Holiday pet peeve: People scalping Children's toys at Christmas.

[toys2cool]

I bought these yesterday at Toys R Us...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2499/4129542395_86ca323e67_b.jpg

those are nice man

[SeattleEd]

When I lived in Arizona last year for two months, I walked in to the TRU in Mesa and found all those hanging on pegs. I just picked up the Batmobile. Now sitting in my closet shelf opened up.
At one time, the new development areas in Phoenix where they opened up Wal-Marts and Targets were the places go. Found all the rare toys on pegs. Not a lot of collectors out there. Of course not much in the country desert.

I tried doing the scalping when the first wave of Star Wars reissues, POTF came out in the late 90's. I picked up a lot of C3POs, Leias and then Fett.
I just couldn't get myself to resell them higher. I used them as trading fodder and posted on newsgroups back then. I ended up getting some cool trade on superhero figures and one woman said she couldn't find these figures for her son and tried everywhere. She was based out of NYC. I told her send me her address and I just sent them to her. No charge. Turned out she worked for Universal Music Group and was to thankful and sent me a bunch of free CD's.
I think Seattle has some of the worse scalpers I've seen. Collectors would pay off managers and employees. Some had their spouses work at Target or TRU just so they can get first dibs right off the truck.
One TRU in Tukwila, WA the manager was a collector himself and always took the Hot Wheels Treasure Hunts from each box. Collectors caught on and complained. Years later he was fired. So I was told.
It's pretty cutthroat and sad. I got so disillusioned by it all just gave away my collection to a friend and focused on music again. Of course, years later my ex wife got into Bythe dolls and I got sucked in Megos. Custom Megos.

I have no sympathy for scalpers of any kind on any level. Be it toys or tickets.

I bought these yesterday at Toys R Us...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2499/4129542395_86ca323e67_b.jpg

[Meule]

I bought these yesterday at Toys R Us...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2499/4129542395_86ca323e67_b.jpg

Lucky SOB, I can't find those anywhere here

[jds1911a1]

Scalping of children's toys didn't really exist as the yearly holiday blight as we now know it as until the rise of the internet and auction sites in the early to mid 90s. Power Rangers, Furby and Elmo are good examples.

As a little bit of video game trivia, the Atari 2600 launched in 1977 and cost $200, which was a heck of a lot of money back then. It was not scalped and only moderately popular in its first year.

Now, there have always been hot toys and hard to get toys. But cases like the Cabbage Patch Kids were more or less isolated incidents of insanity in comparison to the widespread children's toy scalping that goes on every Christmas now.

When my Mom had trouble finding the Masters of the Universe Trap Jaw figure for me for Christmas, it was because of other parents buying it for their kids and not because of over 16,000 listings of him on ebay.

I remember atari as tough to find but maybe that was 78 or 79

I won't deny ebay made it worse (in that the scalpers can reach more clients) but so has the proliferation of adult toy collectors. But internet auction didn't invent this beast, I recall many newspaper classified ads with people selling the hot toy that year especially cabage patch, transformers, and power rangers

[jds1911a1]

I'm surprised that nobodies mentioned this perspective yet, people that are paying double or triple the price for toys at Christmas are typically well off and are "spoiling" their kids.
I'm sure it makes it easier for a would be scalper (I feel scumbag is a little harsh, they're not scalping h1n1 vaccine) to ask double the price of something like the ps3 etc. I remember when people were paying $1000 a couple years ago at xmas.
It wasn't typically middle class families that were buying them, but people who could afford to pay double.
I do understand what is being said, and I agree to a certain exstent. it's unfortunate that some kids don't get that particular toy/item that they have their hearts set on on Christmas day. I remeber this happening to me as a kid, and my mom telling me how upset she was that she couldnt find what I wanted. She simply told me that when they were available (usually within a month) she would get me one. That was good enough for me.
why not, instead of paying double, tell your kids that if they still want it when it becomes available, they can have twice as much?

do you have kids? I ask because as a parent of preshoolers I like many parents us the myth of Santa as both a behavior modification device ("SANTA doesn't give gifts to bad children") and also to instill the magic of the season (as portrated in countless christmas specials). Spoiling a child isn't usually the issue os much as sheltering them from the reality that sometimes we can't get what we want. not an easy conversation to have with a 5 year old
older kids who don't beleive in santa are easier to disappoint becasue they know it's you buying stuff.

[Toy Talk]

Christmas

do you have kids? I ask because as a parent of preshoolers I like many parents us the myth of Santa as both a behavior modification device ("SANTA doesn't give gifts to bad children") and also to instill the magic of the season (as portrated in countless christmas specials). Spoiling a child isn't usually the issue os much as sheltering them from the reality that sometimes we can't get what we want. not an easy conversation to have with a 5 year old
older kids who don't beleive in santa are easier to disappoint becasue they know it's you buying stuff.

All five of our children still at home believe in Santa. Your statements summed it up beautifully.

[Riffster]

wait...your saying there's no Santa?

[goldenryan]

I gotta admit i've done this twice in my life, both times I was really broke so it saved my ***..

I did it with the tickle me elmo's, i bought a couple for $25 each and resold them for $100 in the streets

and with the PS3 a couple years back, I made a $100 on each one

well at lease you have nothing to hide.

