I've never understood this. Just what is hard to understand? You have to be a member to order Club exclusive items, or pay a higher amount, which is usually the amount of joining the club and gets you enrolled. You will have to be a member to sign up for the subscription figures.

I never seem to see these issues on the Transformers side of the house, and they have a lot more members. If we had that kind of rabid fan base, the Club wouldn't have to go the subscription route to ensure sales of Club exclusives.

_________________

Actually they wouldn't need a rabid fan base or a subscription gimmick if all their exclusives were the quality of Jinx.

Not if she is in your bedroom.

I really love this figure. Sure I would have liked an original modern version too.
I don't have a Resolute Scarlett yet either.
I thought it would make more sense to have Jinx instead of CS Scarlett.

It seems obvious now that they will use RoC parts for again. I'm wondering if they will use Gen. Hawk's vest (25th or RoC). Perhaps painted as the very first Cover Girl in blonde & OD green?

Well that's because the Transformers club only has one membership level, and no complicated subscription service on top of that.

_________________

All I know is that every time I've been interested in signing up in the past, I could find no clear, coherent explanation of the membership program and sign up process. It could very well be that this has been improved upon recently, but as we're... 7? figures in and there still isn't a word on subscription cost, I'm willing to bet it's still not going to be a painless transaction.

All of the club literature I've read when I WAS interested was extremely vague and unclear, at least at the time I was reading it, to the point I've skipped the con when it was close because honestly, I couldn't find out what I wanted to know directly form the source. I feel like I should be able to get the information about the club, the upcoming con, and the exclusives offered in a timely manner.

If there's a site I'm missing, please, point it out.

This is the most recent info I see on the site:
The Figure Subscription Service (FSS) is only available to Officer Level (paid) members. Trooper Level members will need to upgrade to be eligible. The FSS is an optional feature and is not included in the cost of your annual GIJCC membership. Keep watching this website for more of our exclusive figure updates!

Honestly, I'm not trying to be difficult, but as someone who's never been a member, I have no idea what ANY of that means!

_________________

I'm not being a jerk or anything, but I really don't understand what is not self-explanatory in that statement?

Is it the Trooper level membership that makes it confusing, perhaps? That was a recent push by Hasbro, which required them to have a free membership, but it really offers no advantages, other than maybe being signed up to get information.

The only membership that really counts for anything is the Officer Level (paid) membership. That gets you a 1 year membership, which includes the BS magazine, and the free membership figure (12" or 3.75"). You also get the discounted price for convention sets and other orders from the Club. You will need to be an Officer member to sign up for the optional Figure Subscription Service.

_________________

Well, that's just using circular logic, saying the Club would have more members if they didn't have a "complicated" subscription service, but they wouldn't need a subscription service if they had more members!

Quite frankly, I don't understand what's complicated about the subscription service, at least not yet (until they announce more details.) As it stands though, the concept is pretty simple. You sign up, you pay (either up front, monthly, bi-monthly, whatever) and you get 2 figures shipped per month for 6 months. Until we get more details and they then potentially muddy it up, it's pretty simple.

As far as the membership levels, that's something Hasbro pushed on the Club relatively recently. The Trooper (unpaid) level basically is a free membership that gets you nothing more than some information.
The only one that counts, is the Officer (paid) membership. You know, pay to play. It gets you the BS magazine, and the free membership figure (12" or 3.75"). You will need to be an Officer member to sign up for the optional Figure Subscription Service.

_________________

As someone who's never done business with the club, there's a world of difference in clarity between what I quoted and your summation.

Your statement is extremely clear, and explains what all those elements mean in the same spot. I could be wrong, but in the past I've felt like finding anything out about the club and convention was never as easy as it should be, for something I would be potentially spending that much money on. Even on the current spot, I've got to click through a 3-4 spots to begin to put it all together.

My only gripe is I feel like the Club isn't as clear or timely with the release of information as it could be, especially considering the amount of money being discussed. You're familiar with the process, it's clear to you. I'm not, it's not clear to me.

It seems like last time I looked at anything related to the convention there were far more than 2 memberships? I understand that's not directly related to the subscription program, but with con being announced as reasonably close to me again, it has me interested.

