Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The 7th Poster is revealed as... 167

The 7th poster URL was announced today by the star of Lost - Vincent the dog.

Iamtryingtobuysomejerkeyandaslushy.com



The poster is called The Smoke Monster and is by Ken Taylor.

Link to Ken Taylor's web site

167 comments:

Amy Lynn said...

Thanks to everyone who went out to Rusty's to find this for us!

maven said...

Poster is awesome! The jerky/jerkey typo is major screw-up!

Tess315 said...

Hey maven were the T shirts given away as a gift?

Inside the Rock Poster Frame said...

Ken Taylor is Australian artist. Does great work with lots of color. You should see the poster he just did for the Clash of Titans movie at Alamo Drafthouse in Texas

CL said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Wow. Now I'm even more impressed that I got #107 of the statue since I didn't know the back way. I got that poster yesterday, and it looks fantastic. I also got the Love Triangle in the past couple of days and got a bookmark with it. Oh boy.

Amy Lynn said...

I just tried the "back way" and it quoted me $150 LOL

maven said...

Tshirts were just on the shelf for the taking. tried to get more than one, but the wouldn"t let me. :(

Amy Lynn said...

With the typo, they're even more of a collector's item!

Zort70 said...

Just ordered - #953

Koobeton said...

what a great poster. definitely going to buy once it goes on sale. there are still 9 left!

CL said...

Guess I spoke too soon...they did not close the loophole!

Amy Lynn said...

What? It still says "on sale soon" :/

TomRex said...

Ummmm. All of my "firsts" were totally legit. A LOT of Ctrl F5ing. No URL hacks at all.

CL said...

#951

Amy Lynn said...

Ugh, that's crappy that people are buying them before they are on sale.

Tess315 said...

Zort
It still say on sale soon for me.

Unknown said...

I was the first to get Locke's Secret and I got poster 102. Humphf. :o)

CL said...

No disrespect to TomRex. Wasn't trying to imply anything about anyone doing anything unfair. Heck, if I would have known about it earlier, I would have done it every single time. Just making sure everyone is on an even playing field.

Amy Lynn said...

Dragon, did you tell everyone in the world about the back door? No? Then you're cheating.

Zort70 said...

Oooops

Unknown said...

I try the loophole and all it shows me is the statue and the love triangle. F5 for me, I guess.

Anonymous said...

I hope they check the order times for all the people cheating the system.

maven said...

Not fair!

Amy Lynn said...

That would be awesome, Anon.

CL said...

Well, this is a public forum. So, I kinda am telling the whole world. Now, everyone has access to the same information.

Scoutpost said...

That is such a cool poster!!

So is this one getting bought up before it officially goes on sale? They ought to check the time the orders were made and any order made before the official going on sale time, should be cancelled.

Unknown said...

Loophole? I didnt' know about a loophole. No fair.

Anonymous said...

regardless of the availability of the loop, its still wrong. not everybody is in this forum

Zort70 said...

Sorry all, I just got caught up in the moment.

Can we have a show of hands, do we remove the post about the back door ?

Tess315 said...

I wouldn't mind being first to get a print. But if I don't no big deal.

But if I did I'd like to get it
legitimately.

But unfortunately there are always going to be people who are going to try and beat the system.

Amy Lynn said...

Yes, please.

Scoutpost said...

Maven- awesome job!! Maybe you can go back later and get another shirt...you know like for ME! haha ;)

Scoutpost said...

absolutely Zort

MattLauer said...

LEGIT order #964

maven said...

Just asked someone going into Rusty's to grab me a tshirt! Now I've got 2!!!!

Anonymous said...

You can "buy it now"

Go for it!!!

Zort70 said...

Dragon Management I've removed it for now.

We can decide what to do about the info later.

Tess315 said...

It's for sale now. Those who the cheat won't work for.

RobPerrin said...

Order 972. ("Legally") Timed my F5 just about right. Slow fingers though, so I'm sure others completed before me

StrobeJams said...

#1012

CL said...

Wow, people. First off, it's only a poster. Second, you shouldn't be pissed that someone figured out how the game works from the inside out.

Remove the link if you like, but I guarantee others will use it. And you can't ban someone from buying something because of a website admin's error.

Do what you like, but I think there is a huge amount of overreaction here.

TomRex said...

Order 958 here.

This really upsets me. It's a lot to say DM considering I was first to order 3 times.

It looks like if other people were cheating they weren't very good at it. Maybe TPB already have a method for weeding those out who order before they should.

Unknown said...

I mis-typed my card number slowing me down, and I'm order #990. This one's going fast.

Scoutpost said...

ugh, can't decide if I want this one! must decide soon!

Unknown said...

Damn, that's going real fast.

Koobeton said...

even the playing field as best as possible. the less people who know about the loop, better chances for everyone. order #1015

semicolwin said...

the thing is, it's not just a poster...considering #1 got a friggin bass guitar for the last poster...

Amy Lynn said...

#1033.

semicolwin said...

oh, and #993.

