That question might be better directed at some poor stiff who gets off work at 5pm and dashes over to HMV to buy his copy of Drive only to find all the stock has been stripped by eBay scalpers. No, I don't blame the guy for doing it, but it's a very ruthless exploitation of a market loophole, and the ones who lose out will be the in-store shoppers who won't get a chance to even see it now. Which I think is a shame.
Rob, it's not just steelbook collectibles - this happens on many things - even in the US. The demo Game of Thrones first episode disc was supposed to be given away with a purchase of an HBO series @ Best Buy, however, it was still available to ring out separately at .01 of a dollar. I did not go on release day, but a few days after and my store was completely cleared out but had not sold 1 singular HBO TV series.
Having said that, with any limited release, yes, it's unfortunate for people that wait until release day to purchase a copy will not be able to obtain a copy.
However, the positive to take from this is that in future releases, the studio may do a larger steelbook run due to demand (if it really is that wanted of a title) or there may be limits to how many copies a singular person can purchase. Yes, there are ways around that, but I think there was some success with Future Shop stores in Canada limiting the number of copies available to be purchased by a singular buyer.
As a collector, or someone that really would want this release - and the only behavior the consumer has influence over is their own - the important lesson to take away is that one should always pre-order their copy and hope for the best in that way.
It's not a perfect system, and I do understand your frustration over people that go in store on release day.
If you'd like to discuss a matter like this further, feel free to PM me and we can discuss it that way or I would also suggest contacting HMV directly and expressing your concerns in that manner.
Thank you.
