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A thread for new collectors to ask basic questions of the community.
Frequently Asked Questions below!
A longer version of the subreddit rules is here.
For questions specifically concerning bootlegs or vendor legitimacy, please ask in the Bootleg Megathread.
NSFW & Spoiler Guidelines

• For Self Posts: include a bolded NSFW note next to links in that post.
• For Links to sites/images: If the figure is NSFW, or the website has any NSFW content (including ads) be sure to tag your post NSFW and use the appropriate link flair.

Bootlegs
Any collection posts containing bootlegs, comments advocating buying bootlegs, or links to sites selling bootlegs, recasts, or unlicensed merchandise will be removed.
People often ask about the legitimacy and/or safety of a number of websites which sell large resin statues. The more commonly-asked of those deal primarily in resins from studios which do not have a license from the Japanese IP holders to produce merchandise. Therefore links to those sites are not permitted here. Another sign is if MyFigureCollection doesn't list the either the statue, its manufacturer, or the shop it's being sold on.
MyFigureCollection
My Figure Collection is like MyAnimeList... but for figures! Their database includes thousands of items which been produced during the last couple of decades, along with reviews of shops and other helpful articles. One can also list their own collection and post gallery photos.
Shops

Retailers:
AmiAmi HobbySearch Mandarake (sells rare figures) Good Smile Company Online Shop (often has exclusives) Good Smile Company US shop Crunchyroll Shop Hobby Link Japan (aka HLJ) Solaris Japan (MFC partner) Big in Japan (also has proxy service) Tokyo Otaku Mode FigureHaven Archonia (EU retailer) Jungle
List of retailers on MFC
/AnimeFigures' List of Retailers
Community Guide to Shopping in Japan

Blogs/News:

Nekomagic (News/Previews) NyaaFigurines (Reviews/Releases) Kahotan's Blog (News/Reviews) Figma Blog (JP)

Buying & Shipping

1. What’s the best place to buy my anime figures from?
That’s going to depend a lot on what works for you, but most people around here buy them from Amiami, Big in Japan, Hobby Search, HobbyLink Japan, or Tokyo Otaku Mode. If none of those work for you for whatever reason, there’s a list of reputable retailers in the sidebar that you can check out at any time. Be extra careful when ordering figures from websites like Amazon or ebay, as there are a lot of bootlegs on those sites. Don’t be afraid to ask in our Bootleg Megathread if you’re unsure.
2. What differences are there between the shipping options I get from most Japanese shops?
Below is a rundown of the main shipping choices you’ll get at most retailers. Keep in mind that if an order is large enough you will be forced to use one of the more expensive options, as SAL shipments have lower size and weight restrictions.

• Unregistered SAL: Sometimes referred to as uSAL, is usually the cheapest method. It does not come with any tracking or insurance. Usually takes up 2-4 weeks for delivery.
• Registered SAL: Sometimes referred to as rSAL, is insured for the declared value up to 6,000 yen. It comes with a tracking number and usually takes 2-4 weeks for delivery.
• EMS: This method of shipping is much faster than either SAL options, usually arriving within a week of shipment. EMS shipments are insured for the declared value up to 2,000,000 yen.
• Airmail
• E-packet
• Surface: Shops don't offer this very often. It's an actual cargo ship and slow as a result.
  
• DHL: Becoming more available as an alternative to EMS on AmiAmi and other sites. Can be less expensive than EMS and of comparable speed, but may be more reliant on the specific geographical area being shipped to. The price is also determined by the size of the box. Offers their own tracking.
  

3. I placed two+ orders for figures at different times. Will my items be shipped together, or will I have to pay shipping twice?
Most shops will ask you to pay shipping on a per-order basis, but here are some that will allow combined shipping:

• Amiami: You can combine orders here, as long as the orders ship in the same month. It doesn’t matter if the item is new or preowned. Any preorders that are set for that month can also be combined with other orders for that month. However, be aware that if the preorder gets delayed, Amiami will remove that item from that month’s shipment and place it on a new order. To combine orders on Amiami, use the “Combine Orders” feature under “My Account”.
  
• Hobby Search: Hobby Search will let you combine orders that release in the same month, but you cannot combine in stock items with preorders. If you want to combine multiple preorders, or multiple in stock items, you can do so using the “Order Recombination” feature on your account page.
  
• HobbyLink Japan: At HLJ, you have the option to send paid orders to their “Private Warehouse”, where you can store them for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to ship the items, you simply select which items to ship and HLJ will combine them into one shipment for you. To use this, just select the “Private Warehouse” option as shipping when you order.
  
• GSC Web Shop: Here you’ll pay a flat 2,000 yen fee per order. It doesn’t matter how many items you put in your order, or how many different months the items release in. They will charge you 2,000 yen and ship all items as they release. The exception to this rule is their Wonder Festival exclusive items. Those can only be placed in the same order as other Wonder Festival items.
  

If you’re unsure about whether or not a shop we haven’t listed will combine your orders, please refer to their individual FAQ’s.
4. When will I get charged for my preorder?
Most Japanese shops charge you once the item is in stock and ready for shipment. When that happens, they will send you an email asking for payment. Some shops (mostly overseas ones), will allow you to pay for the item up front though, if you’d like. A few with that option are:

• Big in Japan (Japanese store)
• Tokyo Otaku Mode
• Anime Island
• Crunchyroll

Keep in mind that overseas stores will likely get the figure a few months after Japanese ones, so pay attention to the release date stated on the website you are buying from so as to avoid that confusion.
5. Should I expect to pay customs fees when importing figures?
That depends on where you live. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Australia: 10% GST is now assessed up front.
• Canada: Minimum declared value for charges is around CAD$20 for regular shipments, and CAD$60 for gifts (gifting something only seems to lower the declared value by about CAD$40, not deplete it completely). When using Amiami, try their Small Air Packet option. It comes with tracking, gets there in about the same time as EMS, and is better at avoiding customs.
• Europe: Using EMS raises your chance of getting charged for customs. SAL can still avoid customs in some countries, but generally gets checked in the UK now if the items are above the threshold. Amiami offers a shipping service called “Small Air Packet” that is really good for avoiding customs when you are only shipping one or two figures. Small Air Packet usually takes about the same amount of time as EMS, and still comes with tracking.The minimum declared value for customs charges in the Europe is pretty low- around £15 (£36 for gifts) / €20.
• Mexico: Minimum declared value for customs fees is USD$300 for shipments by post, and USD$50 for shipments by courier.
• United States: A shipment has to have a declared value of USD$2,000 before customs starts hitting you with fees, so you most likely won’t have to worry about them at all.

6. The figure I want is an exclusive, how do I go about ordering one outside of Japan?
You have three options for this:
A. Big in Japan is known to stock exclusive figures and ship to other countries. Usually the price is higher because they build in their proxy fees, but it’s easier than worrying about using a forwarder or proxy service. If you live in the US, Crunchyroll, Right Stuf, and Tokyo Otaku Mode also get exclusives sometimes, but out of the states the shipping can get expensive.
B. Forwarding Services: A forwarder is someone who you ship an exclusive item to so that they can forward the package on to you, usually for a flat fee + shipping. When using a forwarder you still make the purchase yourself, and enter their address into the shipping field. When the box arrives at the forwarder they will then stick your address onto the package and send it on its way.
Some popular forwarders are:

• Big in Japan
• Tenso

Be sure to read each sites instructions on forwarding carefully!
C. Proxy Services: With a proxy, you tell them what the item you’re looking for is and they will purchase it in your stead. This is handy for when a company doesn’t accept foreign credit cards, or you’re having trouble navigating a Japanese website.
Some popular proxies are:

• Big in Japan (Won’t proxy for Yahoo Auctions)
• From Japan

Again, be sure you thoroughly read through each sites proxy instructions.
7. I see a bunch of really cheap figures that ship from China on ebay. Are those okay to buy?
Generally, no. They’re most likely bootlegs. If you want a second opinion on that, feel free to ask in the Bootleg Megathread that’s always stickied at the top of the sub.
8. What’s a bootleg, and how can I avoid buying them?
A bootleg is a counterfeit figure often made using rejected molds of the official product. They are usually priced significantly lower than the genuine article, and in order to make their profit, bootleggers use lower quality materials and have less attention to detail- resulting in a substandard figure.
The Bootleg Megathread that I mentioned in question 7 is a great tool to avoid buying any bootlegs. It has a few tips and tricks to avoiding them to begin with, and a few more on how to spot them if you’re worried you might already own one.
9. Does anyone know when figure X is going to be released? How do I know if it was delayed?
My Figure Collection (sometimes referred to as MFC) does an excellent job of staying on top of information like release dates and delays. If you’re curious about an upcoming figures release date, check there first. This information can be found directly under the “Releases” section on a figure’s entry. If you only see a month and a year in that section, it means the release date has not yet been announced by the manufacturer, and there is still a chance the figure could be delayed.
If you make an account on MFC you can also subscribe to comments, changes, and pictures via a checkbox on the right hand side of a figure’s listing. Subscribing to any of these things will allow MFC to send you an email anytime the subscription in question updates. Subscribing to “changes” is a great way to keep up with release dates and delays, among other things.
10. The figure I want is long sold out at normal retailers! What’s the best place to pick it up in the aftermarket?
A list of reputable retailers can be found under the “Shops” section of the /AnimeFigures sidebar. They all sell legitimate products, and many of them also sell figures second hand. However, the most frequently suggested second hand sites are Mandarake and Amiami- who has a preowned section that they update every night save Sundays and Japanese holidays around 1PM JST and again around 6PM JST.
AmiAmi grades their pre-owned items on a letter scale. The general consensus from buyers is that their ratings are conservative, so unless the item and/or packaging is specifically indicated as having significant flaws, pre-owned items from them are usually in at least as good a condition as their rating suggests.
Note: When you search Mandarake, you’ll get the best results by using the Japanese characters for whatever you are searching. If you don’t know them, you can find them on MFC by clicking on any of the “details” in that figure’s listing.
11. Amiami has a figure I’m interested in labeled as “For sale in Japan only”. Does this mean I can’t order it without a proxy or forwarder?
No, you can still order it. Amiami’s English site has that warning on many items, and it’s mostly meant to inform you that this product was made for a Japanese market, and as such, will have Japanese speaking/writing in it- so don’t expect any instructions to be in English. If Amiami doesn’t want foreigners buying a certain product, they won’t even list it on their English site.

Displaying Your Figures

12. What display cases do you recommend?
If you live near an Ikea try out one of these:

• Detolf *
• Klingsbo
• Billy (Often used with Morliden doors and glass shelves.)

*If you decided on a Detolf, you might find that there is a lot of wasted space. Here are a few tutorials on raising the shelves or and adding extra ones in.

• Using metal clips
• Using acrylic supports and PVC pipe

If you don’t live near an Ikea, Amazon has a few display options, though they are more expensive. Also keep an eye on your local Craigslist (or your country’s equivalent) and stores near you that are closing up.
13. What lighting do you guys recommend?
Ikea’s Dioder LED strips are often suggested. They come in white or muti-colored.
Most hardware stores carry something similar though, if you don’t live by an Ikea. Just make sure that the lights don’t get too hot!
14. What are those clear plastic boxes that I see under everyone’s figures in their collection posts, and where can I get them?
Those are called risers. Most of us use standard acrylic risers like these. Some other, easy to find things that have been suggested are:

• Plastic picture cubes
• Card Deck Boxes
• If you’re feeling adventurous, try making your own!

Check your local hobby store for the first 2 options, or your local hardware store if you want to make your own.
Another common suggestion is to visit The Container Store if you have one near you. They have a lot of things to choose from that can suit a variety of needs. Be sure to check out their standard acrylic risers, their Amac boxes, and the various display cases they sell (baseball cases, mini car cases. hockey puck cases, etc).
15. Should I keep my figures sealed?
That is, of course, up to you really, but here are a few things to keep in mind when debating this question:

• Keeping it sealed can actually damage your figure. PVC figures usually have something called plasticizer in them, and that plasticizer needs to be able to breath. If a PVC figure isn’t exposed to oxygen, after a period of time the plasticizer starts to break down and form a sticky substance on the surface of the figure. Simply opening your figures and taking them out of the box prevents this from happening. If you happen to find plasticizer goo on one of your figures, Kahotan has a handy guide for dealing with it.
• Unlike some other figure markets, keeping an anime figure sealed won’t raise its value by a whole lot. In fact, because of the plasticizer problem mentioned above, your figure could actually be in better condition if you open it versus keeping it sealed.

