Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

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Lil_Curt
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by Lil_Curt »

Hey all just a heads up. The box from ludzik is on the way to me. I have alot on my plate at work right now and am not getting any help. As soon as the box gets here I will try my darndest to get in it and traded, then out again as soon as I can. I might be delayed but will try not to be. I apologise now for any delay that might occur. I will keep you all posted.
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by Bluesecrets »

I debated saying this. I am not one to hurt others feelings, but maybe sometimes things need to be said to honor other people's feelings.

Bronx and I tried to create fun with this. Do something different and hope everyone enjoyed. But with his box probably either at his place or will be quickly and mine being maybe as much as three weeks away...it stinks to be the one waiting when it has been proven that the other box could move fast.

No that isn't poor sportsmanship and it certainly isn't jealousy. I only participate for the fun and to be kind and make other people's day. Just like I do with Christmas in July and The Christmas Minifig Exchange. I'm overly generous and I like doing that.

I have stayed away from jambalaya's in the past because of the behavior of some in them. I know there are other people who are doing the same because they told me and it isn't a small list of people either. I really really hope this isn't what keeps the Christmas in July and Christmas Minifig Exchange numbers small, but I am suspecting now that it may be. Whether it is too much pushing with impatience to get a box moving, or delaying the box, or the questioning of what people exchanged, it is enough for me to join that list of people and say that I am probably not going to participate again.

I am posting this, not for me, but because every once in a while we need to examine how we act and realize that it may be coming across negatively enough to keep others away. And yes, I do that. I stepped away from the Christmas Minifig Exchange for a little while because I needed to re-adjust, remember fun, and try to create some more.

The fun from this jambalaya was lost several weeks ago.
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by Lil_Curt »

In all honesty I love participating in the jams. However​ we all need to remember that real life happens and sometimes it can drag. The biggest issue I saw with this one is it kinda fizzled with me because it was announced that we would be starting last October, then real life happened and it had a start that drug out and I think the time between sign up and start dropped intrest by some.

I will be first to admit that my work schedule has been nuts and quite frankly when you work 11-14 hours in a day you become a zombie and can't put your full effort forward into it. And when you finnaly have a chance to put the effort in there have been people being impatient and pushing for updates. And for me that takes some of the fun out cause then there is the inevitable nagging to be had.

As a side note, I was not planning that my week this week was going to jump 20 hours nor was I planning on being in 6 out of 7 days, with 4 days of 13 hour shifts. Need less to say I will be a zombie, which is why I put in the update of my possible delay. I am trying to be open and communicate what is up. I still don't have the box yet, but it is set for a delivery of today. I am going to try to go through it to tonight and try to post it on Monday or Tuesday. But may be a couple days later depending again on work.

As much as I love doing these I am probably going to be pulling out in future participation, because of people who are either impatient, non communication, and some participants not being understanding of real life.

I have seen a numbers of us participating with these events drop over the years due in part that we haven't had a decent castleish line in the better part of the last 6-8 years. As well numbers have dropped due to people rubbing each other the wrong way. The other reason I see is the lack of forum participation. Forums are unfortunately dieing, and the shift is to social media platforms, where I see numbers on the rise. Also numbers are dropping due to no innovative content, people stuck in there old ways and not willing to accept or embrace changes. And again the fact that interest in castle as a whole is dropping.

I have seen in the last couple years it is the same participating members in these jams. We are not pulling in new blood, so it the same members rotating the same parts over and over. An to me I would rather go to the member and do personal trade's as opposed to a large group trade if this is going to be the norm.

With this being said I do give props to you and Bronx for stepping up and organizing this. It just took to long to start and I think that delay of momentum has carried over into the overall motion of this jambalaya. So as soon as this is done I think we all need to have an open discussion of what happened to this jam as to why it drug out, what dropped the participation, why it lost the fun factor, etc. And do it in an open manor, and not via pm, or behind closed doors. We need to be open of the criticism, an any ideas presented and embrace change, and hopefully make some headway on future events.

Just some of the things rambling in my head right now.
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by Bluesecrets »

Real life? I work a full time job...bring it home with me. I don't have the luxury of leaving work at work...even when I am on a day off or vacation. I finish that work while I'm doing my 8+ hours of VOLUNTARY LEGO work...ambassador, CC, CCC, my LUG, projects for LEGO...stumble to bed get up at 5:15 am and do it all over again. Today is the first day since maybe October that I haven't spent countless hours working and doing LEGO work...but I will be very soon until I crash for the night. And did I mention family time...and exactly when am I supposed to have time for me?

No one understands real life more than I do. I don't whine about it. I don't even talk about it. I just do...do every single thing that is expected of me and more. It's a fact that real life is a barrier to just about every single person.

I honestly am not upset that the box isn't here and won't be. Bronx and I were just trying to add more fun by the so called competition between the boxes. That isn't the reason I posted. As I said, the fun was removed from this activity and I think we all need to think about why and what we did to make it lack fun.

I also think the Jambalaya may need to take a rest for a period of time.
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by Lil_Curt »

Tracking shows package is out for delivery. Expect it to be here in a couple hours.

