I think managers do pretty well at most retail environments, and if you don’t make what you think your worth at any job you are free to leave, same if you loose your desire to do your job well or give a shit about it. I’ve left jobs because I got bored, no ones holding a gun to anyone’s head, besides, the job market is pretty damn good right now. As far as theft, it’s solely the thieves that are to blame, period. Remember kids when someone steals that item YOU pay for it in the long run. I still can’t figure out why hasbro went with easy steal packing, you notice you never see any of the vintage series repacked on shelves.

Damn... that Officer Dagger mashup is sweet looking. I wish we had gotten that female uniform for 3.75" figures.

I haven't worked at Target or Walmart personally, I've worked at Macy's, JCP and Safeway and none of those companies are particularly kind to their employees. I've known people who worked at Walmart, who have said that employees are often kept past their shift to clean and straighten merch, especially during the holidays, and while yes you get paid OT, your OT is also heavily taxed. The policy with returns when I worked at JCP was to just do it and make the customer happy. We took back clearly worn clothes, open packages, things that were missing vital pieces etc. The returns were sorted and returned to the selling floor as long the items were still in sell-able condition, like those Paladins, and they'd sit there until they were clearanced out and RTV'd. It's possible that there isn't anything an employee can do about swapped figures.

No sign of that Cap in stores yet. I know they had the option on the site to sign up for a notification when they got him back in stock

I've worked with managers who have had to hold down two jobs to cover the cost of housing their families. The job market being good right now is besides the point, when you have to have 2-3 jobs to keep a roof over your head and food on the table, that's a problem. Check your privilege.

Dose anyone here have an Elektra they could part with?

Not to go too deep down this rabbit hole, but Wall Street is doing well, NOT the economy as a whole. Jobs and wages (the real/tangible economy) have remained largely stagnant for the majority of Americans for nearly 3 decades. Economists of all stripes have been warning of a looming crash of the economy (predicted to be a full on depression this time, not the 'recession' we faced in '08) and employers lament daily of the skills gap in the American workforce. The jobs that are being created in this "robust economy" (parenthetical sarcasm notation) are overwhelmingly low-paying, part-time. and offer little to no benefits. Again, my apologies for the harsh candor and contributing to a non-toy related tangent, but when something is said that represents a departure from reality, I feel compelled to offer some balance. There are many, many people struggling unnecessarily in this great nation, and while I recognize that I'm more fortunate than some others (and grateful to God for it), I also acknowledge what's happening around me.

I have a Quicksilver available $28 shipped in the US. PM me if interested.

No, the job market is booming, if you can’t find a job right now it means one of three things, your unwilling to relocate, you think the job is “beneath” you, or your not looking. A lot of people in this country want to be paid top dollar without putting in a lot of effort, when I was a kid we called this laziness. No one under 30 wants to bust there ass in a factory, they want to make millions playing fortnite, or doing makeup on YouTube. By the way most “poor” families in America have smart phones, air conditioned houses, cable TV, internet, and two cars. If you have those things and cry that you can’t afford insurance, or food you have a priority problem, not a money problem. Walmart manager salary is an adverage of 93,000, so pardon me if I don’t shed a tear for them. And VM, as far as my “privilege” I don’t believe you know me well enough to make this personal, but I will tell you that the little buzz words your lib arts professor told you to parrot don’t impress me.

Tim- just picked up Thor today- joints are all A-OK. Paint work is a bit splashy but an employee went to the back and picked one out for me- so I didn't get a chance to judge them all... and it's easy peasy fix up stuff, so wasn't concerned at all... LOVING this figure!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...17b47796_k.jpgThor by lowanbing, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...57b34903_h.jpgThor by lowanbing, on Flickr

The employees don't care because their managers don't care.
Their managers don't care because "someone" will buy it. If they put it in for returns, it means their store is "losing" money (even if they get credit for said merch for returning it, which they do).
The manager will do everything in their power to make sure that that figure gets sold even if it sit on the peg for 3 years. As long as it's in the store it means they are losing money.

The way things get handled is all due to the managers and the way they are treated by corporate. All corporate cares about are the numbers. Between that and doing whatever it takes to make their day less stressful.

