I show up three minutes after Target opened to see a guy with his hands full of Series Two 25th Anniversary figures by the registers. He had everything off the shelf. I asked if he had heard of YoJoe.com - he hadn't. Which brings up my question -

How many serious G.I. Joe collectors do you think are out there that don't use YoJoe or other fan websites?

Pure greed man!!!!

I found wave 1 and was ready to purchase them as I spot a guy looking very interested on what I had. So I asked if he needed some of the figs but he declined. He was looking for Star Wars. That's just wrong!!!

Now mind you I had 4 figs with me. Not the entire contents on the shelves.

I show up three minutes after Target opened to see a guy with his hands full of Series Two 25th Anniversary figures by the registers. He had everything off the shelf. I asked if he had heard of YoJoe.com - he hadn't. Which brings up my question -

How many serious G.I. Joe collectors do you think are out there that don't use YoJoe or other fan websites?

Fargo eh? I wonder if they have em here in the "south"

One thing I noticed at the convention was that most people I talked to didnt use YOJOE for more than reference, They preferred other sites for message boards, I would say hey im skinny on YOJOE and the answer I would get would be oh im not on there Im on ( brand x)
Not all the time but most of the time that was the answer I got.

I think the hardcore fans use the boards however the casual fan or those motivated by profit may not. Just my opinion

Scalpers/Hoarders I run into at the toy stores arn't part of Joe boards, because they are collecting dozens of other toys. It makes me sick when I see on eBay a guy auctioning off 10 MOC Cobra Officers or 5 MOC Cobra Soldiers. What upsets me even more are the nimrods that buy them for the price of the loose vintage equivelents ($15- $18 a piece).

I hope Hasbro floods the market with the army builders like they are doing with the storm/clone troopers of the Star Wars line. All I see on pegs are dozens and dozens of the storm/clone troopers, and a few characters. When this happens to the Cobra Officers and Soldiers, I will be overwhelmed with shadenfreude for the D-bags that bought 1 for the price of 3 ::fingers crossed for this opportunity:: :D

Tell me about it! Today, there was a e-bay auction for wave 3, which the seller had in hand. Starting bid was 49.99, with a but it now for 84.99, which someone bought!!! Plus shipping was 10 bucks. 94.99 for 5 figures, geeze!

Tell me about it! Today, there was a e-bay auction for wave 3, which the seller had in hand. Starting bid was 49.99, with a but it now for 84.99, which someone bought!!! Plus shipping was 10 bucks. 94.99 for 5 figures, geeze!

yeah i was watching that auction too to see if it would sell, to my surprise it sold very fast

Ah, capitalism at work. This is what the Joes are fighting for! Yo Joe!

I show up three minutes after Target opened to see a guy with his hands full of Series Two 25th Anniversary figures by the registers. He had everything off the shelf.

Now when you say everything off the shelf, does that mean there was ONE case of them (like with wave one) or did he have a ton of stuff?

(Fargo.....about a half a day's drive away from me. I'll have to hunt again soon)

Guess the scalpers have caught on, finally. It's a bad situation that stores under ordered and now Hasbro is struggling to keep up with demand. I ran into a lot of non-Star Wars collectors when the Saga Collection started doing the Ultimate Hunt non-sense. Most were local Hot Wheels collectors, actually, but I did run into a few fellow collectors from Rebelscum and we managed to work together to get what we needed. The HW folks didn't know what to hunt for so they just bought everything and we had a real drought around me Spring 06 because of that.

I snagged series 2 on eBay for around 8 bucks a fig (not bad I figured, isn't that close to TRU price with tax? Ended up paying more from my LCS for series 1 in July, so I'm happy.) with shipping included, and from the looks of it, that's going to be my only option and may do the same for series 3 next month. I remember wave 2 going for outrageous prices last month and figure the price of wave 3 ought to be in the neighborhood I paid for 2 by the end of the month (unless I do manage to find them in stores).

i hear people talking about stuff like that,and i wonder do they work.i never get up early or go out of my way for toys if in the area i will stop. i was thinking with the hasbrotoyshop getting wave 2 in, and selling out so quick...i have a feeling ebay is going to be flooded next week.lol

Pure greed man!!!!



really?

so, you mean to tell me, that if you came across a display of Wave 3, and there was only ONE complete set, that you wouldn't buy them ALL?

what is the difference between doing that, and what this guy did?

