Frequently Asked Questions

[Sir Dirty Girty]

Frequently Asked Questions;

Please, before asking any questions check this FAQ or the Daily News to get up to speed with threeA.

There is a lot of info regarding the toys in the 3A Catalogue that is maintained on ThreeA Wiki so check it also.  

You can use the table of contents to find what you're looking for.  If you have not found what you are looking for, send a PM to any of the Moderators and we be pleased to find an answer to any ThreeA related question and if it will be frequent enough we will include it into the FAQ.

Table of Contents


1. Moderators, Ashley Wood, Staff, ThreeA questions.

2. Questions regarding ThreeA Associates (3AA) membership.

3. Questions regarding Bambalandstore.com (3A's official online store).

4. Questions regarding 3A Forums.

5. Questions regarding the toys.

6. Explanations of abbreviations and terminology used on 3A Forums.

7. Colourway acronyms and descriptions

8. Description of the stories, factions and Important Characters behind the three main Collectible Lines.

[Gimbat]

1. Moderators, Ashley Wood, Staff, ThreeA questions.

Who are the Moderators?

gar

anubis2night

ennui

eseffinga

Gimbat

gregory


Ask us anytime if you are unsure of something and we will answer ASAP.

Who is "Ashley Wood"? Is it really Ashley Wood?
Yes it is. "Ashley Wood is the real Ashley Wood.

Who designs the figures of threeA?
Ashley Wood.

Everything?
Yes, though the Showcase lines may vary depending on the figure.

Here is what Ash has to say about it:
I do all the designs, all the tech drawings, I don't have a toy company to let others draw my ideas. Its easy, I have designed shit for nearly 20 years, from film to video games and back, the paintings are just that the paintings , not toy designs.

EVERYTHING, from head to gun, to robot are designed, drawn by me, then tweaked as they go, yes it sounds ego to say, but I do it, I'm proud of it, and nothing wrong with pointing it out.

What does threeA stand for?
It's threezero (Kim Fung Wong) and Ashley Wood. Kim and Ash are the co-owners of ThreeA.

Is Kim on the forums also?
Yes, but he likes to observe only.

What is the official place for threeA goodness?
Official website is - www.threeaonline.com
Official stores are - www.bambalandstore.com
www.bambasia.com
Official blog is - www.threeaonline.com/blog
Official Facebook group - http://www.facebook.com/threeAtoys
Official Twitter account - http://twitter.com/threeaonline
Official Ashley Wood's twitter - http://twitter.com/realAshleyWood
Ashley Wood Gallery store - http://ashleywoodgallery.myshopify.com

What is 3AVOX?
It's official 3A newsletter, tends to be weekly, with new issues going out on Fridays. You can sign up to it and read past issues here.

Where I can find more useful links?
Right here on our board - http://www.threeaonline.com/forum/index.php?topic=26.0

I'm seeing a lot of Ashley Wood paintings on Scott Eders store on ****. Are they real?
Yes, Scott is the man, who you go to on ****, for Ashley Woods works. They are absolutely real and Scott has sold Ash's work for many years.

[Gimbat]

2. ThreeA Associates (3AA)


What is 3AA?
It's the 3A Associates club. You get a year membership, 15% discount at the bambaland store, a t-shirt, access to exclusive figures and a personalized membership card.

I am late! I just found out about this wonderful club so how can I join 3AA now?!
You can't. 3A Associates is an annual membership. If more recruits are added, it will be in January of the following year. More details on that will arise as we come closer to that time.

How much does 3AA cost?
It was 180$ in 2012.

What kind of exclusives will the 3AA members have access to?
3AA exclusives will be either a original figure just for 3AA, or a colourway, or design, of a current release of some sort.

How can I prolong my 3AA membership?
Existing members can renew without worry in January, it is also non-transferable.

Can you please tell me about 3AA 2012 membership?
Please click here to findout more about it.

[Gimbat]

3. Questions regarding Bambalandstore.com


What is Bambalandstore.com?
http://www.bambalandstore.com is 3A's Official online store.

