Over the past week or so, I had the chance to visit a few different retail/toy stores and take a look at the toy aisle.  I thought it might be nice to have a thread to discuss current setups and/or trends in the toy aisles in your respective areas.  As far as what I saw around here (I visited 2 Wal-Marts, 2 Targets, a TRU, and K-B), here are a few observations:

Star Wars:  Wal-Marts were set up as we heard, basic figures only, six pegs..as well as lightsabers.  Unfortunately, most was old product, although one store did have the research droids and DF Padme.  Targets didn't have much for basic figures (actually a new Greatland Target that opened about a month ago has been pretty good about toys, found the Scenes there a couple weeks ago, but now they have Clone Wars ships, red clonetroopers, and some empty space.  TRU pegs have been packed with Pilot Jangos for months, although they do have the Officer/Han/Lando 12" wave there, as well as Luke/Sidious/Obi Unleashed.  KB doesn't have any new product, just the four packs, $1.99 2002 figures, etc.

Other Observations...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is really getting a lot of space in the stores around here.  Is it because they are being pushed hard, selling well, or both?  I had a few of these back in the day, but I'm not collecting the current line.  Too bad though, looks like you could find about all of them right now, wouldn't that be nice with other lines?

MOTU has been the same for the most part around here, 1 Target and 1 Wal-Mart have completely dropped the line for now, the other two still have it...with mostly older figures.  I'm hoping Roboto will show up in the stores.  Overall though, the line doesn't have a whole lot of space, probably average.

Surprisingly, it doesn't seem like LOTR has a whole lot of room, but this will probably increase as ROTK gets closer.  TRU had mostly ROTK Smeagol/Gollum repacks, and one of the new Treebeards (as well as several figures from the other movies).  Target has the first wave of ROTK figures, as well as some AOME stuff.  Wal-Marts around me didn't really have much representing this line, just a few figures here and there.  K-B about the same.

Marvel Legends...I was so happy when my wife found me Gambit and Beast right when they were released (around my b-day), but this weekend I saw almost every wave of ML so far in mass.  I didn't see a whole lot of Gambits, but everything else was pretty plentiful (I didn't dig for chase figures or anything like that though).  Hopefully it will be as easy to find Colossus, etc. in Dec/Jan whenever these come out.

Well, there are other lines to discuss as well, but this is getting long enough.   I just think it is interesting sometimes to see how much space is taken up by certain toy lines, what "seems" to be selling, etc.  I guess I was most surprised by the big space TMNT has at these stores...not that I have any problem with that line, I was just a little surprised.  They seemed to have the most space of any individual line by far around here.  Any other observations?

Sorry to hear that you are giving up collecting as well HMI...but I did drop you an e-mail about your figs.  Although I don't have the funds right now, I'd like to talk to you in the future about hopefully taking a few off of your hands.  Anyways...I hope some people are sticking with this line....but it does seem to be fairly frustrating.  I did see over at the He-Man.org forums that Roboto has shown up (ebay only I think), and someone over there has received one and has some loose pics.  This is the figure I have been looking forward to the most, hopefully people will be able to find them in stores.  I see there are a few on ebay now as well going for anywhere from $40 to $80 I think.  I can't believe how high these figures go for initially...worse than Star Wars new releases, especially considering these are not "exclusives"...although with the case packs, it seems like some of them pretty much are .

I agree, once I got my SC Anakin from Kebco, and had it opened up, I think this is the best overall Anakin figure we have.  I'm not crazy about the cloak, and it got tossed in a tupperware with other extra accessories.  I liked the Hangar Duel Anakin as well, but the magnet on mine is really weak, so his arm falls off if the lightest breeze touches it, and that knocks it down some.  Well that, and the wheel on his back .

Take this with multiple grains of salt of course, but I noticed over at the ADC forums (or Toy News International now I guess), they had a "rumored" lineup for ML6.  It might be totally off base, but I thought I would post it here to discuss either way:

1.juggernaut
2.hawkeye
3.cable
4.wolverine(weapon x)
5.pheonix
6.deadpool

If true, I'd be pretty psyched to get a Juggernaut, as well as Phoenix.  Anyways, sorry if this turns out to be untrue, but I thought it might be fun to discuss.

Thanks for the pics OCB...I have had all of these on preorder with Kebco since they were put up on their site.  I really enjoy the Unleashed line and these are three of my favorite characters...plus, I think they all look great.  Looks like they did a great job on Harrison Ford's likeness as well on this figure.  Can't wait until these start showing up, and I hope this line continues for awhile too.

I have asked several questions of you guys regarding these figures, and I have seen the Fellowship 9-pack recommended by many of you (for me being a just-starting collector).  Anyways, from what I have read, it looks like it is a great deal...9 figures (pretty much all characters that I would like), for anywhere from $30ish to $40ish.  I was curious which versions of the characters are included in this pack, and if they are good versions of the characters?  I have been looking over some of the pictures at TheGd.com, as well as OfftheCard.com, to take a look at the figures that have been released, so I was curious which were included, and how they compared.  It would save me money in the long run to get this 9-pack, pick up a Smeagol, etc., and be pretty much done with it (I don't plan to be a completist, just a few)...but after seeing a few of the ROTK figures (the new Aragorn pictures look great, and with a new Legolas on the way as well)...maybe I should wait.  Anyways, my main question is, which versions of the characters are included in this pack?  Are the Merry and Pippen offered here and in other two packs, etc., the same?  Sorry for another lengthy question, if you have any advice for me, please let me know.  Thanks again!

I know many people haven't found the ROTK version yet, but I was thinking about picking up a Gollum figures, and I was curious which one you collectors thought was better...the bendy version or the new articulated "wall-crawling" version?  I have seen the bendy version several times, but just haven't picked it up yet...I was just curious what your opinions are...thanks!

Thanks for the replies everyone, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who has that "nostalgia" factor with many toy lines.  Star Wars is really big with me, I can watch the movies (specifically the OT) over and over, and really never tire of them.  I imagine I will probably collect the figures in some capacity until they quit making them, just because I really like Star Wars.  Also, with MOTU, and to some extent Marvel Legends, it is a nostalgia factor as well...especially with MOTU.  Plus, as many said above, the 4HM have done an amazing job updating the looks of the characters.  Every once in awhile I get a nostalgic flavor from the new G.I. Joe stuff, although I haven't bought any of it apart from the black Snake-Eyes.  It just seems like the 80s were a good time to be a kid with these great movies, shows, and toys...I'm happy to see much of it brought back.  Again, thanks for the replies everyone.