Sunday, July 31, 2011

1:1 scale Scum and Villian / Scalpers at 2011 Hong Kong Ani-Con - Sad but True

This thread appeared in one of the forums I frequent and I was SHOCKED and DISGUSTED to read that friggin douchebags / a$$holes / jerks / scum and other unmentionables along with their own scalper army made off with most of the exclusives at the 2011 Hong Kong Ani-Con. I wanted to send the word out to fellow collectors to be wary of such unscrupulous people. Beware 'notforsell2007'.

friggin douchebag / a$$hole / jerk / scum

One of the guys (a genuine collector) who camped overnight counted the line which numbered 100+ people in front of him at the beginning, but by the time he got his ticket to buy (there were 600 tickets passed out representing the 600 available sets) the next day, he said it was up to 450! An extra 350 thugs and helpers had appeared.


scalper army - not a single collector in this picture

These people have no interest in our hobby at all

None of these people even know what they are in for

A collector saw at least 2 friggin sellers giving money to those Indonesians, Pakistanies and even kids under 16 who had queued and got the figures for them. Little by little their figures would pile up like a wall (containing like a 100 sets at least).

Wall of exclusives

Even old ladies and men getting 1700 HKD for lining up overnight

Even old ladies and men getting 1700 HKD for lining up overnight

Big Time Scalpers because of the exclusivity of figures

"The local news claims that he spent 1700 HKD or 219 USD per person to get him 1 set of figures, before paying the 1380 HKD x 3 for the set of figures itself. That is 5840 HKD or 753 USD for the set! He is scalping it for 8500 HKD a set or 1096 USD which nets him a profit of 343.77 USD or 2664 HKD. He has approximately 100 - 450+ sets.

So if this sells out, he can make a profit of 450 x 344 USD = 154,800 USD but he spent 338,850 USD to do it. If he had only 100 sets, the he can net a profit of 34,400 USD from a 75,300 USD investment. Not bad for 50% return IF he sells it all. Hard to find stocks that would net you that.

But I would not worry.

Rumor is that SS will have both HK Anicon exclusive Batman and Predator at normal volume ~ 2000 or more pieces each, for normal price ordering by next month! That is a few days or weeks away folks! Even with shipping, it is cheaper than paying the scalpers! Don't buy the scalpers price and it will drop. It has too because he has between a 75K to 338+K USD hole in his pocket right now!"

As long as people buy from scalpers, scalpers will exist. Beware 'notforsell2007'.
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28 comments:

  1. jacquesJuly 31, 2011 at 6:06 PM

    totally disgusting. Thanks for the Great news.

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  2. ethanJuly 31, 2011 at 6:42 PM

    May these f$$kers burn in hell..! Btw HT should do something to avoid this in the avoid...very unfair to those genuine collectors.

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  3. LensmeisterJuly 31, 2011 at 6:52 PM

    People like this guy just spoils our 1/6 hobby... totally agree - the only way to snuff out scalpers is just not to buy from them.

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  4. AnonymousJuly 31, 2011 at 7:59 PM

    HT, by offering exclusive items at site, contributes to this. The scalper in the first photo is one of the most (well-known) notorious in HK.

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  5. Little Plastic ManJuly 31, 2011 at 8:33 PM

    This is so sick...

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  6. KennyJuly 31, 2011 at 8:43 PM

    Speechless...

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  7. jaztermarealJuly 31, 2011 at 8:43 PM

    darn scalpers!!!!!! destroying the hobby for honest collectors. frikken bad.

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  8. JoshuaJuly 31, 2011 at 8:55 PM

    it's been awhile since i actually commented, but seeing this scalpers working up that pile of figures which they have no interest in collecting, and depriving ACTUAL COLLECTORS FROM FIGURES.....pisses the hell outta me man...

    I take my hat off to you alex for bringing this up to people's attention! And i agree never to purchase from scalpers....that'd be feeding the vicious cycle all the way..

    i really do hope that they release the batman fig as a normal release at a later time. would screw over scalpers and give real collectors a good chance..

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  9. fumikaneJuly 31, 2011 at 9:25 PM

    Unfortunately that's how the world works. Scalpers exists everywhere and in every trade. I hope that's no army at the STGCC. Looking to get the Iron Man Exclusive. That is, IF I'm lucky to get it.

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  10. Wee SengJuly 31, 2011 at 9:37 PM

    As you had said before Alex, be satisfied with what figures you have.

    Why pay exorbitant to get the so call exclusives?

    Few thousand pieces is probably not worth the high prices anyway.

    But really hope the batman can be pre ordered. The Bale sculpt is too hard to resist...

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  11. cosmicbabyJuly 31, 2011 at 9:44 PM

    Thanx for posting this report!

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  12. ocd.toy.collectorJuly 31, 2011 at 9:52 PM

    Sadly people oversea would still buy it even though it is a HK exclusive.

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  13. DerekJuly 31, 2011 at 10:23 PM

    Just do everyone a favour and not buy from them. They are just trying to exploit the collectors.

    Let them rot with the goods.

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  14. WL a.k.a Wee LoongJuly 31, 2011 at 10:37 PM

    At the end of the day..

    it's the 'feel-good' feeling that makes us collectors..

    It's nv an addiction... If you feel like a sucker after buying a figure that had it's price jacked way up...

    then even if you have the figure.. you also dun feel good..

    I love the HT Ironman I very very much.. but I'll nv pay a thousand bucks for it..

    damn u scalpers!!!

    Viva la genuine collectors!