The Stuff Guy said...

Dragon - you can tell me the link. follow up comments go to my gmail account. or you can try me at agelva at aol dot com.

thanks!

Anonymous said...

Legit order 955

MattLauer said...

I hate you TomRex, and by hate I mean am jealous.

maven said...

Legit order #1049

MJCarp said...

Just coming back to this comment section and feeling 'abused' order legit #979. however, I was kicked out "not authorized" just before it went "buy now" I re-entered.

Are we playing fair? With no way to even try to be first? or even 8th (108)?

Anonymous said...

Order #1021 and I found the information on an art site not dedicated to LOST. Ken Taylor is a fairly big name in the poster industry.

MJCarp said...

the type "e" may not be screw up. There are extra and missing "e" all around this ARG

Scoutpost said...

I hate that people "cheat" which, call it whatever you want, they are "cheating" when they do this kind of stuff...but I understand people will. It's inevitable. Nevertheless, I would prefer to play fair. And I think that the websites and cheat codes should not be published outright in the forum. If you want to link the info somewhere else where people can go to it, then fine. But I don't think it should be a part of the main discussion.

TomRex said...

As soon as I saw everything for the last poster I just knew it was going to be that guitar. That is amazing.

I believe this week's #1 will probably net themselves a cool yellow T-shirt.

I love how this just started as a way for me to get some art for my theater and has turned into so much more.

TPB here really know how to make it special for those who want it to be. After my first win, it was then a goal of mine to see just how many times I get first. I got lucky and hit Ctrl F5 hundreds of times before they came up.

I just like that all of this had led me to this community of LOST fans. Thank you

semicolwin said...

LotteryTicket said...

the type "e" may not be screw up. There are extra and missing "e" all around this ARG

I was thinking along these lines. I hadn't noticed the missing e's, but read about it in the comments of some post. who knows...

Tess315 said...

I think people are upset because it takes away the intent of the process.

This was suppose to be a fun way to buy Lost art.

Now it's turned into people doing reverse IP searches and finding loop holes in the webpage.

People getting angry because they don't get a free gift at an event.

It just getting silly and it barely half over.

As far as this being a public blog. Yes it is but do you really think that everyone who is interested in this art comes here?

The people finding the loopholes can't resist to brag on themselves on how smart they are.
It's that simple.

Otherwise they'd keep it to themselves and play along with the rest of us.
My opinion.

Scoutpost said...

The people finding the loopholes can't resist to brag on themselves on how smart they are.
It's that simple.

Otherwise they'd keep it to themselves and play along with the rest of us.
My opinion.


Agreed Sayid's Girl!

Amy Lynn said...

Maybe if someone writes to Ronnie Midfew, they'll take the first legit buy and give it the 101.

Unknown said...

Well I can say that I'm no where near smart enough to find a back door to any website. My first purchase was just a happy fluke. I'm under no delusion that it will ever happen for me again but that's fine, nothing will match the surprise of my finding the skateboard on the porch.
And I'm grateful I found this site because it has been very helpful. You folks are great!

Zort70 said...

I think the only thing I can do is to contact TPTB and see if they can give us some clarity about the "loophole" and what constitutes being the first person to order.

semicolwin said...

does anyone have suggestions for a cheap, yet effective, method for framing these posters (i.e. a store/website with a good deal, etc.)?

Amy Lynn said...

Apparently about 110 of them are gone already!

Patmc said...

I haven't been cheating... and it seems the legit orders are getting kind of screwed out of the chance at a neat prize. Am I going to have to try to find the cheat, to have any sort of chance at winning an extra prize?

I wish we could contact Damon and Carlton, let them know what is going on, and recommend that they just pick a RANDOM person from all the purchasers. Wouldn't that make a lot more sense at this point?

Anonymous said...

18 x 24 is a stock frame. just stop in a frame shop like arron borthers or even micheals and you should be able to find a cheap frame. the art nerds will tell you to use spaces or get it done professionally but dont sweat it.

ReverendMilo said...

OK I am about to loose it.

I drop $220 (could have paid for 4 more posters) on tickets to FOB and parking, drive for 2 hours in traffic. Dress myself and a very supportive non-lost fan up in Dharma garb. and end up with some pitty blink182 stickers from vendors, not even a t-shirt.

and now, people ordered before the "on sale now" link.

I may be done.

I dunno, but I am quite frustrated with how things are panning out.

thanks for listening to my whine. I will go suck on some cheese now.

Amy Lynn said...

Milo, have you gotten your statue poster yet? Maybe you'll get something for being 815!

Zort70 said...

Make it a nice Gorgonzola, that always sooths my stress :-)

Anonymous said...

i don't have the wherewithal to figure out the backdoor loop or anything, but i don't see it as cheating for those who do. i see it as master gamesmanship. this is a game after all. --kyle

Anonymous said...

Amy Lynn, you said 110 are gone already. How is it you are you able to see how many posters are left?

Wow, what a rollercoaster ride...Loving these posters so far..

Scoutpost said...

