Why Selling on eBay Often Scares Me

It's no secret that I've been using eBay for quite some time now. In fact, a quick search on my account reminds me that I've been using the site for more than 15 years! Over that time, I've both bought and sold items (mostly Transformers, but by no means limited to them) and feel that I understand the system pretty well. It has been of tremendous help to me in allowing me to cultivate my collection while keeping some semblance of financial responsibility. Yet most of the time I do try to sell an item, I'm filled with a sense of fear.

Now to be clear, I've witnessed a number of changes to eBay's policies over the years, as they themselves have tried to figure out how best to keep their business going while providing the service they provide. To say that these changes have not always been popular is an understatement, but I'm not looking to get into those debates here. My fear is not based on some sense that eBay's policies are buyer-focused to the detriment of sellers, as many contend the current policies are. Rather, my fear is based on knowing the nature of toy-collecting fans only too well.

Fans do not come in only one stripe, of course. We range from casual to obsessive, with many areas of grey in-between. Although I have always done my best to either sell items that are in good condition, or to be honest about any faults that the items have (and am proud of the 100% percent positive feedback rating I've maintained all these years, even before eBay changed their policy to reflect only the most recent 12 months in that rating),  I know that what seems to me to be a "perfectly good specimen" may not seem so to a fan who (for example) obsesses over the smallest apparent imperfection.

Of course, most sales go off without a hitch, but every once in a while those fears become justified, as I hear back from a buyer that something was wrong with the figure I sold them. Now, it's of course always possible that nothing was wrong with the figure, and the buyer is just trying to get away with something, but I've long since accepted that it is unhelpful to start with such an assumption. Rather, it is simply good policy to assume good faith and to offer a refund upon return of the item (I do not offer refunds before the item is returned. I'm not crazy!).

It's easy to hold to a standard of good behavior when nothing goes wrong. It is really only when things don't go as expected that one really gets to the true nature of one's character. I hope that my character has been demonstrated well when I've responded to sales that didn't go as well as I'd intended, but I expect that, someday, the difference between my viewpoint and the buyer's may become too great to reconcile amiably, and I've got to admit, the prospect still scares me all the time.

When the Turtles Joined Starfleet

This post was inspired by a comment made during the live recording feed of Radio Free Cybertron this week (the episode should be available for download later this weekend. If you subscribe via iTunes, you can get it automatically). The hosts were talking about the current line of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys, and remembering the line that came out back in the early '90s. Long before Transformers had launched the "Crossover" line, this figure of Donatello as Mr. Spock came out.

This toy, officially called "First Officer Donatello" ("The Subspace Shelled Science Officer!"), came out as result of serendipitous timing, as Playmates toys decided to capitalize on the fact that they held the licenses to make toys based on two certain popular television series. Thus, the "Star Trek Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" line was born.

The line featured all four Turtles as characters from the original series of Star Trek. Donatello is clearly Mr. Spock, Leonardo was Captain Kirk, Michaelangelo was Scotty, and Raphael was Dr. McCoy. Donatello is the only figure I actually own. Oddly enough, although certain Star Trek concepts are explicitly used on the packaging (The USS Enterprise, pon farr, the communicator, the tricorder, and the phaser, for example), none of the names of the actual characters seem to be used. Thus, while "First Officer Donatello" is said to have been "born on the planet Vulcan," Spock's name never actually shows up, despite the clear intention. I don't pretend to know why.

BotCon 2013 Speculation Via Machine Wars Mirage

A few weeks ago, the theme for the 2013 BotCon was announced to be "Machine Wars." We still don't have any more specific information in regard to characters or molds that will be used, but that obviously hasn't kept fans from speculating about what a set based on the 1997 Machine Wars line might look like. Let's look at Machine Wars Mirage as we consider the possibilities...

As I've mentioned before (for example, when featuring Machine Wars Hoist back in 2009), the Machine Wars line was exclusive to KB Toys, and consisted entirely of molds that had been created for previous lines (although many had not actually been released previously). Of course, all BotCon toys are exclusives made using previously-existing molds, so this distinction of Machine Wars isn't especially helpful. Perhaps more relevant to Machine Wars is the fact that most Machine Wars toys used the names of Generation One characters. Still, what would make a BotCon "Machine Wars" toy any different than any other Generation One homage that they've done over the years? (And even there, there are two noteworthy exceptions: Machine Wars Hubcap is almost certainly not the same character as the Generation One character of that name, and Megaplex is an entirely new character, even if he is a clone of Megatron...)

