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.