The Energon Pub

I was wondering today what everyone thinks about online stores like BBTS, Entertainment Earth, Action-HQ, so on and so forth.

What is it that you look for in an online retailer? What draws you in and makes you want to keep coming back?

I find the online store fascinating lately so I'd like to hear what the cash unloading consumers have to say about it.

Don't be shy here, unload all you got. Feel free to share what you would like to see online stores start doing and what is a make or brake deal for you?

I like BBTS and TemptingToys.com

The MOST important thing for me is communication. BBTS is great about communicating with their customers and about fixing issues that are collector poison.

BBTS has had my back on the following issues:
-Faulty MP-3
-Defective (actually melted) Reissue Soundblaster
-Missing stickers from BTA Broadblast
-Missing HEAD from my Fans Project Nemesis Armor

They have fixed all those issues at their own expense and with a polite and friendly email. You can't ask for better than that.

Tempting toys is just putting up the best prices on imports possible right now. They've got insane deals and they're quick to ship.


Now, I hate to say it, but I've had sour experiences with TFSource. I dislike the fact that they take so long to respond to customers and that they're pre-order system can lock you into a purchase when it seems TFSource can't get the item in. Not to further pick on them, but at BotCon on the last day in 2008 I got an unnecessarily snarky response when inquiring about prices. Problem is that I hold grudges when it comes to money...

BBTS has been great for years. They're prices are a bit high, but Pile of Loot is an incredible money saving feature. I wish everywhere did that. Customer Service is top notch.

I also had good luck TransformerLand.com (thanks It Is Him!) for vintage and TemptingToys for GF Soundblaster at a reasonable price.

There a few eBay sellers (like agabyss) that I will go to again, as well. Got Henkei Strafe and GF Gasket Police Type for a steal, and he gave me free shipping on the whole thing, and I had it in two days. It was also extraordinarily well packed.

I haven't purchased from BBTS yet but I like how professional their site is.

I've purchased from Automaton Toys a couple of times and the service is great. Quick communication, excellent packaging of orders, quick shipment. I hope they get continued business so they can expand their offerings and be able to offer more import products.

I've purchased from BBTS about 5 or 6 times now and had no issues.I just bought something for the first time from transformerland ,which I've heard good things about too.

I honestly like dealing with BBTS, and I have only ever had 2 issues with them.
1) I found they took ages to process Credit Cards, but since they set up their paypal account, that's been resolved.
2) They are too honest, and I do end up paying a bit more once the Duty charges on shipments to Canada are applied when I pick up from the post office.

I have also dealt with bodhar2000@hotmail.com, He can be found on eBay actions but you can deal with him directly and I have been impressed by his level of communication, prices, and shipping (both charges and speed).

But beyond them the majority of online purchases are from direct sources (Reprolabels, Marauder) or eBay. Everything else comes from local options.

I dislike most of BBTS's prices since they are pretty high and have a pretty high international shipping, but I do have to say the one time I did make business with them was pretty good. They where the cheapest place to get the SDCC Exclusive Ghostbusters Egon and slimer charging just $16 more than Mattel did with shipping that was $56 still cheaper than what Toywiz wanted without shipping! It took ages to arrive but I still got it and I find it awesome.

TFSource was also a pleasure to deal with, they let me pay in rates and had a pretty good communication, and grate international shipping plus they where my cheapest option to buy City Commander at that time.

F2F, grate service and price, yes i know I was rather and and angry back then due to a lack of communication (I only wanted to know if he received my money or if he didn't), but that was due to him getting so many orders in and being sick at the time. He stated that shipping would take 2 weeks, but I received it like 4 days after he sent it and I got a free little thing too!

Kapow-toys is also grate, especially when you're in the UK or in Germany, if I buy from him I pay less than I do at a local store or from TFSource or BBTS, partly due to exchange rates. Kapow is friendly, grate communication and he was willing to brake up his SG box set just to replace my faulty SG Prime at no extra cost or returning the toy! I declined that offer as I would have felt bad about him braking that set, so I got BotCon Ironhide instead. I love Kapow!

Epic-heroes is another rather expensive online store, but what they charge extra makes up for how cool they are wit customer service, no hassle at all.

There is also an awesome dude in HK that is like the best friend any TF collector in Europe can have, toys hunter I think, grate service and prices, seriously my little bro got his THS 02 Prime for like 25 GBP including shipping of that guy!

BBTS is overpriced, as are most of them. The only places I buy TFs online are:

HasbroToyShop.com
eBay.com (only if I can get item for close to MSRP)
and occasionally Walmart.com, TRU.com, or Target.com.

I bought from BBTS several times and have never had any problems.

Yes their prices area little higher than other options and international shipping is really a punch below the belt, but their service and attention almost make up for it.

I've also ordered from tfsource once (an Encore Prime) and find also to be very good though that time was because it was going to be shipped within the U.S. and their price was lower with shipping than BBTS was without.

BBTS has the Pile of loot going for them, and they do have some good sales, and a wide variety of stock. Things you can't find anywhere else.

And if you are like me and just can't stand dealing with ebay, its a very good option.

Razorclaw0000 wrote:I also had good luck TransformerLand.com (thanks It Is Him!) for vintage and TemptingToys for GF Soundblaster at a reasonable price.

You're welcome

Also, I'm going to give my two thumbs up to TemptingToys as well. I had a question about the shop, so I dialed their number and wound up having a very nice conversation with the owner (who happened to be suffering from a cold at the time). He also helped me out a few days later when I was having trouble with their shopping cart. I would absolutely make another purchase from TemptingToys if I was shopping around.

HobbyLink Japan is pretty great for non-Transformers Japanese toys and other items, although they do have some Transformers items. I've only ordered from them once, but they have a billion items from a million different franchises, and their prices are pretty spot-on.

HLJ is a good company to deal with. I purchased my Henkei C-18 Minibots and 07 Protoform Starscream from them. I've also purchased a ball joint kit and some Gundam figures and kits from the company. They package their orders well and ship quickly. Their selection is vast for Japanese products and they often have useful information such as year of the product's release. The pricing is in Yen but they have estimates for most currencies. They also have shipping estimates for items. Their website has the best layout for an online toy/hobby store I've seen so far.