Are the prices which are advertised on this Board and on bambaland the prices before my 3AA discount?
Yes all advertised prices are always before discount unless otherwise stated.

I can't access the 3AA section of bambaland!
Before a figure is going to be released for pre-order on http://www.bambalandstore.com always be sure that you are signed in.

What will ship faster from 3A, orders from bambaland or to retailers?
Bambaland orders will always ship out first and the retailers' figures always after that.

Which retailers in my part of the world sell threeA figures?
Our member Mad is maintaining and updating a list for that  purpose right here.

When is a certain release going to ship?
We created a section for that which we maintain at the top of the Board which states which figures are ready for shipping and when. It's located here.

When will my figures arrive? I did not receive a tracking number.
All shipping dates on Bambaland during pre-order are rough estimated and subject to change. No tracking numbers are sent out at this time, you can request one however if you know that they shipped out, reached people close to you and you still haven't got your package. Sometimes they are stuck at customs.

Will prototype figure I saw on Bambaland during pre-ordering would be different from production model?
In most cases it will be different here and there, 3A tends to tweak and upgrade the prototype. In majority of cases production model, will be even better than the prototype.

Why shipping dates tend to change and aren't written in stone?
You see, 3A is a really small company and like mentioned above almost every sale is a pre-order. Sometimes 3A flips backwards for customers and makes toy an open release, instead of super limited production (like it was planned). So factory load becomes more intense , which in the end will push other releases further down the line. 3A would rather nix whole run and remakes it, if they don't like quality or some aspect for the figure and will go into loses to deliver you top notch product, unfortunately it will push shipping time further down the line as well. In the end 3A always delivers, sometimes Factory just needs more time.

During the sale I saw figure which wasn't announced and it even haven't got a photo! How can I know , how it looks like and whether I'll like it or not?
Oh, it's a rather tricky question. You got to go with your gut there. Ashley Wood loves to spice things up and whole idea of toy and character constantly evolves in his mind, sometimes he comes up with new character, right before the sale and he haven't got any photos to show you, because prototype wasn't made yet. So he sells you idea of the figure, so it's risky...but I honestly think that all the surprises are really fun and you will never fail if you'll go with one. But if you prefer to know exactly what are you buying, I recommend you to skip and ignore this.

What is chase figure?
It's rare and limited figure, which is randomly placed into toy boxes.

What is surprise release?
Oh, that's what I particularly love. It's something which can be released at absolutely random time (EMO SALE) or just drop without prior notice at Bambalandstore.com , during scheduled sale. However usually Ashley Wood writes something on the board or in the blog during the sale, giving us hints about what figure is going to make an appearance tonight.

Will there be known time of surprise drop?
No, because it wouldn't be surprise then. But usually surprise drops are happening during whole sale at random periods of time, giving better chances to all 3A supporters, who live in different timezones.

[Gimbat]

4. Questions regarding 3A Forums.


Why do I need to re-register?
On August 12, the old http://3atoys.hyperboards.com website was failing during the drop date of the Heavy Bramble Mk 2.5 figure.  Ash decided it was time to make the move and we switched over to the new and superior http://www.threeaonline.com/forums

Why are we not supposed to discuss, link to, list item numbers for e bay?
Because this is not an e bay message board.

Can I Buy, Sell, or Trade items here?
BST discussion, inquiries and offers are not allowed on this Board. 3A Forums are not a flea market.  BST inquiries made on 3A Forums will be removed without warning.

I heard there's a BST Board.  How do I get access to the Unofficial 3A BST Forums??
There are many places all over the internet for buying, selling and trading toys in secondary market.  eBay, Google Search and making friends (and asking them via PM) are good ways of learning about these types of places.  The Unofficial 3A BST Forum is a private invitation only community that invites positive contributors at 3A Forums to join their boards.  The Unofficial 3A BST Forum is not not affiliated with 3A Forums, however, and asking 3A Forums moderators or staff for access will not get you an invitation.

