The Energon Pub

RhA wrote:

dirk2243 wrote:

alternator77 wrote:

Swindle01 wrote:i know this is gona come across as bad but....your spending 70 MAYBE 100+ on masterpiece Hotrod right? yet your sons Autistic right?

doesnt this mean hes just gona break a 70-100 figure then?

like i said -i dont mean this to come across bad- but it probably is. Im just saying if it was me i personally wouldnt let something that expensive or delicate be given to a normal child, let alone one thats different. Wouldnt something that doesnt matter and thats not important be better? say something like armada hotshot because that wont matter if he breaks it really?

i really think you need/encourage you to do a little research on autism. in many instances it is not a physical disability but in certain instances behavioral.my nephew for example has 4 mp figures with the exception of megatron because hes a gun and my sister wont allow it.he's transformed them each several times with no issue and has many more figs with no damage.also with some autistic children interactive play helps with social skills(cooperative play) and problem solving i.e. (how do i get ss nosecone through his torso)
hes got an iq higher then mine and a photographic memory (he memorized the hobbit lol!)im not angry just wish people would do a little research before posting a statement like that so no worries no offense taken.
heres a link
http://www.autism-society.org/

Oh yes, children w/ autism are sharp! He probably does beyond well with these TF's. I'm sure you didn't mean it as bad, just need to know, when they focus on something, there awesome. My wife works with them loves every minute of it.

Being autistic doesn't mean you're sharp or not, that depends on the type of autism.

But I can totally get why a TF is a good toy for an autistic child. Repetition, repetition, repetition. Especially with a very complex TF. I'd say it's a good idea to get one.

I agree...

I watch tons of the history channel & documetary medical channels thru my cable provider.

many of our so called genious people had some form of austic traits/illness. many of our inventors were good at inventing stuff but failed in the socializing department.

some of our inventors exibited autisic traits. as far as being heavily focused on one thing but un-able to talk to others in public,being slobs as far as not showering,not shaving,not grooming went.

I guess it's the age old saying: "their is no such thing as the smartest man in the world." as no one person knows everything & their is always something someone knows that the other person doesn't know.

I don't much care for scalpers either. I think they take greed to a whole new level. They want their piece fo the money and they don't care who suffers. To them it's all just business. In a way it's better than going to a bank and knocking it off.

People who go in and buy several copies of a TF for purpose of kitbashing is one thing. but I don't judge people's intentions. Some of them sell off their kitbashes too and there is nothing wrong w/ that.

I would suggest trying to build a network of friends who may be able to go to the stores while you are working and pick some up for you. Another suggestion, probably won't be as successful, but call in a sick/vacation/personal day on a Wed or Fri when TRU gets in shipments.

Cyber Bishop wrote:I just talked to a collector friend of mine (he collects Batman items) and told me that one of the local scalpers that hits all the stores has 6 MP Rodimus he is trying to sell for $100 a pop.
This particular guy only collects Hot Wheels and sells everything and anything else he thinks is worth money.

$100 is actually the RRP here in the UK, otherwise I would have offered to hook him up myself

Ironically, you have to have money to be a scalper. If you can't afford to buy out a store's stock you can't make money from scalping them off.

Pretender Skywarp wrote:Do TRU-US have a "click & collect" service?

On the UK website I can look at an item and then punch in my post (zip) code, this tells me which stores near me have stock and I can then reserve one, which they email a reference for.

Present the reference at customer services et voila!

No such facility your side of the pond?

Not even close. They do have a store pickup where you can order it online and then pick it up in the store, but guess what? They refuse to do it for TransFormers. (Convenient, isn't it?)

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.js ... Src=search

This, for example.

X Out of stock for shipping
X Not eligible for Store Pickup
X Sold in stores (details)

Problem is, most of the items on their website are listed like that. It's never in stock for shipping, they refuse to do store pickup on TFs, and sold in stores? Yeah, and scalpers get them all.

You brits do have one advantage over us... retailers with common sense systems. We could use a hell of a lot of that over here.

Thank you all for chiming in on this subject, I really, really was not trying to stir up a hornets nest but since I did it seems like I am not in the minority when it comes to my feelings about scalpers.

I know it is not Illegal never said it was it just pisses me off that one bad apple (or many, many bad apples in this case i.e. - EBAY and other auction sites) can ruin such an innocent hobby for all others that really do care about the hobby regardless if your 10 years old or 40 years old.

I know this is a lame analogy but to quote Uncle Ben "with great power comes great responsibility" - and as such my son & my daughter will know to never ever do such a thing, just because you can buy every single one does not mean you should.

