seeing all the homeless dudes in line for the OF disected's make me wonder how this works. i assume you have to pay cash for the piece once inside and you hand the ticket in so that means the homless dude has $180 in hand. what keeps him from taking the $180 and running? i don't have any contacts with the homeless in JP so don't think i'm setting up a sweatshop or some shit like that...just wondering.

Can't say for sure, but Yakuza comes to mind.
Would you rather walk with their 18,000 yen or walk again period??
I think they are pretty much on lock down once the money is handed to them. They didn't get the money until just prior to the doors opening. I saw the same thing at the festival with the real head. The flippers were inside waiting in line for the rxh and the boss man comes over and hands them the money. Doesn't give them much time to run.

different from most toy companies today

the homeless looking for a long term business relation
rather than some cash for a day!

I had mentioned before that the homeless stand in line for scalpers here, and usually what happens is the dealer/scalper/dirtbag shows up just before the onsale with a few other goons in tow.

They hand out money and wait at the end of the line to collect the tickets from the hobos.

I hate it. Personally, i always alert the people working the line and mention that they probably don't know what they're buying nor do they have the money to buy the tickets, which usually gets them booted out of line.

YAKUZA BEAT DOWN...BOOM!

I have heard it used to be much more prevelant. Myth has it that on some past releases a good 50% or more went to Yakuza connected flippers.

Pretty interesting if you think about it. Drugs,Prostitution and....toys.

strange world.

that is so weird... i live in maine...wee just have bear gangs, they are a menace!

Do the bear gangs go around mugging people for picnic baskets?

Thats a stupid question moco..... the bear gangs in jellystone only do that.

Oh, silly me... do the Maine bear gangs go around mugging people for lobster rolls?

When I was in Japan in '98, I only saw one homeless person the
whole time.

I pointed it out to people we were with and they said "A family
member came to pick him up every night"...

Now, we traveled a bunch but...

you guys give me the impression
that the homeless population is growing there.

But Yakuza teaming up with homeless to procure toys sounds
like a mad crazy movie.

theres tons of homeless..just go to the Mieji park or down by the river across from the big teardrop buiding. tons.

bummer.

dreams are shattered silently...

just look for the government supplied blue tarps.

maybe like the blue tarped roofs of New Orleans.

I saw a few about in the bit of Tokyo I saw. Ueno seemed to have a fair few.

Flipping toys seems kinda like chump change for Yakuza.

ha haha hahahahahaha you got it baby!

I agree, why would they even bother?

From an earlier comment in this thread indicating that the same thing happened with RxH at the toy shows, makes me wonder about buying from these guys on YJ - are Suzumi and all those other guys organizing armies of homelss guys? Wonder if they claim the payment as a charitable donation? Makes Kingirl and Addude seem pathetic by comparison.