I know it's been touched upon here and there (and probably in depth at times) but it appears to me that there's a lot more of this going on these days. I've seen some really, really, really sought after recent releases up for trade recently and was wondering what people's take on it is... see, since I don't go after every RxH release (only certain specific pieces) I know that even though I have the opportunity to buy a lot of them I pass on them so a "real" RxH collector gets said piece in their collection. I know that these pieces would probably help me get things I want more, but also feel bad taking it aways from a collector if i don't want it at all besides as currency (or already have it)...I have a few unopened RxH pieces in my trade box due to auctions or heated searches for pieces I want, but have since completely curtailed buying them just for trade as I know so many people want them... so I'm basically wondering where each person draws the line? is buying doubles ok? see, there's a lot of "new money" floating around these days, and I see a lot of obvious double buying just for trade (and maybe for sale)...and it sort of rubs me the wrong way...but sometimes the bait is so good that people seem to be looking the other way... I'm not trying to stir up any pot, just wondering what people think...to see where people I respect on the board stand on this...as it leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth...and seems to be a bad way to endear yourself to fellow collectors and the artists themselves. I doubt people like Mori like to see one collector hoarding releases while other die-hards go without... maybe it's a mistake to bring this up again...but it's on my mind lately...
Just a quick reply, I think it would be great if you could snap these doubles up and pass 'em on to "real heads" Keeps 'em out of the flippers greasy fuckin mits. Use 'em as trades or "friendly deals" with others for stuff you wernt able to pick up at the time of release.
Perhaps it's better for an honest person to buy a "second," & hook up (whether it's trading or selling)someone they know to be a collector, rather than leaving everything to chance. It's all about networking sometimes...
agreed. and I've tried to do this as directly as possible with the stuff TT gets...it's hard to get everything in the hands of collectors, but I have seen very few of the TT Evil show up, so maybe the "hotline" worked a little... I know I have been lucky enough to have people hook me up recently with pieces I really wanted and needed for cost...and that's been something I have been trying to send back to those people who helped me out...getting pieces like the Tentacles exclusives or new pink RxH releases for cost has been so helpful...and I try to do the same when I can. Unfortunately with everything that has been coming out lately I barely have enough money to buy what I want...much less doubles for others...but I do offer information when I can to those I know need a give piece...I do what I can whn I can, and see that many others go above and beyond... I'm just worried about what appears to be a trend given the current state of a line like RxH...when there was barely enough to go around before it got a "hip" as it is now.
Well as a collector and hoarder myself I've got to say that the majority of my doubles have come from heated searches for a particular figure and have been lured into buying lots that people have offered. And on many occasions bought a double only to get the header because I was miss informed and given a figure without a header. Or on occasion given a figure with loose arms, legs, paint chips, missing pieces, etc! I don't choose to hoard any figures, but do to unfortunate circumstances been forced into buying doubles because I really like the figure and want it in decent shape. I am tired however of having so many doubles! I have been fortunate enough to have extras at the right time though to engage in friendly deals or trades and chances at lost opportunities as well here. I have yet to flip a figure, if anything I've paid to much to flipper's greasy hand's myself and am now stuck with doubles for trade bait. That's the way it goes on the endless hunt, that's my 2 cents!
I think buying doubles of any of this stuff is crazy. I guess the only exception would be if you are specifically buying it to help someone out- and by 'help out' I mean selling at cost, not buying X so that N person will trade you Y (unless they would prefer to trade). Frankly the whole idea of buying doubles to have a better header/no scuffs/etc. takes this too close to the crazy bubble-boy-MIB world of other collecting genres. That was what I hoped to escape by collecting this stuff. Bag and header, nice and simple. Who cares about scratches on some of these things- you're lucky even to have one!
i bought 3 deph [expletive deleted] at san diego 2 years ago.... hooked one person up, traded another, and flipped the last one. peace out. fuck the haters
I've never bought 2+ at one time. I have gone back and bought another to help out other brainers. I don't mind it if people buy doubles and sometimes it just can't be helped (like in the case of IH being forced into buying a lot). You'll be surprised to know which collectors have done this in the past. It's all just part of collecting.
:head explodes: I don't know what to think anymore. I'm just going to focus on enjoying my toys and helping other ppl enjoy them when I can.
If you are going to buy doubles or buy because you know there is a demand for the figure, all I ask to to be fair about it when doing a sale or trade - nuff said
i just did this recently when i was down at super7 for something else totally an dthey were releasing the mini rxh mutant heads and whatever the other is called. now i don't collect rxh but it had been on my mind lately that if there had been anything i wanted on the boards the only question i ever got back in return was "do you have any rxh? and i would always have to shake my head sadly and say no, and watch whatever it was i wanted go to someone else. so, i was standing in line with several others from here, and i wont say who but one of you turned around to me and said "you should pick up a couple of these, they'll be good for trades later." and i thought, oh, ok. hadn't even crossed my mind. so yeah, i bought these guys and later that week, got on the boards to see the huge demand for theese guys and i was able to arrange trades for the one up dxblobpus that i didn't have a chance in hell at getting and also for the rfso galtan (ironically). then i had another member who i respect jump down my throat and i got a complete attack of the guilts and it was partly the inspiration for the free prize i gave away during my last contest. plus i truly do enjoy little games like that becasue it gives everybody a chance to have a little fun, especilly me in dreaming up the contest to begin with. and who doesn't like free stuff? but i digress.... now, i really don't feel so bad about this in hindsight because look what happened: i got two things i had been highly coveting that i missed out on from another collector who got two things that he had been wanting and missed out on, too. it seems to me that the balance worked out. true, i got rxh that a collector there did not get, but i also got two items that another collector didn;'t collect that i didn't get. do you get it? later, i wrote to another member on here, who i really have great respect for and asked him what he thought about what i had done and he said that i should've maybe waited a few weeks before offering the pieces, but by then, the demand would not have been as high and the loot i scored maybe not as good. he also went on to say that everyone on here does it. if they say they don't, they're liars. it was more about timing and consideration to the community as a whole so, looking at the whole picture, i really don't see anything wrong with the way my deal went down. thoughts?
