darkSpyro

Quote: chaosworrier

GM78, mate, I don't want this to be a "bashing" session but you really do vex me and I am doing this publicly to call you out.

1/. You just admitted that you got 4 of the variants for free or cheap. By my calculations, you spent nowhere near $3000 on the variants so by trying to get significantly more than what you spent on them, you have now entered the realm of scalper, I am afraid.

1a/. You actually entered that realm some time ago, to be honest. You used deceptive practices at BestBuy to get multiple Volcanic Vaults and now use them as currency (in the realm of $70-80 was the last number I recall you using when discussing their trade value). If you were as truly altruisti as you claim, then you would have given some away to people less fortunate. I do not agree with all of t7gga's statements all of the time but at least he has put his money where his mouth is.

2/. If you spent so much money on toys rather than clearing off your credit card in this current economic climate then you are no longer the entertaining "eccentric" but just plain foolish.

Yeah, that's how frustrated I got with getting these variants, although I didn't come out and flat out say I deserved one for whatever reason, and if I did, please post a link to said post to refresh my memory.

You claim to have a "photostatic" memory (your word as I don't believe it is the correct one but have made allowances for possible regional variation in language. The terms are either eidetic or colloquially photographic) so you should remember this. After all, so many others do.

Oh, yeah, for the record the Stone variants come up in the game as Special, as well. Some may fail to do so but the intention is that they do.

Actuall, Chaos, I can break down what I spent for each variant.

3 GITD + Pearl Hex = 1250.
Cynder Toy Fair = 284 (might have been 300)
Silver Dino Rang = 60
Silver Eruptor = 100
Silver Boomer = 100 (might have been 110)
3 Clears = 600 (might have been more I remember paying more for Wham but the total of all 3 was over 600)
Gold Chop = 150
Gold Flame = 127
Gold Drill = 221
WERDS = 9
Bash = 9
Walmart Drill = 8 (launch)
Target Whirlwind = 8 (launch)

So, 2926 for all of the variants and exclusives (yes those are in my auction as well), minus E3 Spyro and Flocked Stump. Let's see, I am not making a profit at all (that's part of the reason I am selling for 3k), because 10% for Ebay fees, that's minus 300, and 3% to Paypal, so take away another 90 dollars from 3k, so I walk away with 2610 after fees. Then, I plan on spending 100 to mail them all, as I will be mailing them in six seperate shipments so they don't all knock each other around, and I walk out with 2510, which is a 416 dollar loss on what it all costed me.

So much for scalping. BUT, LESSON LEARNED! I am no longer a variant kind of guy. I am taking my friend's advice and getting rid of them, because in their eyes they actually saw my variants as an eye sore on some of them, and they said with how much I've bought outside of the variants, my collection won't look bad if they're missing from my collection.

I will still be going after everything else, however, particularly variants that show up ingame.

And even though I said I will be paying some bills with this, or spending it on a vacation, this isn't because I need money. Even in some of the crazy choices I've made with this game, I need to make some smart ones as well.

Who knows if they will even sell. I am only listing this once in my life. If it doesn't sell, I will keep them. I am close to selling a movie, but I thought I'd let fate decide if someone else wanted in on a complete set from the first game. If not, oh well, money will come another way. If someone buys them, I hope they enjoy them, and I hope anyone else who has them enjoys them. I'm riding off into the sunset when it comes to the variants. Less hassle puts a smile on my face.

My variants have dust on them.
REAL DUST

See, sitting on 3k worth of figures that are gathering dust isn't worth it. Had I been able to buy them at cost, or buy them during a B1G1 then that would be different. However, allowing figures bought at cost and in multiples of 3 seem more worth collecting dust on a wall.

I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder, however. Some find it worth it, but in my eyes, I just learned it's not really smart to invest so much money into a mere 16 of them.

