Unfortunately, I don't think a boycott would work. All you need is one person buying sets and heading off to ebay since there are probably a few hundred people who collect Joe but don't go to the Con, and would be willing to pay the high prices.

I'm still amazed that people buy the sets from ebay for $$$, when they could get the non-attending sets straight from the Club.

_________________

The extra baggy set is meant as an extra for people that have bought the con set and want more figures. When they are sold on eBay, that potentially allows someone else to get the figures without buying the con set.

Not taking sides here, since I often sell off some or most of my baggie set, just stating the point the club is trying to make. It is a valid point.

_________________

I'm not sure that's how it works, tho. The only reason people are buying singles from ebay is because they either don't want every figure or don't have the money for the whole set. It seems to me that if there weren't any ebay sales that the extra baggy sets wouldn't sell at all and MC would be out that money entirely.

_________________

If you are asking what the writers for the Joe Canuck news letter get paid then the answer is nothing. It's a labour of love. We love the hobby and the community. Besides, anyone can write for the news letter if you really want to. Just send in you article to Joe Canuck. Everyone there is easy going and I can't see why something wouldn't make print unless it's not related to G.I. Joe or full of swearing, etc...

I guess the payment is when we see comments like this and know that people really appreciate our work. There is a lot of work that goes into each issue but as long as people keep reading it, it will keep coming.

Hech, I'm just thrilled that people read it.

Thanks for the kind words.

_________________

I think that it was Morgardee that originally came up with the newsletter idea, but since he did, no one ever suggested that we be compensated for our work on the newsletter. The Mike put out a call for volunteers, and we all pitched in.

We don't get paid, so that you can get the newsletter for free. We're ok with our side of the deal, how about you guys? It's as fun to write the thing as it is to read the thing. The infrastructure (like the newsletter software and hosting) is mostly paid for by the auctioning off of the meet customs (that people overpay for IMHO because they know that the money is going to keep the whole thing going.)

Oh, and lest we forget the sponsors, that are just cool people all around.

If a fan organization can't get people to pitch in help for free, what does that say about the organization? Canuck isn't out to make money - I know pretty much for a fact that it doesn't and never has, so everyone involved is really a volunteer.

Raptor: Don't show me the money.

_________________

But at the same time you have never claimed to be a "Business" there to "Make Money." which is the major difference IMO.

One thing I have never said puplicly, you guys have pulled off what I wanted to do with the two Zecons I had, and I am very happy to see it. Its nice to know things that are good make it in this world.

Has the club ever publicly done this?

If so it's a really bad sign.

- R

_________________

Well they have repeatedly stated pulbicly they are a business, never explicity the "Make Money" part BUT what else is a business set up for. However the make money part has been implyed a great deal.

To clarify, the online newsletter that JoeCanuck.com puts out each month, actually COST us about $120.00 in March.

People loved that issue, and our bandwidth went through the roof!

We've solved that problem by hosting the newsletter on a different server now.

Would I like to get paid for setting up the newsletter, helping hasbro by using the site for their marketing research, promoting their items, and such.

Of course! Who wouldn't! Heck, I don't even get the free case of new figures like most of these other Joe sites that help out!


But, I'm cool with it, and seeing the remarks people make about what we do "right" is nearly as good as a thank you as getting free toys. (Which I would most likely give away as prizes on the site/newsletter anyway).

So, thanks for the kind words guys - but please don't compare us to Master Collector. While I won't defend any of the issues you all seem to have with them, but I also think it's not fair to compare a group of guys that do this because they enjoy the hobby so much to a couple of guys that run a business and get paid to promote the hobby they claim to love. Yes, I said CLAIM. Because if they listened to their members, they would have a new board and site by now - it's not hard to do - I tossed together www.canadianjoecon.com rather quickly - mind you, it's not done yet.

People asked for guests at the Joe meet - and we delivered with not only 4 guests (Hasbro, Larry Hama, Mark Bellomo, Jason Loo), but we got the two most important ones in Joe-dom to attend. And they all left happy.

I can attest that running the Joe Meet (Now the Canadian Joe Convention) is stressful and takes up a bit of time on my end. Not to mention I always put my money upfront to pay for everything. When I had the store, I didn't care if the Joe Meet broke even, now, we feed the money that the CanJoeCon makes back into it via site renewals, software for the newsletter, door prizes for the meet, and of course, our snazzy JoeCanuck trading cards! (which seem to be a hit!).

I honestly don't think I know of another Joe site that just "gives away" things for free - FREE - meaning without paying a cent for a membership or shipping.
- Mike

_________________

Ahem... I know at least one site that does free web hosting for people to show off customs they create.

_________________

Hey yeah where is that, I really wanted to look it over. If only hasbro would have mentioned something in the custom finalists contest

Sorry, should of said "Actual product that you can hold in your hands and look at without using a monitor, that had to be mailed via USPS or some other means of non-electronic transportation".

Bah!



yes beav, you're god, thank you ever so much, blah blah blah blah.

_________________

That's it... JoeCustoms.com Custom Figure Trading Cards for ALL!

Offer not valid to those who read about the offer

_________________

Not to pimp YoJoe shamelessly, but we give away free stuff about every two weeks. Right now it's an SDCC PDD (silver)

I think we're gonna give out some TRU 3 packs later in June...but yeah, there are some sites that y'know, give stuff away for free just because it's cool to give to the community. At least, that's my goal.

Even better than a boycott at this point, with the convnetion next month, is if everyone bombarded the club at the convention at the roundtables (both the Master collector's and Hasbro's) to discuss these issues in person with them. Their biggest defense seems to be everything is fine the way it is and that is what people tell them. Anyone who gripes is in the minority. So if a majority of people bring these issues up maybe they'll get that this isn't such a small issue. Doing this at the Con has the added bonus that Hasbro will be there watching. They have a vested interest in the club being accessable to everyone. If you can't hurt them in their wallets, hurt them by getting their biggest sponsor's attention.

Just be prepared to have charts showing Brian all of the possible options for making things better. Since they aren't able to do it on their own.

_________________