How do I post images on 3A Forums?
Your image must first be hosted on its own website.  We suggest these free image-hosting sites flickr, Imageshack, or Photobucket.  Once you have uploaded your image the website, you can enter your image in the body message of your post by using the following code.  Of course, the URL pasted between the IMG tags will be the one for the specific image you are posting.  See Gimbat's tutorial for more info on posting images.  Please note that if you upload your image to 3A Forums without using your own free image-hosting website we reserve the right to delete the images at any time because the space designated for this function is intended for Ashley Wood's use.  Typically, though not a guarantee, we will only do this to images 45 days old (and older).

Code:

[img]http://a.imageshack.us/img571/5346/4t7q5569.jpg[/img]

Is it okay to post pics in the 3A Lines section?
Of course, but please keep them no wider than 1000 pixels and don't post more than 3 per page. You can upload as many pics as you want in the 3A Toys Photography Section in the appropriate thread. If a thread doesn't already exist for the figure you want to post photos of, you can create your own. In this section, we also welcome creating your own thread to showcase your own 3A collection.  If your images are larger than 1000 pixels wide; please reduce their size, or post them as links or thumbnails (Imageshack provides a very simple to use thumbnail service).

How do I get my own avatar?
You have to create or download your own.  SMF allows a 150x150 pixel Avatar.  Once you have your avatar, upload it to your image-hosting website and then get the image's Direct URL address (for example, the Direct URL for ennui's is http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/6936/swansongavatar3.jpg).  Once you have the Direct URL, enter it into the "Forum Profile Information" section of your Profile in the "I have my own pic:" line.

Are there restrictions on our signatures?  What about images in them?
Please moderate yourself when it comes to text in your signature.  This is a message board for discussion ThreeA related material, not pimping your website/art, WTB list, or showing off a long signature of quotes.  We ask that images be no larger than 600 pixels wide and 150 pixels high, of course this can be wavered in cases where your images is a 200x200 square, for example.

Is it true that I can't post pics from any Ashley Wood books on this board?
Correct, you can't. IDW holds the rights and they do not like it if those are misused. Moderators will delete every picture and for continuous posting of them, you will get a warning.

[Gimbat]

5. Questions about Toys

How many variants, production counts, releases, etc are there for 3A figures?
Please see the 3A Toys Catalogue located here http://www.threeaonline.com/forum/index.php?topic=28.0 or at semi-official 3A wiki - http://www.threeawiki.com/Catalog
It is constantly updated and maintained.  For any questions regarding variants, production number, releases, please do not only search this FAQ but also have a look there!

What is Showcase?
Showcase is where threeA puts, properties and characters not owned by threeA. Other artists and companies which threeA is making toys with. This also includes toys by threeA that are designed by Ash that don't fit into any of the full toy lines (i.e.: Bambaboss).

What is AVA?
A completely new female body for threeA figures. Fully designed and manufactured by threeA.

What is the articulation on the WWRS figures?
No articulation, they are models more so than toys (1/32 size).

What do I do if suddenly one of my 3A figs' hand/foot falls of?
On most threeA human figures the hands, feet and heads can be removed and put back on easily. If however the joint is broken, not on purpose or by another person etc., you can contact threeA and they will help you out with a replacement.

When are Nom and Noir Plume going to be re-released? I want to have them!
Never. But that's true for all threeA figures. Once they are sold, no more releases of the same figure. There may be further variants of those figures but not the same ones.

Where can I read the stories the characters from WWR and Popbot are involved in?
You will have to buy WWR Complete hardcover and the Popbot 1-7 and Popbot 8 collection in that case. Those contain various story's involving most of the characters threeA has made so far. Check out your local LCS first, see if they can order it if they do not stock any of the titles.

Where can I read about Adventure Kartel?
The Adventure Kartel story is released through mini-comics that are released with the figures as well as prose released in the AK-related Newsletters. There is a summary about certain characters from AK in the 4th post of this FAQ. Ash and TP Louise are working on an Adventure Kartel book, further info about this book has yet to be announced.