    WL

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  15. LEonJuly 31, 2011 at 10:53 PM

    same thing may happen here. You never know. Scaplers here quite fast and furious too. See STGCC how for the hot toys exclusive.

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  16. AnonymousAugust 1, 2011 at 1:19 AM

    I am not surprise at all.I think you will probably see the same thing at our STCC abet at a smaller scale though.

    Some local collectors are already planning to flip their prize catch.

    In the end of the day, I believe we do have a choice not to buy from auction sites.

    For those genuine collectors, I suggest what you can do is to start queuing early if you really want that piece.

    All the best and good luck.

    Cheers. A fellow Toy Enthusiast

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  17. SirDragonBaneAugust 1, 2011 at 2:15 AM

    Wow. Scumbags. Great article, man. I hope word gets out and he/they have to clear the figures for a loss. These guys are simply too much.

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  18. supekudxAugust 1, 2011 at 6:01 AM

    Well, unfortunately these type of dealers exist only because the collectors, including me, sometimes make some crazy things to buy an action figure. For this Batman and Predator I refuse to pay more than 500 dollars. I guess the main responsible for this situation is Hot Toys, because they insist on these type of things: exclusive item for an event. That is insane! Why not regular items? Or they are making more money too with these scalpers?

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  19. PaulAugust 1, 2011 at 6:56 AM

    Thanks for the warning Alex! I was at the event. Very sad indeed. Here are some pics links:

    http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.192579477470717.49682.138228759572456&type=1

    My other pics:
    http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.135638026523475.36442.100002318347557&type=1

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  20. JumpmanAugust 1, 2011 at 8:30 AM

    Whats someone like me supposed to do when I live in a country where I dont get a chance to get those exclusives and have to pay the stupid prices on ebay?

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  21. sl619August 1, 2011 at 8:39 AM

    i hope all those exclusives burn under their roof and a hole in their pockets! disgusting.

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  22. PaulAugust 1, 2011 at 9:47 AM

    Feel sorry for this guy. An actual story from a collector who camped outside Anicom.

    http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=58690437343&topic=65825

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  23. AnonymousAugust 1, 2011 at 2:01 PM

    I blame HT to be honest. What's the point in Exclusives like this anyway. If you live in Europe like I do, your got no option but to go to evilbay. HT just don't care I'm afraid

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  24. Yew ChoonAugust 2, 2011 at 11:23 AM

    In mandarin called "无良商人", means "No Good Businessman". That's totally annoyed me just to listen to the news. Actually I will blame those rich brianless idiot who lazy to Q for themselve and rather pay this expensive price to feed all these scalpers.
    I hope everybody would stop feeding all these scalpers and let them sink with their expensive goods. So that we, the collectors could have a peace of mind to collect our master piece.

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  25. The RebelAugust 3, 2011 at 9:20 PM

    Isn't HT doing anything to control this situation? Or are they just happy to make some cash without giving a care who actually profits from those goodies albeit unethical practice?

    "Death to scalpers!"

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  26. KGAugust 5, 2011 at 11:50 AM

    Had a loooong debate with my wife about scalpers / flippers. She don't see the difference between a genuine collector and an investor. To her, it's all the same.

    [i]"Who are you to judge whether or not a person who bought the toy is deserving or not? Just because he invests in it, it does not mean he is wrong. He (or his army) spent the same amount of time and effort in the queue. If you say toy investing is wrong, isn't it much worse for people who invest in properties and depriving others of a home?"[/i]

    I guess she has a point too. Though I still frown upon such action. I'm monitoring eBay for the 3 exclusives and people are still paying 300-400 for it (minus shipping). I'm glad my toy buddy has me a VIP ticket for STGCC, and I've already offered my other collector friend the Shadow Pred at cost cuz I don't want it. I hope more people would do the same (for figs they don't want). We don't live in an ideal world, but I'll heed MJ's advise in "Man in the Mirror" and do the thing I feel is right.

    For STGCC, I'm sure we will see alot of these "non-collectors" (wife and girlfriends inclusive, not just maids / old people). Genuine collectors, please keep your cool and your judgement to yourself.

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  27. PaulAugust 5, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    @Zelevol: There is indeed a BIG difference between a regular collector & scalper. A regular collector bought for his personal use & may decide to sell it in the future (hence, for investment purpose). Therefore a collector can also turn into an investor. No harm done. As for scalpers they bought for the purpose of purely making profit. There is nothing illegal, it's just a business investment. However, it's deemed immoral as they artificially exhausted the inventory & created an exaggerated inflation on these exclusive.

    They also deprive those regular or genuine collectors from getting it as the scalpers seized 70%-80% of the exclusives. To make it worse HT doesn't permit SideShow to sell any exclusive to Asian customers (discrimination), this is really ridiculous due to HT's failure in proper implementation. As discussed in HT FB, there are many other steps/actions that HT can take to minimize the effect or to discourage such uncontrolled scalping rampageif they are really serious. As many people say, HT just doesn't care.

    In other words, scalping is a fraudulent form of market manipulation where a person who buys large quantities of in-demand items at regular price, artificially create a shortage, then resell the items at a higher price.

    For the regular fig, that is fine if the scalpers want to buy plenty cos everyone has the chance to pre-order but for the exclusives it's an entire different story.

    Just my 2 cents.

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  28. KorndamnedAugust 8, 2011 at 10:45 AM

    Them scaplers are the lowest of the low. Insects that should be crushed like bugs on the floor.

    Judging from the photos, them scaplers have no moral values. I mean look at those pricks, having their own warehouse next to the booth.

    Die scaplers die!

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