Gijoe Newsletter From Mastercollector

[matt74]

The issue is that the GIJoe collectors who are not club members which im willing to bet far outweight the ones who are, don't like how they are being treated. Thats not a TNI member thing, thats a GIJoe collector thing. Hasbro and MC have every right to ignor those who don't like having to join a club to get the info if they like, but then they should be prepared that in the end they are just chasing away those same people that down the road they are going to want to support the line buy buying the product and the press who provide them with the coverage in promoting the product.

BINGO...BANGO and there it is folks! Wrapped up nice and tight and in a nut shell!

 

My contention with the whole stupid business of fans being segregated for somebody elses GREED! Legalities over whether he has the RIGHT to, be damned! It's all about the why's...in the first place!

 

I don't think it's helping the community of Joe fans, when the majority of them are being discriminated against, because we don't have the desire or even extra money to join a club, for news!! News on club exclusives and con related info is ONE thing, but now it's expanding into even MORE G.I.Joe related news...in GENERAL!

 

@grumpy@

And the choir breaks into song again!

JayC and VH you are both right on the money and I fully agree.

MATT

[Alyosha]

Fella's, I've kind of backed out of this for the last week or two and tried to gather my thoughts on the whole issue.

 

As an entity, Mastercollector does provide a needed service to the Joe collectiong community. I've bought things from the store, and utilized some of the other perks of being a member. These things do have a value.

 

My points of contention are simply this:

 

1) I don't honestly feel like the membership is worth it. When you sit down and crunch the numbers, it just doesn't add up. Sure you get a free figure (which I am eagerly anticipating), and a newsletter that includes a free 30 word ad, and access to the site's members only area, but is that really worth it given the content of the newsletter is stale about 85% of the time and the website is updated once or maybe twice a month? When my membership expires this time, I will not be renewing it after thoroughly reveiwing my reasons for joining in the first place. Is one figure a year really worth it especially given that I can acquire that same figure thru other channels?

 

2) I don't feel that information aimed at the Joe-collecting community as a whole should be exclusive to any one entity other than the company that manufactures the product. As a "Collector's Club" it is just ridiculous to want to withhold information about any aspect of the hobby that is not exclusive to paying club-members (such as club activities, exclusive figures or items). As a paying member, I do not mind if anyone else gets clued into what the newsletter contains, as I think that this helps maintain an overall beneficial atmosphere for ALL collectors, and fosters a sense of collegiality that you won't find in most other similar hobbies.

 

3) Someone's method of handling the entire situation from the Con list on down to today sucks. I've shown a few of you guys the emails that Brian has sent me, and I stand by what I've stated: Brian Savage does not value the opinions of collector's who are not members of his club. If you don't believe me, just ask Viper Hunter, Matt or Admiral Hunter. I know that it is difficult to believe or even understand, but it's the truth. Because of that, and out of an apparent desire to protect his investment as a businessman (not a fan), the attitudes that have been bandied about during all this have just plain reeked of eltitism and overinflated ego. If I treated customers (potential or actual) that way at my job I would be fired straightaway.

 

4) I don't dispute the legal right of MC to protect their copyrighted materials. I can't legally, but what I will suggest (I've already emailed that suggestion to Brian although I bet he ignores it) is that they post their copyright in an area that will avoid any confusion again as to whether materials may be shared or not. Yes, I am aware of Brian's statements about their willingness to allow links, but this information about copyrights should be right out front where anyone can see it, not hidden at the bottom of a page or in the back somewhere. Also, if you as a clubmember are not allowed to use the content after receiving access to the sites newsletter, you should be informed of that when you pay for your membership up front, not afterward.

 

I know that a lot of you guys feel that this is simply "a tempest in a teapot", but I truly feel that this ongoing discussion will have a real effect on the way that these things are handled in the future. It also is important to note that similar discussions have affected things like this in the past (such as last years Franken-Joe faux-pas on MC's part). If you have an opinion, feel free to state it, but be prepared to back it up.

[ARROW]

I was going to address some individual things in Alyosha's posts, but I'll just make a blanket comment instead.

 

Hasbro is not going to make the club the sole spokesperson for product info--that is ludicrous.

 

 

The club is redundant.

 

Its up to the individual if they want to join and partake of what the club offers, but the way the club has worked before, works now and will very likely work in the future means its ultimately redundant.

I'm going to sound like a broken record again, but the info the club offers about general release product WILL ALWAYS be made public--after its released to the club members.

A day's wait, a week's..........does it matter?

If those that rue the club just edit it out of their collecting thinking then its not a problem anymore.

The club will NEVER be the sole purveyor of info--Hasbro isn't THAT stupid--they'll offer it FIRST to the club, then to the general collecting public second.

As a collector, that makes the club's "exclusive info" ultimately redundant--because its exclusive only for a limited amount of time.

 

Pretty much 99.9% of us just care about the product--the other kinds of things the club can offer as info/entertainment probably will only interest a very small percentage of that 99%.