[Meule]

^^ Bon appetit

[Toy Talk]

Finally!! My wife stopped by the local TRU on her lunch break and scored the entire tzu tzu pet collection at normal store prices. Which means SCORE one for the regular guys. That is one TRU that will not be helping scalpers this week. My daughters wanted these so bad, and now Santa will be able to deliver.

Santa is real, but there is no such thing as Santa Clause--except at the end of contracts.

[toys2cool]

well at lease you have nothing to hide.

http://i48.tinypic.com/ja9u93.gif

dam

[Mikey]

well at lease you have nothing to hide.

Looks like the cop in the back is trying to tickle his Elmo

[Adam West]

I am glad my days of trying to find the "must have" toy is over.

I can see both sides of the issue. I do remember back in the day getting frustrated when I couldn't find the one item my kids wanted for Christmas.

At the same time, supply and demand has a way of working itself out. I think it was mentioned that there are 16,000 auctions for this hamster animal? If potential buyers wern't willing to pay the price; the price would drop dramatically but obviously there are 16,000+ people willing to pay the sky high prices.

I know it is frustrating and it may seem insane but that's how it works.

I have talked about how I used to collect Starting Lineups back in the early to mid '90's when they were really hard to find. My next door neighbor used to collect them too and had a sister who was a manager of Wal-Mart so he was able to get whatever he wanted for $6.99 a figure. The guy must have had $40-$50K of them (I'm very serious). It wasn't unusual for him to have 20 of a hard to find rookie figure....all bought for $6.99. He refused to sell them to me unless I was willing to pay some outrageous price or if I attempted to trade with him he always wanted figures worth twice what he was trading. It used to frustrate me to no end and I even became bitter over because we supposedly were friends. It has been a good 11 years since I lived in that neighborhood and often wonder if he still has all those figures that he was so stingy about now worth nothing more than $1 a figure.

[theantiquetiger]

Contrary to some people's beliefs around here, I only scalped new toys one time. It was the TMX Elmo a few years ago. It came out on a Tuesday and was basically sold out nationwide by Wednesday morning.

My wife saw it on CNN and wanted to get one for our daughter. We shopped all over Baton Rouge that Thursday, sold out everywhere.

Even the manager at TRU told us that was it, the manufacture only made 25K and will not make anymore.

We ended up buying one off eBay that Thursday night for $60. That was cheap because the guy had it misspelled.

I had to work Friday night, and we were at Wal-Mart near my house looking for a couple more gifts (we did our Christmas shopping that week while we looked for TMX).

As we rounded the corner, the shelf was neatly stocked with 20 TMX's, not a single one was missing from the shelf. I thought it was fake and was looking for the "Candid Camera". I grabbed 10 of them just as the WM lady showed up. She asked me if I was taking all of them and I told her no, I was leaving some for other people. She told me she had 40 more in the back, so I did grab the other 10.

I sold a couple to friends at cost, who were looking for them. I keep one for my daughter in case the one I bought off eBay didn't show, and the rest I put on eBay for one day, with a Buy It Now for $95 (less than what they were selling for at that time, $100-$120 each).

They all sold before I got home the next morning (less than 12 hours), mostly to other scalpers. One lady bought 9 of them from me (she e-mailed me, said she would take 9 if I lowered to $85 each). Here mailing address was some kind of gift shop (like a Hallmark store).

My daughter still has her's, and I still have the one I bought off eBay sitting in top of my closet, MIB, because it is in the 1st release "Top Secret" box, not the "Caution" box all the ones I bought came in.

Funny thing about these TMX's, that same year, less than a week before Christmas, I was at the same WM, and some one brought back 30 TMX's for return. I guess they were sitting on them, hoping they would go up in price.

We paid for Christmas that afternoon. Would I do it again? I cannot say I would not do it, but that was nothing but pure luck and I do not go out look for the hot new toys to scalp.

As for Hot Wheels (when I did collect them), I did "scalp" them, but not for money. Hot Wheel Collectors are idiots, and must have the newest Treasure Hunt as soon as possible. I would always find the latest TH, and would trade it on a HW forum for a hand full of older TH's. This is how I was able to complete about 8 years of TH sets for next to nothing.

[Zemo]

I'm surprised that nobodies mentioned this perspective yet, people that are paying double or triple the price for toys at Christmas are typically well off and are "spoiling" their kids.
I'm sure it makes it easier for a would be scalper (I feel scumbag is a little harsh, they're not scalping h1n1 vaccine) to ask double the price of something like the ps3 etc. I remember when people were paying $1000 a couple years ago at xmas.
It wasn't typically middle class families that were buying them, but people who could afford to pay double.
I do understand what is being said, and I agree to a certain exstent. it's unfortunate that some kids don't get that particular toy/item that they have their hearts set on on Christmas day. I remeber this happening to me as a kid, and my mom telling me how upset she was that she couldnt find what I wanted. She simply told me that when they were available (usually within a month) she would get me one. That was good enough for me.
why not, instead of paying double, tell your kids that if they still want it when it becomes available, they can have twice as much?

I agree, Plus parents should be giving their kid a football or a ball and bat and tell them to go out and play. If you fall into this must have toy b.s you just fan the flame. All they must have is healthy life.