3 GITD + Pearl Hex = 1250.
Cynder Toy Fair = 284 (might have been 300)
Silver Dino Rang = 60
Silver Eruptor = 100
Silver Boomer = 100 (might have been 110)
3 Clears = 600 (might have been more I remember paying more for Wham but the total of all 3 was over 600)


With your eidetic memory, wouldn't you recall exactly? Some of these larger numbers do not mesh with the ballpark numbers you claimed when you originally purchased them. You actually made quite a large song and dance about Pearl Hex at the time about not getting it as it was too expensive and you were only going to stick to local ones, etc. Then you claimed to have gotten one for a bargain rate.

Quote: chaosworrier

3 GITD + Pearl Hex = 1250.
Cynder Toy Fair = 284 (might have been 300)
Silver Dino Rang = 60
Silver Eruptor = 100
Silver Boomer = 100 (might have been 110)
3 Clears = 600 (might have been more I remember paying more for Wham but the total of all 3 was over 600)


With your eidetic memory, wouldn't you recall exactly? Some of these larger numbers do not mesh with the ballpark numbers you claimed when you originally purchased them. You actually made quite a large song and dance about Pearl Hex at the time about not getting it as it was too expensive and you were only going to stick to local ones, etc. Then you claimed to have gotten one for a bargain rate.

Well, by all means, sit there and crunch a lot of numbers, compare the past and present, and whatnot.

I did get the Hex far cheaper than the 600 it used to go for at the time I bought it. It was the glows that costed the most in that transaction. I wish I could check my old listings on Ebay and see what I paid for each, because some of the prices I listed, I know are lower than what I actually paid.

We both had ample opportunity to get Pearlie for $300-350 and you baulked at that number and stated no imported variants at the time. Then some time after you made a fair amount of noise that you managed to obtain one for a reasonable amount but did not disclose the exact amount. However, all statements you made were to the effect that it was significantly less than the original number and therefore the reason why you reneged on the no-import stance.

So, either the truth was stretched back then or it is being stretched now?

Also, considering how prevalent GITDs were, I cannot suspend my disbelief that you averaged in the order of $220 each for those ($1250 - nominal $600 pearlie) / 3, sorry.

I have an entire collection of Crash Bandicoot figures, one set new, one open. Most of the figures are EXTREMELY rare to find brand new (got lucky once and scored the exact one I wanted at a flea market, in perfect condition!).

Let's compare New and Opened ones.

The new ones sell from $40 to $70,


while opened ones get about


So, there you go, the rarer, and the best condition, the more valuable.
The more common, and the open, less valuable.

I know, I sound like I'm a crazy collector that spends his life indoors (you got the end right!), but I'm not much of a collector (except Skylanders, I'm addicted to that.)..

Quote: ZapNorris

My variants have dust on them.
REAL DUST

Variant dust?

Do you know what I find worse than people not opening their figures? When people forget they aren't just figures- they're meant to be frozen characters. I mean, getting inconsistencies and mistakes on my figures really bothered me over the last few months... However, then I forgot the humble story of how they are meant to be the Skylanders, stuck as they are, not just figures, and it stopped nagging at me. I understand when people get bothered by a badly painted one, but please- look back over the figures you have, and please, try to realize them as heroes like the story says they are. "My Drobot has a splotch on his nose- time to replace him!"
And on the subject of 78, asking a Volcanic Vault for three LSEs is a joke, because one could easily sell them for more than the $35 Vaults go for on eBay, not to mention Canada actually had it locally available.

I have more of an issue with scalpers and people who absorb a large portion of the stock.

Scalpers: you all know what I'm talking about.

Absorbing unneeded amounts of stock: the folks that procure multiple sets to just sit around. I'm not talking about folks buying 2 sets for 2 different families. It's the people buying two of each figure so they can have one of each path active at a time, PLUS buy an extra of every single and triple packs to store for themselves, to include single packs that they also have triple packs with the same characters, PLUS procure 3 more sets of the same for each of their kids

The thing is, if you are someone absorbing your local stock (or even just the fair priced Internet stock) and I see you walking out with 6 hot heads, I will assume you are a scalper, I'll kick over your cart, and grab what I need. Ive done this black Friday when someone clears a shelf of a hot item, and I have no problem doing it again when I spot it.

Those poor souls. Prisoners of their own bodies.