[vwong19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpmartin414

Not true about people complaining about scalpers not having money and/or rare figures. I have a full MOC and loose MU collection. I had money to buy all the figures, because I have a real big-boy job. Because of that, I'm at work when stores like Target and TRU stock and asleep for work when Walmart stocks. By the time I'm out of work, the shelves and pegs are bare.

I've actually taken to buying entire cases of the normal waves at this point, but there's still no way to get around the store exclusives. Take the X-Men Tru pack. Monday night my local TRU put up the tags, but still didn't have the figures. I went back Tuesday after work to check and there weren't any. Apparently, someone bought all four sets immediately in the morning.

How is that not a dick move?

Seriously though, TRU only had 4... it's an exclusive alright. I too went Sunday and there were none to be had. They did suggest that I drive 30 miles to another TRU... I passed. Why not carry 20?

[omega145]

I like your little comment in the end how you threw that in there Logain. I'm one of many just like you with a family and many responsiblities, just because someone paid scalper prices doesnt mean that they dont have responsibilities bud. Good point on blaming the manufacturers vwong. I agree with that to a certain extent as there is a huge demand for some figures but yet there are 30 iron man MU figures every time I go to Target or Walmart. I always wonder about who in the hell does the research for the manufacturers. They keep making Wolverines, Spidermans, Iron man and I do understand that those are the most well known figures, but figures of high interest are yet to be made and some that are in high demand are only one per case.

[sabretoothe]

in a major retailers inventory sales report it doesn't go by character but more like how many cases were sold and in what time frame. character specifics are up to the manufacturer so if anyones to blame it would be them.

[Jason Abbadon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwong19

Seriously though, TRU only had 4... it's an exclusive alright. I too went Sunday and there were none to be had. They did suggest that I drive 30 miles to another TRU... I passed. Why not carry 20?

Because, from what i see at my Toys R Us, they have no idea what is going to be hot and what is going to suck on ice- my TRUS has a big dusty asile of Terminator 3 crap, odd sized wresteling figures and a wole peg of just the Guy Gardener/BLack Hand two pack (which sucks no end, BTW).

So on anything that's not pitched as a "Summer Movie Blockbuster", they only carry a minimum....and as in all things these days, reps from various companies (like hasbro) push their product: it's the Hasbro reps we should be talking to!

They could really push MU much better- endcap displays, stand alone displays (like that GL movie one), etc.

And commercials- the MU line would, in my opinion, explode if there were commercials during the Avengers cartoon! We'd all be fighting hordes of little kids to get our figs!

But, OTOH, the quality of figs might go way down if the target buyers were demographicly younger- like the Spider-Man line.
And that would suck.

[Robticon]

Thankfully the only thing I have in my area is collectors. I've never seen a scalper here, ever. Back before I was into MU, I did see a Variant Vision and Variant Archangel, and a Variant Havok at my local Target. Like a dipsh!t, I totally left them there, but the point is that if a scalper had been thru there at all, those guys wouldn't have been there. So that makes me happy, looking back. The worst I've seen is a guy who bought multiple WFC Soundwave figures at another Target in my area.

Also, I thought this was the 'Scalper Stories' thread, no the 'OMG, screw tha effing sclapersss'. I'd prefer more funny stories than pointless discussion of where the gray area is between being a scalper and a collector. Though, I really shouldn't super impose my opinion. So I apologize for that.

[Crazy Jetty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robticon

Also, I thought this was the 'Scalper Stories' thread, no the 'OMG, screw tha effing sclapersss'. I'd prefer more funny stories than pointless discussion of where the gray area is between being a scalper and a collector. Though, I really shouldn't super impose my opinion. So I apologize for that.

Quoted for Truth.

[Primacron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stjuggernaut

tell me about it mate. we dont have scalping over here because the UK never gets anything in anyway.

to my knowledge there were no prince of persia figures sold anywhere over here.. in shops anyway. maybe the disney shop but i didnt check. bit weird as it was the big summer blockbuster that year (well meant to be until it flopped)

(Sorry to take this topic off thread briefly.)

