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Interesting read. I suspect you will have a harder time with the rest of the year. They put the heavy hitters in Q1.
Hello Fellow He-Fans & She-Ravers,
I have been pondering this topic for over a month, since Glimmer arrived. Now that Hydron & the Unnamed One have showed up on my doorstep, it is pressing on my mind even more.
Note - This is NOT an advertisement of sale. This is a frank discussion of my "reselling" experience that presents a true accounting representation.
Question 1 - How many people bought extra subs to help "save the line" and now are having a horrible time selling these extras?
Question 2 - How do you think this will affect 2015 subscription sales?
Question 3 - Why do fans expect retailers like BBTS to invest in this line, when it is completely obvious that there is no profitable margin return for anyone but Mattel?
I bought 6 subscriptions to help push the line through. I know that this contribution is no where near members like yodafreakmaster & MOTU_Maniac, but it was all I felt comfortable that I could safely afford.
So, it began with an initial investment of $160.91 back in July 2013 with the initial sign-up fee ($25 x 6 = $150) and MN state tax (10.91). Now I know this was all for the Unnamed One, but it was money put out in July 2013 that had no potential of return for 8 months (August 13 through March 14).
Then January 2014 finally arrived and it wasn't a horrible month. My order cost $181.28: Two Bad $150 ($25 x 6), MN state tax and S&H $31.28. Therefore each Two-Bad actually cost me $30.21. I kept two Two-Bads for myself and sold the remaining four on eBay. After eBay fees, Paypal fees, actual shipping costs, and actual associated packing costs, I grossed a total of $195.17. The net profit after cost was $13.89! Wow, a great month. Not only did I get my two Two-Bads for free, I also made $13.89. This can be calculated as a net profit of $74.33 ($60.44 (figures I kept) plus $13.89 profit) This whole supporting the line thing isn't too bad!
Then came February. I had been very nervous, but I was feeling more confident. How little did I know what was going to happen. My order cost $446.17: Glimmer $150 ($25 x 6), Modulok $240 ($40 x 6), MN State Tax $32.18, and S&H $23.99. The plan was the same, keep 2 Glimmer and 2 Modulok and sell off the rest to cover my cost. I knew it wouldn't be an amazing month like January, but I hoped to cover the actual figure costs of Glimmer ($29.15 each) & Modulok ($45.21 each). Off to eBay they went again. As expected, the Modulok sold easily, but not as profitable as Two-Bad. On the other hand, Glimmer only sold once. On the Moduloks, I grossed $180.99, which after cost of $45.21 each, left me a net profit of $0.15. Yes, 15 cents. Glimmer grossed $27.75, which after cost of 29.15, left me a net loss of -$1.40. Plus, I had 3 Glimmers left with a cost of $87.45. February was not as great as January, but at least I moved the Moduloks for my cost; however, I was definitely behind on Glimmer. I wasn't feeling much better, but I knew I had great luck in January, so I had a buffer ($74.33 gain + $0.15 gain - 1.40 loss - 87.45 inventory = 14.37 loss) for Glimmer's poor performance. I figured I'd just hold onto them and see what happens.
Which brings us to March. The Unnamed One had been leaked and the reviews were not positive. I was feeling very uneasy that the Club Exclusive figure was going to be another Preternia Disguise He-Man & King He-Man and not a hit like Shadow Weaver. I never expected it to be a "big" hit like Shadow Weaver, but I was hoping for at least Two Bad level performance on it. It is a club exclusive after all ! The March bill came in at $187.54: Hydron $150 ($25 x 6), MN State Tax $13.52, and S&H $23.99. Of course, I had to factor in the original subscription fee of $160.91 for the Unnamed One. This brought the monthly cost total to $348.42, which calculated actual costs as Hydron $29.04 each and the Unnamed One at $29.03 each. This month's plan was only to keep 1 of each and sell off the remaining five. I have them on eBay, the ORG marketplace, and multiple other He-Man venues. Along with the leftover Glimmers, not a single prospective buyer has come along. To make the matter even worse, it seems like a LOT of people are trying to get rid of their Hydrons as quick as possible. I see them on eBay for $25 shipped and some even less on the ORG marketplace. Each Hydron cost me $29.04. How can I sell and break even, when there are people taking a huge losses already on eBay. $25 shipped on eBay would result in a potential gross of only $14.50 ! ($2.50 eBay fees, $1.00 paypal fees, and estimated $7 priority mail shipping). If I sold for $25 shipped on eBay, that would be a loss of $14.54 ($29.04 - $14.50)!
But what about the Unnamed One? The average completed auction right now appears to be $50 - $60 shipped. After the fees and shipping costs, these would gross between $36.00 and $44.60. After UNO cost of $29.03, they potentially could net $6.97 to $15.57 (est $7 S&H values). So, assume I bite the bullet and sell Hydron for $25 shipped and UNO for $50 shipped. IF I could even sell all five, Hydron would have net loss of $72.70 ($145.20 original cost - $72.50 proceeds) and the Unnamed One would have a net profit of $34.85 ($145.15 original cost - $180.00 proceeds). At the end of it all, I'd still be sitting on 3 Glimmers and net loss of $37.85 for the month of March. Even though I arguably made a January Two Bad profit of $74.33 and Modulok profit of $0.15, I am currently sitting on unsold product worth $377.80 (Glimmer $29.15 x 3, Hydron $29.04 x 5, and UNO $29.03 x 5). If I sell off Hydron and UNO as described above, and even Glimmer at $25 shipped (which would have a loss of $14.65 each, $43.95 loss total), I would have a net loss $8.72 (Two Bad Profit $74,33, Modulok Profit $0.15, Glimmer Loss $45.35, Hydron Loss $72.70, UNO Profit $34.85 = $8.72). So potentially, after 3 months of "supporting the line", struggling to sell off product, and hopefully doing so, I still operate at a net LOSS of $8.72! I'm not a business, but that is not a smart business investment strategy.
Those are the figures and the facts. I'm nervous now and I'm concerned about my financial viability to continue subscribing if I continue to sit on unsold items and figures that I can't even break even on. I only bought six subscriptions. I can't imagine the feelings that some people that bought even more subscriptions could be feeling. I'm even more nervous about coming months, specifically the month with Battle Lion. I'm seriously doubting I made a smart decision. Why did I feel pressured and obligated to help "save the line"? This isn't my job, it's Mattel's! Due to these feelings, I only purchased the personally needed two subscriptions for Club Etheria. If I can't sell Glimmer, I surely can't sell Double Trouble!
Disclaimer - Financial calculations do not account for how my costs would differentiate if I had only bought 2 subscriptions versus 6 subscriptions. I wouldn't have the hassle of reselling as many unwanted items, but I'd have a slightly higher per figure cost due to a difference between shipping costs on two items vs six items. Makes me wonder if the slightly higher cost isn't simply worth skipping out on the hassle.
Now onto the discussion: How many of you are experiencing similar issues will reselling figures? Do you feel that you made a smart decision to "support the line" ? Are you nervous about certain months or items this year? Do these actual financials make you think differently about how you view "reselling" or "resellers"? How in the world do true retailers make any profit on this line to make it worth their time and investment? Any other discussions?
Thanks for reading.
Post Note - After reading some responses below, I realized that I forgot to mention that all of the figures I sold on eBay went to buyers in Germany or Austria. The Glimmer was sold to a member here on the ORG in the US.
Last edited by Kowl; March 23, 2014 at 06:28pm.
Kowl, the know it owl!
Feedback Thread: http://www.he-man.org/forums/boards/...ad.php?t=71871
MOTUC MOC Want List: SDCC 2008 King Grayskull
Vintage POP MOC Want List: Bubble Power She-Ra, Loo Kee, Spinnerella
Interesting read. I suspect you will have a harder time with the rest of the year. They put the heavy hitters in Q1.
I too bought an extra sub last year, making it 2 instead of just 1. Of course that's nowhere near the 6 you bought, or the dozens others bought, but even those 2 subs, heck even just 1 sub, puts a lot of strain on my financial situation every month. Don't make that much money. But I love the line, and we all do what we can to keep it going.
