h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: How to Purchase an Action Figure - A3546821
Author: Cosmo - U1260732

An article I wrote to help people who take their toys seriously.

Hi there, Cosmo!

This is an interesting entry, but needs some polishing in a few areas -- so here are some relatively random things to consider:

The definition of an action figure should really be in the text, rather than in a footnote -- this is something that needs to be understood for the rest of the entry to make sense, and not everyone will know this.

The links at the bottom come awfully close to breaking the House Rules about commercial sites, and wouldn't be appropriate for an Edited Guide entry anyway. Because this is a BBC site, we have to be careful about those kinds of things -- recommending that people buy X at linked store ABC is generally considered a no-no. If you want to mention the specific brands, I think you could get around this by writing more about each brand -- so that you're giving information about the history, the lines of action figures, the target market, etc, and not just saying "buy these!"

This phrase "a process has been developed by an expert on toy-selection" definitely rubbed me the wrong way, not least because you're only talking about a small subset of toys.

There are quite a few grammar errors in the entry, noticeably in regards to pronouns. Especially given that you're wanting to become a sub-ed, it's good to get in the practice of correcting these in your own writing.

There are some definite over-generalizations here -- the entry seems to be about a very specific type of action figure, rather than action figures in general.

I think it's definitely worth talking about some of the other issues involved in purchasing action figures -- the differences between purchasing for a collectible vs display vs child's plaything are quite substantial. And also about the issues regarding buying from garage sales, auction sites, etc. And I can't imagine an article about this that doesn't mention the insane lengths some people will go to in order to obtain a complete set of a certain line.


Mikey

You missed the biggest issue of all - checking it's safe for the age of the person you're buying it for. All sorts of dodgy and dangerous stuff can be found in car boot sales and markets across the land.

I think Mikey covered the rest....

*grumble* Where's the author gone!?

You forgot Action Man The Greatest Hero Of Them All!

Hi Cosmo,

Are you planning on finishing this entry?

First registered 1/18, last posted 1/20....

Okay I propose a move to...to...the flea market?

Kat

Don't we have to wait till the 20th to move on grounds of Elvised?

A year or so ago a special exception to the 2 month rule was made for "one day wonders" and the such -- meaning that entries can be moved sooner if the researcher's total existence on hootoo is only a few days, and there's no reason to believe they'll be returning.

I wonder why I didn't spot he was a one stop researcher - must have been by the time I got round to this one