The Energon Pub

The Transformers Collectors' Club has just sent out the following update regarding the club store and subscription renewals. A store is forthcoming and the subscription deadline has been extended to March 21st.

We have been working diligently to get a replacement store online for you. This is still in progress. However, we are ANTICIPATING that a temporary solution will be available later today. This is a totallly new website, with totally new software, at a totallly new provider. This commercial software has hundreds of stores and is fully PCI and PCI DSS complient. Their facility has been described to me as a military grade security facility.

Do not go to the old store site. I will provide you with the new url for this system in a later email and we will change the links at that time.

In addition, we have figured out a way to extend this month's deadline for a few days (because of the new software). We are extending the deadliine date to Wednesday, March 21st, at 5pm central time in order for all of the mail that is enroute to arrive.

However, this will effect EVERYONE'S monthly magazine. The April issues will be approximately 7-10 days late.

Also, we will not be able to reinburse anyone who spent money on expediting renewals to us.

We again apologize to everyone for all of the issues we have been having. We think that you will be very pleased with the new features this store will offer you.

Brian

Good to know that AFTER the fact they give two flips about site security. Just a little too late guys....may kremzeek give you endless worries!!!!

Also, we will not be able to reimburse anyone who spent money on expediting renewals to us.

There's an M in there guys... Thanks again for the extra $12 Fedex charge FOR NOTHING YOU DICKS!

I'm embarrassed to admit I renewed after the epic FAILURE of Overrun, which I got and is the only reason I renewed.

Never again.

At this point I don't care what they do. Once my subscription expires I won't be renewing it. This whole thing has been an exercise in frustration. I don't care what next year's toys are, it's just not worth it.

mattwhite924 wrote:At this point I don't care what they do. Once my subscription expires I won't be renewing it. This whole thing has been an exercise in frustration. I don't care what next year's toys are, it's just not worth it.

Risk vs Reward. IF the club toys next year are worth getting, I'll be shopping at BBTS and Ebay. After the cost of the "Club" membership and the risks of some sort of inevitable failure, it will balance out.

Interested to see what they have come up with...

...may kremzeek give you endless worries!!!!

DITTO!
TFCC...fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ME!
I'll take my chances on the secondary market regarding any future figure promotions. Sorry Savage, you screwed the pooch on allowing this situation to play out the way it did in the first place. Too little too late with just a dab of sugar. The way I see it...we members of the Seibertron forums ARE ALREADY the collectors club.
:p

G1 Legacy wrote:

...may kremzeek give you endless worries!!!!

DITTO!
TFCC...fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ME!
I'll take my chances on the secondary market regarding any future figure promotions. Sorry Savage, you screwed the pooch on allowing this situation to play out the way it did in the first place. Too little too late with just a dab of sugar. The way I see it...we members of the Seibertron forums ARE ALREADY the collectors club.
:p

That's right! And every member gets a free figure used in one of he EPIC galleries!

I would pay a $1000 a year for membership (I want the Grand Max though)

When every communication sent by the club is rife with typos and misspellings, what did we really expect in the end?

I dunno. I joined just to get Over-run and my debit card was finally hit, and the transaction was cancelled before it finished processing. Ten minutes of phone calls, and $5 for a new bank card to get things straightened out isn't worth my ire.

I guess I'm in the minority. Not really a big deal in my case.

GetRightRobot wrote:

mattwhite924 wrote:At this point I don't care what they do. Once my subscription expires I won't be renewing it. This whole thing has been an exercise in frustration. I don't care what next year's toys are, it's just not worth it.

Risk vs Reward. IF the club toys next year are worth getting, I'll be shopping at BBTS and Ebay. After the cost of the "Club" membership and the risks of some sort of inevitable failure, it will balance out.

Absolutely - I wouldn't have jumped through so many hoops already had I known what an exercise in frustration this whole enterprise has been., and that I could have ordered the from a REPUTABLE source...