So yes, on the one hand I bought an additional sub to support the line, but I also did it to justify having my figured shipped express this year. I'm in Germany and it usually took about 4-6 weeks for my figures to arrive. I didn't want to wait that long for them anymore. So I bought an extra sub to help offset the higher shipping costs.
The plan for the extra sub was always to sell it off on ebay, maybe keep a figure here and there if it's an army builder or something (though it looks like there won't be one this year. Bummer). Anyway, that's exactly what i've been doing since January. Put the extra sub on ebay.
And so far, I'm really happy with it, one of the best decisions ever. Right now, nearly 3/4 of my total costs for BOTH subs have been covered by the figures I sold. Meaning I got my regular sub for approx half the price, and also have the faster shipping (they're here on/around sales day now as to 4-6 weeks later, so awesome). At this point I made a profit on every figure expect Hydron, but only a slight loss there. And even if there is going to be another few figures that I might take a hit on (looking at you Battle Lion), I don't look at every single figure. The important thing for me is to stay above the total cost of the sub (including shipping, taxes etc.). If that is the case at the end of the year, this experiment of mine has been a success (and hey, even if I break even or take a slight loss, it still would be okay, because the second sub helped with shipping and I got my figures in days instead of weeks/months).
Again, so far I couldn't be happier, could change of course, but as of now the figures sell great. Might have something to do that the market here in Germany is not as big as in the States, so it's easier to get more money for your figures. Quite possible. There are a lot of auctions (and buy-it-now offers) on ebay each month as well, but overall, nowhere near as many as in the US. So there might still be more demand than supply over here, who know.
All I can say is, for me this has been a great decision so far, and if it stays that way (and I'm not too worried, sure there are some duds on the horizon, but also some great ones still comming, and I believe 1 more 'no DOS' items if Toyguru keeps his word), I'm sure going to buy 2 subscriptions for 2015 as well.
Last edited by thebortster; March 23, 2014 at 05:21pm.
Try selling the Unnamed One loose. Sell the comic and the map separately. International buyers (which make up the vast majority of people who buy my MOTUC listings on eBay) are more likely to buy a loose figure, since shipping costs are much less than a boxed figure (that they would likely open anyway). Also, some people want only the comic. Some people want only the figure.
And you get the benefit of playing with your Unnamed Ones by photographing them loose. This is a big perk for me. I don't often keep figures I get for sale, but I get to "play' with all of them before they head off to Spain (or Germany or Brazil).
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Forgot to add: selling loose especially goes for the less popular figures, like Hydron.
You bring up some great points. I have noticed a very similar trend, really since last year. In 2013 and 2014 both I have bought 2 subs, with the idea that the second one could help to pay for my primary sub. Q1 started off great, with Ram Man, Fang man and King he-man doing very well VS what I paid. After that, it seemed to start going downhill with Snake Face. Either figures would sell at cost, or I would be able to use them to trade for figures I still needed. Sometimes I would make a bit more than cost when I sold them, and I usually made some good trades for figures that I needed.
The latter part of 2013 didn't do well at all, and I still have the 2nd Dactus, Geldor and Plundor. I kept both sets of Horde Troopers, otherwise those would have done well. In the end, I felt like the 2nd 2013 did well enough that I got a 2nd this year, but I am starting to fear that it may be difficult to move many of the figures.
I don't have to worry about POP figures, because I keep both sets. I think NA Skeletor will do well. Not sure about Flogg. I don't know that there will be much demand for Blade, and I don't have high hopes of moving Battle Lion. We shall see.
We were specifically told that Dare would not be in 2014-2015, see the words straight from Scott here: http://forums.mattycollector.com/eve...808#9101046808
I purchase multiple subs last year and by the end I made back just bellow cost. I did keep my Horde Troopers and one of each figure, so I did make out on that part. Where I did well was the Filmation sub. I did not sub to it but purchased them all after market for 75 to 80% of cost. I think buying subs to resell sound good on paper but can be a pain other wise.
I try to trade or sell a few here or there, I have 4 subs this year (up 1 from last year, but only because DCIE was cancelled or I would have gotten only 2). The only real profitable figures are vintage and exclusives, and some vintage releases aren't as desired (variants particularly). But POP, NA, Mini Comics, Filmation all seem to be hard to sell at a profit. The lesser number of resellers is a huge reason for the drop off of sub sales from 2011 to 2012 and the elimination of the reissues, 2010 every figure was doing well on the secondary market, so the sub buy in for resellers was high for 2011. But there was (is) a glut of 2011 figures out there and most are easily attainable at cost or less. So from then on resellers have really dropped off, plus the sub killer Star Sisters and Foe Men ( those $60 and $75 slots add up quick for multiple subs). The Unnamed One not being "spectacular" isn't great either while he is a profit maker he isn't the $100 figure to help make up for the losses on Glimmer and Hydron, and so on.
I can look ahead and see the 2015 sub drive being very scarey in deed. The big heavy hitters are in this year. While a few good ones will be coming in 2015, it really will be a rough year. The fact that this year will be full of high demand low end figures, even if they are a list figures, will weigh heavy on resellers. I have 2 POP subs coming, 1 for me and one to try to recover some of my costs. Light Hope will hit around 100.00 with the Madem netting around 45.00 to 50.00, that will leave me with 5 more to recover the remaining 30.00 to 40.00 not including shipping. Not huge recover but enough to offset some costs. 2015 will have to be a year of magic to get me to buy more than 1 sub this time around. I kind of have a feeling Matty knows this and has stacked this year with enough to get a good portion of the core out, so they can hedge the 2015 line up if it does not happen. Either way I am in till the end but i am not buying more that one sub.
Last edited by samantha; March 23, 2014 at 08:28pm.
I did 3 subs because the shipping sort of evens out the total cost of each figure. So far I am still in the green; two-bad, modulok and unnamed one made money, glimmer went at cost and hydron lost me some money. So far things have been as expected. But like someone said, there are some "crappy" figures coming up that will not sell; so I am keeping my fingers crossed.
For 2015, if Matty reveals a heavy hitter that is sub exclusive like Two-bad, I will go with the 3 sub strategy. If they don't reveal anything interesting in the first quarter, I wont be subbing because I feel they tend to get their best figures out in Q1
Most Wanted:
Snake Mountain and Eternia Playsets!
My initial thought for starters is that you let Modulok go too cheap. 15 cents profit is nothing.
I bought 2 subscriptions, mainly because I wanted 2 Glimmer's ironically enough! and I was anticipating getting 2x Scorpia and 2x Madame Razz. Of course only Scorpia also ended up in the main sub. I was confident in buying a 2nd sub (which is a big investment for me personally) for the following reasons:
1/I have a fellow fan who buys all the NA figures at cost (so no eBay fees, which are worse than ever! Final value fees on postage? REALLY?!)
2/I only collect characters that appeared in the Filmation cartoons (characters like Snake Face, Squueeeze and Blade get a pass because they appeared in other media I liked) So that puts me in a strong position as I can sell vintage figures like Extendar, Rio Blast, Dragstor etc... which are probably the most popular figures left.
3/I'm a POP fan, so if need be I can hold on to my extra POP figures rather than take a loss on them. I don't need 2 Flutterina's, but I'll just keep the 2nd one if she's gonna sell at a loss.
4/UK/Europe based. There are resellers on eBay selling figures to turn a profit and expect to get the same price for Glimmer as they do for Blade. I'm happy to sell mine at cost and then turn a profit on the more desired ones like Modulok and Two-Bad. Despite that, some Europe based fans find it cheaper to buy from eBay due to the high DHL shipping fee for single figures and being afraid of the package getting losted via International Post. High customs fees also play a big part too! Since I have quarterly shipping, shipping and customs per item is much lower, so I can offer my stuff at prices that are just as cheap as Matty to fellow Europeans (after factoring in shipping and VAT if they order themselves from Matty)
I'm not entirely sure how resellers make a worthwhile profit on such a large investment to be honest. Sure you make money on figures like Two-Bad, Modulok and The Unnamed One, but that profit is soon eaten away by crap like Battle Lion, (this years FFM, which absolutely nuked all profit I made on King He-Man last year) Hydron, Flogg (though the Filmation sword might help him resell) and Flutterina. I've not sold my spare Two-Bad as yet and will keep it for insurance incase I take any major losses further into the year Sadly a lot of those items will likely be loss incuring, so hoping the profit made so far in Q1 will help offset the later losses.
