Anyone here collect toys/Action Figures?

[AppleiDog]

There's a huge fraud thing that goes on with dishonest collectors buying action figures they want, opening them, and replacing those with different ones, that they don't want, and then returning them to stores like Walmart, especially Hasbro's Marvel Legends. This particular example was a riding toy of some sort, but, it's particularly disturbing that a cop was the one doing it

He's also the guy that causes another father to have to tell his son, "Sorry I couldn't get you that toy you were hoping for, because some loser adult had to buy all 60 of them from every Target or Walmart within a 100 mile radius, which is all the stores had or will ever have."

yeah people like that are absoulute garbage cunts. showing a Big "L for Love"

 

[SignOfGoob]

No. The box is clearly labelled with who's inside, you just can't see the actual figure(s) at all until you open it. I imagine that Hasbro is just trying to be green and cut down on plastic waste.
View attachment 59811

The explanation I heard was that they had windowed boxes at one point with no clear parts, just a hole, and assholes were plucking the heads off the toys. That…is pretty horrible, I have to admit.

 

[@M]

Some toys are sold like that, in open boxes, and damage is a risk with that approach, but, at least you can check out the paint, etc. before you buy.

 

[StevenK]

If I ever do me some criming it's going to involve borders, narcotics, secret compartments and a one off make or break plot. I'm not fucking around stuffing donatello into a raphael box for $20.

 

[@M]

I've seen more than one TV show where the plot involved hiding money, jewels, and/or drugs inside a stuffed animal or doll, so, don't dismiss toys from your criminal plans entirely.

 

[@M]

A MotU themed Tony Hawk level would kick ass!

 

[Arcademan]

"By the Power of Skateboard!!!" I HAVE THE WHEELS!!!

 

[LoneSage]

If I ever do me some criming it's going to involve borders, narcotics, secret compartments and a one off make or break plot. I'm not fucking around stuffing donatello into a raphael box for $20.

Christ it really hit me that TMNT is still going strong in 2022. That is 35 years of staying power merchandising. Incredible.

 

[neo_mao]

A couple of years ago I watched some show on Netflix (maybe) about toys and they talked about TMNT in one episode, definitely recommend watching that.

Unfortunate how of the two guys behind TMNT one of them made out like a bandit and the other not so much.

 

[@M]

Kevin Eastman gave up his interest in TMNT earlier than Peter Laird, who eventually sold it all to Nickelodeon (Viacom).

 

[HornheaDD]

A MotU themed Tony Hawk level would kick ass! View attachment 59903

Lol have to admit that is a rad picture

 

[fake]

Kevin Eastman gave up his interest in TMNT earlier than Peter Laird, who eventually sold it all to Nickelodeon (Viacom).

Eastman made a lot more than Laird, even after the Nickelodeon sale AFAIK.

 

[LoneSage]

Well I just bing'd their net worths and both say 20 million. Shenanigans are afoot.

 

[terry.330]

Well I just bing'd their net worths and both say 20 million. Shenanigans are afoot.

I remember reading the one that made out better on the initial deal blew through a bunch of his money. So it is possible that their net worth is fairly equal at this point.

 

[SouthtownKid]

I remember reading the one that made out better on the initial deal blew through a bunch of his money. So it is possible that their net worth is fairly equal at this point.

Eastman bought Heavy Metal magazine as a folly. It was already losing money when he took it over, and then he really tanked it. A lot of the time, using it as a promotional vehicle for his big fake titted soft porn wife. Even financed an animated Heavy Metal 2000 movie to feature her, which completely bombed. And all this was after having started another publishing company that folded after only a few years and lost him more than 10 mil. I'm kind of surprised Eastman has a dime left.

The other guy Laird, I don't know so much about. I think he bought out Eastman's share of the Turtles, so maybe he's worth more due to all that licensing money over the years and whatnot.

 

[@M]

Eastman and Julie Strain divorced in 2006 and she died in 2021 (she was only 58). RIP Julie.

 

[neo_mao]

So basically what you guys are telling me is that I wasn’t wrong.

That’s all I need to hear.