Finding the Right Figure(s) for You

16. There are so many figure companies! Who makes good figures?!
Obviously this is a very subjective question, but as a general starting point, here are a few well renowned figure companies:

• Alter
• Max Factory
• Good Smile Company
• Kotobukiya (usually hit or miss for people. Use your best judgement based off of the prototype)
• Aquamarine
• Flare
• Stronger

17. I really love “series X / character X”- how can I check if any figures were ever made for it?
My Figure Collection can be your best friend here. Simply do a search on the name of the series or character using the search bar located at the top right of the screen, and all associated figures pop up!
Alternatively, if you’re looking at a figure’s MFC entry, most of the text under the “Details” section can be clicked on and used to run a search.
18. How can I commission a custom figure?
None of the major figure companies (Alter, Kotobukiya, Good Smile Company, etc.) will take a commission for a single figure. This thread has a few websites in it that you can check out, or you can look into garage kits. Some kit painters would be willing to resculpt, frankenstein together, or otherwise modify kits for the right price.
If you're looking for help completing a garage kit, /brushforhire may be useful.

Keeping Up with New Announcements

19. How can I keep up with figure news (announcements, updates, etc.)?
Most people use a MFC combined with any or all of the following news sites:

• Neko Magic
• NyaaFigurines
• Alter’s Blog (In Japanese)
• Kahotan’s Blog (Only GSC and their sister companies)
• PlastiKitty (No longer updated, still has useful information in its archives)

To use MFC for this I’ll quote question #9.

If you make an account on MFC you can also subscribe to comments, changes, and pictures via a checkbox on the right hand side of a figure’s listing. Subscribing to any of these things will allow MFC to send you an email anytime the subscription in question updates. Subscribing to “changes” is a great way to keep up with release dates and delays, among other things.

Most companies have one or more Twitter accounts. Some examples: Good Smile Company sales, Good Smile's USA branch, Max Factory, AmiAmi Hobby News.
20. Everyone’s excited about something called Wonfes….. what the heck is that?!
WonFes (short for Wonder Festival) is a biannual figure expo where many figure producers (both large and small) show off new sculpts and updates to figures already under way. Most companies save their most exciting announcements for WonFes, so we all look forward to the expo whenever it rolls around! Winter Wonder Festival is usually held in February, while Summer Wonder Festival is usually in July. The event has also spread to Shanghai, in the late spring.
21. One or two (or 15) figures were announced at WonFes that I’m really excited about! How can I keep track of their progress once the event is over?
MFC is always really quick about getting new WonFes announcements (or any others throughout the year, for that matter) listed in their database, so we suggest using that. To find a figure from the event you can search any number of things, including the name of the character or the name of the show. You can also use the tag search to search “WonderFestival 20xx_[season]” to see all items announced at that event.

I found this article online and was just absolutely blown AWAY at how much went into making the Galaxy realistic. If you love this game, you will almost certainly love this article.
The interview was initially conducted by Kirill Tokarev and you can find his article- photographs and all- here: https://80.lv/articles/generating-the-universe-in-elite-dangerous
Introduction
Hello! I’m Doc Ross, current lead render programmer on Elite: Dangerous via a rather convoluted route. I used to be a particle physics researcher with Lancaster University (UK), attached to the DZero Experiment at Fermilab in the United States. My focus was looking at differences between matter and anti-matter in sub-atomic interactions. Five years ago I made the jump to games programming with Frontier Developments, where I cut my teeth on some gameplay functionality for Elite: Dangerous, before helping create the StellarForge system which simulates the galactic data forming the environments you play within. This crossed over with graphics programming to display all this data on the screen, which has eventually lead to my current role.
Generating The Universe in Elite: Generating Planets
Hierarchical data is useful here, where the smallest details on planets are informed by the results of planet-scale information generation, which are informed by star-system scale information, which are informed by galactic information. Everything is simulated top-down, where parent data is always available for generating the sub-objects – for example having the average star system values on hand before we create planets within the system. The body will only store information relevant to it but will have a link to its parent and access to its siblings if it is required.
We have galaxy-scale material and age distribution functions, the mass of the Milky Way which informs us of how much “stuff” is in a volume of space (a sector) and approximately how long it has been there. The top-down view of the distribution is one of the only non-programmatic resources used in StellarForge, and it ensures the spiral arms and galactic bulge form the correct shape.
This allows the simulation of star systems with stars of the correct type and age of a primary star. The leftover materials that are designated to that star-system are used to generate the parameters of a proto-planetary disc, providing distributions of elements that can be accumulated over epochs that the simulation steps through during generation. Things like solar winds blowing away materials, catastrophic events, tidal locking, and gravitational heating can all be tracked on a per proto-planet basis.
Generating The Universe in Elite: This produces a simulated planet which knows its rough classification based on how much mass it has, the types of materials it is made from, it’s volcanic parameters, a temperature differential of the crust, mantle and core, trapped gases/atmosphere, and heating from tidal effects and direct radiation from the parent stars.
These parameters can be used to infer ranges for parameters which control geological feature forming concepts, such as current/past tectonic activity and volcanism. This, in turn, influences the average properties of things like basins, undulating terrain, mountains, fissures, craters, perma-ice and snow from nearby ring systems.
These average properties, which are planet specific, are packed up into a buffer which is sent to the GPU when calculating the surface of the planet. They modulate noise functions which are combined together to form geological shapes.
Generating The Universe in Elite: All of these values are simulated according to calculations of their plausible ranges. The exceptions come at a star-system level, where information from the Hipparcos and Gliese stellar catalogs are used to seed our generated Milky Way with real stars.
Details
We currently have two types of planets rendering in Elite: the ones which shipped with the initial release and the ones with “landable” surfaces which came as part of the Horizons update. The geometry of the former planets is more straightforward as they are perfect spheres; their sense of height difference is provided by the normal mapping of their surfaces.
The “landable” surfaces start as a cube with square sub-dividing faces which behave as quadtrees. These faces are uniform tri-meshes which, as you get closer to one of them, further sub-divided into four sub-patches with closer points. The points are used to form triangle sheets, and the patches continue to subdivide depending on your distance from the surface, ensuring that the vertex density is higher where most useful, down to a target final resolution.
Generating The Universe in Elite: The vertices in these patches are uniformly spaced because we not only have to generate patches to render, but potentially separate patches to form physics meshes. We have a very efficient pipeline for requesting and generating these uniform patches to ensure that there is always a physics patch available for any player or non-player entity that requires it.
Planets tend to be a little curvier than cubes though. Using compute shaders on your GPU, the patches undergo spherification via a mathematical function and they are subject to noise graphs. These are collections of noise equations which take the points position and unique planet ID as input information, along with the astronomical data mentioned above, to form geological feature shapes which can span the entire planet surface if needed.
In terms of scope and scale, though, planet-scaling noise across accurately sized planets is a challenge. To ensure consistent visuals and gameplay on the screen and between users we need millimeter precision, but the input values for the noise functions depend on the point on the surface of the world relative to the planet’s center, which can be of the scale of tens of billions of millimeters. We could use 32 bit – i.e. single-floats if the scales involved were 100s of km instead of 10s of thousands of km. To tackle this, we have written alternate libraries to create the functions in 64 bit – i.e. double precision and dual-float precision. The former is native 64-bit handling floating point numbers and the latter is emulated 64-bit functionality using two 32 bit floats. The reason for this is some GPUs handle one better than the other, or not at all, and we need good graphics card coverage. This comfortably gives us the number-space required for millimeter precision.
Painting Planets
When Horizons originally launched we used entirely computer simulated planets. Rock and dust surfaces were entirely described mathematically using pseudo-random number generation. In an update, artist-generated textures were introduced for rock, sand, and scree per material on a planet, blending depending on the gradient of the terrain. Wang-tiling was used to break up the pattern of the texture. Tri-planar blending is also utilized to make sure no stretching happened to the textures across the curved 3-D surface of the entire planet. For most hardware, using blended artist textures driven by the simulated masks based on the terrain performed fastest and looked the best.
Generating The Universe in Elite: A collection of materials is assigned to each planet, chosen depending on the planet’s physical properties. The materials blend into each other, modulated by the type of geology for the planet being rendered. These material collections and their blending masks have undergone an overhaul for rocky planets in our Beyond – Chapter One update.
Above a certain LOD level of the planet surface patches, flat geometry is used with textures generated for the look, normals, and height of the terrain. This provides additional surface detail from orbit. However, it can lead to the surfaces looking flatter than they would be. To tackle this, each patch also generates lighting information used by it and its neighbors. The shapes of shadows that would be cast across the surface and regions that would appear brighter due to sub-surface scattering are provided through a bespoke patch generation system. Once the player is close enough to the surface, traditional shadowing techniques can take over.
Managing the Size
The secret is a development team with a lot of dedication to a game series they love and a strong sense of collaborative spirit. I’ve been working on Elite Dangerous since April 2013, others have been on since the even earlier days of the Kickstarter campaign, and we’re still here expanding what StellarForge and the game as a whole can offer.
Hierarchies of data and unique identifiers help keep things organized under the hood. Due to the procedural nature of the game, every object needs a unique identifier so that each client and the server knows you’re talking about the exact same object. A 64-bit integer number can store the x, y, z coordinate of a sector of space, the sector layer (sectors come as part of an eight-layer octree), the ID of the star-system within the sector and the ID of the body within the star-system. This is the result of careful tuning of the sizes of the sectors and the number of things each one can generate.
Generating The Universe in Elite: This helps server and client know which astronomical location the player finds themselves in, what may be nearby, and which other players share this space.
Prioritised resource streaming systems mean that assets such as models and textures are only loaded in when required of the scene, when there is an available memory and when it is more important to the user that other potential items.
We have a suite of useful development and debugging tools as part of our in-house Cobra engine, which helps artists, designers, and programmers organize many disparate elements into a larger whole.
I’d like to emphasize, however, that our job is not done yet. There are still a lot of galactic content and mysteries that are being brought to life in Elite Dangerous!
Doc Ross, Lead Render Programmer on Elite: Dangerous
Interview conducted by Kirill Tokarev

Me again! I feel like I’ve become the official representative for this pressing haha.
So in my search for lucky rainbow pictures, I came across a small indie store post on their insta that they still had copies. I’m guessing because they don’t have an online store, nobody was able to snap them up! So I messaged them and luckily they had a copy left and I bought it. I contemplated trading it (I’ve still got plenty of gizz vinyl on my want list) but I’ve come to the decision that giving it away on this sub would be a cool thing to do. That being said....
This is your chance to “win” my spare lucky rainbow pressing. It’s a nice variant, looks dark blue in normal light, but hold it up to a lamp and it’s like you’re looking into a far off galaxy! I love it! (Pics here
I’ve thought a lot about how best to do this, and I’ve decided that the best and fairest way is to let you guys decide! The comment on this post with the most upvotes by TUESDAY 7pm (UK time) gets the record. That simple. Up to you how you plan on convincing the sub to vote for you. EDIT: not anymore!
EDIT: so my idea didn’t really work, I think there’s more downvoting going on than upvoting. So it’ll be a random draw! All you have to do is comment and you’ll be entered in the draw. The deadline will stay the same, and I’ll make the draw just after. Only one comment please, multiple comments won’t be counted as multiple entries in the draw
All I ask is a small contribution to shipping costs if you’re international (to the UK)
Good luck everyone
THE DRAW IS DONE! TAKE A LOOK

►LINK.◄

MORE BY THE AUTHOR
Dandelion
Amber Houston was born light-years from Earth, aboard the enormous colony starship Dandelion. By the age of fourteen, she has spent her entire life training as a "Ranger," ready for the day when she will be among the first humans ever to set foot on an alien world & build a new civilization.
When Dandelion suffers an emergency toward the end of its journey, Amber & her fellow young rangers are evacuated & land on the planet Newhome years ahead of schedule. While the adults left behind on Dandelion slow the ship & turn it around to come back---in eight years---Amber & her friends must build lives for themselves amid revelations that will change Humankind's destiny forever.
Meanwhile, aboard the ship, secrets that were buried over three hundred years ago finally come to light...
Co-authored alongside Justin C. Louis, Dandelion is my debut novel, and you can read it right here on Reddit with each of the book's chapters being posted monthly here, as well as on Royal Road.
If you get impatient and would like to read the whole thing, then you can purchase it in hardcover and paperback through your local book store or online wherever good books are sold. Alternatively, you can download it for free through Kindle Unlimited.

