[Trivial Psychic]

Can't say who I agree with, but I can't dispel the notion that this was an epic fail on Hasbro's part. While I was fortunate enough to find the lone Black Series 6inch figure I was looking for, nearly every Walmart I went to was down to only Mashers, lightsabers, and giant dolls. It was pathetic. I went to a Walmart nearby just 5 minutes after midnight, and this was their entire display...



Again...this was 5 minutes after midnight, with only 4 or 5 other people rushing the toy aisle, nearly all of which, myself included...went home nearly empty handed when there should have been more than enough for the 5 of us...

The shelves to the right were full of the Air Hogs vehicles...but other than that...nothing. One case of Black Series figs, NO 3.75" figures (which SHOULD be the bread and butter of this line...not the role play, die cast vehicles and giant dolls.) There were no aisle shippers, and when I asked an employee, they told me that this was seriously it.

Don't' get me started on my TRU. A friend of mine who attended my local TRU event scouting figures for me said that they too got no 3.75" figures, and that the only Black Series figures that were available were green striped clone trooper sergeants and Obi Wan-Bumblebee...at non clearance prices. How they could drop the ball on something as simple as 3.75" figures is beyond me, and it saddens me when I think that both the midnight events for the Phantom Menace and The Clone Wars absolutely destroyed this launch party, especially when this new film is being hyped as the one to bring Star Wars back to it's full glory...

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by En Sabah Nerd

No actually you agree with me, I never defended Hasbro and I think how they handled this entire ordeal was piss poor at best. The fact that my local TRU only had enough for the first ten people in line at the midnight event and hasn't restocked since is atrocious. Each store should have been given enough product to fill the aisle four times over so that there would still be something for the rest of the week.

My bad, I completely misread the intention of your post.

[Pravus Prime]

Is it Hasbro or the vendors? Remember, we've seen proof in the past that they're being far more cautious about clogging the shelves then they have in the past. Venders (except Wal-Mart) even passed on Avengers movie toys as they figured they'd get a luke-cool response at best. There were articles when Age of Extinctions product was underperforming that for a lot of vendors, that was the last big chance and that they'll be scaling back for movie releases from then on out.

We've also seen TRU's do some weird things with distribution, such as one store getting 20 Transformer Masterpiece figures, while another gets zero.

I'm not defending Hasbro and from the looks of things over the weekend, someone is clearly at fault here as there's all these empty pegs all over the place, but it may be regional distribution centers who wanted to hold stock for online purchases or used their screwy fulfillment model to determine that every store across the country should only get one case of everything.

On a positive note, I got what I wanted and for a pretty nifty bargain. Sunday I picked up the Hot Wheels finger flyer Ghost (Which is what I was looking for), but since they had a buy 1, get one 40% off, I also got the "new" Falcon. Since it was the last day that I could use my Rewards bucks, after the bucks and the sale price, they were $3.12. Then on my way home tonight (Monday), I stopped at a Meijer and picked up the Rebels Micro Machine set, which was on sale for 10% off and I had an Mperks coupon for another 10% general merchandise, so I got the set for 20% off. Not that big of a savings, but still. I got my ships, didn't fight in any lines, and saved quite a few bucks.

[Augustus_Cole]

Rando shot of some of my favs from Unleashed..

[tgbobafett]

so i went to one, and only one (thank goodness) walgreens today and found prototype boba fett pop vinyl! also saw the DiY stormtrooper helmet and batman cowl! anyone have these or know anything about them? i didnt notice the batman one until i was about to leave cuz it was high up on a shelf above some maxipads and some old lady saw me taking pics on the maxipad aisle!! probably thought i was some kind of pervy creeper or something!! >.>

[TimothyR]

when i went out on friday night.. the toys r us i passed on my way to walmart was absolutely packed.. it looked like black friday. however, a couple miles up the road, at walmart, other than me there were two other people waiting for them to take down the ropes and open the aisle. the two people were older guys, and neither of them were interested in the black series figures. one guy grabbed a couple of the 5POA figures and the other guy grabbed one of the lego troop transports, and that was it. i had the entire section to myself.

they had about 4 or 5 cases of 6" black figures. so, i grabbed kylo ren and two troopers.. had i known how under supplied all of the stores were, i would've only picked up one trooper and got the other once the market was a bit more saturated.

anyways.. i've read that stores were undersupplied on purpose in order to create more of a frenzy.. the more popular something is, and the less there is of it, the more attention it's going to get. so, it makes a bit of sense.

you have people go to a store for the grand opening, a lot of them wanting the black figures. those are VERY undersupplied, so, not wanting to leave empty handed, they're hoping people impulse buy some of the other stuff. they know that those people who're going in to get the black figures, but didn't get them, are still going to find a way to get them.

so, it's a win win, those people will eventually buy the black figures that they want, but hasbro has made a couple more sales thanks to impulse purchases.

just a theory.

on the other hand.. some movie lines, especially the first waves of those lines have been WAY overproduced in the past. which in turn leads to a log jam and doesn't allow new product to be stocked.

and lets face it.. in recent years hasbro hasn't been able to produce a good movie line to save it's life. i mean, the age of extinction line was atrocious, the iron man 3 line was a joke, the avengers 2 line is just as annoying as the iron man 3 line, then you've got the ant-man line with ONE figure that actually appeared in the movie, same goes with the amazing spider-man 2 line.

so.. a good case could be made for hasbro just not knowing what they're doing and seriously don't understand their market.

[Frank Richards]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimothyR

and lets face it.. in recent years hasbro hasn't been able to produce a good movie line to save it's life. i mean, the age of extinction line was atrocious, the iron man 3 line was a joke, the avengers 2 line is just as annoying as the iron man 3 line, then you've got the ant-man line with ONE figure that actually appeared in the movie, same goes with the amazing spider-man 2 line.

so.. a good case could be made for hasbro just not knowing what they're doing and seriously don't understand their market.

