November 7, 2006
Story by Chris Rhoads (dustrho)
 
INTRODUCTION
Six years... that's how long Sandtroopers.com has been around, and that is an awful long time when you sit back and think about it. Many of you troopers have only been with us for a year or two, and a good number of you have been here since the day we opened up our doors to the public back in 2000. Many people have come and gone, and ownership has changed recently allowing many drastic improvements to happen to the site. The biggest change in recent years was the creation of our own forums, which is quickly approaching 2,000 members. That is a huge amount of people to have joined in such a short period of time.

OUR PURPOSE
We have a lot of forum members, so what? Are they all "active" members? Hell no, but the ones who are active are major assets to this site. They not only help make the forums an interesting place to visit or a place you have to visit on a daily basis, but they also help build up your collections. If you haven't heard by now, one of the greatest things about Sandtroopers.com is the fact that we are here to help one another. We're not here to make a quick buck like some other sites, nor are we only here just for our (the staff's) enjoyment. We're here so that you can fill holes in your collection and to build a strong community of Star Wars fanatics who want to share their passion with others. These forums have some of the most unselfish people I have ever met in my entire life. You know there's some truly unselfish people when you have members sending other members toys, and the ones doing the sending don't even want anything in return. It's truly amazing to know how much of a family we all are with one another.

THE MARKETPLACE
Our marketplace section in the forums is one of the most active sections there. Hundreds of people from around the world have been posting their trade lists and classifieds in the marketplace. Take a look for yourself to see how active that section really is. What's really cool is when people sell their toys and other Star Wars collectibles, they usually sell them for what the going rate is and if it's something that was recently released they sell those items for cost. I have done an awful lot of trading, buying and selling in our forums with other ST.com members, and thanks to many of you my collection wouldn't be what it is today.

We all have experienced droughts at our local Targets, Wal-Marts and Toys 'R Us stores, so you know how frustrating it can be when you can't find new toys in those stores. I know that for the last year I've been having the worst luck finding new product, and that's probably the biggest reason why I don't go out on hunts anymore. It sickens me to look through the toy section where Star Wars products usually reside, and you have toys that are severely outdated. I bet I'm missing most of the last two waves of figures, but I'm not all that concerned because I know that if I really want these figures I can rely on the members of our site to help me out. The days of stressing out about spending big time bucks on eBay for Star Wars toys is over (unless there's something really odd and/or rare that I want).

REVIEWS, VISUAL GUIDES AND MORE
One thing that separates us from the rest has to be some of the areas in our Sandwatch menu. The most exciting section there has to be the visual guides, as they bring the toys to life in front of your eyes. Thanks to the help of our main guide experts, Boba Binks and Desert Rat, we have the best-looking visual guides to satisfy your every need. Some examples of the guides include the following: Gentle Giant mini-busts, holiday action figures (Yoda, R2-D2 and C-3PO, Jawas), Kotobukiya figures, Miniatures and Sideshow Collectibles large action figures. There's much more than that, but you'll have to check out that section for yourself.

If you like reading reviews on Star Wars action figures with a “spice” to them, you'll absolutely love reading all the reviews that Darth Spice (Sandtroopers.com owner) has composed over the years. Darth Spice tells it like it is, with all the brutal honesty a Star Wars collector can possess. If Hasbro makes a great figure he'll share his excitement about it. If Hasbro makes a crappy figure, you'll definitely hear his criticism stating why the figure failed so miserably. Honesty is the best policy, and that's why his reviews have always been so incredibly entertaining to read. Plus, it's not just what he writes that's done so well, but also the images he has captured of all the figures that have been made so far. He usually creates a couple “action” scenes with the figures, and while most of them are re-creations of scenes from the films, others are done to get a good chuckle out of you.

With all the tools we have at your disposal, you'd be a fool not to utilize what we have to offer you.

GIVING BACK
Using Sandtroopers.com not only gives you a wealth of information at your fingertips, but what other site repeatedly gives away prizes for simply using their site? One such program that we run here is called the “Sandblast.” This contest is run every single year when we hit our yearly birthday (August), and in the past we have averaged close to thirty prizes that were handed out to registered forum members. That's a whole lot of prizes, and most of these were top-dollar types of prizes (i.e. Props from Master Replicas, Kotobukiya figures, etc).

Another program that we started earlier this year is the “Trooper of the Month” (TOTM) contest. Instead of us choosing randomly who ends up being the winner, it's you and the rest of the forum members nominating those who deserve to win. If someone feels you've helped them out in the past, chances are you may be nominated to win the title of TOTM. Not only will you be the only person with that title, but you'll also be the lucky winner of a pre-determined prize.

What other site out there gives so much back to their members? Just by being yourself, participating in the forums, and helping out others gives you the chance of earning respect and prizes. How cool is that?

IN SUMMARY
So, my question to you is simple: are you using Sandtroopers.com? If you haven't been using us then you're missing out on something special. We have all the tools that you could possibly think of using, and of course they're all free. There's just too many reasons why you should be using this site, but if you choose to not use us that's your choice. Just remember that you aren't experiencing the Star Wars experience like you should be.

United We Find!