A judgment rendered in a Kansas district court against the Slanted Fedora convention last month has apparently been dismissed, according to organizers of the science fiction convention.



In an e-mail response to our original report, organizer David Scott said that the court's order of prohibiting the sale of merchandise or services in Kansas because of reported violations of the state's consumer protection laws was "resolved in our favor" soon after it was handed down.



Scott did not address the specifics of the judgment, or why it was dismissed. However, he said that despite some of the recent problems, fans still enjoy the Slanted Fedora conventions.



"We have made mistakes, lots of them," the response said. "We will continue to make mistakes, unfortunately lots of them. As always, people who attend our conventions are for the most part satisfied. Those who do not attend would prefer that we were something different, or gone completely. We still offer the best 'deal' for a fan dollar."



Slanted Fedora did offer a blanket response to the recent reports.



"My one response to any controversy that surrounds us is ... at every convention this year, we offer an opportunity to buy tickets for the following year's convention," Scott said. "The people who attend always voice their support by buying a year in advance, with no guest list. This year, we have offered this four times. At each of those four conventions, we not only sold more advance tickets than we did the year before, our reviews from the fans who attended were glowing. To the people who attend, we must be offering something that they want."



While a majority of the fans may not be complaining about the quality and services of Slanted Fedora, two recent actors (as previously reported) gave less than glowing reviews about the way they were treated by convention organizers.



Patrick Stewart (Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, "Star Trek: The Next Generation") said that when he had to cancel a preliminary agreement to appear at a January convention, he was told that he had signed a contract to not only appear, but to sign autographs as well. While he denied ever signing such an agreement, and said Slanted Fedora never produced a signed contract, he did agree to send 1,200 autographs to the convention.



"I should have insisted that I waited until the check was cleared, because when my bank submitted it, it bounced," Stewart said in a late January address to fans. "As of the 23rd of January, I have still not been paid for the photographs."



Popular convention guest James Darren (Vic Fontaine, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine") also felt the need to speak out recently when he was bumped from Slanted Fedora conventions in Boston and Chicago earlier this month.



Darren said that he was "looking forward to being at both conventions." However, contrary to statements apparently made by Slanted Fedora organizers, it was not the actor who pulled out, but the convention dumping him.



"Mr. Darren's appearances were in fact canceled by Dave Scott of Slanted Fedora Entertainment."