[BB]: FIRST Choice
 

http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2010...st-choice.html

Get AM products on a first-come, first-serve basis for just the shipping cost? Sounds too good to be true, but it looks like it is true. The only question is, which items will be available? We'll find out... I'm hoping that extra CIMs will be in that bunch.

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

I'm hoping AndyMark becomes an IFI distributor so I can get free Victors. Being a post-IFI team we only have 6, which is always just short of enough.

We've exclusively used AM gearboxes and products on the robot, and seeing as the KoP has not once included roughtop wheels we'll probably be in need of those too.

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

It'll be interesting to learn if teams are allowed to request a fixed number of items, regardless of their cost, or if we're provided with a budget and can request any number of parts that fall within it.

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

The "first-come, first-serve" nature strongly implies to me that FIRST Choice is not for typical off-the-shelf components. It seems likely that this is how FIRST has decided to handle donations of items that aren't of sufficient quantity to put one in every kit.

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

My guess is a limited fixed number of items. Probably more fair that way.

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

:)
Nuff said.

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

But at the same time, there's a big difference between getting a $30 plaction wheel versus a $350 shifting transmission. Having a fixed dollar amount you could get would allow teams to get what they really need, instead of the really expensive items that they'll "probably use this season, so we should get it now cause it's expensive". If you have a fixed item amount, I can almost guarantee that demand will increase proportionally to item cost... cheap items will have very low demand, expensive ones very high (and thus shortages so not everyone can get what they want). With a fixed dollar amount, the demand would even out a bit more... although you'd probably still see more expensive items with higher demand, due to the psychology of "free money".

The challenge would come in with setting the dollar limit to a reasonable amount. Hypothetically, as a team, if we could get two shifting transmissions, that would be awesome. But if the dollar limit is less than that, we would be stuck getting one for free and buying one later. Of course, that's just the best example I could come up with... who knows what will actually be available, or what the actual price of items would be if they weren't free.

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

OOOOHHHHHH, SHINY!

In all seriousness though, this is going to be a huge help for a lot of teams. Personally, I'm hoping for more shiny plaction wheels and maybe a couple more shiny Gen. 2 Super Shifters, or maybe a couple of shiny 12V, 18 Amp-hour batteries, or maybe even a handful of shiny stop buttons (we broke three, and I'm also assuming that we'll still need them).

Point is, there is stuff that will be used during the build and competitions.

Also, if you haven't noticed, I have OLS (OH! LOOK! SHINY!)

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

You do know that you never needed the Stop button?

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

The way I read it there will be a separate section of the site for typical KOP items, Not AM items for free.

While yes andymark does provide many KOP items, I highly doubt they'll let much past the standard kitframe, wheels, and toughboxes go free.

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

AM does sell CIMs. I'd hope that at least those are included.

Of course, it'll all be clear later this year/early next year.

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

I also hope that some lower-cost items are limited to "X per customer". This would keep the temptation from anyone finding a great item and buying a large quantity.

For example: "OOOH, Plaction Wheels! We'll take 20!" (Not to say that they will be on the list--just an example)

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

The text from the post suggests to me that FIRST Choice applies to KOP items only.

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

This is a good point, our team hasn't run with the Stop button since it broke about half way through build season. At that point, we didn't have time for the part to arrive and get through customs before build season was over. The space bar does the same job as the Stop button and doesn't require extra shipping!

Re: [BB]: FIRST Choice
 

I love the concept, I have a bad feeling that the teams that need this most will end up not knowing it exists or not doing it though.

Oh well, the world is run by those who show up.