This Week In Your Plastic Crack, Action Figures and Toy Collection 26 26

[Buzzetta]

44 minutes ago, PKJ said:

If you want a good read head on over to Rebelscum and watch the riots unfold over "scalping". Posted on page 1019 that I was going to sell mine got several I will only offer $750 PM's and watched the scalper term get thrown. One of the reasons I avoid that board, been a member since 2002 but things have changed over there.

 

 

Phillip

Link me.  I read the news but stay out of the forums.  

I was very disappointed when I placed a WTB post and people would not respond with pics or prices. Makes me really appreciate our board rules here. 

[PKJ]

https://forum.rebelscum.com/showthread.php?t=1053425&page=1027

 

 

[Broke as a Joke]

You would need a pick up truck to haul this thing back from the FedEx drop.  It's huge.  

People are insufficiently_thoughtful_persons if they think ordering extra barges and selling them at market value is scalping.  There was no set number on how many of these were going to be made.  

[fantastic_four]

21 minutes ago, Broke as a Joke said:

People are insufficiently_thoughtful_persons if they think ordering extra barges and selling them at market value is scalping.

But that's exactly what it is, scalping.  You might not like the word, but that doesn't mean you can redefine it to not fit the situation just because you're the one doing it.

I'm not implying there's anything wrong with it, either, although I'm acutely aware that fans of toys hate it as much as fans of live events do.  There's a new Marvel Legends figure out for the X-Men villain Mystique that is only sold at Walgreens, and it's relatively difficult to find in the stores.  I could've scalped half a dozen if I wanted to, but I prefer not to get involved with that, and $50 to $100 profit wasn't enough incentive to do it anyway.  I may well have done it with the barge if I knew about it at the time, but I probably would've sat on it for a while before selling it just to avoid the negative feelings people have about scalping.  Probably better to do that anyway, it'll probably be worth even more in a few years.

Edited March 8, 2019 by fantastic_four

[F For Fake]

14 hours ago, followtheleader said:

All 80s toys have hit a crazy high.

MASK were not the most plentiful before the burst a couple years ago.  They've become less so recently.

Those are great prices.  Rhino is fantastic and Thunderhawk is a fan fav. 

Patrick

I think you're absolutely right about that, I still don't run into them very often. Seeing them at the Joe show, I felt that wave of nostalgia and had to pick them up. I adored MASK when I was a kid, and probably played with the Rhino set as much as I did any of my Transformers or Joes. They're such cool vehicles and the characters are in a very fun scale as well. It's a super line. I've had to stop myself from pursuing the line entirely, but if I run across them at a decent price, it's hard to pass them up.

[F For Fake]

44 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

But that's exactly what it is, scalping.  You might not like the word, but that doesn't mean you can redefine it to not fit the situation just because you're the one doing it.

I'm not implying there's anything wrong with it, either, although I'm acutely aware that fans of toys hate it as much as fans of live events do.  There's a new Marvel Legends figure out for the X-Men villain Mystique that is only sold at Walgreens, and it's relatively difficult to find in the stores.  I could've scalped half a dozen if I wanted to, but I prefer not to get involved with that, and $50 to $100 profit wasn't enough incentive to do it anyway.  I may well have done it with the barge if I knew about it at the time, but I probably would've sat on it for a while before selling it just to avoid the negative feelings people have about scalping.  Probably better to do that anyway, it'll probably be worth even more in a few years.

I know it's probably splitting hairs, but I tend to think of scalping more as grabbing up hard to find items exclusively to sell, whereas with the Barge, my understanding is that these were readily available to order for a set time, to everyone, right? I think finding a hard to find figure at Target and throwing it up on eBay is different than ordering an extra of something that everyone else had the same shot at getting, even if you are buying it for resale. As long as everyone else had the same opportunity, I'd think your conscience would be in the clear. Like I said, this is probably just being nitpicky, I guess we have our own definitions for these things. I don't have a problem with any of it, either. I buy, I sell, I buy for me, I buy to sell, I sell to buy more for me, etc.  It's how this, and most, collectible hobbies work. I'm not going to knock a small child to the ground in order to grab a Marvel Legends figure, but if I run across it in the wild and know I can make some money on it, I'm not averse to that either.

With the barge, the brouaha makes me kinda wish I'd jumped on it, but I don't collect Star Wars at all anymore, so it didn't make a lot of sense for me to grab this thing, no matter how horking huge it is.

Of course, now that its out and selling for crazy money, I have the "missed out" feeling. But it shall pass. There's always something else out there to chase.

[cbalroman]

This barge is huge! 

[fantastic_four]

2 minutes ago, F For Fake said:

I know it's probably splitting hairs, but I tend to think of scalping more as grabbing up hard to find items exclusively to sell, whereas with the Barge, my understanding is that these were readily available to order for a set time, to everyone, right? I think finding a hard to find figure at Target and throwing it up on eBay is different than ordering an extra of something that everyone else had the same shot at getting, even if you are buying it for resale. As long as everyone else had the same opportunity, I'd think your conscience would be in the clear.