Like I said above, I want 2x Madame Razz but I only bought a single Club Etheria sub. I got burned last year on the 2nd Filmation, pretty much taking a loss on every figure! I think only Strong-Or I broke even on! Thankfully I just sold my spare Sea Hawk (which I held back) and that has probably made me break even just about overall. So no way I was going through the same again with Club Etheria.
You were very brave buying so many subs, but you SHOULD NOT feel pressured into 'saving the line'. It either goes through or doesn't and just buy what you can afford. ALWAYS plan for the worst case scenario. I hope things improve and you manage to recoup some cost with the next no DOS figure (probably Extendar in June)
Unfortunately for 2015, I'm not sure there will be heavy hitters like Two-Bad and Modulok left Tung Lashor is probably the closest, but 1 figure is not gonna turn a net profit enough to resell the whole sub. Expect 2015 sub sales to be well down I'll definitely be cherry picking next year myself, mainly due to very little essential characters left I need.
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I think the demand is definitely higher than supply in Europe as an whole and figures like Glimmer and Hydron we can sell at cost because for our fellow European fans, it's cheaper to buy from us than Matty DOS (due to the Matty DOS figures getting customs fee charged on EVERY figure!) I'm also doing ok and I haven't even sold the spare Two-Bad yet! My plan is to put Battle Lion up for pre-order at a slight loss to me in order to get a sale before the market is flooded (my 2nd I hope a fellow .org fan is still interested in buying it)
Last edited by blackiecats; March 23, 2014 at 11:40pm.
My top 10 items I'd like for 2016: 10/Stridor, 9/Granita, 8/Filmation Tung Lashor, 7/Sprag, Sprocker and Spritina, 6/Frosta, Hordak, Mer-Man, Leech & Tri-Klops Filmation heads, 5/Filmation Teela, 4/Hunga the Harpy, 3/Filmation Evil Lyn 2/Filmation Clawful, 1/Dylamug.
Interesting and outstanding thread. I foresee Cherry picking in the future if the prices of figures keep increasing.
In 2013 I lost about $1000 after selling the figures I could. I lose money every month, my only hope is to sell my shapeways stuff to try to break even. This year I did only get 2 subs, and the quarterly option. I was afraid that the glimmers were all gone, so I jumped on eBay and bought one. I know I'll never be able to sell her for the price I paid, but I panic-ed and overpaid for her.
I did make up some money buy selling big lot's figures, but I had competition of other people in my area doing the same. So I started making customs, but even some of those fell flat. (I sold a custom faceless one with a skirt and clouds around the base for only $6 on eBay, he was on eBay for over 2 months (I opened it just to make him, $10 at big lots)
Also if you make a dime on any figure everyone thinks your some kind of underhanded person. Even though those same people will not buy a lame figure at cost from you.
Shipping and Tax are what's pushing up the price of these figures.
Even an awesome Nick powers, that I spent about $42 bucks in parts to make. (2 big lot's figure $10 each and another figure $20 for the head, tax + shipping) I could not unload for a very long time:
(He only sold for $45)
It is a losing game and you have to sell lots of other things to take up the slack for losing money.
OK I may sound bitter, but these are the facts, my charge card keeps going up, and up. Any my wife's patients are running thin.
Last edited by He-bro; March 24, 2014 at 03:46am. Reason: add picture of box
See ya',
Very interesting read. I don't have a sub, I have a friend/board/dealer member who buys an extra couple of subs to sell on and he sends me all the figures. I do cherry pick to a certain extent, I tend to skip the POP ladies but have bought figures before to help him out when I may have skipped them otherwise.
I am in the UK and so the primary reason I chose to buy this way is to avoid shipping costs, it means that I can avoid the odd figure I do not want and also it means he can check his toys and send me one with good paint apps etc so it limits quality control problems for me. In all it works well and I don't mind paying the resale prices. I tend to spend around £35 per figure including postage. This is up from the initial £30 per figure of a few years ago.
I am unsure if my case is any help for you honestly, but for me I will buy these things until they either stop making them or they move the line in a direction that I do not like (So all Filmation would make me stop for example) Here in the UK I have noticed that there seem to be actual less sellers of the figures, but they always seem to sell at a fair price and on some occasions go for a fortune. Teela, Tri-Klops, Fisto etc all raise huge prices still.
On a side note - that Nikolas Powers figure is excellent. I would have paid more than you sold it for
The Lurkiest
**Somebody please make me a Staghorn**
Kowl, I read through your entire post as well as everyone above me and I feel your frustration.
I used to buy two subs, but even a year or so ago, selling extras wasn't easy. I still have a Geldor that I'd sell for $20 plus shipping and still can't sell him, it's pretty sad and he was the fan voted figure!
I only bought one sub for 2014 and even with some of the figures I've sold (Two Bad and Modulok), it wasn't as much of a profit I was hoping for. I was thinking about selling the UNO and Hydron, but to be honest, it's better for me to keep Hydron and enjoy him as much as I can than to take a loss (I'm really sick and tired of taking losses on these). I do feel for people who purchased extra subs to "save the line", but I have a feeling (and I'm not trying to be negative here, just what I personally see) that less people will buy extra subs to save the line for 2015 for the mere fact that many (like yourself) are taking a very expensive loss on these figures.
To be honest, all I need to do now is complete my POP collection and Horde collection and I'm good. I purchased one Etheria sub as I will be keeping all the figures from that (might sell Light Hope, not sure yet).
As for 2015, as of right now, I will not be purchasing the sub (keep in mind I've been subbing since the very beginning). With only less than 5 figures left for me to buy, there's no reason in trying to unload the rest of them. It'll be much easier to purchase from orgers here for either at cost or a little higher (for their profit which I'm cool with), or wait a monthy or two for prices on ebay to drop.
I'm as much as a fan as the rest of you, but the expense is becoming a very burdensome one. I do hope in all honesty that we can finish off the factions, but I do believe 2015 is going to be a tough sell.
Same plan for Battle Lion as well, get rid of the second one as soon as possible, as long as there are still one or two people out there who may actually want him. Even thought about keeping it and customizing it into Clawdeen or something, but not too sure about that, not the best customizer unfortunately. We'll see, let's hope he won't be that bad to sell and actually surprised us. We can dream, can't we
Reselling was good when figures sold out in minutes. Even with the supposed lower day of sale quota they still last for many days. Subscription only figures such as Clamp Champ and Two Bad are good though.
Just some thoughts...
*Don't only go the ebay route - Use the facebook fan pages and marketplace here. Just sell for cost. Some still might not move, but some will. I suspect Glimmer will eventually sell through for you, just have patience.
*For ebay, have the buyer pay for the actual shipping. For any other market place, have buyer cover shipping and paypal costs, or send as gift.
*You let Modulok go for way too cheap.
*With characters like Glimmer and Hydron, selling them the month they come out is not the way to go. Sit on them for a month or two, wait for the glut to end, and then sell them.
Must Haves before MOTUC is complete! QUEEN ANGELLA! Mermista, Peekablue, Perfuma, Imp, Admiral Scurvy, General Sunder, Colonel Blast, Vultak, Clawdeen, Stridor, Nightstalker, Cat version of Catra METEORBS Gwildor, Saurod, Point Dread with Talon Fighter! Sagitar
Question 1 - How many people bought extra subs to help "save the line" and now are having a horrible time selling these extras?
I purchased x2 Eternia and x2 Etheria in 2014
Question 2 - How do you think this will affect 2015 subscription sales?
This line is completely and totally supported by those fans left, so every sub counts.
