Best Toy Hunting Trip?

Primacron · 01-19-2011, 05:06 AM

Although I buy most of my toys online, there are a few which I've bought in person, and if I'm honest they mean more to me - especially when I've bought them on a trip somewhere or where I've been lucky to find them.

I thought it would be fun to share stories on the toy hunting expedition which you remember most fondly!

I've had a few trips which have been memorable (searching the entirety of Singapore for MP Grimlock a couple of years ago is a close runner), but the happiness I felt after finding Universe Bruticus and Superion stands out.

The Asian market got Superion and Bruticus in the Universe line, not just the Movie line like North America and Europe. However, Australia and New Zealand also got them in the Universe line (we also got the special edition releases of Drag Strip and Overkill at retail!). When I first saw them I wasn't particularly interested as I didn't like the Energon style hands and feet.

Some while later, FansProject released the first pictures of the Superion upgrade. Wow! I knew I had to have and it and rushed out to go and buy the figures (thought I'd get Bruticus as well incase they later did an upgrade for him), predictably though, they weren't to be found and so the prospect of ebay loomed.

I'd only tried shops in the city centre, so decided to try the stores a bit further out (on bike, no car you see). Bingo! I found Bruticus (and indeed XM:O Deadpool and Gambit), it did start to rain shortly after though, and I was a bit worried about him on the back of my bike. I got him home safe and dry though!

Sadly, I still hadn't found Superion. The next day I was at work, daydreaming in a meeting when it occurred to me I could get the train to a place a bit further along the coast and try there. I left work early, jumped on a train for an hour and tried my luck. There he was, the last one on the shelf and I got him! I also grabbed Drag Strip and was delighted to find there was 25% off!

There was brilliant sunshine when I got out the store (strange how I remember the weather, I can't remember what the weather was doing for any other purchases I've ever made), I celebrated with some McDonald's fries and I got back on the train happy as larry. Best fries I've ever had.

FansProject did later release a Bruticus upgrade (which is even more awesome than the Superion upgrade), and when I came to the UK I found a store which had in the order of 50 Movie Superion's sitting on the shelf. Bruticus never got a UK release though!

Prowl 2009 · 01-19-2011, 08:53 AM

I think one of my best Toy Hunting Trips took place last Spring around April. It was a beautifully warm day and I had had a descent day at work. My wife picked me and my brother up and we decided to hit up the Zellers about ten minutes away from where I live. I really wasn't expecting to find much, but when I got there, I started straight for the Transformers was able to track down ROTF Bruticus, ROTF Lockdown and ROTF Brawn, all on sale price. I don't even think I exceeded $50 that day and for all that Transformers goodness too!

So, we head back home after a bit, stopping off at my dad's for dinner and then we head back to my place, hitting up a Wal-Mart a few minutes from where I live, and where I was able to track down one of the illusive 6" Iron Man 2 Mark V suitcase armor figures! LOL, than my wife and I grabbed whatever else we needed and headed back to our place where I found a tax return cheque for $356 and on top of that, my wife pre-ordered me the FansProject Warbot Defender from this awesome store in Quebec called Automaton Toys!

So all in all, I scored some major plastic crack and got more than I spent and then some back from the government! Ah, too bad every day can't be like that!

behindthemask · 01-19-2011, 09:20 AM

I've had several, in my time... as a kid I was more or less given them then bought them... I remember 1 x-mas morning mom waited in lines for hours to get me the ninja turtle sewer set, along with the technodrome! it was awesome... or my g1 Optimus as a kid... sadly I sold them off long ago...

More recently as in actual hunting.. I remember right around the time Iron man 2 was about to come out I heard about the Walmart exclusives and decided to go and take a look... I was disappointed and didn't see anything except some of the small figures.. until for whatever reason I decided to look up and found a like 8 figures stashed away.. probably by a collector.. or staff I snagged a war machine, mark iv and suitcase armor... Was so pumped.
As of recently I stumbled upon a place I used to show years ago, but haven't thought of for action figures till I contacted the owner and said he had tons.. Owl's Hollow. They have a lot of baby toys, models, etc.. but now 2 huge racks of figures! he has street fighter, iron man, marvel universe etc, last day I was in he told me he has a bunch of SDCC Spiderman's, Thor and Captain America figures! so awesome.. and he's willing to order in a case for me get what I want and sell the doubles! how sweet is that

trebleshot · 01-19-2011, 10:56 AM

My best hunting trip was in 2008 when Cincinnati, Ohio, saw an early release of Transformers Animated. Rumors and sightings were all over the Cinci area, but nowhere else in the country (later it was determined that Botcon had something to do with it).

So I made a road trip down south with my wife and daughter in tow, on the hunt for Animated. I think I hit up two or three Walmarts, a Target and a TRU and by the end of it, I had found and bought every one through Wave 3 of deluxe and voyagers. Then I spent the next few days rationing out my haul by only opening a few at a time.

To this day, it's still one of my favorite toy lines ever.