What you are about to read...

...is chapter 72 of an ongoing story, the writing of which is funded by the kind donations of my patrons and subscribers.
If you enjoy this story and think that I deserve something for it (thank you!) then you can:

• Join my other patrons on Patreon or on Subscribestar
  
• Drop a one-off donation in the tip jar or buy me a coffee
  
• Buy some of my merchandise
  
• Follow my Facebook page or my Twitter
  
• Vote for The Deathworlders at Top Web Fiction)
  
• ...Or just say nice things about me to people you know.
  

This chapter comes in at 27,285 action-packed words!
In this chapter:
House Henen has committed grave wrongs against the Gao, and the full weight of the Allied military is brought to bear against them. Under the wondrous beauty of Eclipse Palace, however, lie crimes even worse than the deathworlders had believed.
And terrible things must be done to achieve justice.

IF YOU ARE NEW TO THIS SERIES...

First of all, welcome! The Deathworlders has been in production now for more than three years, and is now very, very long indeed! Like... two million words maybe? Something like that. I lost count.
While I hope that the story stands well enough on its own, the setting (Also known as “The JVerse”) has often been a collaborative effort, building on the talented work of other writers who have breathed life and detail into its every corner.
Characters, species and concepts have entered this narrative thanks to those other writers, and while I have made every effort to keep the story coherent and readable without requiring you to read those other works…
…Read them. Seriously. Not only are they awesome, but you will gain a much richer understanding of the events unfolding in this story.
In particular, you will want to read:

• “Humans Don’t Make Good Pets” by guidosbestfriend
  
• “Salvage” by Rantarian
  
• “The Xiù Chang Saga” by hume_reddit
  
• “Good Training” by ctwelve
  
• and "The Waters of Babylon" by slice_of_pi
  

They are best read in the chronological Reading Order curated by galrock0 and fourbags or, if you prefer the abridged version which contains only those items most useful to understanding The Deathworlders, you can instead follow the Essential Reading Order

THE STORY SO FAR

Beware Spoilers
In the standard classification system used by those interstellar civilizations which are members of the Interspecies Dominion, a habitability rating of 10 or higher indicates that a planet is a so-called “deathworld”---lethally inimical to most forms of life, and populated by the strongest, toughest, fastest and deadliest forms of life in the galaxy.
For most of their history, the native sophonts of the planet Earth were unaware of their own planet’s habitability rating: A high-end twelve.
This fact only became known to humanity after a force of the feared and reviled entities known as “Hunters” attempted to raid Earth to take slaves for their meat. In the aftermath of the attack, the Rogers Arena in Vancouver was closed for a month while alien blood was meticulously cleaned off the ice and taken away for study.
The Interspecies Dominion responded by quarantining Sol and all its planets behind an impenetrable forcefield.
In the years since this historic event, Mankind have slipped their cage and begun their tortuous journey toward becoming an interstellar power. The colony of Cimbrean represents humanity’s first strong foothold in a hostile galaxy, protected by a stolen duplicate of the same forcefield that quarantines Earth.
There have been ups and downs: A young Canadian woman, abducted by the grey-skinned “Corti” as a zoological research specimen, instead rescued and was befriended by a contingent of colonists from a mammalian species known as the Gao, and from this solid start a firm friendship has flourished between the two species.
But the galaxy is a corrupt place, ruled for countless millennia by the agents of a species known as the Igraens. This “Hierarchy” has one overarching mission above all others---to suppress the evolution of sapient deathworld life-forms. To that end, they have rendered untold thousands of species extinct, and their efforts at containing the situation on Earth have led to the destruction of the city of San Diego.
But in that act, they reached too far. It is now impossible for those alien leaders who are not already under their influence to ignore the signs that something sinister is at work. The Humans and Gaoians have formed an elite force---the SOR, comprised of the hardy JETS and the pinnacle HEAT---whose spaceborne capability are unmatched by anyone, anywhere.
Mankind have barely set foot on the galactic stage before finding themselves embroiled in a deadly fight for survival...but when it comes to survival, there is nothing in the galaxy that matches a Deathworlder.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, THANKS AND DEDICATIONS

This chapter was brought to you with the help of my Patrons and Subscribers
The SOR
Those special individuals whose contributions to this story go above and beyond mere money
cTwelve,
BitterBusiness,
Sally and Stephen Johnson
Sian, Steve, Willow and Riker
Forty Humans
TTTA Adam Shearsby Alvaro Gaitan Anthony Landry Anthony Youhas Armond471 Austin Deschner blackwolf393 Brigid Chris Candreva Chris Dye Daniel Iversen Daniel Morris Eric Hardwick HungryWerewolf James Ren Jeffrey Stults John Norton Joseph Szuma Joshua Mountain Taylor Karthik Mohanarangan Katja Krit Barb Marquis Talmadge Nicolas Gruenbeck Ortheri Rob Rollins Ryan Seaman Sam Berry Shane Wegner Sun Rendered T.A. Carlson Taylor McGee TheMoneyBadger Theningaraf Trevor C Xultanis Yeania Aeon Zachary Galicki Zenith
As well as Fifty-seven Deathworlders...
Adam Beeman Alexandre Smirnov Andrew Andrew Ford Andrew Preece atp Ben Thrussell Brandon Hicks Bruce Ludington Chris Bausch Chris Meeker damnusername Daniel R. David Jamison Derek Price Devin Rousso galrock0 Gavin Smart Ignate Flare Ivan Smirnov Jim Hamrick John Campbell Jon Justin Hood Katie Drzewiecki Kristoffer Skarra Lina lovot Matt Matt Demm Matthew Cook Max Bohling Mel B. Mikee Elliott Nathaniel Batts Nick Annunziata NightKhaos Patrick Huizinga Richard A Anstett RJ Smiley Ryan Cadiz Sam Saph Sean Calvo Sir Xaph Stephen Prescott Stratigan theWorst Valiander Vincent Leighton Volka Creed walter thomas William Kinser Woodsie13 Yshmael Salas ziv Zod Bain
82 Friendly ETs...
4thkorean Aaron Aaron Johnson Abraham Buditama Adam Shields Adrian af12689 Alexander Haruk AlxH Andrew Binnie Andrew Leap Annellysse Anthony Thiebaut Ben Brandwood Ben C Reynolds Bob Brandon J DeGroot Cameron Schneider Chakfor Charles Roche Chase Caynoski chris wood CW Danny Sloan David Florish Divran Doug Carr EliteKiller693 Eric Driggers Eric Kunz Foxwolf Firebane Francisco Henry Moyers Ian Grossman Isaac Hunter J Andrade Jack Edun - Hughes James Jonathan Grimm Jonathan McGee Jonathan Wallace Joseph Mans Joshua King Kai kevin belcik Kevin Hanley Kralizec Lachlan McDonald Lambros Lance Lott Logan Rudie Luke Southwell Martin McCallister Maurice Brown Max Meteroson Mike Barrell Mitchell Dokken Nathan Fish nd Neandertim Nicholas Ragan Nicolas Shallcross Oblomov Olli Erinko Paladin3712x Phillip Varin Robert Buchan Terrey Robert Hosek Robert Milne Sally Johnson Scott Robert Dawson Sean Cooper Sean Haley Sins SourMonkey Space253 ThatEpicPenguin TMarkos Tom Neylan Tyler Powell Watchful1
147 Squishy Xenos and 320 Dizi Rats, who should exercise caution while reading this chapter.
NOW CLICK HERE TO READ CHAPTER 72
—

A thread for new collectors to ask basic questions of the community.
Frequently Asked Questions below!
A longer version of the subreddit rules is here.
For questions specifically concerning bootlegs or vendor legitimacy, please ask in the Bootleg Megathread.
NSFW & Spoiler Guidelines

• For Self Posts: include a bolded NSFW note next to links in that post.
• For Links to sites/images: If the figure is NSFW, or the website has any NSFW content (including ads) be sure to tag your post NSFW and use the appropriate link flair.

Bootlegs
Any collection posts containing bootlegs, comments advocating buying bootlegs, or links to sites selling bootlegs, recasts, or unlicensed merchandise will be removed.
People often ask about the legitimacy and/or safety of a number of websites which sell large resin statues. The more commonly-asked of those deal primarily in resins from studios which do not have a license from the Japanese IP holders to produce merchandise. Therefore links to those sites are not permitted here. Another sign is if MyFigureCollection doesn't list the either the statue, its manufacturer, or the shop it's being sold on.
MyFigureCollection
My Figure Collection is like MyAnimeList... but for figures! Their database includes thousands of items which been produced during the last couple of decades, along with reviews of shops and other helpful articles. One can also list their own collection and post gallery photos.
Shops

Retailers:
AmiAmi HobbySearch Mandarake (sells rare figures) Good Smile Company Online Shop (often has exclusives) Good Smile Company US shop Crunchyroll Shop Hobby Link Japan (aka HLJ) Solaris Japan (MFC partner) Big in Japan (also has proxy service) Tokyo Otaku Mode FigureHaven Archonia (EU retailer) Jungle
List of retailers on MFC
/AnimeFigures' List of Retailers
Community Guide to Shopping in Japan

Blogs/News:

Nekomagic (News/Previews) NyaaFigurines (Reviews/Releases) Kahotan's Blog (News/Reviews) Figma Blog (JP)

Buying & Shipping

1. What’s the best place to buy my anime figures from?
That’s going to depend a lot on what works for you, but most people around here buy them from Amiami, Big in Japan, Hobby Search, HobbyLink Japan, or Tokyo Otaku Mode. If none of those work for you for whatever reason, there’s a list of reputable retailers in the sidebar that you can check out at any time. Be extra careful when ordering figures from websites like Amazon or ebay, as there are a lot of bootlegs on those sites. Don’t be afraid to ask in our Bootleg Megathread if you’re unsure.
2. What differences are there between the shipping options I get from most Japanese shops?
Below is a rundown of the main shipping choices you’ll get at most retailers. Keep in mind that if an order is large enough you will be forced to use one of the more expensive options, as SAL shipments have lower size and weight restrictions.

• Unregistered SAL: Sometimes referred to as uSAL, is usually the cheapest method. It does not come with any tracking or insurance. Usually takes up 2-4 weeks for delivery.
• Registered SAL: Sometimes referred to as rSAL, is insured for the declared value up to 6,000 yen. It comes with a tracking number and usually takes 2-4 weeks for delivery.
• EMS: This method of shipping is much faster than either SAL options, usually arriving within a week of shipment. EMS shipments are insured for the declared value up to 2,000,000 yen.
• Airmail
• E-packet
• Surface: Shops don't offer this very often. It's an actual cargo ship and slow as a result.
  
• DHL: Becoming more available as an alternative to EMS on AmiAmi and other sites. Can be less expensive than EMS and of comparable speed, but may be more reliant on the specific geographical area being shipped to. The price is also determined by the size of the box. Offers their own tracking.
  

3. I placed two+ orders for figures at different times. Will my items be shipped together, or will I have to pay shipping twice?
Most shops will ask you to pay shipping on a per-order basis, but here are some that will allow combined shipping:

• Amiami: You can combine orders here, as long as the orders ship in the same month. It doesn’t matter if the item is new or preowned. Any preorders that are set for that month can also be combined with other orders for that month. However, be aware that if the preorder gets delayed, Amiami will remove that item from that month’s shipment and place it on a new order. To combine orders on Amiami, use the “Combine Orders” feature under “My Account”.
  
