by dWhisper » Tue Mar 03, 2009 10:39 am
Ah, "scalping," the age old complaint of toy collectors. It's an interesting thing when it comes to LEGO, because you don't often hear about the guys who show up at Walmart and Target at 6 am to rifle through the Hot Wheels, or all those antique shops that have been hoarding furniture for all these years. Like has been stated by several people, people that work the aftermarket follow demand, they don't create it. LEGO is far bigger than all the after-market sellers, who focus on people like us, not the vast majority of the everyday buyers (the kids and their parents). Take this years complaint, the Republic Tank, and last years, Hoth Base, and compare them. In both cases, they were available for months, and no one bought them. Both were limited, and once gone, they were gone. Well, more or less, since Hoth Base came back based on demand.
In fact, Target exclusives have come back before, though at higher prices. The 7905 Building Crane was a Target exclusive (one I had to drive almost two hours to get), and was later reborn as a LEGO exclusive for $20 more. Star Wars sets have done the same thing (the Hoth Base, for example), and some exclusives (Dwarf Mine from last year) have gone on to be general release sets.
How people reacted is what builds the value around them, and people can sell them for whatever they want. There's no use complaining (and that's a nice word for some of this), because you bring it on yourself by being a collector. I wanted the Tank too, but didn't buy it, so now I have to pay aftermarket prices for it (anyone have one they want to sell, drop me a line). That's no ones fault but my own, and given the value, the current going price isn't outlandish.
But I agree with Daz (or was it Don) earlier... scalping isn't really the word here. Even on the "definition"earlier, it was about short term gains, not investment. Based on what people are calling it here, real estate is scalping if you're trying to turn it over (though not a good choice right now).
If the above post didn't offend you, you're probably reading it wrong.