Question 3 - Why do fans expect retailers like BBTS to invest in this line, when it is completely obvious that there is no profitable margin return for anyone but Mattel?
Retailers like BBTS wouldn't be subbing at all if there was no profit in it for them- period. So this question labors under a false assumption.
Harken the coming of Dragstor!!
give me your double trouble's everyone!!..... I'm kidding, well. Kinda sorta.
If only if UK shipping wasn't a killer..
Sorry you're making a loss. The market for these figures is really tough at times. Living in the UK, it's even worse!
I've often wondered how much of an actual difference people buying extra subs to resell just to keep the line going makes in terms of whether or not the goal is met.
I wish there was a way to find out exactly how many subs were bought for this purpose, and find out what that translates into percentage-wise in terms of hitting the minimum needed.
Granted, the recent POP sub cut it close to not going through only getting to 97%, so I'm sure each purchase helped. But what I wonder is whether the extra subs people bought for the sheer purpose of supporting the line and hoping to just break even in selling them off (and not to attempt to actually profit from them like typical resellers do, like BBTS) are the difference between 87% and 97%, for example, or are more like the difference between 96.7% and 97%.
The problem is that we will never know because Mattel won't reveal the exact numbers, and even if they did, we will never get an exact tally of extra subs purchased. Even if we did a poll here, it would only give a total of those who actually participate in the poll. Inevitably there would be some who don't, but may have bought extra subs.
The reason that I wonder this is because while I give kudos to those who buy any amount of extra subs to support the cause and try to help keep things going as much as they can (with particular kudos going to Yodafreakmaster and MOTU Maniac for their huge contributions), I often wonder if it even makes a dent and is even worth some people putting themselves in potentially negative financial situations over it. For all we know 30 subs may only account for 0.003% of the total minimum percentage that needs to be hit, but for an a single individual that is A LOT of money to come up with. Even if you manage to resell the items and break even (a difficult task these days outside of a few high demanded items), just coming up with that kind of money up front can be difficult.
Early on in the line I was collecting two of everything... 1 to open and 1 to keep MOC (occasionally buying a 3rd if I wanted to display both heads of a character with 3). Then as the line kept expanding, I gave up keeping an extra of everything MOC, opting for just a loose collection with the occasional extra when I had a reason to want an extra of a particular item. As such after my double 2010 sub ran out and going into 2011, I was down to one sub.
Back when the 2013 sub was in danger of not going through, at one point during the sign up period, I had considered buying an extra sub to "support the cause," but ultimately decided against it. I was worried about actually making my money back. I would at minimum want to break even. That would of course mean selling the more in demand items for more money to make up for those that don't go for as much, and while I don't blame anyone else here for doing exactly that, I just don't like the idea of buying an in-demand figure for base price and then selling it for a really high profit (even if said profit is meant to make up for figures that I lose money on). It's just not my style. Plus just the sheer general hassle of having to constantly try to sell and ship out extra figures just didn't appeal to me.
What I decided at that time, and have done with every sub/mini-sub since is that I will order the one sub that I want/need for my collection and that's it. I don't want the line to "die," and I hope we make it through 2015 to at least wrap up the vintage lines and main characters from other media. But I decided that if me supporting the line by simply buying what I actually want for my collection isn't good enough to keep the line going, then so be it. Don't get me wrong. I am a HUGE MOTU fan. And I decided from the start of this line to be completest with it so long as we don't get into really, really pointless variants akin to most of those that came out during the 200X line. And while there have been a few figures here and there that have been questionable to me, I've stuck with that and intend to keep doing so as long as the line is around and nothing changes in my financial situation to prevent me from being able to do so.
But I won't buy random, unwanted (by me) extras just to keep it going. I remember a while back there was a thread trying to get people to buy extra Wind Raiders to help get them to sell out to get another vehicle made. My attitude was that I bought the one Wind Raider that I wanted when it first came out, I don't need another. If getting the next item produced requires me to buy multiples of a previous item that I only want one of, then I guess I'll have to live without that next item.
Don't get me wrong, if I knew for a fact that me simply buying a single extra $25/$27 figure would be the difference between whether or not the line would continue into next year, I'd make an exception and buy that one figure. But to have to buy two or more of every item? No thanks. The way I see it, I've done my part. I've signed up for every sub, and have jumped through hoops to be online to order things that aren't in a sub and at times have sold out fast. The vast majority of my figures have been bought right from the source. I've only gone to the secondary market on a very small handful of occasions when I had no other choice (and usually paying prices close to that of Matty, with the sole exception of my Bronze King Grayskull that I actually paid a lot for).
Nothing against those of you who have gone the route of buying extras to support the time. Again, kudos. I just wonder if at the end of the day everyone is putting in all of this effort and extra financial expense on themselves only to "move the needle" a fraction of a percent.
- - - Updated - - -
By contrast, buying a random figure from a random ebay seller or marketplace seller here (even one with a lot of positive feedback) doesn't come with the same level of service. Most sellers likely only have one or a small handful of the figure in question to sell, and sell/trade them all up front. If someone receives a figure and it comes damaged or it was defective from the get-go (unknown to the reseller if it wasn't obvious in the package), the best that the buyer can hope for is their money back from the seller. I think ebay has limits on preordering options since the product isn't in hand, and regardless of ebay's policies, it's not really in the buyer's best interest to buy an item from a random seller who doesn't even have the item in hand yet since it doesn't come with the same advantages as buying from a larger retailer that deals in mass amounts of stock.
Also bulk sellers do have the advantage of combined shipping. When ordering the figures in bulk, the shipping break down per-figure gets to be much cheaper (sometimes averaging $2 or so per figure). So even smaller resellers (let alone BBTS) who can afford to buy several subs have the potential to come out a bit more ahead since they can sell the lesser demanded figures for slightly lower prices when the shipping doesn't have as big of an impact on the figure's upfront price. The catch, of course, being that they have more of the lesser demanded figures to try and move. It is a catch-22.
In the name of the Lloyd!
The fact is (and I stated so at the time) the fan vote for 'obscure' characters should have never happened. If a character is 'obscure' then that right there tells you this character is NOT well known or demanded in numbers the size of the subs. So why are we voting on something that isn't widely demanded? The whole premise of that poll defied logic at the end of the day
My top 10 items I'd like for 2016: 10/Stridor, 9/Granita, 8/Filmation Tung Lashor, 7/Sprag, Sprocker and Spritina, 6/Frosta, Hordak, Mer-Man, Leech & Tri-Klops Filmation heads, 5/Filmation Teela, 4/Hunga the Harpy, 3/Filmation Evil Lyn 2/Filmation Clawful, 1/Dylamug.
Question2: the fans that have a difficulties selling off their 'extra subs' in 2013/2014 are less likely to purchase multiple subs for 2015 I would think. I personally just buy for me, 1 sub.
I still don't understand why someone will pay 100.00 for Modulok/TwoBad/Lighthope on BBTS and not sub, I think it would make more sense to sub and just sell what you don't want, I have sold off stuff I don't want with no issue. If I lose a dollar or two on something like Faceless/Carnivus so be it, I'm guaranteed all figs when I sub. If you are spending 100 on Shadow Weaver/etc you obviously like the line well enough, so just sub up. my 2 cents.
To buy extra subs and think you are going to make a bunch of money is foolish, these are common collectibles, they are not rare, they are not as limited as one thinks, just look at ebay, every single figure is on there, though some do cost more than others (teela, fisto, blah blah) but if you sub within your means and sell what you don't want you will do just fine.
On the other hand if you have the funds and want to purchase a bunch of subs-go ahead. Donate the extras, make them gifts, etc. its all good but you won't get rich selling MOTUC.
Last edited by Spikor1982; March 24, 2014 at 03:16pm.
"I feel the best when I can't remember anything."
The huge saving means I can undercut most UK MOTUC dealers on eBay, since I'm NOT in it to make my fortune, but rather save a little bit on shipping. Even if I broke even on the 2nd sub for the whole year, that's fine as then at least I got my figures shipped via DHL for an average of $9 per figure. I've also saved $$$ by NOT having to go the DOS route for my 2nd Glimmer and Scorpia (if Scorpia is even offered at DOS!)
