Figure Giveaway

I think the caption one are really fun to participate in...Just seeing other members creativity can bring joy for everyone..

or

vote for the otaku of the week.. by comparing their rooms or their life style.... put it to a vote...

To which ever is decided, it will be fun. The added bonus of getting a free figure is icing on the cake.

hehe nice, actually no idea which one is the best but implement the janken thing anyways (not for figs), sounds like i would have a blast with that haha. xD

Get the feeling this competition is going to be much harder than the last one, that game tool sounds fun.

I like choice #3 the best but there's a slight issue with that. Some people like me have absolutely no shame and can and probably will go to any length to win. I'm already planning on going to starbucks in a top hat, monocle and a suit with my dakimakura and sitting in there to have coffee for the fun of it.

If you do more than one I'd say #3 and #4 would be best bets.

playing jan ken pon and then u got figure LOL

I like the idea ^^

but u should give a condition of which the ammount of minimun participation on a match, because winning one time in just one match is 100%

I think captions minus the contributors name would be fairest, that way a person who hasn't been posting here as long *ahem* has as fair a chance as some of the longer established posters.

I say caption a figure photo... or something else... thinking thinking... hmm... The best figure/anime/game reviews? Articles?

Point #1, 2, & 3 is more suitable, I personally like #3 as it will surely give the community a boost of laughter ^^
IMVHO, #4 is just too random.

find out ho brings out the best in Otakuism! #3 for me, but #1 is good as well!

I Think a Otaku Battle is the best way

like show your figure collection
or manga collection

You could have a silent bidding, where the lowest unique bid (one price with only one bidder) wins the figure. Don't know how you would combat this if people made multiple accounts, changing ips etc. Just an idea.

I don't really know, honestly. I think it's perfectly fair that you reward the members who contribute and have been around for a while. I think you should restrict it to members with a certain amount of comments, and I like #1 and #3 the most. I would say #4, but that would make it a bit TOO easy. Then again, though. Some people may not have the ability to do some of the things required in order to fulfill #1, 2, or 3. I think there might be better ways of doing it, not really sure what those would be though.

Hmm, I'd have suggested a monthly leader board of participation, however...I can see that being spammed with needless posts. >.<;; And besides, I'm still too scared to contribute so I definitely wouldn't do well with that. I like the photo contest idea, because that has the potential to advertise DannyChoo.com while I'm explaining to everyone I'm taking perverted pictures inside a McDonald's... ^^;; Whatever the case, I think it definitely should be earned through some artistic work like figure photography/captions or a youtube skit.

If you do the rock paper scissors, it could give groups of people opportunity to collude and cheat. If you do photos, it could shortchange people who lack digital cameras, figures, or knowledge of editing photos; with photos, the shortchanged are people who come in late after good ideas have been posted. Might be easier if we all drew straws.
#1, #2 seem to have the most ubiquitous requirements though, so those sound good.

Caption is a good idea, but I think there should be a limit to how many figures a single member can win. It wouldn't be fair if the same members kept on winning, share the love I say!

#3 is my fav, it would generate alot of posts and mostly humor so i think there would have to be a special section, i think this would be a good one. but i was thinking that you can only do so many of these, maybe we could change games mid month or so?

The first and second ideas sound good.

Talk about fairness, there's no ways up there which are 100% fair IMO..

Point 1 - 3 can be misused by members which have known each other for so long. They will prefer to vote for their friends , regardless of the result.
Luckily, this is an international blog, so that effects are not too severe ^^

why not YOU who choose the favourite, Danny? That will be the fairest way , rite? :3

I think taking photos is a nice idea. It brings out the otaku in all of us and shows us our willingness to do it as well.

Seems fair enough, the caption is the easiest to do but wont "ensure" long time registered regular member (like me, thou i dont login everytime.) to win against a first time new comer (who may or may not come back to the site.).

The rock paper scissor is fun and as you said it would take a lot longer (and maybe hackable somehow by those 1337 scripting kiddies.)

Maybe you can implement some sorta loyalty point which counts by the login days of the member: the more login days (not the number of login times in one day) you got, the more points you can use towards your competition to help you win. Hows that sound?

Options 1, 2 or 3 sound fair. Maybe there could also be a best figure review of the month, all photos to be taken by the reviewer. The figure should not have to be a new release, as many members can't afford to go out and buy the latest figures.