Machine Wars molds came in two basic types. Four "basic" molds that all featured a "flipchanger" one-step, spring-loaded transformation (I'm not counting the step of pulling the figure's weapon out of storage, which obviously must be done manually), and four larger molds that originated in the European markets in the later years of Generation One. The four "basic" molds were all used twice, while the four larger molds were used one time apiece, for a grand total of twelve Machine Wars toys. While I can't see BotCon going with "flipchanger" designs (which exist, but aren't especially common among more modern molds), I do wonder if a possible pattern exists here that BotCon might emulate for their "Machine Wars" set. I could easily see about half of their dozen-ish toys (recent BotCons have given just over that number) being repaints of each other....

But what about the homages themselves? Now that I'm getting around to Mirage, I can say I've covered all four of the "basic" molds in the Machine Wars line, although in the case of Beast Wars 2 Dirge, I covered a later redeco of the Machine Wars mold, since I don't have either of Machine Wars Thundercracker or Skywarp. Looking strictly at those toys, it becomes fairly clear that two of these molds — this Mirage mold and the one for Megatron/Megaplex — have heads that were clearly molded to resemble the Generation One character the toy is named for. The same cannot be said of the Hoist/Hubcap mold or the Thundercracker/Skywarp mold (FYI, Mirage's Machine Wars redeco was named Prowl, but although Prowl is apparently intended to be the Generation One character, there's little in the mold that suggests it's any kind of an homage beyond the name use). This doesn't give us much help in determining a pattern, except perhaps to note that the same hit-and-miss pattern of homages might be said of BotCon exclusives of the past, as well.

I have less experience with the larger, Europe-originated, molds that were brought over and redecoed for Machine Wars. In fact, the only specimen I currently own that uses any of these molds is Universe Soundwave. Even so, there's not much of a pattern that I can glean out of those four toys, except to say that they pretty much all make for fairly weak homages for one reason or another. That said, since we're only talking about eight molds, total, for the entire original Machine Wars line, the lack of cohesion among the homages has been suggested, itself, as a way that BotCon 2013 might create its set of "Machine Wars" toys. However, I'm not at all confident that a set of toys that bear little-to-no resemblance to the characters whose names they're given will go over very well with fans once the choices are announced.

I do have one additional note that I'm holding out a small hope that the folks at BotCon might notice. The Tech Specs for the Machine Wars toys all used the Generation Two faction symbols! These are symbols that have been largely forgotten today, although they have resurfaced on the occasional Generation Two homage. BotCon 2013's "Machine Wars" toys represent a rare opportunity to give these symbols some love. However, I don't think these symbols appear on any of the original Machine Wars toys themselves (which mostly ignore symbols entirely for some reason, and the few symbols that do appear are of the Generation One variety, since in those cases the molds were created back in that era^*), so I can't say that I hold that hope with any real confidence that BotCon will follow through. Time will tell....

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^*It was later brought to my attention that there was a G2 faction symbol on the original Machine Wars Skywarp toy. Sadly, the reveal of BotCon 2013 Skywarp on February 12th displays a G1 symbol.

Transformers Robots in Disguise Jhiaxus

Although it is fairly uncommon, there are a few Transformers toys that depict characters that were first seen in some other part of the Transformers franchise. Drift was one such example, having been created for the IDW comics. Spike, the Headmaster partner of the original Fortress Maximus, clearly homages a prominent character from the original cartoon, and is perhaps the earliest example of this trend. Arguably the first toy created for a previously-comics-only character is Jhiaxus.

Jhiaxus was a character created for the short-lived Transformers: Generation Two comic book of the early 1990s (in fact, the name is intended to be pronounced, "Gee-ax-us," in reference to the fate that Simon Furman correctly predicted for the comic book). This toy, a repaint of Beast Machines Jetstorm (and also used for other toys, such as Universe Skywarp), bears practically no resemblance to the Generation Two character, but "Jhiaxus" is the kind of distinctive name that simply doesn't show up by coincidence! The bio given to Jhiaxus in the only edition of the Official Transformers Club magazine to come out from 3H Productions (before the license was given to current club-runner Fun Publications) suggests that the different body was created by Unicron after Jhiaxus was abducted (along with many other Transformers) to serve Unicron's purposes.

Having already featured Skywarp (even if it was nearly four years ago), there's little need to talk about the aspects of this toy that it shares in common with that one. Just click on Skywarp's link above for that stuff. It is, however, worth noting that this version of the mold has some noticeably softer plastic in places, especially the black parts (some parts, such as the head-fins, were soft plastic on other versions of the mold already). Some fans have suggested that this might have been a cost-cutting measure on Hasbro's part, but although at least one other toy from this mold also features this softer plastic, this has never been proven. These toys may be nothing more than a fluke of the era.