My mom was a department manager for fabrics/crafts section for 15 years. I've heard plenty of stories about the shit that goes wrong with management/corporate.

Since you have them both, would you kindly take a picture of Thor and Bill standing straight next to each other? I'm curious to see how bad it is or isn't.

I've actually never taken a lib arts class. I have a bachelor's in Anthropology with a minor in Social Science, but you know so very much about me, probably as much as I know about you. I work with the underprivileged daily. It's not a matter of the jobs not being there, no one has said anything about a lack of jobs, it's the lack of wages that is the issue. There isn't a state in the US where a single person can support themselves with a full time minimum wage job. It's also not about priorities, no one, NO ONE should ever have to choose between Being healthy and fed or happy and comfortable. Maybe you're right, maybe it's not privilege, maybe it's a complete and absolute lack of empathy.

You are entitled to your opinion, but these are not sentiments that align with reality.

1)We've 330 million people in the US and there are roughly 5K Walmarts - hence 5K managers (maybe). That's a drop in the bucket, man. The math is pretty simple.

2)It's hard to bust one's ass in factories that don't exist anymore. From Flint Michigan, to Modesto California, and back to Brockton Massachusetts - factories have long since dried up. You may think this is a liberal take, however, this is a fact of life that industry has been aware of for 30+ years.

3)What do you know about poor families? If you are speaking from your own personal experience, that's one thing (anecdotal and difficult to extrapolate, as it may be). However, I've worked with many marginalized communities in my time here on earth and what you're saying is simply not the reality for the families that I served. Maybe research actual federal poverty statistics? By the way, you can buy a cheap AC unit from Walmart (Hah) for $70 - hardly a 'daddy warbucks' item...edit quick data points - as of 2016, 13% of the US population was living under the poverty line, that's roughly 43 million. Another 100 million live near that same line, meaning that 140 million Americans (almost half of the nation) live near/at/or under the poverty threshold - those are raw numbers, not opinion, nor political spin - straight data that doesn't exactly support a booming economy.

I'm not trying to blast you, dude. I've actually enjoyed the few convos we've had. I suggest that you step out of your political/cultural bubble for a moment and see that the world is a bit more nuanced than your personal experience might have you believe. No offense intended, of course...and, yes, I do routinely challenge myself to try to understand the other side.

...but I'm also not interested in dragging this convo on.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7da15935_k.jpgTemp by lowanbing, on Flickr

"I'll come back for you... I promise."
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...afd53294_k.jpgDoop! by lowanbing, on Flickr

^ Reminds me of Daniel Day Lewis in Last of the Mohicans... when he promised Madeleine Stow beneath the waterfall that he will find her again no matter what.

Today's BST Hauls:

Gone from only ever completing 2 BAFs to working on finishing 5 BAFs at the same time...Thanks to all of the Arkers who've helped me out!!:D:D:D

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5a64859d_z.jpg

Thank you very much for that. They're actually a lot closer in size than I was afraid of.

Thor's legs are more spreadeagled...

Picked up the Colossus and Juggs pack today...love the battered head for Juggy, and Colossus is everything I had hoped. Time to put my Select version up for trade.

Doop/Madeline Stow... Mission accomplished.

They are in that picture and even then he's still a little taller, but I was afraid it would be ridiculous like the size difference between the Allfather wave Thor and Bill. Not only is that Thor notably taller but he's also just all around bigger. The body mass on these two is close enough for me that it won't drive me nuts having the wrong one be taller.

He had the runs so theres chafing. ;)

True, not as bad as it could be, nor as bad as I thought. I'm still frustrated by what could've been, especially since they nearly had it nailed with all three (Thor/Bill/Herc). Oh well, I'll just photo them separately...at least they delivered on the Hulk.

Speaking of which, my SDCC Hulk arrived yesterday and it's pretty fantastic!

I can only imagine that the runs experienced by a god would be more akin to mudslides...yeah, that's a pretty disgusting thought, but you went there first. :P

THAT is uncalled for.

yeah- he's much better proportioned than the 'modern' Thor- who is accurate to his modern appearance at the time- but this Thor is just so much better all-around and looks great with the classic Avengers and new Hulks