You scalpers ruined celebration 2 for many of us...

I have to agree - it was sick and very not cool. Even those pretending to be honest could walk into the store over and over again and grab them. The limit of 2 per purchase did absolutely nothing. The only reason I got my two was because I had a friend who was a fanclub member who lined up outside hellishly early and sprinted to the store as soon as it opened. i have a friend who went to the store first thing on sunday, when they had 6000 figures. first thing - and he didn't get one.

 

I must say that my one major disappointment was the abuse of the exclusive Sacul/Lucas action figure by "scalper/scum." I understand the arguments of "supply and demand," but the fact should have been you get only 2 figures. I saw people cutting across from one line to another, and walking out with a box full of figures. If you wanted to sell one of your 2 allowed figures...fine, but the point is YOU SHOULD ONLY BE ALLOWED 2 FIGURES. They probably had plenty of figures based on the number of badges sold, and "scalper/scum" ruined it for all of us.

Having said that, I feel the best way to get some justice from this is: DON'T BUY THE FIGURES FROM SCALPERS. Don't spend hundreds of dollars on E-bay and other online black market trading. Yes, you lose out on the figure...but when I become one with the Force, I'll enjoy standing alongside the real George Lucas looking down at all the "scalper-scum" saying "how does it feel now mother-f###ers!!!"

 

I'm not a collector and when I got into the store first thing Friday morning, I didn't buy any figures, just a T-Shirt and poster. But Saturday someone showed me the figure and I realized what the big deal was! George! I knew then I had to try to get one. I got there early on Sunday and managed to get into the store and got my allotted two figures - success! (Of course, they were out of just about everything else...)

But I did hear plenty of people bragging about going from line to line getting two figures at each table, not even bothering to wait until the next day - not fair at all. What really made me mad were the signs in the vendor area offering $20 - $25 for the figures. I thought those vendors should have been kicked out right then and there.

I went to Celebration I and the difference between the two was the profit motive. This one was totally commercialized and profit driven. Although I had a great time, the Celebration went from a fan based good time, to a Wizard enterprise for major bucks.

 

Yeah, I just wanted one darn figure to OPEN and put on my shelf... and because of the gluttons, I couldn't even get that. Phooey. I think they should make more... only the resellers would be upset by that, because that would decrease the value.

 

by the time they made more, everyone selling figures on Ebay will already have their money. only losers there would be the ones that paid $80 and up for it.

 

While I was in the Concert Ticket line (right next to the store display) the event staff guy kept telling people in the action figure line that they would have to go into the store line for a figure, then a few minutes later he would let people go up to the display for a figure. This happened several times in the two hours I was in the concert ticket line. Basically, if you hang around when people say things like 'sold out' or 'no longer available' you might just get what you were looking for. Trust me, it works. The 500 fans who left to go to the store line probably didn't get a figure, but the few who did stay just incase got theirs.

 

We got 5 figs in one run. My Fiance went to the cash line and got 2, while I waited in the store line. I then got 2 along with other fun stuff. She then bought one more since we were there. now, before you get upset at me, 2 are only for us. We opened one and are keeping the other for our collection. The other 3 are for co-workers that gave me $10 bucks each to pick them up one. So no scalping here. Wizards should be shot, they screwed up.

 

MY God! listen to you people. sound like a bunch of crybabies. "everybody should have done everything for me". are you kidding. we all know that they didn't make enough figures for everyone. even if the world was perfect and everyone only got 2, not everyone would have recieved one. now ask yourselves... if the figure was so important to you why didn't you go stright in line to get one? i did. i was in line till 12:30 on sat to get mine and i know they still had boxes and boxes more. the whole event was planned so everyone got something... NOT EVERYTHING!! you picked your line and took your chances. get over it. as for those who got more then 2 figures. i saw a number of people escorted off property for have more then 2. naturally not everyone got cought but some did and got kicked out.
so for those of you who didn't get one. i'm sorry but thats life. you'll live and maybe some day you'll get one. till then stop your crying.

