All quiet on the invoice front here too! . . . . maybe they're getting the Japanese word for 'oversold' translated!

sucks to be in america

Why?
SB is great actually with international orders.

Yeah, seriously.
That made no sense. I could understand if you said, "Sucks to be in Turkey." or something, but you have a ton of outlets for this kind of stuff here.

I think the comment was more aimed towards the fact that the Rebel Ink figures have never been sold here in the USA, and probably never will...cept through ebay

or through, you know, SB.

that was what i meant hey can you guys direct me to any good store that sell SB's here in la? i only know one, Giant robot.

i'll let the distributors worry about how they want to distribute. i've gotten all the rebel inks at retail... so you won't hear a complaint from me

lucky you!

not luck. obsessed is more like it. pretty sure it took a few days for the first ones to sell out. and the second one, maybe a day or so (i think)

I got my pair!!! I was surprised to see the SB line so small, I got there at like 11:55 and was about 20th in line.

you bought 2?

YEZZZIR!!!

And I was first.

I was also surprised at how few people showed up, but the line grew to 20-30 by the time the store opened.

Ahh so you were the guy who backed up Mark when I tried to slide in the front of the line. lol...I love my rebel!!!

Oh yeah LOL, that was more for your protection from the people you were about to cut in front of.

that's interesting that they let everyone buy two if they wanted.....

kinda begs for flipping and tradebait, no?

i suppose on a pratical front, it's less figures to mail to the US...

and yes, given the opportunity, I would have purchased two as well...

One fo the collection , and one fo the paint application

Whether they let you buy one or two here in Japan, it doesn't phase the flippers one bit. They have an almost sinsister presence on lines everywhere that new toys release. They have synchronized networks of people, with family members waiting in lines everywhere with dudes on mopeds zipping from store to store to monitior activity and collect the toys, and pay the line people. The first guy goes, in and on his way out signals to the other line people how many to buy, using their fingers to indicate. I saw this with my own eyes.

Even at the Thrash Out show, there were collectors using line people to overcome the limit of purchasing 2 customs from the show, IN ADDITION to the regular releases.

The bottom line is that regardless of how many the toy makers allow to purchase, they WILL be flipped. And yes this sucks some of the fun out of it, but it is what it is.

sucks big time!

yes, organized syndicates is really the appropriate description. it sucks and collectors often loose out.
But this is definitely not the worst. The worst i have witnessed is for kaws releases. You get buying syndicates from hong kong, taiwan etc hawking all over the place.

lol.....

one for me and one for you!

If people want to pay 2-4 times retail, this will continue to happen.

I try to only pay retail these days.

I imagine that certain parts of the scene will eventually crash due to over speculation.
I just don't want to be holding overpaid pieces when it happens.

Housing market
Credit crunch
etc

wow
I always knew placeholders were used in Jpn since way back when(the Jpnese line up for Everything almost)...but syndicates and hand signals and ultra coordinated efforts are a shock!!

Retail is definitely the best...but I guess(depending on how strong of a completionist a person is) that "last" one to complete a set depending on desperation...can get pricey.
But then again I can only recommend people paying what they feel it's worth to them only(don't spend yourself into the poorhouse)...but don't ever expect to get the same price they paid for it.

If your in it for speculation and value or bait...your bound to get burned.

Just got my invoice and paid. Check your email folks.