Definitely agree with this only being available to contributing members, maybe put a certain limit that members have had to be registered for a few months or have a certain number of posts...

I like all the ideas for competitions, maybe try-out each one?

The first 2 ideas seem the most fairest to everyone. I personally live in a small village, so doing no.3 would be very limited, though i'm not sure how many other readers are in this position. And you have already stated the dis-advantages of the last 2. Though a slight alteration on the figure photo idea, the entrants could take a photo using their own figures and caption that. Although, that may be unfair to those that can't really afford figures. Hope that helped in some way.

Captions seems more funny to me.

I say the caption!

I think caption a figure photos will be fun. However, when i look at the third one

"You earn it by going out in public and taking figure pics in the most embarrassing situations - members vote for their fave."

I think this idea is going to be fun and more challenging. The question still lies if any of us would want to sacrifice ourselves over the figures contest.

Captioning a figure photo would be best, fair and funny, a win-win situation!

I think the captions are a good idea, as well as the rock/paper/scissors game. Most important is that everyone who falls in the category 'regular member' should be able to win with equal chances.

Captions would definitely be the most accessible. As for rewarding those who are regular readers, maybe you could somehow allow only those certain people to participate. Maybe for instance those who have featured feeds on your site, or those who have posted a number of member news, or those who have posted XX number of comments, or who have a combination of those things.

And I also agree with somebody else to make submissions anonymous, so people don't try to get others to vote for one entry or another...

I dunno...I don't really have any good ideas -_-

I agree caption is a good idea, the 2nd and the 3rd sounds really fair, and I don't have much to complain about that. The promotion of these figure giveaway will interest the users, but how long it will last if implemented?

I think a good idea would be to choose something new everytime a figure will be given away. I think that's fair since due to various reasons, it might be easier for some members to win certain competitions. Naturally, a person with tons of figures/good camera would have it easier to win 3. A person who can't speak good english bascially have no chance at all with the "caption photo thingy", since bad english sometimes make something not-so-enjoyable to read. If you can only chose one though, I vote for the rock/paper/scissors thingy, that seems more fair and more people have the possiblity of winning.

The caption thing seems like it could be pretty funny, my vote goes to that.

make 3-4 panel comic strip using the figures they own. A little hard, but I think it's a worthwhile thing to do for contest that giveaway figures.

Hey danny .. how about a question and answer portion..

to really know if a person is really a regular reader/poster here
how about ask questions about Past news ..

or if you dont like that .. I guess I'll agree with the 3rd option
but .. since its your site .. YOU must decide who has the best

right?

I'm not regular but why don't we put som nicel girls photos >D?

Whatever will ever going to be decided, I'm sure it will be fun ^___^

The free figures are just icing on the cake ^____^

sounds cool, but I've got a feeling Melonpan has number 3 covered already. ^^ peace Melonpan!
I was thinking, wouldn't 1 and 2 flood up your uploading tool? then again it might be a good stress test for your server. ^^
how about a trooper roll competition, most creative trooper roll trap wins. ^^;

#1, 3 and 4 sounds good or the idea of Otaku life picture of the week.

i have a question. how are the figures going to be given out? do winners get to choose which figure they want? or danny will do the choosing? i think a lucky draw method will be fair.

The idea of figure-giveaway really excites me, but there's a lot of valid concerns about things being unbalanced up there. >< #3 would be most amusing, but also shutouts the largest portion of members who are either a) closet otaku, b) have no camera, c) have no figures, or d) live in small towns with little potential for creativity.

As you noted, #5 wouldn't work. That, and we'd completely overwhelm the server of whatever game we choose as DC members make a rush to join. #1 and #2 don't exactly give regular users an advantange, but does have potential for hilarity without being as unbalanced as #3.

#4...well, it wouldn't add any entertaining content to the community, but gives you a way of adjusting points and rules to balance things out/reward regular posters if necessary.

I have no good suggestion right now - it's getting late/early in the morning. ^^; Sorry for just being negative; I'll try to also think of something later.

Picture captioning seems fun..

