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08-23-2011, 06:21 AM | #1 |
Bouncing Around the Room
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: New York
Posts: 1,200
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I am monitoring eBay auctions for a Stalker instead of heading out to brick and mortar stores. Simply put, I am tired of looking for things that are never there. To the best of my knowledge the Blowtorch wave never even hit around Long Island. If it did, I never saw any trace of it. I never even saw a Croc Master left laying around.
You can check my old posts. I am not a guy that complains about the parent company. I do not use the phrase "has-blow" or any other snarky, derogative terminology. However, what is killing the line? I point the finger at marketing and product research, the people that create the case assortments and each individual team itself. Where are the Star Wars waves? I do not see anything on the shelves except for 4-Loms, Cloud Car Pilots (for a Cloud Car that cannot be found anywhere anymore) and plenty of yellowing Clone Troopers and Sandtroopers that no one wanted when they were mass released at $6. Where is GI Joe? Cannot tell you. It seems that Cold Weather Destro won the battle because there are pegs of about 20-30 of them lining the shelves with some older ROC merchandise laying around with a Mech or two that retail still cannot sell. Transformers represents... but whatever happened to the classics/ generations lines. If not for Hasbro Toy Shop, I would have never seen a Warpath, Kup or Wheeljack. Windcharger? Supposedly never even released in the country. A few sample waves were shipped to discount stores before they ever hit mass retail. I am not going to even go into Marvel Universe. What is killing sales? Hasbro itself is. I no longer pull over and head to Target, Walmart or TRU when I am running errands and even have a few minutes. What is the use? There is no point in doing something if you know that you will never be rewarded. How many times am I expected to walk into a store and find something? What happened to all of the promised waves of figures and merchandise that was supposed to find its way into stores? Ask Hasbro and they will simply say we are working on it. In response I have been taking my money elsewhere and spending it on other things. This is what phases people out of collecting. Why bother? While not an overall influence on the retailers sales, it definitely has an impact on the overall retail level. Walmart prices toys at a cheaper price in an effort to bring people into the store and make money on other sales. For example, when I went to Target to look for a Captain America figure for my desk, I did not just buy a Cap figure and walk out. They got a new pack of razors out of me, a veggie frozen pizza, cereal, and other items. It drew me into the store and I spent money. If I am not going to be drawn into the store. I am not spending money on plastic crack or anything else in the store. Hasbro is killing its own sales and the sad part is that there really isn't anything that can be done on our end. I am not going to order cases on my own. I did that and realized what a nuisance and waste it was. Perhaps constant complaining? It seems the Star Wars team listens a bit more than the Joe team does. I cannot comment on the TF Q&A team since I do not follow them. P.S. to this... You want to know when I really have serious doubts about the competency of Hasbro? Where are the robot dinosaurs. Look at Transformers. Kids love dinosaurs and they love robots. Why wouldn't they want a combination of both. Collectors would love to see a reissue of all five dinobots. This is a no brainer. Except for years, Hasbro has dropped the ball in this area. Seriously? What is going on with this company? |
08-23-2011, 06:27 AM | #2 |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 8,867
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Interestingly the same situation is being quite thoroughly discussed on Australian SW collecting forums.
Bricks and mortar stores not having the stock means the "art of the hunt" and the thrill that comes from finding a new figure you've been waiting for is now a distant memory.... For more than 12mths now I've had eBay as my main source of all the genres I collect. If a retail store has something it's taken as a bonus. |
08-23-2011, 07:06 AM | #3 |
Ex-Pharisee
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: 742 Evergreen Terrace
Posts: 12,216
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I know that this has been discussed several times in the past, but I still don't know who the main culprit is. Some will say that, as far as GI Joe goes, it is the retailers' lack of faith in the line. That's why WM tried to stop carrying it. That's why Target and TRU have only 2-4 pegs devoted to it. Is it that Transformers and SW sell soooo much better than Joe, or is it that retail stores give them so much shelf space that you can't miss them?
