The Energon Pub

Has anyone noticed that the price of the Masterpiece Optimus prime has gone from $119.99 to $129.99. The toys r us in colorado springs will not carry it so I have to buy online and I havent seen an online coupon. They have had 10%, and 20% off sales with a in store coupon but what difference does it make if they wont carry the Item. Lets protest against Toys r us.

Yes, it's expensive and hard to find. That's what makes it a "Collector's Item". I think they just underestimated the demand there would be for this figure. No point in "protesting".

If you want to "Protest" then don't buy things from Toys 'R' Us.

Yelling at them won't do much good.

That's the magic of supply and demand. Demand goes up, price goes up. Or rather, demand outstrips initial supply, so prices go up.

Ultramag68 wrote:Lets protest against Toys r us.

Let's not and say we did.

Glad I got mine for 99.99

Same thing happened with the reissues at TRU back in the middle of last decade. Even worse, the prices seemed to change on a toy by toy basis - Smokescreen, f'rex, didn't get as expensive as Stepper.

cant say im suprised that the price jumpoed up again. i didnt even see one till they went up to 120. and that is still the one and only time i seen one. i avoid TRU unless there is an exclusive i want.

I imported one for $179 and got 1 through tru for $99. I wish I hadn't jumped the gun on the import but it saved me a lot of gas and grief with tru and I got it way before they hit the states. $160 seems to be the going price on eBay so $129 is still a better price to pay than give money to punk scalpers.

DPrime wrote:I imported one for $179 and got 1 through tru for $99. I wish I hadn't jumped the gun on the import but it saved me a lot of gas and grief with tru and I got it way before they hit the states. $160 seems to be the going price on eBay so $129 is still a better price to pay than give money to punk scalpers.

Tru Dat!


My local TRU restocked twice on MP Prime and both times gone within 2 weeks or less.

DPrime wrote: $160 seems to be the going price on eBay so $129 is still a better price to pay than give money to punk scalpers.

Love this sentence. I'd rather not own a figure at all than pay one dime to a scalper.

joesaysso wrote:

DPrime wrote: $160 seems to be the going price on eBay so $129 is still a better price to pay than give money to punk scalpers.

Love this sentence. I'd rather not own a figure at all than pay one dime to a scalper.

That's "cutting off your nose to spite your face". It's not like your stand against scalping is going to stop the practice. Someone else will buy it if you don't. So you're only hurting yourself by denying yourself a figure you want based on some fuzzy principle.

I say it's a fuzzy principle because the line between scalping and legitimate retail/resale is fuzzy. Either way, someone is buying products at one price, selling them at a higher price, and pocketing the difference. In a way, TRU is just a huge scalping organization, especially when it comes to exclusives - they corner the market and sell at exorbitant prices.

GuyIncognito wrote:

joesaysso wrote:

DPrime wrote: $160 seems to be the going price on eBay so $129 is still a better price to pay than give money to punk scalpers.

Love this sentence. I'd rather not own a figure at all than pay one dime to a scalper.

That's "cutting off your nose to spite your face". It's not like your stand against scalping is going to stop the practice. Someone else will buy it if you don't. So you're only hurting yourself by denying yourself a figure you want based on some fuzzy principle.

I say it's a fuzzy principle because the line between scalping and legitimate retail/resale is fuzzy. Either way, someone is buying products at one price, selling them at a higher price, and pocketing the difference. In a way, TRU is just a huge scalping organization, especially when it comes to exclusives - they corner the market and sell at exorbitant prices.

The price gap between legitimate retail and the likes of ebay scalpers is pretty concrete.

RAcast wrote:The price gap between legitimate retail and the likes of ebay scalpers is pretty concrete.

I'm not talking about the price gap; I said the PRINCIPLE was fuzzy - the idea that it's OK for TRU to corner the market on exclusives and sell them at high prices while stocking them in extremely low numbers, but it's not OK for Joe Shmoe to buy a bunch of hard-to-find figures and sell them on eBay for a profit.

