The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

11:09 AM

@Jenayah scifi.stackexchange.com/a/171178/4918 -- this one is totally unfair. I've never even read that story. I only know about it because of other story-id answers.

Jenayah

@b_jonas then you still kind of know it :) since you remembered and all

Ahah coïncidence I flagged the above comment on this question

About similar work, which is now the dupe-target

b_jonas

The only book I read with workers constructing a house and other workers tearing it down is Szathmári Sándor's Kazohinia, and in that one, all the workers know that that's what's happening.

Jenayah

...Oh, declined that one. Dunno why but hey

Woah so much bounties

b_jonas

@Jenayah It might not be a coincidence. scifi.stackexchange.com/q/55748/4918 was recently bountied, and we were talking about story-id bounties, that's how I got to "The Good Work".

Zaphod

1

Q: What are the differences between the book, Contact, and the movie?

What are the differences between Carl Sagan's novel, Contact, and the 1997 movie made by Robert Zemeckis?

Jenayah

11:24 AM

@b_jonas okep

Rand al'Thor

Urgh, story-ID answer with OP comment auto-deleted by user flag.

@Jenayah You have, um, drastically swelled the average flags-per-day on SFF recently. But we're coping :-)

TheLethalCarrot

Put a comment on it then :)

Jenayah

@Randal'Thor ahah, sorry! ^^' But as said above,

37 mins ago, by Jenayah

On the other hand, I'm almost at the end of the 22 pages of story-id dupes so that comment streak will slow down soon ahah

TheLethalCarrot

@Randal'Thor Put a comment on it then :)

Jenayah

As also said above, that was an impressive lot of noise comments ._.

Rand al'Thor

11:35 AM

@TheLethalCarrot VTC four of your last five messages as dupes.

Dodgy internet connection?

Jenayah

2 hours ago, by TheLethalCarrot

Side note: you realise you don't have to ping the person each time right? :P

TheLethalCarrot

Yup

Timed out

The internet connection at work is especially bad today

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot wasn't it already yesterday?

TheLethalCarrot

It's worse than normal today but it's never great

And obviously I can't delete the old comments now...

Mithrandir

@Jenayah You'll be competing with me soon :P

@rand must still have nightmares from when I was raising 50+ comment flags at a time...

Jenayah

11:39 AM

@Mithrandir ahah... that's what I have been doing this week actually

running low on flags :p

Rand al'Thor

@Mithrandir A lot of that was actually while I was away.

We were having to deal with the unexpected nuking of Mos and subsequent fallout on meta, while our most chat-active mod was away and mostly offline, and you helped us by raising many times more flags than in any other month in site history, mostly on old comments that weren't doing any harm :-/

</rant>

Mithrandir

? that's not when I was thinking of...

was before Mos was nuked IIRC

Rand al'Thor

May 2017?

Mithrandir

Huh, guess it was around when Mos was nuked. Didn't remember that.

That was bad timing, then :D

Marvin

1

Q: Why does Mr Morden appear to Lennier?

I've just watched Babylon 5 Season 5 Episode 8, "Day of the Dead", in which a Brakiri festival causes a number of dead people to reappear and visit those inside the 'Brakiri zone' with whom they have some kind of unfinished business. Specifically: Captain Lochley is visited by a close friend fr...

babylon-5

TheLethalCarrot

11:57 AM

@Randal'Thor "before she went and got killed in action": how inconsiderate of her!?

Rand al'Thor

@TheLethalCarrot Episode of the Redshirts.

About ten thousand marines visited the station, and we got to know several of them in various ways. Then at the end there was this long sweeping shot showing the dead bodies of every single new character in the episode.

TheLethalCarrot

Lol

Gotta love those red shirts

This ones great

Didn't stand a chance

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot "well, shit"

TheLethalCarrot

Poor lad didn't even have time to say that

Self promotion time...

Jenayah

12:17 PM

^^

TheLethalCarrot

If you're wondering where I got that image from, check out my answer here:

9

A: Who died in the battle against the army of the dead in Season 7 Episode 6?

