Author Topic: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive  (Read 110340 times)

Offline Darth_Anton

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 10672
  • Whatever
    • View Profile
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #195 on: April 15, 2005, 12:20 PM »
Can I send both forms and UPC codes together in the same envelope with one receipt, or am I screwed?

Well, it looks like we have Hasbro's Answer:


Quote
Question:
I purchased more than one Star Wars Early Bird Kit on one receipt.  Can I use one receipt to send away for multiple kits?

Answer:
Yes, you can send in for multiple kits together using one receipt as long as each kit you are sending away for is listed on that receipt. Also be sure to send in each original UPC code and certificate per kit.

Sounds like you should be OK putting both your redemption forms in one envelope...

Jeff

Thanks Jeff! I bought 2 on-line for me and my neighbor, so I was wondering about that as well.

Has anyone opened one yet? What stickers come with it? The original twelve? If so, could this mean that the first 12 of the '06 line will be the original twelve?
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel - The Imperial Communique -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyEfCtMv1lWhxSH-B1Scr4g
"Snark is the idiot's version of wit."

Offline Scott

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Guardian
  • *
  • Posts: 18704
  • Get Some
    • View Profile
    • JediDefender
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #196 on: April 15, 2005, 10:48 PM »
I saw numerous amounts of these as well Brian.  Figures in general don't seem to be selling well at all at Wal-Mart it seems.  Crap exclusives like this one didn't help

Offline Rod

  • Jedi Initiate
  • *
  • Posts: 150
    • View Profile
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #197 on: April 15, 2005, 11:23 PM »
A friend from North Georgia told me they went on sale at his WM...for like $27 something....not much but it shows that this gamble might not have worked for WM quite the way they expected.  I think it was a bit too high a price to fly off the shelves as they expected.....

Offline Ben

  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 6577
    • View Profile
    • greatest blog ever written.
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #198 on: April 15, 2005, 11:45 PM »
The biggest problem (besides price) was that they didn't send them to ALL Wal-Marts. I've heard of there being piles of them left over, and there's no way they'll sell them all now. I'd have bought one had it been at MM here locally.

But since it isn't, to hell with it.

don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk

Offline ruiner

  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 5023
  • raised to be lowered
    • View Profile
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #199 on: April 20, 2005, 02:04 PM »
At first, I thought this was kind of a sham but last night I finally opened mine and realized that it's kind of a neat set (plus it was produced here in the States - hard to believe, eh)?

The cardboard backdrop is exactly the same as it was 28 years ago from what I can tell - even comes with little retro stickers, neat but no big deal.

The four figures are decent from the pics I've seen and appear to be the first four of a line (according to the blurbs on the envelope and certificate).

As well, I signed up for the 3 month Hyperspace trial this morning and it seems pretty cool - I watched the Clone Wars cartoons that I've missed as well as the deleted scene from AOTC.

Hopefully I'll be able to order some exclusive cool swag from the store before my trial membership expires (holo Leia, anyone)?

The only downside was ruining the clamshell to get the stuff out and send in the upc.  Don't try to salvage the clamshell - you're going to ruin it by cutting out the upc anyhow.

Maybe my opinion will change when I get the figures, but overall, I'm pleased with it except for the fact that I had to order it online and pay shipping vs buying it in the store (my state did not participate in this promotion).


Offline Darth Broem

  • Jedi Knight
  • *
  • Posts: 3001
    • View Profile
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #200 on: April 20, 2005, 02:44 PM »
It's not the greatest exclusive they could have dreamed up I will admit it.  I bought it because I liked the nod to the original Kenner early bird set.  I figured what the hell? 

It does not surprise me at all that it did not sell that great.  They needed an actual figure from ROTS itself.  Most people look at that thing and think "What the hell is this?" 

