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Post by Bogatan on Nov 13, 2015 17:57:06 GMT
Called it. They are locked into the same economic model each year. I knew they would be stupid enough to charge $400 for CW re-heats. How does this compare to their subscription CW set? Or the Tomy Mall exclusive CW sets in Japan! Remember, when this comes out much of the CW series will be sitting on discount shelves by then as the range comes to an end as a retail line. -Ralph While not wanting to defend FP do feel I should point out that that $400 is paying for entrance to 3 day convention. So I'm pretty sure at least $100-150 of that is the convention costs. Throw in the attendee toy and the price is at most the same as the TFSS and probably a bit less for the same thing. $400 is actually down a little on last year, further proof that last... this year did not go well. The only othertime its happened was after FPs first botcon (2005) did really go well and the 2006 Pre Beast set was less. History repeating. |
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Post by Bogatan on Dec 27, 2015 20:25:11 GMT
I heard a rumour about the add ons I thought was interesting enough to pass on.
To my surprise at least, not combiners.
FOC Grimlock - TM Megatron
Legends Black Arachnia - Arcee
For some reason I really like the idea of Arcee. I assume if true it will be very much like the 2001 Botcon version, but because the mould is so streamlined, with very little spider kibble I can imagine it making a very good G1 Arcee, the extra height alone would make it look good along other season 3 classics. Alternatively it could make an amazing IDW Arcee with a well done head sculpt.
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Post by blueshift on Dec 27, 2015 20:36:43 GMT
Legends Black Arachnia - Arcee That's a fun idea, I can certainly see them doing their Ravage as a Tigatron to round out that set if that's the case! |
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Post by Pinwig on Dec 27, 2015 21:01:35 GMT
That Megatron's been kicking about a while hasn't it? Wasn't that mooted as a T30 release? I'm sure we saw it years ago.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Dec 27, 2015 21:19:28 GMT
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Post by Bogatan on Dec 27, 2015 21:42:41 GMT
It doesnt even make sense for a prebeast set (nor does Arcee), but they often have a completely unrelated pair of add ons so these would make more sense than other years and its the best place for that version of the mould to find a home, because Hasbro have clearly moved on.
Oh and Tigertron was the other one I heard. Thanks to the Breakdown mould, my interest is so low I tend to forget about both of them.
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Post by browny87 on Dec 27, 2015 21:50:17 GMT
will tfnation not get the botcon toys?
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Dec 27, 2015 21:53:26 GMT
Hard to say. Dave Tree who runs the store All The Cool Stuff got sets as Fun Pub hadn't sold them and made them available at AA as well as at RORC which he runs.
It all depends whether or not Fun Pub sell out or not, and also if the speculation on their license ending is correct.
Andy
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Post by blueshift on Dec 27, 2015 21:57:37 GMT
Yeah on one hand Fun Pub might produce far less for Botcon, or on the other hand they might want to offload as much as possible from this and previous Botcons while they can still sell them.
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Post by Pinwig on Dec 27, 2015 22:00:21 GMT
Hence the big sale funpub had recently?
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Dec 27, 2015 22:01:10 GMT
Hard to say. Dave Tree who runs the store All The Cool Stuff got sets as Fun Pub hadn't sold them and made them available at AA as well as at RORC which he runs. It all depends whether or not Fun Pub sell out or not, and also if the speculation on their license ending is correct. Andy Yeah on one hand Fun Pub might produce far less for Botcon, or on the other hand they might want to offload as much as possible from this and previous Botcons while they can still sell them. I can see the production runs being much lower this time round. Andy |
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Post by blueshift on Dec 27, 2015 22:01:50 GMT
Hence the big sale funpub had recently? Yeah. If they are losing their license, they won't be able to sell anything past Dec 16 |
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Post by Toph on Dec 27, 2015 22:30:19 GMT
I'm not sure it would work that way?
I mean, they can't make/commission new TF/Joe product, but I can't see why they would be prevented from selling old product. It's already made, and Hasbro already has their money.
BBTS or Toys R Us don't need a specific license to sell Transformers.
And other retailers sell FP Transformers without a specific license.
What WOULD change is the fact Fun Pub no longer has a draw to get people to come to their store.
In fact, I'm pretty sure that running the Joe and TF clubs/cons is the *only* business Fun Publications has. Without the license, I'm more certain the clearance is because they'll be closing up shop.