 

[sirlynxalot]

I've seen elsewhere this phenonemon of adults buying out all of ____ from regular retail stores, like all of some special type of hotwheel from local targets and walmarts, or all of a certain kind of Nike sneaker. I have to imagine this is all driven by the ease of reselling stuff on ebay and the like. Did people do this stuff in the 80s and 90s?

 

[@M]

Yeah, guys do that all the time. Like, the other day, a dude in my MotU group posted a photo of about 15 Battlecats he got on clearance and the others were asking him, "Bro, what are you even going to do with 15 Battlecats?" Try to flip 'em of course, even if he won't admit it.

 

[SignOfGoob]

I've seen elsewhere this phenonemon of adults buying out all of ____ from regular retail stores, like all of some special type of hotwheel from local targets and walmarts, or all of a certain kind of Nike sneaker. I have to imagine this is all driven by the ease of reselling stuff on ebay and the like. Did people do this stuff in the 80s and 90s?

Absolutely not. Without the internet you'd just be stuck with stuff and no way to sell it. Nowadays where people buy entire cases of Hot Wheels just to get one car and sell the rest on eBay...it would never work. That shit would be in your garage sales every year for the rest of your life.

Everyone seems to think they are a store now...that's a major thing (in gaming podcasts, for example) that simply didn't exist until recently. In the 80s/90s pretty much everything except coins, art, sports cards and comics dropped in value from the day it came out. Now every dick thinks he has to profit from every sale. eBay used to be a place to get stuff CHEAP (!) and now its basically a place to get fucked.

 

[wataru330]

I've seen elsewhere this phenonemon of adults buying out all of ____ from regular retail stores, like all of some special type of hotwheel from local targets and walmarts, or all of a certain kind of Nike sneaker. I have to imagine this is all driven by the ease of reselling stuff on ebay and the like. Did people do this stuff in the 80s and 90s?

In Southern California, they sure did. Clearance items had a mysterious way of showing up at the Swap Meet, lol.

 

[SignOfGoob]

In Southern California, they sure did. Clearance items had a mysterious way of showing up at the Swap Meet, lol.

Discounted items at a discounted outlet are one thing, especially if you are a vender. That's exactly where that stuff goes.

Normal people who have jobs buying entire cases of brand new toys just to get the rare one is a completely different thing,

 

[SouthtownKid]

In Southern California, they sure did. Clearance items had a mysterious way of showing up at the Swap Meet, lol.

Yeah, and conventions. Collectibles, comics, whatever. There was always a bunch around the L.A. area, way before the internet.

 

[terry.330]

Absolutely not.

Bullshit. It happened in the 90s all the time. Guys that owned flea market booths and comic/specialty shops would routinely buy out all the stock of certain items so they could raise the price and essentially corner the market in that area.

 

[sirlynxalot]

For the people who rabidly buy a limited edition Nike shoe, I hear they don't even necessarily get the ones they want, they just stand in line all night to get any aspect of the stock, and then huck it on ebay to get the money and then trade it for the size/style they really wanted.

I also read about people going around and buying all the stock of SNES mini systems when those were new. Even when stores tried to do a limitation like 3 per person, they'd just rope in friends and/or family to do it, so they could get more than 3 systems per store. Same thing with regular consoles around launch time I guess, I remember seeing PS2s selling on ebay for like $900 when they were new and the supply in stores didn't keep up with demand.

What this all reminds me of is the Soviet Union and how it was uncommon to find meat for sale at the government owned store. Part of this was supply chain issues in the country, and part of it was the fact that whenever there was meat available, you or whoever noticed it first would try to buy as much of it as you could since it was a high demand item. Once you have the giant stock of it at home, you'd barter/trade/sell it for the other stuff you wanted/needed.

I'm a casual consumer. I don't feel the thrill of the hunt and don't have the time or energy to visit places every day on the off chance they just got a shipment of interesting stuff and its not cleaned out yet. It used to be fun to go to a tag sale or the thrift store, or a retail store in the 90s and peruse interesting items at my leisure, whereas now these places get cleaned out early by the people who want to flip or collect, or who just like the thrill of the "hunt". I feel like we've de-evolved as a society in the US in this respect.