How about 2 figgies for regular readers and 1 figgie for newer ones? :P

I like the caption idea the most as well. It'll be entertaining, as long as people can't vote for themselves. -_^

I like 3 and 5 the best. :)

Hmm I've got an idea. How about a regular members only, community-wide scavenger hunt? Maybe you can restrict access to the regular members only by creating a special members only area using some of the criteria I mentioned in my post above (having a featured feed, having posted XX number of comments, having posted XX number of member news, or a combination of things etc...). And maybe to alleviate the number of entries you get or are eligible (or maybe not), you can set up maybe 10, 20, or maybe even 30 things to look for. I know you're always sincerely trying to help direct traffic to your daiji na members' sites, so questions can include things to look for not only on the dannychoo site, but also members' sites, and even some of your clients' sites. This way you could make up new scavenger hunts every time you're thinking of giving away figures without having to think of new ideas every time, while increasing your friends' and clients' traffic at the same time.

Some example questions might be something like:
1) Who created so and so figure?
2) What is the second tag on so and so's post on this subject on this day?
3) What did I have for lunch on this or that day?
4) I mentioned the three sizes of so and so idol on this day (don't know if you actually received such information, but this is just hypothetical LOL), what are they, or who is this person?
5) What is the price of so and so figure that I mentioned on this day?

etc etc.
I think this might be a fun idea that'll increase activity on the site and on others' sites too. Having a larger number of questions might weed out those who are just blazing through like "whatever..." by making sure people read. Winners will probably end up being a luck of the draw (I actually hate luck of the draw cuz I never win ><, but I suppose it's fair for all who followed the instructions and got the answers right...)

I guess the problem with the scavenger hunt is that I have no idea how many entries you'll receive, and how long it'll take to check each answer (maybe you could have a few trusted monkeys to help out). Umm...there are probably more but I can't think of them right now...

It would say #1 or #3, the idea of janken seems nice but it could be too random, but at the same time it would give everyone a chance of winning someday.

i liked the #1 and #3 ideas. it will be very interesting to see each others photos.

2 and 3 are my favs. how bout 2 sets of winners? One voted by us and another that's picked by you Danny?

i like the idea of #3. It'll be amusing to see what the members would come up with~ :D

Best option would be the "caption a figure photo". then probably hold a voting after say 3 days or at the end of a week.

Restricted Rock, paper, scissors!

I like the Idea of the 1,2 and maybe 3.
I think that the pictures should be posted somehow anonymous tough.Like that the contestants send them to you and you post them.I think its fairer for the not so popular community members.

well its going to be intersting whatever youll choose in the end

what about best blogging post?

I always want to say an idea of intruducing DannyChoo Zenny (DC Zenny?)

that the visiter can earn(my other members give credit) and use it ~
like~ if a visiter reads an DannyChoo article (repeat not count) and put a comment (repeat comment dont count, so one article one point), he earns a DC Zenny.
when other members reply to his/her comment~ he/she earns (1+ accumulate comment)(only apply to second layer) DC Zenny

As for members who upload news~ he get 2 DC Zenny(?) every comment (not include he post himslef) other visiter post on his article

and finally ~ members use the DC zenny to "buy" the figure?

This could trigger people to submit more meaningful comment to the articles and at the implement Danny's 1 to 5th ideas
(
people caption with comment and other reply as fave;
people upload most embarrassing situation photos and other reply as fave;
this is an online game, web-based, and the battlefield is dannychoo's website, no time zone problem
)
man i cant wait to photoshop DannyChoo on a US one dollar or Yen note!
And since Danny want to take care of old members~ how about members get an initial amount of DC Zenny equals to to days since they join?
Just my idea~

Honestly I'm also a bit confused as to which one is the most fair method.
I'm thinking about the number of member's comments as requirement to participate, but then again I myself always follow your news and articles but don't have time to actually comment on them because I'm quite busy lately, so I figured some members also have same issue with me and this can actually increase the level of spam ^^;
I'm leaning towards the idea of pure luck because luck is everything, so I support the janken idea. ^^v

I like the caption figure thing. However, could we use gunpla? That seems easier for me since I have NO figures.

As a gamer at heart I would have to say the fifth option is the best option. Though I do agree it would be a bit difficult to implement. If you did it based on say an accumulated score then everyone could participate whenever they were able to. With that said, whomping people in super monkey ball would be more satisfying.

Anything chosen will bring some advantages and disadvantes for some.

I really do agree that regular/loyal readers should have a better shot at winning some how.
I'd prefer a luck of the draw picking, with candidates chosen from the best posts (not most posts), and the most active readers.

I also like the idea of just letting Danny pick the winners himself over the month. I trust Danny to pick who he feels mmost deserving.