The common denominator with scalping is acquiring an item in limited supply and selling it for more than the original price to other people who want the item.  Your example of finding a hard-to-find figure at Target doesn't give everyone equal opportunity to get that figure, because if everyone had equal opportunity it wouldn't be hard to find.  I went to over 15 Walgreens to find Mystique, and I found it at exactly two stores, and PLENTY of people have never seen it which is why I knew I could scalp if I wanted to.

I don't see how the Barge is much different than a concert ticket.  Both are sold for a limited time and then are no longer available.  Whether you're standing outside of a football stadium yelling "tickets, get tickets here" or slapping it on eBay, either way you're buying at one price and flipping it for more.  Either way you're going to generate hard feelings with the sports fan or toy collector who ends up paying more than they originally cost.  It's all capitalism to me so I'm fine with it, but I get why people aren't.

[MMCKEE1217]

I have a ton of MASK toys- some day I would love to complete the set, but Bolder Hill is the only thing I really think I will pick up. My dad and I went to Toys R Us just when the line was ending and found a few of the Split Seconds line, but some of them are extremely pricey now.

[Broke as a Joke]

45 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

The common denominator with scalping is acquiring an item in limited supply and selling it for more than the original price to other people who want the item.  Your example of finding a hard-to-find figure at Target doesn't give everyone equal opportunity to get that figure, because if everyone had equal opportunity it wouldn't be hard to find.  I went to over 15 Walgreens to find Mystique, and I found it at exactly two stores, and PLENTY of people have never seen it which is why I knew I could scalp if I wanted to.

I don't see how the Barge is much different than a concert ticket.  Both are sold for a limited time and then are no longer available.  Whether you're standing outside of a football stadium yelling "tickets, get tickets here" or slapping it on eBay, either way you're buying at one price and flipping it for more.  Either way you're going to generate hard feelings with the sports fan or toy collector who ends up paying more than they originally cost.  It's all capitalism to me so I'm fine with it, but I get why people aren't.

So basically any comic book that somebody pays more than cover price for, the seller is scalping.  

The barge was made to order.  For whatever reason somebody didn't order when the window was open, that's on them.  Everyone in North America had the same chance to grab these and at the same volume.  

[fantastic_four]

10 minutes ago, Broke as a Joke said:

So basically any comic book that somebody pays more than cover price for, the seller is scalping.  

The barge was made to order.  For whatever reason somebody didn't order when the window was open, that's on them.  Everyone in North America had the same chance to grab these and at the same volume.  

Yes, that's correct, and the barge situation isn't significantly different than the way concert or sporting event tickets are sold.  Either way the Merriam-Webster definition of the word applies to all of these situations.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scalping

[Broke as a Joke]

Just now, fantastic_four said:

Yes, that's correct, and the barge situation isn't significantly different than the way concert or sporting event tickets are sold.  Either way the Merriam-Webster definition of the word applies to all of these situations.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scalping

But a concert or sporting event has limited seating, there are only so many tickets when they go on sale.  The barge had no limits.  They would have made 50,000 of them if they got the orders in.  

[fantastic_four]

Just now, Broke as a Joke said:

But a concert or sporting event has limited seating, there are only so many tickets when they go on sale.  The barge had no limits.  They would have made 50,000 of them if they got the orders in.  

You can rationalize it all you like, but nothing about the definition of the word doesn't apply to the situation.  I'm also not negatively judging you for it, I don't mind it at all and have bought for investment purposes myself, I just don't get why you were trying to dodge the word scalping when that's exactly what it is.

[miraclemet]

13 minutes ago, Broke as a Joke said:

But a concert or sporting event has limited seating, there are only so many tickets when they go on sale.  The barge had no limits.  They would have made 50,000 of them if they got the orders in.  

That was my question, and that's a key difference if that's the fact. 

[miraclemet]

from wiki: Ticket resale (or scalping) is a form of arbitrage that arises when the number demanded at the sale price exceeds the number supplied (that is, when event organizers charge less than the equilibrium prices for the tickets).

My understanding is that at the time of sale there was no limit to the number bought, so if someone bought 2 barges instead of 1 it did not mean someone else didnt get one, just that Haslab made more. 

Scalpers often use artificial means to buy up all of the tickets for highly sought after events, blocking "regular" buyers from acquiring tickets through the regular means. That didnt happen here. 

What you have here is market demand affecting supply. In so far as the market demand has increased prices so much that those who were not intending to sell their barge are now considering it. 

[miraclemet]

up until now Ive been happily spending money on comics, and then I start to read this thread and next thing I know...

Found a nice looking tripplechanger Blitzwing, good colors no paint loss and it came with all the extras and a box that was in good shape ( no traversing bend crease across the back). Got it for a good price (I think) and then ordered a repro insert (onlything missing from the package).  All came in and put it together... Think it looks as good as an all original one for much less!

