BongoBob Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7298929p-7210664c.html Would-be Xbox 360 scalpers are robbed ANCHORAGE: Guys buy devices and try to hawk them for $600, but thieves strike. By PAULA DOBBYN Anchorage Daily News Published: December 19, 2005 Last Modified: December 19, 2005 at 03:25 PM 'Tis the season to be ... greedy? Apparently. At least in the Best Buy parking lot and later at a McDonald's restaurant Sunday where an armed robber and an accomplice made off with four newly purchased Xbox 360s that several young men had tried to scalp. For those who haven't heard, Xbox 360s are the hotly promoted, newest and coolest video-game gadget cooked up by Microsoft. People are lining up outside stores nationwide and waiting for hours to buy one. Supply issues and hype make them hard to come by and, consequently, targets for thieves. A line started forming Saturday evening outside electronic retail store Best Buy in South Anchorage. Best Buy was one of a handful of places in town to stock them. Dozens of people waited hours in the cold to buy one of the $399 units when they went on sale at 8 a.m. Sunday morning, according to Anchorage police and Best Buy clerks. Best Buy had 50 Xbox 360s to sell. As they did after the Nov. 22 product launch, the units sold out within a couple of hours, said assistant manager Rod Person. After waiting nine hours in line, a group of five boys and young men entered the store as soon as it opened and purchased their limit: one per customer. The young men, whose names were not available Sunday, tried to make a little extra holiday cash after emerging from the store. They offered to part with two of their Xboxs to folks in line. For $600, said police spokesman Paul Honeman. No one agreed. So the five, ages 14 to 24, piled into a van and drove to McDonald's on Lake Otis Parkway near Abbott Road for breakfast. They left the 14-year-old in the car with the Xboxs. Someone who also wanted an Xbox and who apparently saw them trying to sell the consoles outside Best Buy followed them to McDonald's, Honeman said. A man who was described as bald and wearing bluejeans and a blue hooded sweatshirt walked up to the van, opened its sliding door and pulled a gun out, police said. The man ordered the teen to open the van's rear door. Another man, described as having dark curly hair, opened the door and took four of the Xboxs. The teen hid the fifth unit under his feet and managed to keep it, Honeman said. The thieves drove off in a dark SUV. Police believe a third person was involved. pwned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sitherino Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Wow yeah, so they were offering to sell the xbox's for $600. The kid obviously deserved to be held at gunpoint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Windu Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 yeah... not exactly awesome.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Sucks to be them, thats all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 I wouldn't say they "got what they deserved." They were basically doing the same thing as people do on eBay, sell them way overpriced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sitherino Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Well, generally your out of store scalpers are approached by others. That's what happened to my friend. He was offered $1,200 for his by some guy, he took the money. The way I see it, $600 outside the store is better than $2,000 over the internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Writer Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Saw a modded 360 on Ebay that sold for $10,300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Hell, if I got a 360 for $400 and someone asked if they could have it for $1000, I'd take it. I'd rather wait and be $600 richer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BongoBob Posted December 21, 2005 Author Share Posted December 21, 2005 I don't mean he deserved to be held up at gunpoint, I'm just saying that I'm tired of people like this, and am happy they were relieved of 4 of the 360's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 I don't mean he deserved to be held up at gunpoint, I'm just saying that I'm tired of people like this, and am happy they were relieved of 4 of the 360's. Well, yah. We know that, but it still kind of sucks for them because the bad guys weren't robbing them because they were scalpers, but because they had 4 of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcusLeCoy Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 There are some crazy gamers out there. Ready to kill to play. o_o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acrylic Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 I don't mean he deserved to be held up at gunpoint, I'm just saying that I'm tired of people like this, and am happy they were relieved of 4 of the 360's. Well, they DID pay for those Xboxes that were stolen. And they weren't really breaking the rules at all, so I don't see a problem with it. Sure, if I was someone who really wanted an Xbox, I'd be pissed, but if you wanted one that bad this time of year, then be prepared to get up early and wait in line. *Can't wait til the PS3 comes out so I can make some monnnaaayyyy* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK-8252 Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 Now watch the robbers turn around and sell the stolen ones on eBay for $2,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 Yeah, well just wait till they get the PS3 out of the stable. X-BOX 360 will be an outdated piece of crap... And I'm not saying this 'coz I'm a PS fanboi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapNColostomy Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 Yeah, well just wait till they get the PS3 out of the stable. X-BOX 360 will be an outdated piece of crap... And I'm not saying this 'coz I'm a PS fanboi. Outdated? That's rediculous. Some people are still playing the original NES ffs. I'm a PS fanboi. You said it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 I am so going to preorder a ps3 and then flog it... For the price they are selling 360s on ebay you could fly to japan and buy one of the ones they don't want over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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