Transcon : The Official Word
MIB141
Believe it or not...There were alot of people who considered Transcon a
sucess
Most of the Transformers fans are fans of the toys. Because without the
toys Hasbro would have had no reason to create a 24 minute commercial,
month commercial comic book or a 2 hour Movie-mercial...
so for those rare fans that focus their desire on the toy we present
Transcon^2
This Year With 340 attendees (250 Pre-reg and walk-ins 90 Comic Con
Attendees)
Last Year 45 dealers table: This Year 43 dealers Tables
Tons and Tons of parts!!!! as cheap as $.25
Action Masters carded and loose
Tons of Japanese stuff
oh...and most of it sold out at Transcon and won't make its way to Botcon
Almost $2000 raised for Toys For Tots
Exclusive veiwing of Beast Wars Out-takes Reel
Doug Parker (voice of Trrorsaur and starscream)
(who gave out secrets of Beast Wars future)
Talk with the original Transformer US licenser (Marty Abrams)
Exclusive First look at Botcon Exclusive Fractal(terrorsaur) and
Pack Rat (rat trap)...gee thanks Jon for selling out and doing that
So if you love the toys and want the toys...keep on coming to Transcon...
if not we understand...
for the people who have all of the toys, hate dealers and celebrate in a
different direction more power to you...we salute you and Botcon....but
don't destroy Transcon for the people who want the toys.
And for those of you who say dealers shouldn't hold conventions....where
are Jon and Karl at every convention???? That's right...sitting behind
their Dealer Table
selling Transformers.....How terrible!!! The people who run Botcon should
keep dealers from running conventions!!!
Dennis Barger
Men-In-Black
and in case you where wondering
Organizer of Transcon III
June 1998
Detroit Michigan
313-483-8697
812 Congress Ave
Ypsilanti MI
48197
Tengu
In article <19970710193...@ladder02.news.aol.com>,
mib...@aol.com says...
<"I'm so cool" statements clipped>
> Exclusive First look at Botcon Exclusive Fractal(terrorsaur) and
> Pack Rat (rat trap)...gee thanks Jon for selling out and doing that
This statement almost *screams* for a public apology. I've heard
from many people that Transcon was a lot of fun, with a lot of great
stuff to see and buy. You ran a successful show, why not just be happy
with that? It's unfortunate that you seem to feel you have to trash talk
the people who *created* BotCon. Mr. Berger, without the Hartmans, you
would've never been able to *do* BotCon '96.
> So if you love the toys and want the toys...keep on coming to Transcon...
> if not we understand...
Good- my conscience is clear, then.
> for the people who have all of the toys, hate dealers and celebrate in a
> different direction more power to you...we salute you and Botcon....but
> don't destroy Transcon for the people who want the toys.
>
I've never known Jon Hartman to make a public insult against
*you*, MIBster. I'm personally not too concerned that you guys sold all
of the remaining TFs in the world, either.
> And for those of you who say dealers shouldn't hold conventions....where
> are Jon and Karl at every convention???? That's right...sitting behind
> their Dealer Table
> selling Transformers.....How terrible!!! The people who run Botcon should
> keep dealers from running conventions!!!
>
The disrespect you show toward the fans and creators of BotCon in
this post almost makes me mad. Unfortunately, the overall tone of
pettiness and fine whinery in this post shines through your half-baked
derision like a blinding beacon. I kind of regretted missing Transcon,
and hoped to go next year if given half the chance. Unfortunately, if
the show is to be run by a flock of immature individuals such as
yourself, I wouldn't be there if you handed out talking Fort Maxes.
> Dennis Barger
> Men-In-Black
>
Apparently, the P.T. Barnum of the Transformers world.
> and in case you where wondering
>
Wasn't.
Tengu:/>
Coins1913
It is not necessary to slander The Hartmans nor need you insult us fans
with your demeaning words. You shame us all with your childish attitudes
and lack of respect for the person who collects and/or sells Transformers
for the mere joy of grasping a toy in our hands that is More than Meets
the Eye.