[Buzzetta]

3 hours ago, F For Fake said:

I know it's probably splitting hairs, but I tend to think of scalping more as grabbing up hard to find items exclusively to sell, whereas with the Barge, my understanding is that these were readily available to order for a set time, to everyone, right? I think finding a hard to find figure at Target and throwing it up on eBay is different than ordering an extra of something that everyone else had the same shot at getting, even if you are buying it for resale. As long as everyone else had the same opportunity, I'd think your conscience would be in the clear. Like I said, this is probably just being nitpicky, I guess we have our own definitions for these things. I don't have a problem with any of it, either. I buy, I sell, I buy for me, I buy to sell, I sell to buy more for me, etc.  It's how this, and most, collectible hobbies work. I'm not going to knock a small child to the ground in order to grab a Marvel Legends figure, but if I run across it in the wild and know I can make some money on it, I'm not averse to that either.

With the barge, the brouaha makes me kinda wish I'd jumped on it, but I don't collect Star Wars at all anymore, so it didn't make a lot of sense for me to grab this thing, no matter how horking huge it is.

Of course, now that its out and selling for crazy money, I have the "missed out" feeling. But it shall pass. There's always something else out there to chase.

I am thinking of jumping in over there. 

But I will state my beliefs here first. 

Concerning the barge: It was per order.  They made them to order.  If you did not have $500 + tax last year to order the barge don't cry now that someone is charging too much for one.  It is not my job to be a lending tree for you to front the money for the barge so you can pay me for it in installments at a price you want to pay.  If I sell the piece it will be at a high premium to justify locking up $543 of my money for over a year. 

This leads me to my next thing. 

I am tired of hearing about what someone says FMV is. You want it you pay my price.  If you don't think the price is fair then I will either lower it or I will wait until someone comes along that wants to buy it at that price.  I have set a few records on GPA in the last few months with that concept.

This leads me to my next thing. 

You are owed nothing in this life. I am owed nothing in this life.  At the end of the day comics are nothing more than reprints of artwork on newsprint.  Toys are nothing more than plastic items meant for kids that will eventually decompose.  You and I will eventually decompose.  Either way we are owed nothing.  If you want it, you work for it. If you don't have the means to get it then you are never getting it.  Get over yourself and deal with it or find another hobby. 

I could sell all of my AF15's and the rest of my collection and still, I will never own a Tec 27. I will also never own a Cap 1, Marvel 1, Action 1 or plenty of other books in any decent condition.  That's just the way it is.  I am okay with that. You know why?  Because there is so much other cool stuff that I have.  I concentrate on the cool stuff I have rather than the never ending search for stuff I don't.

[Buzzetta]

2 hours ago, fantastic_four said:

Yes, that's correct, and the barge situation isn't significantly different than the way concert or sporting event tickets are sold.  Either way the Merriam-Webster definition of the word applies to all of these situations.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scalping

I disagree.  The barge situation is SIGNIFICANTLY different than the way concert or sporting event tickets are sold. As someone who goes to an unreasonable amount of shows I will explain. 

Every show I've been to this year or will be going to this has been a sellout at MSG or is already sold out.  Since NYE, Phish, Billy Joel, Zac Brown, Buffett, and Elton John have all sold out at their respective venues. MSG supposedly seats 20,789 +/- depending on the show or event. Most likely, because we are spoiled, Phish will do another four night run at MSG for NYE this year.  That means that there are roughly 80,000 tickets available.  Trust me when I say that there are still more people that would like to go.   However, there are only four nights and that is it.  Despite demand they are not adding shows. It is limited. 

The barge was made to order.  I think the final order was around 8,000 (?). Believe me, if Hasbro took 12,000 preorders they would have happily shipped 12,000. If 15,000 they would have added another 3,000.   The barge was unlimited and they would have made as many as people wanted so long as they were willing to pay.   People complaining about the barge and did not get it fall under two categories:

1. They did not have the money at the time
2. They passed and then later regretted it. 

This barge was on TV in the news, it had stories written about it on major websites as well as it being talked about on almost ALL toy sites.  There were Lego sites talking about what Hasbro did.   The information was there. 

[F For Fake]

30 minutes ago, miraclemet said:

up until now Ive been happily spending money on comics, and then I start to read this thread and next thing I know...

Found a nice looking tripplechanger Blitzwing, good colors no paint loss and it came with all the extras and a box that was in good shape ( no traversing bend crease across the back). Got it for a good price (I think) and then ordered a repro insert (onlything missing from the package).  All came in and put it together... Think it looks as good as an all original one for much less!

Yay, welcome aboard, it's all downhill from now! Blitzwing is great, I loved that one as a kid. Great piece and a great start!

[Broke as a Joke]

30 minutes ago, miraclemet said:

up until now Ive been happily spending money on comics, and then I start to read this thread and next thing I know...

Found a nice looking tripplechanger Blitzwing, good colors no paint loss and it came with all the extras and a box that was in good shape ( no traversing bend crease across the back). Got it for a good price (I think) and then ordered a repro insert (onlything missing from the package).  All came in and put it together... Think it looks as good as an all original one for much less!

I have been collecting the masterpiece transformers for years now, but nothing beats the old packaging.  For an 80's kid, it's nostalgia at its finest.