Thoros of Myr, Viserion, Benjen Stark (Coldhands) and 7 red shirts The first casualty is the lead scout who gets killed by the wight bear whilst running back to the main group. The bear then goes on to kill two further red shirts. The bear then fatally wounds Thoros. After that the bea...

SQB

12:37 PM

@Mithrandir consolidate the comment in an (cw) answer.

Mithrandir

@SQB Or I could just write a full answer. Once you're taking the time to e.g. research quotes, may as well just post a full answer.

Like I did earlier today: Fantasy short story collection with giant murderous bird, a man who dies and returns as a woman and everyone wearing Egyptian style jewellery

SQB

@Randal'Thor Rant al'Thor?

Jenayah

@SQB I was about to ask that, but reading a Meta question about these, I kind of agree with what Null said:

A comment from the OP giving the answer is probably too short to be an actual answer -- it will be not much more than the title. In that case, anyone who sees it can post an answer which includes the title and additional information like a plot summary which we require for these questions anyway. The user who writes up the post thus does some extra work and deserves some rep -- so that post wouldn't need to be CW. It's easy rep, sure, but it did require some work. — Null ♦ Feb 10 '16 at 5:36

Mithrandir

I just fiddled with SEDE and created this query, which uses black magic to find questions that might have answers written as comments.

Jenayah

And you did too, actually, @SQB

2

A: CW answers for story-ID questions where the OP has found the answer?

I already do this. If the answer is already there, either in the comments or edited into the question by the OP (as often happens), I'll just turn it into a CW-answer. However, if I have to do significant work to turn it into an answer, I'll claim the answer for myself. The only example I have ...

SQB

12:43 PM

@Jenayah that's exactly what I wanted to say.

Jenayah

@SQB Since

> However, if I have to do significant work to turn it into an answer, I'll claim the answer for myself. The only example I have of such a case is one about a cartoon character, where the OP's comment about it being called "Kutlas" turned out to be "Cuttlas" instead.

I'd say Mith did quite significant work

SQB

Oh, I was talking about the general case, not a specific answer by Mith.

Jenayah

@SQB oh, okay, sorry!

SQB

I've now taken a look and yeah, that would be more like my Cutlass-example.

Jenayah

How do I change my SEDE avatar?

It's linked to an old one through Gravatar, apparently...

Mithrandir

12:47 PM

You can't. SEDE is a bit of an odd beast.

Jenayah

What?

Mithrandir

Actually, I can't even sign into SEDE for some reason.

SEDE and Area 51 don't allow you to set an avatar, AFAIK.

Jenayah

Okay, how do I delete my SEDE profile?

SQB

I have a "change picture" link there, actually.

Mithrandir

huh, okay

Jenayah

12:49 PM

The avatar isn't shameful or what, but I don't like the idea of being able to track me down to some years ago (activity wasn't shameful either)

@SQB it only points out ot Gravatar, though

SQB

Oh, I've no clue. Never changed it there.

Mithrandir

@Jenayah try visiting data.stackexchange.com/users/delete/current

oh hmm, no

I've got no idea.

Jenayah

@Mithrandir page not found

Since we're on the topic of cleaning old posts, tell me if the following list is complete to properly clean up a post:

> edit title and tags

> group info together in the Q body

> add info in the As

> fix dead links

> formatting

> (less sure) add to the Q body the info provided by OP's comments

> flag obsolete stuff ("accept, checkmark" when accepted, dupe-comments which already are the targeted dupe)

> flag obsolete OP comments if edited into the Q?

> flag the eternal "why was it closed that way - see our policy on dupe-targeting the better Q/A" comments? (not a fan of this one)

Mithrandir

Also, vote to close or reopen if applicable.

Sourcing quotes is always a good thing.

Jenayah

@Mithrandir aye

I'm mainly concerned about the "add to the Q body the info provided by OP's comments" and "flag obsolete OP comments if edited into the Q?" points

advice? :)

Mithrandir

1:00 PM

both of those are good

TheLethalCarrot

Do edit it in if it's in the comments, at which point flag for deletion

Mithrandir

definitely edit in all info

and then the comments are obsolete so they can go

TheLethalCarrot

Might be better to flag for mod attention to explain that you've edited the info into the post

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot sounds logic, yeah.

