Who will the scalpers target this time?

Discussion in 'Transformers Toy Discussion' started by Valkysas, May 10, 2009.

  1. Valkysas

    Valkysas Attack Buffalo

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    in 2007, TF scalping got rather insane. we had never dealt with it before, and as a result not many of us were prepared for it. I want to be prepared this time.

    I want to try and get an idea of who the scalpers will target this year. in 2007, they went after both deluxe versions of bumblebee, making it almost impossible to find him until he started getting packaged in various two-packs.

    Does anyone have any thoughts as to which characters need to be prioritized to avoid never seeing them again due to scalpers? basically an "if you see this, grab it, because you'll probably never see it again" type of thing.

    right now, I'm having a hard time even guessing who they'll go after this time. maybe the new leader prime, but that's a pretty big investment per figure. maybe skids and mudflap? sideswipe? I just have no idea.

    I, like many people, don't have the budget to just grab everything as I see it, or pre-order everything online so I dont have to deal with the hunt. aside from the money I already have set aside to buy leader prime on-sight, I'm going to be buying the line mostly 2-3 figures at a time, and knowing who should take priority would be a huge help, as I intend to buy every single in-movie character.
     
  2. Bocc Kob

    Bocc Kob Prowl Jam!

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    Covet the ice cream truck at all costs!
     
  3. Red leader

    Red leader Well-Known Member

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    my moneys on Sideswipe, Soundwave, Leader Prime and Bumblebee with Guns :) 
     
  4. flamingunicron

    flamingunicron Well-Known Member

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    If they were smart they would scalp breakaway, voyager prime, preview bumblebee. That's clearly where all the money is. The other figures won't sell so scalpers shouldn't even bother with them
     
  5. Ratchet2007

    Ratchet2007 Well-Known Member

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    Lol, I see what you did there
     
  6. Scantron

    Scantron Well-Known Member

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    Not saying there was no scalping at all, or anything, but Bumblebee was quite popular with the kids, IIRC, so they were probably snapping those figures up as well, and that contributed. If the Twins end up going over with kids, I could see both their individual Deluxe versions, and the Ice Cream truck, being harder to find because of that.

    As far as scalpers, if I had to guess...

    - Preview Soundwave - Seems to be rather highly anticipated and is (apparently) only in the preview wave, unlike Bumblebee.
    - Rampage and Breakaway - At least initially, since they're only 1-per-case in Wave 1. This might be reduced if Wave 2 is released simultaneously with Wave 1 and Wave 2 has additional copies of these two figures.
    - Voyager Starscream - Highly desired by a number of collectors, from what I've seen.
    - Target-exclusive Superion and Bruticus - Given the number of "I'm only getting Superion and Bruticus from RotF because the movie sucks" posts I've seen, these should be popular with collectors which should draw scalpers to grab some. Superion might be scalper-bait moreso than Bruticus, given the upcoming Fansproject upgrade set.
     
  7. Autovolt 127

    Autovolt 127 Get In The Titan, Prime!

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    :lol 

    The fallen....considering he's the main decepticon the movie.

    sideswipe also cause he's that cool
     
  8. Switchblade

    Switchblade Well-Known Member

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    It's a bit early to tell what the big scalper targets might be. The reason that Concept Bumblebee was scalped so extensively in '07 was due to an unfortunate confluence of factors, after all:

    1). He was hugely popular. He got the most screentime, the most development and humanization, and was cool enough to make all the kids want him.
    2). He wasn't a wave 1 release, which meant that you couldn't go out and buy him on the big release date like a lot of the other characters. This meant you had to actively search for him, which got to be a huge problem when combined with
    3). The major toy drought in July and August. I forget the causes - something to do with the shipping in China, I think - but there was a total stop in new product shipment for well over a month, causing all existing product to fly off the shelves (except for the 70+ preview figures at my local TRU - not an exaggeration, I assure you) while stores compensated by pulling old Cybertron and Alternators stock out of the back room. And since this drought hit right when wave 3 - the first wave with Bumblebee - was hitting, it meant that very few places actually got him in stock for a long time.

    Add those factors together and you get the recipe for a hugely scalped toy, which is exactly what happened with Concept Bumblebee. Is it likely to happen again with the movie? Probably not - I'm sure their will still be some scalping, but I doubt it will be on such a huge scale. The big drought of new toys was a major contributing factor to all the scalping in '07, and it was a pretty unusual event that I don't foresee happening again - especially if Hasbro paid attention and learned how to prevent it and/or work around it.

