"12-15 guys lined up at 7:45 a.m"

[Zombie F-Body]

A particular online site (one of those flashing vendor icons to the right) is our biggest poacher in so cal. Where I live he hits up the local TRU to make sure they're nice and empty for the rest of us. Some Targets are the stomping grounds of the 40-50-year-olds. They're mostly the HW guys, but if they get wind of something being in demand, they're all over it.

It's really nothing new to me. I used to live in a lower cost of living area with a really well paying job so sometimes I would indulge in eBay or the local scalper shop, but since moving to the LA area a few months ago, I've just had to learn to be patient. They can't be every where at once and most store clerks/managers absolutely hate them so as they chuckle away from the isle with arm-loads of goodies I pull a clerk aside, chat him up and usually leave with what I want without looking like the village idiot running to the isle, making a mess and talking to myself as I make my way to the checkout.

[Dakemesh]

No, I'm saying that looking at the Star Wars market over the course of that time, you will see (and Hasbro has even mentioned in their Q & As) the effects of scalping. The reason Star Wars has stayed around for that period of time despite the heavy scalping in the earlier years is b/c it has had a continual media presence - with very brief lulls in between.

[Super Sport]

A particular online site (one of those flashing vendor icons to the right) is our biggest poacher in so cal...

How does that work? Does he have minions? One of the local "comic guy" schmucks did. He used to station one of his knuckle draggers at every store, ready for when the doors opened. His secondhand shrew of an old lady worked at a (redacted name of a national toy retailer) too.

BTW, the gentleman I'm talking about is a registered sex offender as well... I really love to point that out.

[cobraferret]

There must not be any 25th collectors where I live, because it is not difficult for me to find these figures. I haven't seen any of the newest ones yet, but I just saw a Firefly, a few Beachheads, a few sticker Zartans, a cobra soldier and much more at my closest Target last Friday.

Depends on where in PA. you live

[cobraferret]

BTW, the gentleman I'm talking about is a registered sex offender as well... I really love to point that out.

Please PM Me the details so I avoid dealing with that seller.

[green firefly]

Depends on where in PA. you live

PM sent. Let me know what you want.

[Zombie F-Body]

How does that work? Does he have minions? One of the local "comic guy" schmucks did. He used to station one of his knuckle draggers at every store, ready for when the doors opened. His secondhand shrew of an old lady worked at a (redacted name of a national toy retailer) too.

BTW, the gentleman I'm talking about is a registered sex offender as well... I really love to point that out.

Since the guy brags to everyone about how rich he is we assume it's the owner of the site. He'll come in about 3 times a week and load up about 2 carts worth of Star Wars, Transformers and DCSH stuff (or whatever else is in demand at the time) and leave. We have seen people that come in, notice newly stocked stuff, make a phone call and he'll arrive shortly so I imagine he has minions everywhere, too.

[Deogg]

Stores should limit the amount people can buy.If others never find the figures they might lost interest in collecting.Hasbro needs to hire different people

Some Target stores DO have a "collectibles" policy where there are imposed limits. And, I'm glad they do. It cuts down on these slime buying up everything. People can still army build, it just makes it a little harder is all.

The Target that I frequent once had a Hot Wheels slimeba.....I mean, collector, bribe a floor worker to get HW cases out of the back. The slimeball was banned from the store and the clerk was fired.

[Syna3sthesia]

This is a problem indeed. If only the stores around here got the Hottest waves out here but I'm still waiting on 5 and 4. And I constantly visit the stores that used to be good with getting my Joe addiction but they are dropping the ball considerably!

[80s_Joes]

Without Ebay the 25th line doesn't exist. Without Ebay the older Joes would not have been as easy to obtain today. Without Ebay the adult who grew up with the ARAH line that now has disposable income to build a collection would not have a place to do so. Without Ebay boards like this don't exist.

Ebay made the Gi Joe collecting community as big as it is today.

Ghettoraider,
I don't think we're saying (I'm not anyway) that Ebay is a bad thing. It's a great place for guys like me who are still "kids of the 80's" at heart that want to rebuild that collection of Joes or Star Wars figures that may have been sold-off at a yard sale or just simply thrown-away by our parents at somepoint. I have no problem going on ebay & buying a rare, hard-to-find figure that's 25+ yrs old for whatever their value or "going-rate" has accumulated to overtime.

I DO have a problem with non-collectors (just SCALPERS as someone called them) who stand at the doors of a Target or Walmart at 7:45 a.m. with the soul purpose of completely wiping-out all of a stores "popular" figures only to go home, take a pic of them & sell them on Ebay for triple-to-quadruple the amount of what they paid. Not to mention often paying double the actual true cost of how much is REALLY costs to ship the figure(s). Meanwhile, people who actually enjoy collecting these figures for their own personal pleasure & nostalgic-reasons waste countless hours & gas driving to sometimes 3-4 different stores per day hunting these figures down in the late afternoon (because we have REAL jobs that we need to be at at 7:45 in the morning) only to be told that some jackass' came in at the crack of dawn & wiped them out! You can paint this anyway you'd like, but it's bullsh*t & wrong!