How many stores do you hit on your toy runs?

[jadesfire]

Hhmm.....toy run....

One Shopko and one Walmart.  That's all the stores we have within 60 miles so that's my toy run.  Takes me all of 10 minutes.

If I go to Marquette (130+ miles round trip) I get to add a Target to the above two mentioned.  

[chuckles]

My typical toy run during the week is usually a couple of Targets and a TRU during lunch or on the way home from work. The weekend toy run, depending on how much time and driving I want to invest, can look something like this:

9 - Targets
3 - Walmarts
2 - KayBees
2 - TRU

I could also add 2 Kmarts to that list if I hadn't given up on them months ago. But I think this is about all I need for a toy run. I've been able to find 99% of the stuff at retail the last 2 yrs. It would be 100% if I could just find any of those damn Clone Trooper 3-packs.  

[Snively Bandar]

We just had a new Walmart open up near us just a couple weeks ago, which I'm quite excited about, since the TRU, Target, and other WM withing striking distance haven't yielded anything in quite some time.  But I've got to say that some of you guys that live in the bigger cities are sure as hell lucky with all the places near you.  That's just crazy!  Most jealous I am!

[Ben]

Our KB here closed. Boo hoo.

But, Osco is quickly becoming a hotbed for new Star Wars swag. They have newer figures than Target and TRU.

[Rob]

Dallas is so large that we usually break it up into areas and do different runs on different days, but all in all there are:

5 TRUs
9 Walmarts
11 Targets

That we regularly hit up.

[Mainland05]

i hit up, :

3 - Targets
3 - Wal-Marts
1 - Suncoast
1 - Toy's R Us
1 - KBToy "hardly ever anymore"
1 - KMart
1 - Comic Shop "Kriers"

and out of town, i dont really go out of town for shopping on purpose. if i am in that town i will stop by a TRU or Targetm but not intentionally.  I usually just order it online, if i cant find a specific item!

[JediMAC]

There's been a few changes since I last posted mine, with the addition of another Walmart and several KB closings, so here's my tally of stores again and my regurgitated rambling as well:

Daily route from home to work and vice versa (though I don't stop at them all daily):
5 Targets
3 TRUs
3 4 WMs
2 1 KB
1 K-mart

Different route that I take a couple times a week during my lunch breaks:
2 3 Targets
1 TRU
1 WM
1 K-mart
2 0 KBs

Monthly route down to my aunt & sister's house:
4 Targets
1 TRU
2 WM
1 K-mart
1 Star Tours shop (at Disneyland )

Monthly route up to my in-laws:
4 Targets
2 TRUs
1 WM
2 1 KB
3 K-marts

Damn!  That's a grand total of:
16 Targets
7 TRUs
8 WMs
6 K-marts
2 KBs
---------------
39 different Star Wars toy pimpin' stores in all!    And they're all within less than an hour of me (gotta love L.A.)!    No wonder I'm usually fairly caught up on Hasbro's latest SW offerings...  There's a number of other places that I hit as well, when I'm out and about in different areas of L.A. or SoCal that I'm not even mentioning here, since they're not on quite as regular a basis, though I've got 'em all mapped out in my head, of course.  

Love me some toy huntin'!  Just not so much lately since the stores around here, especially my beloved Targets, have been completely DRY for the past month and a half...  

[JediMAC]

Damn!  That's a grand total of:
14 Targets
7 TRUs
6 WMs
5 Kmarts
2 KBs
---------------
34 different Star Wars toy pimpin' stores in all!    And they're all within less than an hour of me (gotta love L.A.)!  

Just found out that a brand spankin' new Target store is opening up right outside of our neighborhood!  I can pull into their parking lot just 100 feet before I pull into our gated community.  We're talking a 10 minute walk here (not that I would actually walk it though)...  Not that the Targets around here have had jack squat for SW lately, but still very, very, very cool.  My very own Target.  Yes, it's all mine.  Please stay away from it, especially you Jared!  

So that makes 35 stores right near me now that will have absolutely no Star Wars stuff!    But at least it's better than just 34...  

