Recent Vintage Collection Purchases

[Dave]

Lots of "about to ship" notices from Amazon today for delivery early next week.  Mandalorian, Light Cruiser Hallway, Jet Pack Trooper.

[Dave]

Lots of "about to ship" notices from Amazon today for delivery early next week.  Mandalorian, Light Cruiser Hallway, Jet Pack Trooper.

Got all these on Friday and Saturday.

[McMetal]

I stopped by an out of town GameStop over the holiday break and it was wild. It looked like those juicy photos I always see on social media of well stocked stores with tons of new stuff. They had all the Skeleton Crew 6”, and pretty much the whole wave of most recent TVC figures. I picked up the new Thrawn and Peridea Ahsoka.

None of the stores around me ever look like that 🙄

[Nicklab]

There's a couple of GameStops near me like that, but they're both in malls.  As a result I tend to avoid them.  But the last GameStop I went to in a mall had that new wave, and around 2 cases worth of basic figures.  I also saw the deluxe Zeb, Mando with the Blurrg, and the reissue of the AT-ST with Chewbacca.  The place also had most of the recent Black Series roleplay helmets.

[Nicklab]

I picked up TVC Farmboy Luke at GameStop yesterday!  The blister was cracked, but it's fine by me because I'm going to open it.  Amazon is still showing delivery dates for that wave in the middle of February.

It's strange how you might find just one figure out of an entire wave in a store.  But even GameStop is starting to dry up as a brick & mortar source - simply because it seems like more stores are closing.

[Jediknight760071]

Well, looks like both of my local Gamestops will be closing by the end of the weekend 
I stopped by and picked up a Jetpack Trooper at one and the Blurrg at the other. Cheaper on Amazon, but I figured I'd make my last fan channel brick-and-mortar purchases memorable.

How are the brick-and-mortars doing by you guys?

[McMetal]

We have lost several stores here that I would frequent a lot. It’s a bummer for sure. I see more new stuff at GS than Target and Walmart combined.

[Rob]

Brick and mortar for Vintage Collection is effectively dead in Chicago.

Toys R Us is gone, Target only carries Epic Heroes and Black Series.  There’s like one Game Stop left, and there are no Walmarts unless you drive out to the suburbs - and there’s no point in that when Pulse or Amazon will drop them off at my door.  The days of in store purchases are basically over for the foreseeable future here.

[Nicklab]

Numerous GameStop stores have closed near me.  I can count at least 4 in a 15 mile radius from me that have shut down in the past year or so.  But the effect it’s seemed to have is that the inventory at the remaining stores appears to be more concentrated.  Before it seemed like they would split a TVC case of figures between multiple stores.

The Toys R Us flagship store is really TRU in name only.  Lots of old inventory that looks like it’s a step above Ollie’s, but with regular retail prices.  It’s a joke.

[Jediknight760071]

The Walmarts by me are odd. There are 3 within a short distance that I've been checking regularly.
Luckily, the closest one seems to be stocking about every week or so. I picked up the Tatooine Luke wave a few weeks ago and have noticed it replenished at least 3 times.
Unfortunately, the next closest Walmart has had empty pegs, except for a lone Fennec and Ahsoka for a few months. They also have those extra security tags on them.
The 3rd Walmart did not restock after the Osha/Mae wave, clearanced them shortly after Christmas, and now doesn't have TVC pegs at all.

Wish I had gone into Toys R Us to take a look around one last time before they closed up shop, but I was out of the hobby and didn't even know that was happening 
One of my fondest memories from collecting was Midnight Madness April 23, 2002 at the Tustin, CA Toys R Us. The guys that got to the pegs first were handing figures back to all of us like a bucket brigade, and some just asking "You got this one yet?....ah screw it *toss it in your cart*"

Maybe I should drive up and pour one out on the curb for the anniversary this year.

[Jeff]

The Toys R Us flagship store is really TRU in name only.  Lots of old inventory that looks like it’s a step above Ollie’s, but with regular retail prices.  It’s a joke.

The TRU Store at Mall of America here in MN is the same way.  It's always socked with stuff... but that stuff is all rejects from the past few years.  Not even sure where/when/who they are getting their stock from.  It's fun to walk around in but I never buy anything...

[Nicklab]

It's funny - the Macy's TRU stores are probably better than the standalone locations.

But then I hear that TRU Canada is closing a number of their locations.  They had been hanging on, but the prices are ridiculous.

[McMetal]

We should retitle this thread “Recent Vintage Collection Preorders” lol 

I went ahead and ordered the 6 TVC figures I want from the upcoming waves via Amazon just to take advantage of that preorder price guarantee. Plus I doubt I will ever see any of those in stores except for maybe GameStop.

[Jediknight760071]

I had been on the fence about the Boba/Jabba Throne Room playset on Pulse but noticed it go to 'low stock' and bit the bullet.
It arrived today and I have to say, it's a huge upgrade to the paper POTF2 setup I had before. Also, it's now listed as 'sold out' so I'm really glad I didn't drag my feet any longer.

I know there's a lot of "hasbro could do xyz better" with almost any product, this one included, but there's something about the Vintage Collection that just feels right.
The box art is enchanting. The size is of the set is great for displaying in a bookshelf. Not to mention, they used its appearance in new media to get us something we wanted from the OT for so long.

I forget if it was SAGA or OTC, but there was that wave with Rappertunie, Tanus, and Luke that just feels so much more complete now with this place to display them all.