Retail catching up to Online Shops?

[CHEWIE]

Is it just me, or does it seem like it is getting more and more difficult lately to get solid cases online?  It seems that every time I check newforcecomics, they are cancelling more Star Wars orders.  Same with my figures I ordered from Kebco...

But at retail, especially Target stores, I have had more success lately.  I would say that August-September were great months for me at retail.  I have seen every figure at least twice, and have even been somewhat successful at Kmart and TRU.  Walmart has been another story though, save for some Clone bonus packs.

Thoughts?

 

[Darby]

I agree.   Nothing against Newforce or the online folks but Hasbro has turned it into a crap shoot and honestly, you're better off just looking in the stores.  

[Ben]

Have any cases that actually got shipped from the online stores had any of that smashed bubble nonsense? I've been looking for a Wedding Padme that doesn't have the bubble smashed to hell. No dice.

I'm still looking for the recent Unleashed waves, the blue, yellow, and red Clone 3-packs, and something else I can't think of right now. For anything not in the basic line, online is still apparently the best way to go.

[Darby]

HMI is right; I should ammend my comments by saying you're rolling the dice online or in the store.  I've had many orders cancelled by Newforce, only to find those pieces at Target, and the only place Clone Wars 3 packs or Unleashed figs exist is online.

[Snively Bandar]

Maybe a better question is, is Online catching up (down) to Retail?  

I think it's that both of these sales outlets are each swinging in the opposite direction just a bit right now.  The retail stores seem to have picked up a lot over the past month or two, and are finally stocking up on both the new and old 2003 Saga figures, which is great!

From what I've seen around the boards, it sounds like some of the e-tailers have been heading in the opposite direction just a little as well, with delays in receiving the latest items, and oft times having their orders outright cancelled.  So that's a bummer for the people who prefer not to waste their gas on a weekly basis.

But I've always been a "thrill of the hunt" guy myself, so I stick primarily to the retail stores, and have done fairly well with that method.  I've found just about everything, though sometimes it just takes a fair amount of patience for a lot of the figures.  Always exciting (but often demoralizing) the hunt is though!