I pay $42 now. That gives me an office membership. That gives me ACCESS to the subscription service. I didn't know that before today. Okay, fine. Still no word on the cost of the actual subscription service though. The 13th bonus subscription figure IS NOT the club figure I get for signing up before March 16th, if I'm understanding correctly. Again, before today, I didn't know that.

If I'm interested in attending the convention this year, does that effect, or is it effected by my membership? I understand there's some correlation between being a member and the price you pay for the con exclusives (or when and if they're even available to you?). Will we know what the con exclusives are in a timely manner so I can account what membership/attendee package/whatever into my vacation planning and budget?

All I'm saying is that the Club does not make this easy to navigate. Knowledgeable members, like yourself, are far more clear than anything I've even seen released by the Club. It's a frye.gif "Take my money, dammit!" situation, a first world problem if ever there was one, but it's a frustration to me, and I've skipped the con and dealing with the Club in the past because of it.

_________________

Welcome to the world of those who have been members of the Club for almost ten years. There are times we are pulling our hair out wanting information that the Club won't/can't divulge (mostly won't)



There usually eight options when signing up for the convention, an attending (members) price, an attending (non-members) price, a non-attending (members) price, and a non-attending (non-members) price. Each of these options is available for either 12" or 3 3/4" choices



The price of the attendee package is affected by your membership, but not the cost of the other exclusives. As for what they will be and how much they will cost, as much as many of us have tried, there is almost no way that information will be revealed before registration night.



As have many others, so you are not alone.

_________________

You mean free & paid? Free lets you look at stuff, paid gives you the benefits. Not seeing the trouble there...

Actually it should be pointed out that the push by Hasbro came about when the club refused to listen to non-members about some of thier exclusives and the only responce was "Come to our website and voice your conserns on the boards." However the only way to have access to the boards was to pay the club's fees. Thus, you had to pay to voice your opinions. Hasbro (In a stand up move IMO) said that if they were going to represent the brand (As they often do) that they couldn't dismiss the customer base (Often times, the causual fans did not realize MC and Hasbro were seperate entities, many still don't, not because they don't care but because they are not so entrenched into the fandom). They pretty much said "You gonna say come talk to us, make it accessable to everyone so that they really can." Thus the trooper membership was made.

Personally, I think the added expense of the club membership will kill this idea, I know plenty that are interested but between the rumored $20-$25 price tag (Not worth that much to begin with) then add the $42 for membership it just starts being too much for too little, at least from many I have spoke with. I tend to feel the same way, that's around $300 (before shipping) before the club membership, just getting too rich for my blood.

but that doesn't include those persons who join the club... to be in the club! You're making it sound like they added the membership fees JUST for people to get the subscription...
it says nothing about those who are already members, or joined to go to Joecon, or...

like the subscription figures....

WANTED TO GET EXCLUSIVES

the subscription is just that, exclusive. Hasbro tried to drum up interest in a consumer based subscription (hence the "would you buy a pre ordeered 7 pack" threads) but apparently there wasnt enough interest

_________________

What if Hasbro created a generic packaging for a seven pack, announced there were gonna be x number of new figures available, and that the consumer could pick which seven they wanted in the set?

I'm not talking the actual plastic mold where someone puts the figures in, but just take the seven figures you want and put them in overlapping one over the other...

Then the others could be gotten separately for a different price...

_________________

Anyone have VvV Jinx & Resolute Scarlett?
Will the VvV Jinx's skirt fit on Reso Scarlett?

Correct, often the Club is not timely with information, and does make it hard to get.

There are only the two memberships, but there ARE numerous Convention options to choose from, and that might be where the confusion lies. Basically, if you are planning on getting a Con Set, whether you go to the Con or not, go ahead and become an Officer member. The price difference for the Con sets is basically the cost of becoming a member, and you'll ensure you get the free annual membership figure (Footloose for the current year). If inclined, you can usually sell the free figure and recoup your membership fee, or a large portion of it.

For the upcoming figure subsctiption, the bonus 13th figure is NOT the annual membership figure, it will be another carded figure, and will only go to those that complete the six month subscription. There will NOT be extras of this figure available individually at a higher cost for non-subscribers (a limited number of the other 12 will be). I would estimate the cost of the figures to be $20-$22 for subscribers, each, plus shipping.

_________________