Limited Edition Vulture

By Darth Meanie, in X-Wing

I once picked up nine Disney princess dolls after sleeping outside of a mall and sold them for just north of $1000.00 profit. The retail for each doll was something like $60.00. I couldn't help but shake my head as I packed each one up and shipped it away. About a year later, those dolls were selling for just above retail on Ebay. The reality of the situation was that they had no more value than your average Barbie. To the extent that people were willing to delude themselves into believing that they were worth more than that, I was happy to oblige them. My point is that the people buying them secondhand are suckers and you shouldn't fall for it. If you really must have one to fill your living space with more stuff, wait and pick it up when the hype dies down.

That said, I sympathize that you drove there not knowing of the very limited supply. FFG could have saved you the trip by disclosing how limited the numbers would be.

56 minutes ago, Firespray-32 said:

Isn't it just a normal Vulture Droid expansion with metallic paint on it?

pretty much. in a box with a little sticker that says 2019 exclusive or something.

I dont think it's that big of a deal. If you're a collector then this should be nothing new. When collectible things are in high demand but short supply the price goes up. Atleast the ship is only painted differently.

Granted I might be the person you hate because I only went to adepticon to get that ship to resell it. Convinced two other friends to go with me so that after gas and tolls it only cost us a couple bucks each to get up there together and we got there an hour early to get in line to get our ships to only sell them. I put mine up for 100 bucks as soon as I got it, had a bunch of people ridicule it on Facebook and say how terrible i was but I had a guy who had to have buy it so it was all worth it. Snagged some other exsclusives to sell and got to demo some games so all in all a good day. I'm all in favor for this stuff. If I could go to celebration I would just to resell the Vader.

54 minutes ago, BlueAce said:

Granted I might be the person you hate because I only went to adepticon to get that ship to resell it.

Yeah, you might.

Especially since you seem to be pretty comfortable with being That Guy for a little fast cash.

12 hours ago, kris40k said:

I think that they should have come up with some sort of "1 per convention badge" process to at least slow down the scalpers.

I heard from a friend that’s down there that it was “one per badge per day”, so while you **could** get multiples, you had to go back each day assuming they still had some.

48 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

Yeah, you might.

Especially since you seem to be pretty comfortable with being That Guy for a little fast cash.

I resell stuff to pay for my trips.

If someone's willing to buy it for those prices I'm going to sell it for that.

I have to go with the paint your own. While theships are nice and the paint jobs are not bad, it is really not that hard to paint one up better. You can paint one for cheaper and it will look better. The "limited ones" are just like any other, and only have the "cool value" of being rare.

But I would rather do it myself and have it look better. Thats just me.

1 hour ago, MegaSilver said:

I resell stuff to pay for my trips.

If someone's willing to buy it for those prices I'm going to sell it for that.

Well, BlueAce seems like he took a trip just to collect stuff to resell, not resell stuff to pay for an event he wanted to be at in the first place.

So, the shades of gray of intent are different and worth noting.

Also, you haven't posted twice to rub my nose in your success that led to my failure.

For my part, lesson learned: it's just another part of Public Game Culture I'd rather avoid.

Edited by Darth Meanie

I just looked up what adepticon is and...

Holy carp! It's in _Illinois_! No wonder they have to bribe people with the chance to buy a shiny to get people to go all the way out there.

4 minutes ago, Punning Pundit said:

I just looked up what adepticon is and...

Holy carp! It's in _Illinois_! No wonder they have to bribe people with the chance to buy a shiny to get people to go all the way out there.

Dude.

I

Live

Here. 😎

BTW, Star Wars Celebration is here next month, so it's a pretty good year to be a Chicagoan.

I was only ever in Chicago for about 3 days, and I left at least 15lbs heavier. I would return for this alone, were it not for O'Mare international...

While I don't see a problem with there being fancy repaints for big events (as long as it's just a repaint and not special/extra cards), the fact that they're only in one (relatively) small con in the US is kind of a kick to the rest of us. Not just people from out of state, but internationally. Game pieces, for any game, going as con merch is one of those things that I've always felt uncomfortable with for games. Sure, they're rarely necessary items (unless you're WizKids), but they do foster a degree of exclusivity, and sometimes that can foster other feelings. It's not like alt-art cards for being involved in an event, it's just an opportunity reward for those with spare cash. I feel like if that ship was a top 64 prize for a tournament held on the day, this wouldn't be an issue.