I have seen Prince of Persia figures in TRU, they definitely had quite a lot fairly recently, but they may have cleared them out now.

[Redlantern161]

Quote:

Originally Posted by omega145

I like your little comment in the end how you threw that in there Logain. I'm one of many just like you with a family and many responsiblities, just because someone paid scalper prices doesnt mean that they dont have responsibilities bud. Good point on blaming the manufacturers vwong. I agree with that to a certain extent as there is a huge demand for some figures but yet there are 30 iron man MU figures every time I go to Target or Walmart. I always wonder about who in the hell does the research for the manufacturers. They keep making Wolverines, Spidermans, Iron man and I do understand that those are the most well known figures, but figures of high interest are yet to be made and some that are in high demand are only one per case.

Yeah that's the part that bothered me because Figures like Cable, Spiderwoman, Capt. Mar-vell, Iron Patriot, Ghost Rider, Mystique etc. are more likely the ones people care about a lot more & they only have one per case & the fact that they can't distribute it like once a week for a while bugs me because there are people who don't have all the time in the world when scalpers do & they snatch up all of the figures as if to say "Screw you because you don't want to pay my damn prices".

[Redlantern161]

Well it's open to talk about anything scalper related here I don't mind if you guys wanna blow off steam but I'll say this story that has happened.

I was on Target one day back when the 1st few waves of MU hit the shelves. At this point I found some figures (I don't exactly remember which ones) & I saw a guy who has a big fella (not height wise either) & he was sweaty with an afro & doesn't look like he has showered for weeks. I at the time also collected some Yu-Gi-Oh cards too (before I officially dropped the card collecting) so i grabbed a small $3 pack but I wlak over to another aisle to see the Wolverine stuff (since they were an aisle apart back then) & when I come back i see this guy rip off all the card packs from the rack & one MU figure which i thought "maybe I should buy it" but it didn't matter the ass walked all the way over & i saw him watching me when I was gonna get a shirt in the clothing aisle. Since I wanted to dish out payback i said to an employee how he looked & he was looking to steal the cards & sell them & I went as far as to tell him he was talking on the phone with somebody so I can get him pinned real good. I left the store but not before I saw an Assets Protection guy tackle him & take him out back.

I return & I asked about the guy & they said they wanted to make an example of him so they banned him on the store & posted pics all over just so he wasn't able to come back.

[Shawn Woodbeck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redlantern161

Well it's open to talk about anything scalper related here I don't mind if you guys wanna blow off steam but I'll say this story that has happened.

I was on Target one day back when the 1st few waves of MU hit the shelves. At this point I found some figures (I don't exactly remember which ones) & I saw a guy who has a big fella (not height wise either) & he was sweaty with an afro & doesn't look like he has showered for weeks. I at the time also collected some Yu-Gi-Oh cards too (before I officially dropped the card collecting) so i grabbed a small $3 pack but I wlak over to another aisle to see the Wolverine stuff (since they were an aisle apart back then) & when I come back i see this guy rip off all the card packs from the rack & one MU figure which i thought "maybe I should buy it" but it didn't matter the ass walked all the way over & i saw him watching me when I was gonna get a shirt in the clothing aisle. Since I wanted to dish out payback i said to an employee how he looked & he was looking to steal the cards & sell them & I went as far as to tell him he was talking on the phone with somebody so I can get him pinned real good. I left the store but not before I saw an Assets Protection guy tackle him & take him out back.

I return & I asked about the guy & they said they wanted to make an example of him so they banned him on the store & posted pics all over just so he wasn't able to come back.

LOL. I wish I could have seen that!!

[Redlantern161]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn Woodbeck

LOL. I wish I could have seen that!!

Yep it was an EPIC WIN to see that happen

[vwong19]

I guess I haven't really seen any obvious scalpers. I tend to avoid eye contact when I'm in the toy area. Is there any indiscreet way of buying toys at Target, Walmart or TRU. My routine is to first check out the MU, Transformers, and then LEGOs (I just like looking at LEGOs, even though it's unnecessary to check). I'll flip through the pegs, I'm careful not to mess them up since I understand the value of keeping them in good condition for the collectors out. From a casual observer, it must look pretty strange to see a grown man flipping through a bunch of random toys. Occasionally I see old guys doing the same thing over at the Hot Wheel section, so I gather they must be looking for something obvious as they seem to have way more cars to go through, but they tend to take no time.