That's ok RevMilo...I would feel the same way- esp since the Dallas reveal cost so much, whereas the other reveals were pretty much free.

Unfortunately, people have always cheated in these things. Like Sayid's Girl said, I think people do it to show off how "smart" they are. It can suck for those of us who play by the rules. Hopefully someone can contact TPTB and maybe they can change something or seal up the loopholes.

But I would still hang in there, you've been a great addition to our forum!

MJCarp said...

ReverendMilo, you lead, I'll follow. Tyson needs a message. But I think you tried that already. No? Please close the back door, DCaaPB.

ReverendMilo said...

got statue poster, no recognition of getting 815 the day after the 5 year anniversary.

I did just get confirmation from Tyson that "cheating" is being monitored, and the first order is based on the time that the on sale now link becomes available. TG has been doing this check since the sale of poster 1.

So despite my frustration, I have to 'nod once again some thanks to TG.

Ellen said...

Nice job, Maven! How cool, Hurley's T-Shirt! Great poster too...
xxoo

Zort70 said...

I've sent an email, let's see what we get.

Amy Lynn said...

HOORAY. Great news, Milo!!

Zort70 said...

ReverendMilo - Thanks for sharing that info with us, looks like poster 101 may not be the one to go for !

Tess315 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
semicolwin said...

this has probably been discussed before, but where do the poster proceeds go? the artist?

MJCarp said...

3:15? ha ha what number is important to Smokey? Eko? Hurley?

Amy Lynn said...

Anon, just counting. The earliest reported was #951, someone on DarkUfo has #1063

Zort70 said...

I don't think we know oficially where the proceeds go, but we have assumed that any money left after the printing costs go to the artist.

Tess315 said...

Anon
Actually it is not a game or an ARG.

Rev That's good to hear that they have been watching this.
BTW how do you get in touch with Tyson?

Mike Robertson said...

Got number 1082. Also got 258 on the Locke poster. Interesting that some of the early ones still haven't sold out. The quality varies a lot!

AndySchex said...

ReverendMilo - I'm glad to hear they are monitoring orders that jumped the gun. The earliest legit order I see is 955. Anyone beat that?

Roxanna said...

Rev & Zort & whoever else may have contacted Tyson

Thank you!

MJCarp said...

Thanks everyone for your comments here and to maven, comixguru, desmondia and Hollywood_Bob (hope you made it) for pics and url reveal. Excellent poster for a great water cooler moment - Eko and Smokey together.

Zort70, your leadership inspiring. my notes re: Mr. Scheer seem to fit.

Enjoy the day.

Anonymous said...

Amy Lynn, you said 110 are gone already. How is it you are you able to see how many posters are left?

Amy Lynn said...

Anonymous, I'm just counting based on what numbers people post. Seems to be about 130 now.

TomRex said...

I wonder how many orders are for more than 1.

mikesinkovich said...

i tried to add more than one to my order and it wouldn't let me. i was trying to add more than i knew as available in hopes of finding out how many were left. but it wouldn't even let me add two.

Tim said...

Dragon management, thanks for evening the playing field after placing your own order.

Zort70, did you know and use the backdoor link before it was posted here? Congested might have told you about it?

Congested's first order that got him the bass guitar was through the back door (two orders before Dragon management's 778 on the four-toe poster). So TPTB don't care when or how your order came in. If they're checking now, they weren't earlier.

Unknown said...

My friend asked me to get her one and it wouldn't let me. That seems fair, they don't want people buying and reselling I would imagine.

knightsintodreams said...

btw about framing, as some have asked,
i'd go to a thrift store. they have zillions of pictures there and i'm sure you'd find a frame you love. for cheap~!!!
i think this is my favorite one yet :O
i'd buy it but it's just so red....
lol

Unknown said...

This is finally a print that's going to look in my living room, color wise anyway. I have these red chairs that it will look great with.

reAnimated said...

Yeah personally I'm a red and black color schema guy, so this was def a must purchase. Anyone else thing it may have a bit of black light fluorescence?

Sandman90 said...

Got one but too slow to be first. Thanks to everyone for the great pics!

mistersh0w said...

SOLD OUT! Faster than "The Crash"?

1miletogo said...

I picked up my frame for the crash at Michaels for $14.99 - simple frame but effective, puts the attention on the picture and not the frame :)

Guess I will need to go back and get another frame for Smokey :)

Oh, and when I bought one frame I got a 50% off coupon for my next order, so it may be better to get one frame and then go back with the coupon and get additional frames :)

Smokey Order #999

RobPerrin said...

I believe The Crash was sold out within an hour. So SM wasn't quite as fast.

Amy Lynn said...

Crash was two hours and some odd.

ShoxTP said...

Just got a confirmation email. #1130. So that means i got one right? Hope so :)

Thanks to all who went to the store! Maven your the woMAN.

feel_the_insanity said...

