Galactic Hunter is reporting this morning that these have actually been spotted on the shelves at a TRU in Phoenix. 

They're out!

Our local TRU's get a truck this morning, AND I get paid today. 

Heading over shortly to check it out...

Was just checking that out...am I right in thinking these are straight re-packs? The "clone trooper" looks just like the previously carded Snow Ops Rex to me.

I guess it's a shrewd marketing gimmick, but I'd rather have something new.

Wonder if these will comprise the Fall Deluxe Wave 2?

Oh man, did anyone else catch that blurb on JTA this morning about the whole street date snafu?

Apparently someone talked to a Hasbro rep and they confirmed that this is in fact a HARD street date and TRU is not supposed to be putting these out now. They somehow mis-coded these wrong in their system and did not put a hold on them, allowing them to be sold "early". The writer seems to think any remaining Vintage product will be yanked soon.

I don't even know what to believe anymore. Does TRU over-ride Hasbro? Pete's post below seems to indicate this, if the rep backed down after reading the TRU email.

What a mess. I don't know whether we have any true leverage to request these anymore or not.

Shockingly, I picked up Dengar, 4-LOM, Cloud Car Pilot and AT-AT Commander tonight at one of the outlying TRU's across the river from me...

I kind of swung by on a whim, since I had just checked there last week, and sure enough they had remnants still on the pegs. Just those 4, plus the Snow Speeder and Cloud Car, at least 2-3 each. Also a full assortment of Legends and what appeared to be TCW Wave 1.5.

This was not a store I had pestered before about putting the new stuff out, but they also haven't had any activity in their SW section for weeks and weeks now. I was really stunned to see these out already.

I'm contemplating heading back over to the other  TRU up the street with my receipt tomorrow as I feel this really helps make my case that it's ok for them to put theirs out too. (The stores are all of about 15 miles from each other after all) I may just wait until Friday though as I get paid again then and these things are not easy on the wallet.

It's a great feeling diving back in though!

Hooray!

I stumbled across the Fall TCW Wave 1.5 at the TRU across the river. I managed to snag a minty carded Grievous to replace my cruddy warped one I got from TRU.com.

Not sure if they ever actually put Wave 1 out...I was just there last week but I may have missed it. Oh well.

On another awesome note, I also got a nice minty Interceptor Tank to replace the smushed one I got from TRU.com last week. 

I'm strongly considering heading over to the closer TRU tomorrow and showing them the receipt from the other store and asking them to crack open a new case of Wave 1.

Thanks for the update Pete, I guess this is good news, although the managers around here still claim ignorance on ever having seen this email.

Did the email come from Hasbro or somewhere up the TRU corporate ladder?

I still need MOC versions of the new Wave 1 TCW figures, so the sooner they get these out, the better.

Smash - thanks for the additional info - much appreciated.

So here's my story from earlier today:

I went into the local TRU, they had nothing new on the pegs, so I went to the Customer Service desk and basically explained the whole schpeil about the Vintage line, the supposed email authorizing them to sell these, etc. Woman at the desk seems sympathetic enough, but asks a Floor Manager to come over for help. I repeat the whole Schpeil for him, we look the items up on the computer, he finds them in stock, he even tries ringing it up by the item # on the register to see if it allows the sale to go through - it does. He can't find the email though, or any kind of memo indicating it is ok to sell these. He sort of seems on the fence at this point, but suddenly enter Stock Dude. This is a younger guy who looks like he just got out of a Limp Bizkit show, knows all about the stock room and no way he is putting these out he says. He goes on to say they are waiting for the Hasbro rep to call them back since last Thursday to let them know whether it is ok to put these out or not.

At this point, it's clear I'm not going to make any headway. So I got the name of the store manager, who was out today but back tomorrow, and I told them I would check back again Tuesday. At the very least, I figure I can ask her to call the Hasbro rep back and see what the deal is. I also know one of the employees there who is very knowledgeable about the SW stuff, so I am hoping I will see him and he can help me out somehow.

What a frigging pain in the butt! Part of me just wants to forget about it and wait til August, but the rebellious, stubborn side of me feels like pressing the issue just because the situation seems so absurd on some level.

The manager of the TRU pulled up his email right in front of me and, while I didn't see it with my own eyes what was written, after reading what was on the screen he said - "yup, we can sell them now".

Yeah, is there any way we can get more details about this alleged email? (I only say alleged because I've yet to see it reported officially online, not that I am skeptical of the possibility) Was it sent out to all store managers? Was it from Hasbro directly or from TRU management?

I'm ready to roll up to my nearest TRU tomorrow and lay this out for them, but if this is just some made-up internet folklore I am going to feel like a total arse. (moreso than usual)