I want to start out by saying this is the first review I’ve ever made. I’ve never felt so inclined to make a review towards any establishment, let alone a senior living facility. I’m a 24 year old black female and I’ve been a delivery driver for years and I come in contact with so many different people and this interaction by far has taken the cake. I am an independent contractor for Amazon. I deliver groceries that customers order from Whole Foods kind of like instacart. This is a side gig that my partner and I do just to make a little extra money when we can. I always have my partner do these deliveries with me since I am young and a female and have been in some very sketchy situations while delivering and I am so glad he was here with me today. On this particular morning, May 15, 2024 at around 8-8:20am, we had a delivery to a resident at this facility. My gps leads me directly to the front of this establishment where I park underneath the pergola. I proceeded to the first set of doors leading to a foyer where then I was met with another set of doors in which I couldn’t open because they were locked. I then looked to the right of me and saw a doorbell with a sign above it asking to please ring the doorbell for further assistance. After ringing the doorbell, I was greeted by Jeff Puls, who I was later informed by other staff was the director of this establishment. He goes on to tell me that I am at the wrong entrance, I cannot make my delivery to the resident here and I need to go to the front entrance. I then tell him that I think I am at the front entrance and give him a description of where I am, but again, he says I’m not in the right place. So, we drive around the building trying to find any other entrance that could be the correct one and every entrance I tried had locked doors and seemed as though they were residential access only. We come back to where I am certain the main entrance is and I call the resident to whom I’m delivering to and she confirms that I am at the correct entrance and that I shouldn’t have any problems getting in. While on the phone, we see someone come out of the buildings doors and walk over to the driver side so I roll down my window where Jeff Puls angrily asks me “what do you want, I told you to go to the front” and then asks what it is that I’m delivering. I tell him that I just have a flower delivery from Whole Foods for [insert residents name] and I originally tried to deliver here in the front but you told me I was not at the front entrance. He huffs and puffs and says “give them here”. I present the flowers and he then aggressively snatched them right out of my hands, leaving two bouquets still in my hands. I open my door and try to hand him the remaining flowers which he again aggressively snatches out of my hands and as he’s walking away he says, “f****** b****…..all you delivery drivers are all the same, I can’t stand you”. Me and my partner then step out of the vehicle and asks him to speak to a manager or someone higher up in authority for what he just said to me. Jeff refused and continued to get into our faces, point his fingers in front of our faces while yelling at us to leave. He then proceeds to threaten to call the police if we didn’t leave to which me and my partner encouraged him to do so because we drive a Tesla that has eight cameras around the car constantly recording so we were eager to show the police officers his behavior towards us. While awaiting the police officers, Jeff continues to badger us, taunt us, called me a racial slur and would not keep his distance away from us even when asked to back away nicely. I then decided to wait in our car for the police and as soon as I sit down in the passenger seat and go to close the door, I see Jeff charging at me. I immediately start to close the door as fast as i could and honestly right in the nick of time because he kicks my car door! Finally, the police officers arrive, and of course, like most people do when the police show up, he cowers away and acts calm, cool and collected in front of them. We speak to the police officers and show them the footage of the whole incident from start to finish and we are currently in the process of taking more legal action. Thank you to the nurse working on the clock that day that came out when the incident was happening to make sure everything was okay and made sure that the flowers we promptly delivered to the resident there and another thank you to the maintenance guy that also came out during the incident to give us the name, number and email of the higher ups to proceed with further action. I don’t plan on taking my parents to a senior facility anytime time soon or even at all because of people like Jeff. If he exhibits this type of behavior to a delivery driver, then I can only imagine his behavior and treatment towards the elderly and people like him are why I fear having to take my parents to a senior facility.

So I changed my carrier and phone number and they said they’d set it up to where it will email me my verification but it doesn’t it’s still routing to my old number. It’s been two weeks now and I need the cameras history so I’m not going to start fresh. Can someone help me? The phone number has me on hold forever.

For reference I am in Vancouver Canada. I recently just got dropped by my agent in Late March; I didn’t really get a response as to why I got dropped all I got was “it has nothing to do with you or your work we are just movie our roster in a different direction and we would not be representing you from this they on ward.”
I have been in search of for another agent since then, no luck; I’ve tried my best to make my actors access more marketable so that when an agent chooses to represent me they have all the clip, photos and resume info need. I have one tv-film credit I got around this time last year. I am union apprentice member eligible but I am hold off on becoming apprentice because I want to use my background hours since I have 102 hrs left out of 1600 to join, and then use my acting credit as the second credit so all I’d need left is one, to be full union. I have professional headshots, I have acting clips available. I’ve emailed many agencies;
Trisko Premiere, Play Management, Red, Characters, Lucas, Pacific Artist, Nuance Management, Hectiq Artists, Kirk Talent Da Costa Talent 2 Agent from integral artists directly (because I saw KC talent agents moved to integral and their email was left on the website)
The responses I got. ———————————
Trisko responded with - After careful consideration and review of your materials, we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you the representation you are seeking at this time. Please understand that our decision is based on a variety of factors including our current client roster and the specific needs of our agency.
We wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors.
Lucas - Agent responds that she liked my clips and would like to see more; she sent a 6 page audition script to put together; which I did and sent to her, then we said she doesn’t resonate with the performance of that piece so she wouldn’t be a suitable agent for me. So I said thank you for the opportunity.
Hectiq Artist - Responded excitedly, asking if the could see me that Monday for a meeting, and I told them I was not available on Monday; as I had to be on set for a BG work, but any other day that week will be fine for me; to which they responded with, they were busy throughout that week and that their roster is closed for the month of May; that is I am still agent-less on June 1st, I should reapply. Mind you this is April and not May so I was confused when I was told May roster was closed
——————————— I really am not sure what else to do; I have a credit (tv/film), prepared demo clip, professional headshots, IMDB, Actors Access set up, Casting workbook and Casting Network set up and ready to go, Training (LA based and Vancouver), I do BG often so (on set experience is there) so I am not sure else I am missing? I am clueless as to what else to do?
My apologies for the rant; I just need guidance and advice and clarity?
Thank you in advance.