When this Jhiaxus toy came out in 2003, it created a fair bit of buzz among the fandom because of the novelty that Hasbro would reference a comics-only character in such a way, even if it was just a repaint that bore little-to-no resemblance to that character (toys such as Drift have demonstrated that Hasbro has been willing to do far more in years since), but that buzz died down after a year or two. However, Jhiaxus hasn't been entirely forgotten. Just this past year, Jhiaxus was the main antagonist in Fun Publications' club comic, featuring this version of the character for the first time in nearly a decade. It's nice to see this character show up again in this form.

Transformers Generations Warpath

I was somewhat surprised to learn last week that Transformers fan and author Jim Sorenson's blog has been hiatus for almost as long as mine has. Despite the fact that both of us live in the greater Los Angeles area, this is purely coincidental (in fact, the only times Jim and I have ever met in person have been at Transformers conventions and book-signing events). I don't know if I should take comfort in the similar timing of another blog's hiatus, or if that fact should make me feel more guilty, but since Jim's back up and running, I probably should take that as a cue to do the same.

A few years ago, I did a feature on the two versions of the classic character Warpath that were available at that time. In 2011, just a year or after I wrote that article, yet another Warpath toy was released, this time at the "Deluxe" price-point (which I really think should be renamed, as it's more or less the standard size. Shouldn't the word "Deluxe" imply something better than the standard?). Like the "Legends" version of Warpath from 2009, this version of Warpath turns into an "H-tank." This imaginary style of tank has been fairly popular in the Transformers franchise, as it provides for separate arm and leg transformations fairly easily.

In addition to Warpath's signature chest-turret, this toy also has a working missile launcher and an ammo rack, both of which can (if desired) be detached from Warpath's shoulders (or turret, if in tank mode) and re-attached anywhere an appropriately-sized rod can be found. These kinds of accessories are often called "c joints" within the fandom (because the shape of the clip), and quite a few Transformers of this era were using them, making for a myriad of mix-and-match possibilities.

Although I think the Deluxe price-point may no longer be living up to its name in general, there is little doubt that this version of Warpath is quite a bit larger, more detailed, and able to hold a far wider variety of poses than either of its predecessors. The odds are, if you're at all interested in this toy, you've already picked it up sometime over the past year or so, but if you haven't, I strongly urge you to do so. The toy can still be found at brick-and-mortar stores with a bit of searching, but whether you prefer that route or just picking it up online, it shouldn't be hard to get, and there's no reason anyone should have to pay too much for it.

Video Game 30th Anniversary of the Month - Mr. Do!

As the year 2012 comes to a close, I find myself tying up loose ends. The bulk of my attention this past couple of months has been in some combination of the usual Christmas preparations with a move out of the apartment my wife and I have lived in for the past eight and a half years. I finally got the last of our personal belongings moved out of there this morning. Of course, the task of properly moving into our new home has barely begun! But, for now, that can wait. With the original Star Wars trilogy playing in the background as we await 2013, I have one more blog entry to finish up before the ball drops: the final video game 30th anniversary of 2012: Mr. Do!

At first glance, Mr. Do! is similar to Dig Dug. In both games, the main character digs through an underground playfield while trying to avoid various enemies which can be defeated by dropping objects on them. The games diverge from that point, however. Far from being a suited-up subterranean miner, the main character in Mr. Do! is a clown which seemingly has no business running around in underground caverns, and the addition of cherries set in groups of eight around the board adds to the whimsical randomness of this game. Unlike Dig Dug, where one can only advance to the next level by defeating all of the enemy characters on the board, the player may advance in Mr. Do! simply by grabbing all of the cherries (other ways to advance include the completion of the word "EXTRA" at the top of the screen — more on this in a bit — or by grabbing a diamond that could appear on the board at random. Grabbing a diamond not only completes the board instantly, but also awards the player a free game — a rarity among coin-operated video games).

While Dig Dug could inflate and destroy enemies through the air pump he carries with him, Mr. Do carries around with him a "power ball" that he can not only shoot at monsters in a straight line, but actually around corners! The power ball will zig-zag along its path until it either destroys an enemy or returns to Mr. Do's hands. Of course, once a power ball is released, Mr. Do cannot shoot another until it returns to him (which it will do automatically several seconds after destroying a foe). The other main way to destroy enemies is by dropping apples on them from above. Unlike the rocks in Dig Dug, you do not have to approach apples from underneath, and then walk away (although this works much the same as with the rocks in Dig Dug). You can also push on apples from the side until they reach an existing pit, at which point they will drop down.