First post for me, but I've been following along since the first poster. Zort, I'm a little disappointed in how you're running this site. You removed a comment earlier that gave the link to the poster, which was provided by Maven on her twitter page. Then, you use the "hack" way of buying the poster and then remove the post that describes how to do that? Not cool man, not cool.

feel_the_insanity said...

Also, I want to thank everyone who has gone out for the events so far, you guys make it possible for me to sit in my dorm room and buy these things! Thanks alot! Order #986 for Smokie.

RobPerrin said...

Just double-checked the LostArg comments from 'The Crash' and it seems like it took around 90 minutes to sell out.

Zort70 said...

feel_the_insanity - sorry you feel that way, the removal of the URL was because in the previous poster reveal someone posted the link a good 5 mins before we got official confirmation.

I missed that the Tweeters had posted the link already. Maybe we need to make sure that the first person to comment the URL should give the detail of where they got it from so we are sure it has come from a legit source.

As to the back door, I will create a blog post in a few mins that will explain a bit more about that.

Amy Lynn said...

Zort, that's not true. I took the link right off of maven's twitter.

back_gammon said...

Yikes, it sounds like I inadvertently stumbled into this mysterious back door and all I did was hit refresh a zillion times while waiting for "Buy Now" to appear. I'm not computer smart enough to understand all this. All I know is I was having problems ordering my print, but I thought it was just because of heavy traffic. Just before the "Buy Now" message appeared, I refreshed the page and I got a red hat "unauthorized" error message. So I refreshed again and got the "Buy Now" sign. But I couldn't buy now. I kept getting error messages and crazy gibberish. So I closed that window and then opened the website in a new window. Then I got bounced to a page showing the foot and the triangle print in my cart, and on and on. For about half an hour I couldn't get past the credit card info page. However, I kept trying and trying until I finally got my order to go through. Took about 45 minutes, order #1105.

I was not trying to go through a back door. Who even knew? I still have no idea what happened beyond I had a lot of trouble ordering my print even though I was playing by the rules fair and square.

Amy Lynn said...

backgammon, doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. That sounds like a server error on DCAAPB's part.

Cheif Brody said...

RevMilo...I feel your pain about the FOB concert experience, brutha...I really do.

That said...you could have stayed home and gotten the website reveal for FREE, just like the rest of us. Even getting an early jump on the website reveal by being AT the event doesn't help you buy the next piece of art any faster. It doesn't go on sale until hours after the reveal. Sure...it makes you feel like you are 'participating' in a LOST event...but the disclaimer right on the DC&PB site discourages you from coming to these events...right there on the front page.

I understand how you could feel upset you walked away from the FOB event with bupkiss to show for it...But then...When exactly did they ever promise you that you would be "rewarded" for all your sacrifice? And would a lousy T-Shirt have made up for the time and $$$ you spent attending this thing?

Anyone attending these events does so at your own peril. IF you decide the $$$ & Time spent justifies the return...I would attend an event with very, very LOW expectations. I certainly would not shell out $220 bucks for a FOB concert (and I LIKE FOB).

But it's not like these things are advertised as a "giveaway". It's not like you recieved an invite to a FREE Wiener Roast...and when you got there, they were out of hot dogs...and buns...and mustard. These events are just a vessel to reveal a website. Period.

Sometimes there are freebies...sometimes there are not. But they never PROMISED Maven a Shiz-Tsu T-Shirt today...she just happened to get one. But the next event may not have anything.

I know you feel like you got robbed...but...I think you over extended yourself because your expectations were way too high. You can't be upset because you didn't receive something that was never PROMISED to you.

I feel your pain, dude. But don't let it turn you off the DC&PB site altogether. You learned a lesson...and an important one for ANY of us planning on attending these events in our respective cities. Keep your expectations in check...and enjoy the ride.

Zort70 said...

Amy Lynn said... Zort, that's not true. I took the link right off of maven's twitter.

Yes I know you did now and it was my mistake to remove it. Apologies all round for that.

Zort70 said...

Ok, more information up

CL said...

First, yes, thank you to all the peeps who go to the events. I know that if one comes to my area, I will be there, and I'll just have to hope that I can get home in time to get a poster.

Second, I feel a bit like Charlie the Unicorn..."SHUN! SHUN! Shun the nonbeliever!" I hope I still have all of my internal organs when this is all said and done. ;)

Third, here's EXACTLY how I came across the backdoor...

I was waiting for the 4-toed poster--after the site had been revealed but before it had the BUY NOW button up. I was trying to figure out a way to be logged in before the BUY NOW button appeared in order to save time (is this cheating??). Anyway, as I was fiddling around with the website, I accidentally hit the back button (while logged in) and came across a page that was titled "Account Information" and had two boxes and two other options titled "Logout" and "Checkout." I hit "Logout" and then I was taken to http://huckfinnwastaken.com/dcpb/xr/body.php?module=store&id=1 (which is the "backdoor" page). I noticed that the 4-toed poster was posted, along with the other non-sold-out posters. I clicked on it--curiously--and then there was an "Add to Cart" button. I clicked that, was prompted to login, and VIOLA!