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Seems to be a common issue.
They are really great at getting you hyped up after you order. Sending daily emails letting you know how to set it up, Some possible recipes, etc. Asking you to review the meals even before you get them.
The meals themselves aren't bad - A little on the expensive side for what seems to be a small portion, but I'm used to American sized portions, so what do I know.
But yes, last night I cooked the fourth meal ever in the oven, and an hour later it was dead. Then I discovered the joy that is their tech support.
My first attempt led me to zendesk, where I had to create an account to be told that I do not have permission to view the tech support there.
My second attempt was a bunch of questions like what type of question do I have, etc, which always ended up with "Record an audio clip" or "Record a Video clip" to continue. Since I was on a computer without a microphone or camera, that was very frustrating.
The third attempt was to email support, where I got a fast reply back asking me to unplug the oven for 3 minutes, and then plug into a different outlet, I followed the instructions, responded back to them that it was still broken and then nothing after that.
I have a bunch of meals scheduled to arrive tomorrow that I can't do anything about, but I have cancelled all the weeks in the future until I get this figured out.

The other day I signed up to insurance. All it took was a phone call, an email with my name, address, phone number, etc. and my BSB and Account Number. In the past I have donated to charities with just BSB and account number. I have also seen stories of people using a BSB & Account Number to cause a direct debit - someone lost $30K from their account when a form was submitted for a direct debit.
Got me wondering about how dangerous this can be. What can be done about it? IMO, banks should start requiring end-user verification for all proposed direct debits which are set up with the BSB and Acc No (I am not talking about card details). A user would have to sign in their internet banking or attend a branch with 100 pts of ID, approve the direct debit,
It is stupid that anyone with those details can sign you up to direct debits with no verification whatsoever.
I see these details being handed out quite freely on online marketplaces.. once you give it out you have no idea how that information may be used or shared.

So just kinda wanted to put this out there as I'm still confused on how SecretLab decided this, I got my chair a few days ago, right armrest broken and sent them photos and they are replacing it, yeahhh. Left armrest pad has a small blemish, I asked for a replacement since the chair is brand new. They say it's a blemish and doesn't effect functionality. I send a second email saying they should replace it because if the chair was at a big box store I'd just exchange the chair. They repeat does not effect functionality. So they offer me a set of 25 dollar whipes for free to keep up with my chair but not a 19 dollar armrest cover. Ya guys have one heck of a business model.

Happy Thursday, Barkada --

The PSE lost 50 points to 6559 ▼0.8%

Shout-out to Albert R. for riffing on the "guy sinking in pond" theme of yesterday's meme, to Sadok Bey for cheering on OGP and gold stocks in general, to Jing for being old fashioned about AI, to Xavier for asking interesting questions about the REIT sector ("who's following [AREIT]?"), to @Banapin_phl_stk for asking if the OGP IPO was appropriate (yes, because it was a legal compliance IPO), to Cheerful2_Dogman210x for noting that REITs should diversify away from offices (agree, but MREIT?), to Adept-Ad-8635 for asking about GMA7 dividends (sorry I don't know anything), and to arkitrader for posting a classic GIF.
*** ANNOUNCEMENT ***
We will have to wait until May 21 to get our daily dose of REIT commentary from Ely (Your REIT Buddy), because he and his wife Gladys are away on vacation celebrating their 1st wedding anniversary! Please join me in congratulating Ely and Gladys Paclibar on this significant life milestone and wishing them many more happy milestones to come!
*** ANNOUNCEMENT ***
Congratulations are also in order Dax Lucas and Miguel Camus for launching their PH business news startup, InsiderPH. Both are veteran business reporters (previously from the Philippine Daily Inquirer) I trust and frequently link to while drafting Merkado Barkada. It's great to see more journalists break out on their own!

▌In today's MB:

• SPNEC crushed on MSCI deletion
• CREC changed IPO date for better "feng shui"
• AREIT declares largest div in company's history
• APL Q1 net loss: P7.9-M (up 32%)

▌Daily meme Subscribe (it's free) Today's email

▌Main stories covered:

• [NEWS] SP New Energy crushed on MSCI deletion... SP New Energy [SPNEC 1.06 ▼6.2%; 150% avgVol] [pdf link] fell more than 6% yesterday as traders digested the MSCI Global Small Cap review results that indicated SPNEC would be deleted from the index, effective June 3. Cebu Pacific [CEB 29.50 ▼1.8%; 113% avgVol] is also scheduled for deletion from the index, while ACEN [ACEN 5.00 ▲9.4%; 478% avgVol] was selected for inclusion. Aboitiz Equity Ventures [AEV 37.00 ▼3.5%; 458% avgVol] was deleted from the MSCI Global Standard index.
  
