What toy line do you have trouble finding in stores?

[Super_Megatron]

Is there a toy line that always has only 3 or 4 figures left in the toy isle? Or something that doesn't get stocked at your local stores?

[CTO15]

does all of them work? lol

But really, any 6" figures that are not related to a movie has had a hard time making it to retail, MLs and DCUC come into mind.

Except lately, TRU has made me happy by bringing in DCUC, but by overstocking on the 2-packs and wave 6-7, I dunno if future waves will make here.

With MLs, there have been short periods where the 2-packs were coming in, but in the mean time the Nemesis Wave, Ares Wave, and Rulk Wave were released in the US. Granted those waves were store exclusives, but the Ares and Nemesis wave were Walmart exclusives that could have made it here.

I think that is one of the main concerns for me when collecting a toyline, when a store has an exclusive for a certain wave.

When wave 5 for DCUC was a walmart wave, I had no chance of seeing those boys at retail, but luckily a friend helped me out by picking up a set for me. However, with wave 10 coming up (another walmart exclusive) I hope I have the same luck

[pud333]

does all of them work? lol



I second that!

Seriously, I just find that TRU tends to overstock on certain waves of figures (eg: Star Wars, Joes, MU, DCIH, etc) and so there are just a bunch of the same figures sitting on the pegs. The TRU where I live has basically had the same assortment of MU and SW figures since, like, forever. This makes me worried that TRU reps may see these figures as not selling as well, so we end up missing on certain waves. (eg: I know we missed a couple 25th Ann. Joe waves.)

As for trying other stores, like Walmart or Zellers, I find they're too out of the way so when I do eventually get to one, they have nothing on the shelves. It seems lately Walmart and Zellers are the only places getting in new waves (Walmart tends to get all the new waves of MU, etc first) but I can never find any by the time I get to one. This is why I rely so heavily on online stores.

Though the recent price increases to MU through online stores has got me in a bad mood. Offering a toy for sale at a markup is one thing, but charging something like $14.99 USD for an MU figure is just taking advantage of those that depend on online retailers, IMO. As a result of this, I have resorted to depending on US residents from other toy boards to get me what I need, or a few specific Ebay sellers because their prices are always decent.

Personally, I am getting to the point where the quality just doesn't seem to justify the costs, and as much as I love collecting, I will be paring down what I buy, and most likely selling some of my current collection. I guess the excitement is sort of wearing off for me now that figures are harder to find and the prices are going up.

[SPLIT LIP]

Transformers
DC Direct
LEGO
DCUC
Any Mattel products
Star Wars
Halo figures

I can go on.

[MeisterJ4zz]

NECA Street Fighter IV - TRU in Canada had wave 1 but what happened to wave 2?

[jacobot]

You'd think "Canada's Greatest Toy Store" could keep all toy lines fully stocked... Instead I'm running around to Discount Department Stores looking for the odd fresh case of Hasbro, Mattel and McFarlane Figures :(

[Super_Megatron]

There is no way anyone is not seeing Transformers and Star Wars in stores. there are huge sections dedicated to these toy lines. You may not see the toy you are looking for right away but the presence is there.

[pud333]

There is no way anyone is not seeing Transformers and Star Wars in stores. there are huge sections dedicated to these toy lines. You may not see the toy you are looking for right away but the presence is there.

You're right. I guess the complaint was more to do with overabundance of stock drowning out potential new stock from coming in (Which is not exactly what the question was asking about, haha). Anyway, yeah, SW and TFs are all over the place.

The harder ones for sure are DCIH for me. Sure, nothing new has been released for a while for DCIH, but it was never easy to find to begin with. The only place I saw them before were at my LCS. Didn't hit TRU till months and months later where they peg warmed for a while until being hard to find again. The latter might be more due to poor sales perhaps?

[jacobot]

District-9 figs... Just kidding :(

[Robimus]

There is no way anyone is not seeing Transformers and Star Wars in stores. there are huge sections dedicated to these toy lines. You may not see the toy you are looking for right away but the presence is there.

Star Wars presence is incomplete this year, as it was a few years back. Look at Clone Wars; we never got the assortments announced and then got one big assortment which was still missing like half the figures that should have been released.

Will we eventually see these? I dunno and from history I know that we used to not get them all, not even close. I think we might be back to that senario now.

So are Star Wars figures on toy shelves? Sure they are, only in an incomplete fashion which is really annoying for collectors.

