Kessil

BAR's Swap Bonus/Ultra Coral List

RandyC said:
I'm bringing the frags regardless if they're bonus or not. I don't think that's what I'm trying to figure out here. I'm just trying figure out what constitutes pricey enough, rare enough, or lineaged-enough that it makes it on the list. But alas, I'm still at a lost. No biggy, I'll just fly with what you guys put on the list.
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Sounds like someone wants to be in charge of next years swaps!
 
Ibn said:
Something to keep in mind is that this is a regional swap that brings folks that might not be regulars in the Bay Area or in the region much. You'll see others attend from the other areas where some of these corals are very common, but some of these common corals to us might not be seen by others.

This is kind of similar to the DBTC swap that we did with Manhattan Reef forum members many years ago. Leng sy caps, Cali torts, and Tubbs blues were a big hit for them over there even thought it was being given away regularly through our DBTC program.

We can cut the list down big time, but it's in the spirit of being inclusive that some of these are included.
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That was before my time. Sounds like a cool idea!
 
Ibn said:
Something to keep in mind is that this is a regional swap that brings folks that might not be regulars in the Bay Area or in the region much. You'll see others attend from the other areas where some of these corals are very common, but some of these common corals to us might not be seen by others.

This is kind of similar to the DBTC swap that we did with Manhattan Reef forum members many years ago. Leng sy caps, Cali torts, and Tubbs blues were a big hit for them over there even thought it was being given away regularly through our DBTC program.

We can cut the list down big time, but it's in the spirit of being inclusive that some of these are included.
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I hope that I'm not coming across as a scrooge or not wanting to share coral. I am most definitely not against spreading the love around. I think we should have a wide variety of coral that is being shared at that swap and I plan on bringing plenty of frags from my tank. I am also not suggesting people do not bring bi-color torches, bi-color hammers, PPE, rastas, etc. I am one that will be bringing some of those. However, I feel being "inclusive" of more common coral on the bonus list runs at the very polar opposite of being special or a bonus or ultra coral. Whether you agree with the concept or not of having a bonus round, I would think that everyone would agree that at the heart of the bonus/ultra round is to trade other bonus/ultra coral. I just don't see how someone bringing say two frags of rasta and a frag of PPE should qualify seeing as how those can be had very easily. Anyway, my two cents for whatever it's worth. I'll shut up about this issue seeing as how it appears I'm the only one with this opinion.
 
RandyC said:
I hope that I'm not coming across as a scrooge or not wanting to share coral. I am most definitely not against spreading the love around. I think we should have a wide variety of coral that is being shared at that swap and I plan on bringing plenty of frags from my tank. I am also not suggesting people do not bring bi-color torches, bi-color hammers, PPE, rastas, etc. I am one that will be bringing some of those. However, I feel being "inclusive" of more common coral on the bonus list runs at the very polar opposite of being special or a bonus or ultra coral. Whether you agree with the concept or not of having a bonus round, I would think that everyone would agree that at the heart of the bonus/ultra round is to trade other bonus/ultra coral. I just don't see how someone bringing say two frags of rasta and a frag of PPE should qualify seeing as how those can be had very easily. Anyway, my two cents for whatever it's worth. I'll shut up about this issue seeing as how it appears I'm the only one with this opinion.
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Keep fighting the good fight. You're not the only one with that opinion. Some on the list are entirely too easy to get and too common. Last time I didn't even grab a bonus coral simply because the ones I saw were pretty basic stuff.
 
I remember that Manahattan Reef swap, I think I tossed in my "Superman Underroos Favia" (It was red and blue). Miss that coral, I liked the color combo.

But the rare/bonus/whatever list is whatever the swap coordinators deem it to be, I've been in this club since this club existed and have seen the corals change over time quite dramatically, sometimes they go away simply due to availability in the club (Idaho Grape Monti comes to mind), then there was even a huge hunk of club time with no bonus/rare designation for corals.