There must be a guy like him at every single toystore in my area.

really?

so, you mean to tell me, that if you came across a display of Wave 3, and there was only ONE complete set, that you wouldn't buy them ALL?

what is the difference between doing that, and what this guy did?

There is a difference. I would buy it. But it would be to complete my collection not to gain any profit selling it on e-bay or somewhere else.

Say that it was only one case that was shipped to the store why would I want to buy doubles of the figs when I know other collectors are looking for it?

When I found 3 figs out of wave 1, after getting home, I got on the boards and let the members in my area know that there were still figs left from wave 1 at that store along with 5 packs.

From what I gather from his story, it seems like this guy took everything. Pure greed in my eyes!

I really think it is the scalpers/hobby store owners who are getting us...more often than not...
they have "contacts" in almost every store...at least here...and then they resale the figures for around $15...i'm convinced that the majority of the figures that hit here never even made it to the shelves...

the one lone Officer i found was even hidden under a floor rack in TRU...a known scalper practice.
I was lucky enough to get wave 1...after driving all over town three or four different times...but i haven't seen a hint of anything other than SE and SS since then...
one of the times i was out looking for wave 1...i got to Wal-Mart around 11pm and there was a pallet of unopened boxes (or what appeared to be) waiting to be put out for display on the toy isle...i have a mild interest in McQuarrie concepts from Star Wars and there was a Star Wars box on the pallet...so i checked it out...after i pulled it out from under other stuff...i realized...it had in fact already been opened...and pillaged...having never even made it to the shelf.
i'm convinced that's what is also happening to the 25th Joes.

the one lone Officer i found was even hidden under a floor rack in TRU...a known scalper practice.


I beg to differ - most guys I have seen who do that do it because they don't have the cash to get it at that moment. It is a poor man's layaway system.

I think all this scalper name calling is little more than a scape goat routine to blame the fact a person hasn't found what they wanted yet.

Generally speaking 25th Annv figures sell for around $10 a figure. Yes there are some spikes that go above that but most average around $10.

So let's say I sell a figure I bought for $6.99 plus the near 9% sales tax I have and then sell it for $15. After eBay and Paypal fees that leaves $3-$4 profit. NO ONE is getting rich selling Joes they find at Target.

And if I found two full sets of wave 3 in the store, I would buy every last one. Does this make me a scalper? No - I am a collector who wants a carded set and a loose set. And I would buy every Cobra army builder I came across. Does this make me a scalper? No - it makes me an army builder.

I am just saying, just because you might see someone with an arm full of Joes walking out of the aisle before doesn't make them a scalper. They just beat you to the figures.

I beg to differ - most guys I have seen who do that do it because they don't have the cash to get it at that moment. It is a poor man's layaway system.

I think all this scalper name calling is little more than a scape goat routine to blame the fact a person hasn't found what they wanted yet.

Generally speaking 25th Annv figures sell for around $10 a figure. Yes there are some spikes that go above that but most average around $10.

So let's say I sell a figure I bought for $6.99 plus the near 9% sales tax I have and then sell it for $15. After eBay and Paypal fees that leaves $3-$4 profit. NO ONE is getting rich selling Joes they find at Target.

And if I found two full sets of wave 3 in the store, I would buy every last one. Does this make me a scalper? No - I am a collector who wants a carded set and a loose set. And I would buy every Cobra army builder I came across. Does this make me a scalper? No - it makes me an army builder.

I am just saying, just because you might see someone with an arm full of Joes walking out of the aisle before doesn't make them a scalper. They just beat you to the figures.
Exactly. We don't know what the guy did with those figures after he bought them. He may be the type that likes one set carded and one opened and figured he wouldn't see them again. He might have been buying some for himself and some for some buddies. Or, he might be a scalper who went home and put it all on ebay. IMO it is a little rude to walk into a store and buy everything, but it's a free country and people can do whatever they want with their money.