 

Mr. The Fett, you are WAAAAAAAAAAY out of line with that response. I didn't get in any other lines. I drove all the way from Chicago on Friday morning and got in line for a figure as soon as I got there. Thinking there would be some sort of system to limit the two per person rule, I figured there would be enough to go around. After all, it was only the first day. So when they sold out, I drove all the way back AGAIN on Sunday for the sole purpose of getting a figure, this time getting there even earlier... they sold out within the first 45 minutes. They would have had plenty for everyone if the two-per-person rule were enforced. So don't you tell me about crying.

If you want to call me a crybaby, that's your god given right. Wrong as you are, I guess there's an ignorant one in every bunch. Looks like we found him.

Cheers.

PS- enjoy the 10 figures you bought. Hope you make a lot of money on them. You are not a true fan. Sad.... truely sad. I weep for you and your ignorance. And don't bother trying to insult our intelligence further by attempting to justify your own guilt. That doesn't fly with any of us.

 

I bought two for me. And even two seemed a little greedy. In line I met a really awesome guy and he wanted to pay me $30 for it. I told him no, that was too much, but he refused to pay less that $20. I have one more, and I'm glad to have the one.

 

there would still be people complaining they didn't get a figure, even if the two figure limit was enforced better. bottom line, the lanyard/Celebration ticket did not guarantee everyone a figure. some wacko on-site vendor wants to pay two or three times face value for the figure, so what, it's his money. happens in every business, look at the way people were reselling Volkswagen New Beetles way over sticker when there were no models to be found anywhere. maybe the ball was dropped when they said "a two figure limit so everybody can get one," but they blew that concept when they sold as many tickets as they did.

 

i hate people that make money off of star wars... geeze, its supposed to be for fun... and stupid jerk off's have to ruin it for everyone. i personally do not buy anything from anybody trying to make a profit. if everyone was the same way, the scalpers would run out of business and they would be forced to get a REAL JOB!

 

Ya know, the truth is that if the two figure limit was upheld, there would be fewer figures on Ebay. This means that the prices on Ebay would be much greater than they currently are. More people who attended C2 would have figures, but fewer would be available to fans who were not able to attend C2.

The problem is not with the Ebay folks, it was with a limited edition figure....which, IMHO, is what makes it LIMITED.

Did people abuse the system, of course, we all saw that. That is a Wizards problem. CoK realizes that people got very disappointed by not having a figure. But if the two figure limit was upheld, there sould still be people complaining that they did not get a figure. And since people who had figures would be less apt to sell them, the prices would be much higher for resale. This is not fair, but then again, noone promised fair......

 

I know that collecting is a very enjoyable hobby, I personally go more for pez machines, blue glass and toasters. If I see a cool star wars item somewhere which is reasonably priced, I'll get it but I'm not a serious case-fresh-mint-on-card-collector.

Having said that, my exclusive figure story is this: My friends and I got in line for the store first thing on friday, and waited about an hour and a half or less. We decided what we each wanted while in line, and when we reached a clerk, one of us ordered the 2 tees and four figures for the group. we paid as one bill and had our cash out and ready, so we could reduce the wait for everyone behind us.

I had originally wanted to get our limit for the day, 6 for the 3 of us, but I decided to get less because I saw so many people getting lots of them, that I thought (mistakenly) that they would no longer be rare because the freedom everyone had to lie and get extra figures.

 

to: siberian,
Woo! guess i hit a nerve with someone. after reading your reply i had to go back and count how many figures i bought, cuz when i found out you were in my house counting how many i had, i had to see for myself that my figures had multiplied. how 2 turned into 10 i dont know. i also wonder if getting mad at me is going to make their 'wrongs', right. i dont think so. and how you went 2 days without a figure is beyond me. sat. they sold till almost 3pm from what i heard. i was there at 6am and had my figures at 12noon. and they still had more boxes. what line did you get into? which ever it was, it wasn't anyone fault you didn't get one. if you want one of mine feel free to make me an offer. i dont live too far from chicago.

