I am putting this in the rant section, but really, the whole thing makes me kind of giddy.

I put a set of rare action figures on craigslist for $200. When I say rare, I mean it was nearly impossible to find a whole set on store shelves when they were brand new. I haven't been able to find these figures on ebay for about a year or so, and certainly not a whole set. This morning I got an e-mail:

"why dont you just peel the corners up on package and sell them for children at a reasonable price and stop being a big ******* baby and sell something else to make money rather than teasing kids on here with toys you want what 20 bucks a piece for and are only 10 new and they are not a collectors item there are to many made and the junks everywhere and will never hold any high value except to **** like you that live at mommys basement and work at target where you prob got the ****"

As you can tell from that well thought out and coherent e-mail, he's probably an upstanding member of his community who is offended that I would sell toys at such a high markup and deprive children of the joy of playing with them. I can respect that. But, because I was curious, and because he used his real, full name and e-mail address I decided to see what kind of online presence the guy has left.

He accuses me of "teasing kids" by listing them for such a high price. After a little google-fu, I found his youtube account, and his posts and favorite videos indicate that -he- is a fan of the series the figures are from. He's not being a jerk on the behalf of children everywhere, he's being a jerk because he wants them. Most of his youtube comments are in the same vein as the e-mail he sent me. He has the tough guy ego of someone who isn't in his 20's and watching cartoons.

He says they "aren't a collectors item" and "will never hold any value" except to me. That makes me smile. He -knows- their value. As far as I can tell I'm one of the only people who still has full sets available, and the only other people selling the figures individually are selling them for $50-$150 a piece. He's butt-hurt that I actually have the most reasonable price. They hold no value to me except what others will pay for them. I purchased, I believe, seven total sets of these figures, and so far have sold four sets to serious collectors. People want them, he just can't afford them.

And my favorite part, the quip about the basement. This guy has no room to talk. With a little more Google-fu, I found this guy's home address. I found that he lives in what, as far as I can tell, is tax exempt housing through the Department Of Redevelopment. He lives in the government's basement. Zing!

It's a good thing I'm not a neanderthal, it's scary how easy it was to find the guys home address. One of these days he's going to run his mouth to someone with a temper and earn himself a knock on the front door of his house. One can hope, right? I'll just take joy the fact that this guy lives in a dump and has a personality to match.

That was worth reading.
I didn't think the scam email was worth getting upset or responding. Way to take it to the next level by exposing him.

Dang, remind me to never piss you off! Google is your friend.

I say it doesn't matter what it is, toys or antiques, if you can make a profit off of it do it. Don't let the trolls bring you down. Good for you for finding a way to bring in a little extra money.

That kind of stuff happens on 4chan quite often. Usually the facebook account also gets hacked or bag guys page fills with trolls.

A street view shot of the trolls .gov address and a simple note to get a job or go back to school would be fun.

Lol, I am fairly new to this forum (this being only my second post.) but I am already loving the things I am finding on this site.

That guy was a jerk, period, point, blank, who obviously wants the dolls and can't afford to shell out $200. Did he really think e-mailing you would spark a light bulb over your head and have you say "You know what, you're right. Why don't I destroy the box out of it's mint condition just so the children can afford to buy them."

You should totally tell him that you have bent the corners, and lowered the price to $20 and he is banned from purchasing, lol. <3

He probably thinks he can bait you into dropping the price or more likely he just wants to vent about himself not being able to purchase the toys.

The bottom line, is that when toys, stamps, coins, cards, etc. get released, often they will make additional sets that are considered collector's editions or in some cases the regularly distributed lines will increase in value because of the scarcity of them.

In the above cases you are not taking away from kids getting to play with them, because the value usually doesn't even increase until all the people that bought them originally chucked them in the garbage because they didn't want them anymore.

I had a bunch of comics and sports cards that I passed on to a nephew once, and within a few weeks the cards were bent, beat up and the comics had ripped pages. I actually passed them on so the kid could start collecting but I guess he was at an age he didn't appreciate it yet. The value of the remaining copies out in the world went up a minuscule amount that day...



Should I be happy that the kid ruined perfectly good sets of collector items because he had fun? Well, I was because he enjoyed them and he was family. But my original intent was for him to appreciate these things with care...

This is just one of those things to laugh off...

I've made a habit of checking out everyone I deal with on Craigslist. Hate to say it, but I'll judge a book by it's cover, especially for my own safety. If I can put a name, face, and area of town to the e-mail or voice, it makes me feel a bit safer as apposed to setting up a meet with someone I have no background on.

And to clarify, I'd never post the dudes personal information or wish harassment upon the guy. I just looked it up for my own amusement this time.

NaeBabii and Boncho, glad to see someone understands the whole collectible thing. I hit thrift stores frequently, and I'm amazed to see how fairly new toys end up trashed. When I was a kid, I took pretty good care of my toys, and they lasted a long time. I think it's very wasteful for parents to let their kids abuse their toys the way they do these days. Whenever they release a new line of toys for the latest kids movie, it takes about a week for them to start showing up in thrift stores completely destroyed.

I'm hesitant to name the series these toys are from, but they definitely appeal to the kids, and as a result they get bought fast and trashed. They become high demand almost immediately among adult collectors for this reason. Unfortunately, the adult collectors are some of the most immature people I've ever encountered online, and this guy proves my point. There's a ton of scammers too, they go as far as committing credit card fraud to get their toys.

Him being on housing assistance and looking for collectibles is priceless.

Originally posted by Morgenstern89
NaeBabii and Boncho, glad to see someone understands the whole collectible thing. I hit thrift stores frequently, and I'm amazed to see how fairly new toys end up trashed.

The things I find at Thrift Stores amazes me! I cannot pass up vintage... or a good deal. I have found some truly astonishing Art pieces that I have purchased for $10-$15 that turned out to be worth 10X their purchased price!

Originally posted by Morgenstern89
Him being on housing assistance and looking for collectibles is priceless.

Truth.