Author Topic: TSC Retail Situations  (Read 6923 times)

Offline Reid

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #15 on: April 7, 2006, 10:52 AM »
In my area Targets have been really hit-or-miss... You either find the pegs fully stocked or no basic figures at all. The few times I go to Wal*Mart they usually only have the usual pegwarmers, Sun Fac, Derlin, AT-AT Driver, Leia, etc. I don't consider TRU to be a place to find new figures, as for the past 3+ months the pegs have been clogged by Baradas and Bibs.

Offline Dressel Rebel

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #16 on: April 7, 2006, 05:14 PM »


Wow, Dressel- I have not heard really anything from anyone getting anything good at KB toys lately. I guess what I hate is that... over the last few years their prices are so rough that it makes it tougher to spend there and...at least where I live, they get any waves really late like TRU/KMART anyway. :(

Don't get me wrong, KB is horrible.  For months I went there and found absolutely nothing.  Then 3 weeks ago I happened to stumble in there on Friday morning when they were unloading a truck.  I saw a case of Star Wars and asked if I could open it.  I got to talking to the manager and she said that they get a truck every Friday morning, and there is always just 1 case of Hasbro Star Wars 3 3/4" on it each time.  Now basically before I discovered this, it was always gone within hours.

Here's the real kicker, I watched as they unloaded 4-5 cases each of mini-Unleashed, Galactic Heroes, Force Battlers, and Transformers.  So basically they always received four times as much of each of the ****** line than the real hot one.  For the life of me, this makes no ******* sense whatsoever.  I don't get it.
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Offline TheBlackDog65

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #17 on: April 7, 2006, 07:10 PM »
Question. Is it retail's fault by holding back ordering product due to seasonal history (and yes, buyers who order this for the major retailers do consider seasonal time of year when the order), or Hasbro's fault for limiting production? Or are there just more people coming out of the woodwork right now to buy? Is it a combination? I would say if you can shop early, Target is it. If you can hit late Walmart. Then during the days you have your Kmart's, Shoko's, etc.  However, everyone seems to be getting limited cases.

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Offline Darth Slothus

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #18 on: April 8, 2006, 02:59 AM »
My area local WM got 5-6 elongated cases each of UGH wave last(thurs) nite. Seems like a lot for 4 different stores at one time but..it's really nothing compared to the fact that the stores get a shipment every 2 1/2 to 3 weeks :(. I agree with everything Black dog asks about except the Hasbro's fault in production. I'm pretty certain they don't just produce it to produce it. They produce according to retail's demand- so I'd definately say retail is to blame combined with more buyers involved this year :(.

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Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #19 on: April 8, 2006, 11:03 AM »
Normally I would be pointing the finger squarely at Hasbro (as long-timers here know I am want to do from time to time) for not producing enough or what have you, but the thing that disturbs me more than anything else about the lack of basic figures that don't have wings or a humorous alcohol dependence is exactly what Dressel mentioned.  Every store I go to is FULLY STOCKED with the peripheral stuff, like the Unleashed BPs, the Titanium ships, the Choppers, the Titanium figures, Galactic Heroes, and Transformers, and multiple cases of these items arrive about twice a week at least.  Basic figures are stocked sparingly, with maybe one case every month, depending on the retailer, and practically empty pegs when they don't have a new shipment arrive.

I'm really confused about this, because if the production was being done according to retail's demand, Slothus, and I mean this with the utmost respect, wouldn't the amount of the peripheral items already clogging the shelves to the point of unsightliness being shipped in greater and greater amounts be the complete antithesis of producing according to retail demand?  Is retail brainwashed by Hasbro into thinking that the Choppers line is more interesting and popular than the basic figures, or is Hasbro not producing or shipping enough basic stuff, or is it something else entirely? 

The fact of the matter remains that there is an alarmingly low level of basic figure product out there right now and the entire line has become a "Ultimate Galactic Hunt" situation as opposed to the 10 figures that were intentionally changed in order to make a promotional statement.  Whether it's Hasbro's fault or retail's fault, I have no idea.  All I know is that when I see Marvel Legends chase figures more than I do regular SW figures, things are just hitting an all-time low.

Offline Darth Slothus

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #20 on: April 8, 2006, 04:59 PM »
The only thing I can say to that,Doc, is that I go to at least WM alot at night and I would say I see equal amount of cases of UL, Transformers, basic ect. They come at different times...but only the basic moves fast. I haven't seen the bikes ship in over a month-they never move anyway. All waves of unleashed pegwarm..even the clone ones..

