New Walmart Reset Cuts Back On G.I. Joe

I don't know if this is of interest to anyone else, but this is what the couple Wal-Marts in the area are resetting to for this current reset. Disappointed in the cutbacks on Joes, but they have finally sold through almost all of the early stuff that we were choking on. Maybe we'll get some good stuff on the pegs.

Anyhoo, check out the pics for a little(and I stress little) information that may be interesting.


EDIT: Woot! Front paged! Tis an honor!

Whats up Scotty. I saw that as well and I checked out their complete layout for the whole action figure department. They still give way to much space to lines such as backugan (spelling?)

The Walmarts in my area have all done their resets. Seems like a lot less space overall for action figures, and definitely less space for the Joes - not surprising since the movie has come and gone. Now if they could get rid of the molepods.

It still looks like there's going to be two rows of joe singles so not all is bad, but the one I looked at had they moving them down almost to the far end of the section.

Waaaay too much space for Bakugan. Probably 18-24 pegs for basic singles alone, not to mention all the other associated crap.

My store added DCUC finally, just in time to bring in $15 toys that no one will buy.

My store(when I say that, I mean my local store, I don't work there....yet, still unemployed) didn't follow the planogram at all, though, and their "strong leadoff" on the toy aisle with Transformers and whatnot totally didn't happen. Random Lego and Ben-10 stuff, lol.

And don't even bother trying to bring any of this up to a manager, even in a kind helpful tone, which I did. The response I got was "Listen, we work here and we know what we're doing". He got nervous when I took those pics, lol. Still got $60 Skywarps, $44 AT-STs, and $30 Dewbacks.

So essentially Joe moves from hat box to match box...thanks walmart.

Yep, our Joe section has been reset and cut in half. I do find it strange though that the majority of the pegs have Combat heroes and action battlers (3 pegs of each) and they are all on sale and have been for about 3 months now and the pegs are full of them. Yet the 3 3/4 figures only have 2 pegs and are always sold out except for the 1 ROC CC that has been sitting there since X-Mas.
As a business owner, I would focus on getting more of the well selling and always sold out product and just get rid of the non-selling items that clog the shelves.... But that's just me.

A couple of the WMs around here(I ran a lot today) are finally getting the clear this s#!t out mood, and dropping prices drastically. Of course, on nothing good. Those little battlers or whatever were like $3, and the Combat Heroes the same.

The WM closest to me cut the prices on the Bakugan to half price on some of the stuff and uless it was moving fast enough they keep it stocked the stuff moved les the the Joes. And the Joe stuff at the WM closest to me has been moved to about the middle of the isle, another one has this same spot and the third local WM has always had them at the end of the isle. And I don't know whos to blame over the WWE figures. In my area the only figures that hang around are the waves that seem to be loaded with the mid card/lesser known wrestlers. But when they would get a good wave in the figures would last maybe a week to two weeks normaly. A few waves would only last a few days. But do you blame WM of Jakks? I kinda hate to see the Wolverine stuff go but it's also way over priced in my opinion. So if they go on sale for a good price I might pick a few up. And the $3 price jump on the DCUC figures sucks but I have only seen waves 6,7 and 10 at any of my local WMs.

Better less shelf space than none at all. 25th didn't command as much shelf space as ROC did so maybe this is taking it back to business as usual.

In the case of WWE figs being crap, that's all Mattel now. Just like every other toy line they produce, they make the desirable figures the hardest to find. Shortpacking the lesser desired figs would create a demand for them and they would sell(maybe even a secondary market), AND the fans would be able to walk into any store and buy their favorite characters without trouble. But, that's not the toy universe's way, especially in the Mattel galaxy(which spins backwards, in an elliptical orbit)

Way off topic, but Roshan, I see it frequently, I love your signature pic. Makes me laugh every time.

Dude, gotta give props to your head bangin kitty too. It's hot

lol, thx

wally's pretty much downsized everything. that's fine, there's nothing good coming out in the next few months anyways.

I am always surprised at how much space stores like WM give to GI Joe.

Oh well, I may never understand it fully.

My Walmart did reset too and they have just open a another nice case of wave 1 Roc.....I am so pissed.

The way things are looking, I'm not even going to bother with toy hunting until early March when the Iron Man 2 stuff hits.

my Walmart actually expanded the Joe section. They finished the reset and placed the new WWE figures at the end, expanded Joes from 2 columns to 6 for figures, and then expanded the Star wars and Transformers as well to finish the aisle off. Its pretty cool to walk in and see all the major lines in large quantities.

This was to be expected. TRU & Target may still allocate more space for Joe than WM this Spring, as WM typically carried the least amount of Joe before ROC. When the POC launch starts in fall they will probably give Joe a bit more space again.

Yeah, but the IM2 figures are said to be in the 3 3/4" scale and look like mostly rehashes from the first movie anyway. You still excited regardless?