Why am I not surprised they aren't doing dick to make up for any of the extra expenditure people went through to get their renewal in on time, then, on the day renewal is supposed to fall they 'suddenly' decide to extend the deadline, and, hey, they 'might' open their new payment portal 'temporarily' to allow some to renew after the FUBAR situation of the last few weeks? Aren't we lucky?!?

For shame, FunPub, for shame!

Put something extra on top, get us back on your side, or at least try to!!!

Sticking a G2 Ramjet (extra shipping free), or something else that you've got clogging your shelves, in with the member exclusive, would go further than you've done lately....

Would it be sooo terrible getting something for free after our treatment?

I can't help but think we are being ultimately TROLLED, and the Fun Pub staff is ROFL at every turn.

NaM3L3sS wrote:Would it be sooo terrible getting something for free after our treatment?

I'm not defending FunPub here but let's be realistic, they're not a large company, I doubt they have huge cash reserves, we have no idea how much money they've had to outlay for this new system.

They rely on a very small niche customer base. They **** up, they're working to fix things. Give them a chance, they may be surprise you, but if they don't, put yourselves in their shoes for a bit.

After all, I doubt any of us will be renewing with FunPub next year.

I sent in my renewal money order a week and a half ago with the little reminder envelope they sent me in January before all this started so the total extra cost to me was less than a dollar. 40 cents for the money order and 30 cents for the stamp. Now I'm waiting for both Runamuck and Runabout to come in the mail. I will be joining again next year but I'm guessing the new forums they're going to have are going to be a ghost town.

zodconvoy wrote: I will be joining again next year but I'm guessing the new forums they're going to have are going to be a ghost town.

Good luck to you man. Hopefully this isn't a trend where it gets steadily worse every year.

::Cue movie trailer voice:: Next time on FunPub Blunders.....Pete Sinclair makes the biggest mistake ever and sends all the members personal information to a man who said he would keep it....but never use it!

I am getting really sick of all the personal attacks on Pete. The few time I've messaged with him over the years, he's seemed like a stand up guy. He didn't personally cause anyone harm and I highly doubt that he has any personal culpability in all this. They got more screwed in all this than any member did.

zodconvoy wrote:I am getting really sick of all the personal attacks on Pete. The few time I've messaged with him over the years, he's seemed like a stand up guy. He didn't personally cause anyone harm and I highly doubt that he has any personal culpability in all this. They got more screwed in all this than any member did.

He seems to be the fall guy though. I don't have anything against him, but the club as a whole is a wash for me. It's not worth it for the hassle. They should want people to join because it offers something special, not just free toys.
It's like someone you want to like you tells you they'll be your friend if you give em some money. Well a lot of people did just that and they got burned. It's gonna leave a scar.

I still believe Hasbro should drop the club and go back to Robot Points and offer special deals like in G1. It was so much simpler. There are so many fan sites now anyway and the official club site doesn't draw a crowd until they are about to be the ones offering exclusive sneak pics like they did with Classics Sunsteaker. All official first time pics should go through the club first, but that doesn't happen. What are the benefits? A couple of toys that if you camp out near your computer you may get. A small savings if you attend Botcon. The magazine is hardly that, you'd think it'd be more than the size of a comic book, especially if it takes 2 months to get a new issue.
Maybe my expectations are too high

I give them credit for upgrading their system, but I have a feeling Hasbro chewed them out and they responded to them more than the members.

zodconvoy wrote:They got more screwed in all this than any member did.

I'm willing to bet I can find a 1000 people who would argue they made out worse than the dozen or so part timers who personally suffered.... nothing.

NaM3L3sS wrote:Sticking a G2 Ramjet (extra shipping free), or something else that you've got clogging your shelves, in with the member exclusive, would go further than you've done lately....

Might be a tad difficult since G2 Ramjet sold out, perhaps a Dion? Although I doubt they have that many.

zodconvoy wrote: They got more screwed in all this than any member did.