Coins
" The Best Achievements are worth repeating " -- Sky Lynx
Moy819
Well before you give congrats to MIB for a good convention, you should
look at some of the things they pulled. They promised a good deal of
things that were not there. Like free shuttles to navy peir, and other
places besides comicon. Also the were supposed to be european action
master dealers there. I didn't see them. I also thought that organization
could be worked on. It seemed chaotic for a good while, and the whole
schedule was screwed up.
Now, I am not saying it was awful, but it did have an ok selection of
toys, even though some of the dealers wanted an arm and a leg for some
merchandise. Insecticons were plentiful as well.
I am almost done.
Good Points:
Doug Parker
Japanese Dealers
Botcon Exclusives
See I am not completely complaining.
The funnies thing about this convention was, that they were selling a set
of cheaply made magnets and a sign read: "Magents $4.00 a set"
Jon Hartman
Alright, enough is enough. For the past year, Karl, Glen, and I have
been taking more than our fair share of abuse and discrediting from
Dennis Barger. There are some serious misconceptions that people have
as a result of messages stated by Dennis on this newsgroup, and the lack
of any reply by myself, Karl, or Glen, in addition to the public words
spoken at TransCon. What we hope to do is clear up the confusion and
perhaps incite people to question the situation and think about the
entire affair before accepting it as truth. Before I get started, I'd
like everyone to know that Karl, Glen, and I will be available at BotCon
for anyone wanting to question the following points.
-----
It has been said that we are responsible for Dennis not getting his toy
exclusives for TransCon.
Dennis as well as ourselves had to sign a document with Hasbro stating
that "Any uses of our trademarks including, without limitation,
Transformers(TM) in tangible form shall be submitted for our prior
written apporval and not used without that approval." Dennis ran two
full page ads that had not been approved either verbally or in writing
by Hasbro, and this constituted a breach of contract. This is the SOLE
reason why Dennis did not get his toys.
----
It has been said that we are solely responsible for ratting on Dennis
and "crying to Hasbro" about all the shortcuts that Dennis took for
TransCon.
Nothing could be further from the truth. We have better things to do
than badmouth Dennis and try to make his efforts fail. The only action
we took was Glen pointing out the violations in Dennis' ad after we had
to revise our ad several times to satisfy Hasbro. Hasbro already knew
about it and what Glen gave was just redundant information.
-----
It has been said that "it is an insult to bring a guest and not allow
them to sign autographs."
Our guests are all encouraged to sign autographs. The only stipulation
that we are repeatedly making is that no guest is allowed to sign
packaging that is represented in the charity auction. That means that
they are allowed to autograph the toys themselves, photographs, CDs,
posters, program guides, and whatever else they may bring. After all,
what is the purpose of the charity auction if the guests could sign 200
of what is being auctioned?
-----
It has been said that there won't be any Japanese toys for sale at
BotCon '97.
What this has to do with the success of TransCon, I have no idea.
However, we do have several dealers who will be selling Japanese
product.
-----
It has been said that we are sitting behind dealer tables selling
Transformers.
Last August, Dennis invited and encouraged us to promote BotCon '97 at
his show. We took him up on his offer. Furthermore, we had nothing for
sale!
-----
It has been said "the people who run Botcon should keep dealers from
running conventions."
This is far from the truth. We have no problem with dealers wanting to
organize and run future BotCons. We do, however, have a problem with
others advertising and selling their convention at the expense of ours.
We could go into a long list of posts by Dennis that were made copying
our initial guest list post and FAQ. However, that isn't relevant at
this point.
-----
It has been said that we ruined TransCon.
It's about time that Dennis take full responsibility for his own
convention and his own actions. It was his breach of contract that cost
him the toys, and it was his beligerance that cost him the rest of his
activities (i.e., the video room). There is NO way we could have said
anything to make Hasbro want to slap a $2 million lawsuit on Dennis.
