Secret Sightings Section idea

[jazzcomp]

Posts about children is probably not appropriate in this discussion as I doubt children are finding out when MP is hitting the store shelves or watching and waiting like us and skipping school just to buy toys when the shops open at 9am.

Much like the doubt that there are many scalpers around.

[Shirokaze]

I'm not sure if a secret sightings section is a great idea, mostly for reasons already outlined in this thread. I do however, think that something needs to be done about the scalper problem.

I would propose simply that the same restrictions placed on the viewing of the For Sale section be placed on the sightings section. ie. you must first post an introduction. Once a member introduces themselves, we know a little about them and they become part of our community essentially.

So where does this leave the scalper? I would imagine that the majority of scalpers are fans to some extent, or else they wouldn't know what figures were in demand. At the moment, they're an unknown entity that's depriving the community of figures. Once they've signed up and put themselves out there by introducing themselves, the only difference between them and any other new member are their moral choices. Choices that I hope would be influenced positively by all the great members here.

It's not foolproof, but I'm sure it would have a positive effect.

[griffin]

That would still make it "secret" if it was hidden from non-members, and that would mean 100% of the sightings would be hidden from guests. This proposal would just hide less than 1% of sightings.

And I agree with Lint, that I don't see us having a scalper problem in this country... because the MP toys haven't been showing up on ebay.
I've actually found (through the recent purchase of Grand Max) that there are toy collectors in this country that aren't Transformers fans. They either collect toys in general, or just robot toys... some even specifically just collect Japanese Robot toys.
It's a whole new demographic that we are actually competing with, which would be utilising our site as a resource to assist them in their collecting... but aren't joining here to give something back to the rest of us collecting these toys. Those would be a more likely competition, not scalpers (or parents/kids, unless they are there at the time the toys are put out on shelves and buy it on impulse - which I've seen as well).


On a related note - I was just upgrading several people to "Active" status.... but I'm looking at changing the name "Active Member" to "Dedicated Member", as it is a ranking that is earned through active contributing here (through sightings and helping out other fans with info, news, meets, etc) after 100 or so postings.... proving their dedication to the local fandom and fellow collectors. And unless they become completely dormant/inactive (don't log in for 6 months or so), they'd keep that ranking they've earned. (the term "active" was starting to get a bit confusing for me when I was upgrading people, as they had been significant contributors over a couple years, but not very frequent/active - now people would stay Rank 5 as Dedicated/contributors, even if they go through less active phases of their hobby here)

[Defcon]

Maybe the demand for some of the rarer or exclusive figures is currently greater than the supply? if we are talking about Toysrus, they underestimated demand or couldn't get enough because overseas markets are buying up the stock?. On the other side Mr Toys toyworld seems to stock items in plentiful supply. I think its just think its mostly a supply and demand issue, and in rare cases scalping.

Im not really in favor of having a dedicated section for secret sightings. There really is no need, unless a particular group wants to network and send pms to eachother. Besides nothing is kept secret for long, people can always phone up stores and enquire, or ask in store.

Also on the subject of scalpers, anyone on this board could be a potential scalper. They could also collect as well, but choose to buy up popular (edit: sometimes rare) items to sell for small profits later. Why would someone do this? maybe to make this hobby less expensive. Of course this is a morally ambigious choice. Not saying I do this by the way, but I can see the rationale behind it, its like playing the toy stockmarket. Also what if you buy 2of something, 1 to open, or maybe 1 to trade later, or just in case one breaks or is faulty, or want to customize the figure to make another character.

[lj7369]

Its a really tough argument. I was quite hesitant to post my sighting today, as i wasnt sure who may be watching..... After a while i did post it, as i think more people will benefit from this than it be a bad thing.

Mp 10 in my opinion is 99 percent poor retail practice by tru. It was underprogrammed when their buying team assessed the need/want it was conservative (at best). The feedback they now recieve from customers and collectors is crucial in this not happening again. Scalpers havent posted on australian ebay, so unless they are holding for things like parra or nexus they are either just not there, or smart enough to wait for a post on a forum that the mp10 well is 100 % dried up, making their investment worthwhile.

My 2 cents ( i work retail and stuff up the programming of specials for a number of reasons... mainly lack of information about a product eg price point.) Imagine doing the mp10 order for australia based off taktom pricing??? Only to find the $150 price point 3 months later.

Just a thought.

[Deonasis]

Having read all posts with no prior opinion (but knowing it'll be a minefield) i have been swayed by griffin's argument. We should not be an alarm clock for non or silent members.

Now about reserving stock.. while we can help and list sightings, i feel reserving alot of stock is a poor idea - one that leaves us stripping a store and looking just like scaplers.