New Travel Channel Show - TOY HUNTERS

[JeffSaylor]

"Follow the boys... who hunt for their toys."

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In the spirit of popular television shows Auction Hunters, American Pickers and Storage Wars, the Travel Channel is debuting a new series called Toy Hunters. Follow toy and collectibles dealer Jordan Hembrough and his team as they travel the country searching out the rarest and most sought after toys and pop culture collectibles. Join Jordan as he meets incredible people and learns about the history of some of the most popular toy lines in the past 30 years.

Premiering January 15th at 11:00pm on Travel Channel, the first episode of Toy Hunter features Hembrough and his Hollywood Heroes as they journey to New York Comic Con, gathering rare and never before seen toys along the way. Comic Con is the "Super Bowl" of toy wheeling and dealing, gathering thousands of people each year. It's the event where the biggest comic and toy collectors turn out to spend BIG money on the rarest toys.

Can Jordan "seal the deal" and turn his new found treasures into Toy Gold? Tune in January 15th and find out. Check your local listings.

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[wesitron]

Should I not be concerned that this is going to really legitimize scalping? You see those pickers guys on TV boasting about how they're ripping people off and selling it for 10 times what they bought it for all the time. And just like that show, I expect glorifying toy flipping is just going to make real collectors lives hell as more and more people flood the toy aisles looking to make a quick buck.

Am I nuts here?

[JeffSaylor]

From what I've heard it's going to be mostly about older retro toys - like stuff from the '70s/'80s He-Man, Star Wars and the like. I don't think it is going to have much effect on scalping - a practice that's going to continue with or without the show. Like the pickers, you STILL need to understand the trade in order to turn a profit. I couldn't tell you that a rusted bicycle I found at the flea market was an antique worth $100s or a piece of junk worth nothing. Same applies to toys and unless viewers totally invest themselves in the hobby, I don't see a whole lot of new scalpers cropping up because of the show.

I expect we'll see some scripted high dollar flips (it's TV after all) that'll make a lot of us in the hobby scream "no way!" but your casual viewer go "wow, I didn't know you could make so much money on toys!" Can't wait to see the show though, should be entertaining.

[wesitron]

Hope you're right! I'm probably looking at ripples that may never come to pass. It'd be interesting if they really get into the history of toys, that'd be a fun spin on the show. Honestly, though, I would bet they'll try to make it as similar to those other shows as possible and focus on the big dollar reveal more than the toys.

But who knows, maybe it'll be a boon to the industry and get people back in the toy aisles. Heck, look what the transformer movies did for Hasbro. Yikes!