There is no way we could have stopped the art contest and auction from
occuring. There is no way that have could have stopped his so-called
European dealers from bringing European Action Masters to TransCon as
advertised. To say that we were responsible for any of the failings of
TransCon is ridiculous and completely unfounded.
-----
Now allow me to be petty for a brief moment. We don't appreciate the
fact that we are consistently trodden upon by Dennis, either publicly or
privately. We don't consider ourselves "ultrafans." We don't consider
ourselves the "best fans." But what we do know is that people expect
the truth and forthright responses based on truth when they ask
questions. That is all we've ever given to people, and it disappoints
us that Dennis continues to mislead people with his words. We also
don't like the fact that Dennis uses mutual friends to get private
information about our convention and then states it publicly (i.e., the
names of our exclusives). It seems to us that that is immoral, and just
not nice. He may feel that he has his reasons, but ultimately Dennis is
responsible for his own actions. As well, we are ultimately responsible
for the successes and failures of BotCon, and in the end, we have no one
to blame but ourselves.
Sorry this is so long. With a week left before BotCon this needed to be
said and gotten off our chests. We hope that we won't have to defend
ourselves on these points again. See you at Rochester.
Jon, Karl, and Glen
--
BotCon '97 -- "Bringing it Back to the Fans"
http://www.noblecan.org/~jhartman <-- Check out the BotCon '97 FAQ!
G++ FW- M #A445 #E51 #J23 D+++ AA+ N++ W++ B+++ OQP
BC94++++ BC95++ BC96++ BC97++++ MU- OM+ P?
Raksha
On 10 Jul 1997 19:37:37 GMT, mib...@aol.com (MIB141) wrote:
>Most of the Transformers fans are fans of the toys. Because without the
>toys Hasbro would have had no reason to create a 24 minute commercial,
>month commercial comic book or a 2 hour Movie-mercial...
Oh, I think most people like the toys to some degree; some of us are
rather obsessive collectors, in fact. But the show was more than just
a commercial, even though it may have been intended that way. I'll
never deny that the toys are a huge part of the overall fandom -- but
they're by no means the only part. And one of the best things about
the conventions is simply meeting up with other fans, which I believe
both conventions this year provided/will provide in abundance.
>Exclusive First look at Botcon Exclusive Fractal(terrorsaur) and
>Pack Rat (rat trap)...gee thanks Jon for selling out and doing that
Er ... you lost me. How was this selling out? Isn't it up to him to
decide how soon he wants to make the identity of the toy public? Each
convention has revealed the toy at a different time -- some well in
advance, some not until the opening moments. What's wrong with either
practice?
>And for those of you who say dealers shouldn't hold conventions....where
>are Jon and Karl at every convention???? That's right...sitting behind
>their Dealer Table
>selling Transformers.....How terrible!!! The people who run Botcon should
>keep dealers from running conventions!!!
(sigh) Okay, I'm really disappointed here. What's with the poison
darts? You put on a good convention with the resources you had left
after Kenner backed out on you, which is noteworthy in itself. I had
an honest-to-gods good time at TransCon, both in terms of finding neat
stuff to buy, and in terms of interacting with other fans. It was a
good event -- why not let it speak for itself? There's no call for
these potshots. As I told you in Chicago, I've known Karl and Jon
for some years, and they've been good friends to me and are good and
dedicated people; they're putting a lot of effort into creating the
best convention they possibly can, just as you did with yours. I
still think that the "legal reason" for Kenner's backing out is
ridiculously petty, and I can relate to how you feel over this, and I
know you're trying to find some logic in it, but I'm also completely
certain that the Hartmans are not at fault.
I think there's a place for smaller conventions as well as
larger ones. I eagerly anticipate the huge event that BotCon promises
to be, but I also enjoyed the less overwhelming experience of
TransCon. There could be a niche for both types of conventions, if
they could only stop taking cheap shots at one another; I'll point out
that Jon and Karl have *not* made a slew of disparaging comments about
TransCon, which is over, came off well (IMO), and should, as I said,
speak for itself.