DrewBlank · 01-19-2011, 12:10 PM

Early 2009, family day trip to visit some touristy places a couple of hour south of us in the country. A small town K-Mart had Marvel Universe a month before it was supposed to be released, the local flea market had a booth that was clearancing out late 1980s/early 1990s GI Joe vehicles for $1 and $2 each, and the K-Mart in the next town had Batman lego sets 75% off.

I think that trip kickstarted my current toy obsession.

sabretoothe · 01-19-2011, 01:20 PM

best trip was at a goodwill, saw an omega supreme in box in the board games section.
grabbed it and the final sale price was a whopping $0.75.

Primacron · 01-19-2011, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prowl 2009

So all in all, I scored some major plastic crack and got more than I spent and then some back from the government! Ah, too bad every day can't be like that!

I had a birthday once where I got a load of tax back from the government plus my deposit from my old landlady. Fantastic day!

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

My best hunting trip was in 2008 when Cincinnati, Ohio, saw an early release of Transformers Animated. Rumors and sightings were all over the Cinci area, but nowhere else in the country (later it was determined that Botcon had something to do with it).

So I made a road trip down south with my wife and daughter in tow, on the hunt for Animated. I think I hit up two or three Walmarts, a Target and a TRU and by the end of it, I had found and bought every one through Wave 3 of deluxe and voyagers. Then I spent the next few days rationing out my haul by only opening a few at a time.

To this day, it's still one of my favorite toy lines ever.

Animated was the first line I followed from the rumours, to the prototypes to the actual figures, although I only wanted the dinobots. I went to the toyshop one evening, and saw both Grimlock and Snarl's wavemates on the pegs/shelves but no sign of the 2 of them. I had one last scan of the shelves only to spot Grimlock hiding on the top shelf, I then thought to try on the opposite shelf behind some old deluxes and there was Snarl! I suspect they were both hidden which possibly made it even better.

LordMudd · 05-08-2016, 06:25 AM

Some years ago I stopped at the flea market in Canton, Tx. where I got the original Star Wars Cantina playset complete for $75. The box was extremely worn, but everything else was there, including blue Snaggletooth who was already at the $100 mark by himself.

CCC.

TimothyR · 05-08-2016, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

My best hunting trip was in 2008 when Cincinnati, Ohio, saw an early release of Transformers Animated. Rumors and sightings were all over the Cinci area, but nowhere else in the country (later it was determined that Botcon had something to do with it).

So I made a road trip down south with my wife and daughter in tow, on the hunt for Animated. I think I hit up two or three Walmarts, a Target and a TRU and by the end of it, I had found and bought every one through Wave 3 of deluxe and voyagers. Then I spent the next few days rationing out my haul by only opening a few at a time.

To this day, it's still one of my favorite toy lines ever.

oh animated... how i miss that toy line. it ended far too soon.

even with some limited articulation, animated blurr is still one of my absolute favorite figures. i love the blue, i love the vehicle mode (one of my favorite vehicle modes), and i love the long slender practically kibble-less robot mode. oh, and it's also super accurate to the show, and those wheels are just awesome looking.

hayabusa · 05-09-2016, 08:33 PM

Well once I went to my comic shop found three motu classics figs buzz off, clawful, glow in dark zodak 35 bucks each .I started collecting motu classics late in game so I hit jack pot buzz off being my fave

hayabusa · 05-09-2016, 08:41 PM

Another time went to walmart late Saturday night found 25th anniversary gi joes, the wave with viper got the whole case

Snowflakian · 05-09-2016, 10:22 PM

I'd use to say the best toy hunting trip was the one where you find what you're looking for, but Mega Bloks lately has upped that considerably to the best trips are the ones where you find things you wanted but didn't even know existed.

Really digging the new TMNT movie line. They go great with the CoD and Halo minifigures while the toon turtles line is perfect to mesh with the old Power Rangers line. If only they could make a Venus figure already, or minimum at least, a fem alternate universe Leo.

But Mega Bloks' new policy of bare minimum info to get on shelves quietly because the lines are mostly mainstays now anyway, is perfection. I miss the days of planning purchases to balance my budget better, but the must buy reaction from the "holy crap I didn't even know they made these!" outweighs it.

I hope they do the Power Rangers movie to this kind of detail. The new one on a shelf with the new movie turtles would be awesome.