Now, to be clear, the lowest # I have ever got is #103 (Crash and 4-toed). 4-toed was the only one, previous to today, that I ever used this "backdoor" on. And, as we all know, I was not the first order for 4-toed and therefore did not get the nice bass guitar. Although I do not know how the ordering system works, I do know that one or two orders came before mine for the 4-toed statue. Therefore, someone else found out about this backdoor before I did. If this is not true (which it very well could be), then I am missing something. I have been wrong before, and I could be wrong in this instance as well.

(By the way, I still have the e-mails that show the timestamp and number of my order(s), which I would be willing to show anyone if they request it.)

I decided to see if this was a one-off website admin mistake with the 4-toed poster by trying this "backdoor" today. At first, when the site was revealed (again, thanks peeps who went to the shop), the backdoor site did not have the poster up. I then posted the original post that caused this whole kerfuffle. I tried the backdoor site again, and this time, the poster did come up, but there was no "Add to Cart" button...it said "SOLD OUT." I decided to try it again a few minutes later (while the original url site still said "AVAILABLE SOON"), and then it had a "Add to Cart" button.

So, yes, I ACCIDENTALLY found a backdoor and tried to use it, but to no avail. I got my poster, and I will continue to purchase the LOST posters because I enjoy them very much. And considering today's response to my post, I probably will not be participating in this forum any further. I'm sure for many of you, that will be just fine, but next time, you might want to come down off your moral high horse, decide not to react until you have all the facts, and then respond to the situation like a rational person.

I'll be performing at the Laugh Factory all week. Two drink minimum.

[The above timeline is as best as I can remember. If I am wrong, I will correct it.]

Amy Lynn said...

Well, it's sort of a non-issue now since you can't win a prize till the button is live :)

Tess315 said...

Thanks for the info zort.

MeSoCrazy said...

Whoa. I just kinda of stumbled on to all this that I'm not even sure what I just stumbled into.

So all I'll say is wow this poster is very very cool. It's colorful. I wish I could buy them all, (well not the triangle) for their own uniquness and because of my deep love for all things LOST, but my bank doesn't understand that. All in all as much as I think this is a very cool poster, it's SO different from the Crash, which is the only one I do have, I don't feel it's for me. But I love it.

I am going to be sad when there are no more posters. It's been such a fun treat (that just aged me by using that phrase) to look forward to these, play along (well lurk along) to the clues. I don't want it to end. The show, I don't even want to go there.

So while I have no idea what is going on above me. I just want to say I think this place has been such a fun forum to visit and discuss these posters and the clues. Thanks Zort and everyone.

Amy Lynn said...

I'm excited because this is the first print I bought!!! I liked Locke, but didn't get there in time. The Crash would have been good, too, but Kate is drawn too weird for me.

Zort70 said...

Dragon Management everyone is welcome here as long as they are polite and courteous to others.

You haven't done anything wrong, but I decided to take swift action when the information was first posted.

Zort70 said...

Hopefully we can all move on and concentrate on the posters.

I'm glad I got mine, and I did genuinely have the idea that if I did get the first print prize, I would have created a LostARGs competition to give it away.

Tim said...

Hi Amy Lynn,

Why do you think you can't win a prize until the buy now button is live? I may have misunderstood something.

According to dragon management's timeline on the last (4-toed statue) poster, he used the backdoor link and had order #778.

Congested, who received the guitar, had order #776. Since the buy now button wasn't up until later, he had to have used the back door as well. And he received the guitar.

Trying to get some clarity here, can you help?

CL said...

One more thing with regard to being the "first" order for a poster:

For the 4-toed poster, my order was #778 at 9:16 PM EST. #776 got the bass guitar. Unless Ronie Midfew is messing with the actual order numbers, this order was placed BEFORE mine and BEFORE the BUY NOW button was live. Therefore--and again, I COULD BE WRONG--some alternate means of were used by Congested to get order #776 and the bass guitar.

And, for me, today's poster (Smokey) was order #951 at 11:28 AM EST. This isn't to show off...its to get the facts out there.

Amy Lynn said...

Tim,

I don't have a good explanation for the guitar, but hopefully things are fair NOW.

ReverendMilo said...

Tyson has informed me that the orders placed on poster 6 using the back door still occurred at the time of release and awarded 101 according to the correct order time despite link used for purchase. It is "fixed" as far as he tells me.


@Cheif

Thank you for your sympathy, butI feel your assesment of the risk is a tad unfair. Although their is a disclaimer on the site about attending the live events, they do not discourage it and infact encourage it through the mystery of the reveals and rewarding some participants with memorabilia at more than one event.

The twitter account that was set up (as far as I knew until it was used to tweet the URL) could have been used to give a passphrase to use at the show as was done at Johnny Cupcakes (those that told the staff "Horace sent me" received custom dharma skateboard decks. Had I not gone, and that was the intended use of the twitter account, it would have been sad too.