• Hobby Search: Hobby Search will let you combine orders that release in the same month, but you cannot combine in stock items with preorders. If you want to combine multiple preorders, or multiple in stock items, you can do so using the “Order Recombination” feature on your account page.
  
• HobbyLink Japan: At HLJ, you have the option to send paid orders to their “Private Warehouse”, where you can store them for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to ship the items, you simply select which items to ship and HLJ will combine them into one shipment for you. To use this, just select the “Private Warehouse” option as shipping when you order.
  
• GSC Web Shop: Here you’ll pay a flat 2,000 yen fee per order. It doesn’t matter how many items you put in your order, or how many different months the items release in. They will charge you 2,000 yen and ship all items as they release. The exception to this rule is their Wonder Festival exclusive items. Those can only be placed in the same order as other Wonder Festival items.
  

If you’re unsure about whether or not a shop we haven’t listed will combine your orders, please refer to their individual FAQ’s.
4. When will I get charged for my preorder?
Most Japanese shops charge you once the item is in stock and ready for shipment. When that happens, they will send you an email asking for payment. Some shops (mostly overseas ones), will allow you to pay for the item up front though, if you’d like. A few with that option are:

• Big in Japan (Japanese store)
• Tokyo Otaku Mode
• Anime Island
• Crunchyroll

Keep in mind that overseas stores will likely get the figure a few months after Japanese ones, so pay attention to the release date stated on the website you are buying from so as to avoid that confusion.
5. Should I expect to pay customs fees when importing figures?
That depends on where you live. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Australia: 10% GST is now assessed up front.
• Canada: Minimum declared value for charges is around CAD$20 for regular shipments, and CAD$60 for gifts (gifting something only seems to lower the declared value by about CAD$40, not deplete it completely). When using Amiami, try their Small Air Packet option. It comes with tracking, gets there in about the same time as EMS, and is better at avoiding customs.
• Europe: Using EMS raises your chance of getting charged for customs. SAL can still avoid customs in some countries, but generally gets checked in the UK now if the items are above the threshold. Amiami offers a shipping service called “Small Air Packet” that is really good for avoiding customs when you are only shipping one or two figures. Small Air Packet usually takes about the same amount of time as EMS, and still comes with tracking.The minimum declared value for customs charges in the Europe is pretty low- around £15 (£36 for gifts) / €20.
• Mexico: Minimum declared value for customs fees is USD$300 for shipments by post, and USD$50 for shipments by courier.
• United States: A shipment has to have a declared value of USD$2,000 before customs starts hitting you with fees, so you most likely won’t have to worry about them at all.

6. The figure I want is an exclusive, how do I go about ordering one outside of Japan?
You have three options for this:
A. Big in Japan is known to stock exclusive figures and ship to other countries. Usually the price is higher because they build in their proxy fees, but it’s easier than worrying about using a forwarder or proxy service. If you live in the US, Crunchyroll, Right Stuf, and Tokyo Otaku Mode also get exclusives sometimes, but out of the states the shipping can get expensive.
B. Forwarding Services: A forwarder is someone who you ship an exclusive item to so that they can forward the package on to you, usually for a flat fee + shipping. When using a forwarder you still make the purchase yourself, and enter their address into the shipping field. When the box arrives at the forwarder they will then stick your address onto the package and send it on its way.
Some popular forwarders are:

• Big in Japan
• Tenso

Be sure to read each sites instructions on forwarding carefully!
C. Proxy Services: With a proxy, you tell them what the item you’re looking for is and they will purchase it in your stead. This is handy for when a company doesn’t accept foreign credit cards, or you’re having trouble navigating a Japanese website.
Some popular proxies are:

• Big in Japan (Won’t proxy for Yahoo Auctions)
• From Japan

Again, be sure you thoroughly read through each sites proxy instructions.
7. I see a bunch of really cheap figures that ship from China on ebay. Are those okay to buy?
Generally, no. They’re most likely bootlegs. If you want a second opinion on that, feel free to ask in the Bootleg Megathread that’s always stickied at the top of the sub.
8. What’s a bootleg, and how can I avoid buying them?
A bootleg is a counterfeit figure often made using rejected molds of the official product. They are usually priced significantly lower than the genuine article, and in order to make their profit, bootleggers use lower quality materials and have less attention to detail- resulting in a substandard figure.
The Bootleg Megathread that I mentioned in question 7 is a great tool to avoid buying any bootlegs. It has a few tips and tricks to avoiding them to begin with, and a few more on how to spot them if you’re worried you might already own one.
9. Does anyone know when figure X is going to be released? How do I know if it was delayed?
My Figure Collection (sometimes referred to as MFC) does an excellent job of staying on top of information like release dates and delays. If you’re curious about an upcoming figures release date, check there first. This information can be found directly under the “Releases” section on a figure’s entry. If you only see a month and a year in that section, it means the release date has not yet been announced by the manufacturer, and there is still a chance the figure could be delayed.
If you make an account on MFC you can also subscribe to comments, changes, and pictures via a checkbox on the right hand side of a figure’s listing. Subscribing to any of these things will allow MFC to send you an email anytime the subscription in question updates. Subscribing to “changes” is a great way to keep up with release dates and delays, among other things.
10. The figure I want is long sold out at normal retailers! What’s the best place to pick it up in the aftermarket?
A list of reputable retailers can be found under the “Shops” section of the /AnimeFigures sidebar. They all sell legitimate products, and many of them also sell figures second hand. However, the most frequently suggested second hand sites are Mandarake and Amiami- who has a preowned section that they update every night save Sundays and Japanese holidays around 1PM JST and again around 6PM JST.
AmiAmi grades their pre-owned items on a letter scale. The general consensus from buyers is that their ratings are conservative, so unless the item and/or packaging is specifically indicated as having significant flaws, pre-owned items from them are usually in at least as good a condition as their rating suggests.
Note: When you search Mandarake, you’ll get the best results by using the Japanese characters for whatever you are searching. If you don’t know them, you can find them on MFC by clicking on any of the “details” in that figure’s listing.
11. Amiami has a figure I’m interested in labeled as “For sale in Japan only”. Does this mean I can’t order it without a proxy or forwarder?
No, you can still order it. Amiami’s English site has that warning on many items, and it’s mostly meant to inform you that this product was made for a Japanese market, and as such, will have Japanese speaking/writing in it- so don’t expect any instructions to be in English. If Amiami doesn’t want foreigners buying a certain product, they won’t even list it on their English site.

Displaying Your Figures

12. What display cases do you recommend?
If you live near an Ikea try out one of these:

• Detolf *
• Klingsbo
• Billy (Often used with Morliden doors and glass shelves.)

*If you decided on a Detolf, you might find that there is a lot of wasted space. Here are a few tutorials on raising the shelves or and adding extra ones in.

• Using metal clips
• Using acrylic supports and PVC pipe

If you don’t live near an Ikea, Amazon has a few display options, though they are more expensive. Also keep an eye on your local Craigslist (or your country’s equivalent) and stores near you that are closing up.
13. What lighting do you guys recommend?
Ikea’s Dioder LED strips are often suggested. They come in white or muti-colored.
Most hardware stores carry something similar though, if you don’t live by an Ikea. Just make sure that the lights don’t get too hot!
14. What are those clear plastic boxes that I see under everyone’s figures in their collection posts, and where can I get them?
Those are called risers. Most of us use standard acrylic risers like these. Some other, easy to find things that have been suggested are:

• Plastic picture cubes
• Card Deck Boxes
• If you’re feeling adventurous, try making your own!

Check your local hobby store for the first 2 options, or your local hardware store if you want to make your own.
Another common suggestion is to visit The Container Store if you have one near you. They have a lot of things to choose from that can suit a variety of needs. Be sure to check out their standard acrylic risers, their Amac boxes, and the various display cases they sell (baseball cases, mini car cases. hockey puck cases, etc).
15. Should I keep my figures sealed?
That is, of course, up to you really, but here are a few things to keep in mind when debating this question:

• Keeping it sealed can actually damage your figure. PVC figures usually have something called plasticizer in them, and that plasticizer needs to be able to breath. If a PVC figure isn’t exposed to oxygen, after a period of time the plasticizer starts to break down and form a sticky substance on the surface of the figure. Simply opening your figures and taking them out of the box prevents this from happening. If you happen to find plasticizer goo on one of your figures, Kahotan has a handy guide for dealing with it.
• Unlike some other figure markets, keeping an anime figure sealed won’t raise its value by a whole lot. In fact, because of the plasticizer problem mentioned above, your figure could actually be in better condition if you open it versus keeping it sealed.

Finding the Right Figure(s) for You

16. There are so many figure companies! Who makes good figures?!
Obviously this is a very subjective question, but as a general starting point, here are a few well renowned figure companies:

• Alter
• Max Factory
• Good Smile Company
• Kotobukiya (usually hit or miss for people. Use your best judgement based off of the prototype)
• Aquamarine
• Flare
• Stronger

17. I really love “series X / character X”- how can I check if any figures were ever made for it?
My Figure Collection can be your best friend here. Simply do a search on the name of the series or character using the search bar located at the top right of the screen, and all associated figures pop up!
Alternatively, if you’re looking at a figure’s MFC entry, most of the text under the “Details” section can be clicked on and used to run a search.
18. How can I commission a custom figure?
None of the major figure companies (Alter, Kotobukiya, Good Smile Company, etc.) will take a commission for a single figure. This thread has a few websites in it that you can check out, or you can look into garage kits. Some kit painters would be willing to resculpt, frankenstein together, or otherwise modify kits for the right price.
If you're looking for help completing a garage kit, /brushforhire may be useful.

Keeping Up with New Announcements

19. How can I keep up with figure news (announcements, updates, etc.)?
Most people use a MFC combined with any or all of the following news sites:

• Neko Magic
• NyaaFigurines
• Alter’s Blog (In Japanese)
• Kahotan’s Blog (Only GSC and their sister companies)
• PlastiKitty (No longer updated, still has useful information in its archives)

To use MFC for this I’ll quote question #9.

If you make an account on MFC you can also subscribe to comments, changes, and pictures via a checkbox on the right hand side of a figure’s listing. Subscribing to any of these things will allow MFC to send you an email anytime the subscription in question updates. Subscribing to “changes” is a great way to keep up with release dates and delays, among other things.

Most companies have one or more Twitter accounts. Some examples: Good Smile Company sales, Good Smile's USA branch, Max Factory, AmiAmi Hobby News.
20. Everyone’s excited about something called Wonfes….. what the heck is that?!
WonFes (short for Wonder Festival) is a biannual figure expo where many figure producers (both large and small) show off new sculpts and updates to figures already under way. Most companies save their most exciting announcements for WonFes, so we all look forward to the expo whenever it rolls around! Winter Wonder Festival is usually held in February, while Summer Wonder Festival is usually in July. The event has also spread to Shanghai, in the late spring.
21. One or two (or 15) figures were announced at WonFes that I’m really excited about! How can I keep track of their progress once the event is over?
MFC is always really quick about getting new WonFes announcements (or any others throughout the year, for that matter) listed in their database, so we suggest using that. To find a figure from the event you can search any number of things, including the name of the character or the name of the show. You can also use the tag search to search “WonderFestival 20xx_[season]” to see all items announced at that event.