01-19-2011, 05:06 AM	#1
Primacron Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 986	Although I buy most of my toys online, there are a few which I've bought in person, and if I'm honest they mean more to me - especially when I've bought them on a trip somewhere or where I've been lucky to find them. I thought it would be fun to share stories on the toy hunting expedition which you remember most fondly! I've had a few trips which have been memorable (searching the entirety of Singapore for MP Grimlock a couple of years ago is a close runner), but the happiness I felt after finding Universe Bruticus and Superion stands out. The Asian market got Superion and Bruticus in the Universe line, not just the Movie line like North America and Europe. However, Australia and New Zealand also got them in the Universe line (we also got the special edition releases of Drag Strip and Overkill at retail!). When I first saw them I wasn't particularly interested as I didn't like the Energon style hands and feet. Some while later, FansProject released the first pictures of the Superion upgrade. Wow! I knew I had to have and it and rushed out to go and buy the figures (thought I'd get Bruticus as well incase they later did an upgrade for him), predictably though, they weren't to be found and so the prospect of ebay loomed. I'd only tried shops in the city centre, so decided to try the stores a bit further out (on bike, no car you see). Bingo! I found Bruticus (and indeed XM:O Deadpool and Gambit), it did start to rain shortly after though, and I was a bit worried about him on the back of my bike. I got him home safe and dry though! Sadly, I still hadn't found Superion. The next day I was at work, daydreaming in a meeting when it occurred to me I could get the train to a place a bit further along the coast and try there. I left work early, jumped on a train for an hour and tried my luck. There he was, the last one on the shelf and I got him! I also grabbed Drag Strip and was delighted to find there was 25% off! There was brilliant sunshine when I got out the store (strange how I remember the weather, I can't remember what the weather was doing for any other purchases I've ever made), I celebrated with some McDonald's fries and I got back on the train happy as larry. Best fries I've ever had. FansProject did later release a Bruticus upgrade (which is even more awesome than the Superion upgrade), and when I came to the UK I found a store which had in the order of 50 Movie Superion's sitting on the shelf. Bruticus never got a UK release though! __________________ My collection thread: http://www.toyark.com/call-primative...lection-35050/ Last edited by Primacron; 01-19-2011 at 05:09 AM..

01-19-2011, 08:53 AM	#2
Prowl 2009 Guardian of Gotham Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Newmarket, ONT Posts: 728	I think one of my best Toy Hunting Trips took place last Spring around April. It was a beautifully warm day and I had had a descent day at work. My wife picked me and my brother up and we decided to hit up the Zellers about ten minutes away from where I live. I really wasn't expecting to find much, but when I got there, I started straight for the Transformers was able to track down ROTF Bruticus, ROTF Lockdown and ROTF Brawn, all on sale price. I don't even think I exceeded $50 that day and for all that Transformers goodness too! So, we head back home after a bit, stopping off at my dad's for dinner and then we head back to my place, hitting up a Wal-Mart a few minutes from where I live, and where I was able to track down one of the illusive 6" Iron Man 2 Mark V suitcase armor figures! LOL, than my wife and I grabbed whatever else we needed and headed back to our place where I found a tax return cheque for $356 and on top of that, my wife pre-ordered me the FansProject Warbot Defender from this awesome store in Quebec called Automaton Toys! So all in all, I scored some major plastic crack and got more than I spent and then some back from the government! Ah, too bad every day can't be like that! __________________ Blog: Infinite Earths Twitter: @InfinteEarths Facebook

01-19-2011, 10:56 AM	#4
trebleshot Dark Lord of the 'Ark Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,224	My best hunting trip was in 2008 when Cincinnati, Ohio, saw an early release of Transformers Animated. Rumors and sightings were all over the Cinci area, but nowhere else in the country (later it was determined that Botcon had something to do with it). So I made a road trip down south with my wife and daughter in tow, on the hunt for Animated. I think I hit up two or three Walmarts, a Target and a TRU and by the end of it, I had found and bought every one through Wave 3 of deluxe and voyagers. Then I spent the next few days rationing out my haul by only opening a few at a time. To this day, it's still one of my favorite toy lines ever. __________________

01-19-2011, 01:20 PM	#6
sabretoothe independent toy maker Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 489	best trip was at a goodwill, saw an omega supreme in box in the board games section. grabbed it and the final sale price was a whopping $0.75. __________________ http://sabretoothsworkshop.blogspot.com/

01-19-2011, 01:26 PM	#7
Primacron Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 986	Quote: Originally Posted by Prowl 2009 So all in all, I scored some major plastic crack and got more than I spent and then some back from the government! Ah, too bad every day can't be like that! I had a birthday once where I got a load of tax back from the government plus my deposit from my old landlady. Fantastic day! Quote: Originally Posted by trebleshot My best hunting trip was in 2008 when Cincinnati, Ohio, saw an early release of Transformers Animated. Rumors and sightings were all over the Cinci area, but nowhere else in the country (later it was determined that Botcon had something to do with it). So I made a road trip down south with my wife and daughter in tow, on the hunt for Animated. I think I hit up two or three Walmarts, a Target and a TRU and by the end of it, I had found and bought every one through Wave 3 of deluxe and voyagers. Then I spent the next few days rationing out my haul by only opening a few at a time. To this day, it's still one of my favorite toy lines ever. Animated was the first line I followed from the rumours, to the prototypes to the actual figures, although I only wanted the dinobots. I went to the toyshop one evening, and saw both Grimlock and Snarl's wavemates on the pegs/shelves but no sign of the 2 of them. I had one last scan of the shelves only to spot Grimlock hiding on the top shelf, I then thought to try on the opposite shelf behind some old deluxes and there was Snarl! I suspect they were both hidden which possibly made it even better. __________________ My collection thread: http://www.toyark.com/call-primative...lection-35050/ Last edited by Primacron; 01-19-2011 at 01:37 PM..