Author Topic: Different Retailers Support for Different Lines  (Read 1920 times)

Offline Brian

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Different Retailers Support for Different Lines
« on: May 9, 2006, 11:36 AM »
I don't know if anyone else has noticed it, but at our stores in town it really seems like different retailers support the various lines (at least the ones I pay attention to) at different levels.  For example, Target seem to push Star Wars stuff the most - despite their high prices.  They have a larger section overall, and usually have the most stock this year.  I stopped by there this morning and they had 3-4 basic figure pegs (mostly Derlins and Geo bugs), 3-4 VTSC pegs (freshly stocked with everything), pegs for Galactic Heroes, Unleashed BP, Force Battlers, Transformers, Talking Vader Helmets, Ultimate Lightsabers, and a place (although no stock) for the Senate pack.  On the other side of things, Star Wars seems to be almost an afterthought to our WM.  I mean, I did find the VTSC figures there in abundance first, but the remains (all Greedos and Hans) have now been moved to one of those little racks hanging on the aisle down by the model cars.  They have 2-3 pegs for basic figures, which are right now full of Geonosians and a few other figures, but have spent half of the year being filled with other non-SW product.  WM has an absolute ton of the SW transformers and Unleashed BPs, but haven't had Galactic Heroes since December of last year.

On the other side of things, from the Superhero (Marvel/DC) figures I look at.  Since the reset, Target has one peg for Marvel Legends, 2 for the X-Men line, and a couple more for SMC as well as some other Spidey stuff.  They have 1 Legends figure I believe, a Thing from the Legendary Riders series.  They do however support the DC stuff better than WM, with pegs for DC Superheroes, and a few for Justice League Unlimited.  WM on the other hand has all sort of space for Marvel Legends, especially with the new WM Wave, 2 Packs, Masterworks, etc.  They also have a full stock of SMC, but no X-Men or F4 figures as of now (or yet this year).  They haven't carried DC Superheroes yet this year, although they do have a peg tag for them, and they briefly carried the JLU singles before getting rid of them and now just seem to carry "The Batman" and some Superman Returns stuff on the DC side of things.

Anyways, I just though it was interesting how different stores here treat the different lines.  Do any of you see similar situations at your stores?  TRU is probably the most consistent overall, as far as space for the lines.  Star Wars has a nice sized section, they carry all of the Marvel lines, as well as the DC stuff (and probably everything else) - but they normally don't keep up very well with selection (or prices in some cases).  I know they have had 6 Hoth Vaders and 1 ROTS Mas Amedda on their pegs for over a month now.  Anyone else notice differences?

Offline efranks

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Re: Different Retailers Support for Different Lines
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2006, 10:04 AM »
I see similar things in the Target and WM stores in my town.  A lot more support for Star Wars at Target than at WM.  WM isn't carrying the vehicle line or Galactic Heroes anymore.

Target is the only store carrying the Ultra Titanium vehicles while both stores have the 3" line.  WM, though, had so many of the 2nd and 3rd wave of exclusive vehicles that they never sold them all.  They have a huge endcap of them up now, probably over 100 vehicles total, and have only gotten in the newest waves once or twice while Target restocks them once or twice a week.

GI Joe is another line that Target dedicates more peg space to.  They have probably 9 pegs total for the $11 and $15 lines as well as vehicles and roll play items.  WM has maybe 3 pegs crammed in between SW and the Lanard figures.  They might have the vehicles but no roll play toys.

Target also has a larger selection of Lego and not just SW sets.  My WM has hardly any space and stocks maybe 2/3 of the current SW line.  WM doesn't carry the ARC or the Turbo Tank and no Anakin starfighter.  Target has all of them.

I haven't been in a TRU store in over a month and didn't find much there but they did still have a nice section set aside.  I'll probably get to the store again this Friday so I'll have to see how they're doing since the VTSC and Saga lines picked up....and now that their exclusives are shipping.

Oh, on the exclusives note, WM doesn't even appear to have an exclusive this year that we know about.  TRU already has 2 out with 2 more rumored and Target has their two also.  We haven't even heard about the second half of the year yet so who knows what Target and TRU will end up with.

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Offline CommanderKorbra

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Re: Different Retailers Support for Different Lines
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2006, 08:47 PM »
I noticed these things too. The sad thing is that Star Wars and Joes seem to be thought of as crap to my Walmart's manager. We hardly ever get any new stuff. And I don't think we've had  a 3 3/4 scale Joe in a few years now. Yet we have almost half an aisle for the Lanard 97 cent figures. And the other half of the aisle for Marvel Legends.  When I get a chance to go to the Target which is an hour out of my way, there is normally a good selection of the exclusives, but a poor selection of the basic star wars figures. They too, haven't had a 3 3/4 inch scale Joe in a while now. On;y the 7 inch scaled Joes. They carry Elite Force Vehicles and accessory packs but no figures, so that is weird. That Target seems to focus on anything new... when ROTS was new they had almost an entire aisle for it. Now that Super Man toys and Pirates of the Carribean toys are new, there are full aisles for them. Then there is the TRU that is almost 2 hours out of my way that I stop at perhaps once or twice a month. It's the only place I can get G.I.Joe figures in the 3 3/4 scale. They pretty much have a good selection of every toy.
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