Author Topic: OTC...Selling that Well?  (Read 4401 times)

Offline Scott

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OTC...Selling that Well?
« on: October 4, 2004, 09:55 AM »
OK...I was one of many here predicting gloom and doom that these OTC figures will be clogging the pegs for months to come.  And surprisingly they really are not...sure Cantina Han is and so is C-3PO and Lobot and a couple of the Lukes but for the most part they are really selling...I think

How are they selling in your area, see lots of pegwarming?  Or not?

One thing I think that has happened is that lots of people are collecting full sets of carded figures...

I hate to see this line succeed though...I don't want reissue after reissue released because Hasbro can now point to the OTC success and say "See!" ::)

Offline Brian

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #1 on: October 4, 2004, 10:43 AM »
I've actually been fairly surprised at how well this line is doing too.  But, I will admit...rehashes or not....I do like seeing those black and silver cards on the pegs.  For the first couple months since the OTC has hit, it has basically sold out within days.  I've noticed recently (probably due to increased shipping), that you can find OTC figures at the stores a little more readily now.  I still haven't seen the end of the line around here (Gam. Guard, Hoth Vader, Tusken, Endor Generals, etc.), but the rest are showing up in better numbers.  Actually had a chance to do a toy run this weekend, and this is how things are currently looking (OTC-wise only):

Wal-Mart (1) - A few figures, not too many.  Mainly Dagobah wave, the repacked R2, Han, 3PO.
Wal-Mart (2) - Quite a few figures, mostly IG-88, Bossk, Bespin Luke, Dagobah Luke and Spirit Obi.
Target (1) - A few figures, Dagobah wave (again)...but mostly Lukes.  Also, repacks such as Jedi Luke, X-Wing Luke, R2, Han, and 1 Stormtrooper.
Target (2) - Fairly good supply.  Spirit Obi and the Bespin Wave mostly here.
TRU - Finally got on board with the OTC within the last month.  Same stuff here mostly - Dagobah Wave, Han, Chewie, TR Vader, Jedi Luke seem most common.

Also, as far as ships go....the Falcon seems to be sitting everywhere.  I still really would like to pick this version up, although I don't really have the room for it.  It is currently on sale at Target for about $42 (this week), Wal-Mart had it for $47ish, and TRU for $49.  I was kind of holding out hope that Target would do a classic clearance price on this one.  I also see the repacked X-Wings and TIEs at both Target and TRU, but for some reason they do seem like they are selling a little bit.  Not the same ones sitting anyways.  Plenty of Vader TIEs at TRU still as well.

I guess, overall, I think this line is doing pretty well...much better than I expected.  I think Hasbro's got to be happy with this, although I hope that it isn't a sign of things to come.  Overall, the OTC seems to sell better than the vOTC (well, at least the ANH wave of it...the others have come and gone), and maybe there has been an increase in casual buyers due to the DVD release.  Long answer short.....yeah, its selling pretty well around here, but things are starting to sit a little longer now than they were a month or two ago.

Offline Scott

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #2 on: October 4, 2004, 10:47 AM »
Yeah the vehicles are not selling at all...I'm with you on the Target post-Christmas Clearance

Offline Morgbug

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #3 on: October 4, 2004, 11:47 AM »
They are selling here, in spite of the ultra crap out on the card backs - think blue saga card turned black and there you have it.  So in spite of lacking the appeal of the uber cool card back, they are still selling here. 

Early on they sold incredibly well.  We haven't had much carried by retailers here for quite some time (about 6 months post AOTC) so it was neat to see them and surprising to see them move so well.  There are clearly a ton of people buying these that are not on the boards and talking about it, something I already knew from running into people buying them in the past. 

Sales are starting to wane a bit now, mostly because our selection has been fairly limited.  We saw an absolute ton of the early Dagobah case, something that was good.  But now it's fairly easy to find Dag Luke, Yoda, dirty R2.  Han of course sits everywhere for the most obvious of reasons ::)  We are now at the point where we've moved out of the Dagobah case into the Bespin case, so Lobot and Leia are starting to sit for a bit.  Nothing horrible, but not great speed off the pegs either. 

