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Plots 'n' Tombstones: Official Or Off Base?
I decided to throw my two cents in on this certain organization after it's been discussed in a few discussion forums and chats I participate in. And the consensus by many is that it's bullshit. Since I'm not the shy retreating type of person y'all thought I was, I've decided to express my opinion on this very topic. And before anyone thinks that I'm just jumping into this topic unprepared, let me say that I've done some homework. The following is an opinion formed after completely looking through the site, being a previous lurker at their message board, and conversing with people through chats and e-mails who have known "Druidess," who is the "president" of this club, or have been members.
For those who don't know, Plots 'n' Tombstones has claimed that it's the official fan club of Mark Calaway (or Callaway, according to them). It sure isn't an official anything. For me, its overall feeling is that it's nothing more than a site used for profit and built up on untruths. This profit is made by the selling of Undertaker and Kane - related items and through the cost of membership for this club called "Plots 'n' Tombstones."
The question was brought up by a skeptic once at PnT as to the validity of the site and whether it was infringing on copyright, something the WWF frowns upon. And this person had the right to question. As I've learned from other sites (locostuff.com, Lyn's WWF Snapshots), it is possible to be served legal notice by the World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (WWFE) for using its trademark(s) in such a way for what they see as monetary gain, unless approved by them. For example, Loco (of locostuff) had just one banner ad up to help pay for the cost of her domain name. WWFE sent her a letter from its legal department stating that she couldn't use any of their trademarks for financial profit, and had to remove all her WWF multimedia or else risk being sued and having to turn over her domain. This is also the same thing that happened to Lyn. One banner and she had to close up entirely, because she only had WWF- related media on her site. The PnT faithful say it's OK for "Druidess" to sell merchandise and such, because of where she initially receives the goods to sell. In actuality, it doesn't make a difference how PnT acquires their items, whether from wholesale, buying off the shelves, through personal collectors, etc. Reason being is they're still making a profit from it, which is a blatant infringement of copyright on her part because "Druidess" isn't approved by the WWFE to sell their products. And PnT claims no ties whatsoever to the WWF, which is stated throughout the site. With that being said, I seriously hope PnT doesn't make any serious enemies, because a few calls to the WWFE legal department probably could shut them down.
Another thing I find completely disturbing about it is the lack of general professionalism shown throughout. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel that if it was really Calaway's official fan club or any fan club, for that matter, it would be more professionally done. So for those who believe that this is an official club for Mark Calaway and endorsed by him, this is a major red light. If he were ever to endorse a site or interact with one, I'm sure he'd be very choosy and savvy with his decision. In fact, something relating to that was discussed by the man himself during his WWF Byte This! interview.
Regarding the site's merchandise and memberships, many have mentioned to me that they are lackluster at best. I've been told that their books for sale are poorly written, with grammatical errors throughout, and are of low overall paper and binding quality. They are also said to rely heavily on the old TV program "Dark Shadows," or something to that effect, of which one of the main characters was a vampire. The ironic thing about this is people (those who openly criticize her) have been insulted on her messageboard for having grammatical errors in their posts, while their "Dru" doesn't seem like a poet laureate herself. The "fan club packets" are also said to be of poor quality, consisting of Xeroxed pages stapled together. There also has been a problem with people not receiving their merchandise, which is another joke. They charge 2-times or more the MSRP, plus shipping, even for newer items. I know for a fact that I could walk into my local Wal-Mart or general toy store or even shop online, and the new Undertaker figures sure aren't going to cost upwards of $15 or more.
I also have a problem with all the self-proclaimed "site - exclusive" news, which is nothing more than what any general wrestling fan could find on any given news/ rumor board or the Ross Report, both of which are breeding grounds for rumors and PR (Public Relations) garbage. She constantly contradicts herself and tries to cover her tracks (unsuccessfully) when things she posts turn out to be false, to no avail. She just comes across to me as rude and unprofessional in her actions of doing so. Now I don't like rumors much but if someone posts them and notes them as being, it's fine. But if you word things to sound like it's actual legit news, that's where I see a problem.
Mainly, when I've gone there, I've only visited their discussion board. I'm more of a lurker than a poster, and from my impressions, this definitely isn't a "Sanctuary." Censorship, thinly veiled as "banning trolls", abounds if you don't share the opinions of the general consensus. And her explanations as to why she won't address things is she doesn't want to is that it will start another firestorm, like she has done before by posting "news" that came straight off some rumor board that she insinuated was given to her exclusively. And the people who are banned after expressing sound criticism or asking questions are continually insulted and not able to defend themselves, due to their IP#s being banned. "Dru" also doesn't take too kindly to skeptics. She received an e-mail which questioned the validity of her site, which she then posted, later with full e-mail address, to be attacked by others. For a time, there was so much legitimate criticism of her that she made her board private instead of directly and professionally answering the allegations and inquiries towards her. Also after the board went public again there was someone else who was becoming skeptical of her claims and wanted answers. The skeptic was promptly banned, yet "Dru" and the site regulars were allowed to insult her. That action is completely tasteless and unbecoming. Of course, people become really brave behind their computer screens.
PnT is also the originating place of the whole "baby" deal which led to much fighting among a lot of the Undertaker fans. For those who don't know about this or forgot it, let me clarify. Last year or so (it was awhile ago and I've forgotten the exact time- it might have been the latter part of 1999), there was a tidbit posted stating that Calaway's first wife was soon expecting the couple's third child. However, it was found to be false, as he was divorced, a lot of the fans saw the Las Vegas picture of him and his future wife, and he remarried in July of 2000. The president of the club said that it was posted everywhere else before she decided to. That is a lie. I saw it on one other news/ rumor board (one of those types with more bullshit than news and are run by kids with their parents' credit cards), then PnT posted it (with wording essentially implying this was legit news straight from the man himself), and the resulting effect was the firestorm that ignited on undertaker.net that spread. This was one of the worst wars I've seen there, because two factions were brought into the fray: those who want to know everything they can about his personal life and those who feel that's off-limits in any shape or form. If you are wrong, at least you should have the decency to address your club members, visitors, and associates and not dodge thieir questions. And if you don't do it on a public message board, at least you should do it in e-mail, which probably wasn't done, because the question popped up many times.
Essentially, I feel it's a site built up on a foundation of lies. Even the former site Brides of Kane (which was a legitimate site in contact with Glenn Jacobs) severed their ties with PnT months before its demise due to lies and untruths, something I doubt very few PnT members know. I think the way it happened was BoK's main worry was they didn't want their legitimacy to be decreased just because of their affiliation with PnT. I think that they did their presentations together to Glenn Jacobs (Kane) and Bill Moody (Paul Bearer), so her "presentations" probably aren't even legitimate anymore. And even though she seems to imply that she knows both Taker and Moody, I very seriously doubt that one. From what I understand, she has known Bill Moody (who apparently knows nothing about her shit - spreading) on an acquaintance level and might have been lucky enough to have met Calaway once or twice.
I think people pay money because they think it's Calaway's official club and maybe it makes them feel closer to him. This site also preys on a fanbase that is very loyal to their favorite wrestler and people who are either newer to the Internet and tend to believe most of what they read or those who might be more trusting. Once a few realize what's going on, that foundation will be rocked and quickly fall, as it already seems to be on a fragile base.
Now with all that I've said, I'm not saying not to join the "club." If you are into that kind of thing and want to make friends, by all means do it. But I would be wary and ask questions before jumping in and spending your money, instead of relying on blind faith regarding the "president" and a few of her faithful flock.
(Here I try to answer some of the questions I've seen about this piece)