  • MB: While the majority of people that I know don’t specifically trade index rebalancings, we are all impacted by these additions and deletions to some degree or another, so I think it’s important to flag when these rebalancings happen to make the markets seem just a little less random. For those who are unfamiliar, if you consider all the potential buyers of PSE stocks as just one room of buyers in the global “building” of potential buyers, getting added to an index is almost like getting credentials to access an entirely new room of potential buyers. Adding new buyers to the mix will drive up the price of the stock since the number of outstanding shares has not changed, only the number of interested buyers. That’s what is often referred to as “inflow”. Conversely, losing those new buyers will cause a drop in the price as due to the selling pressure from their need to exit their positions in anticipation of the stock losing its “credential” to access the room. That’s “outflow”. I know it’s a goofy analogy, but it can help new traders gain familiarity with all this talk of “inflows” and “outflows” around rebalancing moves.
• [UPDATE] CREC changed its IPO date for better feng shui... According to a report by Miguel R. Camus of InsiderPH [link], Citicore Renewable Energy Corp [CREC 3.88 pre-IPO] CEO Oliver Tan said that CREC moved its IPO back by a week to June 7 after consulting with a feng shui expert. Mr. Tan said that June 7 is a more “auspicious” date.
  
  • MB: While I’m not a very superstitious person, I understand why these considerations can creep in where the difference between success and failure can so often be attributed to random chance. We’ve seen companies in the past set their maximum IPO price at a number that is thought to carry better “luck”, but it’s hard to look at the history of IPO results and see much good luck in all that red. Good reason? Bad reason? It doesn’t make that much difference to me as an investor, and it likely won’t make any difference to anyone a year or two from now when CREC is listed and the IPO is just a distant memory. Still, thought it was interesting to pass this along since I was lightly speculating on the reason for the date change yesterday.
• [DIVS] AREIT declares largest dividend in company’s history... AREIT [AREIT 33.95 ▲0.1%; 116% avgVol] [link] declared a Q1/24 dividend of ₱0.56/share, payable on June 13 to shareholders of record as of May 28. The dividend has an annualized yield of 6.6%, which is a little higher than AREIT’s pre-dividend annualized yield of 6.48%. The total amount of the dividend is approximately 90.3% of the ₱1.47 billion in distributable income that AREIT reported for the period. AREIT’s year-to-date stock and dividend return is now up to 3.32%, and its total return since its IPO is now 54.56%.
  
  • MB: That’s 16 straight quarters of stable or growing dividends from AREIT. Their management team has weathered all of the issues and problems that have plagued the commercial REIT sector since the pandemic in 2020 (COVID, inflation, POGOs, etc), and they’ve managed to actually grow the dividend 10 times while doing it. Sure, their yield is the lowest of the REITs on the PSE, but it’s low for a reason: risk (or the relative lack thereof).
• [EARNINGS] Apollo Global Q1 net loss: ₱7.9-M (up 32%)... Apollo Global Capital [APL 0.01 ▲10.0%; 6% avgVol] [link] posted a Q1 net loss of ₱7.9 million, which was actually 32% better than its Q1/23 net loss of ₱11.5 million. The company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis section is still just a “Plan of Operations” because the company still has yet to earn a single peso of revenue from the offshore mining operation that it was supposed to have started in early 2021. APL’s current President, Bonner Dytoc, was appointed back in late 2022 after the company’s previous President resigned.
  
  • MB: Longtime readers will know how closely I’ve been following the trials and tribulations of the MB Siphon 1, the vessel that APL allegedly plans to use to eventually conduct its offshore mining. It’s now been 1199 days since APL reported that the MB Siphon 1 was “in position” and “ready to commence operations” before a series of storms, mechanical mishaps, financial transactions, big waves, and training outages conspired to keep the boat from its one and only purpose. I get the sense that even the PSE is getting fed up with the situation, which says a lot considering what they’ve been willing to tolerate from other companies; the PSE officially required APL to disclose the status of the MB Siphon 1 last month, and in response, APL said that the MB Siphon 1 is “currently undergoing its equipment maintenance and continuous enhancements to ensure safety, durability, and operational efficiency.” APL went on to say that it will commission another vessel to “supplement our operations for the year”. And the kicker: APL said that it is “on track to anticipate initial shipments within the second quarter of this year.” On track to anticipate? 60% of the time, that wordplay works every time.

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Do you think the yearly price hike is worth it?
For some background: I’m a journalist at Reviews.org and I’m looking to learn about customer experiences using MetroNet internet service for an upcoming article.
If you’d be interested in going on the record or know someone who would, (we can set up a phone call or Zoom interview) hat would be super helpful! Just send me a DM or email me at [kelly.huh@clearlink.com](mailto:kelly.huh@clearlink.com)

Hello, I want to set up email alerts on a saved search which triggers when a new sales order is created based on the criteria set on the search. Everything is working with the correct results, however the email alerts are not working.
I added my name as the recipient but no emails are being sent. I didn’t select the “send on update” because we kept on getting notifications for when the record is modified. We wanted to have alerts when a new sales order is added to the search results (when a new order is created).
Also, on updated fields I set the new field value to “billed” of the document status field but still no email alerts have been sent.
Is there something am doing wrong?