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Post by Bogatan on Dec 27, 2015 22:42:01 GMT
Hence the big sale funpub had recently? Seems to be the consensus. Also would make sense that the last few TFSS havent had left overs to sell in the club store. Botcon numbers peaked between 2012 and 2013. 12 mostly sold out encouraging a slight increase in some areas. Unfortunately for FP 2013 was Machine Wars which despite containing Electro, possibly my favourite ever Botcon toy, is probably one of the least popular sets. Despite the sale, FP still cant shift the last of them. Since then numbers have fallen and I cant see an increase this year considering they had to hawk left overs across two other conventions to get rid of the add ons. And this years add ons were fantastic. |
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Post by Bogatan on Dec 27, 2015 22:44:29 GMT
Actually this years set was made in slightly larger numbers, but fewer were sold as boxsets, more as loose sets. Which makes sense for such a low turn out.
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Post by Bogatan on Dec 27, 2015 22:49:05 GMT
I'm not sure it would work that way? I mean, they can't make/commission new TF/Joe product, but I can't see why they would be prevented from selling old product. It's already made, and Hasbro already has their money. BBTS or Toys R Us don't need a specific license to sell Transformers. And other retailers sell FP Transformers without a specific license. What WOULD change is the fact Fun Pub no longer has a draw to get people to come to their store. In fact, I'm pretty sure that running the Joe and TF clubs/cons is the *only* business Fun Publications has. Without the license, I'm more certain the clearance is because they'll be closing up shop. Yeah I think you're right, they would own the left overs and could sell them however they liked, but to do so through the club store would require a new web address and unbranding all the pages. Considering the hassle they have with websites that might be more hassle and expense than its worth. Plus they then have to advertise the new address. If they only have a few left they might just ebay them, if they have more I guess BBTS will snap em up at a large discount. |
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Post by Toph on Dec 27, 2015 23:04:33 GMT
Yeah. You're right.
If there's one thing we know for fact about FP from a decade with them, is that they would rather call it quits, than change a website.
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Post by Toph on Dec 27, 2015 23:16:05 GMT
I have deduced what happened!
A hasbro brand manager decides to check up on FP, goes to the site and is rather confused.
Calls FP up the next day. "Hey look Brian, this site is like ten years outdated. It doesn't make sense, it's hard to navigate, and your pages are a mess. It's also really hard to find product on your stores. We don't feel this layout represents our brand. You need to change it."
Brian: "No."
Has: "No?"
Brian: "No, it's too hard."
Has: "Not... really? It's 2015, publishing a website isn't as bad as it was in the nineties. It isn't even as hard as it was ten years ago."
Brian: "No."
Has: "Look, if you think it's that bad, we can set you up with help. There are professional webmasters who do this for a living. That specially handle small businesses like yourself."
Brian: "No, You can have the license back. This interwebs stuff is too hard, I quit. Goodbye."
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Post by blueshift on Dec 28, 2015 0:01:04 GMT
I'm not sure it would work that way? I mean, they can't make/commission new TF/Joe product, but I can't see why they would be prevented from selling old product. It's already made, and Hasbro already has their money. BBTS or Toys R Us don't need a specific license to sell Transformers. And other retailers sell FP Transformers without a specific license. What WOULD change is the fact Fun Pub no longer has a draw to get people to come to their store. In fact, I'm pretty sure that running the Joe and TF clubs/cons is the *only* business Fun Publications has. Without the license, I'm more certain the clearance is because they'll be closing up shop. Yeah I think you're right, they would own the left overs and could sell them however they liked, but to do so through the club store would require a new web address and unbranding all the pages. Considering the hassle they have with websites that might be more hassle and expense than its worth. Plus they then have to advertise the new address. If they only have a few left they might just ebay them, if they have more I guess BBTS will snap em up at a large discount. I have no idea how it works. I guess it depends on what agreement was reached. I remember when Big Finish lost their various licenses they had to stop selling whatever product was left full stop. |
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Post by blueshift on Dec 28, 2015 0:01:29 GMT
I have deduced what happened! A hasbro brand manager decides to check up on FP, goes to the site and is rather confused. Calls FP up the next day. "Hey look Brian, this site is like ten years outdated. It doesn't make sense, it's hard to navigate, and your pages are a mess. It's also really hard to find product on your stores. We don't feel this layout represents our brand. You need to change it." Brian: "No." Has: "No?" Brian: "No, it's too hard." Has: "Not... really? It's 2015, publishing a website isn't as bad as it was in the nineties. It isn't even as hard as it was ten years ago." Brian: "No." Has: "Look, if you think it's that bad, we can set you up with help. There are professional webmasters who do this for a living. That specially handle small businesses like yourself." Brian: "No, You can have the license back. This interwebs stuff is too hard, I quit. Goodbye." This can't be true. There's no part where someone faxes off their credit card details. |
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Post by Toph on Dec 28, 2015 0:45:04 GMT
I have deduced what happened! This can't be true. There's no part where someone faxes off their credit card details. *in napoleon dynamite voice* "Gah. I got rid of the fax and put registration online like you told me Hasbro! What more do you want? Gah." |
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Post by blueshift on Dec 28, 2015 0:46:25 GMT
*in napoleon dynamite voice* "Gah. I got rid of the fax and put registration online like you told me Hasbro! What more do you want? Gah." Do you remember when they wanted people to email them their credit card details but send the address details in a seperate email so it was 'secure'? Good times, good times. |
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Post by The Doctor on Dec 28, 2015 8:26:26 GMT
It depends on the terms of the licence Fun Pub has with Hasbro. Some licences only allow for the licencee to sell product for that brand during the length of time they have the rights. This can mean they can't sell the product even one day after the licence lapses even if they made the items themselves. That's quite common and makes business sense. Prevents, say, Company X buying the rights to making product of Franchise Y then making loads and loads of that product just before their licence elapses, thus allowing them to make profit on selling all that Franchise Y stuff after the licence to make them lapses without having to give a percentage back to Company X. Blueshift is right: that happened to Big Finish with their Tomorrow People licence. Can someone correct me if I am wrong but I think the same thing happened with Dark Horse when their Star Wars licence ran out,
This may not be the licence Fun Pub has and we have no way of knowing. It's a moot point at this time anyway as it remains purely internet rumour that Fun Pub do not have the licence after December 2016. Even if they don't, they still have it for another 12 months anyway!
