Alexi Vandenberg, owner of Rabid Fanboy, styles himself as “The Merchant Prince of Fandom,” and“Steampunk Jesus,” and claims to be a serial entrepreneur, running Bard's Tower, Prince of CatsLiterary Productions, and the ironically-named Super Villain's Network. However, aside from RabidFanboy, none of these companies actually exist. Alexi Vandenberg has used these as aliases to gain hisperennial status as a vendor at science fiction conventions. You have likely seen him selling books asBard'sToweror Bard'sTowerCelebrityExperience.

In order to lend himself an air of legitimacy, Alexi Vandenberg claims to have worked with George W. Bush,bothclaimingtoinventthe phrase“flipflop”andtobetheoneto suggest thatBushuseit againstJohn Kerry. He also claims to have worked with John McCain, and often tells a story about JohnMcCain punching him in the tooth. In the past, when people would question Mr. Vandenberg about hisoutrageous stories, he would double down, and often claimed to have worked with or consultant withintelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies. Much like his claims about past presidents andsenators,theseuntruestorieswererepeatedbyAlexi Vandenbergsoconfidentlyandfrequentlythatthey became part of the lore surrounding Alexi Vandenberg, Bard's Tower, and Prince of Cats Literary Productions. Of course, theyareallfabricated.

In recent months,AlexiVandenberg begantoclaim his son has braincancer, that his wife andmother-in-law were suffering from mental health issues, and began selling or attempting to sell all or part ofBard'sTower(afakecompanywithouttrademarks)tomultiplepeoplejustasmobsterBugsySiegeldidwith theFlamingo Hotelin the1940s.

Alexi Vandenberg has a number of extremely credible accusations of sexual misconduct against him,including from former authors. Alexi Vandenberg has falsely claimed that this his young son has braincancer, seemingly defrauded an 80-year-old author who considered him a friend, and has been sued byan investor, former friend, and business partner for one count of breach of contract, one count of debtrecovery, multiple counts of fraud, multiple counts of defamation, one count of negligence, and onecount ofintentionalinfliction ofemotionaldistress.Notonlythat,butAlexiVandenbergseemstohavestolen fromanddefrauded the estateof aUnitedStatesAir Force Captain.

The estate of Captain Gary Kitchen had over $60,000 in retail value of autographed sci-fi books, whichAlexi Vandenberg agreed to sell. Mr. Vandenberg appears to have sold some or all of the books, keptthe money, lied, and cheated the estate out of the money. Like George Santos, Alexi Vandenberg seemsto have no moral qualms with defrauding veterans and creating outlandish backstories. A fullaccountingofAlexiVandenbergandBard's TowerconductregardingtheestateofCaptainGaryKitchencanbefoundhere:https://www.michaelzwilliamson.com/cms/index.php/18-general/645-when-booksellers-go-bad-alexi-vandenberg-bard-s-tower-rabid-fanboy-enterprises

Inadditiontohisfictitiousbackstory,AlexiVandenberghastakentoapatternofsellinghiscompanies.He sold 50% of his only real company, Rabid Fanboy to Shoshana Edwards, an author who consideredhim a friend. Alexi Vandenberg took $25,000 from Ms. Edwards and did sign a contract with her, onehe seemingly has not kept, had no intent to honor, and has willfully violated.Shoshana Edwards, whois 80 years old, has suffered serious financial hardship as a result of Alexi Vandenberg and hisfraudulentbusiness practices.

Alexi Vandenberg also attempted to sell 100% of Bard's Tower—a company that does not exist toJamesDobbs.Ofcourse,AlexiVandenbergcouldnotselltheonlycompanythatdidexist,ashehad

already sold 50% of said company to Ms. Edwards. When Mr. Dobbs began due diligence on AlexiVandenberg, Alexi Vandenberg falsely claimed his young son was sick with potentially fatal braincancer in order to create a sense of urgency. Mr. Dobbs, who considered Mr. Vandenberg a friend,agreed to purchase the rights to operate at Pensacon 2023. Alexi Vandenberg signed a sales contractwith Mr. Dobbs, signed a detailed Memorandum of Understanding, and proceeded to violate both.When Mr. Dobbs confronted Alexi Vandenberg, Mr. Dobbs was told to go away with colorful metaphors.