What about flag the eternal "why was it closed that way - see our policy on dupe-targeting the better Q/A" comments? (not a fan of this one)?

TheLethalCarrot

@Jenayah If there's more than 1 I usually flag the post, in case of auto deletion, and say which comment scan go

Mithrandir

1:02 PM

@TheLethalCarrot Yes - actually, unless it's rude/abusive or not constructive, a mod flag is very often a good idea.

@Jenayah Those can usually go, but it's not that important.

TheLethalCarrot

Well if it's R/A I'd hope common sense would tell you to flag it as such

Marvin

0

Q: Book: Child taken aboard space craft and given complete control of how his room looks using an interactive screen

All I can remember is that there is a child on I believe a spaceship. He's given an empty room and is allowed to decorate it using a screen to choose what he wants. Specifics: He is looking for a bed and see's the option for a hot rock, he ends up settling for a hammock.

story-identification books

Jenayah

@Mithrandir ok.

Will try to follow these guidelines to clean up properly, then.

TheLethalCarrot

If you can fix everything you think needs fixing a post it helps, especially if you are bumping it

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot yeah, so far I did all the above except adding the info provided in comments.

Well as the mods can tell I've been doing a lot of flagging too but those don't bump so it's okay(ish)

TheLethalCarrot

1:07 PM

Also you can remove the noise such as "hellos/byes" and "any help appreciated" type comments in posts

They ain't needed

Mithrandir

(I'd be tempted to say "flag answers in comments" as well, but I might get shouted down.)

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot oh yeah that's part of the grouping info together

TheLethalCarrot

For story id, I say leave 'em

Jenayah

@Mithrandir why? They're not great, I admit, but still, if soemone else finds what they're looking for in the one-liner comments, why not?

Oh yeah, I mainly talk about story-id

Mithrandir

6

A: Unanswered questions with answers or partial answers in comments

TL;DR: Flag the comments for deletion and write an answer. More in depth explanation: People have a tendency to treat comments like they matter, or are permanent, or as places to put information that they for whatever reason don't want to put in an actual answer. Guess what? They're not. Com...

Jenayah

1:09 PM

Only tag I clean so far

@Mithrandir yeah but still feels wrong for story-id, even if as said above I don't like them

Mithrandir

eyeballs-requested | NaA | Why didn't the Jedi carry shields?

TheLethalCarrot

Seems to be a comment

Jenayah

aye

Mithrandir

data.stackexchange.com/scifi/query/895009/…

Donald.McLean

Greetings, Earthlings.

Mithrandir

1:20 PM

@Donald.McLean Live long and prosper?

Jenayah

@Donald.McLean Greetings, Hubble guy!

Funny, no SFF question into HNQ today.

(as in "asked today")

TheLethalCarrot

1:36 PM

Awww almost exactly 3000 characters in that edit...

You failed :p

I know

Oi ASR :)

@Jenayah ahoy

user132126

Howdy

SQB

2:02 PM

> "You have failed me for the last time, admiral Carrot."

Hey, I see @Catija! Hi!

(And of course hi @Donald.McLean, hi @AncientSwordRage, hi others I may have missed).

@Catija, any chance that all flags might get an "explain yourself" input?

20

A: Updated comment flagging - Supporting the new Code of Conduct

feature-request Please add the option to explain any flag; not just the flags for "something else". How can we make flag handling easy and clear for moderators? [...] [Moderators] can easily decide whether a flag is valid or not based on the flagging text. If I flag a comment as "no ...

Catija

@SQB We haven't talked about it at this point. Right now we're waiting on a new use pattern to emerge, particularly considering the current custom reason text to see if it's being overused as it is... when we poke at changing too many things at once, it gets a bit muddy. It's not impossible but I think there are some alternatives we would look at first. Some text boxes get good content... others get... not so great content.

user132126

@SQB Ah, yes, that seems apt.