That's exactly how the Rise of Cobra section has looked at my Walmart since they got them on the pegs last year! Except, they never have gotten any of the vehicles in besides a couple of Pitts near Christmas! No exclusives at all either! They have more The Corps! figures, box sets and vehicles than they have had Joes at any given time during the RoC line. Sad, just sad.

Yes (because they're 3 3/4"). There's a whole "comic series" of figures based on comic-book designs, as well as the movie series.

Plus, I'm quite willing to bet that they'll unveil the figures from the new movie at Toy Fair and have them on shelves right alongside the stuff we've already seen.

I'm surprised he let you take the pictures. Most retail stores have a policy of no cameras/camcorders.

Most notable from the memo: ". . .we have taken off the liabilities and managed down some of the licenses such as G.I.Joe. . . "

So, less space for toys from one of the biggest* movies last summer. OK. Fine. I'm disappointed, but I'm hoping whatever comes next will be good, being it Pursuit of Cobra or whatever.

". . .there will be an action figure mod update the first week in March. . .Wolverine goes away altogether. The main addition will be Marvel's Iron Man 2. . ."

I'm optimistic about this line. A couple of the figures look amazing (War Machine and Crimson Dynamo, I'm looking in your direction).

"Yes (because they're 3 3/4"). There's a whole "comic series" of figures based on comic-book designs, as well as the movie series. Plus, I'm quite willing to bet that they'll unveil the figures from the new movie at Toy Fair and have them on shelves right alongside the stuff we've already seen."

With a couple of exceptions (short Magneto? Punisher's giant head?), Marvel is doing an amazing job. I can't wait to see what Marvel has to offer in the 3 3/4 line at Toy Fair.

"I'm surprised he let you take the pictures. Most retail stores have a policy of no cameras/camcorders."

This is why it's better to ask forgiveness than permission.




* Like it or not, the movie made a ton of money ($150 million gross domestic, $150 million gross international, and another $65 million in DVD sales, it more than made back its $175 million budget G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information - The Numbers). And that, nowadays, is success.

The thing is, box-office success doesn't necessarily equal greater toy sales. If that were the case, you wouldn't be able to find Avatar toys anywhere right now. Instead they're largely pegwarming just like they were prior to the movies' release.

It's just a rough time for action figures in general right now. Even Star Wars is cutting back on some of their assortments this year.

Yeah, I went into my local WM and was surprised to see the price increase in the DCUC. What's up with that?

Roc was given a big section for the movie launch and Christmas. It proceeded to peg warm and take up space until they dropped the price to a reasonable level. Makes sense in Walmart's eyes to reduce the space given to it now that Christmas is over, and compounded with the fact that Hasbro is driving prices back up to that insane price point again. Walmart knows that they are not going to sell at that price so why devote a lot of prime real estate to it?

Mattel's been warning about a price increase for DCUC for about six months now (even before their last price increase from $9.99 to $12.99). Surprise surprise, Hasbro's not the only company trying to sell expensive toys (Seen how much those Avatar figures cost?) and raising prices. I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the year DCUC becomes a Mattycollector exclusive where they drop 1-3 $20 figures a month.

When you say "rough time for action figures in general right now" I assume you are referring to some alternate reality?? Other than a few 'miss' lines in '09 (i.e., Avatar, Terminator: Salvation, etc.) action figures having been doing incredibly well! Look no further than cleaned out shelves post x-mas, and so much variety of available action figure product that most of us have wallets aching from the pain, and you'll have the truth= action figure sales are strong, the product offerings are incredible, and it's a great time to be a collector.

With the sheer number of lines that Mattel spreads the DC property out over, there's just no acceptable reason for the price to be that high. They can't blame crude oil costs anymore, and its certainly not because of an increase in quality of life at the factories I'm sure. I almost wonder if this is Mattel's way of passing the buck for all the money they lost in sales and lawsuits over the contaminated toys.

Very good point. Costs get absorbed everywhere, and with the fact that lines such as DCUC and MOTU have a built-in fanbases and are 'boutique' lines by nature, why not expect that fanboys with disposable income can absorb at least some of those costs? Sucks, but is the most likely reason the aforementioned figures continue to skyrocket in price well in advance of inflation, oil costs, etc.

Cleaned out shelves in your area perhaps, but far from empty in mine (nevermind that much of that empty space comes from lines and items that were clearanced post-Christmas). Plenty of products from pretty much every line still on-shelf here. The fact of the matter is that Hasbro (among others) have flat-out stated with some lines (notably the Star Wars Legacy Collection) that sales have slowed down dramatically. In short lines that are "big hits" are more rare than lines that are "misses." That's generally the way it's always been, but retailers and manufacturers are feeling it a little more now because their overhead is going up. Action figures are rapidly following the same path movies are: Less individuals buying, but making up the lack by raising prices.

I'm not trying to be a doomsayer and say the entire action figure market is on the verge of collapse, but it doesn't take a genius to see that this year was not nearly as successful a year for action figures as several of the years previous, likely due to a slower economy coupled with the prices the retailers were (at least initially) asking for their products.