I took a gamble, their may be some sort of cool tribute or Lost presence at the live events, their may be memorabilia, or their may be nothing. The only thing I truly regret is that my local event required such a large monetary investment to take the gamble. I played and lost, but I played and that I do not regret, and I do not think TPTB truly discourage active participation at live events either.

Anonymous said...

..I can hear Smokie's Howl in the red ,,in this print as well as feel Eko's trepidation in that hand reaching back..Yes I got it..order #989 if any care..but i don't think it will go in the baby nursery. I don't have any kids, so why do I say that?..anyway.. perhaps it will go in the LOST Chapel formaly known as Guest House.
I bought straight from the url posted here. I did have to manually put in my credit card number. I was in the buying mode within seconds of it being " On Sale"..yes I was hitting the regen every 15 seconds or so since 8:35..so, at #989 seems about right.

I do not totally understand what ABC Promo dept is doing here. there have been some real beautiful moments and others just plain frustrating. I drove 120 miles one way..for a Lost Bookmarker..met some LOST Fans,,and became knowledable that there is indeed a large ,,LARGE print of Sawyer reading a book,,floating around there somewhere. So,,as frustrated as i WAS with the Uof A event,,yes, I aknowledge that it was a crap shoot..but to be told by a underling, that there possibly may have been something greater instore ,,but the head promotions guy .." couldn't make it"..maybe a poor choice in words..but bottom line was..less than happy face. Onward. I can move onward, because I already have something in appreciation..from whats his name?..Paul!! yes, Paul..haven't heard from him in a while. Point is.. this ain't over yet..(may LOST never be over)..so..hang in there,,and just look for the opportunity..heck..maybe some day it will be the last buyer that gets rewarded. Who knows..LOST Univ..looks to be an opportunity.
Oh..well ,,Frame 7 was fun. Thanks to Zort for all this. ..Its amazing..a few weeks ago ,,i had no room in my life for the newest fandangled " Twitter"..but ..I'm startin to see certain advantages and fun to it.Who would have ever believed?...MEL

Scoutpost said...

Dragon-
I'm sure there are plenty of people who stumbled upon the backdoor like you did. My post about "cheats" is directed toward the people out there who: 1) found the websites ahead of time and posted them; 2) those who tweet those websites before they have gone live, before those who are actually at the event can tweet them; 3) those who are intentionally using the back door to order posters before everyone else.

I also understand making the playing field even for everyone. And, I don't even really hold anything against anyone on here who uses it. I just think it's a shame that the whole process, (which was a gift from TPTB- to be all about fan appreciation) gets exploited. And I agree with Sayid's Girl that it's one thing to find a backdoor or the URL's...it's a whole other thing to share them with the blog/twitter universe and make the playing field uneven in the first place. That's nothing but self-glorification. Obviously some people have the skills to find them, but they have the choice whether or not to exploit them.

My bottom line is: I just feel that the comments should be kept on the up and up. I don't care if everybody is going through the backdoor, some of us just want to enjoy the hunting process. People have always found loopholes and backdoors on every LOST thing all the way back to TLE, so we know it's inevitable.

And I hold no grudges against Zort or Dragon...so, I think I (and perhaps all of us) have beat this horse to death, so I will shut up now and wait for the next clue. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks to everyone who has been providing information about today's hubbub. I don't profess to understand much of the technical side of how these purchasing websites work, or how the backdoor website works. And, I have no dog in today's particular fight, as I was not interested in purchasing today's poster.

But...I just wanted to throw out there that getting to be order No. 1 on a particular poster is not the only issue with the backdoor. There's also the issue of getting a poster at at all. If 200 people use the backdoor, none of them will get the special prize for being order No. 1. But all of them will get a poster, whereas nobody who waits until the site officially "goes live" will (because the poster will have already been sold out via the backdoor purchases). True, this scenario is unlikely to happen, but it does seem to be possible.

So, it seems to me that until the backdoor system is really fixed, the backdoor information should be public (as it now seems to be) so as to make the playing field level for all, and each person can decide for him- or herself whether to (1) use the backdoor and be assured of simply buying a poster or (2) waiting until the site officially goes live and try to be order No. 1 .

Zort70 said...

In amongst all the kefuffle does anyone know which episode the URL quote comes from ?

Amy Lynn said...

Because You Left


CHARLIE: Hey man. Don't run. Hurley. Just, just, sit down. I wanna talk to you. Come on. Don't do what you did in the store. Ok? There's no need to freak out.

HURLEY: No need to freak out? I'm trying to buy some jerky and a slushy, and suddenly you're standing over there by the Ho Hos. You're dead, what do you expect me to do?

Zort70 said...

Thanks Amy Lynn

Scoutpost said...

hehe...I would've liked "yourstandingovertherebythehohos.com" better!

Roxanna said...

I agree, scoutpost!

Sandman90 said...

