Transformers questions by newbies, and not-so-newbies

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

You should count yourself lucky if you paid for 5 days and actually got it back on the 6th day.
https://www.border.gov.au/News/Pages...s-clients.aspx

There are a lot of jobs on the line with the current EBA negotiation. The union has been engaged in protected industrial action, which has affected standard processing times and the quality of it.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/nati...07-gmo4c2.html

I got a response today...they've accepted it as personal effects and are releasing it. I imagine I'll get slugged for 6 days, but that's the better part of 5 years' collecting while living in Japan so I don't want to lose it.

I think the trick was that I listed them as 'Transformers', which I assume someone mistook as the electrical equipment, hence the 'probably-commercial' bit. I clarified it yesterday so that might be the key.
Handy lesson learned: label TFs as 'Transformers Toys'.

And yeah, I'd heard that "Border Force" was getting screwed over, along with the rest of the public service. Old Eric Abetz isn't much of a negotiator it turns out, and is pretty stingy to boot. So yeah, good luck within bad I guess.
Better yet, I'm pretty sure my last package for a while came today, so I got in just under the wire.

[GoktimusPrime]

Gawd... shipping back my entire early BW and MW collection after living in Japan for 1 year was bad enough... I can only imagine how much worse (and dearer) it must be to be shipping back 5 years' worth of toys! As a full time student the cost of shipping my own toys back cost me an arm and a leg.

[Bladestorm]

I got a response today...they've accepted it as personal effects and are releasing it. I imagine I'll get slugged for 6 days, but that's the better part of 5 years' collecting while living in Japan so I don't want to lose it.

I think the trick was that I listed them as 'Transformers', which I assume someone mistook as the electrical equipment, hence the 'probably-commercial' bit. I clarified it yesterday so that might be the key.
Handy lesson learned: label TFs as 'Transformers Toys'.

Did you have to pay any duty at all Ode?
I'm curious because at some point I'm going to be in the same position of trying to get my collection back to Sydney as well and worried about how best to go about it especially as I have a few SMIB figures I don't want to crack open until I am back and have a place to display them...

[BruiseLee]

Did you have to pay any duty at all Ode?
I'm curious because at some point I'm going to be in the same position of trying to get my collection back to Sydney as well and worried about how best to go about it especially as I have a few SMIB figures I don't want to crack open until I am back and have a place to display them...

I've shipped a number of large boxes from Singapore. If declared as personal effects there shouldn't be an issue with import duties. As Ode said, just list as toys. Maybe also chuck in some well loved toys amongst the minty boxes just to prove that point

[Paulbot]

I think the trick was that I listed them as 'Transformers', which I assume someone mistook as the electrical equipment, hence the 'probably-commercial' bit. I clarified it yesterday so that might be the key.
Handy lesson learned: label TFs as 'Transformers Toys'.

When I came back from BotCon with a lot of toys, I just listed them as "Plastic Toys" - figured that was generic enough.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

Did you have to pay any duty at all Ode?
I'm curious because at some point I'm going to be in the same position of trying to get my collection back to Sydney as well and worried about how best to go about it especially as I have a few SMIB figures I don't want to crack open until I am back and have a place to display them...

If it's personal effects then it's all good. They initially wanted proof of value when they were holding them as goods for sale, but personal effects are apparently OK.

The form you'll want to fill out - if anything does get held back - is B534. The email they sent me asked for Form N10, which is for commercial imports.
Another thing worth noting is that there are pretty stingy size limits for sea mail, so sending things back can get a bit pricey. Also, apparently you're not allowed to send precious-metal items via EMS, it has to be air or sea mail and insured.
You also need to explicitly state that the packages contain no alcohol, no lithium batteries, and no glues/adhesive substances.

I'm not sure if they're waiving the fee for the storage, I sort of doubt it though. Apparently an invoice was meant to be sent via email, but I have't gotten one yet, just a message saying the boxes have been accepted as personal effects and will be sent to me via Australia Post.

[Bladestorm]

Thanks guys.

It's good to know the figures can come in without too much drama, and that descriptions are important.
I'd been stressing a bit over how I was going to get them back when the time comes but sounds like it won't be an issue.

[Batfan007]

Action figure something something.
Because it was asked in relation to tf toys
Two pages ago mate. There's a link in the page numbers at the bottom of the thread.

I misread that post.

Thought it was AMA rather than AFA.

I was like WTF is an AMA doing in this thread.

[Sam]

I am curious to know if there were any indications / hints that the G1 Starscream was going to be made one of the good guys?

I ask because it seems most characters that have red, blue, and white in their colour scheme tend to be considered the good guys, while those with purple and black are Decepticons.

I know this is a generalisation, I was merely curious and thought many members here are experts in Transformers history (including behind the scenes decisions that most casual fans such as myself wouldn't know).

Hope that question made sense.

[GoktimusPrime]

Starscream (and Thundercracker)'s colours are a direct carry over from Diaclone's Jet Robo. In Diaclone, both are stated as "Acrobat Type," which suggests to me that they may be inspired by jets seen in aerial acrobatic shows which can feature colours otherwise not seen in military jets. The original MP3 Starscream features a relatively more realistic looking colour scheme, but is disliked by many fans, and all subsequent MP Starscreams have featured the G1 accurate acrobat colours. Skywarp was the only of the 3 first year jets whose colours were decided by Hasbro and not based on a pre-existing Diaclone colour scheme.

Images of acrobatic jets:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...51934e3256.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...29de0f7d7f.jpg

Ultra Magnus' colours may have been modified to make him look more "heroic" to kids.
Diaclone colours
Although the decision to change Magnus' colours must've come later considering that Toei got to the stage of animating and colouring in scenes where Ultra Magnus is sporting his Diaclone colours. And now Diaclone Magnus is being retconned as a new character known as Delta Magnus.