So we've had one good TF con this year; let's put away the
flame-throwers and enjoy a second.
--Raksha
--------------------------------------------------------
"I am the Plumed Serpent, I strike and I soar!"
--------------------------------------------------------
All-time favorite Transformer: Soundwave ("The secrets
of the Universe reveal themselves to those who listen.")
--------------------------------------------------------
jk...@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu | Dept. of Zoology
Sundance
: oh...and most of it sold out at Transcon and won't make its way to Botcon
Are you saying that we should all just not go to BotCon because most of
the toys sold out at yours? What are we? Some pawns in a game you play
against the Hartmans? I feel so much cheaper and unwanted now. Hrmph.
:
: Exclusive First look at Botcon Exclusive Fractal(terrorsaur) and
: Pack Rat (rat trap)...gee thanks Jon for selling out and doing that
Limbo! How low can you go?? I thought there were rules about hitting
below the belt and biting of ears. The Hartman's aren't sell outs. They
introduced a wonderful convention called BotCon, which if I'm not mistaken
you ran in '96 and used to springboard Transcon. *scratches head* Yeah....
: So if you love the toys and want the toys...keep on coming to Transcon...
: if not we understand...
Well I would have, except for the fact that a) Through the miracles of
modern technology people can sell their Transformers over the internet.
Wow, eh? and b) You've lost all of my respect(which I sure you could have
cared less about in the first place.)
: for the people who have all of the toys, hate dealers and celebrate in a
: different direction more power to you...we salute you and Botcon....but
: don't destroy Transcon for the people who want the toys.
Well I think this little post just about finished Transcon off. You know
there are some people who aren't as petty as you. They don't need to go
shredding others to in turn try and improve their reputation. I salute
a.t.t. for not biting their tongues when you posted this. I think its
grand that you're getting slammed for trying to take apart the Hartmans
and all the work that they've done for the fans over the years. I think
furthermore, if you want people at TransCon then maybe you should prove
yourself a respectable human being and apologize to the Hartman's for
placing the blame of the shortcomings of your convention on them.
: And for those of you who say dealers shouldn't hold conventions....where
: are Jon and Karl at every convention???? That's right...sitting behind
: their Dealer Table
: selling Transformers.....How terrible!!! The people who run Botcon should
: keep dealers from running conventions!!!
Eh, they had toys for sale?
:
: and in case you where wondering
:
: Organizer of Transcon III
: June 1998
: Detroit Michigan
Not many of us are wondering anymore? Say when is the next BotCon?
--
|| Ben Kutcher : m...@one.net : Alias: Sundance
|| "Hey yeah...I'll see ya there. Thhhhbt!"
|| - Adam Sandler, Happy Gilmore
|| Happy Gilmore is the reason for the sudden interest in
|| golf, not Tiger Woods.
Joel M. Boblit
Hello Everyone,
I'd like to say a few words about Transcon 97 and Botcon 96. I
attended both shows as a dealer and would like to say that MIB was moderately
more organized at Transcon than at Botcon. I had a successful show as a dealer
- I sold most of my lower priced items and a few of the more rare items. I did
notice a lack of crowd enthusiasm at Transcon - this may be due to the lack of
a video room, but in general the crowd was more quiet (and smaller) I think
this 'fued' between Dennis Barger and the Hartmans is very silly and quite
distracting. The purpose of the shows is to gather together many Transformer
fans so they can have a great time, find some new items for their collection,
share memories and all that good stuff. The harsh words passing mostly from
Dennis to the Hartmans is just not indicitive of the spirit and purpose of this
newsgroup. For those of you out there who disagree with whatever I say just
because I'm a dealer - thats fine. There are at least 100 people out there who
at one time or another have bought stuff from me and have been very satisified.