I haven't seen any of waves 5 and 6 around my parts, and hardly any of wave 4. If it weren't for BBTS and eBay, and some nice fellow tankers, I wouldn't have the 2 Crazylegs and the one General Hawk that I have now. I want a Stalker and one Hazard Viper, but I'm not going to find them at retail, most likely. I really, really want the Renegades figs, so I will be preordering from smalljoes.com, most likely. The economy is bad right now, seemingly worldwide. IDK what kind of money people are spending on toys, but I know that retailers have to watch their bottom line. I know they can't buy stuff to just sit on a shelf, they have to move product. I think Joe product WOULD move, but they don't know that. I think, "I want to buy! Why don't they stock???" But they can't tell that about me just by looking at me when I walk in the door. I think it's easier and ultimately cheaper to buy online. Don't get me wrong -- I check out the toy aisle EVERYTIME I have to go to WM or Target, just to see if there is ANYTHING new. I check TRU on Wednesdays and Fridays. But I don't hold my breath.
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08-23-2011, 07:11 AM | #4 |
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: THE GARDEN STATE OF EDEN!
Posts: 25,591
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next time i go hunting, i'm bringin' my gun...
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08-23-2011, 07:33 AM | #5 |
ChaplainAsst
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Coastal Georgia
Posts: 4,910
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I think the issue - in this case - is not Hasbro but the stores. If stores ain't buying, neither are you. Hasbro has made some terrible errors before - the TRU SW exclusive wave that was nearly impossible to find, for example - but for the most part, it is Target, WM, TRU and others not buying additional waves due to poor sales or not enough shelf space that is causing your heartache. Hasbro is doing what it can - making good to great toys. Even Arctic Destro was a good figure. I think Chinese sales did him in, as he was not that different from the RoC cancelled figure sold for almost a year online before he come overseasin PoC.
While this one figure isn't selling, I've seen new figures land on pegs and sell through in like a day, and this may be happening with Joes where you are. They usually only put out a box or two at the most. MU figures are out there in multitudes, just maybe not where you are. I've even seen all the Generations figures (sans Wreck-Gar) at Target and WM, and even the fabled Windcharger a couple of weeks ago at Ross. As we get closer to the holidays, you will see more show up, as stores want toys on the pegs. SW toys are coming out slowly. Hasbro has promised more Generations figures (and maybe even Windchargers). Joes are a challenge but they are coming back to WM stores. So be patient, fall is coming and with it more toys on pegs.
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08-23-2011, 07:54 AM | #6 |
Crimson Nerd
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Virginia
Posts: 12,581
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Ahhh, another case of misplaced blame.
News Flash: Hasbro can't FORCE anyone to sell their stuff, nor tell them how much space to devote to the selling of said stuff. If Wal-Mart wants to drop G.I. Joe from 3/4s of its' stores, there isn't a thing Hasbro can do about it, and no amount of "marketing" is going to change that. It's on the retailers to expand the profile of the line, and in the modern toy industry, the only way that happens is with (ideally successful) media tie-ins. Sucks, but it's the truth. As CA points out, New Joe stuff does come out, but it comes out a case at a time, and whichever collector or reseller gets there first wins, because there won't likely be anything but individual character duplicates left after they're done. Hunting for figures at retail is an exercise in patience (you're rarely going to find the "hot new thing" right when it's first hitting) and persistence (if you don't hunt often, things will be cleaned out when you get there). If you've "given up" then no wonder you're not finding anything! Besides, you know what the line would be if these figures were so plentiful that you could walk into any store at any time and buy as many as you wanted? That's right...they'd be pegwarming. Or you could spare yourself the trouble and just order online, where the product is generally plentiful. |
08-23-2011, 07:59 AM | #7 |
Banned
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Cobra Island
Posts: 2,358
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yup buy online.
if you need a thrill from buying something try prostitutes, guns and illicit substances. "gotta catch em all" as i say... |
08-23-2011, 08:49 AM | #8 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Chicago
Posts: 790
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While I won't completely say Hasbro is blameless. The situation has been more created by the retailers and cherry picking collectors. A lot of the gluttony of Arctic Destros and certain Star Wars characters is more a product of Target's laziness and people taking advantage of that.
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08-23-2011, 08:58 AM | #9 |
Im Charming
Join Date: May 2008
Location: The Mitten
Posts: 42,053
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i didnt know Hasbro had its own state
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08-23-2011, 09:25 AM | #10 |
Ultimate Z list celebrity
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: London, England
Posts: 3,432
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We don't get any Joe over here. We got a few waves of RoC when the movie came out and that's it.
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