In a move that stunned its regular users and occasional guests, Spawn.com, the online home to McFarlane SportsPicks, announced they were closing their popular message boards. Additional comments from the company were not available, which has caused speculation that the company may cutting costs.
This seems in direct contrast to the announcement made by Todd McFarlane himself who cites social media as the main reason for closing the boards, as they have replaced the need for the popular community.
His complete statement reads as follows:
Spawn Board members,
Hey Folks! It's been a while since I've written something official for these boards, although I have been dropping by frequently over the years; reading lots your terrific posts/threads. Today, I wanted to take an opportunity to thank all of you for your support of the many items my companies have put. Every day I am thankful when any of you decides to spend your hard earned cash on any of our products. Because every business knows it can only succeed with a strong and loyal fan base.
The second reason for this post is to announce some news. As some of you might remember, back when we started the Spawn Boards, social media wasn't nearly the giant force it is today. And while we continue to have a very active, but small community on these boards, we feel that there are better ways to provide social outlets for our fans in a wider arena.
With that in mind, we've decided that as of Friday, October 14, the Spawn message boards will permanently be removed from the spawn.com website. Besides announcing this news, we also wanted to allow this transition enough time for everyone to collect any contact info they might need before the boards are officially taken down.
As we make this transition with our fan base, I want to personally invite you all to join us as we move the party over to our new social sites on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. We feel these sites will provide a better way to serve our community and loyal followers with more unique daily content including news, “first look “ photos, videos, and contests. So you can still get your McFarlane fix!
We all know the importance and impact that the Spawn message board has had over the years and I too like hanging around here (heck, it's where our initial conversations all started). So, my hope, is that you will see this in the same light as I do, which is a natural transition to some of these other social outlets. We are not abandoning you or going out of business or any other silly negative reaction that might come to mind. It is simply making some business moves that will strengthen what we are able to deliver to you on a daily basis, while at the same time continuing to deliver the same great products you have come to expect from my companies.
I sincerely hope that all of you will stick with us through this transition and continue to provide your very valuable feedback through our other social outlets.
Thanks again for all of your support through the years. See you at the new party site!
Todd McFarlane
CEO/Creator/owner
So that is the bad news, however we encourage any former Spawn.com message board users to use the forum here at Cardboard Connection.
Ok, now for some good news. McFarlane released the preliminary schedule for several new series starting in 2012:
NBA 20 (early-January, 2012)
- Blake Griffin – Los Angeles Clippers
- Kevin Durant 2 – Oklahoma City Thunder
- Dwyane Wade 3 – Miami Heat
- John Wall – Washington Wizards
- Derrick Rose 2 – Chicago Bulls
- Carmelo Anthony 4 – New York Knicks
- Kobe Bryant 6 – Los Angeles Lakers
NHL 30 (late-January, 2012)
- Mario Lemieux 4 – Pittsburgh Penguins
- Daniel Sedin 3 – Vancouver Canucks
- Brian Gionta – Montreal Canadiens
- Pavel Datsyuk 2 – Detroit Red Wings
- Ryan Smyth 2 – Edmonton Oilers
- James Reimer – Toronto Maple Leafs (Collector Level Only)
MLB 29 (mid-February, 2012)
- Alex Rodriguez 6 – New York Yankees
- Carl Crawford – Boston Red Sox
- Starlin Castro – Chicago Cubs
- Cliff Lee – Philadelphia Phillies
- Josh Hamilton 3 – Texas Rangers
- Troy Tulowitzki – Colorado Rockies
- Thurman Munson 2 – New York Yankees
MLB 30 (early April 2012)
- Prince Fielder – Team TBD
- Albert Pujols 5 – Team TBD
- Adrian Gonzalez – Boston Red Sox
- Mark Teixeira 2 – New York Yankees
- Matt Kemp – Los Angeles Dodgers
- Rickey Henderson – Oakland Athletics/New York Yankees
Stay tuned to Cardboard Connection as further details and photos of the figures become available.
 |