Mithrandir

"load explanation" button in the mod queue...

Jenayah

@Mithrandir ?

Mithrandir

To make things smoother for mods with @SQB's suggestion, have the explanation of the flag not get automatically shown and instead choose to load it if it's not obvious

Marvin

2:17 PM

2

Q: Movie with execution by cartoonish organ harvesting machine

I'm trying to remember a movie in which, after some space flight and perhaps in a hanger, the protagonist and his love interest are queued up to be executed. This is done by being pressed up against a wall with saws cutting along comical outlines of organs. Most of the people in line are apathet...

story-identification movie

Jenayah

@Mithrandir I'm not a mod, but I guess if someone went as far as writing a mod-flag, might as well read it

Especially since they're quite short

Too short, sometimes

SQB

@Mithrandir feel free to add that to my post.

user132126

lol, I'm on my way into the Valley of Despair

TheLethalCarrot

@Jenayah Fixed

Jenayah

2:27 PM

@TheLethalCarrot slaughter people, get on HNQ. What Worldbuilding taught us!

AncientSwordRage

@WebHead meep

user132126

How's it been?

AncientSwordRage

@WebHead me? Can't complain :D

user132126

That's good!

user132126

I still miss the Ferret name.

user132126

2:44 PM

Since it was discussed here, tagging @Jenayah and @NapoleonWilson and @TheLethalCarrot that I significantly updated my suggestion on web-original, and after reading the transcript and considering all the comments, I think it does pretty well at addressing those concerns: scifi.meta.stackexchange.com/a/12052/31178

Jenayah

@WebHead saw that, wish I could upvote again

user132126

I would say that the name is a trivial matter, and would ask that not be a sticking point, because we can come up with something else pretty easily.

Jenayah

@WebHead aye

user132126

I'm just keen on web original because I'm a Web Head ;)

Jenayah

@WebHead ahah

TheLethalCarrot

2:46 PM

I don't see why we would create 1 tag to encompass all media types when you could just create the media tag?

user132126

But what is the media tag?

Marvin

0

Q: Did Hugh ever accomplish his mission?

At the end of "I Borg", Hugh is tasked with reuniting with the Collective in hopes of introducing the choice of individuality and giving them the opportunity to freely choose a path that didn't involve assimilation. Are there any references to the consequences of Hugh being re-assimilated into t...

star-trek star-trek-tng borg

TheLethalCarrot

blog, video-short, podcast

user132126

In my update, I do say that video-short and podcast should be their own.

user132126

But blog is nebulous, as is article, or post, or a number of terms that mean "posted on a webpage".

TheLethalCarrot

2:48 PM

Aye, and in the same vein I think the others where you propose to use web-original should use their own tag

Aye, it isn't a great tag but it does a better job of describing what it is than web-original

user132126

we decided on Web Original because that's a pretty common term to the point that it's what TV Tropes uses for that type of content.

user132126

tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WebOriginal

TheLethalCarrot

But you can just use the media tag for it... web-original is bound to cause mistagging

Jenayah

@WebHead I wouldn't say we decided, we were just enthusiastic at the name when @b_jonas brought it up

@TheLethalCarrot human factor comes in and cleans it up

TheLethalCarrot

I'd rather have a tag that better describes what it is than have to clean it up all the time

It's obvious what [short-stories] and [novel] are, [web-original] isn't

Jenayah

2:51 PM

It's already being done all the time with science-fiction-genre and fantasy-genre

b_jonas

Oh! scifi.stackexchange.com/q/86119/4918 got marked as not a dup today. That's why I'm getting votes on it.

@Jenayah Hehe

Jenayah

@TheLethalCarrot well "all the time" is not that frequent

user132126

Story-id questions already need to be cleaned up all the time

b_jonas

short story vs novel (or tv series vs movie) is orthogonal to printed original vs web original

Jenayah

If there are like 40 questions which could actually use it now, out of 12k story-id questions, it's unlikely it will be put on every time

@WebHead that too

TheLethalCarrot

2:53 PM

@WebHead True so making less work is a good thing

Jenayah

@b_jonas what do you mean orthogonal?