Like many games of this era, Mr. Do! also has a bonus target that appears in the middle of the screen. It usually takes the form of an obvious food item that may be eaten safely once all of the monsters for the round have departed the "base" at the center of the board. Eating this food item not only awards points, but also freezes the monsters while a new group of monsters enter the game from the top of the board. The last of these monsters will be an "Alphamonster" containing one of the letters in the word "EXTRA." Destroying this Alphamonster wards the player that letter. If all of the letters in "EXTRA" are earned, the round ends immediately, and the player is awarded an extra life. Although the game rotates through each letter periodically, including already-earned letters, if the player times the approach to the food item just right, one can arrange for the exact letter one needs to be made available. The Alphamonster will also appear (without freezing the rest of the board and without his blue buddies) whenever the player's score hits a multiple of 5000 points, affording additional chances to earn "EXTRA" letters. Don't expect to defeat the Alphamonster or his blue friends easily, however, as they will simply eat any apples in their path, including most (but not quite all) apples dropped from above. To beat these guys, you generally have to use your power balls, and remember that you only get one at a time!

I've enjoyed revisiting some of these classic video games from my childhood. I still have business to take care of before resuming my regular blogging schedule, but hope to do so within the next couple of weeks. See you in 2013!

Video Game 30th Anniversary of the Month - Q*bert

Although I haven't actually seen the movie yet, the release of Disney's Wreck-It Ralph in theaters this month is one that has relevance for these video game posts. In case you haven't heard about it, the movie features a 1980's style video game villain (the eponymous Ralph) who tries to transcend his role and do something good for a change. Although Ralph and the game in which he is featured are newly-created for the movie, Wreck-It Ralph features a number of actual video game icons in a series of cameo appearances. Among these is the hero of this month's game, Q*bert.

It's not hard to understand why Q*bert is such a memorable character. The character has a unique appearance, his name is an obvious pun relevant to the field of cubes he hops on, the game play is very simple (all the rules you need are helpfully featured on one screen during the "attract" phase that most games play while waiting for someone to come by and feed them quarters), the character was one of those featured in a Saturday morning cartoon during the era, and (perhaps most important of all for the intended audience of young adolescent boys) the character features perhaps the earliest known use of cartoony "swearing" in a video game, seen whenever Q*bert loses a turn.

The basic idea of the game is that Q*bert must change all of the cubes on a pyramid to a designated color by hopping on them while avoiding various obstacles. When the game starts, this is pretty easy, as once you've hopped on a cube once, it becomes the target color and stays that way no matter how many times you hop on it again. Later rounds increase the difficulty by making Q*bert hop on a cube twice to reach the target color, or by causing the cube to revert back to a previous color should Q*bert hop on it again after achieving the target, forcing him to have to go back and hop on it again to put things right.

Q*bert isn't the only character to feature in this game, of course. The little orange nose-monster must also contend with a snake named Coily, a couple of purple ogres named Ugg and Wrong-Way (who apparently defy gravity by hopping only on the sides of cubes, rather than on the top), and some green fuzzballs named Slick and Sam (who will reverse Q*bert's progress on the cubes he's hopped on by changing them to another color). There are also a series of red balls that fall down the pyramid that Q*bert must avoid if he wishes to survive.

In a tight pinch, Q*bert can hop on one of a number of spinning disks to the side of the pyramid. If he can successfully lure Coily to follow him off of the pyramid, Coily will plunge to his doom and the pyramid will be cleared off of all other obstacles while Q*bert is transported safely to the top. Naturally, this is where the most points can be obtained (not counting end-of-round bonuses, which increase for every round completed).

Not all items are bad, however. As the instructions indicate, Q*bert may safely hop on any green object. This not only includes Slick and Sam, which helps Q*bert by stopping them from changing the cubes back to colors Q*bert isn't trying to achieve, but also a series of green balls that fall from time to time. Despite looking like little round trip-hazards, if Q*bert lands on one of these, he will not only not lose a turn, but the entire board will freeze for a few seconds, allowing Q*bert to safely hop around — and even through otherwise deadly obstacles — changing cubes to the desired color.

Q*bert is perhaps one of my favorite games of this era, and I still pull it out to play from time to time whenever I feel like a bit of mindless puzzle-solving (if such a phrase makes any sense at all). It's well worth looking for if you don't already have a version available.