-Ralph
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Post by Toph on Dec 28, 2015 8:42:41 GMT
Thanks, Doc! Fascinating rundown I did not know!
As for losing the lisence (whatever kind may be), another piece of evidence I just remembered: they were really adamant, and stressed reeeeaally hard that there will be NO extras from next year's TFSS. That they were only going to make to order.
I thought at the time it was them trying to drum up wishy-washy people (like me) who may decide to pick up leftovers from the store.
But the rumor casts that in a whole new light.
Also, if Hasbro's cancelling the license, then Hasbro's decree they may only use CW molds may be less in keeping FP to holding the CW theme, and more to do with "We don't wanna dig out old molds and test them, lets have them use what's already ready to go"
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Post by Bogatan on Dec 28, 2015 10:30:26 GMT
Also, if Hasbro's cancelling the license, then Hasbro's decree they may only use CW molds may be less in keeping FP to holding the CW theme, and more to do with "We don't wanna dig out old molds and test them, lets have them use what's already ready to go" Nah I do think thats Hasbro wanting to tie everything together. If it was just Botcon, maybe. But IDW and whatever the cartoon thing is, its just the way current Hasbro wants things. And its what Hasbro does when they do their own exclusives for SDCC, NYCC online exclusives, variants on the current theme. They rarely go mental in the way Botcon has in the past, it's the part I will miss if it is the last one. |
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Post by Bogatan on Dec 28, 2015 10:33:04 GMT
It depends on the terms of the licence Fun Pub has with Hasbro. Some licences only allow for the licencee to sell product for that brand during the length of time they have the rights. This can mean they can't sell the product even one day after the licence lapses even if they made the items themselves. That's quite common and makes business sense. Prevents, say, Company X buying the rights to making product of Franchise Y then making loads and loads of that product just before their licence elapses, thus allowing them to make profit on selling all that Franchise Y stuff after the licence to make them lapses without having to give a percentage back to Company X. Blueshift is right: that happened to Big Finish with their Tomorrow People licence. Can someone correct me if I am wrong but I think the same thing happened with Dark Horse when their Star Wars licence ran out, This may not be the licence Fun Pub has and we have no way of knowing. It's a moot point at this time anyway as it remains purely internet rumour that Fun Pub do not have the licence after December 2016. Even if they don't, they still have it for another 12 months anyway! -Ralph Thats true, though I doubt theres any reason FP couldn't sell their remaining stock to Brian Savage who could then stock his own website selling them. Though, if it comes to that I think he'll be glad to see the back of Transformers for ever and ever. Maybe he would do it for the Joe stock. |
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Post by Llama God on Dec 29, 2015 11:11:46 GMT
Nah I do think thats Hasbro wanting to tie everything together. If it was just Botcon, maybe. But IDW and whatever the cartoon thing is, its just the way current Hasbro wants things. And its what Hasbro does when they do their own exclusives for SDCC, NYCC online exclusives, variants on the current theme. They rarely go mental in the way Botcon has in the past, it's the part I will miss if it is the last one. Because the Knights of Unicron were such a sane, predictable choice... ;-) |
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Post by Bogatan on Dec 29, 2015 21:33:21 GMT
You think an 80s hair metal band isnt the most obvious repaint ever for those toys? Pah!
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 15, 2016 16:06:51 GMT
 Far better than it has any right to be! |
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Post by Llama God on Jan 15, 2016 16:14:30 GMT
Yeah. We may have been complaining about the sameness of the figures individually, but in combined mode that works really well. Better than Victorion, I'd say.
And that's a great head sculpt, too.
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