TheLethalCarrot

I'd rather make less work for myself :P

user132126

@b_jonas Not entirely, because the point is that the format of web original content is generally different than you'd get in the other medias.

user132126

@TheLethalCarrot Right, so having one tag to remember for these 4-5 other things is easier :)

TheLethalCarrot

1 tag for 4-5 things... there's a problem right there

user132126

2:55 PM

Like harry-potter?

b_jonas

@Jenayah Many of the non-stor-id questions already have other tags, like scp-foundation or unsong or hp-methods-of-rationality. And we don't add a second tag in that case.

user132126

or marvel?

b_jonas

We don't add book or novel to Harry Potter questions even if they ask specifically about the books, not the films.

Jenayah

@b_jonas yeah? So no need to work on those (for the tagging at least)

user132126

@b_jonas Uh, you should be, yes.

user132126

2:56 PM

If the question says not the films it should have books added to it

user132126

And if it says not the books it should have movies added to it

b_jonas

and we don't add book or novel to questions about dune or a-song-of-ice-and-fire

Jenayah

@WebHead yeah but you could also tag it Pottermore, interviews, tweets... HP isn't a good example, it's too vast

TheLethalCarrot

A single "media" tag to cover multiple "medias" just isn't the right approach

That's what my problem is

user132126

microblog blog tweet vlog blog article listicle essay fan-theory forum-post interview vine transcript tumblr is what we want?

b_jonas

2:57 PM

all the popular franchises are too vast. ASOIAF has films now. Marvel and DC have films too. Toklien has films. Even Asimov and Lem and Verne have film adaptations, as bad as they are.

Um, sorry. The Clarke ones are supposedly actually good.

Make that Verne instead.

user132126

@TheLethalCarrot Because it really is one type of media.

b_jonas

And Star Wars has not only films, but tons of books, an animation TV series, video games, toys, Lego toys, Lego TV series, Lego video games.

user132126

A blog and an article might be different in the way they're presented, and what the site calls itself (even though news sites and blogs can be indistinguishable), but it's still the same thing, really.

Jenayah

@WebHead that is way too much

I don't even know what a listicle is

user132126

Some of them are just bad, intentionally @Jenayah

TheLethalCarrot

3:00 PM

@Jenayah Maybe, but then have you ever seen any of those tags needing to be used? And of course it was facetious in nature

b_jonas

In fact, Harry Potter also has video games and Lego toys and Lego video games (but for some reason I haven't seen authorized non-Lego toys, nor are there Lego films or a Lego TV series yet)

Why does Harry Potter not have authorized non-Lego toys?

Mithrandir

hmm, lemme toss in a question as an example

3

Q: Identify an online time travel story about sacrifices and time travel, posted by two people named 'Oz' and 'Lyss'

I'm trying to identify a story I read, which was being written and published on a site where the author gets paid the more visits they get. The story was written by two people going by 'Oz' and 'Lyss', shipped as 'Lyzzy' and posted with that name too IIRC. I read the beginning - as that's what w...

story-identification

Jenayah

@b_jonas eh? I'm pretty sure there are HP toys which are not Lego

user132126

@Mithrandir That's a perfect example.

user132126

What would that be? Serial-fiction?

TheLethalCarrot

3:03 PM

I mean it is but it does essentially fall under [books], I don't know how long it is but it's probably a short-story or novel

user132126

I don't think things like that are really short stories.

Jenayah

@Mithrandir aye good example indeed

user132126

Short stories should have a complete theme, and some of those serial-style things don't. Maybe each post does. But they're not really anthologies, either, because the stories do connect.

user132126

Or maybe interact with other people's stories.

b_jonas

@Jenayah Authorized ones? Can you point me to a reference? I sure haven't seen them in toy stores. I've seen authorized Disney toys, including Star Wars, authorized MLP and Powerpuff Girls toys, etc.

And yes, Spiderman toys and Pixar Cars toys too. They're sure a seller.