 

it was almost 4 on Saturday when i got my figures. they were pulling them from the "credit card" lines and selling them in the "cash" lines. as one woman working the counter said, "we need the money NOW," as opposed to waiting for some chuckleheads' credit card to be declined. stack up 6 CD's in regular jewel cases, and hold them in your hand. that's how big the stack of $20's the girl behind the counter was holding when i got to the front of the line. the whole weekend was about the benjamins, no matter what anyone says...

 

Fett Fett Fett... I know you like to think you struck a nerve and that I am mad at you. Sorry to disappoint you but, I am not mad at you at all. I just feel sorry for you. You are the only one who thinks it is wrong to be pissed off about the situation and that just raises even more suspicion that you are likely one of the greedy wannabe scalpers.

As for how I managed not to get a figure after going twice... Friday they sold out by 2:00. Thinking they would be available all day, I didn't get in line til 1:30. Fine, that's too bad for me. Live and learn. That's my fault. Saturday I could not return because I had to work. So on Sunday I drove all the way out there again and got there first thing in the morning, and they were already gone by the time I got in.

Don't think I am the only one who is pissed about this. There are THOUSANDS of people who didn't get an opportunity to get a figure and they are anything but happy about it.

Now if they had enforced the two figure limit and I still didn't get one... then that's fine. I can live with that. Chalk it up to an oversight by the Hasbro and Wizard. But when these lowlife scalpers hog them all and thus screw even more people over, that's where I have a problem. There was a guy who had his wife and two kids there... and between them I saw them walk out with no fewer than three... yes THREE large shopping bags FULL of figures. Now try to keep a straight face and tell me that's reasonable.

(sound of crickets chirping)

Yea... I didn't think so.

As I said, it bastardizes and ruins the true spirit of collecting and that's just wrong. A TRUE fan would respect that. You seem to have a problem with that. What does that tell us? Hmmmmmmmm?

So go ahead and say what you want. It still doesn't change the fact that the system is TERRIBLY flawed. Sure, it's just as much Wizard's fault as it is the greedy lowlife scalpers.

As for your offer to sell me one. That just proves my point. And by the way...

No thank you.

And with that, my friend, I am afraid I must dismiss you now. I have better things to do with my time. It was a pleasure chatting with you.

One last thing before I let you go. I wanted to thank you for showing me something that, until talking to you, was completely alien to me.... Ignorance.

Buh-bye now.

 

A couple of things, for the record. After waiting on the Concert line from 10am to about 2pm when they finally got around to getting things organized, I hopped over to the cash table next to the line and grabbed my two figures. Friday at 2pm. Still there. I can't say how many were left, as I wasn't sure, but the line wasn't huge.
As for getting more later, no dice. The mold was broken. I guess they really did intend to make it a limited edition.
And eBay, the second hand emporium, well, sooner or later you'll find one of my figures up there. Probably not right away though. As an investment (the second figure was bought purely as such), I'd like to give it some time to appreciate in value.
In the meantime, it's true, these figures weren't guarenteed. There was no first ammendment addon, ...and Jorg Sacul figures for all. I know people who recieved more than thier allotted 2, and they were very willing to part with them for those in my group who didn't have time to get in line for them. And at cost at that. Nothing is perfect, especially WotC. And honestly, I'd be kinda miffed if they stamped my pass. That thing is a collectors item in itself. Hmmn, I've got the sinking feeling I'm going to be trashed for saying that. Oh well. Sorry folks, sometimes we have to settle. I learned that at the first Celebration.

 

There are two types of people that buy Star Wars items:

Type One: The Collectors. These are people that want a particular item because it is of a character/ship/place/animal/event that interests them. Take me for example, I ordered the Fett bobblehead and the Threepio/Artoo bobblehead because I liked those characters. I like Vader too, but I didn't think the bobblehead looked good. I bought the Sacul figure because I thought it was funny and cool. My collection exists solely for my own pleasure. I have the items in my collection because I like owning them, they reflect my taste in regards to Star Wars. I had an extra Jorg and I sold it to my friend who could not go. My price to him: $10, exactly what I paid for it. I only have two of one figure from the April 23rd wave, and that's Luminara because I had my original signed, and found another to open like I open all my figures.