Offline Diddly

  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 6359
  • SECede
    • View Profile
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #201 on: April 20, 2005, 10:19 PM »
RS has some pics of the figures. Chewie is good. A VOTC Repaint with a new head. I like it. Leia is okay, Luke stinks, and R2 is that same HOF/Saga/POTJ one we've seen a gazillion times.

I'd like the Chewie from the set, but nothing else.
http://diddlyscoop.blogspot.com
Twitter: @travis_banks

Offline Darth Broem

  • Jedi Knight
  • *
  • Posts: 3001
    • View Profile
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #202 on: April 21, 2005, 08:23 AM »
I like Leia because of the hood. 
Again Luke is fine with me from the standpoint that this is a throwback to the original Early Bird figure.  A neat gimmick IMO for what it is. 
Chewy is ok with me.  I don't love it but it's decent. 
R2-D2 - well it's another R2. 

Again I will like this set.  But that's me.

Offline evenflow

  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 6073
    • View Profile
    • Myspace
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #203 on: April 21, 2005, 10:16 AM »
I agree that the porblem was becuase only select stores had them. If they shipped them to all the stores instead a select few they woul dhave gone.
Quote the Raven, Nevermore.

"It Can't Rain All The TIme"

Offline Scott

  • Staff Member
  • Jedi Guardian
  • *
  • Posts: 18704
  • Get Some
    • View Profile
    • JediDefender
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #204 on: April 21, 2005, 10:59 AM »
Every Wal*Mart I see that has these has like 50 of them still.  Its way too overpriced and the idea is stupid in this day and age.  Wal*Mart really took it in the shorts this go round, their pegs are stuffed full of the same figures while Target has been selling stuff like crazy and had the foresight to at least get some decent Exclusives and promotions.

It would be even a little more digestible if the figures were at least decent...that Luke makes me want to bash my head against a brick wall its so asinine.  R2 is the same as every other one in the last 7 years, the Chewie is nice but I think even ROTS Chewie is a passable alternative.  Leia is also nice but she comes with the wrong gun and really, I don't care if I get it or not

If it was something like 4 new Cantina Aliens or 4 ROTS Clone Troopers or something, it would have sold better but it is and will continue to be an absolute bomb of epic proportions

Offline Brian

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 11749
    • View Profile
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #205 on: April 21, 2005, 11:24 AM »
Things are the same here Scott, our Wal-Mart is flooded with them, in two seperate aisles now.  I personally picked one up and sent it in, and I'll be happy to get the figures...plus, I really like the vintage-y aspect of it.  Plus, it is a somewhat cheap way for someone like me to get the Early Bird stand, since I doubt I'll ever get the vintage version.

That said, I have to agree, I just don't know if it is the right type of exclusive or promotion for this day and age.  Maybe it was just the wrong time too, to go with this "OT" item during a prequel movie push.  It might have even made more sense as a way to kick off the OTC/VOTC stuff last year.  It might have even done better if the figures were actually included initially....I know that sort of "defeats the purpose" of an EB set, but I don't think many shoppers understand what it is.  Actually I can guarantee that almost everyone outside of people like us who are up on what is coming out have any idea what it is.  To them it probably just looks like a cardboard picture in a plastic box for $30.  Like I said, I personally kind of like it although I will agree that the figures aren't necessarily anything to write home about...but it is probably going to be a major flop as an exclusive for Wal-mart.

Offline DoctorPadawan

  • Jedi Apprentice
  • *
  • Posts: 1996
  • Get that poison out of your system
    • View Profile
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #206 on: April 21, 2005, 12:20 PM »
There are two Wal-Marts within fifteen minutes of one another in my area (which is depressing in and of itself, but I digress) and both of them have sections for these that are literally packed to the limit.  There are at least 50 and possibly more at each store and since moving them into an aisle from the tent sale, I have yet to see a single one change positions. 

People are not buying these because, as I said when this was first announced, the reason the EB promotion was so successful in the 1970s was that at that time, there were no SW action figures to buy as an alternative.  To get them, you HAD to buy the EB package.  Even today the EB package is looked back on as being a really audacious promotion that succeeded in spite of logic and an abundance of what is often referred to as "testicular fortitude."