They all seem alright but I see the advantages and disadvantages of them all... I guess I can't really decide I like the tool you build idea on 4, and I like the caption thing but I also like the other ones. I don't post news items much... but hey this is a giveaway and it'll be my first chance to participate in something so awesome, so I'm down with whatever you decide!

I'D GO FOR #3!!!! GOIN OUT IN PUBLIC WITH A FIGURE AND TAKING PICS! This will show how incredibly desperate he/she wants a free figure from Danny Choo. I WILL DO IT!

You know what Danny? ^^ I think we should do multiple contests, so we can have multiple winners in different areas. Since people are kind of divided about what to do, why not do the ones that get the more popular votes? That way, the people who aren't as great with captions can go out and take pictures w/figure! ^^ Plus there will be more participants overall.

I'm not so big on the caption idea. I'd like something new. The figure pics in public places would be a good laugh. Rock, Paper, Scissors, also fun. The online game one wud be cool, but awkward to organise.... We could always propose why we deserve the figure/s the most? A 50/100 word paragraph/thing or something like. Thats what Newsround always did lol
After thinking about it a bit... the captions might not be a bad idea... but you couldn't penalise because of the quality of the photo!! Not all of us have fantastically brilliant cameras! lol.

I agree, I think contests within your site would be the best idea, be it captioning pics or members taking there own pics. As you said regular readers will be able to easily compete against each other. As for new readers, isnt there a way you can spot them anyways thru there I.P addresses or something. Some of the other suggestions will be a little more difficult as you said due to time zone differences and such.

I think someone even suggested "otaku" room pics. Maybe you could have like a Otaku room of the week or something. Members send in there pics and you pick 4 or 5 and we as members judge for a favorite. Then whatever photos you have left save for the next week or keep rolling them to the next week so you dont run out for later contests.

I kinda like the rock-paper-scissors idea, but it may not make sense as something that will reward longtime readers more than new members. A combination sounds good to me.

I love the go out and take photos idea, I'm sure we'll get a good few laughs from that... captions are also very funny sometimes, I think both would work great.

Perhaps some sort of "Find the hidden Mirai-chan" in a certain set of articles (ie: it can appear in any articles or news items for the next two weeks), whoever finds it is put into a draw for figures. (and maybe they need to have been a member for X months, or have X comments to be entered)

I agree to create something to see but i don't know on how to decided.

a forum i'm a member in, recently had a giveaway of some quite expensive earphones from one of their sponsers. everyday for about 10 days a new question on the sponser or the forum was asked, and the persons who got the most correct answers won the prize.

There used to be a tie breaker in form of a witty answer everyday. example: what do you think of so and so's username, etc.. and person getting that days answers right and having the wittiest answer to the tie breaker won.

obviously only the admins and the sponsors had the right to choose the winners here but everybody had fun. and no one complained when they didn't win.

yawn it's the wee hours of the morning, but this will give me something to think about on the bus later huhru

I think there should be multiple types of contests, like a different one every month or so. It'll be more fair since DC.com's members have abilities all across the spectrum. If we end up doing something like a caption contest, then the submitter's name should be hidden.

I say mix it up, some months due one type of contest next month do something else. Cause if you use just one no matter which you choose someone is going to say it's unfair.

I say we just kill each other for them...seriously. Oh, well, make it as random as possible. Some readers probably suck at games (like me for example), so Coco's suggestion of something different each month might make it easier for everybody to have a chance.

Lol at rock paper sissor......hearing this post makes me wanna rip my hair off!!!

I think gordon mentioned lucky draw up there, maybe danny could post the figure to be given away and people who are interested can take part?

I thought of something just now. Let's do a mock "King of Fighters" tournament. I think that may be fair.

You pick a team of three characters. You can't have all game characters or all anime/manga characters. You must have one anime/manga character and you must have one game character. The third character can be either an anime/manga character or a game character.

Each round will have matchups. People then will have to vote who should move on in that match up. You can use any method of deciding like who is the cutest trio between the two. (If you can't decide, just toss a coin say and say that team A is heads and team B is tails or vice versa.) Personally, I go with whoever has the best chemistry. Tie breakers should be dictated by Danny. (Maybe he gets the last vote in.) Try not to pick ridiculously powerful characters.

Other than that, I am pretty much open to any other idea.

It has to be something that generates traffic to DC. :P
I vote caption or diorama... or even some photo contest of some sort.

