[TheBlueMarvel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Nash

To make it clear I'm not faulting the standard employees of this TRU. They can only put items on the shelves if they have them. But there's a problem with whoever orders items - not sure if that's store or district level. This TRU has always had an issue with their exclusives. Now, regular figures - it's still no picnic but not quite as bad. I just wonder if whoever is supposed to order them just feels they are not worth the time? What's maddening about it of course is, you cannot get these anywhere else except online. So it's really a losing situation for the customer. I would gladly give them my money if they would actually stock their exclusives...

At this point, I'm not even sure this is a procurement/retail "buyer" problem (not sure if that's the term - I know that in media, a "buyer" buys ad-spots within broadcasting time slots of commercial television - I think the vernacular is similar in retail - maybe not). The deeper into this 'exclusive collecting game' we get, the more I believe the problem lies squarely with Hasbro. There was a time when I often opined about what the incentive could be for short shipping certain figures within cases. Wouldn't Hasbro want to provide for the demand of a particular fig and move more units? Then it dawned on me that, outside of it's own website, Hasbro makes it's money not specifically from me (the collector), but from box stores buying large numbers of their product at wholesale to sell to customers at a bump-up. Short shipping hot-commodities like rare figs brings in foot traffic to (dying) retail spaces. Obviously, stores want to sell the fig, but more foot traffic means more sales of the other things we tend to buy when we go searching in Target, Walmart, Walgreens, etc. Extrapolating this concept of 'cross-pollination' buying to 'exclusives' and specialty stores like TRU doesn't provide a direct correlation, but it does make sense on some levels. How many of us have gone to TRU to look for a Legends Exclusive, but left with a Neca (or other) fig to assuage our disappointment in not finding what we came for? In short, in my opinion, this process is one of meticulous and purposeful design. Retailers want these exclusives because they know we are desperate. We will search high and low. We will drive miles. We will come back multiple times in one week. And, most importantly, we will buy other things beside the toys we came in search of...