Secret Sightings Section idea

[griffin]

And on the flip-side there are collectors who don't want to sign up to this site who see us as the problem, the reason they can't find stock anywhere.

That's true... however, this site aims to assist the dedicated collectors - ones who are big enough fans to interact with and assist other collectors. If this site helps out random people or "temporary"/nostalgic fans at the expense of those here who are fans for the long-term, I think those that are dedicated enough to join here would feel that those toys were wasted on people who wouldn't have treasured it, or even kept it, like they would have.

When it is a rare item or limited edition figure, who is going to better value it or be more deserving of it...
- the kid who isn't a collector and didn't even know this toy existed (given it as a random present and just trashes it or throws it away within a few months),
- the adult who had something similar as a kid (but isn't a collector of any other TFs, so could import it if they really wanted something nostalgic at any cost),
- the short-term collector who is going through a phase so doesn't have much interest interacting with other fans (may join up here, but never see any activity from them, and just sells off, hands off or throws away their toys a few months later),
- a scalper that is just going to resell it online or at a collector fair at huge markup,
- or the long-term collector who will look after the toy and collects other Transformers, so needs to keep the costs down as much as possible (by not paying scalper prices or importing from more expensive sources).

I don't want it to sound selfish, but as much as I'd like to see newer collectors inspired to be involved in the fandom, if there is a limited release figure that is "high end" like a Masterpiece (that is targeting those that are already dedicated collectors), I think we need to prioritise them first, and then if there is enough to go around, help out those who are new who are also interested.
It is just not easy to pre-determine which figures are going to be limited release here, or have more demand than quantity.
And even if we had a sub-section for just the active members, for rarer figures, we are still going to have people of lower ranks reporting them in the regular sightings section... negating the point of a "secret sightings section".

If ever Hasbro or TRU (or any retailer) wanted to share with us on a regular basis some upcoming release info, that was limited quantity, then I'd consider a "secret sightings section"... which would also encourage junior members to be more involved in the fandom to earn access.
But for now - sightings will stay as they are.
(maybe for the next MP toys - if Soundwave & Sideswipe come here - I might look at a trial to see if it helps or hinders the process)

[Robzy]

(maybe for the next MP toys - if Soundwave & Sideswipe come here - I might look at a trial to see if it helps or hinders the process)

Good idea!!

[Paul Agnew]

Griffin, does it help that I want an MP Thundercracker because a) I for one happen to like the character, and b) yet to own an MP figure outside of the Prime/Magnus mold from way back?

[UltraMarginal]

- the kid who isn't a collector and didn't even know this toy existed (given it as a random present and just trashes it or throws it away within a few months),
- the adult who had something similar as a kid (but isn't a collector of any other TFs, so could import it if they really wanted something nostalgic at any cost),
- the short-term collector who is going through a phase so doesn't have much interest interacting with other fans (may join up here, but never see any activity from them, and just sells off, hands off or throws away their toys a few months later),

Any one of these three "examples", getting hold of something like this could easily become a much more serious collector as a result of exposure to such good engineering.

I think, as a community, we have to realise that there are a lot of Transformers collectors who are very serious about collecting who just aren't aware of the forum or couldn't be bothered becoming involved in the forum, but are still very dedicated collectors in one way or another.

I know I was collecting pretty seriously before I was ever aware of the forum and prior to joining this forum had never been a member of any online community, even after being made aware of the forum it was months before I even considered joining as online socializing was something I just never did.

the sightings threads are very useful to us, and others will use them as well, it's an open forum so I can only assume they are welcome to. If Scalpers use us, that's crap but if these threads promote more sales, all it's going to do in the long run is give Hasbro and Takara more incentive to develop more cool toys for us. win.

[1orion2many]

I don't know if I'd call it a win if I never see the thing in stores

[UltraMarginal]

I don't know if I'd call it a win if I never see the thing in stores

I expect there'll be more MP 10's, just like there were more rodimus'. My win Reference is more of a long term Win for collecting and the fandom. and Hasbro for potentially making more profit by selling more ...

[griffin]

I just want to be clear that this wouldn't be something for the purpose of punishing people for not joining. This is like society in general - for people to benefit from a larger society/community of people, each person needs to contribute to that society/community.
Conversely, if people aren't willing or able to contribute, shouldn't the benefits, like the sightings of rarer items, be first available to those who do contribute here (with sightings, news, info, meets)... and if there is enough stock to satisfy those contributors here, the sightings would be relocated into the regular (public) sightings section.

I do understand that there is a large lurker presence here, and people utilise this site without ever joining. That's there prerogative. They aren't being excluded, because most sightings would still be publicly accessible, even the rarer items that start off in a hidden sub-section (if this idea ever went ahead).
It's not trying to be an elitist thing.... it is all about supply and demand - if this country will only ever have a certain amount of a particular figure released here, that is not likely to cover all serious collectors, partial collectors, nostalgic buyers, and kids/parents - as an established community that only exists thanks to the efforts of the more dedicated collectors here, we need to help out those who help make this place possible in the first place.
People who are scalpers, or choose not to join up, or choose not to help out if they do join (even if it is just sightings)... are not the people who built this place up to be the reputable source for toy info and sightings that they use for free, so are not the people we should be helping when something is hard to find.
There are hundreds of other Transformers toys out there that won't be affected by this idea, that they can still see in our regular sightings section.

[Tober]

This crossed my mind a while back, as well as 'syndicates' similar to the Melbourne one that was active a while ago, where local members would try to acquire TFs for each other.

One of the biggest hurdles would be stopping rank 5 members and below posting in the sighting section once they learn of it, say, through TFW2005's Aussie sightings, or seeing it themselves.

I'm in favor of the member sightings section mostly to stop scalpers though.

[Cat]

Yep, I was thinking of this exact idea today.

I was lucky and got a MP 'Cracker, but many others weren't so lucky. They sold out within 10 minutes of store opening.

How did people know they were out Wednesday? Sure, some undoubtedly rang. But some of this info wasn't really told to everyone from what I hear.

It was all shared on here though: exactly when they'd be out, and when the store had received them.

TC wasn't in the catalogue either.

Sure I want to help everyone get one. But there's guys I know here who missed out. They're active participating members. I'd rather my info help them first.

It's not like anyone wants a page-long list of requirements to see the thread. Just a basic membership. If you won't take two minutes to sign up, then I don't want to do your shopping for you.

Hopefully then they'll participate themselves.

What reasonable rebuttal could unregistered members give to this idea?

They'd still know an item was out, as it'd be in the headers or what-have-you.

They just wouldn't see exact details.

I don't see it as elitist. It's a perk of membership, which is free, and doesn't discriminate. It's also not something offered by the site owner. It's the cumulative knowledge of the user-base that provides most of the sightings info. Griffin is 1 person. We are many.

It's also not stopping someone from being pro-active, the same way we are. It's not blocking anyone from getting an item.


Edit: Har. I see there's mention of it being for those above rank 5, so I wouldn't be able to see it. So as someone who would be left out, I still don't have a problem with it. All my prior statements still stand.

[Robzy]

This is one of the reasons why, for years, I would ONLY post that I'd found a certain figure in stores. If people (from my state) wanted to know where, I'd PM them, so that it wasn't visible in the thread. I still do!

It's not generally an issue these days (except for these new Masterpiece figures!!) like it was a few years ago, with ultra rare or low production figures.