Basically, what I see is that when a store gets the basic in..especially if it's new figs, it's gone in 2-3 days. So it always looks empty-where I live anyway. It's pretty obvious the demand for basic is really high this year and the empty pegs (among full of everything else) shows demand is not being met by basic. For instance we have wave 2.5 (geo+ hoth/carkoon) is overflowing and pegwarming at our Targets (as Jared predicted)..the reason is...they got geo..followed quickly by coruscant..then for some overstockish? dumb reason they restocked with geo again. WM 'here get the product every 3 weeks..by then there's not much on the pegs so they fully restock..but, people were waiting so long for new product that they buy it all up and now have to wait 3 weeks again ::). If it were an every week or biweekly schedule then it would meet the demand  now. Retailers just aren't going to set up that many pegs for that kind of shipping schedule or ask hasbro to produce those kind of amounts in a non-movie year..ever.

As far as back east..I hear alot of WM's with no basic pegs at all or they haven't gotten figures in months. I've never had a problem with WM for SW in my neck of the ahh 'desert' so I fail to comprehend this now. I'm hating the 3 week interval wait right now though.

Offline Dressel Rebel

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #21 on: April 8, 2006, 08:12 PM »
KBtoys.com just found the nuts to raise their basic figure price to $8.99 today.
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Offline artooconvoy

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #22 on: April 12, 2006, 02:42 PM »
One Target in my area has four full pegs of Vader and two full pegs of Lushros.  That leaves only two pegs for the rest of the line.  Were those two figures heavilly shipped or something?
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Offline Brian

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #23 on: April 12, 2006, 02:55 PM »
I made some stops over lunch today, and was surprised at what I saw.  Both TRU and WM were stocked full with figures from Carkoon through Coruscant (except for Cody, of course).  I might have to start making TRU a regular stop again.  They had been pretty much empty most of the year, but seem to be catching up a bit now.  Plus, with the Target and WM price increases, they aren't too much more expensive at this point either (especially with that buy 2 get one free sale they have going now).  Target had the same as usual - Poggle, Sun Fac, Yoda, and Derlin.  Also of note, between WM and TRU, I think I saw at least 10 of the Hoth Vaders.  Didn't pick one up, but I hadn't really seen that figure much this year yet, but they had plenty today.

Offline Brian

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #24 on: June 20, 2006, 12:02 PM »
Checked out a few stores the past couple of days, and the situation isn't too great right now - but hopefully things are on the way soon.

Wal-Mart - TONS of VTSC figures, and probably 5-10 TSC figures pretty much made up of Geonosians and a couple of H & V figures.  Other than the "other" lines (TF, Force Battlers, 2" Unleashed) not much else here.  No vehicles or anything like that.

Target - VTSC figures, although they are slowly selling through.  Lots of Demise of Grievous figures, and a few figures from the Coruscant and H & V waves.  Also, a couple of Bren Derlins that have been there since February I think.  Skirmish packs sitting about still too, and sometimes a few of the $20-price range vehicles.

TRU - Again, quite a few VTSC figures.  Other than that, a couple of ROTS Mas Ameddas, 5 Hoth Vaders, and a couple of H & V figures.  No sign of the Gunships, but plenty of Falcons :).  They often have a few of the $20 price range vehicles here as well.

Overall, pretty much looking the same for the past month or two at the retail stops here.  The VTSC figures are really stocked pretty fully at all three stores, with the Biker Scouts (and to a lesser extent Luke) being a little more picked over - but they can be found.  I'm glad to see that they aren't tough to find, but hope that they sell pretty well overall so we continue to see these type of figures in the future.

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #25 on: June 20, 2006, 03:22 PM »
Yeah, things are fairly clogged up around here lately, lots of H&V, Geonosis and Courescant. One store has Tatooine starting to clog the pegs, Hems, Garindins and Hans mostly.  A lot less options in terms of what stores to hit since many are moving basic figures very slowly.
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Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #26 on: June 20, 2006, 07:21 PM »
Wal-Marts near me have, by and large, the exact same stock, an itemized list of which follows: :)

Basic Figures:  Hoth Vader, Derlin, Bib Fortuna, Sora Bulq, Sun Fac, Lushros Dofine, H&V Mace Windu, H&V R2-D2, H&V Obi-Wan, H&V Anakin, H&V Vader, H&V Chewie...oh forget it, can I just say "H&V Anyone Who Isn't A Clone?"

VTSC:  Gobs and gobs of all five figures, with slightly more Greedos and Hans and slightly less Lukes and Scouts.

Titaniums:  Sith Infiltrator and multiple BSGs.  At least 4 each of the Ultra Tri-Fighter and ARC.  Multiples of the Vintage Finish Vader, and 2 regular Fetts.

Unleashed:  Fully stocked with everything from the Kashyyyk and Felucia sets.  Only Chewbacca remains from the 7" line (gosh, who'da thunk it?)  ::)

Galactic Heroes:  A mountain of the last assortment with Maul/Kenobi, etc.  At least 30 at each store.

