Child NPC Buddy Scoop (a.k.a. "The Collector) appears to have a broken schedule. According to the sign on his stall, he's meant to be there from 10am to 8pm daily. If you happen to visit the Crystal Valley region during these hours, he will indeed be there and remain at his stall until 8pm as scheduled.
However, if you arrive in this region during his off hours and stick around, he will arrive at close to 5am and leave at 8am. He will then be replaced at his post by an identical clone duplicate having the same functionality as Buddy but with a different, randomized name. This pattern can repeat itself with his duplicate as well, causing the game to needlessly produce multiple clones of Buddy Scoop with different names.
As Buddy Scoop's household is hidden, so are those of duplicates. I had to use the "Add to Family" cheat to get rid of the Buddy Scoop doppelgangers.
I've confirmed that the bug isn't specific to my current save. It can be confirmed in a new game by visiting the Crystal Valley region of Gibbi Point in the middle of the night (midnight, for example) and waiting until approximately 5am at which point Buddy will show up, stick around until 8am, leave, and then be replaced by a newly spawned clone with a different name.
