Hiding toys from other buyers
 

How do you guys feel about hiding toys in other locations in the store and coming back to buy them later? Do you see it as unfair to the merchant and other buyers or no big deal since you will either buy the item at a later date or a stock person will eventually find it and put it back in its proper location?

I used to do this when I was 8. Now I either buy it or don't if I'm interested in the character. If it's not in the budget, then I go without or order it on bbts when I get extra funds.

I grabbed a few Masterpiece transformers at Toys R Us for friends of the guy I buy my imported Transformers from, but otherwise, I'm a first come, first served supporter.

Who cares? Do whatever and hope you don't have to answer to your deity of choice for toy related indiscretions.

I used to do this mostly when I was younger. I very rarely buy figures in-person anymore, unless I'm at a convention (and you definitely can't hide stuff at a vendor's table, that's a good way to get kicked out).

So while I've done this myself and don't feel it's "wrong" or anything, I do think that you should only do this if you actually intend to come back and buy the figure. I hid more than a few figures in my day, but I pretty much never came back for them. So I just made more work for the employees of Meijer, Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, and Media Play for about 15 years.

weird question

This topic has been discussed to death on multiple forums before, and those threads are buried in the deepest, darkest depths of forum hell where newbies fear to tread, so no, not really.


CCC.

One of my greatest joys at TRU was unearthing hidden figures and putting them back on the correct peg. Or, if it was something I wanted, buying it.

This isn't something I relate to. I either buy stuff when I find it or I don't because I don't want it.

But I also subscribe to the idea that if you beat me to the figures then you do what you want. Buy them all, hide them all, whatever.

I somewhat regularly find figures stashed around my Walmart's toy section whenever I check it out, although with their recent toy aisle shuffle it's hard to tell what was deliberately stashed and what was simply misplaced. Like you I put them where they belong if I'm not interested.

It's not the worst practice but I do consider figure stashing a bit shady, it's definitely not a blatant offense like figure swapping or stealing parts but it's not exactly "upright" either. I have to admit I stashed a figure once so I could wait for the store to put the line on clearance but it's not my proudest moment as a collector.

People get mad about it, yet people also say brick 'n mortar retail is a waste of time, buy online.

It messes with store inventory, yet since when do stores restock anymore, anyway?

I fully admit i did that with some clearance items only to come back and the clearance items didn't scan cheaper at all, instead *see associate*. It backfired.

10 years ago there was card bender in my area. Star Wars 30th anniversary series card backs would be hard bent on their corner, like tearing the surface bending. What was this person accomplishing? Foiling MOC collectors?

yeah sounds like they were trying to ruin the resale value.

I've had clerks drop or toss around things I wanted in good condition, not to resell - I just didn't want it bent for no reason.

Ive stashed a fig here and there but its usually becaause i wanna go around to the usual spots nd see if theres anything else i need incase i find a more desired want, but i have gone back and put it back if ive found something else or to buy it if didnt find anything.

I too have put stashed figs back on shelves if ive found em. You can ususally tell if its a scalper horde orbcollector if its all the newest or desired figs stashed or one. Ususlly the big hordes are scalpers and one is usually a collector.

I hid a Carnage from the Venom wave at Walmart because I wasn’t sure if myy order had shipped and I was determined to save those $2. Turns out mine had shipped, but honestly with how great of a figure it is, I was more than happy with the purchase anyway. I only hide lately if I wanna go to other stores and see what else is there. I live REALLY close to Target and B&N so I have choices. Even the local Shopko over here has a lot of new stuff, it’s where I got my Black Panther and almost got Spider-Ham and Typhoid Mary.

i "get it"..but...still a dick move to me.

If you can’t afford to pay all of like $20-25, maybe you should be getting your life priorities in order. Maybe move outta the parents’ place, stop getting ear plates and neck tats, etc.

My rule is if I can't buy it leave it. If I'm suppose to get it here, it will still be here when I have the money.

I literally laughed out loud @ "when i was 8"

Lmao

Lol. Ear plates and neck tats

I only stash stuff when my I find stuff for my brother and don't have enough cash on me. I find entire waves of stuff in my area before he does. I'm usually back that day if not the next to get it.

A bunch of local Transformers board members in my brothers area stash stuff for the people in the group, it's super helpful since it is a scalper ridden spot and new TFs are almost as rare as hens teeth there.


What I got a problem with is people who stash stuff where it never gets found during routine shelf straightening usually waiting for the system to let it hit clearance. Remember a post this year of someone finding figures from 4 years ago under a shelf at Target. What's worse is when they don't come back and they're no longer even sellable.

I don't think it had ever occurred to me to hide a figure somewhere else in the store.

It's absurd but it points to the absurdity of toy collecting. You wouldn't stash the last bag of Doritos at a story and come back for it later, because the store would just get more in anyway. But since scalpers exist and "collectibles" don't get restocked or reissued with any regularity, things like stashing exist.

But if companies made everything to demand they'd be stuck with too much overstock and "it wouldn't be collecting, just shopping" as at least one person thinks. Or everyone would wait for clearance, which is what happens with a lot of mediocre toys anyway. I don't know.

in a walmart once
i met this dude (lets call him dickhead #1)who later i found out sold figures...
we chatted for awhile about action figure nonsense..

then he goes to tell me.. (whatever current new figs were in the store at the time) that he hid this figure and that figure in different places.
Then tells me that he actually found some hidden figures that ANOTHER guy whom he knows (Lets call him Dickhead #2) and in turn, hid the hidden figures he found.

Straight dickheadedness to me...
fukkin dummies...

I've never done it, but I've found stuff that other people had stashed away.

I went to Wal-Mart early this morning to pick up a pencil sharpener for my kid and decided to take a stroll down the toy aisles to (hopefully) ruin some D-bag's day. I found a couple DC Multiverse and 5 Marvel Legends stashed away. Back they went in the proper spot, front and center.

When I was 9 I hid some robotech figs on Friday because I lacked the money and these were the last ones. Worked as there’s no tomorrow Saturday and Sunday. Then back at the shop with the money on Monday... toys aisle changed places and the figs were nowhere to be found. I was devastated....
Nowadays I buy figures in geek places so everyone here just searches thoroughly, even if I felt like hiding stuff it wouldn’t make any sense.