Transformers:  Tons of Vader, tons of Grievous, tons of Anakins, tons of Boba Fett.  Nothing else.

Did I mention the SW Choppers?  Because they're still here too if you can make the packaging out through the inches of dust on the box.

Target is hit and miss.  They have about 5 Skirmish packs, Anakin's JSF, 2 Titanium Bossks, 4 Demise of Grievii, a full set of the VTSC, and their basic figure selection consisted earlier today of 5 Hoth Vaders, a Derlin, 2 Foul Moudamas, 4 H&V Mace Windus, 3 H&V R2-D2s, and 2 Dofines.

Toys R Us has a crapload of ROTS Collection 2 figures (Polis Massans in the house!), tons of the MF at full price, a lot of lightsabers, and no sign of the Gunship or the HFG pack after the one shipment.

Hooray for retail!  :P

Offline Jesse James

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #27 on: June 20, 2006, 08:30 PM »
Pittsburgh PA goes something like this...

-Wal-Mart...  It's a mix and really dependant on your store.  For instance the one nearest for me has ZERO VTSC on the pegs and never did get any in at all.  Or if they have, they've never been out for sale.  The basic figures had, up till last week, been just overflowing with H&V figures.  Now, they're down to like 6, and there's a Coruscant remnant mixed in there here and there too, but they sold through a ton of H&V at this store.

Now, that's my nearest WM which has zero competition around it within a 25 minute drive at least.

Go to the two WM's I hit on one of my toy run loops that takes 45 minutes to get to, and they're literally falling off the pegs with H&V and some pegwarmers like Poggle, Lushros, or Gummi Mundi.  And Vader figures out the wazzoo (Hoth, Bespin, H&V).  The same can be said for the WM out in the boonies I hit now and then, as well as the one in an urban strip mall I hit now and again, and a couple others on other long toy runs... 

Of all the WM's I visit, several have VTSC in varying quantities, while 2 have no VTSC whatsoever.  One I was at last night had full sets, even Scouts, while the other had VTSC falling off the pegs and tucked on shelves and above the pegs haphazardly.  This store had no Biker Scouts though.  Go figure.

-Target...  Target is weird.  Sometimes I find a remnant of Tatooine Wave at these stores, but never Hem Dazon, Luke, or Sandtrooper (duh), but I've seen R5, Garindant, and especially Momaw a couple of times now. 

These stores also have a ton of H&V sitting around though certain of those have sold very quickly while others have just sat and sat (Mace, Chewbacca, Vader, R2, etc.)...  Target's the only retailer who seemingly tries to separate the two lines (Basic from H&V), so I assume that's why they get a smattering of Tatooine Wave in semi-routinely.  They've also been putting out new cases of Coruscant Wave or Geonosis Wave too, but usually a case at a time and nothing more.

Target also has the smattering of basics clogging the pegs with H&V though, such as Gummi Mundi and Lushros, and there are also Hoth and Carkoon stragglers too like Bib Fortuna and Derlin at Target but nowhere else too much...  One Target near me too, oddly enough, is the only one with a $5.89 pricerange too...  I find that incredibly weird, but it proves to me that any Target could be charging that and profiting but they simply choose not to.  Retail's frustrating right now that way.

Target stores all have pegspace for VTSC and Demise of Grievous.  Grievous' fall off pegs at some stores while others have only one peg's worth of them.  The VTSC are pretty well picked over and I don't see Luke's, Sandpeople, or Scouts at Target much at all, but Greedo and Han are in massive abundance.  I long for clearance on those two. :)

-Toys R Us...  I hit 3 or 4 TRU's on a semi-routine basis.  So far the most any store has gotten in is 2 cases of Hunt for Grievous, some have sold cases sealed to buyers locally while others have brought them out from the back when asked.  I've yet to get my two sets though.

They seem to have the best mix of figures, basic and H&V, but haven't had much new come in for a little while.  The VTSC at TRU seem to be more picked over than at Wal-Mart...  There's much less even than at Target which is pretty well picked over itself.

TRU has done well with their sales this year.  They clear stuff out faster than any other retailer, and it's a trend I wish the others would realize and adopt to clear out what they have sitting around.  Veers and Derlin figures flew out the door when they were about $4 and change instead of $7+.

-Kay Bee Toys...  KB has been a surprise hit in about the last month.  They've been getting fairly routine new stock in, especially during their buy-2-get-1-free sale.  They will bring out fresh cases of Geonosis Wave, Coruscant Wave, or even the newest Tatooine Wave, and the best part is you can army build with all 3 waves for on the cheap...  That's a pretty spiffy deal.

The usual suspects pegwarm though (Poggle, Derlin, Gummi Mundi, & H&V nobody wants), but the army builders go as fast as cases are put out I've noticed.  If you hit it right you can come out with a great deal really on Utapau Clones or Sun Fac figures.

