NECA Store Exclusives Update
 

YES YES YES YES be so true. Finally found Casey and Foot soldier and Metalhead at Target but no April. Strange it seems that Casey and Foot are populating at Target especially if you look how many are on eBay but not much on April. Hopefully this boxes well for Casey and Mickey at Walmart which still not finding.

I'll believe it when I see it!

Sure NECA. I'll believe it when I see something on the shelf or I can make a preorder that doesn't sell out in 10 seconds. The"release dates" were supposed to fix this, but we saw how that turned out. Screw you NECA.

I have been ordering the NECA turtle stuff from https://www.space-figuren.de/ I have to wait 3-4 months after the initial release and pay international shipping... but this is the most pain free way to get around the TERRIBLE NECA distribution.

You could technically order from any UK or European site that is willing to ship to the US. The TMNT stuff is only store exclusives in the US.

You can also technically order from ebay, if you are willing to pay more for it.

Yes, but then you're just supporting scalpers for convenience and laziness instead of actual retailers. If I have to pay more, I'd much rather give a smaller business overseas my money.

Went to the closest target to me today. The target on transit rd. In williamsville NY.....(for Randy) Nothing. There was a brand new signage above the section, even showing pics of neca turtles. The girl working electronics said if anything is in back, she cant touch it. Only the neca rep can bring it out. She also said they have not seen a neca rep in months.

I went to the Walmart right by there that brickseek lists as at least carrying the neca stuff. And nothing. The people there had no idea, and one cheeky fellow told me to look for toys in the toy department.

So in other words.....
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ac5fff14_w.jpgF50F4A81-D071-4F86-B150-C70BB74907FA by Comedian Horseman, on Flickr

I hope they cancel all of teh orders from scalplers because that's bullshit.

How is that something even legal to do?

Easy fix: buy a red polo and khakis and pretend to work at Target and sneak in the back to check! :D


(Don't actually do this!)

The solution is very simple. Stop limiting the amount of people that can buy something. Look at the Hasbro sentinel...everybody that wants one, put in an order for one. The only people that will have to resort to scalpers are people that missed out on their chance to purchase. People that effectively missed the boat

Instead NECA is putting up x amount, a limited quantity, and they all sell out in seconds to bits and scalpers. The way you end this garbage is by giving the people that want a product, a ticket to buy one. Make per order. If 1000 say they want a Casey Jones, make those people their 1000, and then make extra to sell mass market for the casuals.

But to do that for every figure a company makes would be a lot more time and effort than it'd probably be worth...

Hasbro, Mattel, and most brands have limited amounts. "Made to order" is vary rare, especially for mass retail. The idea of an exclusive is to get people in the store. With the demand for these that exists, Neca knows if 20 people swear off Neca forever, 20 more people are in the waiting that would LOVE to get the figures. Neca's been doing it exactly the same way since the TRU Resident Evil figures days. I remember seeing people wait out front of TRU and run to see if the newest batch of RE figures were put out. They'd have one set, and the rest of the people would be snarling and spitting at Neca. Still, it works well for Neca. They are still listed among the top collectibles companies, and sell through product consistently, so obviously there are more people willing to overlook the flaws than there are the boycotters (which makes no sense... how can you boycott a product you say you cannot find in the first place).

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3d752877_b.jpg84343B8B-241A-4754-9892-2EFB6F4C802E by Comedian Horseman, on Flickr
Reading the neca statement , they also find what is happening unacceptable. So no, they actually don’t want to lose customers. They know there is a huge issue and are not attacking those criticisms anymore.

RETIRED.

So are April and Foot Soldier out? I haven't seen any on Brickseek for GA at all???

Instead of releasing all three of the 2 packs together, Neca is releasing one set every two weeks. This way each Target has more of each set on hand. Casey and the Foot Ninja were the first release. Neca has yet to announce which 2 pack will be released next.

Are they dependable? And do they charge up front or when they ship?

Per Randy...NECA's items don't show up on Brickseek searches because they have their own item numbers/skus that are independent of Walmart and Target's ready scan style systems.

April probably is the 8/6 or 8/7 release pack and Leatherhead + Slash probably 8/20.

But the Mutagen Tour packs come out tomorrow.

Great...so is there any way to actually know without traveling to a store?

You could try calling, but depending on the state, they may not check. Walmart’s and Targets won’t check floor stock for anything if you call in NY state so I have to just check it out myself and hope they stick 20 sets at a time.

Went to Target yesterday, the guy working the dept said he hadn't seen a NECA rep since the pandemic started. He also told me to check eBay, which made me think he's probably grabbing them before they hit shelves and selling them for profit lol

I really hope Randy or someone from neca reads these experiences. If you don’t know something is broken, you can’t fix it.

Not really sure why they didn't do this a long long long long long time ago. It's not like buying and reselling is something new.