Leonardo wrote:Take your lips off my pipe!
-Kanrabat- wrote:Let's hope a massive squadron of Starscreams will be released and available so all these asshat scalpers will be stuck with their inventory and lose massive amount of money.
william-james88 wrote:Those who preordered the Hasbro release of Masterpiece Starscream from toysrus.ca have already received their figure but he was still not on the Toysrus shelves in Canada. He was found this morning in the Montreal Toysrus near Decarie Boulevard for 89.99$ cdn (69.50$ US) before taxes.
Sadly, moments later, every copy had been purchased by a known local scalper's elderly parents. Your fellow news editor was not pleased and took a picture.
Also, for those still unsure about the release, here is a detailed account of every difference this Hasbro release has over the Takara release of MP 11 Starscream:
Blue nosecone tip
Lights at the tip of the wings are both green (red and green on Takara)
The blue paint found on the feet, forearms and lower legs has a metallic finish different than the Takara blue which tries more to match the blue plastic used on the hands
The wing tips are a darker blue
The face is a shade lighter
The dark grey plastic used for intakes and the seat is a shade lighter
Decepticon logo has a silver border (along with silver legal writing on the wings)
The shade of yellow used on the cockpit is deeper and lighter.
Hasbro pilot figure is black (clear blue for Takara)
Megatron gun clip is grey (black for Takara)
Joints are tighter overall and the chest no longer slides once transformed properly into robot mode.
Also, instead of the coronation gear, you get the standard base with stand that came with MP 3 (the first MP Starscream) along with 2 missile racks.
So yeah a pretty big difference in toys afterall.
Megatron Wolf wrote:What a lowlife scumbag sending his parents out to do the dirty work, probably to scared of getting his ass handed to him so he hides in the basement like a little child. Did you at least call them out on it and call them and their kid a derogatory name? But never the less you should talk to the manager about it, maybe get a group of people together to do it. Im sure the store would rather lose one scalper than a bunch of real costumers.
william-james88 wrote:Megatron Wolf wrote:What a lowlife scumbag sending his parents out to do the dirty work, probably to scared of getting his ass handed to him so he hides in the basement like a little child. Did you at least call them out on it and call them and their kid a derogatory name? But never the less you should talk to the manager about it, maybe get a group of people together to do it. Im sure the store would rather lose one scalper than a bunch of real costumers.
It was tricky. I didnt expect to see them there so in that moment I didnt know what to do. I did call them out on it asking if they would take them all. But they pretended to not understand me.
The manager was there and I was battling it out in my head whether I should tell him or not. But then I realized he doesnt care. I was at the store getting 30$ back from having purchased that same starscream with a raincheck while these people were buying them all full price. As a manager, why would he care what I say, who's the better customer between us? They guy who abuses the customer laws system to get the best deal possible (me), or these elderly people (I mean pushing 70) who are buying all his stock full price? Why wouldnt he let them buy it. In his eyes, it might not be different than a collector buying a bunch of vehicons to army build, its just a bigger transaction with way more money. Would the manager really care? Or be annoyed with all the other stuff he has going on in his day? So thats what I was thinking of the whole time. There is nothing I can do at this level. BUT there is something we can all do as a community, me included. We can not succumb to scalpers, either locally or on amazon or e-bay. We can get our stuff from the store when it comes out and refuse to pay a dollar more than retail for any recent product. If we all do that, then the problem would be solved. The only reason these scalpers are alive is because the consumers keep them alive (the same goes for scalping event tickets and the rest).
I myself have vouched o never spend more than retail price (plus shipping) (and yes, to the detriment of me never getting a figure, like Hasbro's MP Soundwave, Generations Arcee and Chromia which I still do not have to this day). If we all do the same, the scalping community would all choke on its own breath.
Stuartmaximus wrote:
I dunno what's worse? either scalping all those figures(+ if like you suggest.....that he's a couch potato.....what does he do for a living in order to afford to bulk buy all those figures coz MP's aren't exactly all that cheap) or ordering his parents/relatives around to get things for him!(mind you....I'm surprised that his parents/relatives caved in so easily in order to be bossed about!) Now....to be fair....We just don't know enough about this guy's situation........he could be disabled? or even attached to a dialysis machine? or maybe he's just filthy rich & lazy!
Btw I keep calling him a him! it could so easily be a she!
Oh one last thing! not all scalpers sit at home...some actually hold key positions of employment within those toy store establishments giving them a unique advantage in grabbing those new Transformers figures first! before they've even hit the shelves! & what do the people they work for or work beside do? probably nothing.....& tend to look the other way &/or the store manager/supervisor probably don't know anything about the scalper that works there's activities! as for those Transformers being logged on their system.....well depending on how well the person that logs such things....knows the scalper that works there.......the info probably gets doctored.
Weird thing is....This probably happens more often than not! but we just don't hear about such things, that it passes us by silently.
