If your a collector of anything you would of most likely heard of the term scalpers by now. As I collect films on Blu-Ray and figures I encounter scalpers alot. If you don’t know what scalpers do is that they buy multiple copies of a certain item and wait till said item is no longer on sale, out of print or production and sell it on the secondary market for at least double/triple the original price.

I’m really seeing with collecting Blu-Ray’s with limited editions popping up on EBay long after the initial release. I’m quite thankful that I can afford most limited editions (they range around the £18 mark). The OOP stuff is much worse with starting prices of around £50-£60 it’s an absolute joke.

I would love to get more of Hasbro’s 6″ Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black Series figures. But when I check my local toystores the latest ones are never in stock by the time I get there. I have to go to Forbidden Planet to see if they have them. I know within the collector community it’s the biggest peeve with scalpers going after all the big hitting Marvel Legends and Black Series figures. Though, I’m quite thankful that Hasbro do re-release some of their figures so that fans get a second chance of getting them. Also DST and NECA do them same.

The secondary market price on older figures is a different kettle of fish entirely. There’s some older figures that I would love to get my hands on but alas I’m priced out. Though I’m thankful of late that I’ve been able to pick up NECA Cult Classics Sebastian Haff and Bubba Ho-Tep for reasonable prices and getting my hands on the Freddy Vs Jason set.

I completely understand that people have to make a living but I personally find it unfair that less fortunate collectors who couldn’t get the item on time are at the scalpers mercy. To make money from those less fortunate is wrong. I know that some companies now are curbing scalpers with setting limitations on how many they can buy at a time within a store or convention (such as NECA’s SDCC Videogame Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures.

I personally would never be a scalper nor is it behaviour that I encourage. I personally think it takes the fun out of the hunt for collecting.