Comic-Con figures confirmed to getting stolen by Scalpers days before

[Navy Trooper Fenson]

http://boards.4chan.org/toy/thread/4299766/lego-general#p4305429

http://boards.4chan.org/toy/thread/4299766/lego-general#p4305472

McBalderus 07/24/14(Thu)01:44:58 No.4305429▶

Got like fifty of the SDCC Collector Minifigs, lol.

Great job Lego, this guy is making 25.000$ out of stealing your stuff.

I bet the kids are happy about the prizes getting stolen by the con-workers, good for publicity.

It seems like the same guy also did it the last few years with all the other figs.

Be quick if you want screenshots, these posts and pic are only up for a day or two.

[-Horizon-]

Dang that's horrible. Did he just still Collectors or did he some of each?

[jodawill]

What a bunghole. I hope he gets caught and prosecuted.

Here's a more permanent copy of the thread -> http://imgur.com/a/3yVmX

[Bob De Quatre]

Maybe he's just a Collector's collector...

[agoodfella77]

This is exactly what I'm talking about in my other post: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=98015

The SDCC Exclusive system is what causes this. If they did away with it, the artificial supply / demand imbalance would simply disappear.

[jodawill]

This is exactly what I'm talking about in my other post: http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=98015

The SDCC Exclusive system is what causes this. If they did away with it, the artificial supply / demand imbalance would simply disappear.

It's just a fun promotion for the attenders. They're not made to be money makers or anything. I think Aanchir said it best:

The easiest solution is actually to stop setting unreasonable goals for your own collection. If owning every minifigure isn't realistic for you, why pretend that it should be? Nobody ever told you that you're entitled to a complete collection. LEGO is an expensive hobby. Many LEGO fans wouldn't even be able to afford every single minifigure released in sets.

Let's look at a hypothetical situation here. Suppose that a minifigure of a certain character is made as a prototype and never put in a set. The prototype continues to exist, but no fans ever get to own it. Does its existence make every single fan's collection incomplete? Is every single fan's collection less valuable purely because it exists?

If not, why is it any different with figs that are released in small quantities? Particularly obscure figs like the recently-released Batman of Zur-En-Arrh who would probably never be released at all if not as rare exclusive items? There is no rule that owning every single collectible item of a certain type should be a realistic goal for an average fan.

I have always been a BIONICLE fan. I have never been committed to getting every single collectible Kanohi mask, Krana brain, or Kraata slug (the Kraata slugs are particularly ridiculous. Getting all 252 variants from new sets bought at RRP would cost you upwards of $522 even if you never got a single duplicate... and did I mention they were blind-packaged in every set that included them? And yes, some people have decided it's worth their time and money to get every single one.

But even people who sought to get every BIONICLE collectible ever released don't have complete collections, and the chief reason for that is this. The platinum Kanohi Avohkii was given out as a sweepstakes prize in 2003. Yes, it's an official BIONICLE mask. There are a number of BIONICLE collectibles made of precious metals that were distributed as sweepstakes prizes, including gold Kanoka disks, sterling silver Krana-Kal, and gold Kanohi masks, but this one is the rarest: only one was ever produced and distributed.

Did this make collecting BIONICLE masks pointless? Of course not! Most BIONICLE fans were smart enough and mature enough to understand that owning every single collectible item the LEGO Group put out was a distant ideal, not an achievable reality. And they adjusted their expectations accordingly, setting their goals only as high as they felt they could reach. It's frustrating that so many LEGO System fans, who in the past have often dismissed BIONICLE as a worthless kiddie toy, lack that same intelligence and maturity. Instead they adopt an "if I can't have it, nobody should!" attitude that you'd expect to see from a five-year-old, not an adult.

I'm sorry if this answer makes you uncomfortable. But you can't expect reality to bend to your expectations, especially when your desire is to put a stop to a practice that does not affect you or your personal collection in any way. Some people would like it if the LEGO Group didn't release licensed sets at all, because they personally don't like them — never mind the people who do. Their desires aren't any less reasonable than yours.

[jodawill]

This guy uses the same username on other sites. He says on this one that his occupation is "event coordinator."

[Phoxtane]

Can this be taken up with the Lego Ambassadors, please? The system is obviously being abused, and even though I'm not into the whole convention-exclusive collectibles, I have been following the discussion surrounding them with some interest. I don't think I'm far off in saying this is like a kick in the teeth for some people.

[8BrickMario]

It's always possible he was trolling, but I doubt he would keep up the act over two years. If LEGO would care, it would be great to alert them of this. But their connection with the fanbase is expressed through sets, and they don't seem to care about what's going on here. See? The first year they did these, I was an idealist who would say, "LEGO would never deliberately exclude fans and would take care of this immediately", but their years of negligence to the system has turned me cynical and bitter about the abuse of the exclusives, and doubtful of their response to it. I can see why LEGO does them, but not why they would let a scenario such as this slide.

