The Energon Pub

[bionic_radical]

Getting figures for free because of markups on other fans...

Its this kind of attitude that really makes me want to walk away from collecting altogether. It would be nice to have a circle of fans that actually took care of each other and helped complete everyones collection instead of buying up stock to "get free figs". If its something you love, put sweat into it, put your heart into it. Make it something your proud of because you worked hard to get it, not because you bought out the supply to get rewarded. I understand that there is a downside to commercialism, but honestly, where's the sense of respect for others? If you need to manipulate the game to get free figures because you can't afford them, you probably should put your money elsewhere.


I want to make that circle of fans. I want to make a list of their figures, and what that circle needs. No free figs. No gas refunds. No free shipping. The group would take one hour in a week and hit local stores to see if they can find items on the list. New people would have to find so many on the list to join. Thats the kind of collecting that I think would make things fun again.

If you think this sounds like something you'd be into, and aren't a sketch ball, post it up. We can make a list of what we all need, whats in the areas, and make the group grow. If you have ideas to build on this one, post it up! Let's make our collections something we earn, Let's help each other fill out our collections. I think its great to see a picture of someones collection and know that I helped add a piece to that collection. Im sure there's others that do too.

[Mykltron]

Well, there are plenty of people who are happy to help others out without a markup. I've done it and am happy to continue helping others as long as postal expenses are paid but I live in England where distribution is poor.

Well intentioned as this is I wonder if it should be in the Carbomya forum.

[Burn]

Well intentioned as this is I wonder if it should be in the Carbomya forum.

I thought that was the whole purpose of the Carbomya Forum actually.

But you know what? Yeah, well intentioned, but to be perfectly honest, if people want to buy up a bunch of figures, sell 'em at a profit for themselves, that's their business, get over it.

I wish you all the best in your endeavour, but seriously, you might want to look at the Carbomya Forum because what you're trying to achieve already exists.

[Flux Convoy]

I wish you all the best in your endeavour, but seriously, you might want to look at the Carbomya Forum because what you're trying to achieve already exists.

Not there, it doesn't. A B/S/T forum is nothing akin to what he's asking after. It wouldn't hurt to be constructive instead of being completely unhelpful.

Your best bet is probably gonna be the sightings forums for your area. Of course, meeting fans and making new friends always helps with growing your network. You should try attending Botcon or whatever other smaller conventions might be near you. Make no mistake, the people you know should be a resource/network to you. It's one of the great things about Botcon. I've made friends with people from all over. If I can't get hold of something locally, one of my friends is very likely to be able to help. Collecting gets so much less frustrating that way.

[RhA]

Well intentioned as this is I wonder if it should be in the Carbomya forum.

I thought that was the whole purpose of the Carbomya Forum actually.

But you know what? Yeah, well intentioned, but to be perfectly honest, if people want to buy up a bunch of figures, sell 'em at a profit for themselves, that's their business, get over it.

I wish you all the best in your endeavour, but seriously, you might want to look at the Carbomya Forum because what you're trying to achieve already exists.

Carbombya is a buy/sell forum, right? Nothing there that implies this idea directly, people can still sell their stuff for more then they paid for it. This idea IS specific about it, maybe it should have been posted in the Carbombya section, but still I feel this is an addition to it.

Beyond that, if we allow for people to mark up, scalp or make a profit and let that be their business, then why should this particular circle not be our business?

[Counterpunch]

A lot of people already do this.

It's done through conversation, private messages, good will, and general being-a-cool-dude.

If you're going to organize something semi-official though, how are you going to deal with members who only leech off the good will of others? Are you going to require that payments through PayPal are sent as a gift so that the original purchaser doesn't lose money in the process?

Look, I think helping out other fans is a great idea. Why does it always have to be a "thing" though? Just help someone out if you can or if they ask. Recognize that time and effort have an associated cost. Just...I don't know, be cool.

[RhA]

A lot of people already do this.

It's done through conversation, private messages, good will, and general being-a-cool-dude.

If you're going to organize something semi-official though, how are you going to deal with members who only leech off the good will of others? Are you going to require that payments through PayPal are sent as a gift so that the original purchaser doesn't lose money in the process?

Look, I think helping out other fans is a great idea. Why does it always have to be a "thing" though? Just help someone out if you can or if they ask. Recognize that time and effort have an associated cost. Just...I don't know, be cool.

It's based on trust and there's the big problem. And why should it not be a 'thing', social interaction bring social bonds and (implicit) rules. I don't see a problem in at least trying to make it official. That way you can ask for something far more directly then (for instance) putting up a request for a figure and waiting for a reply. Making it a 'thing' collects a few people following a predetermined set of rules.