6 hours ago, NakedDex said:

It's not like alt-art cards for being involved in an event, it's just an opportunity reward for those with spare cash. I feel like if that ship was a top 64 prize for a tournament held on the day, this wouldn't be an issue.

How, if any, is the alt paint mini any different than the limited game mats for sale at these System Open events?

I've just modded an Aethersprite into a 7B (by which I mean I've moved the astromech). Is that collectible?

I think we can all agree scalpers are the scum of the galaxy though right*? I mean I know logically it's no worse than any other form of capitalism, but somehow it is, isn't it?

*I was going to say " we can all agree scalpers should be shot " but I figured on a board full of Americans that might be taken a little too seriously.

It's capitalism at it's best. No one is forcing anyone to buy the stuff. Heck theres no that guy at all, people want them and they're unable to get them so someone has to take one for the team to help supply those who aren't there. In all honesty you're just salty that you didnt get one so you're gonna take out your frustrations on people who have them.

56 minutes ago, ScummyRebel said:

How, if any, is the alt paint mini any different than the limited game mats for sale at these System Open events?

Well, I would say that since this game is a MINIATURES game, an "alt art"/repaint mini has more value to it than an accessory like dice, mats, templates, etc. because it is a primary game component.

I mean, I guess I don't know because I'm not going to fund scalpers. Right now a Vulture is listed as $125. Has a mat commanded that kind of upsell?

39 minutes ago, mazz0 said:

I've just modded an Aethersprite into a 7B (by which I mean I've moved the astromech). Is that collectible?

It is if you can find a buyer. :)

36 minutes ago, mazz0 said:

I think we can all agree scalpers are the scum of the galaxy though right*? I mean I know logically it's no worse than any other form of capitalism, but somehow it is, isn't it?

*I was going to say " we can all agree scalpers should be shot " but I figured on a board full of Americans that might be taken a little too seriously.

IMHO, it is.

People who go to a convention to grab up promos and resell them are not supporting the hobby. They are stealing the candy from those that really want it as an item with some sort of intrinsic value (collectible/going to play with it/support the game} and selling it to some doof with more cash than brains.

Since you dragged American capitalism into it, it's a less toxic version of pharmabro: buy the rights to a cheap drug, jack the **** out of the price, and do nothing useful at all but screw the consumer into a new price point.

You aren't making the world a better place; you are inserting yourself into the stream of consumerism for your own selfish gains at the expense of the people who want the product. That's not capitalism; that's greed.

Moreover, I haven't the slightest idea why this is OK with FFG. If this thing was a Limited Edition 2019 Vulture For Sale Only On Our Website, I would have bought 3 or 4 at MSRP. My brother would have bought some. People across the globe would have bought some. Every player who wanted one could have one, and FFG would pocket ALL the cash, not 25% of the greed goudge that's currently happening. And then, after 2019, or 6 months, or after fulfilling all preorders, they stop with this paint job.

Sure, I can repaint, or hire someone. But if FFG offers the "Kath Scarlet Firespay," that's one project I can skip and do stuff that's even more custom. Some of the Jedi livery on Aethersprites might even be past my ability. Others who can't do repaints can just score it outright. It would seem like easy money: offer a few repaints a year, that contain no new material gameplay-wise, and then move to the next option.

Clearly, despite many people saying "who cares, it's just a repaint" the demand was high. FFG should tap that mojo; not the scalpers.

4 minutes ago, BlueAce said:

It's capitalism at it's best. No one is forcing anyone to buy the stuff. Heck theres no that guy at all, people want them and they're unable to get them so someone has to take one for the team to help supply those who aren't there. In all honesty you're just salty that you didnt get one so you're gonna take out your frustrations on people who have them.

Yeah, that's hilarious.

Took one for the team to the tune of 80 bucks. My hero.

1 minute ago, Darth Meanie said:

Yeah, that's hilarious.

Took one for the team to the tune of 80 bucks. My hero.

Have some empathy for the europeans who have no way of getting it without shelling out a ton of $$$ either way. Way cheaper than a plane ticket to adepticon.

1 hour ago, mazz0 said:

I've just modded an Aethersprite into a 7B (by which I mean I've moved the astromech). Is that collectible?

