I haven't seen figure swapping at the la cholla one in awhile. I have seen it many times
at the wetmore location and speedway.

I have seen almost all the new stuff i can see and havent seen too many thievery.

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I just can't catch a break at this Wal-Mart. I was there earlier today. Saw two figures I wanted. The Halo 3 Wal-Mart exclusive Cyan ODST Spartan, and the G.I.Joe black Storm Shadow Ninja-Ku (I have the Red Ninja, so I figured, what the hell...)

However, the timing was not ideal. And I realize I've really got no one to blame for this but myself. HOW -- EVER...

There's a Barnes & Noble bookstore in the mall next to this Wal-Mart. I planned to go over to the B&N, spend a little time there (by the way, I got ToyFare there, and the new Masters Classics Skeletor is on the cover, as well as a comprehensive article within, and I am IMPRESSED!) and then return to the Wal-Mart, snag the toys, and do some grocery shopping. Since I am on foot, I did not want to carry heavy and/or perishable food items all the way down to the B&N.

So -- I hid the Halo and the ninja -- WAAAAYYY over in the preschool section behind what looked like some overgrown My Little Ponies. Boxed items. Not entirely sure what they were, but there was room enough behind them.

I get back to the Wal-Mart less than an hour later -- GONE! WTF?! Had they been discovered? THERE!??!? I've hidden stuff for over TEN DAYS at that Wal-Mart and nobody's found it. They're not back on their assigned racks, either.

I do my grocery shopping, and as I'm leaving -- I see the probable cause. Carrying a Wal-Mart bag out, contents unknown, is one of the local dirtbag toy scalpers. I've run into this jerk before, and he's a serious piece of work. Will talk your ear off in the slowest voice you've ever heard in your life. I think it might be possible for this person to actually bore you to death. But from a toy standpoint, he's a serious dirtbag that will do anything.

I do not consider it inconceivable that he saw me hide those toys and got them. Bastard. There's also a collectibles show in Foothills Mall (next door to the Wal-Mart), and a fairly well-supplied toy dealer always shows up, and that might be the reason this weasel was in the neighborhood as well. He's always trying to trade complete garbage to this dealer for top of the line stuff.

I realize I should've bought the toys at the outset. Not arguing that. But dammit! I might see a Ninja-Ku again, but he wasn't even the priority. The REAL loss was that Cyan ODST Spartan! REALLY nice one, too. Neatly painted, no defects in the molding -- it was as close to perfect as possible. Probably if I see another one it'll have a warped foot or helmet or something. Out of all the Wal-Marts in town, this seems to be the only one that even GETS any Halo stuff, and I doubt THAT one'll be back!

Just had to vent...

........Bodyslamming him into a clothes rack by his armpits worked for me in Target,......

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I have never seen this or expereinced it, so it is not as personal for me (have not seen the elephant).

However, Rebelscum posted an in depth article on SW swappers here: http://www.rebelscum.com/story/front/A_ ... _95674.asp

I agree, the most vile type of theif

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I was at the la cholla Walmart last night and they had a bunch of the Halo guys including the exclusive one on the peg.

the rest of the sections was in ruins.

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You guys may not know this, and I'm sure he wouldn't want it spread around, but JC member Deathwing recently punch a mofo in the toy aisle straight in the face for stealing toys from little kids.


Maybe you can have him come to your stores.

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Well figure swapping is alive and well in San Antonio, Texas. I've seen it now at three different Wal Marts. One instance was a gold/black Sand Viper in the place of a comic pack IG with scotch tape sealing the back. Today I saw 3 Destro/IG packs with the IGs removed and Cobra Air Troopers minus the web gear in their place. And last but not least, Serpentor had replaced Copperhead in another comic pack.

So whoever the A-HOLE SCUM is that keeps doing this, I hope all of your items burn in a fire. Have a nice day!

Normally I have a lot of sympathy for you Trek, but not this time. I hate the "sneaky layaway" of hiding crap all over the store. I know that you were planning to pick them up again quickly, but hiding stuff is really annoying for the people that want to come and buy the damned thing off the shelf.

I don't want to do a hunt all over the freakin store for stuff if I have ready money and the desire to buy it. It also messes with product counts, because the product is there, but it can't be bought and therefore reordered.

Either buy it or don't, but playing games like that isn't fair to the rest of us.

/rant

- R

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Agreed, I won't be happy until every item is purchased by picture and distributed at the checkout line, lol.

Hell, I wish I could order my walmart stuff online and pick it up at the store, and the grocery for that matter.

When will technology serve us?

I'm not sure which is worse, the figure thief or the squirrel(as in squirreling it away), they both prevent me from getting my toys, lol.

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You mean like Service Merchandise? Which went the way of the dinosaur a long time ago. Online ordering and local pickup is a great idea but no way I'd do it for a grocery order, or any large shopping trip for that matter.

It wouldn't suprise me if a store tried it again to cut down on staffing needs and save some $$ on salary and benefits. But imagine the whole new list of complaints we'd hear from collectors - the card was bent , the paint apps were bad, it was missing an accesory, it was out of stock and I wasted 30 minutes standing in line for nothing...etc, etc.

Lazier theives in Concord NC as I thought at first I had lucked up and found the new Shipwreck/Copperhead pack. Only someone had stolen the Copperhead figure out of the pack and didn't even bother to put another figure into the pack.

Since the plastic wasn't all ripped and dented like a quick job either someone was able to take their time to carefully remove it in the store or they managed to return the comic book pack that way.

Darn if scalpers weren't bad enough we also have to deal with thieves and stores that will leave a half pack on the shelves.

This is officially getting ridiculous. I was in an entirely different Wal-Mart today (Wetmore, for you Tucsonans), and very blatantly right up front was a G.I.Joe Snow Serpent card -- with a Cobra Commander figure in it. It was a 25th-style Hooded Cobra Commander in a dark blue uniform complete with a fabric cape.

Somebody tell me, since I'm not paying much attention to this line, is this even a good trade-off? The comic set swap-out for Star Wars figures I can ALMOST understand from a conceptual standpoint if someone prefers Joes to Star Wars, but this was a Joe for Joe swap, and I don't even recall seeing a cloth-caped Cobra Commander before.

I don't know why G.I.Joe is getting picked on like this, unless for me it's just the recognition factor. I may not be collecting, but I certainly recognize the classic characters that these new figures represent.

This one was a lot more "professional", too. Even I had trouble seeing where the thief had re-sealed the card.

But two such incidents at two different stores in less than a week? By my standards, that's a crime wave.

(In marginally related news, all of a sudden this particular Wal-Mart which has never had much of a toy department seems to be doing okay. I found some new Star Wars there today, including the Coruscant Platform Clone Trooper, and they seem to be the only place that has the "Master" uniform Power Rangers -- which some of my next paycheck will be going towards. Unfortunately, no evidence they've had any HALO... )