- - - Updated - - -
However I think $100 for Light Hope is bit high and I bet a lot of those pre-orders will be cancelled nearer the time. That's 4 figures! You'd only need to sell 3 of the 6 figures to get Light Hope at the same price (plus you'd have 3 figures that would surely sell at $15 each in a worst case scenario!) Light Hope isn't worth anymore than $60-$70 in my opinion.
My top 10 items I'd like for 2016: 10/Stridor, 9/Granita, 8/Filmation Tung Lashor, 7/Sprag, Sprocker and Spritina, 6/Frosta, Hordak, Mer-Man, Leech & Tri-Klops Filmation heads, 5/Filmation Teela, 4/Hunga the Harpy, 3/Filmation Evil Lyn 2/Filmation Clawful, 1/Dylamug.
Unless a figure is hyped, like Two Bad or Mantenna, I don't see the point in trying to sell them right away. Most of these figures climb in secondary market value after a few months...
Look at Swiftwind. He was an evergreen item on Mattycollector for years, not at all hard to get. Now he's up to about a hundred bucks, if not more. There are some figures that won't ever sell that well, but someone like Glimmer you should be able to get your money back on if you're patient.
Must Haves before MOTUC is complete! QUEEN ANGELLA! Mermista, Peekablue, Perfuma, Imp, Admiral Scurvy, General Sunder, Colonel Blast, Vultak, Clawdeen, Stridor, Nightstalker, Cat version of Catra METEORBS Gwildor, Saurod, Point Dread with Talon Fighter! Sagitar
I've made a small profit re-selling Two-Bad and Modulok after S&H, Customs and ebay fees, but I just broke even on Glimmer. This is how I'm expecting the rest of the year to go. Heavy hitters will be worth more, but characters like Hydron and Glimmer etc I'm just hoping/expecting to recoup my money, if I can.
I have three subs, I could not commit to anymore. So at least one of my figures will be re-sold per month.
Take each day as it comes, but never take it for granted.


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31 Halloween Craft Projects
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Candy Corn Earrings
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Save two pieces of delicious candy corn for this easy Halloween craft. Wear your love for all things sweet and make Candy Corn Earrings from Candace Jedrowicz. Use beads and wire to add a fun, colorful touch to this simple yet fun treat.
- Candy Corn
- Spool of 24 Gauge Wire , any color
- Pair of Earring Wires
- Tacky Glue
- Assorted Beads
- Any Kind of Acrylic Spray Sealer
- Small Wooden Skewer
- Needle Nose Pliers
- Round Nose Pliers, the Wooden Skewer can be used in place of these
- Wire Cutters, or Old Craft Scissors
- Place several candy corns on a newspaper and in a well ventilated area spray them lightly with sealer. Let dry completely. Turn the candy corn over and repeat. Turn and repeat. Turn and repeat...You get the idea. You'll want to coat each side ten or more times. If you try to spray a heavy coat of sealer, the colors will run, so patience is key.
- Cut about 2 inches of wire for each piece of candy corn. Fold about one third of the wire over the wooden skewer. Use the long end to wrap around the short end, keeping the short piece as straight as possible. What you end up with looks something like a screw with eye at the top.
- Put a drop of Tacky Glue on the end of the eye screw and screw it gently into the top of the candy corn. You may also want to put a tiny drop of glue where the eye meets the candy corn. Let dry overnight, if you can. You should be able to give the wire a gentle tug and have no movement.
- Now comes the fun part! Cut a three inch length of wire. Make a loop around the skewer not quite in the middle and don't twist it. Choose an accent bead and slide it on the wire. Now make a loop on the other side of the bead.
- Slide the candy corn onto one of the loops and holding the loop with needle nose pliers, twist the straight end between the loop and the bead. Twist at least twice, then cut off the what's left sticking out.
- Cut five 5 or 6 inch wire pieces. Choose one accent bead per wire. Thread one wire at a time through the loop below the bead. Slide the bead on and give the wire one complete twist so it won't work itself out of the loop.
- Holding the wire on the bead side close to the pointy end of the skewer, wrap the wire around the point to make a coil. Slide it off and repeat with the other end of the wire. I repeated this with three different colored beads on the loop.
- Slide the untwisted loop onto the loop of an earring wire and holding the untwisted loop with needle nose pliers wrap the end around to close it. add two more beaded wires and wrap the ends on the skewer point. The coiled wires can be arranged any way you like for maximum bling.
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Paramount Finds Its Director for 'World War Z' Sequel (Exclusive)
Brad Pitt returns as producer for the zombie action-horror follow-up.
Juan Antonio Bayona, who last directed 2012's tsunami drama The Impossible, has signed a deal to direct the sequel to Paramount and Skydance Productions' World War Z.
PHOTOS: Brad Pitt's 10 Highest Grossing Movies
Z, based on the novel by Max Brooks, was one the summer's surprise hits, grossing $202 million domestically and $540 million worldwide for the studio and Skydance. What was even more impressive was the movie's solid reviews in the face of well-documented problems with the third act that necessitated complicated and costly rewrites and reshoots.
Z starred Brad Pitt as a United Nations employee who travels the world as he tries to stop a zombie plague, all the while trying to communicate with his family.
The movie, helmed by Marc Forster, ended with a cure found and him reunited with his family. The original ending, however, was more sequel-ready, putting his wife in the hands of a cold-hearted army officer as Pitt storms the shores of America, cutting through a zombie horde as his reunification journey really begins.
Bayona was on the very short shortlist of directors a few weeks ago. He met with Pitt, who produced Z via his Plan B banner and is also producing the sequel, before getting the gig. No writers are attached at this stage, but Bayona will oversee the writing process.
PHOTOS: 'Night of the Living Dead' to 'World War Z': The Evolution of Zombie Films
The Spanish director has shown an ability to juggle scares, drama and big sequences -- all of which Z did successfully. Bayona directed the well-regarded Guillermo del Toro-produced ghost story The Orphanage. And Impossible netted star Naomi Watts an Academy Award nomination in a movie that was both tender and jaw-dropping in portraying the real-life tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia in 2004. The movie was also a hit, grossing $180 million worldwide.
Bayona is repped by CAA.
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Trouble Shoot JQuery Plugin carouFredSel
Closed - This job posting has been filled and work has been completed.
Job Description
We have installed JQuery Plugin carouFredSel on a new website under development.
But it does not display as expected in FireFox or Google Chrome. Its OK in Internet Explorer.
WE are seeking assistance from an experienced JavaScript / JQuery expert to get this working properly.
(see http://or8.biz/aussieshacks/proces


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The Top 10 In Action Sports
01Welcome to Qasr Al-Farid: The Rock With A Door That Will Rock Your World
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0316 Things That Will Give 90s Skater Kids A Serious Flashback
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05The 10 Most Spectacular Road Trips on Earth
06Water Slides, Plane Wings and Danny MacAskill: This is Road Cycling Like Never Before...
0724 Reasons Why Snowboarding Was Better In The Early Noughties
08Could Scientists Be About to Build a Terminator? They're Closer Than You Think…
09Win a Holiday for 2 in Chamonix with Three #holidayspam
1017 Holiday Beer Photos That Every Skier Takes to Make Their Friends Jealous
2012 Starboard Quad
A Windsurfing video by boards - 5,184 views
Check out the presentation movie for Starboard's 2012 Quad waveboards: The Quads are the all-out powerful wave designs that generate maximum speed and drive, bringing an awesome production of speed, flow and power to your sailing. Stable and direct in feel, the Quads are most rewarding when driven hard off the rails for power turns. They like to turn on a full rail. With their four-fin grip, they give a very connected-to-the-wave-face sensation yet they still give the ability to lose the tail when extended through the lip for a rotational, whipped move.
More at http://www.star-board.com/2012/products/boards/index.php?id=quad#specifications


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These days I'm trying to learn more things about threads in windows. I thought about making this practical application:
Let's say there are several threads started when a button "Start" is pressed. Assume these threads are intensive (they keep running / have always something to work on).