Type Two: The Horder/Scalper/Scum/Neenerer. These are the people that buy things because of perceived value, rarity, or simply to gloat over the fact that they have them, and you don't. They're not collectors, they're competitors or simply, scum. They bought the Jorg Sacul figures so that they could make money on Ebay or to show it to you and laugh when you say you don't have it. They probably also bought three Dooku figures, and are selling two at their shop for $20 a piece, even though the figures are only weeks old. They're creating an artificially rare item locally. Ebay is truly where you will not find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. If it's less than a year old, it shouldn't be on Ebay yet for triple the price.

The bottom line is this, I don't mind if every Star Wars collector in the world has what I have. If it makes them happy, I want them to have it, that's why if I stumble across something that someone I know wants, I buy it for them and have them pay me what I paid. As for people that said, "too bad you didn't get your figure, like stinks, get used to it," grow up. Hasbro is a business, they screwed up in this case. Hasbro doesn't get the $20 if people like Tre above sell their figure for $30 down the road. If they really did only make 26,000 figures, and they had more than 13,000 people all weekend, which we all know they did, then they didn't make enough figures. They should have created a list of all people that preregistered. When you bought your two figures, you get crossed off the list and you're done. They should have made extras for people that register at the door. When those people registered, they could buy their figures then and there from a separate stash. Any extras from this stash at the end of the registration period, go on sale at the C2 store for anyone to buy.

As for them breaking the mold, I really hope that's not true. I hope they make more of the figure and sell them through the website so that everyone can buy one that wants one. If this makes collectors mad because that means it won't be exclusive, fine, change the packaging, but no honest collector would say that people that couldn't make it to C2 should not have access to the figure. A real collector wouldn't mind, and would be happy that his/her fellow collectors get one. So take a list of all the people that are screwing over others by buying figures just to auction on Ebay or sell for huge mark ups. We can never kill Ebay, but we can decide who our friends are and who we help in the future.

 

Well, I guess since I'm still fired up about the weekend I will give my opinion about this. After my story that is. We showed up around 6:45-7:00 on Friday morning and were around the corner and about halfway down the block. The first place we went was the store. After an hour an a half or so of a wait we finally made it to the counter where my friend and myself both purchased our two figures. I plan on opening one and putting the other one next to my Toy Fair Vader still in box. My friend (who because of a medical emergency couldn't make it) asked me to get him a figure so on Saturday morning we went back in line to buy him a figure which we were able to do. Do I feel bad for those people who didn't get the figure? Sure I do but we all had choices to make while we were there as far as to what was more important. I didn't get to see the opening ceremonies, nor Hayden, and I thankfully got a chance to Rick's presentation on Saturday afternoon and the concert as well. I have also realized that so many people in thier lives don't have to live with scalpers in thier day to day running around. I visit a Target in Bell Gardens, CA on a semi-weekly basis. On any given day there are anywhere between 7-12 "scalpers" outside. Have I missed out on things because of them. Sure I have. Do I cry about it? No because it's not gonna get me anywhere but in an arguement like the-fett and Siberian which isn't going to turn anything but petty "You are dumb....no you are dumb" stuff before you know it. We are all sposta be on here to support each other and not backbite each other. Do I know if the-fett is a scapler or not? No, but I would hope if he was he wouldn't post on here and leave us to our chit-chat and go mark up his toys and have no one (hopefully) buy them. The "vendor" section of the Celebration astonished me the most out of everything I did or didn't do. Did I even bother stopping at any of those booths and even striking up a conversation with any of those people? Hell no. But I saw plenty of people who did. I also saw plenty of people who had BRAND FREAKING NEW Episode 2 toys that have not even been out a month yet with a $15-$20 price tag on them who baught them from those same "vendors". I understand if it's something that we don't have access to anymore such as vintage figures and older vehicles but to buy stuff that is barely two weeks old is when it bothers me. But that's not the "vendors" fault. It's the people who aren't patient enough to just bide thier time. I have seen the case assortements that are coming out. Everything that is hard to find now will be warming the pegs by the end of the summer. So, with that I guess I will end my rant.