Or maybe there's a kernel of truth to it when the manufacturers tell us that their costs have gone up, despite the stubborn refusal of the collector market to accept it. "Increase in quality of life at the factories" is very much a factor in these price increases. The factory workers are angling to become part of China's rapidly growing middle class, so we're not talking about raising their pay from 5 cents an hour to 6 cents an hour....more like 10 or 15 or more...a doubling or tripling of payroll costs which is absolutely passed on to the manufacturer. Further, while it may or may not be the costs of the lawsuits, it absolutely is the cost of the increased testing and changes in the manufacturing process that they've had to make in those lawsuits' wake that's certainly not helping toys get any cheaper. Those changes are also hitting all manufacturers...not just those that got hit with the lawsuits.

Yes, the manufacturers and the retailers want to make a healthy profit, that's business, but they're not so stupid as to gouge the prices of their product for no reason whatsoever. If you can't accept the prices, then simply don't buy them. Money is, after all, the only thing that talks in the end. Of course, you run the risk of a line you enjoy getting cancelled altogether rather than being run unprofitably (or not profitably enough), but that's the price you pay (if you'll pardon the expression) for sticking to your guns.

My Walmart just took all the figures down. I'm not sure what their doing with em. They took a lot of the figures down. Marvel etc.

"My Walmart just took all the figures down. I'm not sure what their doing with em. They took a lot of the figures down. Marvel etc."

Walmarts are in the midst of a toy aisle reset. I'd imagine figures will be back up in a day or two, depending on the competence the employees there. Or lack of competence.

OK cool that means ther ewill be less stuff out and les sneed to go to lame ass walmart. They were way to late in th egame for ROC anyways.

I hope the choke on all that Avatar stuff, there is like hardly any diverse merhcandise for that line anyway and how they came to the comnclusion that it is a collector toy line is beyond me. I'll give the ROC joe figures credit on being massivley superior to the Avatar garbage but alas, it's all about the movie and ROC failed to land the toy lines with the retailers. I guess the kids will all want avatar figures next year instead of ROC/POC stuff.

Sorry about that hasbro, ya had a great opportunity and of course you have to blow it with the only toy line I care to buy...thanks for nothing.

I just hope Wal Mart never does any more exclusives again.
Then I'll never have to step foot in there again.

Most of the Wal-Marts around here never carried the Avatar figures. The only place I've seen them is K-Mart, which is its own nightmare.

I'm surprised that they're banking so heavily on Toy Story 3, and the TS 1 & 2 DVD releases. I'm sure the movie will do great, but to use it as a leadoff? The toys have been on the shelves now for 6 months or more. How much NEW interest can they draw to the shelves with all the current major characters out and easy to find?

does this mean pursuit of cobra is coming out now PLEASE ANSWER!!!

My Walmart already cutted back on GI Joes. About a month or 2 ago they devoted an extra isle to figs/vehicles, now its just to the main boys toys isle.

Unfortunately not, at least according to Hasbro. In their latest Q & A's they said that POC was still on track for the Fall. But they also said that we would find out what was coming in between at Toy Fair in February. So, we may not know until then.

I MIGHT just see how Walmart can justify 10ft. sections for Star Wars and TF's and even 4ft. sections for brands like Marvel and WWE and DC and the endless Poke/Digi clones.

But come on Joe just went from 3ft. to 2ft. what's next? Displayed next to the urinal?

I mean my closest local Walmart NEVER even had its exclusives 2 packs, Ninja Battles, or Battle Stations...I checked with the department manager...they NEVER had them.

And now they reset, and TF's have a solid top to bottom peg endcap at the end of one aisle, and one of those fancy new 3 face endcaps at the front of another aisle, an 8 ft section in the aisle, and over run in the $10 aisle.

How the hell do they justify that?

Very easily: Transformers sell much better than G.I. Joe does.

Look at it from this perspective: It took the holiday season AND a significant price drop to sell through most of the early assortments of RoC product. They're definitely not going to have much confidence that what's left over is going to sell briskly in the off-season.

But it also sounds like your Wal-Mart is among those that are considered a "low seller" for G.I. Joe to begin with (hence not getting the exclusives). Wal-Mart tailors its' exclusive output and overall distribution on a store-by-store basis. I don't know how often they review their numbers, but from what I understand if a store has a history of not selling a particular line very well, they'll get very little if any of that line in the store.

No change at my Wal-Mart, this is basically what they have now and have had for awhile.

Still about 2-3x as much space as the 25th got.

My Wal-Mart sucks too. No exclusives or battle stations here either.

way to go walmart you just gave me another reason for hating not tht i liked shopping at that store anyway i perfer toysrus, & target

yup i saw that too. if i was walmart i would to with nothing new coming out lol.

You're all clueless hacks. ROC sold fantastically. They are scaling down because there is not much stock left over.

I mean didn't you read the Hasbro Q&A? According to them, they were "pleased" with the sales of EVERYTHING Roc.....

OMG dude-FALL! It's coming out in the FALL

Any one familair with the term when they say they "limited their liabilities" They managed their inventory and probably sold it off to the discount chains.