Dishonest M.U.S.C.L.E. Sellers

An extension of my post in the kinnikuman forum...

Okay... This eBay M.U.S.C.L.E. crap that has been going on has got me worked up. If you don't know what I'm referring to, it's the guy on ebay selling common MUSCLE's and lying about them being "RARE" and Mail "Away's" Our hobby is growing fast, so I think it's appropriate for me to add a new section to The M.P.S. which will warn new collectors about this type of scum. Maybe I'll even take it a step further... Maybe we can promote honset selling, and inform new collectors of what to watch out for by putting special banners or graphics on our site's which link to an informational site for new collectors. I'm just brainstorming, I'll offer some more info after I work on this for a couple days.

Heh... Remember the good ol' days when Star Wars sections in stores were bare, and not because of Scalpers?!!? Man... if you would have told someone not to open a Star Wars figure to keep it mint back in 1978, you'd be considered a loon. My mom used to call around to all of the stores trying to find out when new shipments of figures were going to be delivered. I got my Yoda figure this way. She called K-Mart, got a hold of someone who was able to tell her when the next order of figs were coming. She then showed up at the store before the doors had opened. It was around christmas time, and she said a half dozen other moms that had used the same tactics she had, were right out there with her waiting for the doors to open. Fortunately for me, the pegs were chok-full of yodas that day. From what I remember, Yoda was probably one of the most popular figs of 1980.

NOW... Skip to the present.

I've know several people that have worked in Toy Stores through the nineties. Try showing up before the doors open in this day and age and more often then not, you'll be very dissapointed. A friend of mine that worked at a KayBee, said that at his store, the hot toys were gone minutes after they were unloaded off of the truck. He said the people that worked with him would buy them, and sell them to toy dealers, or on ebay for profit. He said he probably could have gotten filthy rich off of the "Tickle me Elmo" Craze, but he settled for buying just one for his pre schooler. His co-workers on the other hand would buy them, and sit out in front of Toys R Us with signs on their cars scalping them. Most of the time to the highest buyer. $200.00 is what one punk sold an Elmo for around X-Mas time. He also said Scalpers would come in, hand out business cards, and promised them $'s if they would call and inform them of new Hot Toy shipments. Another friend of mine who worked at Target saw the same thing going on with the new Gaming systems that hit the market. It's amazing. It's a whole other world out there when it comes to toys. Which brings me to the question... Does anyone out there know of any anti-scalper web-sites which reveal all the embarrasing details on how these guys work, or exposes all of their "methods" for accquiring toys? In short... a site that humiliates these scum bags? rebelscum.com has a nice anti-scalper campaign, but I'm looking for something a little more intense. Any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the long rant.. It's been building up for quite awhile. Cheers

#1 MUSCLETOYS

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