I'm no genius in the creative side, but it'll be a great enough prize to see the creativity on DC commenters... :D

Dunno if you browse Gizmodo.com Danny, but they have contests there from time to time... last one, if I'm not mistaken, is "unfair use of gadgets on the Olympics".

People use Olympics photos, gadgets and Photoshop to create fun stuff.

Only there are no prizes... :P

well danny whichever you choose i will participate, especially to win a figure from u or your associates!!......i think the photo shoot is a real good concept, ive got the perfect place in my hometown.......id be stared at by all, but the joy of winning would be exceptional!

O.M.G! i agree completely !!! free figures awesome XD do an online game or points would be awesome XD

I'd say I prefer the 4th option, only because there are people (like me ^^") who aren't as creative as others... but I'm sure any of those would be fun :3

How about you choose the most valuable Member News input, or let others vote, and use that to decide who gets the figures.

Another option is to implement a points based system where we can give other members points for useful comments and/or posts.

That way, you can get higher quality content on your website. I really enjoy the Member news, but not *always*. Quality of the comments and the Member News is not bad right now, but it will decrease as soon as you get even more readers. To be honest, already so many people reply to your posts now, that I wonder how you can read it all, Danny. It might be an idea to implement a user rating system.

I think that there is only one way to give figures to regular users, As regular I mean those who meet certain limits (member >= 2months or over 20 comments etc al.).
Lottery, everyone who meets those limits automatically joins the lottery. Random number generator (or something like this) chooses one winner. With this every regular member has a chance to win.

Took part in the last comp, the Shuraki Giveaway.

That wasn't too bad but I wonder how often one could keep such a thing going

You could have an 'easter egg hunt' of sorts, where you hide clues on various pages throughout the site and people have to go looking through all the older articles to find them. It'd give some incentive for people to read more articles. :)

I sense bad things coming for all methods of selection so I am staying outta this one. enjoy the free loot you guys. Ekowc's proposal sounds good to me.

i like the captioning option but like some other members said before, it might get old. i think randomizing the events would be nice and it could be all point based. Like you could set figures at a certain price and each time a person wins, they get a certain amount of points. and people can save those points for the figures they want it they don't like a particular figure. although it may be a hassle to think of what to do when randomizing and the set up for the point system. regular members would participate more often and figures wouldn't be given away on the spot (although it may be good or bad to some people). but what can i say, i recently joined...

>4. You play paper x scissors x stone in a tool that I will build

How about we rent a cruise liner, get every member of Dannychoo.com a ticket, and play psychologically punishing mind games until the losers are stripped naked and forced into becoming indentured servants in the the East Asian slave trade where there will work, unpaid, for a good fourth of their life expectancy? Winners will clear their debt and once again claim their rightful place as human beings on this planet. Oh and figures.

I'm game.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e72/otakublmnyu/1211337308585.jpg

2. You earn it by coming up with the most amusing diorama using certain keywords - members vote for their fave.
3. You earn it by going out in public and taking figure pics in the most embarrassing situations - members vote for their fave.

I think these options are the most amusing and fair

How about number 6. Best Panchira Shot? Eh? Eh? ^^;

Danny, here goes....
1) How long will the event be?? 2/3 days or a week?? Your mail will be flooded, your article post will be super long to read and news items will be flooded as well.(those who didn't read the instructions)

2) For the figure, name only manufacter/partner, leave a little mystery to the prize( a mozic image is wellcome ). My guess is a recent figure or a year or 2 figure.

3) I like the criteria thing but note that not all members have a blog site. Members more or less do post news items so majority will have a fair chance. It's hard to please everyone, I guess.....

4) Idea no.1 and no.2 seems easy enought but I will have to crack my brains for words thought......
Hope all members have some bastic photo editing software. Idea no.4 looks good but won't the user stays 24/7 jus to get a good % of win( if talking about event is 3 days to a week )
I really like the idea of no.3--1) creativity of the competitor 2) drive traffic here--curious of free figure--curious of competition--just for a laugh( enjoy the content )

Well, whatever goes for me. But I guess it's the best to have different contests from time to time, to cover all the weaknesses and strengths of every contest(and of course to cover all of member's strength and weaknesses too.) And also, suneo's suggestion is pretty good.

Thanks for the feedback so far,

think the best is the #3 (funny & not so easy) it's quite a challenge.