... I hate defending Hasbro, lol, so it pains me to play devil's advocate for them ...
In Hasbro's defense, one of the few things they've done well over the past few years is give Marvel fans a great selection of characters from the comics.
But yeah, they haven't released nearly as many movie-based figures as most of us would have expected them to, given the immense popularity of the Marvel movies.
IMO they almost, just almost, got it right with GotG, where they did a wave that was predominantly movie figures, and then later released a box set of comic-based figures.
So, yeah, overall, they've been doing right by the comic fans, but disappointing those of you who prefer the movies.


But, as this is a Star Wars thread, I don't want to stray too far off topic, so here's what I found today :



I have too many far superior Vaders and Chewbaccas, as well as the TVC release of this Luke, so I passed on this assortment of re-packs.

[Pravus Prime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank Richards

...

But, as this is a Star Wars thread, I don't want to stray too far off topic, so here's what I found today :



I have too many far superior Vaders and Chewbaccas, as well as the TVC release of this Luke, so I passed on this assortment of re-packs.

Wow. I never saw that wave ever. I always intended to get a Vader, so perhaps when a restock happens, I'll be able to find one, and at retail prices to boot.

[ScruffyJedi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pravus Prime

Wow. I never saw that wave ever. I always intended to get a Vader, so perhaps when a restock happens, I'll be able to find one, and at retail prices to boot.

Hoping I run into these myself , Vader and Luke are sure bets for me when / if I find these .

[Dr Kain]

Do you think they will ever reissue the regular 6inch ST?

[Frank Richards]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pravus Prime

Wow. I never saw that wave ever. I always intended to get a Vader, so perhaps when a restock happens, I'll be able to find one, and at retail prices to boot.

I hope I didn't unintentionally mislead anyone with my earlier post, but those were the Walmart exclusive 3 3/4" SW Black figures, not re-releases of older 6" Black series figures.

[Phantomcrow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

Do you think they will ever reissue the regular 6inch ST?

I doubt it. I will guess all the Black figures before the new packaging will not return. There is a chance with Vader or Luke, but with all the new FA troopers coming, I am not holding my breath. Plus they did the Han and Luke troopers not too long ago , but troopers are a basic staple , much like Vader, so there is always a chance, but probably not soon.

[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

Do you think they will ever reissue the regular 6inch ST?

I think that the Han and Luke in Stormtrooper disguise would be considered good enough by Hasbro as to not warrant a re-release. Besides Amazon has the original Stormtrooper for $19.49 prime so it's not terribly ridiculous to still get some. The Force Awakens Stormtrooper will supposedly be repacked in waves 2 and 3.

[Autobot_Goldbug]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank Richards

I hope I didn't unintentionally mislead anyone with my earlier post, but those were the Walmart exclusive 3 3/4" SW Black figures, not re-releases of older 6" Black series figures.

Did they have ceremonial Leia too?

[Il Cattivo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank Richards

... I hate defending Hasbro, lol, so it pains me to play devil's advocate for them ...
In Hasbro's defense, one of the few things they've done well over the past few years is give Marvel fans a great selection of characters from the comics.
But yeah, they haven't released nearly as many movie-based figures as most of us would have expected them to, given the immense popularity of the Marvel movies.
IMO they almost, just almost, got it right with GotG, where they did a wave that was predominantly movie figures, and then later released a box set of comic-based figures.
So, yeah, overall, they've been doing right by the comic fans, but disappointing those of you who prefer the movies.


But, as this is a Star Wars thread, I don't want to stray too far off topic, so here's what I found today :



I have too many far superior Vaders and Chewbaccas, as well as the TVC release of this Luke, so I passed on this assortment of re-packs.

been checking out my walmarts for those but no luck.

[TomsToyChest]

I saw Luke and the Vader figure from this Black Series line today at Wal-Mart during lunch. The Luke is a straight re-pack from the Blu-Ray deleted scene wave of the previous Vintage Collection figures, albeit at a higher cost. I've got enough Vader figures in this scale so it was a really easy pass for me.

Based on what I saw today, I think these figures will probably appeal the most to those who missed out on them during their initial release. If you've already got them then there's no need to stress over missing out on them.

[TomsToyChest]

Here's a picture of the Star Wars Elite Kylo Ren figure that arrived today.

[Pravus Prime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank Richards

I hope I didn't unintentionally mislead anyone with my earlier post, but those were the Walmart exclusive 3 3/4" SW Black figures, not re-releases of older 6" Black series figures.

Ooh, oops.

I was thinking 6 inch.

[bmorr]

[Dr Kain]

Just some Star Wars fun while trying something new:

[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

"We ain't found shit!"

[Frank Richards]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Autobot_Goldbug

Did they have ceremonial Leia too?

Nope, just those three, with multiples of each.

[Skoob]

@ Dr.Kain: The trooper with his feet spaced widely is Figuarts, yes? Black Series articulation won't permit such a pose.

He also seems beefier than his Hasbro counterpart.

[Universe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by En Sabah Nerd

"We ain't found shit!"

Love the Space Balls reference

[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skoob

@ Dr.Kain: The trooper with his feet spaced widely is Figuarts, yes? Black Series articulation won't permit such a pose.

He also seems beefier than his Hasbro counterpart.

Yes those are Figuarts, but Black series can also stand fairly with spread legs. The Figuarts troopers are good I'd imagine, they just cost notably more and their helmets seem off to me. Not like "oh my god what was their reference!?" off but just a little off around the mouth area.

Here's a black series Stormtrooper repaint standing with legs spread and no assistance.