Splatterhouse wrote:How do these scalpers seem to know when and where everything is when it comes out? I once seen a craigslist add for 2 mp Soundwaves and the pic of the figures was in the trunk with toys r us in the backround.....
william-james88 wrote:So you guys know the details, I know the scalper. He is a vietnamese guy in fit shape and has another job somewhere. He is not disabled or in desperate need of the money.
Burn wrote:william-james88 wrote:So you guys know the details, I know the scalper. He is a vietnamese guy in fit shape and has another job somewhere. He is not disabled or in desperate need of the money.
So you know his complete financial background? How much he takes home each week? What his living expenses are? Maybe he donates a lot to charity?
I'm not defending this guy, I have no love for scalpers, I just don't like reading/hearing comments like this. No one truly knows how "well off" a person is unless they're their accountant.
william-james88 wrote:It was tricky. I didnt expect to see them there so in that moment I didnt know what to do. I did call them out on it asking if they would take them all. But they pretended to not understand me.
The manager was there and I was battling it out in my head whether I should tell him or not. But then I realized he doesnt care. I was at the store getting 30$ back from having purchased that same starscream with a raincheck while these people were buying them all full price. As a manager, why would he care what I say, who's the better customer between us? They guy who abuses the customer laws system to get the best deal possible (me), or these elderly people (I mean pushing 70) who are buying all his stock full price? Why wouldnt he let them buy it.
digktialx wrote:The trouble is without scalpers toy collectors overseas can't get some of these figures. I'm not defending them but if they scalp reasonably to make a slight profit while someone else gets the toy they want.... The issue is when the markup is insane that I do have a problem with it. I just refuse to pay those kind of prices and if that means I don't get the figure I can live with it. The best way to vote against scalpers is not to buy the figures at the insane prices they demand and buy from the more reasonable ones or don't buy them at all.
Good luck to those of you still searching for your MP Starscream he's an awesome addition to any collection.
Thormind wrote:digktialx wrote:The trouble is without scalpers toy collectors overseas can't get some of these figures. I'm not defending them but if they scalp reasonably to make a slight profit while someone else gets the toy they want.... The issue is when the markup is insane that I do have a problem with it. I just refuse to pay those kind of prices and if that means I don't get the figure I can live with it. The best way to vote against scalpers is not to buy the figures at the insane prices they demand and buy from the more reasonable ones or don't buy them at all.
Good luck to those of you still searching for your MP Starscream he's an awesome addition to any collection.
william-james88 wrote:I totally agree with you Thormind. As for if TRU would care or not, I dont know. In the worst case ever, what if a scalper ammassed enough funds to ask Toysrus to buy all it's exclusive merchandise in one blow at full price (which is what this guy has done on a local scale). Would they theoretically accept this great influx of sudden cashflow or would they reject simply because in this scenario they are now wholesalers and not retailers. Because technically, in the scalper's perspective, tru becomes his personal wholesaler for exclusive items.
Its of course a terrible scenario because all it does is turn TRU into an extra middleman between you and your product, adding to its cost. And I wonder what TRU would think of that.
william-james88 wrote:And to add insult to injury, Quebec FINALLY has platinum editions and MPs at toysrus. That was never the case due to the lack of french. And now that we get them, they are taken by the scalpers (funny enough, he left those platinum dinobots alone haha).
And about enough people complaining, Kanrabat was very adamant on encouraging everyone to write to TRU about adding the french. I sent about 3 letters and also encouraged others. And now look, we have french on the boxes
Also, I do not think Bruticus will be better than those two since he uses the same molds. Though of course, I wish it to you that he surpasses our doubts.
william-james88 wrote:And to add insult to injury, Quebec FINALLY has platinum editions and MPs at toysrus. That was never the case due to the lack of french. And now that we get them, they are taken by the scalpers (funny enough, he left those platinum dinobots alone haha).
And about enough people complaining, Kanrabat was very adamant on encouraging everyone to write to TRU about adding the french. I sent about 3 letters and also encouraged others. And now look, we have french on the boxes
Also, I do not think Bruticus will be better than those two since he uses the same molds. Though of course, I wish it to you that he surpasses our doubts.
william-james88 wrote:I totally agree with you Thormind. As for if TRU would care or not, I dont know. In the worst case ever, what if a scalper ammassed enough funds to ask Toysrus to buy all it's exclusive merchandise in one blow at full price (which is what this guy has done on a local scale). Would they theoretically accept this great influx of sudden cashflow or would they reject simply because in this scenario they are now wholesalers and not retailers. Because technically, in the scalper's perspective, tru becomes his personal wholesaler for exclusive items.
Its of course a terrible scenario because all it does is turn TRU into an extra middleman between you and your product, adding to its cost. And I wonder what TRU would think of that.
Shadowman wrote:This is Sabrblade we're talking about. His ability to store trivial information about TV shows is downright superhuman.
Caelus wrote:My wife pointed out something interesting about the prehistoric Predacons. I said that everyone was complaining because transforming for them mostly consisted of them just standing up-right. She essentially said, 'So? That's what our ancestors did.'
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