Messages

1

Photo of the Day / Re: Photo of the Day: April 16th, 2011

April 16, 2011, 09:50:03 PM

It's the Encore version--how in th'world does the original Combaticons giftset even occur t'ya with a 1985-2009 copyright line printed on it? o.O

(INSANITY!)

2

Photo of the Day / Re: Figure it Out Friday: October 16th, 2009

October 16, 2009, 05:29:29 PM

My awesomeness precludes me from running a search unnecessarily.
http://www.shmax.com/part_details/10689/Double-Blade

3

General Transformers Discussion /

October 07, 2008, 03:52:20 PM

We could do something doofy like make some further use of the page where all those articles about the increases in package listings are sitting. Review stuff like this, link to the shmax.com listings of the figure/s that use/s it, and just make sure to drive home the point that 'you're not gonna find a listing for this item anywhere on the main site, as this is unlicensed and unofficial'.

Just a thought. I wouldn't be much good for such reviews, btw, as I have enough of a time keeping up with official merch to bother with too much of the 'un'. I bought the JustIToys MP-1 Trailer, and have all of Unicron.com's items, but that's really it. I think interested users could submit articles they themselves write for such items (and feh, no reason to limit it to unofficial, after all). They probably oughta be proofread and edited before posting (which IS something I could handle, btw),--'cus content and clarity are important, dammit!!--and...probably shouldn't drown that page. 'Article of the Week', 'Article of the Whenever-the-hell-we-feel-like-it', whatever. Considering how much of the site is already user-submitted conten, it seems like a decent enough idea t'me.

4

General Transformers Discussion /

October 03, 2008, 10:48:39 PM

'Bootleg' implies that there's an original item upon which to base an unofficial copy. This, hyperawesomeness aside, is original, but unofficial, and thusly has no place on the site.

5

Help Us Build the Database /

October 01, 2008, 05:39:01 PM

So what about the other number? What is it? Is that not worth keeping track of?

At LEAST not until we find out what it is, then we can decide if it's track-worthy. As is, package-to-package, the UPC rules all, and if that number serves a similar function, it's probably not necessary. Cross that bridge...

I noticed, for example, that on American TF products, there was a number that changes slightly even on different PARTS of the packaging of the same product. like the card back, and bubble insert. I could be wrong, but I thought someone was actually using those numbers online at some point. I think it's prefixed with a "P/N".

Part Number, yeah. I don't recall if anyone's been making use of them online. We MAY do so at some point, because it's a nice, catalogueable bit that identifies packaging changes. Depending on how long you've been collecting, the first wave of basic and deluxe Transmetals2 might sound familiar to you in this context. The switch between using 'II' and '2'? Those had different part numbers for the cardbacks (and I'm pretty damned sure, the bubble-front labels, too, though there's no way of tracking that, because any P/Ns they might've had were probably on the label 'frames'). Thus, the 'II's had P/Ns that ended in .00, the '2's in .01. These days, Hasbro's omitting the decimal and printing a ten-digit string, and changes to a toy's package (or cardboard insert, or instructions, or whatever), are noted in the last four digits (0000, 0100, so on). Nice and quantifiable.

ah, fascinating stuff.

Only if you're as nuts as we are.

I guess it's pretty unlikely at this point in time that there's any use for the information of what pieces came with which figures. not that it was much use even when people were still collecting them, since they're blind-packed.

True. Once we go parts-happy, it may not be much of an issue then, either, with what's in mind.

I mean Star Saber is not pictured, only the upgraded Victory Saber. and I don't know what a FD listing is.
ah well. guess I'm just getting anal retentive.

You said it, bub, not me. I wuz getting tired of typing 'figure detail', is all. Pay it no nevermind. Like I said, you're going to have to point out which one you're talking about.

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General Transformers Discussion /

October 01, 2008, 05:32:48 PM

So long as the club says it, it's official, it just...doesn't matter much, as the toys in those colorschemes didn't, and will probably never, get released over here. (Our 'Dark Saber' team was clear where Takara's was opaque-white, in case you just went YEAHBUHWHAT?).
Any excuse to cram new characters into a text story without worrying about how the Japanese names sound to an English-speaking readership, I guess.

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Help Us Build the Database /

September 23, 2008, 11:38:06 AM

I'm not sure what the numbers are called. One's under the bar-code, inside the box the bar code is in, but the other one... is above it, outside of the box, but still seems to be important. It's between the bar code and the product name.

