It's a Major Award!!!

I've been culling the herd that is my Transformers collection lately. EBay (or Feebay as I call it) is a terrible option when it come to this sort of thing. You've got to photograph your item, write a description for it, set the auction rules, decide how much to charge for packing and shipping the item, and then hope the item sells or else you'll have to relist the item. If it does sell, you'll probably need a PayPal account to get your money.

Then the fees kick in. You will be sent a bill for an "insertion fee" (EBay gets paid just for hosting your auction) and a commission. EBay gets paid a percent of the winning bid plus the listed shipping and handling charge. I guess EBay observed less ethical sellers' practice of listing items with low starting bids and ridiculously high shipping and handling cost and said, "We want in on that!" Instead of encouraging sellers to lower the shipping and handling charges, EBay is forcing reputable sellers to increase their charges to cover EBay's cut!

What if the buyer never sends the payment? You're still getting billed. You have a bunch of holes to jump through in order to get the charges removed. Then you have to relist the item!

RAGE! RAGE! RAGE!

Then I found Crave. Crave is awesome. I had gotten about four paragraphs into my open love letter to Crave when I realized that's not what I wanted to write about. (HIGHLIGHT. DELETE.) A few months back, I was asked to complete a survey to help improve Crave. To encourage user participation, we were bribed with a prize drawing.

Ta-da! Today a package from Amazon.com was unceremoniously dropped on my porch. And what a package! 24 x 15 x 4 inches. It's the kind of box you'd ship half-a-dozen, unfolded Sunday news papers in or maybe an autoharp.

The contents: Transformers Kre-O Optimus Prime. Hasbro has decided to partner with Oxford Toys (a company known for their Asian market LEGO knockoffs) to bring Transformers models made of building blocks that are "compatible with major brands". With this kit (the largest of the initial Kre-O offerings) you can build a semi and trailer, take it apart, and rebuild it as Optimus Prime and a battle station. It even comes with little mini figure versions of three Transformers and two humans.

I'm bringing this to visit my in-laws next week. We'll build (and rebuild) it as a group as we celebrate Thanksgiving and my birthday. Once we return home, I'll begin excavation for the high security trophy room necessary to house my awe-inspiring prize. I will lead semi-annual tours for pilgrims wishing to pay their respects to Optimus' blocky, non-transforming image.

Thank you, Crave! I never knew I had it in me to compose nearly five hundred words as an ode to an oddly proportioned box containing a quirky toy with shaky ethical origins.