The great thing about capitalism is if it's good enough there will be people who want to buy it. To someone it might be worth 20 bucks but to another person it might look so good they would be willing to spend 50 bucks and there might be someone who loves it so much they would spend 100 bucks for it. No different than painters doing commissions.

9 minutes ago, BlueAce said:

Have some empathy for the europeans who have no way of getting it without shelling out a ton of $$$ either way. Way cheaper than a plane ticket to adepticon.

I do have empathy for those who can't get to Adepticon. That's why I thought the whole thing was a bad idea in February.

2 minutes ago, BlueAce said:

The great thing about capitalism is if it's good enough there will be people who want to buy it.

Capitalism also drives drugs, pornography, prostitution and human trafficking.

Just because you can make money doing it doesn't mean it's a good idea.

27 minutes ago, Darth Meanie said:

I do have empathy for those who can't get to Adepticon. That's why I thought the whole thing was a bad idea in February.

Capitalism also drives drugs, pornography, prostitution and human trafficking.

Just because you can make money doing it doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Good thing theres no drugs, porn, prostitution, and human trafficking in socialist or communist countries. It's almost like humanities flaws drive those things no matter the economic system. As far as economics go it's a good idea on ffg's part. You're not gonna quit the whole game and sell your stuff over this and neither is anyone else or atleast not in any noticable number. Now people are buying an expansion they may not have due to a shinier paint and sticker that says collectors edition.

On the one hand, @Darth Meanie , I think all of us agree that it's a bummer that you couldn't get what you wanted and that you wasted a morning going to the convention and trying to get it. Heck, I even think you have an argument that it was really crummy of FFG to have limited this thing to a mere 100 Packs per day, especially when they didn't advertise that it was going to be so limited (at least to my knowledge). That's a major gripe against FFG and how they've implemented this. On these two points, I greatly sympathize with you.

That said, the rest of your points are ridiculous, and you're going to rightly get called on how silly they are until you back off of them and admit they are unfair extensions of your beef with this:

  • X-Wing is a collectible game now
  • The alt-paint Con Exclusives are analogous to "rares" in CCGs
  • That this is problematic, while other exclusive swag (mats, templates, cards, dice) are not because it's called a " Miniatures Game"
  • People who sell stuff on the secondary market are immoral

It's also worth noting that you have no moral high ground to stand on (hah, insert "high ground" meme), since it's not clear at all that you would have felt as strongly as you do about Con-Exclusives had you actually gotten yourself one yesterday. I mean, we all know this post wouldn't exist if you got to go home and play with one of the shiny vultures yesterday. So it's not the exclusivity in general that is provoking this level of condemnation, but the fact that you in particular didn't get one. Like the famous primatologist Frans de Waal has noted: Capuchin monkeys seem to have some proto-sense of 'fairness,' since we see them flip out in protest if they are given a reward that they view to be much less valuable than what their peers got (e.g. a cucumber instead of a grape). But they don't really have a robust sense of moral fairness, since they don't flip out in protest when it's one of their peers who gets the crappier reward, If you truly believed this policy of exclusive shiny models was so awful, you wouldn't have been going to try and get one for yourself, supporting the very practice you are skewering. What you take to be so bad about this policy at the moment is that you didn't get one. And you're mad that some other people who had no chance of getting one due to schedule/geography did get one by buying it from someone else who did get one but preferred the money.


And for what it's worth, I'm not trying to be mean, like I genuinely wish you could have gotten one yesterday and it super sucks you did not. It's also really crappy that supplies were so limited at an event as big and popular as Adepticon. Such things have no value to me, and if I manage to grab one at Origins or Gencon (not at Adepticon) I'll sell it you at MSRP+S&H. Had FFG known they were going to be so limited, they could have included that in their announcements. But the extremes to which you are taking your other arguments against the existence of Con-Exclusive Paintjobs makes them neither valid or sound, and you're unlikely to win over any hearts or minds from the rest of the community.

Edited by AllWingsStandyingBy

Buying the limited-edition vulture ship to sell it later for a profit is exactly the same as buying stocks (or any other good) and then selling it later for a profit.

This is, unfortunately, how today's twisted economic system works. The interesting thing is that some people think doing this on a plastic ship is evil, while doing it on a larger economic scale is not.