Swindle01 wrote:i know this is gona come across as bad but....your spending 70 MAYBE 100+ on masterpiece Hotrod right? yet your sons Autistic right?

doesnt this mean hes just gona break a 70-100 figure then?

like i said -i dont mean this to come across bad- but it probably is. Im just saying if it was me i personally wouldnt let something that expensive or delicate be given to a normal child, let alone one thats different. Wouldnt something that doesnt matter and thats not important be better? say something like armada hotshot because that wont matter if he breaks it really?

To Swindle01
As far as the subject of giving a young child a Master Piece to play with let alone an Autistic child a MP to "Play with". I wish I had cared for my G1’s like he does, and maybe that is why he is so protective and careful with all that he has because we display on many selves all have there own location and all packaging is put away with all inserts and weapons.

And with that level of responsibility we have grown his collection from our first humble Energon Prowl to a collection envied by all of his friends and quite a few of mine as well

My son since 2004 - 2005ish has been receiving Transformers from Dad and that is our thing. There is not one of his over 300 that he can not transform (many better & quicker than I can), besides my self only his little sister is allowed near them and she has the same appreciation for them as we both do but she knows to be gentle or she will not be allowed to play (not hitting together, not leaving down off the shelf after play time is over)
No I would never allow a child autistic or not to destroy transformers or we would not be collecting them. And that is why his friends know they can look all they want but do not ever touch the transformers.

I took no offense to your statement and or comments there is so much that is unknown and if you have not been near an autistic child I can see you point.

Some autistic children are very, very gifted at many things you or I would struggle with, how ever at the same time a simple little thing such as leaving the house 10 minutes early or setting in a different chair can literally turn their whole world upside down.

But to be honest at the end of the day they are only (dare I say it) just toys and they are meant to be played with and if one gets broken then so be it that is what being a child is about having fun that is why we love Transformers because they are fun and inspire our imaginations (young & old alike).

Blackstreak wrote:Ironically, you have to have money to be a scalper. If you can't afford to buy out a store's stock you can't make money from scalping them off.

No,not really,that's what credit cards are for. charge now & pay later.
hopefully the time you pay later the ebay profits will cover your credit card charges.

I don't really mind scalpers.

I mean, I work 50+ hours a week and somehow still manage to find everything on the shelf.

Sure, people do it, but mostly the reactions to the perceived problem are over blown.

Counterpunch wrote:I don't really mind scalpers.

I mean, I work 50+ hours a week and somehow still manage to find everything on the shelf.

Sure, people do it, but mostly the reactions to the perceived problem are over blown.

I live around NYC,NJ,PA,So I don't have to worry about acalpers in my areas. because we get stuff dead last. scalpers aren't gonna try to scalp something in america when all the states received the items already.

My main problems in NYC,NJ,PA,is the store distribtion problems. by the time the trucks drive down from the piers in the CA Bay area to NYC. Most of the time we get lower volume & often more times don't get stuff because the other states grabbed everything first & nothing was left the time the trucks arrived in NYC.

I totally scalped 2 Rodimi and a Windcharger because I am a badass.

Starscream GaGa wrote:I totally scalped 2 Rodimi and a Windcharger because I am a badass.

Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent!

Nateimus Prime wrote:

Starscream GaGa wrote:I totally scalped 2 Rodimi and a Windcharger because I am a badass.

Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent!

Personally,If I had to spend $80+ paying those high ebay fees for hasbro MP Rodimus. I'd just choose to wait a few months till the Takara MP Rodimus Prime version 2.0 comes out. then buy the Takara MP Rodimus prime MISB version 1.0 at the extremly reduced priced.

Takara MP Rodimus 1.0 has already dropped down to under $149 on the internet. I can't wait till it drops even further when version 2.0 comes out.

I honestly like the Takara version better as the paint job+decals+trailer seem more catered to my preferences.

One of the most negative aspects of this part of the hobby. At the same time I can see how it would make sense if someone worked at one of these stores and wanted to take advantage of bringing in some extra income.

I hope you can find a way to get one saved for you. I am really surprised they would not do this for a customer. Can you explain the details you've given us concerning the autism, maybe that might help. Even though I think you should be able to get one saved autism or no autism.

wh suprises me is there are only 9 or 10 sightings on a board of a few thousand users so there are scalpers that arent obvious.