There's always going to be problems with these kinds of things, sure. I'm not saying it a perfect plan, but has merit IMO.

[Blackstreak]

This is not a bad idea really. But there has to be a way to counter balance the leechers and moochers. I suggest trading figures on a one-to-one basis. Scout for scout, deluxe for deluxe, voyager for voyager, and you pay for your own shipping as it theoretically should balance out. The only problem w/ this is balancing of figure cost is restricted to retail. Once a figure hits second market the values move all around the scale and most often won't match what the other person is asking for- that is, if you are looking for a monetary value of the TFs. So, if you are anal about the monetary value this idea is not for you.

I've never encountered anyone who's asked for gas compensation for the driving they've had to do but that attitude is quite anal in my opinion. I have to do as much driving as anyone else so why pay for yours too?

Carbombya only accounts for a little bit of this idea. It serves as a hub for all sorts of transactions. And transactions are always depending on the parties involved to work out details. I personally have 3 threads going on and they are all linked in my signature. I suggest every participant do this also as it makes a quick reference to what people are looking for and what they are trying to getting rid of.

And above all when you ship figures to someone else always supply a delivery confirmation number. No ifs, ands, or buts. It is a measure taken to build trust and make sure you don't screwed in the process (though I'd rather screw the women in RHAs signatures ). Never had a TF not show up when a tracking number is required.

[Flux Convoy]

A lot of people already do this.

It's done through conversation, private messages, good will, and general being-a-cool-dude.

If you're going to organize something semi-official though, how are you going to deal with members who only leech off the good will of others? Are you going to require that payments through PayPal are sent as a gift so that the original purchaser doesn't lose money in the process?

Look, I think helping out other fans is a great idea. Why does it always have to be a "thing" though? Just help someone out if you can or if they ask. Recognize that time and effort have an associated cost. Just...I don't know, be cool.

I have to agree with nearly everything here. I get what he's going for though. Not everyone seems to have the connections that you and I might. It's what I was trying to encourage. As for Paypal, you don't have to mark things as gift. You can mark things as goods or services rendered and the like.

[decepta-scott]

Hey all. In another thread it was thought up by another member that some may bennefiet if a few of us started a group of members that are all about helping each other obtain figures needed to complete our respective collections. Several others agreed.
It was said that in order for this to work there would have to be trust amongst the members, real names and adresses would have to be divulged, members must be willing to travel from store to store without tacking on gas prices to the overall price of the figures, members would have to be prepared to sit by and watch as others got figures they were looking for while he or she had not scored in awhile, or at all and most importantly members would have to sell figures for cost to them plus shipping.
Simply put this group would be a help group for members who above all want to complete a collection and see fellow collectors complete a collection without linning scalper pockets. If one were looking to make money, this would not be a group to join.
I was just wondering how many members would be willing to spend their own gas to look for figures for other members and then be willing to sell hard to come by figures for price to them plus shipping?
How many would be willing to do this despite the possibility that you may have to sit by for awhile watching as other members are taken care of while you have yet to recieve a figure?
How many would be willing to divulge their names and adresses to members who would need to send them figures and would you be able to trust that another member would send you a figure/payment after you have sent out their figure/payment?
Just trying to gauge if this great idea would truley have the potential to get off the ground or if it is meerley another great idea that lacks the kind of people nescessary to make it work.
When I joined this community I thought for sure that this type of practice already existed. To my shock it dose not. I would love to see members helping members not for proffit, but simply to help someone who shares their passion.
Please give a response. Thanx guys n gals.
Have a good one all!!
Scott

[decepta-scott]

Lotsa views and not a single response. Pretty much what I expected........

[Counterpunch]

Lotsa views and not a single response. Pretty much what I expected........

Why didn't you post this in the referenced thread?

[Overcracker]

bionic_radical posted this same thing a few hours before you, and there's a few responses there you may want to check out.

a-collectors-circle-t80679.php

Also this should be in the Carbombya Forum.

[Galvatron X]

Lotsa views and not a single response. Pretty much what I expected........

It's only been 40 minutes, man!


I think I might be interested in that. I like hooking other people up!

Honestly though, I'd be more likely to help members that have been here a while and post, rather than someone who joined last week, has 4 posts, and wants us to hook him up with something he can't find.

[decepta-scott]

bionic_radical posted this same thing a few hours before you, and there's a few responses there you may want to check out.

a-collectors-circle-t80679.php

Also this should be in the Carbombya Forum.

Carbombya?? Is that forreal or was that a jk? Ive been trying to be sure to place my threads in their prober places as I have already been told by mods to do so once before. I figured it belonged here since it was about toys.

