A Confession - Collecting using the Goldfinger method

[Mikey]

I might have mentioned this before, but if I did it was a long time ago and I forgot.

When I was collecting in the late 80's and early 90's ... specifically buying action figures in stores, malls etc --- I used to do a very nasty thing.

After making sure my figures were as perfect as perfect can be -- before checking them out, I would look around to make sure nobody was watching me and then crunch all the remaining figures on the shelf ... I wouldn't destory them ... but I would make them at least nowhere near mint.

I had the idea I was eliminating nice examples from the collecting field -- thus making mine more rare.

Back then, a friend of mine refered to me as Goldfinger for doing this

I stopped doing it in the mid 90's because it finally dawned on me what I was doing was just plain dumb and would not effect anything except ruin a figure for the guy behind me.

That's my confession.

Thanks for reading

[txteach]

Why the heck would you do that? I guess I don't understand the logic there.

[Werewolf]

I wouldn't feel too bad over it.

In a way it probably helped a lot of kids get figures. As a kid I didn't care about card condition as long as the figure was perfect. Heck, I still really don't. I open everything and toss most of the packages.

BTW:Could someone bend the card of a DCUC Wondy for me? I've been trying to find one.

[Earth 2 Chris]

You should be ashamed.

Seriously, I get your reasoning, but that is kind of low, no offense.

I feel kind of bad for abusing my power as a Wal-Mart stockboy. I worked at Wal-Mart during the golden age of the BTAS line, and most figures never made it to the pegs. Of course I only bought 2 of each for myself (one to open, one to keep MIP back then), but it was still wrong.

Chris

[toys2cool]

LOL! man that's just mean.I use to see messed up figures all the time and I always asked myself why the hell would someone mess this up,now I know there's guys like Mike out there

[Mikey]

There was a generally different collecting atmosphere back in the early 90's.

Everybody was getting into the mix trying to make money quick -- and all action figures had the potential of being a goldmine.

Variations and short runs were actually taken seriously and used to bring in dumb-high amounts of money.

It wasn't fun either ... not like today.

For most people it was all about money back then.

I think the early 90's was the lowest point in the toy collecting hobby in general ... and I was part of that lowness.

I'm glad it's not (and i'm not) like that anymore.

[Werewolf]

There was a generally different collecting atmosphere back in the early 90's.

I think it reached the peak of ugliness in the mid 90s when the new Star Wars figures came out.

People were hording and scalping those like crazy. Made collecting the line NO fun at all. People were buying that ugly Leia figure by the dozens. On the upside, they can't give them away now.

[txteach]

I'm glad you are different now Mike. I know you are a good guy at heart but to me what you did was destroy something that doesn't belong to you. I have collected as far back as 1989 and never thought of doing what you did. To me it was always about the hunt ot find that elusive figure.

[palitoy]

Total "dick move" but you were hardly alone.

I had a job back then stocking Zeller's department stores, so I'd check all the toy aisles for figures for my friend. He had a shop and the honest policy of actually giving people chase figures at cost when he could. So many losers would damage the cards, it was unreal.

One guy bragged about it to me, said he had 2 storage units full of Spawn and Star Wars. I bet he's rich now.

I still would see it in Hot Wheels aisles a couple of years back.

[starsky]

You should be ashamed.

Seriously, I get your reasoning, but that is kind of low, no offense.

I feel kind of bad for abusing my power as a Wal-Mart stockboy. I worked at Wal-Mart during the golden age of the BTAS line, and most figures never made it to the pegs. Of course I only bought 2 of each for myself (one to open, one to keep MIP back then), but it was still wrong.

Chris

i did that at toys r us!! picked up a lot of 1 per case figures.

[huedell]

A harrowing thread indeed

[jasonmego1277]

I might have mentioned this before, but if I did it was a long time ago and I forgot.

When I was collecting in the late 80's and early 90's ... specifically buying action figures in stores, malls etc --- I used to do a very nasty thing.

After making sure my figures were as perfect as perfect can be -- before checking them out, I would look around to make sure nobody was watching me and then crunch all the remaining figures on the shelf ... I wouldn't destory them ... but I would make them at least nowhere near mint.

I had the idea I was eliminating nice examples from the collecting field -- thus making mine more rare.

Back then, a friend of mine refered to me as Goldfinger for doing this

I stopped doing it in the mid 90's because it finally dawned on me what I was doing was just plain dumb and would not effect anything except ruin a figure for the guy behind me.

That's my confession.

Thanks for reading

OH MAN ! That was PURE EVIL ! Hey In the late 80's or early 90's was this in the Boston , MA area ?? I used to see a lot of that , specifically at KB Toys and Bradlees. I found that a local comic book store was doing that too. This was a way for them to start a bidding war on the best conditioned MOC figures. Why they would do this to Vintage Figures is beyond me, but they did . Soon after people learned and stopped buying from them. A year later it was converted into a Hair Salon. LOL.

I see your reasoning............PURE EVIL , Nontheless.

[megocrazy]

I guess when the toy collecting market was high it made people do strange things. BTW destroying figures for financial gain was a colossal ****** maneuver. Though I do believe you are now a changed man. I had a friend that owned a toy store and when they started limiting the amount of figures you could buy I would go with him so he could get two of each. I actually had a guy try to take a Princess Leia, that white one that was one per case originally and then 25 per case later on, from my hand. He actually thought this tiny piece of plastic was worth risking bodily harm for. I never knew toy collecting was a contact sport. I guess if I was an actual collector and cared about these I may have smacked him for trying to take it. I had a foot, plus 150 pounds on this guy. Toys will make you do strange things I guess.

[Earth 2 Chris]

There are still collectors out there that at least suggest they would take items from your cart or hand. A few weeks back when I found the Brave and the Bold figures and DCUC figures at Meijer, a guy walked past our cart, cocked his head and just stared for at least 30 seconds. I was just waiting for him to reach for it.

During the 90s Star Wars insanity, me and a couple of friends who collected Star Wars went to a nearby Super Wal-Mart opening. We got there around 10 am or so. The action figure aisle looked like a bomb had went off in it. People were digging through the rubble. We asked what happened, and a guy told us that the Star Wars figures were stocked that morning, with two people blocking the aisle openings while the dept. manager stocked the figures. Once the Wal-Mart people left, a woman took her arm and raked EVERY figure she could into the cart and sped off. Some chased after her but most just fought over the remains. I never did hear if the woman was able to buy all those or not. I think that was before Wal-Mart started a figure limit policy.

Chris

[Mikey]

Well, in my own defense ... I can honestly admit I wasn't in league with anyone - and- I didn't do it all the time.
Just sometimes when I had a bad day and felt a little extra nasty.