My habits... well, they die hard. Once I get used to a certain webshop, I stick around. I don't mind the negative comments, I may drop a couple myself (but at least they're not as vitriolic), let's just say that with long-time service I get used to what those folks do and how to fix things if they go South. But sometimes, my usual suppliers simply don't have what I need (especially when it's some rare or odd item) and I have to take the plunge.

For instance, my Tanaka SAA. I planned to get it from EHobbyAsia, but then some things went hairy and I had to find a shop where it wasn't out of stock yet. Enter TMC (Tokyo Model Co.) - a company I haven't dealt with before, some Engrish here and there, confusing layout, all the signs pointing to "it's not gonna be easy". Of course "buyers' opinions" ain't worth *suitcase* these times as every used car salesman can prop up an army of strawmen and crank out enough BS to make him look like the next best thing since powdered milk and it takes a bit of skill to filter out the buzz, but as long as you don't find tens of reasonably worded warnings (with the stress on "reasonably worded") you can at least expect that what you ordered will arrive and most probably in one piece. So there I went with TMC - and on their part, everything went smooth. The only problem was the local postal service, who screwed up even worse than usual.

But that wasn't the first time I had to jump through hoops to get what I wanted. Earlier, I wanted an USP Tactical, and the only one was the KJW, out of stock almost everywhere. I found it at Sun Arms Airsoft (which, BTW, looks like they sold out all of their replicas and deal exclusively in gear now), made sure that it was in stock and a week and a half later I had it. And it still works!

Now it's the third time for me to get a gun from a shop I don't know. I pondered a couple of possibilities (I basically wanted something cool, but not necessarily practical): first, the Well MP5K GBB, but a) it's out of stock everywhere and VFC plans to make something more solid than the old and not-so-reliable Maruzen design; second, the Well M11 GBB, but a) it's out of stock almost everywhere and I had a HFC M11 before and I know how those things behave in the presence of dust. KWC P99 was almost a contender, but I decided that one futuristic-looking pistol is enough and I don't plan any Cyberpunk photoshoots anytime soon. And then, as I was listening to the Magnum Force theme, it hit me: maybe a S&W M29? Tanaka makes great revolvers, no doubt about it, but I finally thought that all in all, if I want a wheelgun, I could grab something more "practical" instead. And then I revived my plans of getting a silver Wingun 703, or "that eight-incher cow-buster in pimp chrome looking like the goddamn Ambadassor from Team Fortress 2". Now all I need is the December paycheck with Christmas bonus - keep your fingers crossed.