Hi Everyone. I’m looking for some advice. But want to vent and tell my story about my car.
So backstory… So I bought my car back in 2014 it had 1 previous owner and low mileage. I have a bit of a mechanic background but I don’t know everything. But I’m good at making sure my car is maintained. I live about 1.5-2 hours from the nearest dealership so I take it to a local shop where I live for oil changes and normal service/maintenance.
Now, back in mid Feb of 22 I was driving and my car just stopped on a dangerous corner while going over the mountain. I had no check engine lights on, no fluids on the ground or smoke nothing just stopped and wouldn’t start again. I was able to get it off to the side and flag someone down to call my dad to come get us and have it towed home. I took it home then towed to the local mechanic shop who said that the engine had seized.
I then had it towed to the dealership who had to put a new engine in it. I was told I would be put on a waiting list for a loaner car and that they would call me.
Well needless to say 6 & 1/2 months later no call for a loaner car at all (I called every week to check in to see if one was available) and they called me in late aug saying my car was finally done and I could come pick it up.
I went and got my car asked them if everything was done now? I was told yes! you’re good to go you have a new engine and all the recalls are fixed.
So I go back to normal life, but now after all that I was more cautious and stressed about going far distances and I’m constantly checking my mileage to see when it needs to be serviced and so on.
I haven’t taken any long trips after getting a new engine just maybe the farthest was about 4 hours from home and back once so 8 hours total. Other than that it’s just around town and to run errands.
I just had it serviced about 2 months ago (now it’s been 2 months), and well…here we are… mid march 24 and my car is throwing the P1326 code for the knock sensor.
I call Hyundai first not the dealership because I don’t want to be stuck without a vehicle again. I homeschool my son an I have had to cancel his last 2 end of the school year field trips (the school pays for everything) but I’m contacting Hyundai to see what they can do because I’m broke.
I can’t afford to pay for a rental car I had to scrape the money together to start up my AAA again just so I can get it towed to a dealership because that’s what Hyundai said to do. They said I have to pay to have it towed then if it is covered under warranty or the recall then I can get reimbursed for the tow.
I asked Hyundai if they can make sure that I will get a loaner or if they can set up and pay for the rental vehicle because I just can’t do it. I can’t afford it, and I understand the way things work they have to get the diagnostics done before but wouldn’t they be able to tell me if they can set it up if it is covered?
It’s not my fault that they sold me a car with all these issues. I paid my car payment on time every month and when the engine had to be replaced I only had 2 payments left on it!
But anyways I called Hyundai, I paid for my AAA to do that, I’m ready to have it towed to a dealership. I asked about the loaner and they said yes they should have a loaner if not they will discuss it and see what they can do and kept telling me that I can pay out of pocket for a rental and get reimbursed but I just can’t afford that!
So I call the dealership nearest me that did the engine replacement, they said they no longer have loaners. That they only have $45 a day rentals and that Hyundai doesn’t cover them. And that I would have to contact Hyundai to see what they would do.
So I called my case manager with Hyundai to see what they can do and of course he doesn’t answer.
I sent him an email saying I have been very patient and understanding about all of this but now I’m getting upset because I don’t think I’m asking for too much. I have had all these issues, and before when it was towed I never asked to be reimbursed for the tow, and I didn’t plan to do it this time either and they can’t even get me into a loaner car?
I just don’t know what to do anymore. People keep telling me to seek legal advice and I don’t want to get into all of that I just want my car fixed and I just want a car to drive while mine is being repaired. AGAIN. I can’t afford all of this money for a rental car it’s like $500 not including a deposit I’m sure for a week.
I’m sorry if this is long and all over the place I’m not usually a poster more of a read and give advice kinda Reddit girl. But would like to know others thoughts, ideas, suggestions and opinions. Am I asking for too much? Am I being a Karen lol I don’t know what to do. 🤦🏻‍♀️😔🥺😭

How do you feel about the price?
How has your experience been with speed and overall reliability?
What’s your experience with customer service?
For some background: I’m a journalist at Reviews.org and I’m looking to learn about customer experiences using MetroNet internet service for an upcoming article.
If you’d be interested in going on the record or know someone who would, (we can set up a phone call or Zoom interview) hat would be super helpful! Just send me a DM or email me at [kelly.huh@clearlink.com](mailto:kelly.huh@clearlink.com)

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 Store Hobby Link Japan (aka HLJ) Solaris Japan (MFC partner) BigBadToyStore (MFC partner, US retailer) Big in Japan (also has proxy service) Tokyo Otaku Mode FigureHaven Archonia (EU) Yorokonde (EU) Figuya (EU) Gamersheek (UK) 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.
  

If you’re unsure about whether or not a shop we haven’t listed will combine your orders, please refer to their individual FAQs.
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.
• European Union: As of 1st July 2021, VAT has to be paid on all goods imported from outside of the EU. Retailers are supposed charge VAT for purchases under €150, however many Japanese retailers currently do not, so VAT will be charged when your order arrives in the EU. Orders that are >€150, VAT and duty will be charged by your local customs.
• UK: As of 1st January 2021, VAT is to be charged by retailers for orders <£135. However, customs isn't currently charging VAT on parcels valued at <£135, even if the VAT hasn't been paid. Goods >£135 will have their VAT and duty calculated and charged by customs.
• 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:

• Klingsbo
• Billy (Often used with Morliden doors (now the HÖGBO and glass shelves.)
• Detolf: Formerly the go-to choice for inexpensive display cabinetry, the Detolf was first made flimsier around 2020 and then essentially phased out of the name, to become the BLÅLIDEN. Knockoff versions of widely-varying quality are commonly found on other shopping sites these days, though.

*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 were discontinued after a long run. A current version is the Vattensten, if you're inclined to buy your case and lights at the same time.
LED strips have become very commonly available in recent years; most hardware and home furnishing stores carry a selection now. 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. What are "scales" and "prizes"? What is the difference between them?
Those are classifications for figures based on a few factors.

• "Prizes" are generally more simply produced figures which are intended to be given as prizes for playing arcade games. They are inexpensive and lack the detail of scale figures, though some prize figure lines have standouts which may approach lower-end scales in quality. That is uncommon and often depends on the individual figure.
• "Scales" are called such because they are nominally designed to be proportional to the dimensions of the character which they are based on. They are generally of much better manufacture and materials than prize figures, allowing for more detail in painting, accessories, or complex poses.
• "Trading" figures appear in gashapon machines or as blind boxes on shop counters, often as sets which include multiple characters. As suggested by the class name, the randomness encourages trading. They are usually very inexpensively-produced, though as with prizes, some series are better than others.
• "Non-scale" encompasses a variety of other categories. It is often used to describe poseable figure lines such as figma and Nendoroids.