I have a few suggestions for MIB:
>Exclusive First look at Botcon Exclusive Fractal(terrorsaur) and
>Pack Rat (rat trap)...gee thanks Jon for selling out and doing that
Don't bother to post stuff like this - its immature. I'm sure the Hartmans
were pretty bored sitting behind their table for almost 20 hours. They were
there to invite fans to Botcon. I overheard a few people who said they had
never heard of Botcon and they thought it would be fun to attend. Their table
served the purpose of bringing more fans into future shows.
I think the Charity Auction should not be held on Sunday in the afternoon - by
that time, many people have left and a lot of the remaining people are out of
money. I think Saturday in the early evening or late afternoon would be a
great time for the auction - thats when there was peak attendance and the
people still had a lot of money left.
From a dealer's point of view - you should appreciate this. Let the people in
all at one time at the scheduled entrace time. Don't make them wait an hour
and let them in one at a time. The initial rush creates a 'feeding frenzy'
type atmosphere and promotes more sales since the crowd is competing with
itself to find all the good stuff. My sales were pretty consistent throughout
the day, but at Botcon 96 - the first half hour was extremely busy and I sold a
lot more. I'm very sure this is due to the fans being let in all at one time
instead of singly.
I'm not trying to badmouth MIB - they did a good job with the show. I would
like to see a little less mudslinging and hostility. It stirs everyone up and
creates a bad atmosphere on ATT.
I may be a dealer, but I started out as a fan. I have the ability and
resources to locate and sell transformers and I take pride in what I do. I am
honest (if you read this starsaber - I still owe you $88 from that package of
minispies that was lost in the mail) and I know I've helped a lot of people
improve their collections. Thanks for reading my little column and let me know
what you all think
Joel Boblit
Tetra Reris
Three words, "TRUST NO ONE".
There is a saying I used for one of my characters... is goes, "Be careful
who you chose your friends, for your enemies will choose you."
I hope BotCon will be great, even though I cannot be there (like I would
ADD to it? *snicker* hey i don't have THAT kind of ego).
Don't let MIB's people make you enjoy BotCon LESS. Though I've had a
thought, if Hasbro can slap 2 million on them for some breach of contract
than couldn't MIB feasibly sue the folks that filmed the movie MEN IN
BLACK? Just a thought......
* Liane "Tetra Reris" Elliot * The Survivors - Founder *
* Transformers Fan/Writer/Artist * Overlord II - Producer *
* Email: Te...@Eskimo.Com * * * * *
* Website: www.eskimo.com/~tetra/tf.html *
--
----------------------------------------------------------------
- Liane "Tetra Reris" Elliot - "It isn't what we -
- The Survivors Club Head - know, but what we -
- TransFan/Writer/Artist - do with it!" -
MicroZone
>couldn't MIB feasibly sue the folks that filmed the movie MEN IN
BLACK? Just a thought......<
They could, but thewy'd probably get laughed out of court. MIB: the Movie
is based on the old comics from one of Malibu's imprints years before
their purchase by Marvel. Right now Marvel owns the Men In Black
comic/movie/upcoming cartoon characters, not Dennis Berger.
What are the odds of toy dealers taking on a comic publisher now a part of
a toy company, namely Toy Biz? Not bloody likely. :)
MZ
MSipher
(Joel Boblit's stuff snipped)
I'd just like to say that Joel Boblit can be trusted. Hey, he was the one
who REALLY ran the table I shared with him at BC'96... (of course, the
fact that I paid half the cost of the table and let him pretty much have
the vast majority of it all weekend might have helped.)
M "And Remember, 'Dealer' Merely Means They Have Toys To Sell. It Is NOT A
Releflection Of Fandom Or Personal Attributes" Sipher
MSipher
Moy819 wrote...
>>
Now, I am not saying it was awful, but it did have an ok selection of
toys, even though some of the dealers wanted an arm and a leg for some
merchandise. Insecticons were plentiful as well.
>>
Well, the individual dealers, their prices and merchandise really
shouldn't have ANY reflection on the convention organizers. I mean, they
never ASK what they're selling and how much, do they?
