For those of us who spend a decent amount of time around the Transformers hobby, establishing regular contacts for buying & selling toys and discussing Transformers-related topics on forums are par for the course. A good reputation is hard earned whereas a bad one can be picked up with ease, so this week we look at just a few ways how collectors, sellers and fans can maintain a good standing among their peers and contribute to making the online community a better place.

Reputations | Source Blog <- CLICK TO READ

But that's not all this week....

~ TFSOURCE BLOG COMPETITION - WIN MP-15 MASTERPIECE RAVAGE & FRENZY PRE-ORDER! ~

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• Read this week's TFsource Blog article Reputations | Source Blog
  
  
• Identify every toy variant (including country/region of origin and manufacturer) pictured in the article
  
  
• Post your answers in the correct order as a comment on TFsource's Facebook page in response to the post & thread promoting this article
  
  
• The first reply in the Facebook thread with all the correct answers in the correct order wins a pre-order from TFsource for a MP-15 Masterpiece Ravage & Frenzy!

​

Example:

1: Canadian Red Slag (Hasbro)
2: Mexican Skywarp (IGA)
3: Japanese Diaclone Blue Bluestreak (Takara)
etc​

IMPORTANT!

Remember, Post your answers as a comment on TFsource's Facebook page in response to the post & thread promoting this article.

First to post all of the correct answers to the contest as a response to the thread on TFsource Facebook wins an MP-15 Masterpiece Ravage and Frenzy (will ship out once released, TFsource will contact the winner directly to coordinate shipping info)

Only one entry per person! So make your post count!

TFSource Blog contributors and staff (past or present) are not eligible for entry into this competition.

All the best
Maz

 

excellent articl Maz, and a tough as nails competition! Hoping I've put a decent showing in. As I've followed your various blogs/sites for years, there were a few pieces i recognised straight off the bat! Yes, I was looking for a few key molding variations...

 

I took my shot at the contest. Fingers crossed!

Crap...didn't see there were already lots of other responses. Oh well. It was still fun.

 

Lots of their answers are wrong though...

Hoping mine are right! I actually did some research for this...

 

Great article , not gonna try the contest as my knowledge of variants is woefully lacking.

 

nice article, easily relate-able

 

I don't even see the questions! Where are they?

 

All the best
Maz

 

^ Again, I still don't see the questions. What exactly in that quote constitutes a question?

 

There aren't any actual questions. It's a 'say what you see' competition. I suppose you could say every question is 'What is the item in this picture?' and then answer that in the format example shown.

 

Ohhhh, the articles are related! Judging by the thread title, I thought the OP was mentioning proper sales etiquette as well as a competition with details I couldn't find. I get it now.

 

I think this is the first article you've written that I didn't find all that interesting. Talking about shipping things is boring- get back to the toys

 

Tried my luck.

 

Excuse me, at which point did you mistakenly believe that these articles went from something you can choose to read if you're interested in the topic, to something you have a right to? You don't pay for them, nobody's making you read them.

Your comment and your demand are disrespectful, unhelpful and slightly indicative of a disgraceful attitude towards the positive contribution of others. Maybe you don't understand that such negative statements can be difficult to swallow after someone works a 9 to 5 job, comes home to have dinner and spend some time with their wife and child between 6:30 and 8, and then spends the rest of the night until well after midnight producing an article that may be of use to some collectors. Did you believe that these things take half an hour to produce?

My remit is not to just write about cool toys (which I have done for the better part of nearly 70 consecutive weeks) but also to discuss the whole collecting experience, and if you can't see that the way in which we behave as buyers and sellers can contribute to making the hobby more enjoyable, respectable and easier, then that's your problem.

I'm sorry I didn't use your idea for an article about how you, outside of shipping, traded 1 windcharger, one FE prime, one FE bulkhead, ROTF Mindwipe and a generations skullgrin and how through trades you kept upgrading and eventually got to the point where you traded PE Pink Arcee, Ultra Hardhead with headrobots upgrade and ultra onslaught with headrobots Stronghold upgrade for Bruticus, munitioner and explorer, and a few classics you needed (Jetfire, 2x junkheap and blackshadow), but I believe this week's topic has value to vintage toy collectors. If you disagree and think it could be better, it's far more constructive to offer suggestions for improvement than spout what you just did.

All the best
Maz

 

There have been some great answers so far, and even though I haven't mentioned which answers are right, nobody's nailed it 100% yet!

Worth a try  

All the best
Maz

 

Hey Maz, up till that comment I was a big fan of your writing and your articles. Guess what, your articles are generally based on what you find interesting. In my opinion, I did not really enjoy that article compared to the other ones. Appraently though you can't take criticism when people give you something other than a completely positive comment. I guess I could have used more tact when posting my comment, but so could you- especially when you are writing these things for the fans but then call one out when they post something that isn't a glowing review.

I'm sorry I tried to give you an idea for a story I thought was neat- trust me, when I posted that comment about todays article there was no malice because you didn't use the story idea I sent you (and I'm pretty sure posting verbatim something I sent you in a PRIVATE MESSAGE is bad form on any website).

If I write an article, link it here and you think it sucks, fine, post your opinion. I come here for enjoyment, not to be called out by someone who thinks everyone on the internet is super enthralled to read about another variant box that has a trademark rather than a copyright stamp.

 

What criticism?? You demanded that I write about toys and you called it "boring". That's not constructive at all, that's just complaining.

And your complaint is based on the fact that I am not writing articles about what YOU are interested in.

You are mistaken:
Different types of G1 collector - The Allspark Forums

Post #11 onwards.

I didn't swear in my response or use foul language, you on the other hand are still failing miserably to post with tact.

You got exactly what you deserved for posting an empty whinge about something that didn't meet your precise requirements and interests, you took 10 seconds to belittle something that took hours to write and you are still showing zero appreciation for that effort. And you still are blind to that fact.

If it is indeed a load of rubbish, take a leaf out of the book of the guys I linked you to above on Allspark who actually provided some constructive feedback and suggestions about what I could do differently.

If you wrote articles, you would be far less inclined to post a comment of the type that you did. And this one also:

  It's so easy to make fun and mock isn't it?

Guess what, I write for enjoyment too. So if you think making a demand like "Get back to the toys" is any less out of order than what you think I said, you're mistaken again.

All the best
Maz

 

Just like to say I thought it was a good article! Keep up the good work. I love reading about all sides of collecting, and this was actually a good 'guide' to how to behave well and become both a respected buyer and seller.

Also, took another shot at the quiz, changed one of my answers to very overly complicated long shot, but why not? i rckon if you take a look you'll be able to tell which one I changed...

 

I really do hope someone finds it useful, some of the people I encounter on eBay and in private deals, you would think they had never thought of some of the basic and obvious points of etiquette I tried to highlight in that piece.

Haha yeah the Sideswipe! I think when someone gets it, it'll be the very subtle differences that make the difference. I didn't try to put any seriously trick ones in the set.

Everyone is free to have a second try as ideally Curt wants the winner found today/tonight so it could be we go with the closest answer at the end of play.

All the best
Maz