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Re: Star Wars Black Series discussion
A couple of my thoughts & observations re: EB Games and pre-orders:
1. I agree that their pre-order system needs to be improved.
2. If you're pre-ordering with your Edge account, make sure your phone number is up-to-date. I had an old number on there a while back, so when they couldn't get a hold of me they let the figure go on the floor.
3. As I understand it, the individual stores have no control over what stock gets sent to them. It is all decided by head office and/or their warehouse. Which seems like a stupid way to operate to me. As a boutique-type store (it's even in their name!), the company should be heavily relying on the store managers who know their local customers well and know best what products sell. Let the managers decide what they need to have stocked.
4. When it comes to U.S.-retailer exclusives being offered by a different company in Canada, I usually give lots of leeway, ie. GameStop, Walgreens, Target, etc. exclusives getting picked up by EB Games here. They basically get last pick when it comes to securing stock. For the Jumptrooper, it's possible Hasbro did a smaller-than-usual run, plus GameStop would have gotten first chance to reserve however much stock they want. EB Games gets offered the leftovers (if at all).
So, can EB Games do better? Absolutely.
But when it comes to exclusives like this, I try not to blame them too much when there's little/no stock. At least, I try not to blame them for the stuff they can't control. In the end, I am happy that they've been getting so many of these things at all, and that they even do pre-orders. For so many years of collecting, we never even had that option. I just wish they'd get even better at things - though it's doubtful. Their pre-order system was set up for selling video games, which have a much higher sell rate with larger volume stocked.
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