[Jmacq1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlasjr

A problem I see with the Hard times bit is Warmart. The same figure at TRU at 11.49 is still 6.49 at the WM . The 20.99 comic pack at target is 14.96 at walmart. Are times less hard at WM?

Uh...yes, times are less hard at Wal-Mart, because they're still the largest retailer in the land and thus get the best wholesale deals from manufacturers, as well as having far more padding to take losses or minimal profit on some items if their profits on all the other stuff they sell are good enough. But put it this way: If Toys R Us is paying, say, $3 a figure (purely hypothetical) for Star Wars figures, Wal-Mart is probably paying $1.50.

But hey, if you all want to believe it's the grand Hasbro conspiracy to piss off toy collectors, be my guest.

My post didn't have anything in it that isn't supported by a few simple internet searches for yearly and quarterly earnings by Mattel and Hasbro, and what you can see with your own eyes every time you go to one of the stores over the past few years. Stuff floods in the fall/winter, and droughts the rest of the year unless it's a movie tie-in. The only difference now is that the drought is even drier because the retailers are losing confidence and faith in traditional toys over higher-profit items and electronics. Notice which sections of Wal-Mart and Target keep getting smaller and which keep getting bigger year-by-year.