I don't think convention organizers should be blamed or acclaimed for the
prices set in the dealer room... it's totally beyond their control.
M "They Should Be Blamed Or Acclaimed For Stuff that IS Directly Under
Their Control, However..." Sipher
chop...@hotmail.com
> Don't let MIB's people make you enjoy BotCon LESS. Though I've had a
> thought, if Hasbro can slap 2 million on them for some breach of contract
> than couldn't MIB feasibly sue the folks that filmed the movie MEN IN
> BLACK? Just a thought......
HEY!!!! DON'T GIVE THOSE CHILDISH GREEDY BASTARDS ANY IDEAS!!!! Face it,
even if they did put on a good con, they're jerks. Dennis Barger
constantly slanders Jon Hartman for no reason, if they think Jon's so
bad, why did they rip off HIS FAQ? Whew, now that i'm done
ranting.......
Chopticon
BTW, just in case you're wondering where i've been (you probably weren't)
I was kicked out of the library comp. lab for a duration of time 'cause i
got no student ID, hmm, prob'ly because i'm not going to school this
summer. as if you cared....
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet
jeru...@amp.com
MSipher wrote:
>
> You know, from the various reports, I was going to give Barger credit for
> actually running a decent convention. (I've defended MIB in the past,
> remember? Don't act so shocked.) It seems TransCon turned out well, and
> for that, Barger should be congradulated. HOWEVER, he ruined it with his
> petty barbs and self-inflation. Such a damn shame. Had he simply stuck
> with the statistics...
>
> >>
> Tons and Tons of parts!!!! as cheap as $.25
> Action Masters carded and loose
> Tons of Japanese stuff
> >>
>
> individual dealers' stock, than how about the folks from BotCon'96 who
> brought *no* TF stuff with them? You can't pick and choose...
Well, he can take credit for two out of three of these. His table had
the AM's (one of only two dealers I saw with them...) and his opening of
his parts stash was a welcome relief to those of us having to trade for
everything for the past year (Although, I don't know if any were really
as low as a quarter). I certainly hope dealers at Botcon take his lead.
He did have some Japanese stuff, but not enough to call it "tons &
tons". But again, Dennis did do a good job getting the right dealers
there. He deserves credit for that!
> >>
> oh...and most of it sold out at Transcon and won't make its way to Botcon
> >>
>
> Boo hoo. I'm sure we'll all somehow manage to get on with our lives.
>
> (Besides, conventions are merely ONE way of obtaining foriegn TF toys...
> Most of my foriegn TFs were obtained via e-mail sales and trades...
> cripes, practically my ENTIRE collection of European TFs came from one
> guy! Thanks, Darren!)
>
> (For those who are looking for Japanese TFs, might I suggest John Ngo, if
> he's still around...)
Well, with that said (and you are right), if you wanted Japanese toys
and you missed Transcon, you can expect to pay anywhere from 25%-50%
more than I did! Sure you can still get the toys, but those were prices
I never expected to see, and never expect to see again.
> >>
> And for those of you who say dealers shouldn't hold conventions....where
> are Jon and Karl at every convention???? That's right...sitting behind
> their Dealer Table
> selling Transformers.....How terrible!!! The people who run Botcon should
> keep dealers from running conventions!!!
> >>
>
> 1) Now, WHO has said that dealers whould not run conventions? And don't
> you DARE say I have, for I have NEVER made a statement like that. (I don't
> feel like waiting for the inevitable "You did".) I think I stated my
> "fan/dealer" position quite clearly in my Rant a few months ago... ("'True
> Fan' and Other Things I Hate About TF Fandom")
>
> 2) Once more, I think you owe the Hartmans ANOTHER apology.
Just to be fair, back when I first saw announcements about Botcon '97,
the impression I got was that Botcon was almost "anti-dealer". This
"spin" may not have been intentional, but with all the "bringing it back
to the fans" lines, they implied that dealers were not the best ones to
run conventions. Although not outright stated, that's the IMPRESSION it
left me with.
John