The cases with Stormtroopers, Boba and a Vader sell well and fast.  I expect the last case with Hoth Vader and Snowtrooper should sell remarkably well also. 

They've done ok with case assortments and Canada has had the benefit of missing most of the first runs of a lot of these figures.  Much of Saga simply didn't come up here, so while they are a rehash to me due to my trading activities, there are quite a few new figures for other folks.  None of the Vaders, for example, ever were released up here.  Army builders and Boba's are guaranteed sells.  The new 7 figures will sell of course.  Even the Luke's didn't come here, if you count the lack of teeth on X-wing Luke as a new version. 

I am happier with this line than I was with the HOF stuff, that's for sure.  I'm still baffled by how prequel Obi qualifies for a Hall of Fame status >:(  But I agree with Scott and know full well that Hasbro will go for more rehash figures based on the success, relatively speaking, of this line.  Are they bright enough to realize it's the cardbacks rather than the figures?  That's the real question. 
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Offline Angry Ewok

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #4 on: October 4, 2004, 01:47 PM »
I haven't seen anything but fragments of the OTC wave. Some bastard at target has whipped out the new stuff for a few weeks... It's annoying as hell that whoever he/she is, he doesn't leave anything behind except maybe one lousy figure.

TRU hasn't put but maybe one box of OTC up, and they sold quick - I didn't see but one of those figures, either.

Wal-Mart is dead. They stopped getting figures in after the AOTC boom. All they've got is April 23rd junk.

Offline Mister Skeezler

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #5 on: October 4, 2004, 02:21 PM »
It seems to me to be selling gang-busters, as I only just started seeing remnants of cases on the pegs. I haven't seen any of the Dagobah wave on pegs, and if it wasn't for Jared and Matt's tagteam hook-up, I would still be looking for those.

So I would say that its at least selling better than the majority of us thought it would. Hopefully hasbro will realize that the card design is sweet and keep it up, rather than abandoning it.
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #6 on: October 4, 2004, 05:56 PM »
My take?  At this point, OTC's no better than initial waves of any other line Hasbro's put out...  Saga figures flew off shelves when they were "new" as well, so I'm not as blown away by the OTC.  Plus I think the carded completists were underestimated on this line too...

That said, I see pegwarmers...  Chewbacca, Spirit Ben, Dagobah Luke, X-Wing Luke, Bespin Luke, Bossk, IG-88, etc...  These figures aren't "flying" off pegs here.  Bespin Wave is now pegwarming here, but it's mostly just Lobot...  It helps that the CCP's just an awesome figure and Leia's got the female figure curse of moving good.

The Endor repacks haven't shown here yet, though I wish they would since they're figures I'm anxiously wanting more of...  The army builders are moving, though the TIE Pilot's a findable figure, which is good because I usually buy one or two every time I see him.  :)

To me, OTC's bogging down like any other line...  The shorter packed figures are moving quickly still, but that's just supply & demand at its basic level...  Carded guys are moving this line though...  I'd love to see #'s that show adults vs. kids in purchasing power on these.  Real exact #'s or something...  Not gonna happen, but it'd be interesting to see nonetheless.

There's a lot of good and bad in the OTC, just like Saga, and at this point I am seeing it bog down where the good's still moving and the bad is starting to sit...  Some of the good's starting to sit as well, just like with Saga.  It seems like most other lines to me.

The cards rock though...  It is nice to see black & silver instead of putrid blues, greens, reds, oranges...  Blah. 

I even have to admit that I'm saving some of the cardbacks because they're just that nice.

To me, the VOTC's the line that's moving.  Cases come in and go out...  Only ANH wave is sitting, and it only sits at select Wal-Marts that (for whatever reason) ordered TONS of just that one wave.
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Offline Muftak

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #7 on: October 4, 2004, 06:46 PM »
I was another one who thought OTC would tank big. Tonight I'll dine on crow. These things have been moving very well in my area.