I love the people who defend scalpers. They make this fun little hobby a fun little hobby with a HUGE RASH on the side. I understand their motives and their right to scalp, but damn if it isn't frustrating and enough to make you want to walk away.

But the REAL problem is with the people who PAY 89 dollars for a complete Wave 3 set! I can't fully blame the scalpers when there are people who are willing to spend triple the cost of a brand new item.

Either way, I've found them all either online or at a store, so I'm not upset. But I can imagine how people must feel.

I also don't get trying to scalp for profit, when the profit is so incredibly marginal unless you order in bulk from the supplier. When you buy extra figures for, say, 6.50 or so (6 dollars plus tax), and then add on your time, effort to list them on eBay and to ship them, eBay and Paypal fees. . .I don't see how on earth it is worth your trouble to "scalp," though some people clearly do it. And that, is their prerogative.

Regarding "contracts" with the stores, that is really an interesting idea. If you mean actually paying someone, then that means even LESS of a profit. So maybe 2 dollars for every figure. And then, I wouldn't think it would be worth the worker's time to call someone for that, but if its for 12 figures, I guess it adds up. . .maybe I should establish some "contacts."

Regarding hoarding, I'm against it. That's a personal decision, though. I like to have carded versions of certain figures, but unless its something I would kill for, I usually only buy one in the store and leave any extras for fellow collectors if they are in low supply. Its what I would hope someone would do for me, and you never know when you might have benefited from this is the past. . .then, if I return and there are more in stock, then I might get another figure, figuring that others had had their chance.

I'm greedy. I work overnight at Target and as soon as the Joe boxes come off the truck I pick 'em up.

I beg to differ - most guys I have seen who do that do it because they don't have the cash to get it at that moment. It is a poor man's layaway system.

I think all this scalper name calling is little more than a scape goat routine to blame the fact a person hasn't found what they wanted yet.

Generally speaking 25th Annv figures sell for around $10 a figure. Yes there are some spikes that go above that but most average around $10.

So let's say I sell a figure I bought for $6.99 plus the near 9% sales tax I have and then sell it for $15. After eBay and Paypal fees that leaves $3-$4 profit. NO ONE is getting rich selling Joes they find at Target.

And if I found two full sets of wave 3 in the store, I would buy every last one. Does this make me a scalper? No - I am a collector who wants a carded set and a loose set. And I would buy every Cobra army builder I came across. Does this make me a scalper? No - it makes me an army builder.

I am just saying, just because you might see someone with an arm full of Joes walking out of the aisle before doesn't make them a scalper. They just beat you to the figures.


You make some good points. Maybe that individual taking all the merchandise is not a scalper but have some consideration for a fellow collector who may be trying to complete his/her own collection. Share the wealth. Is it really going to kill you to complete your second set at a later time.

But he could easily say the same thing to you - you could easily wait until the next shipment arrives.

Fair is fair and he was there first. I don't hold any ill will to someone who beat me to toys. It is a lesson to try and be first next time.

I know it sucks but we don't always get what we want. It's life.

Tell me about it! Today, there was a e-bay auction for wave 3, which the seller had in hand. Starting bid was 49.99, with a but it now for 84.99, which someone bought!!! Plus shipping was 10 bucks. 94.99 for 5 figures, geeze!

Some of the "buy it nows" are bogus.....attempts by sellers to boost prices.

I beg to differ - most guys I have seen who do that do it because they don't have the cash to get it at that moment. It is a poor man's layaway system.

I think all this scalper name calling is little more than a scape goat routine to blame the fact a person hasn't found what they wanted yet.

Generally speaking 25th Annv figures sell for around $10 a figure. Yes there are some spikes that go above that but most average around $10.

So let's say I sell a figure I bought for $6.99 plus the near 9% sales tax I have and then sell it for $15. After eBay and Paypal fees that leaves $3-$4 profit. NO ONE is getting rich selling Joes they find at Target.

