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Topic: June 26th Interview with WDAC Director Lee Zoppa

#	Author	Message
1	Doobie Tue 6/26/2001 5:41a	This topic is for discussion of the June 26th Interview with new WDAC Director Lee Zoppa. This article is at: http://LaughingPlace.com/News-ID502840.asp.
2	jlprjlpr Tue 6/26/2001 5:41a	This morning I clicked on one of my favorite bookmarks looking for the latest Jim Hill column and immediately became sick to my stomach when I found a Lee Zoppa interview as the headline story at laughplace.com. After reading this interview I am convinced that Ms. Zoppa is determined to embrace Scalper Scum as much as possible and frustrate alot of collectors. There is nothing new in the interview we don't already know about except what Lee called "Managed scarcity". She says: <<"Managed scarcity" is a term that is very common in the industry and is something that Disney is now becoming aware of. Actually, someone even mentioned the phrase to me recently -- a Disney person. It was then that I realized that Disney is starting to understand the concept, because with collectibles, it's all about "less being more." Really, managed scarcity is about limiting pieces. In doing so, the only way a collector can obtain a certain piece is to possibly buy it from another collector who purchased it when it was first introduced. In other words, they have to hunt for it. So, what we're now doing is making our entire product line better and scarcer.>> Did you get that last part, she actually says that we ENJOY BUYING A PIECE FROM ANOTHER COLLECTOR! In other words, she's saying we ENJOY BUYING FROM SCALPER SCUM ON EBAY AT INFLATED PRICES! This is UNBELIEVABLE! What a lack of sensitivity to the very collectors that buy her product. She also says: <<But what collectors love is hunting for things and that's what makes this business so interesting, and fun. They love trying to find things on the secondary market.>> This is outrageous. Sure we all like looking on ebay for old stuff. But when a new piece is extremely rare such as the Pink Dancing Aurora or the recent Alice Harmony Kingdom, we don't "love" trying to find it on the secondary market because some scalper scum bought 10 and is selling them on ebay for triple their price. What is she thinking? The interviewer from laughingplace.com then asks: <<LP: Are you concerned about people who are only buying to resell and have no interest in the pieces themselves? LZ: There are people that abuse the secondary market - - they're not buying the pieces because they love them or want them, they are buying them as an investment. We hope people buy the pieces they love, or a piece that they want to display in their home. A piece that represents a fond Disney memory or the emotion felt from a particular movie moment.>> SHE DIDN'T ANSWER THE QUESTION! She just said some people abuse and quickly changed the subject like a politician and said we should just buy what we love. Of course, her plan is to make what you love so scarce that the scalper scum will get at it first before you can love it. And if you want to love it, you'll have to pay double or triple for it. I have no problem with limiting the number of pieces made so that they aren't as commonplace as CDs to sign up for AOL are. However, when your plan is to PUPOSELY create scarcity and encourage scalper scum there's something wrong with the picture. I find Ms. Zoppa's plans very disturbing and I find her embracement of scalper scum to be insulting to the true loyal collector. Instead, she should be assuring those who are true collectors that we will be able to get the pieces we want. How about doing the pieces as comissions? That is, introduce a piece, have anyone who is a society member order it for a certain period, let's say three months, and then whatever amount were ordered is the edition number. That way everyone who wants one gets one without having to deal with scalper scum. Sounds like a fair way to me. Instead, Lee Zoppa is embracing the scalper scum with polite phrases like "Managed scarcity" and "secondary market".

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