Really just happy to get my poster. In any competitive affair like this, I would expect people to be looking for an edge. While I was personally unaware of this backdoor, it does bring this specific loophole (pardon the pun) into focus. Perhaps someone at TPTB will look at all of the bad blood this is generating and fix the technical problem that allows this OR find an alternate means of rewarding the bonus prize, such as a random lottery from all of the buyers who bought these within the first hour or less. It doesn't mean much to me personally but I hate to see all the fun sucked out of this forum because of this animosity.

Cheif Brody said...

Rev...

'they do not discourage it and infact encourage it through the mystery of the reveals and rewarding SOME participants with memorabilia at more than one event.'.

That's 'SOME' is a pretty big Matza Ball hangin out there. They absolutely encourage it...I mean..a clue like "Tell Them Horace Sent You" is practically an invite, right?

Just saying...your story is a cautionary tale about how 'arbitrary' the 'freebies' are. Only 8 people got the special Dharma skateboard decks...what if 150 people showed? Waited in line all day...and only 8 people walked away with something? That would piss a lot of people off.

In my opinion...the SMALLER the event is...the more likely there is to be some freebies. Here's why: In Darlton & the ABC marketing team whose running this crazy thing's defense...THEY DON"T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE TO PLAN FOR! They have no idea how many rabid fans like ourselves are going to attend these things...so how could they possibly know how many "freebies" to produce? A dozen? A hundred? A thousand? They don't know...there's no RSVP.

I think that's exactly why a huge event like a FOB concert is the last place you'd see freebies being handed out...Just too many people to account for. Too many freebies to produce and make available. Plus...how do you determine who's a LOST fan...and who's just a FOB fan that's never heard of the show LOST...standing there looking for a free hand out.

Even if they HAD 'tweeted' you a 'secret handshake' code to GET the freebie...you think they want to deal with an angry mob of FOB fans who also want the freebies they are handing out but they don't pass code? I've worked at TV station events...and man...that crowd can get pretty scary when you deny them the goodies you are hoarding behind the table.

Anyways...back to your original quote...'SOME'...that's a pretty large 'gamble' to go out of pocket a couple hundred dollars on...plus the time and traffic frustration.

To each his own, I suppose...But they never promised you a Rose...or a Bernard garden.

back_gammon said...

I think instead of giving the fan appreciation swag to the first purchaser, it should be given out randomly to anyone who purchases a print. Draw a number out of a hat.

The competition to get one of the 200 prints is keen enough. But the practice of giving swag to the first purchaser has turned this from being friendly and fun to something cut throat.

Not cool.

RobPerrin said...

Agree. Randomly choose a winner from those who purchase within the first 24 hours.

maven said...

Wow...I really missed some excitement here!

I had a great experience with this...it was quick and easy! And FREE! The guys at the store were very nice...they even checked the poster for me on their desktop (I just had my iPhone with me). I did get to order it on my iPhone!

Hope I did a good job of reporting in (I think I did...first time I posted twitpics!)

Now on to the next poster....

lost4evr said...

Hi YouAllEverybody. Stumbled onto this site from a link over on Dark's forum. Just read through all the comments (whew) and hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes (not my intention at all) but just wanted to add my 2 cents. I feel that extra prizes for attending events, being order #1, etc should be appreciated and not expected. That's what makes them all that much sweeter IMHO.
Like I posted over on Dark (I'm pooh over there BTW) I was perturbed to learn of the back door url but was even more perturbed by learning of it after the fact. LOST fandom has always been all about sharing info. After all, aren't we all just Black Swans?? That being said, I had a legit order #1022 for this print. I truly love this one and think it is my favorite so far followed closely by "The Crash." Will try to get some zzzz's b4 the next clue goes up. This is really starting to wear me out...LOL

Zort70 said...

Maven you were excellent today, glad you had a great time.

Roxanna said...

hey guys, are we still looking for clues from this ARG?

I was looking at the main page on DCPB.com and right under The Love Triangle poster there are some extra pixels.

I don't know if it's anything, but I was wondering if anyone else sees it?

1miletogo said...

Thanks to everyone for covering the event, for those of us that couldn't make it to Rusty's :) I'm glad I got the Smokey poster, I agree about the prize, that maybe it is spread out in a drawing among the first to order in the first hour or something. It is an extra "gift of appreciation" that is pretty awesome - I wonder if they will outdo the guitar from the last drawing. I don't think I will ever win one, not sure if I will get any more posters - Got my two :)

But, I will follow along on the fun ride, and still hope for a Colorado event.

Eugene said...

Maven,
It was awesome! I am so glad you had a good time. It's surprising how excited I get just sitting here at the PC waiting for this to unfold. And I LOVED the group picture.

I think this kind of collaboration that has been going on since TLE is just what TPTB appreciate and realize that they have set a precedent that other TV shows will have a hard time matching. It's truly a unique and, probably, ground breaking experience.

I am enjoying it and even more so when all of you are, too.

Zort70 said...

roxanna, I noticed those before, but I think the person editing the frame just made a mistake as they seem to line up with the rest of the photo when it is in portrait mode.

dylansdad said...

As far as I'm concerned, my prize was getting to order one of these before they sold out!

