Thoughts on the Official Club.

[Hereticpoo]

I'm NOT a member and don't think its worth joining.

a) Clearly Fun-Pub believe America is the world. Yay wave a flag.

b) I'd only be interested in the toys, and repaints are just boring and lazy.

Things I'd join for:

a) Discounts at a HASBRO AUSTRALIA toy shop.

b) Kick ass new mold exclusives.

c) G1 Episodes done in CGI like Randall Ng's video's on youtube. One of those every month would have me drooling like an animal.

[Golden Phoenix]

Come on people, don't be like a 'rent-a-crowd' with no real reason other than everyone else is doing it.

Everyone was doing it, I just wanted to be popular

[blackie]

i voted for the last one
for me being a uni bum and not being able to go to botcon, or not being really interested in overpriced toys, i dont see any benifit for the moneys spent

[Paulbot]

I am a member, and I don't think it's worth it.

My issues have already been mentioned by others, and the most notable one for me is that the exclusive news and photos for fans are not so for international fans (the scans of the new Universe toys a few issues back where up on websites weeks before my newsletter arrived).

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

I would like to buy a vowel thanks Vanna
Ooop, wrong place for that.

I voted for:
"I'm a member and don't think it is currently worth being a member"


Really, there just isn't much incentive for non-americans to join.
I think that the initial joining fee is way too high. The postage cant be that much for the free figure and issues.

Slow postage sucks ass, I though it was just me having to wait a month for mine to arrive..... Strange thing though, I had the last magazine issue come and then a week later the trading mag came. Its just so random. Before christmas I think I went 2 months with nothing and then almost 3 lots of stuff came from them!! Considering how much we pay, I expect better!

I personally would like more in the mag. What we end up with is pretty small and half of it is generally the comic. If they could have concept shots/drawings and stuff, that would be sweet, after all they should have good contact with Hasbro. Some of the interviews have been interesting, but always come across as a bit half assed. the last one with Eric and the other guy about animated had that with the Lockdown concept drawing. A little more probing would have been great.

If they could take a little more care with Grammar too, far too, much loving, of, commas, especially, in, the bios. Since when has an "alliegence" been a characters function?

Really, I would like a better Botcon deal too, as that is the main reason I joined I think. One day (in 2010 ) I intend to go, but until I do, I don't see why I should have to pay for tickets to the damn thing just to get my toys. After All I am paying for the toys and then I get slugged postage on top of that!

On the BOtcon thing, a bit more notice of when they are would be great. Although this year was close, its pretty hard for me to plan for something that I would like to be as enjoyable as possible as its quite a trek in 3-4 months. I want to be able to plan it well and generally have a good ole time, but the past couple of years I haven't had a chance coz I can't get time off work in time or something like that. Last year, I remember them saying they would try and give a lot more notice than before, but that hasn't happend.

If they want to run it as a "Business" then they should treat their "Customers" (members of course) with the respect that customers deserve.

Phew, I think thats me done for now.

[jaydisc]

I'm really only interested in toys. This was the first year I ordered the Botcon set direct and I had the option of becoming a member to get a $50 discount. The membership cost more, so I didn't do it. I guess if the membership figures were more my fancy, I'd consider it.

[Gutsman Heavy]

I'm NOT a member, and don't think it is worth joining.

its expensive and a hassle. Why no online registering for the non-attendee Botcon package? I'd be WAY more likely to get it if I could order online!

[Robzy]

There's nothing I could write that hasn't already been written!

I'm not a member and I wouldn't want to be. The toys are all that I'd ever be interested in - having said that, to date I've NEVER got any of the exclusive sets.

[turtle boy]

I'm not a member, and IMO I don't think it's worth it. I mean, Australian and Asian fans are just as, if not more dedicated then the US fans (Look at Grif). We spend more on toys, I alone have spent almost every cent I that I have put aside for things like restoring my car(not that big of a priority) seeing that my girlfriend is happy(when I had one) Gaming, reading, building scale models. All other things that would normaly play a small part in my life, had been put on hold for a major part of it..

We travel to another country for conventions.. Such as Botcon and ComicCon.

We put more effort into sourcing toys, US has more of a wider range of toys, so they are more easy to access.

So I cant fathom paying more then the US fans to sign up to a club that obviously take the "local" fans into more consideration and undermines the International fans. It's just not right.

No offense to anyone, but I also think that the forum thing is a little silly, sure, forums are great fun to make friend, discus our hobby's, news and other tf related things. But ALOT of us fans, don't take "outsiders" seriously and hence why joining would be a waist of time and money.

The discounts, well, they really are useless when we are paying so much more in postage, unless your buying in bulk, but if your like me and tend to like to get things done on your own, unless there is no other option. Then the discounts are worthless cause we are still paying full, cause postage is say an extra $30us when that's the price they are knocking off the figures..

[Burn]

Hi, my name's Burn and I'm a member and don't think it is currently worth being a member.

Where do I begin?

- Membership renewal - Has not been possible to do this over the net. They claim it's because their bank doesn't accept certain Visa cards from certain countries. They promised it would be fixed in time for the next renewal. It wasn't. How did I renew? I had to send multiple e-mails with different parts of my credit card details. The following year they just went with what they had on record. This also makes it difficult for me to buy anything from their shop.

- The forums and their rabid fanboys - ugh ... I gave those forums a chance, I really did. But the minute you bring up a concern and voice your opinion about how something's not working with the club (like membership renewal) the suck hole fanboys jump on you defending their almighty club overlords. It is seriously not a place to have an opinion that in some way shape or form casts Fun Pub in a negative manner (heaven forbid they actually are doing something wrong).

- Postage costs - Probably not really their problem as US postal rates are ridiculous. But still, I have no doubt there's some "handling fees" involved.

- Discounts - Say wha? You're already probably making 200% on the bloody store exclusives anyway. How generous of you to cut into that 200% a little bit!

- BotCon it's self - Yeah, a little more warning would be nice, especially for those who have to travel from another country. We can't all jump in the car and drive from Alabama to Pasadena or from wherever. Am I expected to go to my boss and say "oh hey, i'd like holidays ummm ... two weeks in fact ... sometime between April and June ... i'm sorry I can't give you exact dates yet!"? I really see no reason why this can't be announced in November each year.

Pretty much what everyone else has said too.