Toy Story 5 is now in theaters, and dedicated fans can make their screening special by purchasing the official popcorn bucket. This is patterned after Buzz Lightyear and boasts retractable wings and “light-up features” (just what you need in a dark movie theater…)
But kids visiting one Cineworld in the United Kingdom will miss out, because a reseller has bought every single one they had in a single purchase to sell them for a profit.
In a TikTok posted by resellersparadise, described as “easy profits”, we see him enquire how many of the Buzz Lightyear popcorn buckets he’s allowed to purchase at once. The Cineworld worker shrugs, so the TikToker says, “How many have you got?”
An overlay then appears, detailing that while you can buy them for £40 ($53) you can sell them online for £75 ($99). The man then says he’ll buy “whatever there is” and begins packing them into a large bag, while a caption appears indicating he thinks anyone who’ll actually pay $99 is “crazy”.
A later pop-up sees the tip that apparently sparked this, explaining: “Toy Story fans are crazy for merch especially exclusive bits like this” and describing a bulk buy as “easy money”.
“Easy money”.
The video hasn’t been received well, with many noting that by buying the theater’s entire stock all at once, he’s prevented children from buying one when they go to the movie. One describes this as “sad behavior”, another says “Pretty grim isn’t it given this film is for kids?”, and “another “so glad my mother didn’t raise me to become this.”
Even other resellers don’t sound enthusiastic:
All for making money, but let people (kids) get the chance to enjoy their day out, selling out is one thing but knowing an adult has gone in to buy them all to hopefully make profit. You’ve taken every single one for that day… 👎🏻
The video was then reposted on X, where reactions were similarly negative. Cineworld themselves were pressed for comment, with someone identified as “Chloe” asking:
“seriously how was this guy allowed to clear your shelves in more than one cinema?? These videos are absolutely diabolical and disgusting so many people who genuinely wanted one missed out because you just let resellers clear the shelf its so bad”
Cineworld confirmed that they are aware of the incident and that an internal review is underway:
“Hi Chloé, we have been made aware of this and this has been passed onto the relevant teams to review internally, we appreciate your feedback regarding this matter”
As many have pointed out, a simple “one bucket per customer” rule would have prevented this from happening, particularly as the buckets have significant resale value.
Published: Jun 23, 2026 10:30 am