I'm selling one for $70.00 plus shipping. I'm not trying to make a profit, just 5-8 bucks for my gas.

aeleven wrote:I'm selling one for $70.00 plus shipping. I'm not trying to make a profit, just 5-8 bucks for my gas.

that seems like a fair price. considering the toy cost $59.99.

your not charging tax,which cost around $3 to $4 bucks.

like you stated gasoline these days cost over $3.50 per gallon. so depending on how long your drive was. that could easily add up to over $7

not to mention you are kinda providing a service. as your donating your spare time running around to these stores,picking up these items.
last I checked these types of services are similar to personal assisatants. personal assistants charge leaps & bounds worth of money to do errands for poeople their employed with.

I notice a lot of Toys R Us hasbro MP Rodimus prime auctions are ending around $70 thru $78 which isn't bad. because the buyer isn't making much profit. he's basically helping out fellow TF fans buy a item they can't find.

LASTLY lets not forget that both Ebay & Paypal do charge ebay sellers fees to sell stuff on their site. which can easily take away $5 dollars from the ebay auction ending amount.

Nateimus Prime wrote:

Starscream GaGa wrote:I totally scalped 2 Rodimi and a Windcharger because I am a badass.

Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent!

Don't hate on me just because you can't play the game right, honey.

Starscream GaGa wrote:

Nateimus Prime wrote:

Starscream GaGa wrote:I totally scalped 2 Rodimi and a Windcharger because I am a badass.

Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent!

Don't hate on me just because you can't play the game right, honey.

Listen, are you always this stupid or are you just making a special effort today?

Nateimus Prime wrote:

Starscream GaGa wrote:

Nateimus Prime wrote:

Starscream GaGa wrote:I totally scalped 2 Rodimi and a Windcharger because I am a badass.

Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent!

Don't hate on me just because you can't play the game right, honey.

Listen, are you always this stupid or are you just making a special effort today?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not cool man. You're going to get in trouble with posts like that. Don't you know when you're being trolled? You're being trolled so you respond, just as you have. You get in trouble, the troll does not.

Congratulations, you've lost the game Starscream was playing.

Wasn't worth it, trust me.

Autobot032 wrote:

Nateimus Prime wrote:

Starscream GaGa wrote:

Nateimus Prime wrote:

Starscream GaGa wrote:I totally scalped 2 Rodimi and a Windcharger because I am a badass.

Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent!

Don't hate on me just because you can't play the game right, honey.

Listen, are you always this stupid or are you just making a special effort today?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not cool man. You're going to get in trouble with posts like that. Don't you know when you're being trolled? You're being trolled so you respond, just as you have. You get in trouble, the troll does not.

Congratulations, you've lost the game Starscream was playing.

Wasn't worth it, trust me.

I also think it's in bad taste to call fellow TF seibertron fans insulting names.

I suspose the best option is to just report this sort of insulting name calling behavior to the mods/admins/owner & let them handle it properly.

I'm not really trolling. I just find it hilarious when fans whine at scalpers. The fact that I get to piss off such a whiny guy is just the delicious icing.

I'd consider anyone who DOES'NT buy the hell out of toys they know they can sell for a profit later as foolish.

Starscream GaGa wrote:I'm not really trolling. I just find it hilarious when fans whine at scalpers. The fact that I get to piss off such a whiny guy is just the delicious icing.

I'd consider anyone who DOES'NT buy the hell out of toys they know they can sell for a profit later as foolish.

FWIW,it's not illegial to buy more than one toy on the shelf/pegs. nor is it illegial to scalp toys.

However,deliberatly teasing someone on this seibertron forum on purpose when you know he's having a hard time trying to find a certain is just not very nice behavior to exibit.

name calling like you did in your 25th word in this reply,that i quoted & i'm replying to,is also against the seibertron rules & regulations.

Everyone here needs to cool it now.

Starscream GaGa: Keep it up and you'll get a warning. I'm not in the mood to deal with trolling and baiting right now.

Nateimus Prime: Next time this happens, do not reply to the person that's baiting. Please PM one of the mods and we will handle the situation.

These scalper threads are so popular, sometimes I think they're a ploy to yield click traffic. The real fun begins when the boastful arrive in the forum. Then the assclownery really kicks into high octane. We already know what to do when it comes to scalpers. If you need to use them, always carry protection - PayPal is great. I find toy profiteering is the most profound thing in this hobby. It becomes less about scalpers and more about a collector's state of reason. One could possibly invest in toys and make a little bit off the top. As a known personality in the community, we know what a scalper stands for, and nobody wants to call them out on it. So I won't. But consider the collector that chose to open the one figure he intends to keep and transform. Note, it's the only one he does buy when he could afford to make money off the suckers; the people he knows on a first name basis sometimes. The game is how we make it, says the optimist. Hell, that's like a clown now... To each their own.