This app would also have a "Stop" button. When this button is pressed all the threads should close in a nice way: free resources and abandon work and return the state they were before the "Start" button was pressed.
Another request of the app is that the functions runned by the threads shouldn't contain any instruction checking if the "Stop" button was pressed. The function running in the thread shouldn't care about the stop button.
Language: C++
OS: Windows
WrapperFunc(function, param)
// what to write here ?
// if i write this:
// i cannot stop the function from executing
How should I construct the wrapper function so that I can stop the thread properly? ( without using TerminateThread or some other functions )
What if the programmer allocates some memory dynamically? How can I free it before closing the thread?( note that when I press "Stop button" the thread is still processing data) I though about overloading the new operator or just imposing the usage of a predefined function to be used when allocating memory dynamically. This, however, means that the programmer who uses this api is constrained and it's not what I want.
Thank you
Edit: Skeleton to describe the functionality I'd like to achieve.
struct wrapper_data
void* (*function)(LPVOID);
LPVOID *params;
this function should make sure that the threads stop properly
( free memory allocated dynamically etc )
void* WrapperFunc(LPVOID *arg)
wrapper_data *data = (wrapper_data*) arg;
// what to write here ?
// if i write this:
// i cannot stop the function from executing
delete data;
// will have exactly the same arguments as CreateThread
MyCreateThread(..., function, params, ...)
// this should create a thread that runs the wrapper function
wrapper_data *data = new wrapper_data;
data->function = function;
data->params = params;
CreateThread(..., WrapperFunc, (LPVOID) wrapper_data, ...);
thread_function(LPVOID *data)
//do stuff
// as you can see I want it to be completely invisible
// to the programmer who uses this
MyCreateThread(..., thread_function, (LPVOID) params,...);


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Erectile Dysfunction After Unprotected Vaginal Sex Worried I Have HIV
Here's a taste of what TheBody.com has to offer on this topic:
Ask the Experts
HIV Prevention, Donations, 'WHOO-HOOS', and Thanks...Hello Over There, dr. Bobby,I read your comments on HIV Prevention, and see that your thoughts are along the same lines as mine, only that you know a lot more about it than I do. I'll write you more about it soon. What I really can't understand is...
Response from Robert J. Frascino, M.D.
The Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation...with the increasing use of impotence treatments a possible explanation for the "increase in frequency." The study said that erectile dysfunction drugs "have been extending the sex life of many older individuals" since 1998 and "may be extending... Read more »
partners having unprotected sex with different strains (SEX BETWEEN TWO HIV POSITIVE PARTNERS, 2011)when i was diagnosed my doctor told me that i am classified as HIV strain 2 and with cd4 count of 5... Read more »
Unprotected sex between 2 men with the same hiv strain (SUPER INFECTION, 2010) (SEX BETWEEN TWO HIV POSITIVE PARTNERS, 2010)I'd like to know from a scientific point of view, what happens when 2 men with the exact same hiv... Read more »
Increasing Risk of HIV Among Older People, Doctors Failing to Diagnose Cases in Population, WHO Study Says...with the increasing use of impotence treatments a possible explanation for the "increase in frequency." The study said that erectile dysfunction drugs "have been extending the sex life of many older individuals" since 1998 and "may be extending... Read more »
HIV News & Views, October 15, 2009 - The Body...to our listing. TESTING/TRANSMISSION OF HIV & OTHER STDS Condoms Pop More Often for Users of Erectile Dysfunction Drugs, Study Finds Men who use erectile dysfunction drugs may be four times as likely to break a... Read more »
Hep C on the Radar...hepatitis C talked about having unprotected anal sex, group sex and rough sex, including fisting. They also talked about using erectile dysfunction drugs, such as Viagra (sildenafil), and street drugs, such as crystal, ketamine, GHB or ecstasy,... Read more »
Oral Sex: What's the Real Risk for HIV?...HIV-negativeperson depends on the type of contact. HIV is most easily transmitted throughunprotected (no condoms) anal sex, unprotected vaginal sex, and sharinginjection drug equipment. Oral sex has been shown to be less risky than these... Read more »
Connect With Others
Oral Sex (I am worried) PLS HELP
Posted by innocent2008, 2 Replies...Hey all, i'm so worried about myself and i need someone to advice me... This is my story :- I'm living & working at Cameroon, and as mostly of people Read more »
worried I've got HIV after oral without
Posted by anonymouslad, 6 Replies...be nothing nothing to do with a possible std infection. But this along with regularly feeling mildly sick is getting me very worried I'm one of the tiny tiny percent of people who've been unlucky enough to get HIV through unprotected. Do these... Read more »
For those worried about "Protected Sex"
Posted by Anonymous, 1 Reply...If U R visiting this forum on a regular basis and U have had protected sex with a prostitute (female or male), vaginal or anal, please please please be confident that CONDOMS do work. Do U think that the concept of magnetic couples would exist? Read more »
Had sex without a condom and I am very worried.
Posted by latin12, 3 Replies...time telling anyone about this experience. I don't want to tell my friends or loved ones about this because I don't want to worry them. Nevertheless, I would like to share this with other gay men who can possibly empathize with my particular... Read more »
Resource Centers
Guides for People With HIV
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23 December 2013 at 17:20
So, you've done as much shopping as you can possibly manage, wrapped (most) of your presents, packed up the car and you're on the road heading toward friends and family … there's really only one tune that will sum up how you feel!
23 December 2013 at 11:57
With forecasts for heavy rain and strong winds across the UK heading into Christmas Eve, the RAC is urging drivers to take every precaution on the roads.
11 December 2013 at 11:39
The RAC is reporting a calmer day on the roads today across much of the UK however it is experiencing localised difficulties in the south owing to excess surface water and flood conditions and delays arising from the closure of the Dartford Crossing. The breakdown service which has been rescuing thousands of motorists during the Christmas getaway has increased patrol numbers by 10% to meet demand.
05 December 2013 at 11:58
There are extreme weather alerts across the UK with the ongoing high winds and flooding in Scotland and over 140 flood alerts affecting much of Scotland and significant parts of England and Wales.
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Lots of pedestrians were stopping and snapping photos Monday morning of this snow sculpture garden on the north end of Rittenhouse. PW's Joel Mathis got a few pics as well.
READ POST | Posted Dec. 21, 2009
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Brent Batten: Protesting is music to her ears
Cynthia Odierna dances to music only she can hear.
It's not that she's daft, although some on the political right would argue that she is. She literally dances to music only she can hear.
She did so Wednesday, swaying and stepping to Maroon 5's "Moves Like Jagger" while singing parody lyrics she made up critical of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
The lack of proper sound equipment prevented any of the 150 or so protesters gathered at the intersection of a Vanderbilt Beach and Airport-Pulling roads from hearing the music Odierna was listening to via a Walkman and earbuds. Her words came through, though.
"Taking college away, vouchers aren't OK. We civilly disobey..."
Odierna got the gig as the musical interlude in the protest staged by Florida union leaders targeting Walker's fundraising luncheon at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort after earning a reputation as Collier County's chanteuse for liberal causes. "I helped start a small peace group when we bombed Afghanistan and I have been active in working for peace and social justice ever since," she writes in an autobiographical introduction.
In recent months she's led chants on Fifth Avenue South as part of the local Occupy Wall Street presence and heckled the likes of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich at campaign stops here.
Rather than rely on golden oldie protest slogans — "Hey hey, ho, ho, (unpopular politician's name here) has got to go" — Odierna prefers original chants. That can present problems, as she has to round up fellow chanters, pass out scripts then rehearse.
Wednesday she moved up and down the line of protesters holding "Recall Walker" signs. "I'm trying to collect chanters. Who will chant with me? Any chanters?" she called out over the buzz of traffic and the honking of horns.
Once organized, the group of a half-dozen or so made a few trial runs.