[StarwarsTF]

Dont blame the retail in Canada for having incomplete waves you got to blame the MFR who doesn't offer up the assortment upon time in ordering for this country.

So ex: Hasbro with SW figures they dont call up the buyers and tell them whose in the case assortment, just that their new packaged and the first wave of the new year ie saga figures new packaging but its all wave 1 again from 2007!!!

Somebody want to ask Hasbro why they constantly screw the consumer over and over again??? with new packaging but 2 year old figures. :( Thats just my opinion

[SPLIT LIP]

There is no way anyone is not seeing Transformers and Star Wars in stores. there are huge sections dedicated to these toy lines. You may not see the toy you are looking for right away but the presence is there.My local Zellers has not had Star Wars, old or new, for almost a month now.

They just restocked their TFs yesterday. Ever since the movie endcaps dissappeared they took everything with them.

[Super_Megatron]

My local Zellers has not had Star Wars, old or new, for almost a month now.

They just restocked their TFs yesterday. Ever since the movie endcaps dissappeared they took everything with them.

Ok, Zellers I can understand!

[CTO15]

Ok, Zellers I can understand!


yeah, Zellers has a terrible toy selection

[Robimus]

Dont blame the retail in Canada for having incomplete waves you got to blame the MFR who doesn't offer up the assortment upon time in ordering for this country.


I think there is blame to be shared to be frank.

Look at the recent Legacy: A New Hope Wave from about two months back. I saw them on the pegs in TRU once and only in one of the two Winnipeg Toys"R"us's at that.

TRU and I'd assume the other big retailers obviously had the oppurtunity to bring these in as they have been reported as sighted on their shelves....but then where are they? If I hadn't happened to walk into TRU that day I would have never seen them at retail in MB.

Since your privy to some inside information;) StarwarsTF I have a question. If TRU has over ordered on certain waves of figures do they then order less of the future waves?

I've just always wondered about this because it seems sound. If you have X number of cases of Clone Wars figures that haven't yet sold is there a chance that individual TRU's then order less of the next several waves with the hope of moving the older figures along with BOGO sales and what not?

Going back to 1999 I know Walmart put this into effect with the Episode One figures. They ordered so many of the first assortment, figures that didn't preform as well as they thought, that when the next assortments became available Walmart didn't even bother bringing them in.

[pud333]

Since your privy to some inside information;) StarwarsTF I have a question. If TRU has over ordered on certain waves of figures do they then order less of the future waves?


Ooh, if you have an answer to this, StarwarsTF, I would dearly like to know as well! Because it certainly seems like they order less later on...

As for blame, every time someone brings up a question about distribution to Hasbro or Mattel or any other big manufacturer, they tend to shift the blame to the retailer, saying it's up to them to order what they want/need.

My local Zellers has not had Star Wars, old or new, for almost a month now.


Same here. The first SW figures I'd seen at a Zellers in months were the recent CW Battlepacks my girlfriend spotted a couple weeks ago. Other than that: bupkiss.

[TSHawkeye]

Zellers has a terrible toy selection
Not for me. The Mic Mac Mall Zellers has better stuff cheaper than Toys r us next door. I got a few things there I had never seen at TRU

[CTO15]

Not for me. The Mic Mac Mall Zellers has better stuff cheaper than Toys r us next door. I got a few things there I had never seen at TRU

really? wow. thats the opposite for me. The toy selection is always behind in time, and overpriced quite a bit.

[TSHawkeye]

They do have some older stuff but Ive found ALOT of Joe stuff there that TRU didnt have yet(or never got, the last things being a Tiger Rat and Python Patrol Conquest) and I find the MU and Joe figures are about $1 less(I always used to check there first for MLs too, they were cheaper than TRU by $2). Those are really the only things I buy with any regularity so I dont know about Star Wars of TFs

[VIT]

25th anniversary gi joes that aren't canadian cards. being a collector in this country is depressing.
not only do we get shitty generic cards with no file cards but they shaft us buy not including all the figures released in a certain wave or the last of the line to be produced doesn't even get carded for us.

[MrAleck]

I have had nothing but bad luck finding any DCIH in any of the major stores in the Lower Mainland I really get sick and tired of seeing the same Dr Fates , Black Lightning , and The Spectre staring back at me everywhere I go . Anybody else been having any luck with these ?

[pandaprime]

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? :confused:

[Super_Megatron]

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? :confused:

Considering they are Internet exclusives that's not surprising :D