    I'm not saying there won't be one or two figures that scalpers target from the RotF line, but I doubt they'll find anything as productive for scalping as they did in the '07 movie line. Maybe it there's another character that becomes as popular as Bumblebee and Hasbro shortpacks it or limits the number of waves it appears in, but I honestly doubt that will happen (and Bumblebee shouldn't be as heavily targeted since a lot of kids already have him from the first movie).
     
  9. Dolza_Khyron

    Dolza_Khyron Well-Known Member

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    after yesterday? purple shockwave... :lol 
     
  10. Ash from Carolina

    Ash from Carolina Junior Smeghead

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    Tough call this far off.

    I guess you will have to figure out which figure the kids are going to go crazy for. If kids are crazy for something that doubles the scalpers chances of unloading the haul since they could either sell to a collector or a parent tired of tracking down a toy for the holiday.

    Guess you could also keep an eye on the top 10 list in the magazine Toy Faire because I think a lot of the scalpers use that as their shopping list.
     
  11. Skylock

    Skylock Rogue

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    Guessing Sideswipe, Leader Jetfire, Ice Cream twins, and anything exclusive like the walmart 2-pack.
     
  12. bumblebee79

    bumblebee79 Well-Known Member

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    Are the Ice cream twins in wave 1?
     
  13. Incepticon

    Incepticon |-+-|

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    They only went after BB (specifically the CC version) because it was shortpacked. Once it became a topic of discussion & frustration on all of the forums, that's when things got out of control since it basically amounted to being a news alert for the scalpers. No different than what's happened with initial waves of Universe & Animated... where a lot of figures were snatched up before they eventually started hitting the stores by the boat load. The key difference between them and Movie (CC) BB, though, was that Hasbro never made up for the demand later. They seemed to just sort of... run out.

    As long as Hasbro are on their game and actually ready for the demand, it probably won't be as much of a problem this time around.
     
  14. Steevy Maximus

    Steevy Maximus Old School Snarkster

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    There was a total stoppage of product because Hasbro ran out. For real, they RAN OUT of any extra stock of Transformers movie toys due to the popularity of the film and toyline.

    In general, store exclusives tend to be scalper bait, especially if Hasbro whips out the G1 flavored stuff like they did with STarscream and Jazz. So Superion and Bruticus I suspect will be high targets.

    But with sequels, everyone has a general idea of the success level, and baring any shortpacked figures (which, even if they are, consider most stores are getting several cases at a time), NOTHING should be terribly hard to find over the next few months. Especially core characters like Bumblebee and Starscream who are assured to see significant carryover.
     
  15. wgoodman

    wgoodman Big Bot

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    Devastator, but only after Christmas when Target marks him down to ~$20. So far, that's the only way I plan to buy him.
     
  16. guard convoy

    guard convoy The Big Daddy

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    sideswipe: he is the new concept car for this movie, kids will want him

    the fallen: he is the main villian and everyone will want him

    soundwave: right now the only soundwave is a preview figure, and he is goin to end up like the episode 2 preview clone trooper if hasbro isn't careful

    the icecream truck: it is a mother f'in icecream truck, everyone will want it
     
  17. Rodimus Mike

    Rodimus Mike MP & TF Collector

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    I don't think Bumblebee with guns will be that sought after,as he is just a slight retool,now
    Human Alliance I think will be scalper material,as he is a complete new mold I think.But I
    vow that the scalpers will not get much this year from my area.I am gonna make sure of
    that,and to help the ones who want them save some money so they don't have to pay out
    the butt for them,but after I get mine.
     
  18. KING KONVOY

    KING KONVOY Well-Known Member

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    what if it's Jetfire? He'll be a hot commodity because he combines with prime!

    like leo breaker
    Cyb Wingsaber
    & RID Magnus
     
  19. AMG

    AMG Old School

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    Prime toys.
     
  20. Bgrngod

    Bgrngod Autocon

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    I don't think the scalpers will get much to work with this time around, until the much later waves come about that have lower production numbers.

    There are going to be a ridiculous number of figures available this time compared to the TFTM release since they didn't know what to expect the first time around and under produced. This time they are making huge production numbers.