KB also has VTSC in abundance, and all 5 figures too, not just select ones.  Unfortunately their current sale does NOT apply to the VTSC and that just sucks butt really.  I found Scouts thinking man, I hit the jackpot, but the guy said it didn't apply to anything but $6.99 SW figures.  That took the wind out of my sails but still I got good stuff cheap(er).

As for all the other stuff...

In general I've noticed the small Titaniums sell really well.  I'm surprised, and at the same time I'm not.  I think the Hot Wheelers are into these almost as much as core collectors.

The bigger Titaniums tend not to sell as well...  And the Titanium figures I notice fairly routinely to the point that newer waves aren't out in much abundance (Bossk's tough to see around my area, but Vader/Fett are everywhere).

Galactic Heroes I never pay much attention to but they seem to have some kind of steady sales...  At least I think they do. 

Unleashed Battlepacks suck...  They're going nowhere fast, and every WM has them falling off the pegs and stacked high on shelves. 

Unleashed 6" are backed up like a nightclub toilet.  Every WM has them en masse and they really suck.

Star Wars Transformers...  I don't know who thinks these things are selling, but in my area they don't seem to be.  At some WM's I hit later I notice new cases, but the next day the same old same old is still out, and some are collecting dust at this point.  I still feel this idea is a dismal failure and I'd love to see these put to rest finally.

Choppers...  MOre the same.  Bad idea in the first place and not selling by what I observe in my area.  Tons at every WM, Target, and TRU.

Vehicles...  The $20 pricepoint vehicles are in bulk at some retailers but things like the tri-fighter sold once more and even the Jefi Fighters seem to have moved well again.  I think there's life in those yet.

Role-Play...  The cheap sabers seem to linger but I notice the light-ups sell steadily and there's always new ones or stuff shuffled around at my local retailers.  The Clone/Stormie blasters are flying out the door too, I'm shocked in a way but RP has been big for the past couple years now.

Attacktix...  I can't tell how these things sell...  :)  Some stores look like the same have hung on the pegs for ages while others have nothing but pegspace for them, so these are weird to me. 

That's things out here...

I'm sick of the price though.  If I have a gripe with a figure anymore, a lot of is largely due to the fact that Star Wars figures are $7+ and aren't even as good as they were in 2005 for the most part, save for a handful.  The price dropping a dollar per would do a lot for my opinion on many figures (Veers for instance)...  It's very frustrating too when one Target sells for that price, but all other stores in the area seem to gouge you for more.

Sales have been something I jump on a lot more this year, that's for certain.
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Offline speedermike

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #28 on: June 20, 2006, 09:56 PM »
I've been very happy with retail this year.  In fact, I just found the entire Tattoine wave (except R5) over the last two days, incluidng two troopers.  I found all of these at Targets.  However, I found the Curo wave at TRU a while back, and the Carkoon and  Hoth waves at a KB.  I also just saw that my local KB had the Tatooine wave, but Vader was all that was left.  In all, I've found every figure in a timely fasion spread out over three retail establsihments.  For a post movie year, I consider that excellent.  Any one else remember 2003, and the 6 month dry spell?

So far, I think that this has been my favorite non-movie year for collecting.  Not all of my favorite figs, but the hunt is just tough enough to be interesting, but easy enough to be satisfying!
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Offline Diddly

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Re: TSC Retail Situations
« Reply #29 on: June 20, 2006, 10:01 PM »
North Target - Very little VTSC, some Demise of Grievous, TONS of Barada and Bib Fortuna, nothing else. It's like this store ordered a bunch of the carkoon wave and decided that they were done with SW for the year. Disappointing, since I found a bunch of HTF ROTS figures at this same Target.

North Wal-Mart - Hoth and Bespin Vaders galore, no VTSC, a few H&V figures scattered around, tons of Transformers.

South Target - TONS of Demise of Grievous, TONS of Senate Battle Packs, TONS of Vaders, Hoth, Geonosis, and Coruscant pegwarmers, H&V figures out the wazoo, some VTSC. On occasion, they'll get in some Tatooine/Coruscant stuff, but the hot figures are always taken quickly, leaving the pegwarmers.

South Wal-Mart - TONS of VTSC, more Hans and Greedos, less Lukes and Bikers. Vaders galore, Coruscant pegwarmers, H&V out the wazoo. However, they frequently put out new cases, though it goes fast.

TRU - An odd mix... pegwarmers from EVERY wave, with new stock being brought out occasionally. Some VTSC, about 3 of each figure mixed in with the Landos. Lots of vehicles and lightsabers too. And old ROTS Luminara figures.

All in all, things are really weird around here. Each store varies DRASTICALLY from one another, which is interesting I guess. I'm just glad that the South stores are at least getting new product in, and I'm able to get new stuff.
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