 

to: siberian

wow! i am truly impressed with your perseption of others. i do understand your problam and was willing to help you out. but it seems you only want to bitch, not solve your problam. "make me an offer" would have consisted of something like. Hmmmm.. 'i'll pay you the $10 and meet you in Goshen Ind at BK i'll buy lunch'... or 'i'll send you a check for $10 and pay for shipping'. but, as you say it, "sadly" no. you just assume i ment,'$100.00 minimum'.
but right here and now i will apologize to anyone who was offended by the "crybaby" crack. i guess i should have said, use some tact. there are plenty of others who feel the same way and are more then willing to help others out.
but, siberian i thing you just want to hear yourself bitch. you want to make sure that your misfortune is someone elses fault.
now, you want to say that i'm not a "True Fan". which draws the question.. what is a true fan? does a true fan complain because he/she doesn't get everything they want or does a true fan go to the celebration and have fun. i missed out on alot too. i didn't get to see half the people i wanted to see, i didn't see any of the programs etc. but hell i had a blast.
futhermore, i have another question. do you want a figure or not? it's all up to you. here is your chance. so you can use your salty words and belittle me and make me the bad guy. but i have the figure, you dont. that can all change. it's up to you, want to make it 0 for 3, or figure in hand.
tick tock

 

Allright, look, maybe I am a little excessively upset, but given the circumstances, I think I have every right to be. By the same token, I don't appreciate the name calling. That's not cool dude. All I wanted to do is vent my frustration and you had to chime in with the "quit being a crybaby" response.

As for what you said about me being pissed off because I didn't get everything I want, that is totally wrong. There are a LOT of things I didn't get to see or do. And I am not at all upset about that. The figure was the one thing... the ONE thing I wanted to get. If it wasn't for the figure, I wouldn't have spent an extra $30.00 for an extra day admission and driven nearly 400 miles AGAIN all they way back to Indy a 2nd time for the sole purpose of getting one.

Look, I had a great time at the event. Don't get me wrong. I got to meet a lot of cool people and see a lot of neat stuff. But that whole scalper thing just burns me up.

So, having said that, it appears you have misjudged me. Looks like we both misjudged each other. This arguement has to stop. I'm done fighting and I offer a handshake and apology to you. This is just stupid.

As for your offer to sell me a figure. Email me and we can talk. My email is siberian13x@netzero.net.

 

What's really funny about this is that you are all being shafted in the first place by his lordship Mr.Lucas...hehe! The fact that the item in question here is a rather ugly figure of him makes it even more relevant.

Blame not the guy that buys multiple items to resell, rather blame the poor system put in place by WOTC.

Just like Star Wars, all those lovely exhibitions and tables of goodies were there for one reason...MAKING MONEY!

 

All I have to add is that the only collectors shop I've been in lately here in the Milwaukee area already has eight of them for sale, and that's very sad. I think I would be happier knowing that I didn't screw over my fellow collectors, then I would be with the temporary gratification of making $10-$90 in profit off of selling one of these. Hasbro should have made double what they did, but we are talking about the same company that said they don't have a plan for the Jedi Points until it becomes "financially advantageous" to them. Really, I don't get why they didn't make more Jorgs. They don't cost more than normal figures to make, I'd imagine, but they cost $3-$4 more to buy and they were the best selling items there...

 

You know, I tripped over one of those shopping bags filled with Jorg Sacul figures. I mean literally. I was in the auto line for Vader with two wonderful couples, one from Minnesota and the other from Illinois (hope the SW wedding goes well!). We kept tripping over this bag filled with what seemed like other empty bags. So I scrounged around and guess what I found. 10 JS figures. No one would claim them around us. Hmmmmm. What did I do with them you ask? Sigh. I gave them to the security people. Sometimes the way I was raised makes me crazy. But I sleep well (or I would if I wasn't on the boards so much!).