GuyIncognito wrote:

RAcast wrote:The price gap between legitimate retail and the likes of ebay scalpers is pretty concrete.

I'm not talking about the price gap; I said the PRINCIPLE was fuzzy - the idea that it's OK for TRU to corner the market on exclusives and sell them at high prices while stocking them in extremely low numbers, but it's not OK for Joe Shmoe to buy a bunch of hard-to-find figures and sell them on eBay for a profit.

For me at least, the principle is defined by the obscene price gap.

GuyIncognito wrote:
That's "cutting off your nose to spite your face". It's not like your stand against scalping is going to stop the practice. Someone else will buy it if you don't. So you're only hurting yourself by denying yourself a figure you want based on some fuzzy principle.

I say it's a fuzzy principle because the line between scalping and legitimate retail/resale is fuzzy. Either way, someone is buying products at one price, selling them at a higher price, and pocketing the difference. In a way, TRU is just a huge scalping organization, especially when it comes to exclusives - they corner the market and sell at exorbitant prices.

Guy, the whole first paragraph in your post just says that you're part of the problem and not part of the solution. These are toys that I want to have not HAVE to have. I can't take them with me when I die. They are an optional luxary in life not a mandatory necessity. If my display shelf is smaller than yours because I am tighter with my money and I buy based upon principles, I'm totally fine with that.

What may be a fuzzy principle to you is rock solid to me. I don't like the act of scalping. It ruins the hobby. It certainly steals some of my enjoyment when I go to a store multiple times and never see a hot figure once yet they are all over ebay at 1.5-2 times the price. I chose to combat this by not buying scalped figures because I refuse to play a part in the scalping process.

Like it or not, when you buy a scalped figure, you have contributed to the scalping cause. You have made it profittable for a scalper to scalp and enabled him/her to continue to scalp. I can say that not one scalper has stayed in business due to my money. Can you?

This board is full of collector's who complain about scalping yet constantly contribute to the cause by buying their scalped figures. If you buy a scalped figure, you should lose your right to complain about scalping, since all you did was enable the scalper to continue his business and set every other collector back in the wallet.

If I'm the only one who takes this stand, I'm fine with that. Somebody has to be the one. If we all took that stand, scalper's would go away. Once they start taking baths on the figures they are trying to hawk, they'll start to think twice about scalping more.

At the end of the day, maybe I'm just a different, more disciplined collector than you. I can say no. I'm fine with saving my money on principles. If my shelf isn't as full, I'm fine with that. My face doesn't feel spited at all.

joesaysso wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:
That's "cutting off your nose to spite your face". It's not like your stand against scalping is going to stop the practice. Someone else will buy it if you don't. So you're only hurting yourself by denying yourself a figure you want based on some fuzzy principle.

I say it's a fuzzy principle because the line between scalping and legitimate retail/resale is fuzzy. Either way, someone is buying products at one price, selling them at a higher price, and pocketing the difference. In a way, TRU is just a huge scalping organization, especially when it comes to exclusives - they corner the market and sell at exorbitant prices.

Guy, the whole first paragraph in your post just says that you're part of the problem and not part of the solution. These are toys that I want to have not HAVE to have. I can't take them with me when I die. They are an optional luxary in life not a mandatory necessity. If my display shelf is smaller than yours because I am tighter with my money and I buy based upon principles, I'm totally fine with that.

What may be a fuzzy principle to you is rock solid to me. I don't like the act of scalping. It ruins the hobby. It certainly steals some of my enjoyment when I go to a store multiple times and never see a hot figure once yet they are all over ebay at 1.5-2 times the price. I chose to combat this by not buying scalped figures because I refuse to play a part in the scalping process.

Like it or not, when you buy a scalped figure, you have contributed to the scalping cause. You have made it profittable for a scalper to scalp and enabled him/her to continue to scalp. I can say that not one scalper has stayed in business due to my money. Can you?

This board is full of collector's who complain about scalping yet constantly contribute to the cause by buying their scalped figures. If you buy a scalped figure, you should lose your right to complain about scalping, since all you did was enable the scalper to continue his business and set every other collector back in the wallet.

