Few groups in Japan respond to a slight quite like Disney devotees. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the conglomerate's Tokyo Disneyland park, and to celebrate and rack up some more revenue, earlier this year it unveiled a line of limited-edition goods tied to the occasion.
After the release, however, it soon became clear that resellers were snatching up all those special mouse-centric goods to put up on third-party sites such as Mercari. Disney obsessives were none too thrilled about these people polluting the "Happiest Place on Earth" with their money-making schemes. They took to social media to vent, finding sympathy among other fans deprived of small-batch towels covered in their favorite characters.
Resellers have long been a scourge of Japanese netizens, up there with the copyright collection agency JASRAC and TV stations asking to use videos of disasters. The topic has become especially prevalent online this year, thanks to a bunch of special events, concerts and goods being disrupted by folks scooping up the items before fans can get a fair chance at buying them. It's also earned a bigger spotlight because big changes are emerging to curb the practice.