There have been folks out there questioning whether the Collectors’ Club might extend the deadline for renewing memberships in order to accommodate folks who are concerned about using the current credit card system for renewals.
Last night, Brian Savage from Fun Publications sent out the following email:
“This update is going out to all members:
Due to the issue with processing credit cards we have currently suspended your ability to renew and join the club online. The deadline is coming March 16th for you to be eligible to receive the 2012 free club exclusives.
On Monday, we will have a pdf online on the club site for membership renewals and new memberships that you can mail in with a check or money order. We will process your membership as soon as they arrive.
Please note that the March 16th deadline is a hard deadline (in house) so please make sure any mail is in the postal system by March 9th.
If you want to receive the free club exclusive Footloose or Man of Evil, your membership must be active as of March 16th. At the bottom of this email you will find your expiration date. If it is after March 16, 2012, you are good to go for the 2012 figure.
Also, please log into the club club site <https://www.gijoeclub.com/club/> and ensure you have the figure selected you want to receive for this year, either 3 3/4″ or 12″.
Thanks for your support and patience during this difficult time.
Brian”
So the membership deadline remains the same if you want your Footloose, but they will have PDF forms available today so a check or money order can be used.
In the minds of many fans over recent days “no news” wasn’t good news when it came to questions about the G.I. Joe/Transformers Collectors’ Club and the potential for credit card security issues. Over the past month or so, many fans have come forward who used their credit cards with Fun Publications’ online store, finding that fraudulant charges have appeared on their cards.
Well the online store has been shut down for a few days, and today, Brian Savage from the Club has sent the following announcement:
“This is going out to all members:
Fun Publications wants to take this opportunity to apologize to all of our members.
After many days of analysis, Fun Publications has determined that there is a security issue with our e-commerce systems. We appreciate all of you who have sent in your details. Your help has allowed us to ferret out several different patterns of fraudulent charges that have appeared on some members’ cards (any that have been used over the last year with both the club store and our event registration system).
We have several different internet/networking companies looking into the matter. Unfortunately, as of yet, we have not been able to identify any forcible entry either into our internet service provider’s servers or network. This is like chasing a ghost through the wires, as unfortunately, the perpetrator did not leave a trail, foot prints or finger prints.
For those of you who have been affected, we apologize for all of your time this has wasted and any inconvenience it has caused you. We understand your frustration as this same type of fraud has happened to everyone in our office on our personal credit cards at some point in the past. Our merchant services provider wants us to remind everyone that even though this can be a huge annoyance for you, the customer, your issuing bank will not hold you responsible for any fraudulent charges that might be placed on your card(s).
We know that this issue has been a huge topic of discussion on all of the boards for the past few weeks. However, we are required to investigate to determine and confirm a security issue thoroughly before making any public statements. This is why we put out a general alert statement two weeks ago.
Until the analysis is finished (can take several weeks) we don’t know if the shut down by our former (Jan 31st) e-commerce provider caused the security issue or not. We do know that it has not been limited to those who have purchased before the change to our new provider.
Please, watch your cards closely as this type of security issue appears to be on the increase across the net. No site is 100% safe. You may want to consider having any cards you have used with Fun Publications in the last year replaced.
At this time, we do not know how long our e-commerce site will be offline for both the store and registrations. We will get back to you once we have a solution for this security issue.
Thanks for your support – Brian”
The timing couldn’t be worse for the Club has they approach registration for JoeCon and the potential launch for the Figure Subscription Service. Hopefully the issues can be resolved soon and we can go back to business as usual.
So, I’ve been thinking about this a bit for the past 24 hours. I have no idea what the source of the JoeCon rescheduling is, in all honesty. I don’t know if there was a real issue with the venue, something with Paramount and a potential Retaliation screening, or some sort of Hasbro dictation that determined this rescheduling, but the end result is a pretty strange confluence of circumstances, resulting in some serious scheduling conflicts for pretty much every Joe fan.
It’s the summer of 2012, and G.I. Joe fans everywhere are going to be all fired up to go see G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
When does G.I. Joe: Retaliation hit theaters?
June 29th.
When is the first night of Convention registration?
June 28th.
Sooo… here’s the question. G.I. Joe fans (like myself) who are extremely fired up for G.I. Joe: Retaliation are going to have our hands full in New Orleans on the first weekend of G.I. Joe: Retaliation’s release. And Joe fans will be excitedly running out to the theaters while they could be absorbing the great news and info from Joe Con. Of course, this new timing I would think almost guarantees a special Convention screening of the film, and even if it’s not done officially, the fans can certainly invade theaters themselves, though with the rush of regular movie goers during the official release that might prove challenging.
I think having the Con the week before the film was a great idea. The chance for a “sneak preview” for Con attendees (if that was even an option), plus it gets the blood pumping in the fandom who are only too eager to run to theaters and drop cash on movie tickets for the Retaliation film the next week. Considering the movie was actually filmed in New Orleans and has a strong connection to that area also makes a Convention event likely and potentially enjoyable, and who knows, perhaps that’s an opportunity for some of the production team to be in attendance. One would almost think the theatrical release might draw them to larger venues, though.
Granted, the end result will be a weekend chock full of G.I. Joe related excitement, but I can’t help but think some of the Convention excitement and atmosphere will end up lost in the shuffle of Retaliation conversation. I know I was really looking forward to being online and participating in some heavy duty G.I. Joe: Retaliation post-premiere enthusiasm, and instead I’ll be in New Orleans practically disconnected from the web covering news from the Convention floor. A bit disappointing, but perhaps that’s just me.
The end result is a weekend of over-the-top G.I. Joe insanity, but part of me wishes it could have been drawn out over two weeks and given fans everywhere a chance to experience both. Ultimately I would think the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club would have wanted the same thing. Perhaps it was their decision, perhaps it wasn’t, but I think the end result provides some curious challenges for the Club and for the fans as well. We’ll have to see how it all turns out.
Please note that due to circumstances beyond our control with the anticipated venue for the convention, the dates of GIJoeCon will now be June 28-July 1 at a new venue, the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. We apologize for any problems or issues this change of date has caused. We hope to see you all in New Orleans June 28-July 1 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. Convention (attending and non-attending) registrations will start sometime in February. Again we apologize for any problems or issues this change of date has caused
You can now make your hotel reservations at GIJoeCon.com.
Anyone who has asked for vacation time, looks like you’d better adjust your request. Registration starts in February!
Were folks wondering what the GIJCC Exclusive Footloose looked like from all angles? Wonder no more!
The Collectors’ Club has posted a great YouTube video featuring their 2012 exclusive incentive figure Footloose, and finally gives us a good look at all sides of this great looking figure, including the backpack.