If I'm the only one who takes this stand, I'm fine with that. Somebody has to be the one. If we all took that stand, scalper's would go away. Once they start taking baths on the figures they are trying to hawk, they'll start to think twice about scalping more.

At the end of the day, maybe I'm just a different, more disciplined collector than you. I can say no. I'm fine with saving my money on principles. If my shelf isn't as full, I'm fine with that. My face doesn't feel spited at all.

This, this so much. Thank you! Furthermore, and this is the thing that irks me the most, there are people who go out and buy up entire stocks at retail JUST to scalp things. Such that legitimate collectors can't even get their hands on stuff and it all just ends up on ebay. See: PRiD Vehicon and Soundwave.
Both of those figures went for obscene amounts of money on ebay and are now MORE than readily available. A few months ago I couldn't go to Walmart or Target without seeing at least a Soundwave or two, and now there are Vehicons in DROVES. There were eight or ten sitting on the pegs at Target two days ago.

joesaysso wrote:

GuyIncognito wrote:
That's "cutting off your nose to spite your face". It's not like your stand against scalping is going to stop the practice. Someone else will buy it if you don't. So you're only hurting yourself by denying yourself a figure you want based on some fuzzy principle.

I say it's a fuzzy principle because the line between scalping and legitimate retail/resale is fuzzy. Either way, someone is buying products at one price, selling them at a higher price, and pocketing the difference. In a way, TRU is just a huge scalping organization, especially when it comes to exclusives - they corner the market and sell at exorbitant prices.

Guy, the whole first paragraph in your post just says that you're part of the problem and not part of the solution. These are toys that I want to have not HAVE to have. I can't take them with me when I die. They are an optional luxary in life not a mandatory necessity. If my display shelf is smaller than yours because I am tighter with my money and I buy based upon principles, I'm totally fine with that.

What may be a fuzzy principle to you is rock solid to me. I don't like the act of scalping. It ruins the hobby. It certainly steals some of my enjoyment when I go to a store multiple times and never see a hot figure once yet they are all over ebay at 1.5-2 times the price. I chose to combat this by not buying scalped figures because I refuse to play a part in the scalping process.

Like it or not, when you buy a scalped figure, you have contributed to the scalping cause. You have made it profittable for a scalper to scalp and enabled him/her to continue to scalp. I can say that not one scalper has stayed in business due to my money. Can you?

This board is full of collector's who complain about scalping yet constantly contribute to the cause by buying their scalped figures. If you buy a scalped figure, you should lose your right to complain about scalping, since all you did was enable the scalper to continue his business and set every other collector back in the wallet.

If I'm the only one who takes this stand, I'm fine with that. Somebody has to be the one. If we all took that stand, scalper's would go away. Once they start taking baths on the figures they are trying to hawk, they'll start to think twice about scalping more.

At the end of the day, maybe I'm just a different, more disciplined collector than you. I can say no. I'm fine with saving my money on principles. If my shelf isn't as full, I'm fine with that. My face doesn't feel spited at all.

The only way scalping on any figure goes away is when supply goes up. like the Vehicon. I'm also sure many collectors buy extras to resell or hold on to to speculate or whatever. I've personally brought a windcharger off ebay from one of our podcasters here at seibertron.com (without knowing it at the time) I have no issues with it, I've personally still never seen a windcharger at retail. Hasbro's distribution creates the scalpers and keeps them in business.

I'll disagree but only slightly. Hasbro's production/distribution issues certainly magnify the problem but they aren't the sole cause. Nor, are they what's keeping scalpers in business. We collectors are what's keeping them in business by paying the outrageous prices for the figures that we just have to have. The only way scalpers stop scalping is when they stop making a profit. End of story. When they start drowning in figures they can no longer sell and going broke because nobody is paying their prices, they will find other ways to make a living.

It will take collectors as a mass to stand up and say, "no. If I have to pay that much, I just won't have it." I'll concede that this scenario isn't likely to happen. By that token, collectors need to take some accountability for the monster they helped create. It's hard to blame scalpers exclusively for the problem when the collectors aren't very good at exercising any self control.