One of the best things about catching a show at a small venue like a bar or club is that you get to see bands on their way up. You never know when you could catch the next QotSA or Pearl Jam or Arcade Fire or Beatles before they make it big.
Another really cool thing is that often the people that go to these shows share a taste in music with you. You can get into some really interesting conversations. I totally have tons of great memories of speaking with fellow fans I will almost certainly never meet again. It is amazing to bond over a shared love of music. You just never know what will happen.
Hmm. I wonder if there is a box of chocolates in this conversation somewhere.
Today we’re going to talk about a band that was fatefully formed in part through one of those conversations in a bar after seeing a show. They have had a tumultuous history and more than their fair share of ego.
Yes indeed, this week’s band is Smashing Pumpkins.
About Them
Wait, is it The Smashing Pumpkins or just Smashing Pumpkins?
Fuck me, not this debate again.
Turns out it does not matter, and both are used by the band interchangeably. On the covers of Gish and Siamese Dream and Zeitgeist they use just Smashing Pumpkins; on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina/The Machines of God and Oceania they go by THE Smashing Pumpkins.
Glad that bit of trivia will not lead to someone going Ackshually… in the comments.
I hope.
Now where was I?
Oh right. In a bar, seeing a band.
D’arcy Wretzky grew up in South Haven, Michigan. She was a musical kid who learned multiple instruments. Her interests included horseback riding (insert your crazy horse girl joke here) and gymnastics. In high school, she taught herself to play guitar on easy mode bass. She got into Punk and Post-Punk and joined a number of cover bands. She got so deep into music that after high school she left America to go to France to join a band.
The band she wanted to join had completely imploded before she even got there, so she presumably bought a beret, ate a few baguettes and booked it back home. Instead of going to Michigan she decided to move to Chicago to hang out with friends. She spent her summer clubbing and seeing shows. It was at one of these concerts that she ran into Billy Corgan. Corgan thought that the band that had performed - called The Dan Reed Network - stunk. D’arcy disagreed and the two got into an argument.
PSST KIDS...this is what is known in literature as Foreshadowing.
Long story short, Corgan was interested in Wretzky and her fierce opinions. He recruited her into the band that he and James Iha had just founded.
Billy Corgan grew up in Linkin Park Lincoln Park in Chicago. His parents divorced when he was very young. His father, an amateur musician, promptly got married to a flight attendant and Corgan and his little brother went to live with them. Corgan would later recount that his stepmother was abusive to him and his brother. When his dad and stepmother separated, Corgan lived with the abusive stepmom. Corgan picked up the guitar in high school and taught himself how to play. He formed and joined a number of high school bands. When it came time to go to college, he decided instead to try music full time.
Corgan was a huge rock fan and found that the Chicago area was all about the Blues. He packed his bags and went to Florida in the mid-80s and formed a band called The Marked. When this project fell apart, he came back home to live with his father and got employment in a record store.
James Iha, who shares a haircut with the X-Man Rogue, also grew up in Chicago. Unlike Wretzky and Corgan, he did not leave the state or the country to form a band. He learned to play guitar as a kid and showed particular aptitude for the instrument. At age 19 he was playing in a Chicago area band named Snake Train when he met Corgan at the record store. Corgan convinced Iha to quit his band and form a new one with him.
Their early efforts were shit less than impressive. The duo dressed in paisley and used a drum machine in small club shows. Iha was clearly the better guitarist so Corgan played bass. The paisley duo were all goth and sadness in a way that the late 80’s seemed to epitomize. Think The Cure but with less hairspray. If you think that this band was not commercially viable, you are right.
It was at about this time that Corgan, tired of playing bass, met Wretzky at the concert and invited her to join the band. He shifted to rhythm guitar and let the gymnast horse girl pound the low end.
The one missing element was percussion. That guy Drum Machine was super-steady and reliable and always ready to go, but he just had no creative ability. The band needed another member who would actually carry his own weight.
Jimmy Chamberlin was born in Joliet, Illinois in ‘64 as one of 6 kids. His father and older brothers had an interest in Jazz, and naturally he grew inclined towards music. Chamberlin began drumming at 9, and started learning various styles.
He focused on Jazz, and got pretty damn good at it.
Chamberlin left home at age 15, and began touring with a few local bands. Despite actually turning a profit, his old man pressured him going into college. It was an act that pushed the two apart. Despite his dad's insistence, he continued to tour with local show band JP and the Cats for three years.
Wearied by the tour schedule, however, he made the swap to a more practical career: construction, with his brother-in-law.
And then, one night on the town, he saw three AWFUL people with a drum machine.
No, seriously. He called them atrocious. But, he also respected Corgan’s drive and passion. So, in one of the best decisions of his life, he picked up the sticks again and began drumming for the band. Chamberlin changed the Pumpkin’s sound to something more upbeat and less cringy. By 1989 they had a single on a local compilation album. They then released a song on the legendary Sub Pop label. Then they got a record deal.
Their first full album, Gish, was produced by Butch Vig of Garbage fame. Vig would go on to produce a number of albums by little known bands like Nirvana and Foo Fighters. The band were poised on the cusp of success, and Corgan knew that this album was their big chance.
So, did he just work in a clear partnership with his bandmates?
Fuck no. Remember I made that ego comment? Here it comes.
Corgan turned obsessive. Not, like, I have to check that the door is locked three times obsessive...like, we’re gonna do this over and over and over again and FUCK IT GIVE ME THE GUITAR I’LL DO IT obessive. He played and re-played tracks by Iha and Wretzky that did not meet his standards. Recording sessions took 30 days - and for a bit more foreshadowing, this was the quickest album they ever laid down. Corgan said that recording the album gave him a nervous breakdown. Wretzky wondered how the band survived.
One thing was clear: Corgan cemented himself as the driver of this particular yellow submarine, and everyone else just had a ticket to ride. He wrote all of the songs on Gish. And truthfully, the album didn’t suck. It captured the grunge sound of the day and mixed it with super slick Vig production, trippy feedback, and crisp, clean guitar tones. It was ahead of its time. Songs like I Am One and Tritessa and Rhinoceros showed amazing potential.
The album was a modest hit and they were able to tour behind it. They opened for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Guns N’ Roses. This gave them critical experience playing to massive audiences in huge venues.
Since Gish was a success, and Butch Vig had produced Nirvana’s Nevermind, they knew that they had to get him to produce their next effort. But they also knew that their last trip into the studio had almost destroyed them. There was absolutely intense pressure to be successful, and an overwhelming sense that this was their moment to seize.
No big deal, right?
Corgan tried to confront his demons post-nervous breakdown. He started seeing a therapist. In an attempt to achieve some sort of catharsis, he poured everything into his songwriting. He showed these early efforts to Vig and got all kinds of praise.
But then there was the heroin.
Nope, not with Rogue or the centaur or with Corgan himself. It was Chamberlin.
Turns out, hanging out with the Chili Peppers and Axl in the early 90’s was a bigger gateway drug than all those ads about marijuana told me pot would be. I guess when you welcome Dani California to the Jungle and meet Mr. Brownstone Under The Bridge you lose Patience and want instead to Suck My Kiss in the November Rain. Or something.
Bottom line is, Smashing Pumpkins had to go out to the desert to get away from everyone (read: Chamberlin’s heroin dealer) to record Siamese Dream. I guess Drum Machine was not available or unwilling to try a reunion.
If you think that things improved in the recording process this time, you would be mistaken. This was Gish II: Electric Boogaloo, only this time it took them four months instead of 30 days. Corgan’s perfectionism caused Wretzky to lock herself in the bathroom and sob. Iha would turtle up and not say anything. Corgan would overdub both of their parts, but he still needed Chamberlin to do the drum tracks.
We know from our very own QotSA that you can find drugs in the desert. Chamberlin found a dealer and was back on the heroin, but the drum tracks were not done. Allegedly, Vig and Corgan forced Chamberlin to redo the drums on Cherub Rock so many times that his hands were bleeding on the final take. Corgan turned suicidal during the recording process and by the post-recording descriptions, the others weren’t far behind.
The band did manage to convince Chamberlin to go into rehab. And when all was said and done, Siamese Dream was a masterpiece. Many consider it their best effort, and think of it as the first post-grunge record. Tracks like Cherub Rock and Rocket and Today and Disarm are amazing and propelled the band from an opener to a headliner.
Riding on the coattails of Siamese Dream, an energized and invigorated Corgan set to work immediately. He wrote 56 songs in ‘95.
F I F T Y S I X. Christ.
The band wasted no time getting these going. Heading into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder, they began assembling Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The ambitious project would be a double album of 28 songs. The band released it in October of 1995. Looking back on it, it seems absurd - 56 songs written in the span of less than 10 months, and then twenty-fucking-eight of them strung into a double album. Time called it “the band’s most ambitious work yet”.
The biggest change with these sessions lay in the production. Vig had brought out the best in Corgan, but Flood and Moulder wanted to bring out the best in the band. The band practiced and rehearsed songs together, workshopping them on the go. The result was that Iha and Wretzky and Chamberlin had a much greater contribution to the recording process than ever before. Corgan did not overdub parts, and for the first time every member was part of the creative process.
And holy fuck did it pay off. Cantaloupe Sally and the Big Depression immediately jumped to #1 on the Billboard 200.
It was a true monster of a record. It was certified platinum 10 times in the US and became the best selling album of the decade. It was nominated for seven Grammys and took home Best Hard Rock Performance on the wings of a certain butterfly. Standout tracks are of course Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Zero, and the more mellow Tonight, Tonight and 1979. Trust me - it is worth your time.
In 1996, they launched a world-wide tour in support of Honeydew Carla and the Chunky Remorse . Corgan’s iconic look emerged during this tour - a shaved head, a shirt that said “Zero”, and silver pants. They were EVERYWHERE - constant rotations on MTV, Simpsons cameos, and considerable merch sales made them hard to miss.
However, the tour was not without sorrow. In a show at Dublin a fan was literally crushed to death by a Mosh pit - something that made Corgan truly furious. He maintained that “moshing’s time had come and gone” - though the management obviously disagreed, since the rest of the tour continued to have open floors.
But the worst was yet to come. In July of 1996, the touring keyboardist Jonathon Melvoin OD’d on heroin, with Chamberlin damn near following him to the grave. Not soon after, Chamberlin was arrested on drug possession charges. Trying to save a bit of face, they fired the disgraced drummer and hired Matt Walker to fill in.
The tour for Watermelon Sandra and the Discomfort of Large Intensity came to a close in late 1997, with the band in a very different place than where they started. So with this incredible and universal success, you would expect that the Pumpkins would stick to this everyone-contributing recording style.
Corgan had other ideas. With their follow up album Adore, he decided to take control once again. It is easy to understand why he did. Chamberlin was out and the band were struggling with interpersonal problems (i.e., Corgan’s massive ego). He also decided to move the sound away from the band’s signature guitar driven style to something more centred in electronica. He hired a new producer, Brad Wood, to helm this album along with Flood and himself.
The end result was an album just as divisive as, say, 5150 by Van Halen or Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath or Kid A by Radiohead. When a band changes a key member or their core sound, it is bound to be controversial. Evolving your sound is one thing; abandoning it is either really bold or really dumb.
Adore split the fan base and got mediocre reviews, despite modest hit songs like Ava Adore and Perfect. Instead of another massive tour, fans got a scaled back one. But it is absolutely worth it to note that the Pumpkins did do a complete solid on the US leg of the tour: they donated 100% of their profits to local charities. So even if the album was disappointing, that gesture alone is pretty fucking cool.
Immediately after the band had a meeting to make some critical decisions. They decided that the next album project would be their last as a group, and that in order to do it right, they needed Chamberlin back. The concept for this work, called Machina, was to be about a rock star named Ego Zero who channeled the voice of god and had a band called Ghost Children. It was supposed to be a double album but the studio either thought that concept was dumber than a bag of hammers or were still angry about the shitty sales for Adore. Either way, they vetoed the double album, so it was split in two. Corgan (presumably still in his space pants and zero t-shirt) produced the album (shocker) with Flood. The first release was Machina/The Machines of God. It came out in February 2000, 21 years ago. It ended up being a much more guitar driven album, with tracks like The Everlasting Gaze and Stand Inside Your Love being the most remarkable. Of course, if you long for what might have been, then the almost 10 minute odyssey of Glass and the Ghost Children is the song for you.
It ended up being their worst selling record.
Wretzky had become increasingly disconnected with the band to the point where very little of her bass work actually showed up in the Machina sessions (read: overdubbed by Corgan). She wanted to try acting instead of music. So she upped and quit.
She was arrested for possession of crack shortly after leaving the band. Corgan told people she was fired for being a mean-spirited drug addict. She was replaced on the tour with Melissa Auf der Maur, former bassist for Hole.
Wretzky’s post-Pumpkins career never took off. She moved back to a Michigan farm to raise horses and was arrested when the rogue equines broke into a farmer’s market and ate vegetables. She was then caught driving drunk. She was replaced on the tour with Melissa Auf der Maur, who also played bass for Hole.
Technically, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (real subtle with the title there, Billy) was released. Sort of. Only 25 copies ever made. These were given to prominent fans and to a local radio station to be released free online. So the only versions made available were digital rips of the vinyl record. The entire process was a big ‘fuck you, we out’ to the record label. The band called it quits, and dropped the proverbial mic.
There are still plans to reunite the two halves of the Machina project, and to re-release it, but it has not happened yet.
After the break up, Iha dropped a solo album and then ended up playing guitar in A Perfect Circle. Unlike Wretzky, he had continued success. But Corgan was at loose ends. He had lost the two artists he consistently overdubbed. What ever was he to do?
Reunite with Chamberlin, of course. Together, the two of them former the ‘super’group Zwan, which turned out to be the Zima of bands. They only ever released one album and broke up in 2003. The project left Corgan frustrated and perhaps longing for what he had left behind.
He channelled some of those emotions into a lackluster 2005 solo album called The Future Embrace. Even he knew it was not good. So the day after it dropped, Corgan put out full-page ads in Chicago’s biggest newspapers, proclaiming a reunion. Corgan’s Trademark Ego also reared its head, stating, “I want my band back.”
Somehow, Chamberlin agreed to come back, too, showing no hard feelings for that Zwan debacle. Iha was busy with A Perfect Circle and Auf der Maur had just started a solo career, so both declined. Wretzky was too busy galloping in a field also declined. Or was never asked. Depends on who is telling the story. Maybe the interpretations of that event have been colored by someone calling her a mean-spirited drug addict.
But despite this, the two-person reunion went ahead. In 2007 the band played for the first time in seven years to a crowd in Paris, and unveiled the replacements new touring members: Jeff Schroeder on guitar, Ginger Reyes on bass, and Lisa Harriton on keyboard. Just one month later, they released a new single, Tarantula. These reconstituted unsmashed gourds released the band’s 7th album, Zeitgeist, that year. Expectations were high, but the product was again lackluster. No one liked the new lineup and fans who wanted something more like their original sound were disappointed.
To make things worse, Chamberlin noped right out of the group. Apparently, he felt as if he no longer really had much of a say in the direction of the band, stating “I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess." Go figure. I guess some of the other band members were a bit controlling at times?. Since this iteration of the Pumpkins did not work out, Corgan tried forming a tribute band called “Spirits in the Sky”. This group was dedicated to Norman Greenbaum Sky Saxon of The Seeds.
This was significant because the tribute band introduced Corgan to 19 year old drummer Mike Byrne. Sorry Mr. Drum Machine, you were good in the early days, but Corgan clearly required real people to boss around complete his band now. And so, when Corgan changed projects, he brought Byrne to the smashed unsmashed Smashing Pumpkins.
The new two-man line up got down to work, and FAST. Corgan was still about as ambitious as a highschool dropout in the 1970s with an interest in computer programming. The group announced that they were going to release a 44-track concept album called Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, and that they would put it out track by track for free on the internet. They dropped the first track, A Song for a Son on December 9th, 2009.
Then their current bassist, Ginger Reyes, also dipped out of the band. Yep, I’m starting to notice a trend here. Luckily, the group had a bassist in reserve. Their touring bassist, Nicole Florentino, moved up and took on the axe full time. The newly unsmashed smashed unsmashed Smashing Pumpkins were back in gear. 2010 was a massive world tour year for the band.
The demands of touring forced the band to reconsider their plan for 44 free singles. The concept for Teargarden was summarily dropped. Instead, they decided to release a full length LP entitled Oceania. My guess? I think the record label got a little bit pissed off at the complete unprofitability of a 44-track free virtual album. In order to mollify the label, the band’s entire discography was remastered and reissued, including cut demos and unreleased material.
Even better, Oceania was actually pretty good. Many critics hailed it as a step in the right direction for Corgan and the boiz. This thing is a rather mature mixture of Gish-y garage distortion and gushing, emotional ballads. Quasar is an acid trip of heavy riffage. Pale Horse is a sprawling, rich tune of loss and longing. Overall, it’s a great LP, and definitely deserving of your attention. After touring in support of Oceania (and after slapping out a live album real quick), the band looked towards the studio once more. They signed a new record deal for two more albums, Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night.
However, as with all new Smashing Pumpkins content, this announcement was quickly followed by a myriad of line up changes. Byrne left, and so did Florentino.
Back to square one.
Corgan pulled in some of his musical connections, and managed to get Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe to join in on drums. Bass players are optional, and so, the band got down to recording.
The result was 2014’s Monuments to an Elegy. It was rather spectacularly decent. Not amazing, mind you, but decent. Highlights include the thoroughly cronchy guitar riffage of One and All, the hypnotic synth line of Monuments, and the poetic lyricism on Being Beige. The synth pop hooks would define the new direction of the band.
But synthesizers were not what the fans - or the critics - wanted from the Pumpkins.
Corgan was pissed. He thought the album would be revered but it fell flat. Even the tour, where he replaced Lee with Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave on drums and Mark Stoermer of The Killers on bass, failed to generate the buzz the original lineup of the band had once had. He was fed up, and even though he’d already written like 60 songs worth of material for Day For Night (which, let’s face it, The Tragically Hip had already released years ago) was completely forgotten.
What had become clear to everyone (except maybe Corgan himself) is that even though he was an amazing songwriter and gifted lyricist, the complex alchemy of the original lineup was what had refined and distilled his musical visions into amazing songs. Alone, he was very good, but together, the Pumpkins were amazing.
Fate soon intervened, and old heroin addicts friends returned. When Wilk was unavailable for a show, Chamberlin lent the Pumpkins his drumming talents. Before he knew it, he was back full time and was touring with the band once again. Corgan was excited, and stated that he and Chamberlin would return to the studio after the tour in order to record something new. It was just the gift that Corgan needed.
Speaking of gifts, in 2016, James Iha decided to give a present to everyone else for his birthday. He decided to join the Smashing Pumpkins on stage for the first time in 16 years. This led to a few more performances, and soon, there were hints of the possibility of a full reunion. These glimmers of hope coalesced into something more, something like light.
A light that was shiny. And bright. Oh. So. Bright.
In February of 2018, it was announced founding members Iha and Chamberlin were not just back in the band, but that they’d be recording another album that would be produced by the one and only Rick Rubin. Oh, and to top it off, there would be a massive tour focused on playing material from the band’s first 5 albums. Oh yeah. Everything was coming up Pumpkins.
The astute ones among you may notice a distinct lack of Wretzky in the above paragraph. Well, there was still a world of bad blood on either side of that particular debate, and in the end she never returned to the group. According to Wretzky, she was offered a contract to re-join the band, but Corgan went and cancelled the deal soon after. According to Corgan, he reached out multiple times but was turned down by Wretzky in each and every case.
So it wasn't quite the original four. But 75% ain't half bad, and fans were loving it. The boys were back and selling out venues. The band replaced Gretzky Wretzky with Jack Bates, the son of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook. After the tour, they clocked in some serious studio time with the bearded-begetter-of-bops himself, Rick Rubin. Singles started coming out, and in 2018, the band’s 10th LP was released.
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. is a relatively itty bitty, 8-track 30 minute “LP”. Fun fact: Corgan sees it as a double EP of sorts. Critics were a little puzzled by it. No one thought it was flat out bad, but review called it an “absolute maelstrom of inconsequential material”. At the same time, other reviewers called it a step back on track. Look, fans were just happy to get some new material with most of the band back in place.
It is important to note that there is still to this day a strong contingent of Wretzky supporters that want her back in the band, and say it is just not the same without her. Cough Nick Oliveri Cough.
Anyway, the double-EP / half-LP / tiny music songs from the Corgan gift shop still has a few bangers. Knights of Malta is a straight bop. Sadly, this song is NOT a Maltese cover of Knights of Cydonia. I know. I was also disappointed. Silvery Sometimes is a catchy-as-fuck guitar rock song that is as graceful as it is confident. Solara is a full dosage of that classic, fiery, nihilistic sludge rock that we’ve all come to know and love from the band.
After Shiny and Oh So Bright released, the band toured for most of 2019. Then, of course, a certain pandemic rolled in. If you think that Corgan wouldn’t take all that time at home to write a FUCK LOAD of music, than you’d be more than a little bit wrong. Corgan hit the studio hard, and this time, he was after a contemporary, modern sound that the Pumpkins had never tried before - because, you know, changing their sound has really gone over so well.
That brings us to their most recent effort, Cyr. This Corgan-produced double LP was released back at the end of November 2020 and sports an 80s synth-pop aesthetic. Apparently if the Strokes and Muse do it, everyone’s gotta do it. Unfortunately, the Pumpkins didn't quite stick the landing in the same way that the Strokes did, or even in the batshit crack fueled nostalgia trip way that Muse did. Instead, reviews of this record have been rather…mixed. The bulk of this whopping 20-track double album doesn't leave all that much of an impression on you for the first listen. Still, if you’re a fan, there’s plenty of good stuff to go around. Cyr, Anno Satana, and The Colour Of Love are some of the most compelling tracks that the Pumpkins have put out in recent years.
So here’s the deal: despite my many shots at Corgan’s ego, and his clearly controlling tendencies, Smashing Pumpkins have made some great albums with killer tracks. Sure, they’ve had lots of drama, but so have QotSA. The Pumpkins are worth your time, even if you only focus on their first five records.
Check them out.
Or at least go see a local band in a bar -- when all this COVID shit is over, I mean. FFS stay home right now.
Links to QOTSA
Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and our resident vampire, Troy Van Leeuwen, have both been members of the band A Perfect Circle.
Queens of the Stone Age toured with Smashing Pumpkins in 1999 with Homme and the boys as the opening act. At the time, Homme said: “"I've known Billy here and there as an acquaintance for a couple of years since the Kyuss days...Just as we were about to go onstage in Chicago at the Double Door he just came back and was like, 'Do you want to go on tour?’ He said something to me to the effect of, 'We weren't going to take anyone, but then I got your record and I know you'll make it easy,'...I'm a real big fan of [the Pumpkins' 1991 full-length debut] Gish and ... Siamese Dream…” Both the Pumpkins and Qotsa have toured together a number of times, including in 2008.
Corgan has praised Qotsa, saying: “If all you hear is pop and all you see are perfect performances and everybody smiling, to actually see a band invoke a darker spirit on stage and conjure it right in front of you in a mass of power you can’t explain, that is quite rare to that audience. No band in the past 15 years has come along and figured out how to do that. Most of the bands you can point to that have been successful that still do that, like Queens of the Stone Age, they’re coming from an earlier generation of power and an earlier language, even though they’re having contemporary success. There are some flashes, like a Royal Blood or something, where they’re trying to figure that power out, but they’re dealing with an audience that is so predisposed to pop.”
Their Music
Siva
Rhinoceros
Try, Try, Try
Cherub Rock
Perfect
1979
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
The Everlasting Gaze
Thirty-Three
Today
Tonight, Tonight
Disarm
Rocket
Ava Adore
I Am One
Drum + Fife
Zero
Solara
Tarantula
Show Them Some Love
/SmashingPumpkins - almost fifteen thousand subscribers.
Previous Posts
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The Beatles, Part One
The Beatles, Part Two