In recent years producers such as Good Smile Company attempted to further bridge the gap between prize quality and scales by introducing figure lines which are intended to be moderately-priced while retaining a higher level of detail than the typical prize figure, to varying levels of success.
17. 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)
• Flare
• Stronger

18. 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.
19. 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

20. 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
• Alter’s Blog (In Japanese)
• Kahotan’s Blog (Only GSC and their sister companies)

Many figure companies are active on Twitter, so following them there is recommended for quicker news.
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.
21. 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.
22. 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.

Like every product/service. SaaS products are different. They are intangible. They have intangible buyers. They have subscribers like Netflix, who have to pay for their product/ service annually, monthly, or quarterly.
To increase sales, they have a few tricks which are by giving annual discounts, showing off customer testimonials, social media promotions, enhanced customer experience, demos, Live chats, CTA, set up calls, and Feedback to retain the customer.
Not only this, this industry has its process as it has an intangible audience. So, they have to understand their presentations not through body language but by how they are expressing their views or presenting their questions in an email or call.
Providing Free trials is mostly there in the SaaS industry. As the audience will get to know what your product is creating value to their biz and how it is helpful in the growth of the biz by saving time/ money.
The free trial should not be too long or short. It should depend upon the complexity of the software.
Before knowing the technique one should know what Saas is and how it works. Right? Like before buying anything we ask for the price of the product.

The Fundamentals

“Having a repeatable process empowers your sales reps to sell with efficiency and confidence”. The process begins from:
Prospecting:Since we are selling it to the tech-savvy audience, we will do inbound marketing which includes blogs, online posts, email newsletters, whitepapers, etc.
In addition to that, we can do face-to-face interaction with potential buyers which is rare in this SaaS industry.
Qualifying: Not all visitors on your website or trial subscribers will buy the product. To know that, there are lead scores which is an automatic way to qualify leads and you will get information and interpret it from your data and assign it with the lead scores from 1 to 10.
Another way is to start a trial is to email them or call them for after-sale service. So, you will get an idea of the status of the buyer.
Presenting: Mostly it’s not possible to present in face-to-face interactions in the SaaS industry otherwise we have got it through body language.
Through online mode, presenting would be done through email sequence and frequent follow-ups which will let us know the pain points the way it’s been expressed.
Handling objectives: After presenting, prospects have questions and concerns about the product or service. So, you must have known what most of the customers ask and know how to handle the response of the prospect.
Closing: At this moment, the prospect becomes your customer. In this stage, we will deliver the final proposal of the product and negotiate with the customer.
Nurturing: to retain the SaaS customers excluding customer support which includes training for existing and new customers. Feedback includes reviews, rates, and testimonials.
Part of their happy moments by sending happy birthday, and celebration notes, etc.

How to increase your SaaS conversions using the right marketing strategy:

Create strategic trial duration
Most of the SaaS products have a trial duration. As it is a great way to hook new customers to buy, however, to make it worthwhile, you should plan it strategically.
When the customer has the opportunity to get trials which will help them to know the value of the product in their biz as well as the benefit of your offering.
The trial period should depend on the software. if the software is complex then 14 days or more trials would work. But what if the software is easy to adapt and gives the trial for 30 days?
It would only make the sale cycle long and there would be fewer customers buying the product. As they know every part of your software and will compare with the alternatives of the service. So, it depends on the product.
Custom/ live setup call
Many of us don’t know how to set up the software. How did things work? These customers have the priority of how the software will work for them by giving lesser importance to how your products work.
SaaS has the highest conversion from this special technique of Live setup call only. This CRM would help them to achieve their objective related to the product they have taken a trial or purchased.
Leverage Annual discounts
Many SaaS products offer annual discounts in exchange for the customer paying the bill all at once in a cheaper amount as compared to paying it every month which attracts customers to attain the service. While the company gets a sizable influx of cash at a moment and doesn’t get worried about a customer leaving at any moment.
Automated follow-up
As you see whenever you log in to the florist website or hospital website. They will ask ‘how may I help you?’ which is an automated way of assisting you. In the same way, these automated services will help the new customer to assist with the service and product and they have common queries stored which will be solved by the assistant by putting up the questions and shortening the sale cycle.
Content Marketing
This is the only way of communication between the buyer and seller. By reading your content, understanding it, and perceiving it makes the buyer come into your contact. Biz around the globe is using content marketing to reach the audience and generate leads. With consistency, you share the content it will increase its value over time
PPC( pay per click) also generates leads but with valuable content. So, content marketing is an asset for biz owners while online ads are temporary or rented. Biz around the globe is using content marketing to reach the audience and generate leads. Keeping content quality consistent across multiple channels helps increase brand awareness among your audience.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
This feature works hand in hand with content marketing by making it discoverable in google, bing, and ranking it in two ways: On-page SEO and off-page SEO.
On-page SEO: This form is under your control. You create content that people search to read. By adding internal links, UI, use of the title, and description.
Off-Page SEO: Mainly, when we hear about SEO, links are the things that click us. But getting the right trusted and authoritative link is what matters! The best way to gain links and shares is by a distribution strategy.
Google AdWords
While inbound marketing reduces the spending of Adwords, zillion people are still clicking on the search engine ads per day. If you don’t want to miss out on these people to generate leads then you should still invest in PPCi.e pay per click.
PPC is beneficiary as it is scalable, generate leads, and generate the best ROI for your biz
Pro Tip: to increases sales, some strategies to take care of is to choose the right model of SaaS, identify the target audience and its value proposition, set prospect qualification criteria, create templates, call scripts, set revenue goals, create a customer support system, and keep track of sales performance metrics that will be effective in rank in the SEO.
Want to connect or schedule a call with me? send an inbox.