Jenayah

3:06 PM

@b_jonas define "authorized" and "toys" then, because I guess that at least those big-headed Pop figurines must have HP characters

TheLethalCarrot

@WebHead True but then web-original doesn't exactly convey what they are

b_jonas

@Jenayah Authorized as in Warner Bros or JKR or someone who owns intellectual rights have given permission to sell them, presumably for money that goes to them or to charity. Toys as in objects intended for playing with, which could be dolls/figurines or imitating inanimate things like wands and spellbooks, or even T-shirts or bags with HP-related graphics printed on them, but not counting video games or anything associated with Lego here.

Jenayah

@b_jonas I'm not big on legal stuff, but I'll look, because I'm really surprized Warner wouldn't have found another milk cow

I've seen dozens of wands replicas, for instance. I can't say for sure they were authorized, but I'd be surprized if all of them were legally murky

b_jonas

@Jenayah Warner might not have the right to do that, if JKR didn't sell it.

Hmm wait. There was a Harry Potter theme park.

Then there must be toys too.

In that case, the question is, why didn't I see them?

I mean, the theme park is only in the US, but still

scifi.stackexchange.com/q/86798/4918 suggests there are other toys

But strangely, there aren't many toys. Let me look at scifi.stackexchange.com/q/117948/4918

Napoleon Wilson

3:21 PM

@WebHead Still pretty much the exact same problems.

Not that you need to adress the concerns I brought up anyway, they're just my opinion. But, you didn't really adress them at all. ;-)

Alex

@WebHead What's the difference between "blog" and "blog"?

user132126

They make Harry Potter toys

user132126

Many many kinds

Jenayah

@Alex "blog" is awful. "blog", on the other hand, is top-notch quality.

Alex

@Jenayah How do I know which is which?

Jenayah

3:30 PM

@Alex Oh come on, if you don't make an effort I can't help you. Think! Isn't it obvious how a blog is not at all the same as a blog?!

Alex

@Jenayah I get the difference. But if I just see the word "blog", how do I know if it's referring to blog or blog?

Jenayah

@Alex read it twice, or better, replace it with blog, and wait for either a shitstorm or a wave of approvals. Then you know :)

user132126

@Alex One I typed first, and the other I typed second, lol

user132126

@b_jonas If you really want a list, I can get you some...

user132126

I'm the resident toy nerd here.

TheLethalCarrot

3:34 PM

You can't be the resident everything nerd... can you? :/

b_jonas

@WebHead No, I'd rather see a clear proof or two that some toy is definitely authorized, not just that whoever sells it claims that it's authorized;

and want to know why I don't see them in the local gift shops, despite that the Harry Potter books and films and Fantastic Beasts films are popular here and are translated.

user132126

Uh, Bandai Japan, for instance, doesn't make unauthorized toys. Licensing properly is a big deal and you can bet Warner Bros. would go after a major toy maker.

b_jonas

@WebHead And, if possible, make it a toy that is not mainly sold in a theme park.

@WebHead Sure. But there are still a lot of unauthorized Disney or Marvel themed toys and clothing, produced in east asia. Disney tries to shut these down, but the small companies producing them just disappear quickly and new ones appear.

user132126

Bandai makes them, Funko makes them, LEGO makes them, Walmart just started carrying an exclusive line of HP dolls that I can't remember the maker of, NECA made some, but I think they're discontinued, but you can still find them at book stores.

user132126

Yeah, but I'm not talking about knock offs or bootlegs.

b_jonas

3:37 PM

@WebHead Can you give some links too for those? I did mention LEGO, and specifically asked about toys that aren't LEGO and aren't video games.

user132126

bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/74685

user132126

bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/79618

b_jonas

"you can still find them at book stores" doesn't help me, because I haven't seen them in book stores. Those brand names help because they're searchable.

user132126

walmart.com/ip/Harry-Potter-Harry-Potter-Doll/…

user132126

toywiz.com/neca/movie-figures/harry-potter

b_jonas

3:39 PM

@WebHead Wow, that first one looks like an expensive one.

user132126

$65 is about par for the course for a Figuarts figure.

b_jonas

Nice, thank you for the links. Are there any shirts or bags or other clothing too?