Blue my post above was not intended as a personal attack, and was just observation's and thoughts I had. I would like to ask others to chime in on what that felt made the fun go out of this jam if it had for you. Also I would like to ask what you liked, didn't like, about this jam. I would like to see others ideas and thoughts.

And I agree mabye it is time to let the jam take a break.
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by ludzik »

Blue, without taking it personally I do feel like you're aiming that post a bit towards me.... yes - I kept asking when will the Jamba happen as it was advertised way back and I was sooooo looking forward to it. And no news... no updates.... and I couldn't wait for it..... and then when it reached me, it took me a while to process it.... but here's the scoop - I did my best to be communicative and I got the box after a week's delay (Bronx had work emergency and couldn't ship out before going on vacation). And guess what - if it came the previous week, I'd have it out in 2 days.... BUT the other thing that sucked for me was opening the box and smelling cigarette smoke. I had to keep it in a box with baking soda in containers to get rid of most of the smell as it was hard to have fun while cringing......

so anyways, yes I nagged but I nagged mostly for updates to know when and where and also to be able to potentially request being skipped over if I had to travel (I communicated early enough with Bronx because I was gone most of December and part of January ad didn't want to be the one with the box sitting at the post office). So take it for what it's worth I think it was fun, delays suck and sucked and will suck and I hope you don't let that ruin your fun......
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by Lil_Curt »

Box received late Saturday. Making final trades tonight. Hope to have in mail Thursday.
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by AK_Brickster »

As an outsider, I just want to say that the amount of time that it takes to get "the box of jam" specifically to me is not a big concern, but I do try to push people to move things along each leg of the exchange quickly, simply because the cumulative amount of time that it can take to get through a list of 10+ people gets to be pretty nuts if everyone holds the box for a week+ and then there's 5 days or so of actual transit time (you can safely double or even triple that if you're shipping overseas or to a military address). Talk about killing momentum! The guy at the end of the list doesn't get to participate for 3 months or more!

That said, I don't build much due to a lack of free time, so the waiting game isn't what kills these for me. For me, it's the fact that I would rather spend $10-$15 on Bricklink to get the same parts I'd pull from a Jambalaya instead of paying that much just to ship a massive box that's 90% pass-through parts. My collection is large enough that I'm pretty much only looking for rare or really interesting stuff, and I'd then be expected to give up rare or interesting stuff in exchange, and those parts are not likely to end up in a box of jam. Also, since I have to give as much as I get, my net gain is zero, but I'm out $10 in shipping (I'm not stingy, as anyone who's traded with me can attest to, but there isn't much appeal to just give away the farm for nothing, either). For those of us who have been on the forums for a while (I think I'm coming up on 7 years?), a lot of us are likely in a similar boat.

We've tweaked the Jambalaya over at Merlin's Beard to only involve minifigs (we call it "Fig Jam" :lol: ). Cheaper/easier to ship and more likely to have something in there you can be excited about. The value you're swapping for 3 figs is probably $10-$15 and only $2-$3 to ship. To me, that's a much better ROI than a standard Jam.

Like Curt, I'd rather engage in a 1:1 trade for parts, since I can negotiate the gives and takes until I'm happy with it - no more hurt feelings over someone taking all of the good stuff and putting in junk (or better still, just hit up BL).
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by bronx »

Bluesecrets wrote:I debated saying this. I am not one to hurt others feelings, but maybe sometimes things need to be said to honor other people's feelings.

Bronx and I tried to create fun with this.
Closed mouths don't get fed.

I did not try and create fun, though. This was your idea. I was here to police people. I suppose I tried to create an entertaining element by suggesting a second box, to alleviate the issue of the last person waiting months on months on months until they see anything.
Lil_Curt wrote:The biggest issue I saw with this one is it kinda fizzled with me because it was announced that we would be starting last October, then real life happened and it had a start that drug out and I think the time between sign up and start dropped intrest by some.
Please read the following with far more levity than it reads, because I am cracking up.

But seriously? Your interest fizzled? By how much? If your interest was at 96 with the Jambalaya announcement, did it "fizzle" to a 43? Zero? I guess statements like this really confuse me.

It's like when the movie studios announced a Suicide Squad movie, I was interested. As I saw trailers, and the inclusion of Will Smith, my interest fizzled. When the movie released, I essentially refused to see it. I was not going to pay for a movie that did not interest me. Not only did I not see it, but I did not see it twice. See what I did there? Your interest fizzled, but you essentially participated twice? [url=https://img.memesuper.com/8f37aa5f7e02eb99e7 ... 5-203.jpeg]... wut?[/url]

Oh, the Jam was announced to start in mid-to-late November. Not October.
ludzik wrote:Blue, without taking it personally I do feel like you're aiming that post a bit towards me....
Lil_Curt wrote:... And when you finnaly have a chance to put the effort in there have been people being impatient and pushing for updates. And for me that takes some of the fun out cause then there is the inevitable nagging to be had.
Was this not aimed at you too? I thought it was aimed at you as much as the comments from Blue might have been.
Lil_Curt wrote:As much as I love doing these I am probably going to be pulling out in future participation, because of people who are either impatient, non communication, and some participants not being understanding of real life.
I approve this decision.

