Bill, dude... I don't recall anybody (at least in this thread) calling you out. I don't agree with you, but that doesn't mean that you are under attack. I sent you a personal message trying to clarify that. I don't recall ever accusing you of price gouging... All I said, was that I do not see a difference between forcibly winning auctions for pieces you already have, whether it's for driving up prices or for "trading ammunition". I didn't mean for that to come of as an ad hominem attack on you, though. Relax.
As for the DM, the Mag 11, and those figures... Clearly, when you have a figure that that fits in a range from 1:1-1:10, you're going to have substantiated higher pricing... those are actual rare pieces. Nobody is trying to dispute that. We are talking about figures that are known to be out there in quantities of hundreds or even thousands, going for DM, Bonbe, or Mag 11 prices. That is crazy. OF COURSE a 1:1 or 1:2 figure is going to command a premium... The madness comes when a 1:1000 figure goes for the same price. Go back and look at the initial purple claw craze, and you will see how databases and misinformation cause the purple claw's value to be artificially inflated.
And for the "How am I going to achieve this change"? I'M not. WE are. It's even more clear to me now, that this change is something that a majority of active members are interested in... starting off, we'll have ideas, some will be good, some won't be so good. It will take a little bit of trial and error, but that is better than doing nothing. I don't think that anybody is interested in a witch hunt... we just want our hobby back.
I bought class a figures and the SC 4 packs for exactly that. I figured over time they might be the items that cause someone to bite on a purple claw or something else that was cool. And that method worked, it got me my Holy Grail. I didn't price gouge, shill, ....., nope, I bought, put in a chest for future use, and it paid off in trade. What the board thinks of that method means little to me. Trust me, the person who traded with me isn't complaining one single bit. I know there are people on this board with much better search methods than I have, so I thought outside the box to get one of them to trade.
1:1, 1:1000, who really cares as long as you're paying what you and only you are comfortable with? To me that is the end of it. Don't expect to pay a certain amount for a 1:1 or 1:1000 based on the "back in the day" or what you feel it should go for. If it goes for more, don't come on this board and start attacking the winner. That seems to be par for the course here.
Enjoy your hobby, by focusing on you and only you. Don't focus on what others have. Buy for the pure enjoyment and memories the toy brings back to you. Don't get torn up because someone outbids you. If the board agrees that a member's shill bid has been identified, is buying things up for pure monetary gain, or getting a seller to end an auction early should be dealt with by the board. Maybe some kind of evidence gathering, bringing it out to the open or letting Jkaris and other mods decide, and then banning the person if deemed necessary. That might influence someone to think twice.
Edited by vette88, 02 March 2013 - 06:08 AM.