I didnt post it in the referenced thread because I figure alot of folks may only visit a thread once or twice to post their responses and thats it. I wanted to be sure everyone read it.

I didnt know someone else posted a simular or identical thread. Sorry bout that. Thanx for the link though.

I know it had only been a bit. I just ment that with twenty views youd think someone would have responded in the positive. If you break it down to percentages and think that not even one in twenty members would be willing to do this its just kinda disheartning ya know? Apologies.

Galvie x u looking for any figures retail?

[Counterpunch]

I'm merging this with the other topic.

[decepta-scott]

I love this idea. I thought this would be a generaly practiced thing here but I found that was not the case. I have no problem helping out others for cost plus shipping even if it takes a long while for me to obtain a single figure.
I am willing to spend my own gas to help others. I am willing to trust that someone will send me my money or figure.
Unfortunately there has been at least one member who has come into this thread with their "Im a scalper and its a free country get over it!!" attitude. To you and your like I say this thread IS NOT FOR YOU. DONT EVEN POST HERE. DOES A SKINNY PERSON ATTEND WEIGHT WATCHERS MEETINGS? NO. SAME PRINCIPAL. THIS IS FOR LIKE MINDED MEMBERS. YOUR COMMENTS ALONE LET US KNOW THAT YOU ARE EXACTLY THE TYPE THAT IS NOT WANTED IN THIS GROUP OF MEMBERS. GET OVER IT!! If you are looking to make a priffit go to ebay.
Counter punch said people should just be cool and help when needed and I totally agree. I wish that were the way of things.
I have helped several members out via p.m. I agree that it would be good if people would simply look at a request and try to deliver but if that worked the buyer seller forum would be more helpfull and booming.
This way you can isolate a member, see what he or she wants and actively keep an eye out for those figures. I think it could be a good thing if it dosent get to large in scale. I post all the time that I have found this or that rare fig and ask if anyone needs it at cost plus shipping but for whatever reason noone needs the figure. Then I see a post a few days later where several members are asking for the figures I said I could find. I guess they didnt see my post.
Anyway, I think there are a few wheeljacks, a t cracker and a cup at one of my walmarts. Anyone need those figures? Anyone need any other figures?

[Overcracker]

bionic_radical posted this same thing a few hours before you, and there's a few responses there you may want to check out.

a-collectors-circle-t80679.php

Also this should be in the Carbombya Forum.

Carbombya?? Is that forreal or was that a jk? Ive been trying to be sure to place my threads in their prober places as I have already been told by mods to do so once before. I figured it belonged here since it was about toys.

Its real, its the Buy/Sell/Trade Forum. We call it Carbombya after a Middle Eastern City in an episode of the G1 Cartoon.

carbombya-buy-sell-or-trade-f36.php

[decepta-scott]

I'm merging this with the other topic.

Apologies. I should have scanned the board to see if there was a like thread before I started mine. Will try to do that in the future.

[alternator77]

good idea but ive been burned in the past when id hook up a fellow collector only to find they were marking up what i got them for an insane amount of money. sometimes you dont know if your hooking up a scalper.its the main reason i dont offer to hook people up. on the other hand if i spot a had to find item i post it and if theyre interested they can get it themselves.

[decepta-scott]

good idea but ive been burned in the past when id hook up a fellow collector only to find they were marking up what i got them for an insane amount of money. sometimes you dont know if your hooking up a scalper.its the main reason i dont offer to hook people up. on the other hand if i spot a had to find item i post it and if theyre interested they can get it themselves.

Now theres one scenareo that I hadnt thought about. However, I dont see a scalper going through the trouble of getting a single figure to scalp on ebay. Granted if the idea took off and worked as well as hoped he may be able to create several accounts and recieve multiple figures so.......It would still be worth it to me as long as there were true fans who were making out good.

[bionic_radical]

There are a lot of good ideas, and a lot of general interest in the matter, I think. I think its a great idea to have a list of what everyone would be looking for in the group, like a family. It seems like a few people didn't know about the carbombya forum, so at least that has been brought to attention. If there are those out there that still want to try to put this together, starting out SMALL and building from there, either PM or make a post about interest in it. We need to start compiling a large list of what those involved are looking for, and then our hunt begins!!

[dinogeist]

Mods/admins,it is okay if I copy & paste my reply from the "what would you say if I told you thread." because this is where this thread idea first got disccussed. then a replier in that thread decided to create another thread with ideas he put in the "what would you say if I toy you" thread.

here's a copied & pasted response I said in the "what would you say if I told you thread last night:

"i agree your idea seems good.

but their are a few negatives to the idea,I can see as follows:

(1) some/most of us would want to see some sort of feedback or detailed records to see which sellers have good reputations of getting money & shhipping out the items. no one wants to risk shelling out money & getting no stuff in return. most trust ebay because they can view a sellers feedback transactions score & read what fellow buyers had to say about the buyer.