Overall though I think every group that has been in charge of assigning "bonus" tickets has been fair, sure sometimes I think they're being overly generous but whatever, if someone brings... (hell I don't even know the rules for how bonus corals work) ... a few bonus corals to get 1 bonus ticket, then that means that person is giving up 3 corals for others to pick. So if you had 10 people only bring bonus corals, that's 10 bonus coral picks, but out of 30 bonus corals, so 66.7% of those corals definitely go into the general swap, and often more as sometimes people don't care about the "bonus" aspect.
 
So you want to shrink the bonus round list to make it have only corals that are not as easy to get?

Honestly, there isn't much that you can't easily find. And the harder ones and more expensive ones are already in the Ultra list.

So how would making the bonus list smaller make the swap better and more attactive to all?


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Vhuang168 said:
So you want to shrink the bonus round list to make it have only corals that are not as easy to get?

Honestly, there isn't much that you can't easily find. And the harder ones and more expensive ones are already in the Ultra list.

So how would making the bonus list smaller make the swap better and more attactive to all?


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You're assuming that we can't add things to take the place of items that have become more common with an updated list of corals that may be more in vogue now.
 
Ibn said:
Nope, good feedbacks. So from that original list, what would the both of you consider to be bonus corals? What would be ultra? How should either match up (e.g. 3:1 for bonus to ultra)?
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I think 3:1 is good.

My list would probably start with evaluating these and whether they really belong on the list.
- rasta
- vamp in drag
- emerald on fire
- 2-color yumas
- bi-color hammer
- bi-color torch
- bi-color frogspawn
- strawberry shortcake (tons of these were in $14.99 & $19.99 bin at Neptune)
- sunset mille was at Neptune for $14.99 and $19.99 as well
- red st thomas should prolly be bonus, not ultra. Neptune's has/had them for $50

Most of these can easily be found locally and while everyone might not be able to afford them as @Vhuang168 said, I never suggested that no one should bring them for the regular swap.

Vhuang168 said:
So you want to shrink the bonus round list to make it have only corals that are not as easy to get?

Honestly, there isn't much that you can't easily find. And the harder ones and more expensive ones are already in the Ultra list.

So how would making the bonus list smaller make the swap better and more attactive to all?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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By the very definition of having a bonus round, you are already being exclusive. So, by that reasoning, it could be argued to just get rid of the bonus round to be fair to everyone attending. But that's the extreme and I don't think that's the answer.

I see two things the bonus round is trying to help with:

1. Encouraging swappers to bring higher valued corals vs. everyone bringing "common" stuff.
2. Provide a platform/place to swap higher end corals.

I'm not advocating a super small, exclusive list. I just questioned why some of the items were on there and wanted to understand what was the selection criteria. Removing some of the more common items would still require a swapper to bring 3 bonus frags to participate and two that will be leftover after the swapper picks his/her 1 bonus pick. So #1 isn't really affected by me asking to remove some more common items. There is still leftover bonus/ultra items for others. Plus, the list isn't final; I'm assuming it will grow as we get closer to the swap.

For #2, those that are bringing ultra/bonus coral, I think it's fair for them to get something that's ultra/bonus in kind or at the very least something that isn't in abundance at any of our LFS. Again, I just don't see how someone bringing say two frags of rasta and a frag of PPE should qualify seeing as how those can be had very easily and if we have too many people doing this, then the bonus table is filled with "common stuff." @Bruce Spiegelman confirms what I'm saying occurs and I don't think that's fair to him or others that participate in the bonus round. Also, if a swapper knows the bonus round will contain like-kind corals, the swapper will more likely be willing to bring their higher-valued corals.

I think our goal to have a great swap is common and I hope you don't take this as anything else than constructive feedback. I am hoping that these suggestions can help to better the swap. Also, I want you to know that do appreciate that you all have taken time out of your lives to set this thing up for us.
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
You're assuming that we can't add things to take the place of items that have become more common with an updated list of corals that may be more in vogue now.
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We are always open to changing the list. But there is very little talk of adding (and again, the ones being discussed right now are still relatively inexpensive and not that hard to find) and much talk of taking off.
 
When I did the frag area patrol Iwould try to place identical named corals together. seems like a better way to see if something is too numerous rather than a physical count
 
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