Anyway, the way that takes, the way I go =)

provide a picture and we do the caption or motivational message is nice. I think that'll be easy enough for other members to join who are not so good at using graphic applications (like me T_T). Also the online rockpaperscissors looks kinda fun. ^^

I'd like to do #3, although I'd have to buy a figure first to start me off. ;D

it's great that danny wanna reward regular dc.com users, but having a caption contest is kinda subjective. it's something along the line of photoshop battles where some people think it's great and what not.. well how about merging the 2 ideas together? figurine photoshoot + photoshop battles together? and let the jugding be decided by voting + a percentage from danny himself.

I suggest #3, and maybe even stuff like bringing our dakimura(s) to embarassing locations and taking pictures.

whats a "DIorama"?? I asume you mean drama?? I know i seen it romanized as DOROAMA.

Admit it Danny, that was the whole basis this site was founded on. You got so rich that the only form of entertainment that could satisfy you anymore was to pit human beings against each other in a match to the death! Ah, sorry, just got done watching the Running Man. ^^; hehe

First, I think that the "regular readers" thing is entirely fair, seeing as they're clearly the most passionate about the subject matter. And you can enter my vote for #1 and number 3 is GENIUS!

can't people just register multiple times and vote for themselves?

Who says you have to give it all away in one fell swoop? You can do the contest in small parts; each with a differing requirement.

This ensures that nearly all the users can participate nonetheless.

As a semi lurker I don't see myself winning ^^
But there's nothing I like more than a awesome caption that makes me fall from my chair giggling =)
Caption != photoshopping (must bear that in mind while voting!)

^^ new to the game,
so i'd just watch the battle to the finish from the sideline

fight hard everyone !!!

i like 1 and 3 the most, also maybe give some to people who bring good articles to the member's news section, like if people are really workin hard to get out good info to people they should be rewarded or something... that also sorta blocks out the newly registered people... unfortunately like myself >.<

As for how to keep newbies from winning instead of regulars, maybe use a system where it shows how long a person signs in for or how many comments they leave and participate in. And also how long the person has been a member to your site.

As for ideas on how to win figures, you could also do like an egghunt on your site or other sites you want to advertise.
For example, the person has to have been a member for at least a year and has commented this many times to participate.
Then you would post hints and clues as to what to look for and where. People would go to your site and search for the easter eggs and click on them or print screen them or something and sumbit it to you that they found the easter eggs. You could also extend the easter hunt to other sites you want to help as well, such as Good Smile or Max Factory. Im sure they would like to participate since it helps with advertisements.

I will say just go with #4 option or another lottery picking method so that everyone can have a fair chance of winning. Btw, once a member won a figure from Danny, he or she has to be removed from the pool for the next few times of figure giveaway so that he or she wouldn't end up getting another free figure again just to make it fair for the others. Anyway, Danny has the last word on how this will end up.

My suggestion is to do a mix of the photo captions, photo shoots, etc. Also, I like Judau Ashta's idea of removing previous winners from contests for a period of time.

Captions feels like the fairest one of them all since the material will be provided since it would be kinda hard to decide if there's a lot of variety with each being unique and a deadline for submitting, voting, results can be set...

heck I'll play rock paper scissor even if there's no figure prize lol...sounds like fun

how about Online Trading Card Game (TCG) with Danny in trooper suit and Mirai for the card illustration XD

#4 FTW!
fast, easy & competitive ^_^

I vote for #1

Ok Now I have Looked threw all the comments so fare and I think that the best way to do this is just to take all the ideas that everyone is submitting and make a poll of them all and then have everyone vote for the best one you could start the poll and keep it open for like 3 days or 1 week and then after that the one with the most votes would win and to fix the problem with the time zones and everyone you could just have the winning submissions for that time zone then after the whole day.