And if I found two full sets of wave 3 in the store, I would buy every last one. Does this make me a scalper? No - I am a collector who wants a carded set and a loose set. And I would buy every Cobra army builder I came across. Does this make me a scalper? No - it makes me an army builder.

I am just saying, just because you might see someone with an arm full of Joes walking out of the aisle before doesn't make them a scalper. They just beat you to the figures.

I wasn't neccessarily referring to eBay...there's a toy & comics store in my area...the ONLY one within a 50 mile radius...and i can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that employees in stores will call them to come pick up shipments of toys when they arrive...before they're even on the shelf.
i used to collect Starting Line-ups (that was a good call right?) and i had numerious run-ins with these guys.
when you buy it from Wal-Mart for $4.88 and sell it in your store for $15 that's a pretty dang nice profit...and while you have a point...that fair is "fair"...i'm not sure it's moral...and it's DANGED sure frustrating to those of us who have to drive to five Wal-marts, three K-Marts, three Targets, and a TRU in that same 50 mile radius...only to find they've been wiped out before they even hit the floor!

I beg to differ - most guys I have seen who do that do it because they don't have the cash to get it at that moment. It is a poor man's layaway system.

I think all this scalper name calling is little more than a scape goat routine to blame the fact a person hasn't found what they wanted yet.

Generally speaking 25th Annv figures sell for around $10 a figure. Yes there are some spikes that go above that but most average around $10.

So let's say I sell a figure I bought for $6.99 plus the near 9% sales tax I have and then sell it for $15. After eBay and Paypal fees that leaves $3-$4 profit. NO ONE is getting rich selling Joes they find at Target.

And if I found two full sets of wave 3 in the store, I would buy every last one. Does this make me a scalper? No - I am a collector who wants a carded set and a loose set. And I would buy every Cobra army builder I came across. Does this make me a scalper? No - it makes me an army builder.

I am just saying, just because you might see someone with an arm full of Joes walking out of the aisle before doesn't make them a scalper. They just beat you to the figures.

I feel the same way, I went into walmart the other day and just happend to stumble on a sealed box that they were putting out so I picked up the complete wave 2. I asked the toy rep if they had any more and she told me that their records said that their were 18 more somewhere in the store. So I went on a 45 min. treasure hunt through the store. I actually ended up finding another complete wave 2 set hidden in the blanket and sheet section. I also buy one sealed and on to open so I didnt feel bad at all about buying both sets. I have to take what I can get so I dont have to pay the ebay premium.

Yeah, scalpers irk me too! I'm not in the hobby to make a profit, but because I enjoy the toys. If I happen to get a figure worth more money, cool, that's just a extra benefit, for me. I don't work, cuz my full Veterans Benefits, kicked in a few years ago, so I have the time to go on toy hunts, which has helped in my Star Wars collecting. And now with 25th Joes, I have been lucky in finding the first 2 waves, but only got what I wanted and left others for fellow collectors.

Wave 2 just hit here. Sunday nite, I got Lady Jaye at WM, only fig left. Monday afternoon, went back to the same WM and they restocked, so I was able to get the rest of wave 2 and I left a full set on the pegs, for another collector to get. Yesterday I went to Target and got another complete set of wave 2, that I sold to a guy on another board, for the retail price, not trying to make a profit, but to help a fellow collector.

I loathe the collectors that get to the stores before I do. But, I also live with one. Whenever my girlfriend goes to a store and finds them, she'll buy two of each for me when she gets out of work and I am still at the University..

My problem is this:

Sure, you can be an army builder, I'm for it. But when you are the army builder that goes to every store and clears all the stores of the troopers every week, knowing other people are looking for them, and you buy them in the morning's before anyone else can get to them...

Nevermind, I won't have someone counter-respond to my opinion..


Give me your Chuckles..

Well, scalpers or no, I just found a whole lot of nothing when I went to a new super Target this morning. I did, however, notice that they jacked up nothing's price a good $3.
So far, the total sell out of the line must not be bringing in that much $$$...

