Originally published at: Quiz: can you spot the banned Amazon items? | Boing Boing
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Lead & Steel Modern Paperweight Desk Organizer
OH - I thought it was made out of lead and steel - which is why I said it should be banned - but that is the company name.
LOL. Yes, scary block of plastic is scary. 
Along with the nickle knife. “That’s not a knife!”
Meanwhile, Amazon has decided to ban a figma collectibles that I wanted to sell, claiming it “sexualize” children.
Apart from the “magic miniskirt” that all female anime characters wear, I can’t figure out what it being sexualized.
I tried appealing the decision, no luck. I asked for clarification on how, specifically, the figure sexualized children. No luck. Meanwhile I can easily find the same character, clearly sexualized as a playboy bunny (the character is 15(!)) available on Amazon.
Amazon sucks. Personally I think they just made it up to push casual sellers off their platform. Which I guess is fine: I sold it on eBay, and I think I paid a smaller fee, too.
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Hilarious that they make such a big deal about the AR vise block being unavailable on amazon, meanwhile:
https://www.amazon.com/ar-vise-block/s?k=ar+vise+block
Plenty of results still. All they have to do is ban anything that comes up. And they don’t.
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OH is THAT how I find collectables, often at over market value on Amazon?
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This just in: “Amazon no longer cares how many of its customers die as: 1) there will always be more -and- 2) caring is prohibitively expensive.”
Film at 11.
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The company name is intentional; it lets buyers know for sure that this item is a disguised AR-15 vise block. It’s a tool that’s needed to convert legal guns to guns that would otherwise be banned by assault rifle restrictions in some states (especially California).
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yeah but lets see you Nickel and Dime someone to death with that.
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[citation needed]
Sorry, I’m not 100% clear on how these vise blocks are used. I think they’re used to change the magazine release mechanism and to add pistol grips. Do you have any more details?
Uh - you said it yourself. It’s a vice block. It sits in the magazine well so your lower can be held in a vice. This can be used to help clean the rifle by holding it still and allow the upper to swing down. It can be handy for other maintenance or part swaps.
But come on with the hyperbole.No - it isn’t needed at all to build an AR. It certainly isn’t “needed to convert legal guns”. Pin Punches, a hammer, and hex wrenches are all you would need for that.
But that’s why Amazon bans it. I have no gun opinions. Sorry about the legal talk. Based on your original post I thought you didn’t understand the context, but now I see you were just being ironical.
I assume vegetable peelers, colorful bowls, pantry moth traps, and spatulas are not on the banned list.
Maybe?
Collectibles, especially Japanese, are a weird market to begin with. The manufacturers specifically limit the production runs, to both increase the value and limit the potential loss of unsold items. Often they’ll take pre-orders, and if a minimum number of orders aren’t secured, they’ll scrub the entire run.
Of course, by their nature, if you try to buy them after their initial production run, then the price may potentially go up though not always; I’ve sold some at “cost” (purchase and shipping) because they weren’t very big to begin with.
But those sellers who’ll sell an initial run item at 3-5X the cost? Yeah, screw them. They’re just scalpers and are a pox on humanity.
I just buy things that appeal to me, so I’ve got a collection that’s all over the place. I keep them in good to mint condition and keep the original boxes so I can sell them once my interests change. I’m not trying to run a side hustle with them, so I try selling at a reasonable market rate to find them a good home with someone who’ll enjoy them as much as I did.
I do most of my buying straight from Japan: from the manufacturer itself, reputable sellers who ship internationally, as well as some from “used” collectibles stores. I can get in on the preorders, cancel if I have second thoughts, and shipping is reasonable, too. There are some US Sellers, too, whose prices are similar to the Japanese sellers. Usually prices are better than Amazon (in no small part due to Amazon’s fee), and I am confident that I’m not buying a knockoff.
I’m happy to share if you’d like, though you might already know them. Depending on what you like to collect, they might be a good resource.
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Is there much of a market for those in the West? Those Suzumiya Haruhi ones can be had for like 1-2,000 yen here…
I mainly collect Boba Fett stuff, but every once in awhile I get a Soundwave or other Decepticon. I got a Skywarp Masterpiece figure on clearance once. Since then I have wanted to get the Soundwave one, but they are hard to find cheap, and there is a rash of knock off ones on Amazon and ebay. Man, you want to ban things, ban knock off collectables. Let those stay on ebay and ali baba etc.
But - lucky me, local seller had a sealed Toys R Us edition from like 2014, which isn’t the one that was knocked off, so I bought with confidence, AND he took a bit over retail. Look at this glorious son of a bitch.
Only two complaints - the instructions were one fold out sheet and don’t even cover all of the different ways things fit together and added play features. And the hands were not as articulated as even my Skywarp figures. So i got some third party hands, and now Soundwave doesn’t give a fuuucckkk.
I some times look up Boba Fett stuff and people are selling older black series or other figures and the mark up is significant what you can find elsewhere. Granted I frequent BST groups and know the prices, but these have to be for casual collectors or people buying for friends/family who have no clue what stuff is going for elsewhere.
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I don’t really think so. The anime is over a decade old, so only the long tail die hards are interested. I bought it for about $35 for the figure and shipping from Japan, and sold it for $45+shipping, which included the listing and seller fee and a modest “profit.”
I have a Rovoltech Yuki Nagato in witch’s costume, but that hasn’t been able to sell. It doesn’t help that the Revoltechs are poorly constructed, poorly sculpted, and poorly articulated. They were awesome for the 90’s, but Good Smile Company, Azone, and Snail Shell (to name a few) have really set the standard for what an action figure can be. And the plastic kits are just a whole different level.
I’ll probably delist Yuki and turn her into a Halloween window display for the entertainment of the neighborhood trick-or-treaters.
I’d love to know where you’re seeing them listed for 1000 - 2000; not for them per se, but to look for some things I missed out on or regret not ordering. (And if I can get them shipped to the US for a reasonable amount)
I just did a cursory search on mercari (it’s an app where people can sell stuff, kind of like a mix of Etsy and Amazon Marketplace… not sure if it’s available outside of Japan).
ETA: Here’s an example.
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That’s awesome! There are some really cool — and unique — Star Wars and Transformers stuff coming out of Japan. Like these little items:
If you don’t need to eat this month, you might want to haunt the site and see if any of the preorders get cold feet and cancel. HLJ is a good source and pretty well known, and they allow you to put things aside for 60 days (indefinitely during COVID) to combine shipments to save money.
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