Mr. Eko is one of my favorite characters, and him facing down Smokey with his Jesus Stick is a great image--and this print did a fantastic job of capturing that moment.

Roxanna said...

Zort, that makes sense. Thanks :)

Eugene, I agree and I think by 'fan appreciation' TPTB wanted to thank the fans for always sticking together

Amy Lynn said...

ITA, dylansdad. Actually, the REAL prize is that I convinced my boyfriend to let me hang Smokey up in the bathroom after he'd said "No Lost Art" about six times.

1miletogo said...

@dylansdad - I agree fully - love this picture - and my two favorite characters are in it :) It really does capture the moment. And like the crash, I'm sure it will be way better in person :)

maven said...

My hubby will probably think "The Smoke Monster" is scary! LOL

I've got a little LOST shrine going in my quilting room: Next to my Lost quilt I hung "Crash" (I'm thinking I'll put "The Smoke Monster" under it), I have my Ben bobblehead and pass from Comic Con and the Hatch figurine.

Unknown said...

A Lost quilt, awesome! I should ask my crafty friend to make one of those for me.
My husband is starting to get jealous of all the wall space I'm taking up with these prints, not that he really cares what I'm putting up. He's a little competitive that way.

Amy Lynn said...

Someone should make a LOST quilt using the poster images :D

Unknown said...

That would sell!

maven said...

There might be copyright issues with a Lost Poster quilt if you try and sell it! My quilt is for my own use only.

Zort70 said...

NEW POST to roundup poster 7 for the moment.

Unknown said...

Maven, great job! That's an awesome quilt. Makes me want a quilt with a life sized Desmond. :o)
Yeah, copyright issues take the fun out of a lot stuff.

ReverendMilo said...

@ Cheif

I think you missed the whole end point of my comment:

"The only thing I truly regret is that my local event required such a large monetary investment to take the gamble. I played and lost, but I played and that I do not regret, and I do not think TPTB truly discourage active participation at live events either."


Someone had to take a gamble and see, I did. Dallas Lost fans were represented at the Lost event, even if there was nothing there for us.

I'm sorry if I was not as wise to the industry as you and what they will and won't do at events based on the size of the venue. My town had a Lost live event occur, I covered it at my own expense and own risk. I am happy with what I did, but I am allowed to express some disappointment as well.

At least the other events were not so cost prohibitive that the participants had the chance to see and meet each other. Sadly at the Dallas event, I was the only participant in a city this big able to attend because of cost.

If that is not a shame, you and I are on different pages.

feel_the_insanity said...

Not to nitpick, but the quote is from The Beginning of The End (Season 4 premiere) not Because You Left (season 5 premiere).

Zort, you do a good job running this site and I didn't mean to single you out about the "backdoor" thing. I read Dragon's original post about the "backdoor" thing and just got really mad. I really wanted The Crash poster and was stunned to see it sell out so quickly. So, that explains why that happened. Keep up the good work everyone, you have gained a new "Forum Friend" in myself. If there's ever an event in Connecticut, I'm your man.

back_gammon said...

Thanks Maven and everyone who posted the updates.

Great job!

Cheif Brody said...

Rev...Please don't get me wrong. I totally 'got' your original post about the FOB event being the only event so far that had such a hefty monetary investment.

I was very surprised you could only get access to the new website from INSIDE the arena. They gave us no warning about that (unless you count the picture clue of the arena seating chart)...I thought the url reveal would be OUTSIDE the stadium...so you could walk up to a Dharma booth...get the clue w/o buying a ticket...and leave.

I suppose TPTB felt the Fall Out Boy on stage mention of Drive Shaft, and those who got close enough to see that tiny website scrawled across Wentz's bass would be enuff to placate all those LOST who attended the show.

I see your disappointment if that wasn't enuff for you...and certainly if the cost of that evening didn't justify the pay off for you, then that is a shame.

But if you came to the event EXPECTING a freebie...that is NOT a shame. I do hope you had a good time at the concert, meeting with other LOST fans and I truly admire that you went WAY beyond the call of duty to observe and report on the Dallas event.

I just felt it needs to be stressed that 'freebies' are not guaranteed with any of these events. Period. So..."buyer beware" if an event lands in your town.

Cheif Brody said...

oops! Forgot to that all the gang that attended Rusty's today! Great reporting and pics! Special shout out to Maven!

Cheif Brody said...

Sorry THANK!

Patmc said...

Holy cow was that fast! I got Poster #7 in the mail today... and just ordered it earlier this week!

This poster is even cooler than I thought it was going to be... as the gold color ink that makes up a lot of the poster... is iridescent! When the light hits it right, it highlights everything. Very cool indeed!

I have poster #152...

reAnimated said...

Got mine today. 108/300. And I was order 959. So if Dragon said he got 951 with the backdoor then he is #1.

Amy Lynn said...

That's not true, because the Kharma Initiative was 101.

reAnimated said...

Ah. Well, either way. . I was 108 with order 959. Glad to see they tried to weed out some backdoors.