I haven't seen this in years...

[Tortricidae]

I barely ever see fellow toy collectors. When I do, it's always at one store specifically..meijers. and it's always tall guys who appear to be in their mid to late twenties, usually with shaved heads, long goatees, and clothes that look like they all shop from the same place. it's kind of odd. like toy collecting pod people.

in other stores, I almost always have the action figure section to myself. unless it's wal-mart, in which case I have to share it with small children and their usually irate parents.

[Cemetery Can]

I share figure space with:
Kids w/ parents (not often)
Older guys looking for Nascar or matchbox (rare)
Occasional SW/LOTR fan (still rare)

And most commonly, the little old Asian lady who stocks the toy shelves at Walmart.

[Genetic Disposition]

Originally posted by Tortricidae:
Iit's always tall guys who appear to be in their mid to late twenties, usually with shaved heads, long goatees, and clothes that look like they all shop from the same place.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">heh. sounds like Nick, the bass player that just got kicked out of Queens of the Stone Age. Or Nick and his clones [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Michael Crawford]

This guy was probably mid thirties, looking like the usual HW or Sports collector. Back in the mid-90's it wouldn't have been much of a surprise - remember Lee's "this toy is HOT HOT HOT!", and White's Guide wasn't much better, not to mention Toyfare - but nowadays that contingent of collector seems to be a very small minority.

Of course, this is the same Media Play where one of the employees told me that his dad was going to retire off McToys figures...I always just smile and nod. I gave up trying to educate people long ago.

Michael
MWC

[toymank]

the usual collector around my areas (Zellers, Wal-Mart, TRU) usually look Mexican or about that, maybe mid 20's, 30's, with their girlfriend or mom [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

mostly it's parents yelling at their kids in another languageand they have 5 kids under 5 (huh? [img]tongue.gif[/img] ) runnign around, tripping mje, screaming, and other shit like that

[DARTH POOH]

It seems the collecting hobby has grown by leaps and bounds online and thinned in the stores.
Just look at our Biker Chick deal, I remember when CC Exclusives used to last for months.
Hell, I probably have five or six flyers with Cogliostro in them.
It just seems that the cool stuff is gone so fast that all that's left is kiddy stuff and crapola. Our TRU got Spawn 25 in and it was gone but for 1 Redeemer within the day. Our collectors
are mostly men, in the 25 - 50 age catagory.
I guess it depends on where you live, but above all, it really seems that all the online dealers are killing the stores.
Of course, I'm speaking from the POV of a Californian who has to pay $2.50 to $3.00 for a gallon of gas. So just going out figure hunting
is not what it used to be..It's cheaper to eat the S&H from ordering online.

[sonicman99]

Due to some health issues about 90% of my toy hunting is done online. I can't say that I miss walking the aisles though. Around here all I have is 1 TRU (worthless), 1 Software Etc. (employees get most of the good stuff), and a Spencers (last good find was a 12" Agonistes). Oh yeah and a WalMart, but the only McFarlane stuff they carry are the SP 2 packs and pegs and pegs of MLb5...yeah series 5. So I haven't bumped into many collectors at all, scalpers or otherwise.

[Tortricidae]

I think that online shopping has largely killed toy hunting as well. when you can order a case of figures for about the same price, or sometimes even cheaper than what you'd pay at retail..well..it cuts back on a lot of hassle, and a lot of waiting for your local shops to get new lines in.

now, I do not order figures very often from the internet. My online figure shopping is limited to older ones I pretty much have to get off of ebay, and the occasional CC piece. I still prefer to do my shopping in stores. It allows me to be picky about paint jobs, hunt for the best price, and it's a nice little thrill to find an elusive figure on the pegs. Of course, it's also more frustrating, because lately the stores here have been wastelands, but it makes actually getting the figure a bit more rewarding.