  Scalpers are a serious problem when you want to purchase
collectibles, video games, and toys. They build their entire web
enterprises around buying up limited stock then extorting the
rest from desperate consumers.  For the last few months,
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventures figures have been hard to come by
and likely will be until later this year when the next game
comes out. Activision is still shipping new toys, and even
issuing limited edition versions of already common characters,
but they aren't any easier  to find on shelves.   This pearl Hex
looks really cool but good luck finding one for a decent price.
This figure is currently going for $430 on eBay  pearl hex
Scalper culture is the problem here. Skylanders are very hard to
find because people want them and online retailers are
capitalizing on that. If you do a quick search for Sklanders on
eBay or Amazon, you'll get hundreds of results at some fairly
astronomical prices.    I'm not sure if Activision increasing
production would solve this problem,