I was called out for some of my trade bait a while ago...for really no good reason. so I'm starting to think you just have to plow forward, stay true to what you personally believe, and stick to it. I crawled back in my shell when I should have stayed put, since I wasn't doing anything wrong...live and learn. I have had people use the "what's right and wrong" pm or post to guilt me into giving them a piece they want...so it's sometimes hard to really know what people really believe... overall though there's still a lot more good people here than not. and that's the best case scenerio...
I just think in general when you buy new stuff and/or new releases, whether they be doubles or singles, and they immediately show up in the 'tradebait' forum people tend to frown open it.
yes, that is what my friend was saying....that it's frowned upon when done immediately.....later, i thought of sarah silverman for some reason and how her jokes about 9/11 would not have flown during tht week after the hijackings but were hysterical a couple years down the line and wondered if the same principle was at work here.
There's never going to be total agreement on this practice. I get the sense that most people who hoard doubles for trade bait tend to keep it on the down low due to the controversy about it. Heated accusations and denials have been put forth here in the past. I personally don't care for the idea, although I've done it twice, and both times, it was a win/win situation. At both of the past two WonderCons I bought doubles (one extra S7 mini-Damnedron and one extra RxH mini green Mutant Head.) In both cases, I was able to trade immediately with people who couldn't make it to the Con, and in both cases, we made sure that everyone felt that the trades were fair. I can't imagine making a regular practice of this sort of thing though. Too risky, and too far afield of true toy love and collecting IMHO. Whether it helps people or hurts collectors' chances is debatable, probably best estimated case-by-case. The example that Iron_Horse stated makes sense ... he had no choice but to buy lots as he sought to quickly build a RxH collection, so doubles came with that option. What bugs me sometimes is the habitual trade flippers, which is different. However, so long as they're not violating any "only one per customer" restrictions, what can be done? Nothing, really. Sometimes their scheme works well for them, sometimes they get stuck with vinyls they don't really love. All I can say is that I think ethics are honorable and that people notice who has some. Given the low run numbers and high demand for J-vinyl, buying only what you want for yourself is the most ethical approach. On the other hand, isn't it great that we have the option of trading with one another? Some of my favorite figures came from trades, which increased my respect for the trader and hopefully the "toy karma" for all involved. I feel like I still owe several people in this scene favors for the killer trades they've done with me. Long story short, I'm not crazy about trade flipping, but can see why sometimes it's not the worst thing in the world.
yeah, well, i haven't rushed out to make sure i get to the next rxh release, i just happened to be there. and if i happen to be there again when it happens, i think i will do the same. the thing that bugs me is certain members who i won't name, who throw up a massive tradelist with all of the things that are uber rare and highly coveted and just holds them there over your head in exchange for something that is also so highly sought after and even rarer and that is all he will settle for. it is so obvious that the things he holds up for trade are not things he collects and were bought exclusively for the purpose of getting what he wants, yet everyone keeps saying "awesome trade list," & "man, i wish i had what you need." instead of calling him out on it. i dont get it. why is that tolerated?
If you owned a "hot right now" piece, and someone who missed it posted a trade bait thread offering all kinds of ridiculously awesome stuff, would you be a trade flipper if you traded with them? but yeah...so long as it's not breaking that "one per customer" rule, I guess it's none of anyone's business what they do with their toys. but I can see how it would rub ppl the wrong way if some collectors made a habit of doing it. I guess we're all gonna look at it differently. It all depends on the who, what, when, where and how.
if you didnt do it playdoh someone else wouldve. thats just the state of things these days. good or bad. fuck it. comic con is coming and this topic will be coming up a bunch.
Not in my opinion. I think of a "trade flipper" as being someone who buys something with the intention of "up-trading" it. Like ... "I have this brand new Boogie Man and am willing to trade it for older RxH." Actually some real-life examples have been worse than that.
I've ended up with doubles when I wasn't too organized and for example, bid on something that was already in a holdbox or tried to get something from two retailers both of who couldn't necessarily promise anything. To me, its just a hassle to get rid of doubles. It also seems like you really have to time it right and trade it right after the release when there's a frenzy but that comes across as shady and lame. If you wait, people eventually lose interest and focus on the next new flavor of the month. On the flip side, I'd rather wait it out than make a trade and part with something I really like. I think I've done three trades in my life and they were to unload pieces that I didn't really care for. I can't even think of being so compulsive as to buy duplicates cause of a paint chip or weak arm or something. The first time you see a paint chip on a toy is like the first time your brand new car gets scratched. Upsetting at first, but you move on. Eventually, you don't even notice it. Vintage toys helps with this as you learn to appreciate their history and flaws.
I've done it a few times and everyone involved has been happy. I have a small collection and I'm not really willing to let anything go, so it's nice to have some trade bait once in a while since it's so hard to get rare toys with cash alone. I do think it's only marginally better than straight up flipping though.
It's bogus. It's flipping. It sucks. That's just how I feel about it. This is something I've NEVER done with any toy I collected, J-vinyl/Kaiju or Star Wars or anything.
hoarding deprives---its all a matter of personal principle, or the lack of it, to even think of the others