Hello everyone,
I need some advice on whether to contact the Dean about my academic situation and whether further action is warranted.
At my institution, our program requires an average of 76.5% across four exams. I passed the first three with 78%, 80%, and 86%, respectively. However, I scored poorly on the final exam, resulting in an overall grade of 75.11%, causing me to fail the course. According to our college policy, only exam scores count towards the final grade.
While I accept this policy, I'm facing issues with reviewing my final exam. Our school's policy limits exam reviews to discussing "general themes" and avoids specific questions or detailed grading to protect the integrity of the exams. This lack of detailed feedback, especially given my near-passing grade, makes me question the fairness of the grading.
Here is more detail on their policy:

Review Format and Content: During the review, instructors may discuss general themes or areas where many students struggled, but specific exam questions or grading are not discussed in detail to maintain exam integrity.

To me, this seems highly unfair, especially considering how close I am to passing the course. Not allowing me to see how any of my exams were graded, and if they were graded fairly makes me highly suspicious of the outcome. The professor will not even tell me what exactly I got wrong. How can I know if this was graded appropriately? Am I supposed to just trust them, and hope for the best? Especially in a scenario like this where I am so close to passing? I feel like this goes against some law, so I asked chat GPT about FERPA this is the response I got:

As of my last update, there is no specific federal law that makes it illegal to prevent students from reviewing specific questions and answers of an exam in an educational setting. Educational institutions generally have the discretion to create and enforce their own policies regarding exam reviews, as long as they comply with broader educational standards and regulations such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
FERPA primarily ensures the privacy of student education records, but it does not mandate that institutions must allow detailed exam reviews. However, it does give students the right to access their educational records, which can include exam papers, under certain conditions and formats determined by the institution.
Colleges and universities often set their own policies regarding the review of graded exams to protect the integrity of the exam content and to prevent the potential compromise of future exam administrations. These policies can include restrictions on the detail of reviews or the environment in which they are conducted (e.g., supervised settings). Institutions are expected to communicate these policies clearly to students

Another issue is that the program I am part of decided to put two very difficult final exams on one day. Fine, I said. I would study and handle that and it didn't go well for me.
During the final exam meeting I requested with the professor I brought up the fact that having 2 exams on one day most likely effected my performance and they told me: "That I verbally said that some students can move their exam date. However there was limited slots." This shocked me. I record my classes, and I have a 95% attendance rating and I never recalled hearing that. Its possible they mentioned it when I was at the bathroom, or if I was late to class one day, but I do not recall that ever happening.
My issue with this is that, why are some students allowed to take the final on a separate day, but not others? How could there be limited slots? That to me feels like preferential treatment, since this could potentially allow some students in class an extra day of study. That extra day of studying is pass or fail to me now. Also, who makes the final decision on who can take what exam on what day now?
After I mentioned I never heard of this "move exam date" treatment, they said something of the like: "I am not building a wall between us."
What do you mean? I have emails that I sent to the professor asking for help about exam preparation that they never responded to. It happened on multiple occasions when I required help I was ignored, and now I learned that some students were given an extra day to study and the professor will not budge on letting me review my exam.
I admit, I had a bad exam day. But to have 1 test determine my pass or fail of an entire course after putting in hours (and I do mean HOURS, as in ~4 hours a day), of study and work feels wrong. Especially given how close to passing I am.
Overall, they wont let me review my final exam or any exam AT ALL after the fact. Won't let me find a way to pass even though I am 1.4% away. Apparently, gave other students possibly an extra day to study, without notifying all students via Canvas or Email that moving the exam day was an option. Which also feels unfair to all the students that had to take the 2 exams in one day.
Should I contact the Dean and my Professor's boss about this? I feel like I have been treated pretty unfairly. Or am I just overreacting?
Should I just retake the class? Keep in mind, I am only allowed a limited amount of failures here. I know in my heart I am ready for the next class, and this one bad exam shouldn't make or break a whole course for me.
I also don't want to be a problem student, but being so close to passing really bothers me.

You may have seen the email from Air Canada today about the seat sale to Australia that includes an offer of up to 15,000 bonus Aeroplan points. Just as with all Air Canada flight bonuses, registration is required before booking to receive the bonus.
However it appears AC forget to add the registration button on the landing page! We have reached out to our contacts at AC and will let the Rewards Canada community know once they get the registration set up for this offer so that you can earn the bonus points! (So don't book your flights just yet!)
** The landing page has been updated now and you can now register to earn the bonus points https://www.aircanada.com/en-ca/flights-to-australia

For the first time since his incarceration, Bankman-Fried described his daily life in a detailed interview with journalist William D. Cohan of Puck:

On a recent Tuesday, I went to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for an intimate chat with America’s most famous prisoner, Sam Bankman-Fried. During our 75-minute conversation, we discussed everything from Caroline Ellison and the travails of his new life, to his regrets about the demise of FTX and his forthcoming appeal.
I got the distinct impression that Sam still doesn’t believe he committed any crimes, only that he was the one responsible for putting FTX in a position where it was vulnerable to a bank run and the devious actions of its competitors