Are the heads which come with Dirty Deeds Bertie zombie heads?
No, they are the heads of soldiers.

I've heard that 3A does chase figures and replaces them with the figure I ordered. I want to get specifically what I ordered, how do I do that?
It's easy, just write an email to candy@three-zero.com , mention that you don't want any chases and your order number.

[Gimbat]

6. Explanations of abbreviations and specific words used on this Board


WWR = World War Robot, the 1/6th scale line of collectibles based on World War Robot.

WWRp = World War Robot Portable, the 1/12th scale line of collectibles based on World War Robot.

WWRs = World War Robot Strategy, the 1/32nd scale line of collectibles based on World War Robot.

PB = Popbot, the 1/6th scale line of collectibles based on Popbot.

AK = Adventure Kartel, the 1/6th scale line of collectibles based on Adventure Kartel.

Mk1, Mk2, Mk3 (Mark 1 etc.) =  The designation giving to the updated versions of robots in World War Robot. For example; a Bertie Mk2 consists of a Bertie with a long slender body, big gorilla like arms and specially designed feet. A Mk3 is an updated version of the same bot which will utilize a much bigger body, much thicker and effective armour than the Mk2 and also much bigger firepower.

LM, DLM = Large Martin, Damn Large Martin. Artillery robots from World War Robot, Large Martin has one cannon and one breastplate while Damn Large Martin sports two cannons and a modified breastplate.

DC = Dropcloth, a human like robot and the most common bot in World War Robot.

TK = Tomorrow Kings, clones from the Popbot Universe engineered to fight the Mortis (female robots).

TQ = Tomorrow Queens, female characters from the Popbot Universe (not clones). Their exact relation to TKs is yet unknown.

Wave = Is what we use to define the different releases from a certain line, like WWRp. A wave consists of several robots in a certain line released at once. So the first wave from WWRp consisted of 9 Brambles released on bambaland and the second wave consisted 7 versions of the Bertie Mk2 bot released on bambaland. ("Wave" could also be considered the stylized terminology for each series within the WWRp toy line).

Colourway = A certain colourscheme a bot or human figure will be released in. We have seen many releases in the past follow certain colourways like a Snow colourway, Desert, Medic, Red, Marine, Merc etc. Most of them recognizable by certain characteristics like a heavy mix of brownish colours (Desert) or a white figure with a red cross (Medic). (Synonym: Variant)

Drop = The time or date a release is going to be released on bambaland.

DIY = Do It Yourself, the name traditionally given to blank toys which have to be painted by the customer himself.

TPB = Comic book jargon for "Trade Paperback." Usually a single softcover book that collects multiple issues into one book.

HC= Comic book jargon for "Hardcover", same format as a TPB but with a hard cover.

[Gimbat]

7. Colourway acronyms and descriptions


Only the ones which might not be certain to new members will be posted here, not every colourway.


JEA - The name given to the US Marine colourway.

DW and NW - Daywatch and Nightwatch, the black and white colourway which has been used on several bots in the past, examples here, here and here.

DP - Deep Powder, a name given to the "Snow" colourway due to the first release in this colourway; Deep Powder Bramble Mk2.

SC - Suicide Club, a special limited colourway used on a Lunar Defence Armstrong unit which was exclusive to Sideshow Collectibles.

IP - Iron Panda, no mention has been made as to where this colourway was used. Example here.

BR - Big Red, the colourway used for bots who were deployed in the famous Martian siege of Moscow. The biggest attack by the Reds (Martian soldiers) ever. Example here.

DC - Desert Combat, the colourway used on bots deployed in Desert type environments. Heavy mix of brown colours.

EMGY - Emergency robots called in when situations need to be subdued. Example here.

[Gimbat]

8. Description of the story's, factions and Important Characters behind the 3 main Collectible Lines

World War Robot;

World War Robot - A story based around a group of humans leaving Earth and settling on Mars due to their different believes compared to those living on Earth, which Earth subsequently does not appreciate and eventually goes to war with Mars and both sides utilize warbots in their ongoing conflict which are all manufactured by Darwin Rothchild.