I hardly ever run across little kids in the MU section, so I do not know how many kids are really into these toys. I see much more in the LEGO section. Are we really depriving kids of these things... how many kids read comic books these days? Perhaps kids like watching Avengers Earth's Mightiest Hero on DisneyXD or perhaps they like watching the Marvel Movies, but then they might be more attracted to the movie lines....

[DogFashionDisco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwong19

I guess I haven't really seen any obvious scalpers. I tend to avoid eye contact when I'm in the toy area. Is there any indiscreet way of buying toys at Target, Walmart or TRU. My routine is to first check out the MU, Transformers, and then LEGOs (I just like looking at LEGOs, even though it's unnecessary to check). I'll flip through the pegs, I'm careful not to mess them up since I understand the value of keeping them in good condition for the collectors out. From a casual observer, it must look pretty strange to see a grown man flipping through a bunch of random toys. Occasionally I see old guys doing the same thing over at the Hot Wheel section, so I gather they must be looking for something obvious as they seem to have way more cars to go through, but they tend to take no time.

I hardly ever run across little kids in the MU section, so I do not know how many kids are really into these toys. I see much more in the LEGO section. Are we really depriving kids of these things... how many kids read comic books these days? Perhaps kids like watching Avengers Earth's Mightiest Hero on DisneyXD or perhaps they like watching the Marvel Movies, but then they might be more attracted to the movie lines....

I rarely ever see a kid buying Star Wars or Marvel toys, but when I do, I try to give their parents a little advise, and on occasion I've given up a few coupons. A fat guy seemed really annoyed at me once when I tried to help him out by suggesting the Red Hulk figure his kid was looking at because it would be a sturdy toy compared to something else. Instead of hooking him up, when I was at the check out lane I noticed a little dude with a Star Wars blaster in line with his parents, and his eyes lit up when he saw the figures I was purchasing. I talked to his parents for a minute and found out that he was using his allowance to buy the SW gun, so I gave him a $5 coupon and his parents were very appreciative. I've also just given kids that ask about toys that my friend and I are buying a free figure, because honestly, they deserve a chance to use their imaginations. Just make sure it is ok with their parents, because I'm sure under the wrong circumstances giving their kids toys is a little weird, so just make sure it isn't.

[Do Boy]

Wow. Having the job that I do leaves Me a lot of freedom to shop throughout the week. I stop by Target, wal-mart, and tru periodically throughout my week. I was going to start a official sightings thread. But that seems like it would just help scalpers lurking on the threads more then the true collector

[DogFashionDisco]

Can we petition to have a private thread added to this website that is only viewable by members? That way the rest of the threads are available for everyone to read, but you have to sign up to read the private thread, which would cut down on people making money off of us.

[MasterSock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DogFashionDisco

Can we petition to have a private thread added to this website that is only viewable by members? That way the rest of the threads are available for everyone to read, but you have to sign up to read the private thread, which would cut down on people making money off of us.

I like this idea, but what to stop them form just making an account?

[ad1976]

One employee at a local comic/toy shop in my neighborhood told me that he works part time at a local Target specifically to get early dibs on MU stuff. He turns around and sells them at his comic store. That's kinda shady to me but I guess it's his way of keeping his store in business...

[Crazy Jetty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MasterSock

I like this idea, but what to stop them form just making an account?

Was just gonna call out this flaw. I had an account for years so I could look at the new toy pictures (Some weird deal where only members could look at full sized), before I ever started posting.

[mrmr]

I don't have any scalper stories. Although recently I was looking for the MU revision waves and, natch, found four pegs full of Iron Men and Hobgoblins. I turn around to look at GIJoes and some older guy in a business suit comes flipping through the MU pegs and is on his phone. He doesn't get anything but I mumble under my breath "No Archangel for you buddy."