@WebHead I didn't even look at the price. I mean it's a high-quality toy.

user132126

There are some other companies making HP figures, but those I'm not sure if they're officially authorized, or if they're "Third Party" manufacturers that skirt lawsuits.

user132126

Target has a brand new line of Harry Potter clothing.

user132126

It launched 1-2 months ago, or amid all the remodels. There's a big Wizarding World merchandise push going on right now at Target/Walmart.

user132126

3:41 PM

WB is essentially making it their Star Wars equivalent, in terms of being a cash cow.

user132126

@b_jonas Yeah, Figuarts are generally very nice quality. Sometimes a little fragile, but otherwise nicely detailed, pose really well, and great for display or photography.

b_jonas

@WebHead Sure, there are probably all those unofficial imitation figures that claim to be not connected to Harry Potter, only accidentally look like one of the characters.

user132126

Stores like Books a Million, Barnes & Noble and Half Price Books generally have a decent Harry Potter section that includes a variety of mechandise, from toys and model wands to clothing, knick knacks, etc.

b_jonas

Thare are cheap toys too, right? If there are only expensive figurines, then I can understand why local stores don't sell them.

@WebHead Right, but I live in Hungary, book stores are totally different.

We don't have any of those brands, we have other local franchises of book stores, and some independent stores struggling under the pressure.

user132126

Ahhhh

b_jonas

3:46 PM

The independent ones are mostly specialized to particular kinds of books, or are used book stores, or are being bought up by the franchises.

user132126

NECA launched at Target last month, since Toys R Us closed, but otherwise, most of these toys are definitely stuff that's only at specialty toy stores or online.

user132126

Aside from Walmart's new line of HP dolls, which are exclusive to Walmart, there hasn't been any non-LEGO HP toys released en masse since the original movie series, AFAIK

user132126

Just vinyl collectibles by Funko.

b_jonas

The franchises are bookline.hu, libri.hu, alexandra.hu, lira.hu, and antikvar.hu ; antikvar.hu doesn't have branded stores, only operates online; bookline has some apparently independent used book stores contracted with them so the store puts their catalog on bookline's webpage and bookline gets them more income.

user132126

I think most of the toy collectors I'm aware of that aren't in US/CAN/UK get most of their stuff online.

b_jonas

3:50 PM

They also all try to sell books they don't have and either buy them from stores of other franchises or put you on a waiting list until they can acquire one.

@WebHead Sure, you can buy toys online, but I wouldn't know about those when I visit stores in person. And I wouldn't see the expensive high-quality figurines in the stores.

user132126

Yup, it can be a tough market for people that want good toys, believe me.

b_jonas

There are also two or three game store franchises in Hungary, each of which of course sell online too. And many of the supermarket franchises sell toys, Tesco and Auchan and Lidl definitely do, but I don't know if any of them produce toys.

user132126

This is a fraction of my collection:

user132126

instagram.com/p/Bktt69tj4Xz

b_jonas

@WebHead Sure. For expensive custom stuff, it's not worth to stuck them on shelves. You buy them online. Not only for toys, but for most other things.

TheLethalCarrot

3:54 PM

@WebHead That's a busy shelf

user132126

The top one for sure. The bottom one much less so in person.

user132126

Technically the bottom one is a middle shelf.

b_jonas

@WebHead I recognize Spiderman, and there's a head that looks like Chewbacca's but probably isn't. Who is the green guy that looks like an orc and has a purple suit and yellow belt and purple gloves and there's three on the top shelf of them?

TheLethalCarrot

My SW collection is quite busy but most of it isn't out at the moment

user132126

Everybody on the top shelf is Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, or Demogoblin.

user132126

3:58 PM

It's the only character(s) I really collect "anything" of, because I love the look. Even Spider-man, I'm much more conservative with the type of merch I'll buy.

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The Restaurant at the End of the Univ…