Edited July 24, 2014 by 8BrickMario

[TheWolffe]

It's a shame people take advantage of these exclusives to make a quick buck. Hurts the people who actually attend the con to get these figs

[Kire]

My god! How did nobody notice this guy steal 50 Collector figures! I'm mad and slightly jealous.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Kire

[Darth Caedus]

It's just a fun promotion for the attenders. They're not made to be money makers or anything. I think Aanchir said it best:

Dude, this is not the point. At all. Apples and oranges. Platinum Avohkii and all the super-rare masks/kraata/krana etc. are just gravy. You can get normal, basic version of them quite easily enough. There is no cheap or basic version of the Collector. The SDCC figs are a problem because they make characters that people know and love into impossible exclusives. It's alright when it's variants, like Batman of Zur En Arrh, or Black Suit Spiderman. But when you keep Jean Grey, Green Arrow, Bizarro, and the rest out of fans' hands by making them exclusives? You're doing a disservice to the fans and disservice to the characters. Lego needs to more carefully pick its SDCC exclusives and make sure none of them are major characters who haven't been produced in DC/Marvel sets before. A PROPER SDCC "wave" of 4 exclusives would be something more like: White Lantern Batman, Red Son Superman, Iron Man Mark V, and Miles Morales Spider Man. Now that's a wave of variants of characters we already have, but all the variants are still cool and appealing - and would function great as the promos that they are.

[Navy Trooper Fenson]

It's always possible he was trolling

No, there were countless auctions of Comic-Con Green Arrows up last year, days before they were even handed out.

This guy uses the same username on other sites. He says on this one that his occupation is "event coordinator."

Well, that was easier than I imagined, so we know he is one of the event coordinators and worked for Lego at the very leats last year, maybe even the years before, too.

I already contacted Legos customer service before but I really hope one of the dozens ambassadors could speed up the process.

[adotnamedstud]

I hope they have security cameras at SDCC, this needs to end now.

[legoman19892]

It is entirely possible that the 4chan post was a prank. All of you seemed to jumped off the bridge from a photo that can be staged.

[blarghiflargh]

It should also be pointed out that this might not be the actual McBalderus. That's a real guy but he doesn't use a real trip code(which requires a password) so you can't be sure it's not just someone pretending to be him. McBalderus works(or worked) for Stan Lee at events and does buy exclusives to scalp later, but I don't think he would steal 50 of an exclusive. I could definitely see someone wanting to make it seem like he did though.

[Navy Trooper Fenson]

It is entirely possible that the 4chan post was a prank. All of you seemed to jumped off the bridge from a photo that can be staged.

This same guy said last year he was responsible for the Ebay auctions that went up days before the figure was given out. He is posting on this board for years with the same name, this is way too elaborate when he wants to blame someone else.

Why are you defending a criminal? Do you know you could get in trouble for something like this?

EBAY AUCTIONS

WENT UP

BEFORE

THE FIG WAS GIVEN OUT

Someone was and is stealing figs there and is (or at least in contact) with someone who works there for two years in a row.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Navy Trooper Fenson

[Sam892]

Not only does this guy seen to be stealing, but he's also essentially responsible for the crazy after market prices.

When he puts these figures on eBay days before they get given out, he puts a stupid price on them that everyone else takes as the figures actual worth. I remember back in 2011 with the Batman and Green Lantern exclusives, they were priced on eBay at £30-£50. Now there upwards of £100, all because this egg dispenser puts the figure on eBay and determines it's worth that and everyone else follows that price.

So not only is this guy stealing exclusives, selling them for ridiculous amounts and making people at the con miss out on these exclusives, but he's also having a huge effect on the aftermarket. Hopefully LEGO fires this douche if he's is stealing and get the police involved.

[8BrickMario]

Well, the wonderful thing about idiots like this is that they make their crimes public and easy to report.

[smkaemp]

has anybody emailed LEGO about this?

[Thelegomaster]

This fool needs to go to jail, there could be so many kids that could have won a Collector minifigure ( also some adults) and he ruined their chances.

[SithMageHenry]

has anybody emailed LEGO about this?

Well even if someone has, I'd do it anyway. The more reports LEGO gets, the more they won't be able to ignore it.

[tkatt]

A quick look at eBay shows several of the exclusive sets are on sale. The sellers say they are "in hand" and ready to ship. So it would seem that people somehow get early access to these sets.

No Collector Fig yet...

Edited July 24, 2014 by tkatt

[InfiniteSD]

In response Lego should release the stolen figures soon after the SDCC. That would make all those figures they took almost worthless.

[jodawill]

In response Lego should release the stolen figures soon after the SDCC. That would make all those figures they took almost worthless.

That's a great idea. But I wonder if they have a contract saying they can't release that anywhere else.