You make some good points. Maybe that individual taking all the merchandise is not a scalper but have some consideration for a fellow collector who may be trying to complete his/her own collection. Share the wealth. Is it really going to kill you to complete your second set at a later time.

I gotta agree with Dockingbay on this one. Wave 2 is one each of the new figures, plus a carry over SE, SS, and CC. Considering a lot of people still have not picked up Wave 1, I could easily see cleaning out everything if there was one new case. Heck, even two, since I also get one open and one MOC. And is it really going to kill me to complete my second set later? No, but why should/would I? I've already driven to the store, and lucked out finding them. Is someone else somehow entitled to them more than me? Will it kill them to wait for another shipment? Heck, I know I still never got a set of Wave 6 from VvV to open, so I already learned my lesson to buy them when I see them.
This also works in reverse. If I go to a store and see the remnants of a wave, I don't blame anyone else but me. Sure, I could've gotten up and went to the store earlier, but I didn't, and someone else got there first. I'm not going to rant and start blaming some mythical scalper who may or may not exist. I had just as much oppurtunity to get them as anyone else. Heck, they're just toys, no matter how much I love them, and nothing IMO is more fair than first come, first serve. Unless you live under communism.:D

Well, scalpers or no, I just found a whole lot of nothing when I went to a new super Target this morning. I did, however, notice that they jacked up nothing's price a good $3.
So far, the total sell out of the line must not be bringing in that much $$$...

Which new Target did you visit? Have you come across any wave 2 or 3 yet? I found remnants of Wave 2 last Sunday at the Walmart in Inver Grove. All they had was the Cobra Trooper, Snake Eyes and Cobra Commander.

Now when you say everything off the shelf, does that mean there was ONE case of them (like with wave one) or did he have a ton of stuff?

(Fargo.....about a half a day's drive away from me. I'll have to hunt again soon)

One case. If there had been more, he would have had them too. It's just the way it is.

Sure, you can be an army builder, I'm for it. But when you are the army builder that goes to every store and clears all the stores of the troopers every week, knowing other people are looking for them, and you buy them in the morning's before anyone else can get to them...

that's a very good point, actually. are army builders any worse than scalpers? at least scalpers put them back into distribution, but army hoarders reduce the quanitity available which in turn could increase what other collectors have to pay for them on secondary markets. the point is, collectors are just as bad for the community as scalper, to some extent.

Army builders are bad because they reinforce action figure conformity. Unity in diversity, my friends!:p

One case. If there had been more, he would have had them too. It's just the way it is.

In that case, there's no way you can fault the guy. Everyone here would have done it. I would have.

Which new Target did you visit? Have you come across any wave 2 or 3 yet?

On University. No sir, a whole lot of nothing.

Don't blame the army builder, blame the company that treats army builders worse than main characters. Hasbro easily could have put more than 1 army builder in a case, but instead they packed the heck out of SE and SS, and then included them in wave 2.

The PROBLEM with the 25th Joe line is lack of proper distribution. One case per store is laughable by any standard, much less for what is shaping up to be the hottest toy line of 2007.

That problem is being compounded by scalpers and hoarders who want to buy everything they can find and resell them at a 2x markup on EBay.

The problem is further compounded by collectors who are so impatient that they actually pay these scalper prices, which just encourages them to hoard and scalp more.

Once again, I am reminded of the MOTU relaunch several years ago. Collectors loved the line, but distribution problems and case assortment issues doomed the line.

It's funny that wherever you go, there is PLENTY of product on the shelves for almost any toy line you might be looking for....Star Wars, Marvel Legends, Transformers...you name it and they're out there. But when it comes to GI Joe, Hasbro can't seem to get their stuff together. In a world where picking up a new toy consists of simply driving to the nearest big box, what they're expecting us to go through for Joes is, frankly, ridiculous.

I love the 25th line. But I'm not going to waste my time and gas money driving all over the place looking for it. I'll monitor the boards, I'll check when I'm at the store anyway, but that's it. When they fix their distribution problems, they'll have me as a customer. But until then, forget it.

I don't blame Hasbro for treating the 25th Joes conservatively. They didn't know they'd have a hit.