Hello There!
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My name is u/houseofcards32 and welcome to airsoft! This thread was created to help beginners and newer players out there. I hope you will get something out of this post, as it contains almost every bit of information you need to get started. This thread gets updated every year with new information and sections, so assume the 2019/2020 guides are out of date. This thread will be automatically updated on January 1st, 2022. At the bottom of this thread will include all of the guides I have created so far, if you are looking for something that is not in here, I would look there first.
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This thread also has a video for each section created by me. Don't want to read the massive wall of text that follows? No worries! Sit back and watch the short 1-3 minute videos on the topic.
Consider liking and subscribing to my youtube channel, cards32 , as I don't make money off of these, but I do make it for beginners/newcomers benefit. Under each section will be a video for that specific section.
How to start airsoft in 2020
Battery Guide (LiPo vs nImh)
Stick with an M4/AK if you are an airsoft beginner
Lancer Tactical is bad
2021 Beginner Thread video playlist (in order)
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Are you looking to start airsoft? Do you need information about the basics? Well look no further! This guide will have 15 sections:
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1. Basic Information
2. How much does airsoft cost?
3. The best beginner rifles (AK/M4 variants) for $100-250
4. Things to generally avoid when playing
5. What should you bring to your first airsoft game
6. What weight bb should I be using?
7. Can I start airsoft as a sniper?
8. What eyepro/lower face projection should I invest in?
9. What is a "MED"?
10. What is a GBBR?
11. The Search bar
12. Orange tips and their legality
13. Airsoft youtubers
14. MSW (MilSim West)
15. What are some cheap gear brands to get as a beginner?
16. Lancer Tactical
17. What airsoft shops should I buy from?
18. Don't go out and spend $1000 before playing
19. Comparing paintball and airsoft is like comparing apples to oranges
20. What are the most common gearboxes?
21. Other guides that may be useful

