I talked to a lot of people at the Rosemont show. All of them have, are, or will produce UP lettered merchandise. Only two of the twelve or so have signed the UP agreement.
The two who did sign gave expected responses. Business is business, etc. Perhaps, but also short sighted.
Among the others, the most difficult aspect will be unity. Every manufacturer is of course free to pursue their own deal with UP, sign it as-is, or walk away and "opt out" of UP merchandise, or fly on tradition (100 years of precedent is a pretty good foundation) and take their chances. But a consensus would be helpful.
There is of course no guarantee but I'm satisfied that there is a plan, or plans, and its gratifying to see there are some major players who aren't lining up for the slaughter. Y'all can say what you will about me, and my thoughts on this and ridicule my opinion, but - I'll leave it at that. I've talked to the players, and its in their hands, and they are capable. We'll just have to wait and see. And this will take considerable time. Lack of news is not bad news in this case.
Oh yeah, it was also interesting to listen to the stories change depending on who was listening. I'm amazed sometimes how much heat an employee will stand there and take pretending a mistake was his own decision, when in fact it was made over his head and he's not happy with it either. I don't understand it, but it's common enough that it must be something a lot of people believe is doing their duty to their employer. Got to observe this first hand when a major publisher made a really bad decision a few years back. It's happening now with the UP license. People are being defensive, maybe just out of embarrassment at having capitulated. I dunno. Sometimes people in newsgroups even get defensive over something they had nothing to do with. It's just a hobby but the fundamentals of human behavior continue to fascinate me.
Andy