 

I could care less about the historical articles--or the blueprints of something.....or fan fiction.....so the club newsletter is of no value to me. Some people like the idea of belong ing to a "official" club--I'm indifferent to it.

When I was a member, the Mastercollector newspaper with all those ads in it...never got read. Maybe once in the one year span I was subscribed did I look in the thing--the rest of the time it went on the paper pile next to the fireplace-often right out of the envelope.

I read the club newsletter, however.

Never saw a thing in it--aside from maybe some cartoons of fan letters that never saw the light of day elsewhere--in a book, magazine or some other form, at some other time. Oh well.

 

Mastercollector is redundant.

Personally, I don't need the club membership card in my wallet, I don't need a nifty frameable certificate, and I don't have a use for a decoder ring, or a clear figure, official GIJOE toilet plunger or.........whatever.

I just wanted the info then and its all I want now--and I get it.

That hasn't changed, because the info ALWAYS gets released to the rest of us.

Mastercollector is a non-issue with me. It did not affect my collecting in any way and it never will.

 

They can do their exclusive thing to the nines if they want, but common sense says they cannot put a indefinite lock on consumer info when the stuff is going to be released to the general public--either at retail or on-line.

 

I just wait that day or that week and I get the stuff I'd have to pay about $80 Cdn to get for pretty much free.

[Alyosha]

Arrow, I understand what you are saying, and also your feelings on the matter and think they are well stated. My main point of contention was the way in which the situation was handled, and attitudes that seem evident from the top of that organization. I truly hope that those who wish to remain members of Mastercollector's Club enjoy the rights they have purchased, but I (like you) am going to give it a pass from here on out. And you are right, the information does always surface. Sometimes due to guys who stick their necks out a bit, and other times thru normal channels but always in good time.

[JayC]

Hasbro is not going to make the club the sole spokesperson for product info--that is ludicrous.

I hate to break it to you, but thats exactly what they have been doing.

[Admiral Hunter]

Hasbro is not going to make the club the sole spokesperson for product info--that is ludicrous.

I hate to break it to you, but thats exactly what they have been doing.

That's funny. Sorry, I laughed.

 

Well, my name was mentioned, I'm honored!

 

I happen to look at my membership in Master Collector completely different than you people.... (EXAMPLES FOLLOWING, WOOT!)

 

The Con figures cost how much for a member? $210 for attending member, $245 for non-member. A loose poly-bagged set is $105. I don't remember if this is available to non-members or not. I have no use for an extra box. My membership costs me $36 a year. As a nonmember, buying a con set I am saving $1 if I only get one. Since I saved my money this year so I can get more than just one box, and loose set (One box already gone to Lt. Falcon), and I have the mentality of a scalper apparently, I know that being a member is going to "pay-off" for me... Just if I got two boxes alone it's worth it to be a member. A savings of $34...

 

Added Bonus: Exclusive figure. Ironically enough, it can be turned around and sold again, or army built. At the Con also... IF you "renew" your con membership (or at least last year if you did), you got your pick of THREE of their exclusives (two of HW, one Zartan - two Zartan, one HW - Three of either)... I call that a steal. What I ended up doing was splitting the cost, and turned around and sold the clear Zartan to Lt. Falcon for $12 to cover the third of my membership.

 

Holy crap! Look at that capitalism at work!

 

End Rant.

 

I'm proud to be a member of MC. And as I have said to Alyosha (not sure if to you kids or not), Brian really screwed up on this one. But not nearly as badly as someone else for selling out a "friend"...

 

-Kevin

[drveovru]

i am relying on friends to pick up the convention stuff, we figure no need in paying twice for something that can be shared. i had a membership so i could pick up the convention stuff, but a small group of us realized that there is no reason to have four memberships to get the exclusives when one will work just fine. its good to have a few people that are members, but if mc truly wanted to sale the sets, they wouldnt force you to pay more for a product sinve you are not a member. but wait they actually dont make non-members pay more.(unless you buy in quanity )

 

i find it funny that they make you buy a membership to get a product that they are already turning a profit on. i guess they think they are already at market equilibrium. i find it funny how they add "where a membership saves you money" to the webpage.

 

this is just a gimick they created to sale more memberships. you figure if they sale 200 memberships that dont purchase anything, that is pure profit with oh so little overhead. you can do the math.

 

in theory everyone is paying nonmember prices for the convention set. no matter if you are a member or nonmember you will spend nearly the same amount. granted if you are a member you get a free figure that probably costs them 4-10 bucks. so you actually pay about 10 less thn a non-member.

 

like mentioned above, the only way you pay LESS than non-member price is to buy a quantity more than one. if you ONLY purchase one convention box set, you pay non-member price and get a free figure.

 

good thing they dont limit the number you can buy to one or we all would essentially would be non members

 

 

the membership is just a marketing tool. it probably deters people from purchasing toys more than it encourages people to buy toys. but that is where they have the greates returns, a membership cost them nothing, zero, zilch, no overhead. so until people realize that the only way to actually get a deal is to use one member ship and buy for multiple parties, people will continue to pay non member prices.