"I'll say the first part, 'Don't cut teachers,' You say the second part, 'Don't cut cops,'" she exhorted. "Collect the taxes from the top."
A language teacher by trade, Odierna says she enjoys using phrases and music to get her point across.
She's a multilingual chanter, leading Wednesday's mostly white, mostly English-speaking group in choruses in Spanish and Haitian Creole.
People will listen to a chant or a song, even if they disagree with its message, she maintains. "I feel it's the only way people who don't want to hear it will hear it," she said.
At Romney's recent appearance at Sugden Plaza, Odierna sung an aria-like parody aimed at the candidate.
"I was the one singing opera. He couldn't talk. Oh, it was obnoxious," she boasts.
When Newt Gingrich was more than an hour late for a Cambier Park appearance a few days earlier, Odierna and her group, The Naples 99 Percent Minstrels of Righteous Indignation, helped fill the void by singing a Gingrich parody, "If You're Newty and You Know It."
"A lot of people didn't like it but they were listening with their cameras because it was so funny," she said.
Wednesday's crowd, more receptive to Odierna's message, also trained cameras on her as she stood on stage waiting for "Moves Like Jagger" to cue up in her ear.
"I wish you could hear it. It's a lively tune," she said.
We'll have to take her word for it.
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There are so many tutorials out there for fun, DIY platters. I wanted something that I hadn't seen before, was inexpensive, and could be used on a table or as a passed hors d'oeuvre platter. I decided to create these fun DIY Platters out of cutting boards so that the area the food goes on would be completely food safe.
To make these platters you'll need:
I chose to only do one side of my board so that if needed I could use the opposite side as an actual cutting board. But, you could choose to do both sides!
My boards are still holding up after several hand washes. I recommend that you dry the board immediately, or possibly add a sealant, to avoid water spots on the paint.
Follow along this week and next for more of this party, first featured on Pizzazzerie.com! I'll be featuring a tasty cocktail, an appetizer recipe, a few DIY projects, and some DIY party tips for your NYE party!
*Occasionally links on this blog are affiliate links that help support this blogger. This is a for-profit blog. To read my Advertising Guidelines please click here.
|X on Christmas evening listening to his Grandad play his flute. Photo taken by my lovely SIL.
I hope you all had a very, merry Christmas. We sure did! (I'm sure I'll come back over the next couple of days to tell you about all the frustrating things that happened over the holidays. A toddler with a home full of visitors—while trying to adjust to a toddler bed and teething— is a story all on its own.) We had lots of fun with gifts this year because he enjoyed opening the presents and playing with them. The little man actually only got a pair of pjs (that he wore on Christmas eve) from me and his daddy. But, he opened nearly 30 gifts from his aunts, uncles, odd parents, and grandparents… they went a little crazy over him. But, we sure did appreciate it and he loved every second of it.
I try to use real plates and glassware at many of my parties so that I am not wasting paper goods or spending extra money on plates and napkins. (Don't get me wrong though… I love a pretty paper item!) However, sometimes using my plain white plates at every event gets boring. I don't want to go out and buy a ton of new dishes at every event… so, I came up with an easy and non-permanent way to upgrade my party dishes.
— Plates/glassware of choice. I used white dessert plates that I bought at HomeGoods for little money!
— A Sharpie in your color choice (I used gold)
If you want the marks to be permanent then you can cure them in an oven by putting them in a cold oven and then letting it get up to 350˚ F, leave for half an hour then turn the oven off. Let them sit in the oven until cool. I like to then leave them unused for 24 hours. Using a pen made for writing on porcelain, like the Porcelaine 150 pen, will garner more permanent results than a Sharpie.
Follow along this week and next for more of this party, first featured on Pizzazzerie.com! I'll be featuring a tasty cocktail, an appetizer recipe, a few DIY projects, and some DIY party tips for your NYE party!
*Occasionally links on this blog are affiliate links that help support this blogger. This is a for-profit blog. To read my Advertising Guidelines please click here.
This is a guest post featuring one of the delicious hors d'oeuvres that was pictured in the Chic & Modern New Year's Eve party featured on Pizzazzerie.com. This is part of a Portland Blogger's Collaboration photo shoot and post series. Read on to see a recipe for a delicious (and easy!) party appetizer: The Blini with Creme Fraiche and Caviar.
This is a guest post featuring one of the delicious drinks that was pictured in the Chic & Modern New Year's Eve party featured on Pizzazzerie.com. This is part of a Portland Blogger's Collaboration photo shoot and post series. Read on for a tasty Rosemary Bliss Cocktail Recipe!
This year's birthday "theme" was "It's the End of the World!" Do I think the world is ending today? Nope. Did I have a blast planning an End of the World themed party… YOU BET!
This was absolutely my favorite birthday party to date. I didn't have to clean or cook! Myself and about 28 of my friends went to The Original— a Dineraunt here in Portland, OR. The food was SO good (hello, donut burger sliders—YUM), the drinks were great, and the service was really wonderful.
I've put together some of the images taken from that evening, along with some DIY tips that you can incorporate in many different themed parties.
Invitations: If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times… the invitation sets the tone for the entire party. I wanted everyone to know that we'd be having cocktails and yummy food. But, I also wanted to relay the message that this was going to be a FUN party. My favorite part of the invite was the little dino reminder. It had a glittery eyeball and a message reminding guests that the party was on 12/12/12 on the back. People could hang them on a tree, the front door, or their fridge!
Decor: The Original has such a hip, fun decor already that I knew I didn't need much to make this party stand out. And, I'd never suggest to anyone to bring in a ton of decorations to a restaurant. (See my post on hosting events at a restaurant here.)
So, for decor at this party I made little flags, glittery dinosaurs (they were at the last end of the world!), some "fortune tellers," and a few activities. I sprinkled the tables with the items. I then used the favor bags as part of the table's centerpieces. Balloons and party hats finished off the party space. I loved how bright and celebratory everything looked!
Activities: I tried to keep the activities simple for the party… I didn't want to annoy other guests or anything. But, I still wanted some activities that guests could do because not everyone knew each other and activities are a great way to break the ice.
I made little "Draw Your Future Action Figure" sheets for people to "tell future inhabitants of earth what your action figure should look like… don't want to end up with short little arms like T-Rex!" I the fortune tellers (or cootie catchers) and small talking cards with bucket list items.
Mostly everyone chatted and enjoyed the food… but, it was fun picking up the action figure sheets at the end of the night!
|Photo by Bee of The Spicy Bee, Instagram @thespicybee
I didn't take many photos… but, I loved seeing the Instagram photos that everyone took! I was really fortunate to have so many people with cameras and/or camera phones in attendance or I'd barely have a photo to post today!
DISCLAIMER: I was in no way compensated for my opinion on The Original. Just my opinion from this experience.
***As with all of my free printables… this collection is to be for Personal Use only. Please do not post a link directly to the downloads on your site/social network, but rather a link to this page. If you use the printables I'd LOVE to see photos of your event (not required, but really appreciated!) Thanks so much! ****
A BIG thank you to my NYE party collaborators—
Check out their blogs!
Photography: Macey of Motormouth Studios
Event Styling: ME! of A Well Crafted Party
Menu: Bee of The Spicy Bee and Kate of Fork and Vine
Venue Styling: Adi of Garden of Edlen
Model Styling: Sarah of The Confessions of a Product Junkie
Models: Sarah, Carter, Kate, Will, Adi, Matt, Kayla of Fit Life Forward and Suzannah of Adventures in Dressmaking
Ahhh…. the holidays! It is time for mistletoe, eggnog, cozy sweaters, sparkly dresses and PARTIES! I love the thousand excuses that the holidays give us for celebrating. Basically from October til February it is party central in my brain.
There is no end to the different types of parties that are thrown during the holidays. And, whether you are having a cookie exchange or an elegant cocktail party there are a few simple tips that can make hosting a holiday party less stressful and much more fun. The following tips are items I try to keep in mind when hosting events during the holidays.