They did the same thing with the Transformers movie toys. The pegs and shelves where I live have been bare of those for about a month, and just recently they started getting new things.

Empty pegs mean there is room for new stuff. It would be much worse if all the 25th Anniversary pegs were covered up with Hooded COBRA Commanders, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadows.

Empty pegs mean there is room for new stuff. It would be much worse if all the 25th Anniversary pegs were covered up with Hooded COBRA Commanders, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadows.

Unfortunatly, all there are in: 3 Super Targets, 2 Targets, 2 Toy's R Us's, 3 K-Marts and 3 Walmarts, that is all they have around me in a 20 mile radius. This answers my question of why I see so many SE, SS and CC, but no other wave 1 and no wave 2. So, it seems we are getting more wave 2 here than I thought, but someone is buying them all before I can see them. Also, there are only 1 of each of wave 2 in a case? If so, what crap..

Don't blame the army builder, blame the company that treats army builders worse than main characters. Hasbro easily could have put more than 1 army builder in a case, but instead they packed the heck out of SE and SS, and then included them in wave 2.

That did seem a wacky choice. . .not initially putting extra SE and SS in Wave 1 cases. That made sense to me, as they are popular characters, after all. But putting extras of them in wave 2, as well? The mind, simply, reels.

I don't blame Hasbro for treating the 25th Joes conservatively. They didn't know they'd have a hit.

They did the same thing with the Transformers movie toys. The pegs and shelves where I live have been bare of those for about a month, and just recently they started getting new things.

Empty pegs mean there is room for new stuff. It would be much worse if all the 25th Anniversary pegs were covered up with Hooded COBRA Commanders, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadows.


That's an excellent point. I was working in a retail toy dept. when the Disney Cars die-cast line hit. Even before the movie was in theaters the toys would sell out in a day. After the movie hit, they'd sell out in a few hours. They didn't know what to expect because the Ice Age 2 toys barely moved at all and nearly all of them went to clearance and eventually were sold to salvage.

Stores like Target and Walmart will automatically order more when something sells out. Their POS system handles it (mostly). In the case of the Disney Cars, it would sometimes be 3 weeks before we'd get any in because there weren't any at the distribution center. In that case it really was Mattel's slow trickle of product, but they really couldn't be blamed because they didn't know what to expect. I think that may be the case here, also.

I hope that if the rumor that wave 1 & 2 are really over and done is just a rumor, but if it ends up being true I hope that Hasbro will repack some of the figures that people missed out on into future waves.

(attn: Hasbro. by "the figures that people missed out on" I DO NOT mean Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes, so please don't get excited. Thanks)

I still haven't completed wave one yet....
I feel you guys frustration and see points on both sides. I'm actually getting tired of looking. 10-15 stores a week and the most I've come up with is a single Hooded Cobra Commander like 3 days ago. I'm going to start ordering cases from Entertainment Earth. $50 and no headache. If I find any figures on the pegs, it will be a bonus.

In that case, there's no way you can fault the guy. Everyone here would have done it. I would have.

I'm not faulting the guy. My question was how many non-YoJoers are out there collecting. I'm disappointed I didn't get any, but I don't hold anything against the guy. If I had been there first, the Beach Head and Cobra would have been missing off the rack. Other collectors want the entire series.

I would guess there are quite a few non-Yo Joers out there. I'm not even sure how I got by without Yo Joe, and I don't know how other people do either. The various board members at the con seemed to be an eye-opener to me, though. It seemed like more people were members of other boards, often to the exclusion of others, although I don't know why. I enjoy 2-3 different boards. But I would guess there are tons more people that don't use any board. To be honest, I think we are a minority in the collecting world.

I'm not faulting the guy.

Oh, yeah. I wasn't talking about you specifically, just people in general ;)

I bet there are a lot of people who don't know about the forums that collect Joes. Unfortunately, the lack of supply has created more interest in this line from unfavorable types.

I think that once product is regularly stocked in the coming months, and with more than one case per store, these will be much easier to find. The scalpers will start to loose interest as eBay prices decline.