In the mean time I have my principles and a shelf without a single scalped figure on it. The sacrifice is that my collection is a lot smaller than most here. I'm ok with that.

joesaysso wrote:I'll disagree but only slightly. Hasbro's production/distribution issues certainly magnify the problem but they aren't the sole cause. Nor, are they what's keeping scalpers in business. We collectors are what's keeping them in business by paying the outrageous prices for the figures that we just have to have. The only way scalpers stop scalping is when they stop making a profit. End of story. When they start drowning in figures they can no longer sell and going broke because nobody is paying their prices, they will find other ways to make a living.

It will take collectors as a mass to stand up and say, "no. If I have to pay that much, I just won't have it." I'll concede that this scenario isn't likely to happen. By that token, collectors need to take some accountability for the monster they helped create. It's hard to blame scalpers exclusively for the problem when the collectors aren't very good at exercising any self control.

In the mean time I have my principles and a shelf without a single scalped figure on it. The sacrifice is that my collection is a lot smaller than most here. I'm ok with that.

And besides, there are very VERY few molds that have only been used once. I wouldn't be surprised if Dotm Wheeljack and Soundwave saw redecos/re-releases in the next movie toy line. A little patience will usually pay off in the end.

I went to a local TRU and I was surprised to see many TFs still on the shelves in the wake of Xmas. To my surprise I saw 1 MP OP so my first thought was it had been returned. I thought this only because 2 weeks prior to the holiday they had sold out and the tag was removed but who knows they might have gotten another shipment or found another box in the back and that was the last one... .

But looking at that hike in price made me remember how some fans were beefing over $119.00. If I recall I think some fans were weighing in that some were being sold over $130.00 retail. I'm very happy to have payed the $119 at the time!

RAcast wrote:

joesaysso wrote:I'll disagree but only slightly. Hasbro's production/distribution issues certainly magnify the problem but they aren't the sole cause. Nor, are they what's keeping scalpers in business. We collectors are what's keeping them in business by paying the outrageous prices for the figures that we just have to have. The only way scalpers stop scalping is when they stop making a profit. End of story. When they start drowning in figures they can no longer sell and going broke because nobody is paying their prices, they will find other ways to make a living.

It will take collectors as a mass to stand up and say, "no. If I have to pay that much, I just won't have it." I'll concede that this scenario isn't likely to happen. By that token, collectors need to take some accountability for the monster they helped create. It's hard to blame scalpers exclusively for the problem when the collectors aren't very good at exercising any self control.

In the mean time I have my principles and a shelf without a single scalped figure on it. The sacrifice is that my collection is a lot smaller than most here. I'm ok with that.

And besides, there are very VERY few molds that have only been used once. I wouldn't be surprised if Dotm Wheeljack and Soundwave saw redecos/re-releases in the next movie toy line. A little patience will usually pay off in the end.

Scalping occurs because Hasbro and its resellers have undervalued their own product. If a large number of consumers are willing to pay $20 for a particular figure, but TRU only charges $12, then scalpers will take advantage of the difference.

Scalping is actually helpful to a manufacturer: 1) It tells the manufacturer what their best products are, and 2) it tells the manufacturer what consumers are willing to pay.

Scalping is also beneficial to the retailer--the retailer still makes its targeted profit on the scalped item, plus by making individual characters more scarce, it increases the likelihood that consumers will make repeated visits (and eventually buy something other than the HTF figure, if only as a consolation prize).

Has anyone spotted an MP Prime lately? Seems all shelf tags have been removed and no stores I've been to have had them, are they still being ordered/shipped?

Starwave Prime wrote:Has anyone spotted an MP Prime lately? Seems all shelf tags have been removed and no stores I've been to have had them, are they still being ordered/shipped?

I haven't but it would be weird if they weren't being shipped anymore, considering MP Thundercracker is still hanging about.

scalping makes the prices even go higher online ,and the retailers take note of this. they also raise up their prices even more as well.