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Section 1: Basic Information
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Your first airsoft guns is one of the most important purchases you will make while playing airsoft. As your first gun, it should be reliable, affordable, versatile, easy to work on (V2/V3), high performance, and compatible with as many upgrades and accessories as possible. This means buying and AEG, or Automatic electric gun or Sub-Machine gun (also known as an SMG). Forget about buying sniper rifles, pistols, gas guns, and other exotic airsoft guns until you have more experience, money, and at least one backup weapon.
To play airsoft it is HIGHLY recommended that you have the following items:

• An AEG (NOT A LPAEG)
• Magazines (high capacity magazines are recommended, which holds around 300+ bb's)
• Some batteries
• A charger

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All airsoft AEG's come with a magazine out of the box (sometimes a mid cap), but is highly recommended that you have 2-3 of these while you are playing. Eye protection is the most important thing in airsoft. All airsoft fields/sites require you to wear goggles/masks while playing. For more information check section 8.
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Section 2: How much does airsoft cost?
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Although airsoft is markedly cheaper than other shooting sports, it's still an expensive hobby. Site fees vary greatly but will typically exceed $25 for a day's play. It is reasonably common to spend in excess of $400 buying, upgrading and accessorizing a single airsoft gun. Gear and clothing can be similarly expensive. It is possible to play airsoft very successfully with just basic equipment, but even the cheapest possible equipment required to play airsoft safely will still cost you a minimum of $100. If you want a competitive advantage, or to play more advanced simulation games, you should expect significant additional expenditure.
It is common for users to approach airsoft with unrealistically low budgets. If you have less than $100-150 to spend, you are not realistically in a position to play airsoft. We will not compromise your safety by recommending you skimp on personal protective equipment. We refuse to recommend Low Power Electric Guns ('LPAEGs'), spring pistols and other ultra-low-budget airsoft guns because their performance is so poor, and their life expectancy so short, that they represent a false economy. You may still be able to afford to rent gear at an organized airsoft site, but not for more than a handful of games at most.
FAQs:
1. ⁠I think I can afford to play. What's the next step?
If you haven't already,read the rest of this guide.
2. Why are you lying to me? I can easily find airsoft guns that cost less than $100.
In airsoft, as in most aspects of life, there is a minimum price below which a product cannot be made fit for purpose. It is possible to buy something approximately gun-shaped for less than $100. Do not confuse this with the ability to buy a gun that will be sufficiently powerful, reliable and long-lived enough to play airsoft with. LPEGs, spring pistols and ultra-low-budget airsoft guns are utterly inadequate for airsoft play and will break rapidly, at which point you will be back to having no gun and will also have lost whatever you spent. In addition, you still need to buy suitable Personal Protective Equipment ('PPE'), which is an absolute prerequisite of play and not free. THE ONLY EXCEPTION to this rule is spring shotguns. The tri-Shot ones. They shoot anywhere from 3-6 bb’s at a time and most shells hold about 30 rounds. These shotguns are only optimal for CQB arenas and highly urban fields. They have extremely limited range so keep that in mind.
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3. The best beginner rifles (AK/M4 variants) for $100-250
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To get into the hobby of airsoft, you will need to have a decent budget. Most beginneintermediate guns cost anywhere from $100-250, but that cost does not include bb's, magazines, batteries, and a charger. Some guns come with a wall charger and a battery, but most users (including myself) recommend throwing the wall chargers away. This is simply because the wall chargers are normally very low quality. Most players recommend starting airsoft with an M4 or AK style variant AEG. Please note that Lancer Tactical rifles are NOT included in this guide, please check section 16 for more information on this topic. Note that the current Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing, so things might read out of stock on the websites listed. I would check other websites if the items listed are not shown. Commonly recommended choices are:
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• CYMA AK Series -$130 - CM028, CMO40, CM045, CM048, and CMO28S) are clones of the original TM AK-47’s and AKS-47’s , and they include a high cap magazine (500-600 rounds). These are the cheapest AEG we recommend, and are generally considered reliable, upgradeable, and reasonably versatile. However, their all-Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene ('ABS') plastic construction makes them relatively fragile. For improved robustness we strongly recommend spending slightly more to purchase a Glass-Filled Nylon Polymer ('GFP') AR-15 or a steel AK.
• CYMA Platinum M4 Series -$250 - CYMA's newest addition to the intermediate M4 world, with these being one of the most recommended beginner guns of 2020. With updated internals, great trigger response, and a strong gearbox shell being the highlights of this rifle. Note that these go on sale quite often and the price drops around $240-250.
• CYMA Sport M4 Series -$185 - CYMA's solution to "budget" airsoft guns that have good internals and can be had for a decent price. Not as many features as the plat's, but have completely over hauled internals, as shown in Negative Airsoft's video.
• ICS Sportline -$180-200 - ICS' Sportline AR-15s are effectively a re-shell of their excellent regular guns in a GFP receiver. They retain the convenient split gearbox system of the regular guns. Note that most of ICS's rifles are slightly proprietary in their gearboxes, so keep this in mind.
• Maple Armories Marauder -$180 - Made from high density polymer but has an excellent set of internals which has been proven to be better than the Guay Guay lineup. This weapon series is on the more expensive side but has comparible internals to the VFC Avalon series.
• E and C MK18 Series -$162 - These are not really common in the US, but are popular in places like Canada and the EU. The internals on these have been quite good and QC has been almost top notch for something that is under 200. There are other models available in the US, but are way more expensive.
• Arcturus M4 Series -$161 -Arcturus is a relatively new brand in the airsoft market, but has come out the gate strong with their M4 series. This series has a microswtich installed, which is uncommon for other models in this price range excluding Classic Army. It also comes with 2 magazines which is great for beginners.
• APEX Skirmish Series -$95-100 - OEM'd by Classic Army, Apex's Fast Attack AR-15s are a relatively new entry to the market, and are equivalent to Guay Guay's CM16s. Versions with GFP and metal receivers are available. An intermediate equivalent of these would be a GP or ICS AR-15.
• Guay Guay G2 Combat Machines -$207 - Guay Guay has recently come out with a more updated version of their "Golden standard" AEGS. These are still relatively new and have had reports of poor quality mosfets. But other than that, the Gen2's are a superior upgrade to their Gen1 counterparts. Gen1's have been removed from this guide simply due to more updated rifles being out. Upgraded internals, and a better exterior allow for a better quality AEG. An intermediate/high end equivalent of these would be a VFC or a Krytac. These are not as outdated as the gen 1’s, but they still are classified as outdated when it comes to performance.
• Classic Army Skirmish Series -$180-200 - Classic Army's AR-15s are a relatively new entry to the market, and are equivalent to a slightly upmarket version of Guay Guay's CM16s. An intermediate equivalent of these would be a G P or ICS AR-15. These feature a mosfet that allows you to switch to 3 round burst or 5 rebound burst.
• Specna Arms Core Series -$120 -Specna Arms's CORE series of AEG's were removed from last year's guide due to QC issues, but with the issues mostly being fixed in the later end of 2020, they are being readded for their great price, and overall decent internals. Note that all the CORE series of AEG's have the same internals, just different externals, which are polymer to keep cost down.
• Specna Arms EDGE Series -$220 -Another Specna model, with this being similar to the CORE series, but having a GATE X-ASR mosfet, the newer orion gearbox, and an aluminum receiver instead of polymer. Also features a quick change spring system for easier fps changes.
• EMG Helios CORE/EDGE Series -$220-280 -Features the same specna internals, with the EDGE having the mosfet, and an aluminum body, whilst the core has a polymer.
• EMG Helios Umbrella Corp Series -$220-250 -Features the same internals as the CYMA plat's. Just a different body and externals. Normally on sale for $220.

4. Things to generally avoid when playing
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Airsoft is an honor sport, when you get hit, raise your hand high and display your dead rag. Also yell “HIT” as loud as you can so the other player who is shooting you knows that you are dead. Not displaying your dead rag can lead to being shot more than you want to. Calling someone else’s hits are normally frowned upon as you’re going to cause problems on the field and airsoft drama is not worth it. If someone is suspected of cheating, call a ref/marshal over to observe the player. When you are in the field/game area, DO NOT TAKE OFF YOUR EYEPRO!! EYEPRO is the #1 important thing in airsoft. If a bb hits your eye, you more than likely will be blind. Keep your EYEPRO on at all times while in the field. If you are fogging up, walk off the field. Avoid overshooting other players, once you see a dead rag or a red rag come up, or hear “HIT” stop shooting them. Dead men tell no tales! If you are dead, and a teammate asks where you got shot from, simply say: “dead men don’t talk” and walk back to your respawn.
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5. What should you bring to your first airsoft game
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So you’ve finally bought your gun and gear and you’re heading out to your first game. As mentioned previously, you want to make sure you come prepared. As well as your AEG, you want to make sure your batteries are charged and you brought an extra magazine or two. You also want to bring WATER! Staying hydrated is one of the most important things you need to do in airsoft. Being dehydrated will ruin your day and cause problems for you. Also make sure to have a good amount of bb’s for the day. it is highly advised that you wear boots while playing, running shoes can get dirty easily and there will be mud somewhere on the field that you will end up stepping on and getting wet. An extra pair of socks is also a good idea!
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1. What weight bb should I be using?

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This question is very common with a lot of newer players. LPAEG’s (Löw powered Airsoft guns) and Walmart airsoft guns use .12 gram bb’s. DO NOT RUN THESE IN AN AEG! This bb’s are cheap and will break the internals of your rifle. You don’t want to throw your money away do you? I didn’t think so. The lowest weight you can use in your replica is .20 gram bb’s. There are a lot of brands out there for bb’s: Elite Force, BLS,, HPA, KWA and so on. All of them are good brands to buy from. If you are planning on playing indoor, most users will recommend .2-.28 bb’s for the best range and efficiency. If you are planning on playing outdoor, using .28’s and higher is optimal for the best range. Just keep this in mind: the heavier weight, the slower the bb travels.
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1. Can I start airsoft as a sniper?

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It's not recommended no. You can do whatever you want, but sniping is not beginner friendly. Sniping is an expensive virtue and will take a lot of money and time for you to get a rifle that shoots far. Buying a stock sniper will mean you have to put money and parts into it, as the only “good” stock sniper rifle is the SSG24, and the Silverback SRS. The popular airsoft youtuber, Novritsch, has made sniping extremely popular with noobs as he shows a lot of action and gameplay with his guns. Keep in mind that being a sniper is not all action and takes patience and time. His videos are short for a reason. You do the math.
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1. What eyepro/lower face projection should I invest in?

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Eyepro is the most important thing in airsoft. Airsoft is a sport that requires you to have eye protection on at all times while on the field. Lower face protection is required for most players under the age of 18 in most American fields. Anyone over the age of 18 can normally just get away with goggles, but you don't want to have to go to the dentist do you? Didn't think so. There are different types of eye protection for airsoft, ranging from basic shooting goggles, to face masks that protect your face. There are a lot of different goggles and masks out there, but here are some of the most populamost recommended items. Any eye protection you use MUST BE ANSI 787.1+, otherwise you cannot use them! DO NOT USE MESK EYE PROTECTION UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! They are not anzi rated, and their have been hundreds of cases where someone will shoot someone with mesk eye pro, and the bb will explore on the outside of the google, allowing the bb fragments to get inside an eye.