WILLIAM D. COHAN -- May 9, 2024
On Tuesday afternoon, I found myself in the most unusual circumstances—sitting on a small plastic chair at a cramped table in the Metropolitan Detention Center, the federal prison on 29th Street in Sunset Park, in Deep Brooklyn. Outside, it was a gorgeous day, the sort of picturesque and slightly humid one that inevitably reminds longtime New Yorkers of the weather on the morning of September 11th. Inside the prison’s visiting room, however, there was no natural light, no sunshine, only the Hitchcockian buzz of fluorescent bulbs and three vending machines standing in a corner. Posters on the wall attempted to compensate for the bleak atmosphere by buoyantly welcoming visiting families.
I first met Sam Bankman-Fried in December 2021, during the height of his power and influence, when he was the richest person in the world under 30. My friend Anthony Scaramucci, a.k.a. The Mooch, had connected us. On a cold winter night at the One Hotel, on Sixth Avenue, I interviewed him for a documentary I am part of making about Bitcoin and its developer, Satoshi Nakamato. Sam showed up an hour late, in a black t-shirt and cargo shorts, apparently having just flown in via private jet from the Bahamas. A month later, Sam’s cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, would raise its final $400 million round of financing from a group of highfalutin investors—led by Softbank, Temasek, and Paradigm—at a valuation of $32 billion, making the company one of the most valuable in the sector. At that moment, Sam was said to be worth $26 billion.
This week, we reconnected amid very different circumstances. Sam and I arranged for this visit through his Corrlinks email account, at the suggestion of his mother, Barbara Fried, and the family’s prison advisor. We met on Tuesday around 1 p.m. because that was the only day that visiting hours are permitted at MDC, a hangover from the Covid era. Prisoners can have visitors for one of two sessions, either starting at noon or at five in the afternoon.
We were meeting later than noon because of the staffing shortage at the facility. I was allowed to bring in $1 or $5 bills, up to a total of $30, in case I wanted to buy Sam some water, soda, or snacks from the humming vending machines. I was told to put my $20 bill as well as my wallet and iPhone into a locker. Sam was not permitted to buy anything himself.
Following about an hour of bureaucratic snafus (I went to the wrong building at first, and I wasn’t wearing dark pants—although an exception was made for me) and other forms of prison processing (shoes and belt off, metal detection, sticking my hand in a scanner) I was finally allowed inside the prison, without a phone, a watch, a recording device, or even a pad of paper and a pencil. (I knew this in advance, of course, and set about preserving my recollections of our conversation immediately after leaving the facility.)
After a few minutes of waiting, I looked up to see Sam Bankman-Fried, over in the corner, dressed head to toe in a chocolate-brown prison jumpsuit, along with the still-wild frizzy hair that has been his trademark. These days, Sam looks considerably thinner than the last time we met—it appeared he’d lost 25 pounds, at least. But he looked better and fitter than I thought he would, to be honest—less pudgy, less manic, less fidgety, no bags under his eyes.
He was sustaining himself on rice and beans, he said, because the prison food was unsurprisingly inedible, especially the vegan entrées he was served, which his fellow inmates thought literally smelled like shit. He wasn’t complaining, mind you; he noted that he was just trying to make the best of a bad situation. The rice he buys at the prison commissary has become one of the currencies of the realm inside MDC. We joked briefly about how the arbitrage opportunities in jail were better than anything he experienced trading crypto at Jane Street Capital or buying and selling assets at Alameda. He looked me in the eye pretty much the whole time, something he rarely did with people in the old days.
After we shook hands, he sat down in his own plastic chair as a camera watched us from the ceiling. We were surrounded by a couple of other inmates, dressed similarly, facing their visitors. Sam declined my initial offer to buy him some snacks but ultimately agreed to a $4 bottle of water and a small $2 package of Wheat Thins, which he eagerly consumed.
We talked for the next 75 minutes or so, the first in-person interview he has given to a journalist since he was locked up in the MDC last August and then subsequently convicted of two counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, and money-laundering at his federal trial in November. In March, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Our chat, under these rather drastic circumstances, was a profoundly jarring and fascinating experience.

Prison Diaries

Sam began by answering my question about his life in prison. According to him, he lives in an area of the jail that was dedicated mostly to incarcerated women, save for the 35 men with whom he shares a dormitory-style existence in a big open room—bunk beds, no privacy, extreme boredom, and four television sets tuned to ESPN, Telemundo, BET, and a news channel. Sam said he could try to persuade his fellow inmates to change up the channel selection, but television bores him, so he has no interest in that challenge. He prefers watching a small selection of movies or playing some inferior video games on a tablet, without an internet connection, that the prison provides him and other inmates.
When I told him he seemed better than I had anticipated, he replied that he’d become good at faking it. So, yes, life inside the MDC is not the Bahamas. But, truly, I had expected to see him coping less well. At the MDC, Sam has mostly been permitted his prescription medications, and the cocktail he’s been allowed has him thinking clearly, he said, and energized for the legal battle he plans to wage soon against the verdict.
In the meantime, he told me, he doesn’t fear for his safety. He can use the bathroom and shower a couple of times a week in peace. He’s always been a light sleeper, and he’s still not sleeping soundly at the MDC, but mostly because people sometimes bug him during the night about those bags of rice, which they intend to use to barter. He has not been touched or abused, and he seemed notably thankful for that.
He acknowledged that he has a unique rap sheet at MDC, and his fellow prisoners indeed recognize him. He estimated that about half of the other 35 men in his unit were murderers who had been turned into cooperating witnesses for the prosecution in exchange for not serving a life sentence. In prison, many inmates consider cooperating witnesses the lowest form of vermin, lower even than child molesters. Sam also told me that some of the other prisoners tried to get close to him, thinking they would benefit financially from the proximity to a former billionaire. He doesn’t play along, he said.
We didn’t talk about his trial strategy or whether he intentionally siphoned off the $8 billion of FTX customer funds into Alameda. Both topics seemed moot at this point. We did discuss his onetime girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, whom he selected to run Alameda after lawyers kept hounding him about the inherent conflicts in him running both FTX and the hedge fund. (He chose to run FTX.) He acknowledged that he had asked a few other people if they would be interested in the role, but they turned him down. Ellison, he said, was a good manager of people and a good administrator but didn’t like making big investments and didn’t like taking risks. (Obviously, this seems like a bizarre aversion for a hedge fund manager, but I didn’t belabor the point.) In any event, Alameda ended up doing both.
He regretted that he had not tried harder to find another executive. He also said he should have ignored the lawyers and just kept running both FTX and Alameda, conflicts be damned, sort of like how Elon Musk oversees his various companies. Wishing he had ignored his lawyers’ advice emerged as a theme of Sam’s during our visit.

