[TheBlueMarvel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinzero02

I wouldn't mind things like the Hanks, Hulks, Cuckoos and Dani if Hasbro's distribution was better. If they could at least offer retailer exclusives on Pulse as well, I'd have a chance at not having to pay some scalper's 25-50% overcharge on ebay/amazon resellers. Sadly, it's often more cost efficient for me to do that than waste gas driving between 5-10 different stores in a 45~60 minute radius trying to find a figure that online stock indicators say are available but reality and store employees say otherwise. I've essentially given up on Walgreens entirely as they're the worst about inventory and online ordering and they somehow get the figures you need to buy 3 of. Though this really peaked for me upon finding a Transformer that I'd need to get a Target credit card to obtain, allowing resellers to just go nuts with cost. How does Hasbro even let that one slide?

I feel your pain and what you say is on the minds of many collectors. It doesn't help that the hobby still seems to be reeling from the loss of TRU and the 15% hit it represented to toy sales overall. A lot of us, with the prerogative and/or time have either acquiesced to paying more or have doubled down on retail canvassing efforts. I work too much to be driving all around the place, but I likely would do so if there was some realistic expectation that I could find what I was looking for. I'd hoped that Hasbro would tighten up distribution when TRU closed and I almost wish that the fix for this issue was prioritized over niche characters or extra accessories. I'll admit, in my more cynical moments, which is like all the damn time , I sometimes wonder if the distribution woes and how they play into the hands of secondary-market scalpers might be part of the business model and deliberate. Who knows?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinzero02

I dunno, it just seems kinda hard to want to keep buying a product when they keep making it difficult for me to do so. Just take my money Hasbro, I've already shown that I'm willing to buy directly from you and you haven't even done nearly as many coupon codes on Pulse as you had on HTS.

Can't disagree with a stitch of this. A few weeks ago we were talking about Gamestop's new practice of essentially price gouging Legends customers. Scarcity is a true determinant of the cost for goods and services, which brings me right back to my thoughts of whether the distribution issue is a scheme. Scalpers benefit from buying up all difficult to find goods and less than scrupulous retail outfits raise prices based on the same rarity. Would a manufacturer care either way as long as the product is moving? Scalp - win. Retail - win. Hasbro - win. Us - assed out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinzero02

Now here is where I rant about Green Hulk being the SDCC exclusive while Gray Hulk is the widley available Fan Channel one. Or there being a Grandmaster/Korg pack rather than a Korg/Miek pack when they clearly already had plans for a Grandmaster/Collector pack. Or there being a Classic Colossus vs Juggernaut pack but no Juggernaut Colossus. Bleh.

It can be pretty aggravating and SDCC wares have presented weird and unpredictable trends. Despite SDCC exclusives routinely getting reissues for the past several years, for some reason, I knew the SDCC Hulk was going to end up rare and I nabbed two - not for resale, I have both still, I'm just weird. I've watched a lot of people stop collecting throughout the years for various reasons, but the fatigue of the chase and games with exclusivity feel like the most common catalysts for a jump off the wagon.