I will admit that I do not understand civilian life and first-world problems, considering I worked seven days out of seven for every hour of the day, often taking "power" naps in dilapidated structures for consecutive years in a war zone, and still, I do not think I ever managed a trade/exchange as long as yours regularly are. We have an international member with more twins than the Olsen family, Tia/Tamara, and an awful Schwarzenegger/Devito movie combined, and I would expect his items first.

When someone sees asking for an update after more than a week of physically having the box as nagging, the problem is not the inquirer ...
Lil_Curt wrote:It just took to long to start and I think that delay of momentum has carried over into the overall motion of this jambalaya. So as soon as this is done I think we all need to have an open discussion of what happened to this jam as to why it drug out, what dropped the participation, why it lost the fun factor, etc. And do it in an open manor, and not via pm, or behind closed doors. We need to be open of the criticism, an any ideas presented and embrace change, and hopefully make some headway on future events.
I just cannot buy that first bit in its entirety.

The November start was so delayed, we essentially called this a completely new Jambalaya with the added bonus of a second box of goodies. You were essentially rewarded for impatience and fizzling. And I would say that whatever momentum was lost from my winter demise and management of this was very quickly resurrected in February, indicated by the ubiquitous smileys and exclamation points employed by you and others. Once I did return, within two weeks (making sure everyone else was still alive), both boxes were en route. And in less than two months, with ten people exchanging, and all of life's interventions, my boxed was returned to me. So, no, the "overall" motion was not delayed.

Setting that to the side, I completely agree with the latter point. The community, and all of its members, should feel comfortable discussing ideas or ways to improve involvement and/or events, as well as discussing reasons for how other events may have failed or at what points they failed, etc. When pertaining to certain events, they should be covered in their own separate, individual threads.
AK_Brickster wrote:We've tweaked the Jambalaya over at Merlin's Beard to only involve minifigs (we call it "Fig Jam" :lol: ). Cheaper/easier to ship and more likely to have something in there you can be excited about. The value you're swapping for 3 figs is probably $10-$15 and only $2-$3 to ship. To me, that's a much better ROI than a standard Jam.

Like Curt, I'd rather engage in a 1:1 trade for parts, since I can negotiate the gives and takes until I'm happy with it - no more hurt feelings over someone taking all of the good stuff and putting in junk (or better still, just hit up BL).
I think whenever another Jam happens, it should try this idea out, and stick to minifigs and accessories.

The way you shop there, I'm not sure there is much inventory left for anyone else. But solid advice.
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by AK_Brickster »

:orc: :orc: TROLL LEVEL 9000! :orc: :orc:

I think there's still some assorted scraps left in a few of the stores. Should be good enough for gives/takes in the next jambalaya, at least (yeah, I went there) :twisted:

I think it's important to take critiques like the above with an open mind. I don't see them as personal attacks, but rather honest venting of frustrations. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by ludzik »

AK_Brickster wrote::orc: :orc: TROLL LEVEL 9000! :orc: :orc:

I think there's still some assorted scraps left in a few of the stores. Should be good enough for gives/takes in the next jambalaya, at least (yeah, I went there) :twisted:

I think it's important to take critiques like the above with an open mind. I don't see them as personal attacks, but rather honest venting of frustrations. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
I vote that AK runs the next one ;)
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Post by AK_Brickster »

Flattering, but no thanks! We are just wrapping up the Fig Jam you hosted at [url=http://merlins-beard.com/thread/1626/winter ... aya-signup]Merlin's Beard[/url], and I think the next event we'll have over there will be a draft that I'd like to host sometime this summer (I haven't hosted anything in a while, so I guess I'm getting the itch again ;) ). I have a couple of ideas in mind from the new wave of sets, so I'm just waiting to see if they go on sale on Amazon.com soon so that we can get them at a good price.

I can post a link to that draft on this forum, if anyone here who isn't a regular visitor of MB wants to be notified once we get going. Buy-in cost will probably be in the $15-$25 range, so that it's not cost-prohibitive for most people.
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by Bluesecrets »

We've tweaked the Jambalaya over at Merlin's Beard to only involve minifigs (we call it "Fig Jam" :lol: ). Cheaper/easier to ship and more likely to have something in there you can be excited about. The value you're swapping for 3 figs is probably $10-$15 and only $2-$3 to ship. To me, that's a much better ROI than a standard Jam.
That only works if you are only interested in figs. Figs aren't what I am interested in...unless they are black falcons or scorpion knights and possibly wolfpack. It's about parts for me, which is why I prefer a traditional Jambalaya. It isn't about money...it isn't even about what parts I get. It's about fun for me.
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Re: Winter Jambalaya 2016 - Sign-up List

Post by JCool »

Can I take the thread on a quick jam-related tangent ? In bronx's box, I grabbed out a cool looking anvil attached to a tall bar. 99.9% sure this isn't Lego (no big deal, it's really cool!) - is it BrickArms, BrickForge, or another custom maker? I'm a big fan of it and potentially want to get some more related items, hence my question. :)
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Post by Bluesecrets »

Can you show us a picture so it can be identified, please?
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