(2) not everyone on this seibertron.com board like to reveal their true identity. some might want to keep their real name & address a secret.
ordering from ebay,amazon & other on-line sites allows the buyers to keep their identities a secret.

(3) expecting people to run around,using up all their gasoline & spare time & not get anything re-imbursed seems kinda selfish & taking advantage of someone. i can sorta understand if gasoline was about $1.00 & everyone had cars that got 50 miles per gallon. but gasoline is around $4.00 per gallon & most cars these days barely get 24 miles per gallon on average. how about the guys spare time,isn't this worth anything? instead of shopping for everyone for hours at a time & running around to stores he could be home relaxing with his family.

(4)How about paypal transaction fees. is the seller autmatically by default expected to pay these fees. when the seller clearly went out of his way to run around shopping for everyone for free? last I checked paypal takes at least $2.00 from the seller for using their paypal site.

(5) shipping fees are very hard to calcuate. some might try to sell you a toy at retail price but try to make up the difference in shipping fees. by charging a few bucks extra in shipping. some are new to the selling game & may over charge in shipping fees because their clueless of shipping cost. if these toys are being sold at retail,I doubt any seller would want to under-estimate the shipping fees then have to pay a few bucks out of their own pocket. the thing with most shipping carriers in america they charge by the distance & weight of the item. the farther away you live in the states,the more shipping cost.

we'd need experienced sellers who know how to ask for a address before a paypal payment is sent. take the address throw it into a shipping carrier calculator. then he'd need a personal scale at home to weigh the item to enter the weight & address into the shipping carrier calculator. then he'd need to email the buyer with the exact shipping quote. once the paypal payment gets sent,the seller would print up the label & ship out the package. THE SELLER WOULD need to be experienced to do this & honest or you'd wind up paying more in shipping by either accident or on purpose.

(6) buyers would be expected to pay tax by default. because this guy ran around all day picking up toys for everyone. and he paid tax. this isn't something th buyer had in hi collection,thi is something he just bought for others & is charging retail prices.

(7)depending on where you live,not everyone's local stores are under 4 miles away or a short walk away. some of us like myself live in the middle of nowhere where going to these chain stores is literally 15 miles away one way & 30 miles away round trip. depending on the car you drive,you could either get decent gas mileage or horrble gas mileage.

expecting sellers to only charge you retail prices & not expecting buyers to help pay for gasoline,time,tax & paypal transaction fees just seems kinda selfish & taking advantage of fellow fans.

(8) what if certain members in the group never find anything while others always find stuff & keep giving to the certain members in the group who say they never find anything? will this member who can't find anything be tossed out of the group or be caled a liar? have his local stores called by others in the group to confirm he's telling the truth or lying? will their be members in the group casting votes to decide if the guy who never finds anything gets to stay in the group or not? would others be willing to spend gas+time+paypal fees to some who never get them anything? what if some join the group for the sole purpose of saving gas+time & pretend to go toy hunting for others,all in attemps to get a item for retail but save money on gas+time+paypal fees.

(9)no seller will go shopping for anyone,waste gas+time. then ship out a item without receiving payment. then wait a few days/weeks for payment to arrive.

paypal transaction fees need to come into the equation. paypal charges at least $2.00 to use their services. money orders cost at least $1.00
sending loose money in a enveople is not reccommended by the post office. getting a check,having it bounce & paying a $25 fee is not somethng sellers would risk. why should the seller be expected to pay for paypal fees or money order fees,if he's running around for free shopping for everyone. not getting re-imbursed for his gas nor time. the paypal fees or money order fees+tax need to be added to the bill the buyer must pay to the seller."

[RhA]

Well, it seems a good number of people are up for this... What then now, Bionic_radical?

[bionic_radical]

Now we compile a list. Anyone thats interested needs to address:

1) What part of the world they are from (names and addresses wont be important until we start finding things and shipping)
2) Whats out right now that they're looking for or need. Lets not make this a back catalog, as I think thats more of trading, which is fine, but for right now, lets start out with basic functions and get whats out on shelves. As more things roll in, instead of editing your wants/needs post, just make a new post stating what you're looking for.
3) Decide what day of the week we should all try to go out.

I think Ill edit the initial post so that people dont have to comb through pages once we start compiling a list. So... to get this started:

1) Im from Ohio, in the States
2) For now, Im caught up. Those last two Gen figures dont have a chance in Nov though! TF Prime looks cool too.
3) I think Sunday is a good day to hunt/gather