i don't see any official statement.

 

So, has anyone checked with the guys over at Seibertron to make sure they're not completely despondent?  

 

After reading Justin's article, I'm conflicted about the end of FunPub's reign. They did a terrible job managing their Public Relations, and their registration forms were hideous. They went through so many technical glitches for one of the JoeCons' registration forms, and it took weeks to get set up online. Savage going ballistic on eBay was even more strange. He could have just sent out a peaceful and rational cease and desist letter, but instead decided to send out an emotionally-fueled rant that had tons of spelling errors. FunPub's decision of declaring a Transformers forum to be "The Official Transformers Forum" was an idiot's move, that only divided the fandom.
However, unlike the TFSS (repaints of questionable molds), the GJFSS gave us a lot of figures that we needed, such as Keel Haul and Night Force Lt. Falcon. Without them, we don't have any new figures for G.I. Joe until 2017, at the earliest.

They're not, from what I read. I'm honestly surprised they didn't make their post on the matter more dramatic.

They followed that up with the P.R. statement about Gregg Berger taking over for Scott McNeil and FunPub losing control over the TFCC.

 

No kidding. Not even a token explanation of uncertainty, just a monotone statement.

 

I'll be very curious to see what replaces the club, if anything. I can't make it to Botcon, but I will be at SDCC so I'm hoping I can interact with some Hasbro employees on the Transformers side, if I feel the need to voice anything.

I'd really love this; even a long-form article posted here or somewhere like the TFSource or Maz's blog. As long as it could be written with a third party without much bias in either direction, with solid reporting, I'd really like to know behind-the-scenes stuff to get a clearer picture of what's gone on the past decade. I know there's not many opportunities for journalism in a toy fandom, but something well-sourced would greatly interest me.

 

The name BotCon is owned by Fun Publications, who bought it (were given it?) from the Hartmans, who created BotCon.

Pretty much everything else about Transformers, even if FunPub's been involved in it, belongs to Hasbro. But the BotCon name belongs to FunPub until/unless they decided to sell/give it away to someone else.

That wouldn't stop Hasbro (or whoever) from doing official TF conventions. They just couldn't call them "BotCon" unless an arrangement is made.

 

I agree, the Joe fans have been getting the short end of the stick for a while, but having the club release what they did, gave fans at least some new stuff to be excited for.

 

Having never met Scott McNeil it's a bummer for me that he had to cancel, but Gregg Berger is a awesome guy, always friendly, warm and appreciative. I met him at Botcon 2009, 2011 and just last year at Sacramento Toy Expo. Since I've already had some Grimlocks, Jetfires and Long Hauls signed by him I'm hoping the club has something wacky made for him to sign at the show, like a TORQ III print  

I enjoyed going to the Botcons whenever I could (04, 09, 11, 14, 15 and now 16), the toys from the convention and club for the most part were welcome additions to the classics collection and it's been great meeting fellow fans and the guests from the Transformers family. Hopefully there will be some sort of convention next year - it's a movie year after all!

 

While I feel somewhat sorry for the Joe fans, I'm not at all surprised. The GI Joe brand is simply not strong enough to support its own toy line, let alone its own convention. At least not in it's current state.

I've said it before, but GI Joe really needs to re-invent itself for the modern audience, which is a global audience, if they want any hope of succeeding. They need to drop the "Real American Hero" bit in order to go international. Superman used to stand for Truth, Justice, and "the American Way". Now it's just Truth and Justice. Transformers is more popular in China than the rest of the world combined. Why? It might have something to with Optimus Prime's motto not being "Freedom is the right of Americans only".

People want to see themselves represented in their heroes. But when it's a requirement to be an American in order to be a "real hero", the rest of the world doesn't care. Look at the GI Joe movies, which I like better than the Transformers movies. They were from all over the world. They were an international army. Best of the best of the best. Not just of the USA, but of every army on Earth. Like the United Nations, but with guns. Or at least in the first movie they were. In the second, they just killed everybody that wasn't the Rock, Bruce Willis, and pretty guy and pretty girl.

If Hasbro wants to bring back GI Joe, they need to look no further than Agents of SHIELD. SHIELD is basically what GI Joe needs to be. They need to copy the success that Marvel has had with their cinematic universe and DC has had with their TV universe. Have a GI Joe TV series which occasionally interacts with their expanded universe. Transformers movies should be their Avengers. Show in the GI Joe series, the fallout and wake of devastation that the Transformers cause after every Bayhem battle. Show the technology stolen from this alien race and what happens when it lands in the wrong hands of COBRA. Show the politics of governments crying out and waging war against both the alien threat of the Transformers and the terrorist organization that grew in power because of them. And give us hints of other brands and franchises along the way, like Jem or Micronauts or heck, even Stretch Armstrong. You know? Like something as simple as one of the GI Joes could be listening to one Jems songs in one scene before a mission. I don't know much about Jem, and I know even less about Hasbro's other obscure properties, but I'm sure there's a way they could work them and GI Joe together. Like maybe the evil corporation in Jem is actually owned by COBRA. And maybe the pretty boy guy that Jem likes is actually a GI Joe spy who's trying to figure out who's working for COBRA, is it Jem or is it the Misfits?

 

A highlight of my BotCon 2011 experience. Just after I'd finished taking care of his autograph line as one of the volunteers.

 

Oh Matrix, that's hilarious!   A made-for-TV movie of the week?
On Lifetime, perhaps?  

I can hear the preview voice-over now:

"Outta The Club! -The unauthorized behind the scenes story of the Transformers Collectors Club!

Starring:
*Ben Savage as Brian Savage!
The dad from Good Luck Charlie as Pete Sinclair!
Alyssa Milano as ...To Be Decided!

Special appearance by Adam Sandler as Glenn Hallit!

*Director's Note: Recasting of the Brian Savage role pending Dustin Diamond's parole hearing."