I think the thing Hasbro finally got right was case assortments here. These last few cases have for the most part been one-pers. That means every new case is potentially going home with the first customer. Last week at a Wal*Mart near me I had the deeply unsatisfying experince of being the second guy to a new case of figures--the last wave, with the Gam Guard, Bib Fortuna, the Generals and the Scanning Tech. The guy who beat me bought them all--though he was nice enough to let me oggle them first. ;) That put me on the hunt, though--I hit about twenty stores in one day last week and saw just about every figure that's been released in 2004 (even J'Quille and Tanus)except those last few. I found a Lando General but that's been it.

The thing that hurt them was the early cases (with the Bespin and Dagobah figures) and that crap display at the Wal*Marts (with the figure cases). I've seen those figures lining shelves at most of the WMs around here--just way too many of too few figures to sell like the rest.

And the VOTCs have been a totally different story. They sit and sit, even Yodas and Vaders are starting to hang around here more. One WM here has a top shelf piled high with all the VOTCs they couldn't sell off the Falcon display. Maybe I'll buy Ben there when he gets deep discounted.

Offline Force Guy

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #8 on: October 5, 2004, 09:47 AM »
OTC is selling well in my area.  It's interesting that the pegwarmers around these parts are NEW figs (Lobot, Bespin Leia, Dagobah R2).  Of the rehashes, I see Cantina Han, Leia & Bossk quite frequently.  OTC figure sales are doing great.  OTC vehicles, not so great.   
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Offline CHEWIE

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #9 on: October 5, 2004, 10:32 AM »
Regular Figures - Very well

VOTC Figures - Too many of 1st wave

Vehicles - Not at all!

 :P


Offline DSJ™

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #10 on: October 5, 2004, 10:46 AM »
OTC sells well here, VOTC sells well too but nothing on any Vader that I have seen & if you find any, it just plain Han.

Sure the carbacks we have (starburst) are nothing to scream about but they do fly on evilbay!  ::)

The vehicles move, I have not seen a Falcon for awhile.

Offline Scott

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #11 on: October 5, 2004, 11:04 AM »
The ANH VOTC is not selling here either...ESB hasn't lasted anywhere I have seen.  Still waiting for that to be a problem on the ROTJ wave ::)

Offline Brian

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #12 on: October 5, 2004, 11:10 AM »
Yeah, that is something I was wondering about too.  Although I have seen the ESB wave here (some once, some twice), they do not sit at all.  Usually gone the same day or the next.  I wonder if we will ever see the last two waves on the pegs the way we see the ANH wave.  All I can find in town anywhere is the 4 ANH figs, and usually plenty of them, particularly at Wal-Mart and TRU.  Target seems to be able to sell theirs better, probably due to their sales/clearancing.

Offline Xander

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #13 on: October 6, 2004, 07:37 AM »
The pegwarmer situation is lower than during Saga, so I'd say yeah they are selling pretty well.  In fact, since they've been out which was when, early summer?, I've only now started seeing pewarmers sitting in the same place for a couple of weeks.  Its made me worried I wouldn't be able to find the ones I've wanted, but actually I've had good luck so far. 

Are they shipping as many as the Saga figures?  Anyone know or care to speculate?

Offline Jesse James

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Re: OTC...Selling that Well?
« Reply #14 on: October 6, 2004, 02:29 PM »
I would say not...  MOst I've seen is 2, or perhaps 3 cases at a time...  That's my personal experience anyway.  Target's had the "most" at a single sitting, and this was just last week that I saw 2 cases (Bespin Wave) go out at a single point.

VOTC at Wal-Mart's had "more" go on the pegs at once than basic OTC at any store...

Wait, nix that...  I did see a LOT of OTC go up at once at WM when they put those big displays out...  The ones with the carry cases.  Those I've seen more of, but that wave (The bounty hunters, Bespin Luke, etc.) I've not seen at another store than WM either.

Right now, my TRU's have lots of Saga and a handful of OTC pegwarmers like R2-D2, and Spirit Obi-Wan...  Most Targets near me then have the Dagobah Wave, some Bespin remnants, and repacks of R2-D2, X-Wing Luke, Jedi Luke, etc...

I'd love to walk in and find the Tusken, Gam. Guard and Endor wave...    ::)  Love to find lots and lots of ROTJ VOTC figures too.   :-\  However, the things I want aren't the things I'm finding at all.
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