Now, you've got the same promotion for a different age, but the difference is that there is not as much demand for SW toys as there was back in 1977 (relatively speaking), since there are at least 1000 different things being sold alongside this new EB kit which require absolutely no waiting for 6-8 weeks (or more) and are infinitely cheaper.  And to be honest, I'm right there with mosnab in thinking that the average non-collector doesn't know what the hell this thing is; all they see is an envelope with dated artwork for a ridiculously high price.  Why pay 30 dollars for this when you can go three feet down the aisle and get 6 figures right now for the same cost?

This exclusive was poorly planned, poorly executed, and is selling equally poor.  Even K-Mart, the raging bastion of Chapter 11 that it is, got an exclusive that you can actually tangibly touch in their establishments (the ones that are still open, of course).  Target gets two figures that create a whole lot of buzz and attention and actually promoted these items (well, they did with Vader; who knows what cluster**** awaits with the Clone), TRU gets a Yoda that was equally promoted and had a lot of buzz, and WM sits on announcing theirs until a few days before it goes on sale, Hasbro doesn't actually reveal the figures until after it goes on sale, and in the end, all they got was a crappy (yes, I said it) envelope that nobody but die-hard collectors are going to buy.

Oh, and the other WM exclusive items (the Titanium series) are just flying off the shelves here too.  There have to be at least 400 of the various things hanging around collecting dust. 

And you know, the conspiracy side of my personality makes me think that this Early Bird disaster (and regardless of what you think of the figures or the coolness/lameness of the item itself, it is, on a retail level, a disaster) could end up being a really bad harbinger of the future of the SW line as a whole after ROTS has run its course.  Keep in mind that WM is the number one toy retailer in the country (this sickens me, but still...), and if you want to see what kind of effects WM can have on any company, just Google "WalMart Predatory Business Practices" or something like that.

I'm not saying that WM will drive Hasbro into bankruptcy, but when WM sees how poorly this EB stuff has done, I have a feeling it's going to take a whole lot of placating on the part of Hasbro to get them to carry SW toys in the next few years.

Offline ruiner

  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 5023
  • raised to be lowered
    • View Profile
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #207 on: April 21, 2005, 02:17 PM »
I agree Dr.

My feeling?  WM didn't think they needed an exclusive to get collectors in the door.  But then they got a little scared when Target made a big mailing and promotion about their Lava Vader (and coupon) and the same applies to TRU with their MM and holo yoda.

Hasbro had to throw something together quick - and that's where the early bird kit comes in.

Why do I say this?  Look at the early bird kit closely - it was made in the States.  Nothing is made in the states anymore for the big dogs.   Big H and WM didn't have time to wait for product to arrive from China to make the 4/2 release date and subsequently, deliver WM's exclusive.

I can almost bet the EB figures weren't even designed when the EB kits hit the retail shelves.

Offline Brian

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 11749
    • View Profile
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #208 on: April 22, 2005, 03:13 PM »
Well, from the Q and A response (posted at RS), it looks like the Early Bird set is indeed a "one time deal", and not a new direction for the line, at least according to Hasbro at this point.  But, as we know, things can always change.  Judging from all of the certificate packs rotting at Wal-Mart here, there's going to be a lot of figures left over ;).  Anyways, now we know (at least tenatively) that there isn't a line "re-start" in the future, unless Hasbro isn't telling us something....which is quite possible ;).

Offline evenflow

  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 6073
    • View Profile
    • Myspace
Re: Wal-Mart "Early Bird" Exclusive
« Reply #209 on: April 22, 2005, 05:33 PM »
Good news that its not the start of a new line. I am happy that it is a one shot deal. I am still very happy with the set as a nod to the vintage line.
Quote the Raven, Nevermore.

"It Can't Rain All The TIme"