Legal Therapy

We did talk a fair amount about his appeal and about how he believed he was set up to be the fall guy—the victim of the old build-’em-up-only-to-tear-’em-down narrative arc. His theory of the case was that by the fall of 2022, it was every man for himself on a boat that looked to be sinking. By early November 2022, FTX was facing a liquidity crunch. Sam first sought a deal with Binance, which quickly fell apart or was never truly real, and was in the process of trying to raise billions in capital when his lawyers advised him to turn the keys of FTX over to John J. Ray III, which he did. Ray quickly filed FTX for bankruptcy and installed Sullivan & Cromwell, the company’s outside counsel, as counsel to the debtor.
Sam became the target of federal prosecutors, he told me, soon after FTX’s outside counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell made a presentation to them, on November 9, 2022, a day or so before the bankruptcy filing, about what they believed Sam may have engineered between FTX and Alameda, which has been described as the theft of $8 billion of customer money. In a sworn declaration about that meeting, S&C attorney Andrew Dietderich said he reported to the D.O.J. only what Ryne Miller, FTX’s U.S. general counsel, told him about a problem of “reconciling digital assets with entitlements” on FTX’s U.S. exchange, and nothing about Sam and his alleged transgressions.
Sam told me that had he not been persuaded by Sullivan & Cromwell and then by his personal attorneys to relinquish his job as C.E.O. to Ray, the company would not have filed for bankruptcy, and it would still be a thriving enterprise, worth $80 billion now. In this alternate reality, he would be worth $40 billion and he certainly wouldn’t be at the MDC. (S&C declined to comment on Sam’s theory of the case. It’s also fair to reiterate here that Sam was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him of the crimes described above.)
I got the distinct impression that Sam still doesn’t believe he committed any crimes, only that he was the one responsible for putting FTX in a position where it was vulnerable to a bank run and the devious actions of its competitors, not unlike how both Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers failed in 2008. Why, Sam wondered, was he prosecuted when no one at either Bear or Lehman faced criminal prosecution? During our chat, Sam was contrite and certainly chastened, but not exactly apologetic: He was adamant about his innocence, aside from a few degrees of negligence—punishable, in his view, perhaps by civil consequences, not criminal penalties and a quarter-century sentence.
According to Sam’s theory, he isn’t in prison for commingling assets of FTX and Alameda. Instead, he’s an innocent guy who didn’t get a chance to negotiate a deal with the federal prosecutors, and wonders why he was even prosecuted at all for what he believes was a form of a bank run. Instead, they just presented him with his indictment and told him he could eat it— accept it and plead guilty and then get sentenced, or go to trial and try to fight it. Since there was no plea bargain on the table, he said, he fought the charges at trial, and lost. Unlike his fellow inmates, he told me, Sam speaks to his new attorney nearly every weekday for an hour or so, as the focus of his appeal comes into view. He expects to file it this fall. Yes, he will appeal, but most people think he faces long odds of success.
On the day of my visit, Sullivan & Cromwell, still counsel to the debtor-in-possession in FTX’s bankruptcy case, filed a first draft of a plan of reorganization that appears to give its customers and creditors all of their money back, plus a little more—a return of $15 billion on $12 billion of claims—in large part because of the investments Sam made through Alameda. The plan, which still has a long way to go before being confirmed, also gives Sullivan & Cromwell, along with other FTX advisors, “exculpation” from future lawsuits related to its conduct in the matter. This is not unusual in a plan of reorganization. But Sam has exhaustive thoughts on this subject, which I may explore with him in a follow-up conversation.

Go West, Young Man

I’m not sure how much longer Sam will be at the MDC, and neither is he. He has asked to remain in Brooklyn at least until the fall, when his appellate brief will be filed. But that’s not up to him, of course. If he gets moved, which could come at any moment without warning or explanation, I’m told, it would probably be to California, closer to Palo Alto, where he grew up, the son of two Stanford Law professors. At that point, the question will be whether he gets to spend his incarcerated years in a federal penitentiary, which are mostly nasty places filled with hardened criminals, or in more of a minimum security prison, as Mike Milken once did.
If he does get moved out of Brooklyn, his family and legal team worry, he could spend as long as four months on a bus, handcuffed to the seat, making his way, slowly, across the country. Such prison buses make frequent stops—picking up new prisoners, dropping off others—which explains why they take so long to reach their final destinations. There’s also a remote possibility that he could be placed on one of the many planes operated by the U.S. Marshals Service, a.k.a. “Con Air.” But he’s more likely to get the infamous “diesel therapy,” they fear. Either way, during this hypothetical cross-country journey, Sam would be completely incommunicado with both his family and his lawyers until he reaches his new home in California, deprived of the minimal access to the internet and email he now enjoys in Brooklyn.
Just as we were getting ready to discuss some knotty issues, such as his choices during his trial or the fact that many of the people who once worked for him had turned against him to save themselves, our visiting time was up. It was non-negotiable. We quickly shook hands again. Then Sam went back to his dormitory and I went back outside into a glorious spring afternoon.
Credits/Via: https://puck.news/exclusive-prison-chat-with-sam-bankman-fried/