Earth Coalition - The Coalition of all of Earth's forces, united in a conflict against Mars and the humans who fled to this planet because of their differences.

Mars - A band of humans of an unknown size who have escaped to Mars due to their believes not being appreciated on Earth. Currently in war against the Earth Coalition because of ongoing attacks from the Earth Coalition.

Darwin Rothchild - The creator and CEO of The Rothchild Corporation, inventor and creator of all the warbots used in the World War Robot war. Currently residing on the Moon due to his safety not being guaranteed on Earth any longer.

NOM, N.O.M. - A faction in World War Robot which sides with neither the Earth Coalition (Religious to a point at which they do not allow another belief on their world) or the Martians (atheists who left Earth to live on Mars) and are fighting their war to reunite humanity. Their logo and believes are based on the trinity in which humanity must exist and one day return.

MOD - A faction which is still veiled in secrecy in World War Robot, they modify and hack robots to suite their own purposes (whichever those may be) and are so proficient in it some say they have even achieved to hack the Lunar Defence Armstrong unit, the personal guardians of the Moon, the home base of Darwin Rothchild, and which has never been successfully captured before, and they are also both hated and feared by N.O.M. who view MOD as their only real threat.

Nom de Plume - His allegiance is not certain, it is known he was/is a member of N.O.M. And possesses certain powers such as being able to communicate with robots and changing his skin colour to suit his purpose. The toys are named differently to accommodate for his changing appearance but they are all Nom de plume.

Grunts - Terran (Earth Coalition) soldiers.

Reds - Martian soldiers.


Popbot;


Popbot - A unique property and world which was first realized in the Popbot comic books (and Trade Paperbacks).

Kitty aka Dothan – Singer for the punk Group 2215 Funlicker, The Fourth’s Vizier. Has fucked a lot of people owing a lot of money to them (Sherlock Holmes, The Blind Gunslinger, Badbot, Mo. Prostrate, Mr. Bridger & Sockpuppet Gangster).

Popbot – Used to be a roadie for Kitty’s band now he's more like a bodyguard. He is rumored to be a Alpha Tuefel.

Luthor Bean Sr. – Famed physicist/Occultist, Created the Ion Engine, solved the last conundrum of Ion powered space travel, and using the Mephisto Clock (device to measure time) he traveled to the future where his son is.

Luthor Bean Jr. –Son of Luthor Bean, Creator of the Tomorrow kings, now all he wants is to kill his father.

Tomorrow Kings – Created by Luthor Bean Jr., a male Popbot, originally used for corporate takeovers, these Elvis ronins were created to slay all monsters & ghouls with Luthor Bean Sr.'s Ion Engine that escaped Earth.

Lady Sham - Mysterious character, is back in England in the year 2219 to take down Mr. Bridger.


Adventure Kartel;


Adventure Kartel - Various characters all involved in a team, AK, which is battling Zomb MD and his undead minions.

Tommy Mission - The EMO of Adventure. A deceased and emo character (but still very much active), son of legendary adventurer Bleak Mission, and current owner of the Hand of Fate. Talks in emotional rants and commands the power of verse. Founding member of the Adventure Kartel.

Bleak Mission - Father of Tommy Mission and member of the Adventure Kartel team.

Fighting JC - Also known as "The Mean Essene" and member of the Adventure Kartel team.

Blasted Bastard - Richest man in the Metaverse and famed Zomb hunter. Member of the Adventure Kartel team.

Future Mort - Came back from the future to prevent the end of the world. Dirty, gritty character, member of the Adventure Kartel team.

Little Shadow - Deadly vixen and current girlfriend of Tommy Mission. Not involved in the Adventure Kartel team.

Boiler Zomb - Undead minion of Zomb MD, there are various versions of this character, Blond, Black, Red, Shadow, Rogue and Fodder.

Zomb MD - Mad scientist and determined to change every creature in the Metaverse into an undead minion.

Ankou - Robot used in different sections of the AK world.