• Pyramex I-Forces (Slim) -20$ - These goggles are one of the most common eye protection recommended because they are really hard to fog. They are also the cheapest eye protection that this list will have, but these are really amazing goggles. These are full seal but these are not as big and bulky as some others.
• Revison Desert Locusts -$30 - These are another amazing choice when it comes to eye protection. A little more pricer than the I Forces, but provides more protection around the face. Has fine lens curvature and the lenses adjust automatically to shifting or variable light conditions. Please note you can buy these new on their website/evike, but they cost 50-60$ new.
• ESS Land Ops -$85 - Issued by the U.S Army, these goggles are another excellent choice. Features exceptional fog resistance, particle filtration, and comfort. These can also be found on eBay and military surplus stores for cheaper, but keep in mind of scratching.
• Smith Optics OTW -$180 -These no doubt are the most expensive goggle on this list, but these goggles feature a fan inside of the goggle, which allows for no fog at all. The low profile housing of the fan does not interfere with the brim of a helmet. If you want something really good, \*buy once, cry once.\*
• Dye i4/i5 -$100-250 - These are the best option when it comes to full face protection. This was originally designed for paintball, but has been adopted by airsofters as well. The special venting and google coating allows for zero fog. I have had one for 8 months and I have yet to deal with any problems. The prices vary depending on color, but you can find one used for roughly 60-70$. There is an updated mask, the Dye i5, which has an updated back strap and different colors.
• Oakley M-Frames -$120-130 - These are often used by milsimmers as these offer great eye protection in a minimalist setup. Often used by the US military, these offer great non-fogging and are super lightweight.
• ESS Crossbows -$40-80 - The ESS Crossbow Suppressor is the first spectacle frame designed for use with ear cup hearing protection and communications devices. Featuring Z-Bend Geometry, the frame's ultra-thin temple arms help keep noise out by minimizing the effect on the padded seal of ear cups. The slim temples eliminate the hot spots and pressure points that commonly occur when normal eyewear is worn under ear cups.
• OneTigris Mesh Mask -$15-20 - The most common mesh mask in the market, and the most affordable one also. Made out of steel and nylon, this mask allows for maximum comfort as it is has nylon fabric cheek sides.

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9. What is a "MED"?
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If you’ve played airsoft before or are just hearing about this for the first time, a “MED” or minimum engagement distance is utilized in airsoft. Most airsoft guns have semi, and fully automatic. Most fields in the US, do NOT allow full auto within 40-50 feet. Imagine coming around a corner and getting shot with 10 bb’s because the person around the corner didn’t switch to semi. This isn’t Call of Duty, spraying your bb’s all over the place will achieve very little, if not anything. When you get closer than 40-50 feet, switch your AEG to semi. Airsoft, for the most part doesn’t hurt, but getting shot 10-20 times in a row certainly will. Don’t be that guy who full autos people from 10 feet away! It’s being an asshat, and will probably get you kicked out!
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1. What is a GBBR?

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GBBR(Gas Blow-Back Rifles) are the hyper-realistic guns. If you have a larger budget and would like a more realistic experience these are the guns for you. Not usually recommended as starter guns because of the cost of gas and accessories, but not to be entirely ruled out for a select group of people. These guns require maintenance, but most would consider the work to be put to the background in the face of the utter satisfaction of using one of these guns. Check out GasBlowBack for more information on this topic.
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11. The Search Bar
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The search bar is a tool that is at the top of this sub that is used to search for a post or topic. This feature is not used by any beginners as they will probably ignore this guide and ask the question anyways. Most questions have been asked before and you will find your answer. To use the search bar:
A. Open reddit
B. Click on airsoft
C. Using your eyeballs, look at the top of your screen
D. Using your fingers, type in whatever you are looking for (I.E BEST BEGINNER SETUP)
E. Using your eyeballs, look at the results
F. Realize that most people will just ignore this guide and continue asking the same questions every single day.
G. Profit!
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1. Orange tips and their legality

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Orange tips are required for retailers, but you are more than welcome to take them off after you receive your airsoft gun. Just note by doing so you will void your warranty. Also please do not take your airsoft gun out in public and follow basic gun safety. Please check your local state/county rules before doing this though. Note that random strangers on the internet will NOT know your local rules, so I cannot empathize this enough.
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1. Airsoft youtubers

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A lot of users will watch certain youtubers and get a impression of the hobby that does not exist. Remember: Their job is to get views and entertain you, they cut out the parts that are boring. Clickbait content is what most beginners watch and please note that cheaters in airsoft are not as common at they make them to be. If you are interesting in learning more about clickbait, I made a video breaking down airsoft clickbait on youtube. There is of course great content creators out there that don't just make clickbait and I implore you to go look for them.
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14.MSW (MilSim West)
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MSW is considered the only "true" Milsim in the US. Interesting in going? Read the Tacsop.
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1. What are some cheap gear brands to get as a beginner?

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It is also pretty common for airsofters to think they need to spend a bunch of money on super expensive gear to get started. This couldn't be farther from the truth. Good gear does not equal skill (BY ITSELF), and while having good gear CAN help you play, it won't make you a special operator by itself. Most users are on a budget anyways, and investing in cheap chest rigs is a great option to stay within your budget. Note that most of these recommendations will be chest rigs, simply because of the price and functionally of them. Condor is one of the most budget friendly airsoft gear brands out there, as they will be on this list a bunch. NOTE: THE CHEAP CROSS DRAW VESTS ARE NOT INCLUDED ON THIS LIST SIMPLY BECAUSE FOR THE MOST PART, THEY SUCK. Some good budget options ($0-100) would be:

• Surplus Chicom rig -$12
• AK47 Bandoiler Chest Rig -$15
• Chinese AK47 Chest Rig -$20
• NCSTAR 6 Pouch Chest rig -$27
• Condor Ronin Chest Rig -$32
• Condor Rapid Chest Rig -$32
• Condor Gen 5 Recon Rig -$35
• NCSTAR VISM Chest Rig -$45
• LBX Chest Rig-$65
• LBX Tactical Lock and Load Chest Rig -$101

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1. Lancer Tactical

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So Lancer Tactical is not on this guide for a multitude of reasons. For starters, in 2017, their CEO was arrested at shot show under the pretenses of producing non-anzi rated goggles and advertising as such. They were producing goggles that were direct copies of Revision, and lied about their goggles being rated for airsoft. But the primary reason as to why they are not recommended is that their quality control is fucking horrendous. Lancer has created 2 "generations" of guns, with the 2nd generation "having a different oem" meaning that they were magically fixed. Spoiler alert, the QC is still garbage and even their "prolines" having terrible QC, with Reventian having to be SENT 3 for a review, and his 3rd one died. But if you don't believe me on the QC part, check out a compilation of lancer's breaking in the past year.
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1. What airsoft shops should I buy from?

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Recommended US-Based Retailers
Infantryshopusa
Airsoft GI
Evike
Amped Airsoft
Airsoft Extreme
Airsoft Atlanta
Trinity Airsoft
Gas Blowback Central
JustAirsoftAmmo
InfantryShop
Canada based Retailers
Alberta
007 Airsoft
Badlands Paintball
B2 Airsoft
Buy Airsoft
Capital Airsoft/Force on Force Tactical
Comex Hobby
PM Hobbycraft
British Columbia
Badlands Paintball
Camouflage
Milsig
Phoenix Tactical
Trigger Airsoft
Viper Action-Air Innovations
Manitoba
Badlands Paintball
TBD Airsoft
Xtreme Tactics
Newfoundland
Frontline Paintball
Nova Scotia
Venture Airsoft
Scotia Arms Airsoft
Ontario
Action Air Canada
Airsoft Depot
Badlands Paintball
Blackbiltz Airsoft
Canada Wide Airsoft -No Website.
Challenger Airsoft/My Airsoft -No Website. FB Seems inactive.
Chigun Hobby Store
Daymark WindsoSOAR Hobby
DMZ Airsoft & Paintball
Flagswipe Paintball
Forest City Surplus
Gear Up Airsoft
Hero Outdoors
High Percision Airsoft
Infinity Arms
JS Airsoft
JT Military Surplus -No website.
Maier Action Games
Maple Airsoft Supply
Niagara Quatermaster
Nick Sports Shop & Central Surplus
Platinum Paintball -No Website.
Rapidfire Airsoft -No Website
Toronto Airsoft
Ultimate Airsoft
Prince Edward Island
Andy's Airsoft
Quebec
Aventure Airsoft Lanaudiere
Divison XP
Fighter System
Headshot Airsoft -No Website
Tactical Center
Taktik Airsoft
Saskatchewan
SackSoft Armoury
Online ONLY
Airsoft Parts Canada
Ultimate Airsoft
Replica Airguns
Upper Canada Tactical
Western Canadian Airsoft Supply
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Asian-Based Retailers
Redwolf Airsoft
eHobby Asia
ebAirsoft
WGC Shop
Echigoya - Japanese shop, best source for TM guns
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UK Retailers
Zero One
Action Hobbies
Airsoft World
Land Warrior
Fire Support
Wolf Armouries
JD Airsoft
Combat South
Dave's Custom Airsoft
Bespoke Airsoft
Skirmshop
Patrolbase
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1. Don't go out and spend $1000 before playing

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It is also very common for users to approach airsoft with spending a bunch of money. Please don't do this. It is always recommended to rent before playing. After renting, don't go out and buy a shit ton of geaguns. Stay cheap, and don't go all out. Regardless of what you have seen on youtube, having the best gear does not make you the best player. How stupid would you look if you went out and bought a brand new Umbrella Armory and full Crye's if you don't like the hobby? Simply put, don't go out and buy expensive gear, like said above, stay cheap and go out to have fun.
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1. Comparing paintball and airsoft is like comparing apples to oranges

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Comparing paintball to airsoft would be like comparing apples to oranges. They are two completely different hobbies that are very different. Paintball uses balls of paint that cannot go farther than normally 50-60 feet, whilst airsoft uses more realistic looking markers that can go much farther. If you are a paintballer, no problem, just don't come in here and try to compare the two :)
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1. What are the most common gearboxes?

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The V2 and V3 mechboxes are the most common gearboxes found in M4/AK series AEG'S. If you are more interesting in learning about the V2 gearbox, check out the V2 gearbox guide. V2 gearboxes are found in most M4 series AEG's, while V3'S are found in AK series rifles. The MP5 often uses a modified V2/V3 gearbox, it all depends on the brand. The Airsoft Tech is a great resource if you are looking to expand your knowledge. Negative Airsoft is also another great resource, consider checking him out here.
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1. Other guides that may be useful

• GBB Guide
• Searchbar Guide
• How to/How not to deal with cheaters
• Beginner AEG Guide
• 2020 HPA Guide
• 2020 Ultimate Hopup/Bucking Guide
• 2020 BB Weight Guide
• 2020 BUYING AND SELLING GUIDE
• 2020 Barrel Guide
• 2020 Basic Operations Guide
• Diffrent replica guide

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Changelog:
5/30/19-Fixed Formatting and added suggested eyepro section
6/1/19-small typos fixed and section about MED’s added
12/7/19- reposted for Christmas influx of new gun posts
12/7/19- added section on GBBGBB’s.
12/9/19- added section on searchbar and typos
12/27/19- added how the older guay guay are outdated
1/1/2020- post was unpinned so new thread is made.
1/1/2020- updated part about specna
1/19/2020 - orange tip section added
5/16/2020- removed specna cores from the Recommended list of guns due to bad QC
7/22/2020- reposting thread with more updated links as well as adding E and C to the recommended section
7/22/2020- added sections 13 and 14
7/22/2020- Videos added for each section
7/22/2020 - Added more options for eyepro
7/22/2020 -Fixed AMP AMP AMP issue
12/25/2020 - Added 5 new sections
12/28/2020 - Removed G1 CM"s from the recommended M4's.
12/29/2020 - Added new beginner guns to recommended section
12/30/2020 -Fixed spelling errors and guide overhaul
1/1/2020 - Guide re-published