1. Schedule well— Yes, the holidays are the time for parties…. which means that your guests will probably have other holiday parties to attend as well. You might have a few to attend yourself. I had a couple of good friends plan a holiday party (and invite people) just to find out that one of them had a company holiday party to attend. You don't need to plan your event around everyone's schedules (but, you might wanna check your calendar first) but, there are a few simple things that can ensure you and your guests a less stressful event.
|I used the white christmas lights and garland throughout my partyscape!
Typically around this time of year I am thinking so much about what I want to do for other people that I get a bunch of messages from my family and friends asking me what is on my wish list. This year was no different.
And, while of course there are things I want (I like things)… very few items come to mind when people ask that question. I'm just happy to celebrate with people, especially this year. It has been a long, tough year and I just want to spend some good quality time with people I care about.
However, my sister and mother never, ever take that as an answer…. if you follow my Pinterest boards you might have seen me go a little online window shopping crazy with my wish list. Sorry about that!
A blogger I follow posted her Want, Need, Wear, Read list and I loved it…. so, I am mimicking her a tad and putting up my own list.
Want: I really want to get some pretty barware. I am in love with the twig barware kit and glass bottles with wood stoppers from West Elm. Seriously… check out that jigger! Lovely.
Need: Oh dear, oh dear… I need new underwear and bras SO bad. Pregnancy and nursing did a number on my body. I'd like to throw out all that I have and replace them with some pretty new things from Victoria's Secret or something similar.
Read: It has been so very long since I have read something longer than a blog post. There are a couple of books I want right now. But, I'm also craving a magazine subscription or two. BUT, the one book I want the most right now is the 2013 Writer's Market Deluxe Edition. I wouldn't mind the short story and novel edition too!
I haven't always been a big fan of Turkey Day. It wasn't that I didn't enjoying eating good food and getting together with family… it was that all of the other holidays overshadowed the day and made it last in my book. However, the last five years we've been able to spend Thanksgiving with a wonderful group of friends that I am over-the-moon thankful for! I don't know if it is my age (starting to actually understand what thankfulness means) or this particular group of people… but, I love this holiday now!
|What a cutie in suspenders!
|YUM! fooooooodddd
|Our beautiful hostess!
|Me enjoying an Apple Cider Margarita
|Little bug was only a couple months old here and only his Oddmom can get him to go to sleep!


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Is Pneumonia Contagious With Hiv
Here's a taste of what TheBody.com has to offer on this topic:
Ask the Experts
Pneumonia/Contagious/HIV+I am HIV Posititve and a friend of mine is in the hospital with Pnuemonia. I was wanting to visit him but am afraid it would put me at risk of possible infection. My viral load is 270 and my CD4 is 677. I was diagnosed 6 months ago and have never...
Response from Robert J. Frascino, M.D.
The Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation...Hi,Some types of pneumonia are more contagious than others; however, considering your high CD4 count, I would not anticipate any problems resulting from your visiting a hospitalized Read more »
New HIV/AIDS diagnoses, pneumonia (PCP), please help!We've heard so many different things so far with the entire host of medical staff in the hospital,... Read more »
HIV/AIDS Denial (AIDS DENIALISTS, 2009)What's up with all these people who either deny HIV exists or believe the government create it? I... Read more »
Vaccinations and HIV...lump that can last for a few weeks. Measles, Mumps and Rubella: These are three diseases caused by viruses. They are very contagious and can be spread by coughing or sneezing. Children are normally vaccinated against these diseases with an... Read more »
Pneumonias...doctor Other (Rare) Cases of Pneumonia in HIV-Positive People Cytomegalovirus Histoplasmosis Lymphocytic interstitial pneumonitis (LIP) Seen generally in children under 13 years old Also more common in women than men, often past... Read more »
Flu Season and Living With HIV...publication, Novel H1N1 and concerns for people living with HIV . What Is the Flu? The flu virus is quite common, highly contagious and very prone to changing itself. There are three categories of flu viruses: type A, B and C. All three... Read more »
Pneumocystis Pneumonia (PCP)... What Is PCP? Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP or pneumocystis) is the most common opportunistic infection in people with HIV. Without treatment, over 85% of people with HIV would eventually develop PCP. It has been the major killer of people... Read more »
Connect With Others
Flu or pneumonia shot ...?
Posted by srchanfrans43, 1 ReplyAnyone know if the shots still are cross reactive with antibody tests.....? If so what's the time to wait after a shot to take an antibody test ? Read more »
Posted by Anonymous, 5 Replies...health and good looks had become a source of guilt, and I felt like the perpetrator of an enormous lie. I felt contaminated and contagious. My social and professional life on the outside were nothing like the true life I had at home, or the true... Read more »
HIV Highly Contagious Before Symptoms Show
Posted by Anonymous, 1 Reply...HIV Highly Contagious Before Symptoms Show: Study Reuters Health 10.18.01 HIV may be highly transmissible before an infected person experiences its Read more »
Negative Results
Posted by Anonymous, 2 Replies...week short of 5 months to an occurence that is so low risk that I don't even know if it warrants testing. The test was only for HIV-1, not HIV-2 nor the O strain. I also did not get an std checkup nor tests for HEP B or HEP C. I was wondering if... Read more »
Resource Centers
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Amsbury Hill Inn
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'Leaf Peepers'
... you look there is a flag proudly flying. Whether it's a flagpole in the front lawn or a row of flags on the electricity pilons as you drive down the country roads, the national pride is evident. Even the graves we saw had flags instead of flowers.
After a full day, we are back in our lodgings with the fire going and feeling very content. We have mapped out our last day in Maine tomorrow and then heading on to Vermont.
Harbors, Waves, Clouds and Drones
We spent last week at Camden Hills State Park just north of Camden Maine. I attended a photo workshop at Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine, learning all kinds of cool things. We went out on a couple photo shoots and sat in classrooms learning from Master photographers about things like photoshop and printing, and mainly how to make better photos At the very least, I ...
A fantastic final day
... along the coast. First we stopped and hauled up a lobster trap, to see what had been caught. The captain pulled out the three lobsters inside and gave us a lesson on telling a male and female lobster apart, how big a lobster needs to be to be a "keeper", how a female's tail is notched if she's found with eggs on her, and how stroking a lobster's head lulls her into stillness. After the lobsters and the ...
Experiencing a lighthouse, firsthand!
Up until today we've had great weather, but this is New England, after all, so we couldn't expect that to last! The morning was just a bit cloudy as we left for the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland. When we arrived we heard a fascinating talk by a former keeper of Owl's Head Lighthouse. It was so interesting to learn about life at a lighthouse first-hand! We followed that with a docent-led tour through the lighthouse museum. There we learned about ...
Maine Road Trippin'
... We had lots of fun singing and playing games. High hopes for tomorrow!
Taylor - Today was really fun because we finally traveled to Maine and saw a video on puffins. We got to see many different things and the beach was beautiful! We took lots and lots of pictures and chilled the rest of the night.
Isabel - Today was day 2 and we got up fairly early. We packed and got into the car. Lots ...


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James Gandolfini: Tribute To A Friend will debut Sunday, December 22 at 8:30 PM on HBO, his old The Sopranos network. In the half-hour tribute, friends and colleagues remember the three-time Emmy winner, who died June 19 at age 51. The special features clips of Gandolfini's work as well as behind-the-scenes footage.
HBO's 'James Gandolfini: Tribute To A Friend' To Premiere December 22
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i am new to LibGDX
i'm building a game and i have an animated background that has about 10 seconds of animation (250 frames aprox.) since it's useless to try and build a sprite sheet for this (large background of course) is there a way to render video files are png sequence to a texture so i can have my animated background drawn in the game?
i am new to LibGDX
There are currently no built-in support in libgdx for rendering videos.You may want to submit a feature request on their issues page. Anyhow, if you choose to implement this yourself then you can take a look at using FFMpeg+OpenGL ES from this blog post. This will not be cross-platform unless of course you also implement a desktop version and maybe even extend libgdx yourself.
If your idea is to put a texture on background and render the image and timely replace it to give the animation frame, then a good start is having a look here: How to draw a texture into a quad with OpenGL ES 2?