I don't care for scalpers, and I get a little steamed when I hear the bad stories. But I make damn sure not to be the one who pays their prices. I was tempted when I still needed the rare MU figs. But I kept waiting. And waiting. And then the revision waves hit, and I kept waiting. Thanks to my brother looking around his local stores (lives by like ten different targets/walmarts apparently) I now have an Archangel, a Warpath, Jean Grey, and Sunfire. I had some online inflated prices I bookmarked if worse came to worst, but I waited and paid retail for all four instead of $20 a piece.

When it comes down to it, whoever gets there first, unfortunately, has first crack at it if there's nobody to fight over it/them with.

Although, oddly enough, once the revision waves hit both of my target and walmart had one Havok each. And they had them for a week or two aftwords and nobody seemed to pick them up.

[Badrumble]

As a collector respectively, I don't really give a fuck if someone "beats" me to the punch. First come, First serve is the bottom line. Speaking from experience, its the know how/whom that will land you that desired fig before the next person.

[Crazy Jetty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrmr

I don't have any scalper stories. Although recently I was looking for the MU revision waves and, natch, found four pegs full of Iron Men and Hobgoblins. I turn around to look at GIJoes and some older guy in a business suit comes flipping through the MU pegs and is on his phone. He doesn't get anything but I mumble under my breath "No Archangel for you buddy."

That doesn't nessesarily mean he's a scalper at all. Geeks have all maner of jobs. Some require business suits.
So, he could be another fan looking for a new figure. Or, he could be looking for something for a family member.

[Tarquinius]

Haven't been following this thread but I clearly see how 'heated' it is getting.

I think everyone has made some excellent and frank points. Scalpers and collectors aside, I prefer to think about in terms of the human condition.

I think it boils down to greed. If you have the money, you can use it as you please. But where is the regard for your fellow man AND child. Lets not forget that this market is shared by adults and children alike.

We all have different motives and we all have different reasons for doing what we do. That we know is true and we can't infer beyond that to 'scalping' vs 'collecting'. What we can do though is consider everyone else who may walk up and down the aisle. Please by all means buy that Thanos or Gentleman Ghost figure that you haven't been able to find at all. But think about how good that feels to feel vindicated in that way. A small win for the day maybe even the week.

Allow for someone else to have that opportunity. Just have good positive regard to your fellow man and child.

[Tarquinius]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DogFashionDisco

I rarely ever see a kid buying Star Wars or Marvel toys, but when I do, I try to give their parents a little advise, and on occasion I've given up a few coupons. A fat guy seemed really annoyed at me once when I tried to help him out by suggesting the Red Hulk figure his kid was looking at because it would be a sturdy toy compared to something else. Instead of hooking him up, when I was at the check out lane I noticed a little dude with a Star Wars blaster in line with his parents, and his eyes lit up when he saw the figures I was purchasing. I talked to his parents for a minute and found out that he was using his allowance to buy the SW gun, so I gave him a $5 coupon and his parents were very appreciative. I've also just given kids that ask about toys that my friend and I are buying a free figure, because honestly, they deserve a chance to use their imaginations. Just make sure it is ok with their parents, because I'm sure under the wrong circumstances giving their kids toys is a little weird, so just make sure it isn't.

Exactly what I was talking about. You're my hero!

[DogFashionDisco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tarquinius

Exactly what I was talking about. You're my hero!

Nope, just a man with a conscience. If I were a kid and someone did that for me, I'd remember it for the rest of my life.

[Tarquinius]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DogFashionDisco

Nope, just a man with a conscience. If I were a kid and someone did that for me, I'd remember it for the rest of my life.

Same. Hence why I think its important for us to take into consideration each other.

A single kid would be lucky if he could have a fraction of a collection that we have. They simply do not have the financial means to get stuff. BUT that does not mean that they don't want the good stuff.

We have to remember that we share this hobby with those who don't have the same capacities as us. So yeah..that whole dog eat dog stuff doesn't fly with me.