[DADoser]

I had posted the following yesterday within the "Good Deals" TM discussion w/ no reply/reaction - looks like this is a better place to put this part of that post:

"I was first in line and when I went in, no one else headed to the Corgi items. Gunslinger and I were coordinating to make sure we each got what we were looking for (he was at another store). I put items in my cart that I thought he/I wanted. Called him - we both found what we were looking for at the store we were at. I started puting items back that I wasn't going to get.

An old guy in a motorized chair pulls up to the end cap. He can't reach the top items. I help him get stuff down and show him the pilot figures he can't reach or see. He says: "I flew P-40's." I ask him where and when. This begins a conversation - mostly me just listening to him. He was 90 years old; retired, 24 yr. Air force pilot; During WWII he was an instructor; flew in post-war Japan - P-51's (told me about flying over Hiroshima and seeing the damage); also flew P-47s (razorbacks - never flew the bubble top); and flew P-80's in Korea.

He also trained Ralph Parr as well as either trained and/or served with/under Bud Mahurin. Just a really interesting guy - and seemed very appreciative to have me listen/talk to him. We also talked diecast - as he was also somewhat of a collector himself.

After we had been talking for awhile and we both had the models we wanted in our carts - another guy came in. He just basically bought everything decent that was left in that store. We tried talking to him a little - he was nice - but clearly not interested talking history or collections. He did say he had been to 2 other stores already.

As we (Bob, the veteran and I) were checking out - the manager told us that that guy "resells" the stuff.

I know everyone has a right to buy whatever is on the shelf - but it just irritated me a little to see someone (who may not appreciate the history) buy the stuff and resell it at a higher price to someone who does (me?).
But - on the other side, maybe he is doing a service to folks who live in rural or areas who do not have a TM. I don't know............."


As Mike also says (at least this is the way I read his take) - How is a diecast "scalper" who resells for a pure profit motive really any different than "us" buying a model to profit off of and then put that money back into our own collections? I CAN see both sides - especially if the "scalper" is using the profit to feed his children - that may be a better cause than me having an extra model stashed in the closet to trade later. ???????????