I don't mean to offend anyone, but I'm starting to think
that people on both sides of the issue should be a little
less uptight about Pocket. 
I've never ordered from them, but I saw their sight before
they changed the URL, and I've been around this forum long
enough to have a pretty good idea of how they operate. So
for those that don't know, you shouldn't think they're some
kind of ultimate source of all your dream cels. The cels
they had tended to be pretty nice, and their prices were 
good. Their selection of shows, however, was pretty limited,
they had some of the most popular ones like Sailor Moon and
Dragonball, but not too many others. They don't update very
often, and they take a long time (months) to send out 
orders. They don't accept IPMOs, only wire transfer payments,
although the hassle of that is usually reduced because a
group of people can combine their payments into a single 
transfer. And as for their lottery system, I tend to think 
that the real reason people like it is that they like the 
feel of 'winning' a cel. Nothing wrong with that, but it's
not an inherently better or worse way to pick who gets the
cel than any other method. So what it all comes down to is,
they have nice cels but you have to be willing to put up 
with their way of doing business.
When I first found out that they had moved the URL and didn't
want new customers, it made me mad too. I do my best to be
a good customer, send my payments on time and respect the
wishes of the dealers I buy from. So why should my business
be unwelcome at Pocket? But as I thought about it some more,
I decided that there are a lot of places that I can't buy
from. There are dealers who only speak Japanese, Yahoo Japan
auctions, and plenty of conventions I can't go to. I'm sure
there will be more cels at AX that I can't buy than there
were in the last Pocket update. But I'm pretty happy with the
cels I've gotten from the sources that will sell to me. If 
you want to enjoy this hobby, I think you have to be happy
with the cels you can get, instead of worried about the ones
you can't get. 
I *liked* it when people would show off their Pocket wins on
this forum, or even beg for the ones they didn't win. I think
part of enjoying this hobby is being able to enjoy other
collectors' success. If the price is that we occasionally 
have to explain to the newcomers why they can't have the URL,
that wouldn't bother me. The way people are trying to keep
Pocket's existence a secret now, it seems to me, is more
divisive to the cel collecting community. Plus somebody 
always seems to find out anyway, and then they ask a question
on the forum and the cat is out of the bag again. I just think
it would be better if we could talk about cels without having
to worry about accidentally mentioning the P word. Yes I know
that it makes people feel bad at first, hearing that there's
a dealer that won't accept their business, but it's just 
common courtesy to respect Pocket's wishes. I think it would
be more frustrating to know that something was out there, but
all of these people who are supposed to be your friends won't
tell you what it is. So that's my suggestion, admit Pocket 
exists, and be nice when you explain why you can't give out
the URL. And then show off your cels :) many of us don't get
to see them at Pocket.
Okay, I'm done. Sorry I ran a bit long, I hope this didn't 
sound too much like a rant. And if everyone disagrees with 
me then I won't break the code of silence any more. But I
really think that having this secret dealer makes it that
much harder to carry on a really open discussion on this
forum.

skorp