What do scalpers look like???

Shadroth

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Oct 14, 1997, 3:00:00 AM10/14/97

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Hi everyone,

I've been reading alot of posts lately where someone says "I saw this
guy who looked like a scalper" or "If I see a someone in Target who
looks like a scalper I'll punch em in the gut!". So what does a scalper
look like?? What are the tell-tale signs that someone is hunting for a
profit? Alot of people actually seem to have this mental picture that a
scalper is a scruffy-looking loser. Can anyone help me on this?

Shadroth

"The Universe, as has been observed before, is an unsettlingly big place,
a fact which for the sake of a quiet life most people tend to ignore." -
Douglas Adams

Michael Mierzwa

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Oct 14, 1997, 3:00:00 AM10/14/97

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Shadroth wrote:

> So what does a scalper
> look like?? What are the tell-tale signs that someone is hunting for a
> profit? Alot of people actually seem to have this mental picture that a
> scalper is a scruffy-looking loser. Can anyone help me on this?

First the best people to really ask this are your TRU or KB employees.
I'm *not* saying they are vanheads, but they do have to see them
everyday. I know that many TRU employees HATE them, but being good
employees they still sell toys to them.

A vanhead(s) that I have confirmed living in my Area is a very short
Asian couple ... no I do not for a minute think that Asians scalp in
general, but I did want to simply state, that two very small (as in
5'4") people go to just about every retail/toy store in my region. They
bring with them a brown rusty van and about 5-6 kids. The kids
generally stay in the van, and the vanheads actually walk down the isles
and try to scalp rare figures. The husband has approached me and asked
if I wanted a Jedi Luke (this was over a year ago when he was scarce out
here) for $25. I laughed and told him that I would pay the same $5 he
did or just wait till next week (and yes, the Jedi Luke was there then).

Another vanhead that I've seen at toy shows is a smelly (he really was)
Caucassian (don't know if I spelled this right) guy about 6' and with a
funny beer belly, not that he looked whimpy ... he just looked slow, but
strong. He had a tattoo on his arm and black unwashed hair. He wasn't
doing too much business at the show, but he did brag about buying all
his toys a K-Marts and tried to talk me into his limited edition Picard
or something of the like.

Of course I've talked to people in TRU who buy figures and trade them to
comic stores. Most of these people are Caucassian males 5'8" to 6'2"
all weights, but interestingly enough most have fair skins or look like
they don't sleep well. They are young, and could easily be mistaken (if
they are not) as Grunge. I think they are College kids and a few HS
kids, but I've never seen them try and sell stuff to anybody ... they
just claim to trade to comic stores (most likely for trading cards or
comics).

But what is most interesting, is that of this crowd, those guys I've
seen with their girlfriends are just plain and simple collectors. Most
of the opening their figures! And they are much cleaner (probably why
they are girlfriended). ;)

But in general store employees seem consider most males between the ages
of 18 and 30 to be vanheads. But fear not, if you are a male and in
this age group (like myself) if you are polite and honest, employees
warm up to you.

I think the appearance is secondary to the mannerisms of vanhead. Just
look at the posts in this newsgroup. Any time you see an actually
exchange between a vanhead and a collector, sometimes the collectors get
foul o-mouth and attitude, but more often the vanheads get irrational
and blow their tops ... or at least FACPOV [From a Certain Point of
View] <--- remember Obi-wan saying this in SW, everybody does remember
SW the film in this NG, right? ;)

Michael Mierzwa

Marc

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Oct 15, 1997, 3:00:00 AM10/15/97

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Shadroth wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I've been reading alot of posts lately where someone says "I saw this
> guy who looked like a scalper" or "If I see a someone in Target who

> looks like a scalper I'll punch em in the gut!". So what does a scalper

> look like?? What are the tell-tale signs that someone is hunting for a
> profit? Alot of people actually seem to have this mental picture that a
> scalper is a scruffy-looking loser. Can anyone help me on this?
>

> Shadroth
>
> "The Universe, as has been observed before, is an unsettlingly big place,
> a fact which for the sake of a quiet life most people tend to ignore." -
> Douglas Adams

scalper= a man in late twenties to late thirties dressed in red dirty
sweat pants that don't go above his belly. belly is very large, one
could say beer belly, but i would say something more like bloated. man
smells of gpc ciggarettes and pop. there is a sweat stain around the
belly button area on his hooters t-shirt. his hair is red and wispy,
not washed with a receding hairline. probably a weeks growth of beard,
or a yellow nicotine stained mustache.
his shoes are worn out Nike Air jordans from 1989 with loose fitting sky
blue socks hanging out around his ankles. he can be heard wheezing as he
makes his way to the toy dept way at the back of Wal*Mart mumbling ,
"why does it have to be so far.." he will be thumbing through the hot
wheels and dropping them on the floor, then over to the SLU's nothing
there, then over to the SW stuff. ahh five hundred slave leias!! he buys
them all and stuffs them into a cart he snatched from an unsuspecting
mother looking for sleia for her 9 year old boy.
he screams get outta my way i'm gonna be rich!!
and runs to the counter, the employee tells him there is a limit to 25
figs per customer. he screams a raspy yell for the manager. he
explains that he is doing his christmas shopping early and slips the
manager a $5 bill. the manager says, "just this once."
look for his rusty 1984 blue chevy van, with a sliding door and plates
that say spidey or clark or something.
marc

Ric Somers

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Oct 15, 1997, 3:00:00 AM10/15/97

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there small green fellows wearing red and black stripy T-shirts,
they can camouflage them selves against any surface at a moments
notice, these guys are quite nippy so if you see one grab him and a pot of

gold might be waiting for you at the end of the rainbow!