Ok, so it's my fault.
There is a well-documented history, both recent and historical, of Clone Wars figures that are extremely hard to find at retail outlets. This dates all the way back to the last red/white wave with Hondo and Aayla. A lot of poeple NEVER saw those figures. Granted that was the last wave before a packaging reset, but the problem has continued. Many people have never seen a Season 3 Ahsoka on the pegs, or a Commander Colt, and that was like 5 waves ago now. Those figures have been in circulation, albeit crapy circulation, for months now and it is not getting any easier to find them.
These newer waves have a short shelf life. They do not hang around long and NEVER seem to ship in quantity. The distribution is extremely spotty at best. Whether it be Hasbro or the retailers themselevs, the new product is just not making it out to the consumer. So if anything it is this reality that creates the exaggerrated sense of urgency on the part of collectors.
If I had any confidence Seripas would be as easy to find as Season 3 Obi-Wan, I would not sweat it, believe me. But anyone who is playing close attention to this line will know this is not the case. There are no guarantees anymore that all the figures will be plentiful going forward. For all we know hasbro is cutting back on the production numbers to create more of a demand.
So I don't think you can blame collectors for wanting the new figures as soon as they start hitting, that's the midset that has been created because of the awful distribution situation. Fans should not have to ever resort to paying "scalper prices" or ordering cases full of old figures they no longer need. Not everyone has the luxury of overspending in this economy.
Is an online collector's forum not an appropriate place to vent about toy distribution? These are the same complaints that have been going on for months, so I don't get why that should come across as abrasive to anyone. I don't come in here to start a bunch of crap, really. My only point is that things seem as bleak as I can remember as far as the distribution situation for this particular line. It makes me wonder if we won't see a similar "carry-forward" strategy for some of the harder to find figures from this line as they are doing with TVC next year.
Dan, thanks for the lone voice of support. Pete - I know you have my back on this too.
I agree with a lot that you're saying. I go out hunting a lot too, it must just be my mindset that if I don't take anything home with me that I don't
take it home with me, you know what I mean? Distribution's totally screwed up on top of poor case packs but, as pointed out above, we're heading into the holiday season. I'm honestly not worried. We'll see another endcap tray deal at Wal-Mart with Colt, Riot Clone, etc.
I hear your vent, I wasn't trying to stifle it, it just felt a little too life-or-death. It's times like these maybe we should be on the lookout to help each other out a little more.