The 'under the bar code' one is the true Universal Product Code, which is what we want. Ya run that thing over a scanner, that number is what's encoded in the lines. The arabic digits are there for us morons what can't read lines...y'know, just a hair under 100% of Earth's population.

Also, the spacing on your UPCs is different... I couldn't tell if there was a space after the first number, but there was a more noticeable space before the last number, which is the opposite of what's in the database right now. *shrug*

Spacing's absolutely unimportant. In fact, I gotta wonder, Shmax, why we even bother with spacing or hyphens on the package pages. Thankfully, it's SO unimportant that we don't really NEED to do anything about it.
Maybe in a coupla years when you've got five minutes to spare...

Also, I see that this site is packaging-centric, and doesn't list "build-a-figure"s, other than in every entry for that act. (I find that amusing, since if the individual boxes are listed as for sale separately, that doesn't guarantee someone has the build-a-figure. It seems to be a side-effect of a packaging-centric database, since the figure doesn't have its own dedicated packaging.)

I think we decided to table that bit for the time being, but the chase buildabot pieces will probably be accounted for in parts tracking. Somehow. Some way.

We do get headaches here, all in our quest to help you, the fine friendly users here, keep track of your 'bots.

Ok, until there's a way to list figures separate from packaging, there's still an error that Star Saber is shown as Victory Saber with his bonus armor on him. While the armor isn't a separate figure, the right hand and weapon are completely replaced, so both versions should be shown, not just one.

If you're talkin' about these two...
SCF Victory Saber, pewter
SCF Victory Saber, color
...the VS parts are the 'stars' of those figure detail listings. One pic shows what they are, the other shows how they're implemented (I was responsible for those, and...the pile of parts by itself just looked unimpressive). The Star Saber figures have their own FD listings, so his right hand/saber aren't necessary for inclusion. If those WEREN'T what you're on about, well, dangit, you gotta be more specific, and point us to which one/s you mean. Copy the shortcut/s.

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Feature Requests/Announcements / Re: Small Search Suggestion

September 08, 2008, 08:57:57 PM

Check it, if I wanted to search for "Exclusives, Repaints, Big Guns, Autobot, Black, Name Reuse" I'd get Wal-Mart Exclusive Big Daddy, a black repaint of Cybertron Downshift (with orange accents) with the same name as a G1 Micromaster.

Fiiiiixed.  :lol:

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General Transformers Discussion /

September 01, 2008, 03:18:24 PM

One of these days I oughta just read the entire VariQuest site. Probably help if it were arranged less haphazardly.

Which he IS supposedly working on, as part of eventually giving Y!GC the heave-ho.

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General Transformers Discussion /

August 26, 2008, 07:34:46 PM

You're right about being wrong.  MW Starscream's were a wonderfully wonderful toxic-waste green.

And damn, is that dusty; there's a half-hour's work with dampened Q-Tips.

No use of the label sheet, either, I notice...sacrilege!

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Feature Requests/Announcements /

August 04, 2008, 11:13:38 AM

I think we'd probably wanna make it clear that such info is NOT to be used to carpetbomb owners with PM requests to sell that toy, tell me where you got yours for how much, et cetera et cetera blah blah blah.

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Feature Requests/Announcements /

July 31, 2008, 10:50:37 AM

What, that sig block isn't big enough already?

...really, that kinda moves past the 'how much do I have' idea of the sigs and into 'which ones do I have and everyone should see them without VISITING THE WEBSITE WHICH YOU SHOULD DO BECAUSE IT'S A GOOD IDEA'.

(DISCLAIMER: THE IDEAS AND STATEMENTS SET FORTH BY DEFENSIS PRIME ARE EXCLUSIVELY THOSE OF THE MIGHTY DEFENSIS PRIME AND IN NO WAY REPRESENT THE VIEWS AND IDEAS OF SHMAX.COM, THE WEBSITE OWNER, OR ANY OTHER SCHMUCK DUMB ENOUGH TO CONTINUE READING THIS DISCLAIMER. ... SO LET'S SEE WHAT SHMAX SAYS.)

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Help Us Build the Database /

July 18, 2008, 10:27:25 AM

Fix has been made.

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Feature Requests/Announcements /

July 11, 2008, 10:31:36 AM

Now you haveta buy all the stuff we listed, tec. Them's the rules.

(Get a move on, now...) :lol: