Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

Noodles!

Based on the felings of the posts, tcc sucks? Btw, how's the QC of their "exclusives"?

xyl360 wrote:I keep wishing for something that will never happen, which is either A)Funpub comes up with their own characters or B)Hasbro actually breaks down and gives them their own set of molds instead of forcing them to do repaints and repaints with new heads. The former is obviously much more likely (even though I've not seen them do it yet).

Yeah, B will never happen.

Your best chance for A would be asking for it on the BotCon survey. My guess is that most people filling that thing out are asking for the homages that you are sick of.

While I do agree Shattered Glass has run its course, I like most of the homages they've done. Dion, Side Burn, Punch, Runabout, Runamuck, Scourge. We wouldn't be getting these guys if FunPub wasn't doing them. So I'm happy.

I think I'd like a combination of new characters and homages. Or maybe give old characters their first toys. G1 Devcon from Universe Cyclonus?

If you consider Wings Magnum to be a new character, I think Reveal the Shield Perceptor would work great for him!

I honestly do have to say that I do like Dion, Runamuck, and Runabout, even though I've so far only acquired Dion. I do like some of the figures for this year. The prices, however, for redecos is outrageous. I don't see how they can justify the costs even if they were entirely new molds to be honest. They are taking advantage of the fan-based collectors in an entirely bad way and unlike MattyCollector with the MOTUC figures Hasbro has competition int he way of 3rd Party companies competing for every dollar.

But... Jackpot

Here is a new update from Brian Savage from Fun Publications regarding the Transformers Collectors' Club figure subscription service which was due to start earlier this year.

Transformers Collectors' Club wrote:Hello all Figure Subscription Subscribers,

A couple of quick notes:

The figures have shipped from the factory to the packaging company! Yea! We have been waiting just like you since January for this to FINALLY happen.

According to the current schedule, it looks like the first figures will ship after BotCon. We know you are anxious to get this program kick started as are we, since we sent the complete files to the factory back in October....ugh. Hopefully the process has been fixed on their side so that in future versions, they will make the agreed upon ship dates.

If your Club Membership has not been renewed and has lapsed, you will need to email admin@funpubinc.com to make any address changes. We will notify you of when all addresses need to be current so that the first shipment goes to the correct location. This will happen a few weeks before we schedule the actual shipping date.

For those of you who paid by installment, once the figures are here, we will schedule when the next two installments will be billed. You will also need to contact Admin (phone 817-448-9863) to make any CC changes if your Club Membership has lapsed. Please do not send Credit Card information by email as that creates a security issue.

We apologize for the delay, but please note that the lag in shipping has been an ongoing factory issue. We met all of the deadlines that were given to us in order to meet the original January ship date. We also apologize for the lack of communication on our part. It has been very difficult for us to get information to pass on.

Thanks for your patience and continued support,

Brian

Any chance we subscribers are to be offered any sort of incentive or compensation for our patience with this massive lapse in customer service? (much like mattel/digital river has done with their MOTUC line)

"After Botcon"

In other words, "Later in 2013. Or maybe 2014. Or whenever we get around to it. We'll see."

dedcat wrote:Any chance we subscribers are to be offered any sort of incentive or compensation for our patience with this massive lapse in customer service? (much like mattel/digital river has done with their MOTUC line)

Ha! The best you can hope for is that your credit card info doesn't get stolen. Anything beyond that from TFCC is just icing on the cake.

And they're still trying to blame the factory. One thing I've learned about customer service is you NEVER pass the buck. Your customers don't care if one of your vendors didn't deliver on time; that's YOUR problem, not theirs. TFCC doesn't understand customer service, though.

The factory not meeting deadlines isn't their fault. I can't fault them any on this.

Regarding the discussion, I know it's been a mixed bag with Botcon/TFCC exclusives. It is an odd set of circumstances... TFCC is in many ways like a 3rd party company, only they have to bow to Hasbro's wishes and rules. (In the sense that they have their own design team, sculpts, bios, comics... independent of the Hasbro universe.) It seems like they have one hand tied behind their backs in a lot of ways (cost, Hasbro supervision, limitations on molds and character choice), but still come through with some good stuff. I'm guessing they don't have a lot of monetary support or discount from Hasbro on manufacturing or such to help drive down prices, if any. Hmm.

As I've said before, I don't envy them being caught between the fans and Hasbro.

But pondering their exclusives, I think the SG storyline and set has been fantastic. Glad it's kept going. Some great looking toys and a rich plot. The SG cassettes are worth the price of entry. Hilarious.

I also loved Runabout/Runamuck, Punch, G2 Ramjet, Sideburn, Scourge, Slipstream, Nightbeat, Dion... As said above, there are a lot of characters we'd not be seeing otherwise. I hope we see more of that. The Animated box set was brilliant, too.

Of the ones I've liked less, I think they got of to a slow start with that red combiner. Also was less of a fan of the Wings box set. (Not sure why. Might just be due to character development in the comic, who knows.)

But I digress. We're going to get the six exclusives eventually. A delay isn't a big deal, as long as the quality is up to par. No worries here.

gothsaurus wrote:The factory not meeting deadlines isn't their fault. I can't fault them any on this.

Yeah, were it not a regular occurrence. Every year it's the same song and dance, "Problems with the factory, figures after Botcon". Happens with the club figure(which I just got the email on that today, SURPRISE SURPRISE ), why would it be any different with the FSS. Hell, if he's having so many problems with the factory, why not try and find a different one? I'm sure if he did some searching, he my find one with better rates. All it takes is a little work to keep your customers happy, not regurgitating the same excuse year in, year out(been a member for 3 years now, same thing every year, club figure after Botcon).