That is quite a bold statement my friend, I'm not doubting his character as a person....just his judgement and knowledge of website security...not to mention his use of...let's say "not smart" statements to fans regarding this whole situation.

I love runnabout and the same will go for runamuck when i get him but i hated every single moment from begining to end of the process,shitting my self incase they sold out to getting my cc hit to did my payment go through its been a few weeks weres mine.

im glad i can say i have a couple of exclusive but from now on ill think ill wait for ebay ,all that **** is not worth it for a repaint/retool for that price they should be putting out a new mould

i honestly cant think of any figure that would make me think twice about next year

the comics **** aswell we should be gettin full comics not 3 pages whatever it is .

Look, all I'm saying is that he wasn't the one who stole anything. He didn't give anyone's info to anybody. Somebody broke what they thought was a secure database and harvested information we gave them willingly in trust that that exact thing would not happen. People got burned but I haven't heard stories of anybody not getting it fixed by their bank with a couple of phone calls and a new credit card being issued. The Club has had to overhaul practically their whole company while the vocal minority is jumping ship. They're updating their site, the store, their forums, all while getting hammered by us and Hasbro. And all that upgrading is costing them a lot.

This wasn't like what happened with PSN. The part Sony doesn't talk about is they laid off a sizable chunk of their credit department less than a month before their "breach" happened. Fun Pub's system was assaulted from the outside. They're doing what they can to fix this. Offering people a free years membership has been suggested by fans over and over. So the solution is for them to not have an income for a year? That would just kill them faster than the people not renewing at all would. Free figures? Where the hell are they supposed to get them? People keep associating them closely with Hasbro but the Club is just a tiny company that can get their voice heard and considered by them. Fun fact: the Club pays Hasbro for the figures, the pages of comic, the right to just exist. In the end, we all know that to Hasbro we are an afterthought. They make toys for children. The Club is a way they tally our numbers and factor us in. Not renewing with the Club in large number will just make Hasbro think they lost the collectors market and in two or three years all they'll make is Rescue Heroes and other toddler level lines. Because we won't count anymore.

I realize I'm about to alienate myself, BUUUUTTTTT....

When a company fails as completely as Fun Pub has (EVERYTHING this year has been riddled with problems, poor decisions, and terrible P.R.) it's supposed to sink. That's how capitalism works, or at least it used to. Continuing to cater to a less than ideal business is not healthy. IF Fun Pub would go under, another company/ies would quickly jockey for their license. Might be better, might be worse.

zodconvoy wrote: Not renewing with the Club in large number will just make Hasbro think they lost the collectors market and in two or three years all they'll make is Rescue Heroes and other toddler level lines. Because we won't count anymore.

No way. none of that is true. The conventions popping up all over the world that are not run by Fun Pub seem to be just as creative, bring in massive dough, feature spectacular guests, offer unique exclusives that don't cost a fortune, and are getting more known and have attendance on the rise.

Fun Pub ceasing to exist wouldn't kill the toy line, fandom or a collector's market.
The fans make this hobby what it is, Hasbro supplies the plastic and Fun Pub offers only one of many outlets.

I won't be beholden to a thought that not joining and buying into, as you put it "a tiny company", that my thoughts and desires, as well as all the other fans, won't be heard and resonate through to Hasbro\TomyTakara.

Here's the funny thing zod, I somewhat agree with you. I don't think in my honest opinion that fans should be clammoring for free memberships or figures.And yes even though the attack came from outside FunPub...the reason it happened was because of lack of current security software and proper protection of our information on their site. And it has never been updated....far as I'm aware....for quite some time. Now, if you put money in a bank and at the time, they were pretty secure and kept your money safe...but 10 years later never updated any of their technology and your money got stolen and all they did was say "Whoops, NOW we need to fix something". You'd be pretty irate too. That is...in essence what happened and why most people are upset.