Earlier this month, the Halo franchise and footwear brand Wolverine announced a very exciting collaboration. Everything came from the public. Some followers of the brand said that the model Wolverine’s Hellcat It looked like a boot straight out of a Halo character. Subsequently, the brands were associated to make the dreams of many come true. However, everything has turned bittersweet. Instead of being a fan product, speculators in turn they have done their thing, preventing practically anyone from getting this product at a normal and reasonable price. The horrible world of themed sneakers.
Wolverine x Halo: a collaboration that lasted half a minute
Less than 30 seconds. That was how long the stock of the Wolverine Halo Boots. This is how the user The Basement Nerd tells it on Twitter. When it arrived in the web cart, the model was already Exhausteddespite the fact that he had prepared the big moment to get the pair of boots before anyone else.
At first, The Basement Nerd thought it would be bad luck. Some delayed, an Internet connection not as fast as other buyers… but no. Halo’s Master Chief boots had been worn down by the same old guys, the ones we now know as ‘scalpers’. Some claim that the boots were already sold out just at the time the page went public. In other words, there are users who hypothesize that the brand has facilitated the sale to speculators rather than to the general public. Without a doubt, a very serious accusation that could take its toll on the company.
These sold out before the page even went live
— larryftmfw (@larryftmfw1) March 29, 2022
Time for resellers to make money
Apparently only 117 boots were put up for sale via the web on March 29 at the price of $225. Within hours, eBay was filled with reselling listings for this model. The first articles began to be placed around 400 dollars. However, hours later, it was not strange to see these Master Chief Boots by $1,000 or $2,000. Many of the potential buyers of this exclusive item have not hesitated to show their disappointment on social networks.
The shadow of speculation is lengthened
Once again, speculators have gotten away with it. This limited edition pair of boots is nothing more than a new victim in the huge list of products that have fallen into the clutches of these people. This technique consists of buying and hoarding goods with limited stock to control them the second hand and inflate prices. Lately it’s happening a lot with limited editions, but we’ve also seen it with new generation consoles like PlayStation 5 or even with Pokémon cards, which have disappeared from the market both first-hand and exclusive cards from previous generations. Subsequently, many speculators buy items from each other to create a false price history that justifies some unwary end up buying a product for more than 10 times its price. A great example of this is what has occurred in the market for the sale of second-hand classic video games, with highly exorbitant prices and companies like WATA, which are in the spotlight for being the corrupt referee that justifies the manipulation of prices