[Brian]

We have always had to drive about 40-45 minutes to go shopping (since we live in a small town), and the toy run basically consists of a Greatland Target (which has been the best this year, but really dry lately) and a TRU.  The KB store in the mall closed (but was worthless for Star Wars anyways), and the Wal-Mart there has had 8 Padme Pilots hanging on the pegs for 2 years...seriously.  Not sure why they don't just clearance them.

However, it is looking now that we're going to be moving to the "big city".  Well, big as far as we go at least.  Now I should have closer access to a couple of Targets, Wal-Marts, and a TRU.  Not a whole lot more stores, but at least now it will only be a few minutes away...instead of a two hour round trip just to check them out (which is why I never made "Star Wars only" trips...just checked when we happened to be there anyways).

[Ben]

I'm just ordering online now. I hit the stores every so often, but 65% of the swag I've received this year has been through online venues.

[SilverZ]

Yes, it's all mine.  Please stay away from it, especially you Jared!  

  May your Target be blessed with endless cases of Aayla Secura and company if it's gonna be that way, bub.



...    Seriously, that side of town has been screaming for a Target for ages. Figures (haha, puntastic) it would get one after I bail from the neighborhood.

[Deanpaul]

Not a representative day, but it occurred nonetheless.

I was desperately looking for a figure this week. In a 4 1/2 hour run I hit:

106th Walmart
106th Target
Redwood FM
Redwood Target
Redwood Walmart
Woods Cross Kmart
Centerville Target
Layton Walmart
Layton Target
Layton TRU
Clinton Walmart
Harrisville Walmart
Riverdale Walmart
Riverdale Target
Riverdale TRU
Bountiful FM
Park City Walmart
3300S FM
FU Walmart
FU Target
State Street TRU

That's about 120 miles round trip.

I didn't find the figure that day, but I did the next. At a TRU. Less than a mile from my house!

[Pistol Pete]

I have a good solid 5, 1 TRU, 1 Target and 3 Wal Marts

[Brian]

Kind of related to this topic, I was wondering....how often do you go on toy runs?  Do you visit one store in particular more often, do you make daily runs, do you go weekly, or any other schedule?  I used to manage to go maybe once a week, on a Saturday, when we lived in a smaller town.  I had decent luck, but I'm sure that is why I missed a lot of stuff as well at some times.  Now we live in a city, with a Target, TRU, and Wal-Mart within at least 10 minutes of us (less for TRU and Wal-Mart).  I don't really know the "schedule" for when new stuff is put out (particularly for Star Wars, and also Marvel Legends/Spidey), so right now I have pretty much continued to go on the weekends, although I've made a few weekday stops as well now.  How often do you stop and shop...or do you know the stores' schedule for putting new stuff out?

[JediMAC]

34 different Star Wars toy pimpin' stores in all!    And they're all within less than an hour of me (gotta love L.A.)!

I get to add one more WM as of about a month ago, but I've temporarily lost one of my Targets, as they refurbish for 6 months, so it's a wash.

But for Midnight Madness, Jared introduced me to a whole new spot out near where I live, with an additional 4 WMs, 1 TRU, 2 Targets, 1 KM, and 1 KB.

So that puts me up to 43 stores within an hour of me.  Wow.  That's kind of a lot, eh? 

As for Brian's question above, the frequency of my hunting is dependent upon how many figures I'm missing at any given time.  If I'm a whole wave behind, I'll probably hunt every other day or so.  Just one or two figures, maybe a couple times a week.  But for the past couple months, during the lull leading up to 4/2, I rarely ever went out.  I suppose that would be different for some of the other folks who collect other toylines though, since there'd always be something new out there.  But I'm just SW, so when I'm caught up, or things have dried up, I usually lay low for a while...

And Target is most definitely my store of choice.  I probably do 80%+ of my SW buying there.  Heck, I'll even return stuff to the other stores occasionally if I find it at Target later on, since it's usually cheaper there, and since I prefer to support them instead of the other junkhole stores that usually don't have crap around here.