Or you could just sort something out with what you said:

1. You caption a figure photo that I prepare and members vote for their fave.
#-This could work but then there is the problem with multiple accounts and dis honest people but other than that its a good idea ^^-#

2. You earn it by coming up with the most amusing diorama using certain keywords - members vote for their fave.
#-This could work to, but there are the people who do not know how to make a good diorama, and you may be having 10 or 20 good ones and everyone Else's could just be not that good and you would not have a good chance of getting a figure than the people who are good at it but other than that this is also a good idea-#

3. You earn it by going out in public and taking figure pics in the most embarrassing situations - members vote for their fave.
#-Everyone can do this one, ^^ and i bet you would get flooded with embarrassing pictures and you would have to either find a good way to choose out of them or get/make a random choosing application that would pick a number of pictures and then you can pick the top ones yourself or have those top picks the winners but otherwise this is a good one ^^-#

4. You play paper x scissors x stone in a tool that I will build. You basically choose your weapon and are matched up with another player. The problem with this is that people who are online a lot would be able to generate more points. I could make it so that the winner is the one who has the highest % of wins. Mock up in the photo - only a mock.
This option will take the longest to implement though ^^;
#-I like this one myself it could take some time but it may be the one that works out the best and the % of wins could make it reliable for someone to win some free figures XD well this may be the one with the most chance of working best ^^-#

5. We choose an online game, register and beat each other up - winner is the last wo/man standing ^^; But this probably wont work due to the time zones we are in.
#-This could work but you would have to set times to play in the 2 weeks that everyone will have to play you can have everyone register who would want to play and then set times to play in all the time zones so that everyone has a time to play and in that time frame after it is over the next one would start up in a different time zone and last the same and end at the same time but in that time zone so that everyone can get a chance but other than that problem this one could work too lol well now that i have looked at it all of them work it would just be up to the users at dannychoo who would want to vote for the best idea and the winner will get to be that one everyone will do for the 2 weeks you want the competition to continue and i love the ides of getting the free figures so much XD and it may be better to have like a top 100 people who could get 1 figure or something like that.-#

Ok well now that is all done i wonder what would win XD and i hope i could get a chance to win a figure myself ^^ so what you think Danny Choo ?

Creative public figure photos is my vote. Does this include Gunpla? Also, I am a newly registered user who has been reading the articles on your site for almost a year. I suppose it is in fairness that you imply some restrictions, but I would pose the question: how long would I have to be registered and how much of a contribution would I need to make to be considered for entry?

"I want to ensure that its the regular readers who participate in the community regularly that get the figures and not somebody who has just signed up"

What if you are a regular reader who just signed up ;_;

I would be all for idea #1. I try to post when I can, but with work blocking this site (Curse you work) and everything that keeps me busy, I'd have little time for online games or scavenger hunts myself. Besides, Caption Contests sound fairly quick and easy to manage.

no.1 and no.2 sound ok. Taking pics in public to prove that you are an otaku/crazy about gundams/crazy about figures/crazy about danny can be really challenging =)

How many figures were you planning to give away a month? If you were giving out multiple figures then I would do the caption/photo contests changing them up each month for varity, and also have a random drawing for 1 figure, but require X amount of posts before you could enter the drawing like you do with posting news. That way people who are good at coming up captions and taking photos have a shot, and the people who are not so good have a shot. And by putting a post limit on the entry prevents some random joe you just visited the site once to enter for the drawing from entering. If they really want to enter then they have to stick around and might possibly become a regular.

I'd say, maybe create a monthly/biweekly/weekly assignment? Such as take a picture of X kind of figure in Y setting, or write a short text about Z aspect of life, or give a good, lengthy answer to a question, etc. By changing the challenge regularly, it would make sure that everyone gets a chance to participate someday; not everyone has the same kind of figure, or figures at all, nor the same kind of setting around them, nor the ability to take nice picture, nor the ability to write about specific subjects, and so on.
And also it would make it less repetitive for viewers, as well as generally more creative...

What about something similar yet different? Motivational posters! There's a website that does all the work for you, you just come up with witty lines for it. And the picture you upload of course.

Maybe have it so that way people use parts of their collection (or pictures related to toys in some fashion) and the funniest contributions wins. Have all the submissions put in anonymously so we're all voting blindly, and a limit to the amount we can contribute (1, 3 or 5 at the most, seems to be the best idea), and away we go!

Then the website also has a lot of motivational posters going for it, in a possible new section to boot. It's a winner for both! Or at least, everyone gets something.

1 or 4

Caption Contest.

I'd go with the option that requires the least amount of effort on my part, coupled with as little dependancy on chance. Therefore, logic dictates you must do the caption contest.

And that you send me the figures, as I am the most OCD riddled person here.

no doubt aboot it danny gotta go with captions

1 and 3 seem like they would work the best. Of course you can never go wrong with closing your eyes and picking a user name at random. ^_^

I like 1 and 3 hehe