[Snowflakian]

I've collected for ages, and while I do love the occasional thrill of the hunt, and satisfaction of seeing characters in stores, there are certain must gets in random waves that worry me on availability. This sentiment is probably echoed by many across various superhero lines, Joe lines, and even transformers.

So I'm curious. What's the best outlet to make sure you get these figures without having to order them by the case, or dealing with BBTS's overcharging per figure. I love their pile of loot system, but paying 15 bucks for a moonknight was a bit much.

What other sites, stores or otherwise can allow you to preorder to this degree well? Whereas hasbrotoyshop is slow to up for preorders, and BBTS is selective on who they let you preorder. (Still no Guardian or Warpath listing).

Even for DCIH it's become a hassle. The walmarts here only perpetually have the Dr. Fate green arrow and alex luthor wave with omac, while toys r us has only ever had the guy gardner and black hand wave.

I've yet to even see soundwave around here in ROTF, let alone the ICT, or Arcee.

What do you guys recommend? And how would you feel if Hasbro maybe started for MU or ML at least, a subscription service itself for figures? Whether exclusives, or figures of waves.

Granted I guess that'd be impossible for certain figures of case assortments since they still have to sell the other parts of the case not ordered somehow.
(IE Fake case assortment example 3x spiderman 3x Wolverine, 2x warpath 2x sunfire, 1x jean grey, if everyone orders a warpath sunfire and jean grey, that's 3 spidermans and 3 wolverines left over per 1 jean grey sold, or 6 wolvies and 6 spidey's per every 4 warpaths sold in this example.)

It'd just be nice to have a way to guarantee getting certain figures, without all the hassle of calling 15 different stores, checking all the online outlets, and getting stuck between ebay that's 25 with shipping for a single figure, or bbts that's 23 with shipping, if they aren't sold out or even listed.

For Imports I can understand this, but why should domestic figures be this difficult?

[ludovicotek]

I feel your pain, but I guess that's why they call it "the hunt"

It's pretty difficult to guess what you'll eventually come across in store. I've been burned before holding off on pre-orders or online orders with hopes of finding something in store only to never see it. I've honestly been pretty fortunate with finding the majority of stuff I want. I guess you just have to visit frequently and know the patterns for each store.

[deceptifocus]

yeah i have a route on the way to my GF's house, that involves a walmart, a target, a TRU and a comic shop... heh

i kinda like the hunt, but only when it pays off, there are so many figures out that ive wanted and just never seen, or seen bits and pieces of the wave tho

[trebleshot]

Good advice, ludo.

There are only a few things I've had trouble finding over the years, and I usually ended up getting them on Ebay for a reasonable markup.

The nice thing about a preorder system with Hasbro and Mattel is they are able to gauge how large of a run they need to make before making it. With retail stores, they buy by the case so they would potentially get stuck with leftovers. Of course, Spider-Man and Wolverine are big sellers on their own, so the theory is those will sell themselves. Most kids aren't all that concerned with getting the entire wave like we collectors are. They just want their favorite characters, which are usually the most popular (i.e. Spidey and Logan).

[Snowflakian]

Well and at least hasbro is thinking ahead too with these waves.

If what I saw was right, the wave 1 2010 case includes x-force wolverine too. I hope this is a trend as they release team figures. Like black spidey again if Dark Ms. marvel, or Iron patriot is released, or thing and torch again if reed is released single carded. This could at least alleviate some of that pressure of getting characters for MU before they vanish from shelves and enter markup hell.

But then that still leaves the problem of DCIH, and Transformers. Which for the most part I'll deal with I guess since it's so few I want of them anyway.

But it would be nice if more places had a "I'm definitely getting these figures, can you let me know when they are out to charge me?" more direct.

Between markup and gas money, it's starting to reach an age where that could be really popular if they were within reason on cost individually.

[ludovicotek]

Snowflakian, you bring up an interesting point about gas money. I'm lucky enough to live where I have easy access to 1 Wal-Mart, 3 Targets and 4 TRUs. Most of them are accessible on my drive home from work or right down the street from where I live. Not everyone is so fortunate. I have lived in an area where it took me 30 minutes just to drive to the nearest store. Needless to say, that does not lend itself to toy hunting.

[BlackRazor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ludovicotek

Snowflakian, you bring up an interesting point about gas money. I'm lucky enough to live where I have easy access to 1 Wal-Mart, 3 Targets and 4 TRUs. Most of them are accessible on my drive home from work or right down the street from where I live. Not everyone is so fortunate. I have lived in an area where it took me 30 minutes just to drive to the nearest store. Needless to say, that does not lend itself to toy hunting.

Wow, 4 TRU's? We had 2 around here but one closed a few years back & now only one in the area. I have 4 Wal-Marts & 5 Targets.

[Prem1x]

Gas is really too much to hunt often and justify that against just ordering a slightly marked up set (case?) of figures online. Wave 5 I didn't want all the re/black Spideys and silver Iron Men so I'm looking to find Namor and Guardian in retail, but 2010 Wave 1 looks reasonable to me to buy a case since there would only be about 4 figures out of the 12 that I would have duplicates of and I might just save them for Christmas gifts.

[trebleshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackRazor

Wow, 4 TRU's? We had 2 around here but one closed a few years back & now only one in the area. I have 4 Wal-Marts & 5 Targets.

I've got a similar setup. 5 Wal-Marts, 4 Targets, 1 TRU. A couple of them are about 5 minutes away from me. Also have 3 Meijers but that's a regional chain (similar to a "Super" Wal-Mart).

[BlackRazor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

I've got a similar setup. 5 Wal-Marts, 4 Targets, 1 TRU. A couple of them are about 5 minutes away from me. Also have 3 Meijers but that's a regional chain (similar to a "Super" Wal-Mart).

Yeah Target 1st came here in the mid 90's & they planned to close that 1st store when they built a 2nd one fairly close by. They decided not to close it thought because it's still so busy & doing so well.

[bigkid24]

Obviously the more stores that you have around you, the better your chances but I get a lot of my hard to find stuff from friends in different areas/states.

As for the import stuff, I organize group buys with friends so that we can get good discounts on TFs and Macross stuff.

I miss out on a lot of stuff but I use that as a good excuse for not buying too much stuff.