A few months ago word emerged that Hasbro had signed a deal with an International convention holder focused on developing a worldwide “Transformers Experience” and many folks feared what that meant for an annual Botcon. I’ll be honest, I kind of glossed over it myself, thinking that it was probably an entirely separate type of thing.
I might have been wrong.
According to AllSpark, word has emerged that the G.I. Joe and Transformers Collectors Club may be ending their agreement with Hasbro by the end of 2016.
There is no official word on this, so take it with a huge grain of salt right now, but a look at the Terms and Conditions on the Collectors Club membership renewals reveals the following:
Please note that at this time we are only accepting memberships and renewals for the 2016 calendar year. All memberships will end with the December 2016 issue. For example: if your membership renewal has a February start date, you will receive the FREE membership figure in the late spring along with 11 monthly issues. If your membership renewal has a March start date, you will receive the FREE membership figure in the late spring and 10 monthly issues.
You read that right, all memberships, regardless of when they were signed, are destined to expire at the end of 2016. That certainly seems to indicate 2016 as some cut off date for the joint agreement between Fun Publications and Hasbro.
As I said, there is NO official word on this yet and likely won’t be for a little while, but some puzzle pieces are starting to fit together, and the picture they’re painting isn’t a great one.
I know what a lot of people will think. A lot of people will think that this is great news, they’re tired of Fun Pub, it’s time to move on. But I think those same people need to stop and think ‘what are we moving on to?’
Whether you like them or not, Fun Publications was reponsible for over 30 G.I. Joe items in 2015, more than doubling Hasbro’s own Toys “R” Us exclusive product. Once that agreement ends (if it indeed does) what does that mean for future product?
I don’t think it means anything good.
Stay tuned for more on this developing story.
I never had any problem with FunPub; I am not thrilled to hear they might be loosing the license.
I also think this news is worse for fans of the 12 inch than the 3 3/4 inch.
No kidding. The Club is currently the ONLY place to get new 12 inch Joe product.
Also, it only mentions Transformers in the deal, so I’m guessing it’s the end of the road for any kind of GI Joe club. It was a good run.
Ugh
Gotta admit, not upset to hear this. All this crap with collector clubs and subscription services has only weakened the action figure industry as a whole, an industry that was already on shakey ground.
Instead of putting out a few figures a year to a statistically microscopic group, Hasbro needs to either concentrate on getting these guys to mainstream retail or just end the thing altogether. If a line can’t sustain itself at retail, its a failed line, time to move on to something else.
The retail industry has changed since the 80s man. As long as WalMart is stranglign the industry heritage lines like Joe will have difficulty at retail.
Sub services are worse than nothing for fans? That doesn’t even make sense.
Do I love paying $25 a pop for Joes? No. Do I love paying $25 a pop for Joes over not being able to get them at all? Hell yea.