Collector Comment is a new editorial feature in which we discuss the highs and lows of being a collector. In this inaugural entry, we try to make sense of Hasbro's distribution practices.
Yet it seems of late there's been a distinct dearth of toys for me to buy. I've no idea why. I could understand it if I were looking to score some obscure toy line like the Micromen or if Hasbro hadn't released anything recently but that's not the case at all. Over the last month Hasbro has shipped two waves of Captain America: The First Avenger toys, Wave 2 of the Marvel Universe Series 3 toys, four Greatest Battle Comic Packs, two Gigantic Battle Packs, the X-Men and X-Force Team Packs, three new Iron Man 2 figures plus a wave of GI Joe toys.
Of those releases I've seen one wave of Captain America: The First Avenger Toys, the two Gigantic Battles packs, two of the four Greatest Battles Packs and one figure from the new Marvel Universe Wave. You may think that sounds like a reasonable tally but when I explain that this list an amalgamation of sightings from dozens of stores within a hundred mile radius, it's not such an impressive total.
Case in point: the Greatest Battles Comic releases, specifically the Wolverine/Silver Samurai and Taskmaster/Deadpool packs. Earlier this month my wife and I were out for a day's drive/sightseeing. As my wife is awesome, she'll always accommodate my desire to go toy hunting and so we'll frequently plan-in trips to stores en route. After checking six different stores - all of which were not local to me - I happened, purely by chance, upon these Greatest Battles packs in a Walmart store not eight miles from another Walmart that had no trace whatsoever of any new Hasbro stock. Since that time I've seen one other store (and that's not just limited to Walmart outlets) that's had these double packs in stock.
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| My One and Only Series 3 Wave 2 Figure, Gladiator |
Similarly, last weekend we happened to be on another excursion and stopped at a number of potential toy stores during our trip. Of these multiple stops, only one store had anything new: a single figure from the Marvel Universe's latest wave (which of course I purchased.) Presumably they'd had a full Wave of the figures and another collector had purchased them and yes, I do understand that I'm not the only person who buys these toys. However, this was again a single, isolated store that had stock nowhere else in the vicinity had.
I'm sure you're thinking I'm simply having bad luck and that somebody else is getting to the stock before me. But I know that's not the case. For starters, I have that obsessive kind of personality which, combined with superb visual recall, means I can tell you right now what each of the half dozen stores I regularly check has in-stock. Secondly, there's a pattern to the stock of stores that haven't received anything new that becomes recognisable very quickly when you do a lot of shelf-checking. So trust me, when I say these places aren't getting the new stock, it's not because somebody is beating me to them.
So is it because of my geographical location and the fact that I live in a relatively small town?
Not really. As I mentioned before, my wife and I will often go on spontaneous 100 mile round-trips, as we love to travel. When I say I'm not finding these toys, it's not just because I'm looking in the same two or three stores within a couple of miles of my home. Trust me, I've been looking way beyond that.
And it's not just me experiencing this drought. The HISS Tank - a site dedicated to GI Joe collecting - features an entire forum dedicated to figure sightings, with each State having its own thread. So far there's only one store being reported in my home State as having the latest GI Joe wave in-stock. And this is a forum where the collectors regularly trade info, tips and even toys so it's not like somebody is keeping the wave's presence a secret.
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| 2011's Latest Wave - GI Nowhere |
Phil Reed over at Battlegrip.com has often lamented the fact that his home town seems to miss out on the newest releases and I've seen similar grumblings from Jason at Atomic Martians about the availability of certain toys in his State. Clearly the issue isn't limited just to my home State.
So does Hasbro have some sort of distribution issues that are stopping stock reaching the shelves? Given that my local Walmart has recently laid-out an aisle end-cap, one sixteen peg (plus shelf space) section and another twenty-four peg section of their toy aisles just for The Transformers: Dark of the Moon toys, this is clearly not the case.
Are these toys the cause of the Marvel Universe/GI Joe/Captain America: The First Avenger/Iron Man 2 problems? Who knows. All I do know is that Hasbro is in danger of repeating the mistakes they made with the previous waves of Iron Man 2 toys, namely flooding the stores with shelf-warming stock that will still be sat there in a year's time, long after Transformers: Dark of the Moon has been and gone.
Maybe I should just start pre-ordering my toys online. That would after all cut-down on all the worry, fuel costs and disappointment. But it would also take away a big part of my hobby, namely The Hunt and to me it's like telling a fisherman he could have a lot more fun if he were to just go to the market instead of catching fish for himself.
As we head into the weekend, I'm hoping that I'll be able to find something, somewhere. Wish me luck. Because I get the feeling I'm going to need it.
Mttel is just as bad- and I go through the same thing? Who re these people running these companies? Do they have NO IDEA how to do the job? WTF? They need more "field hands"- they SHOULD HIRE US.
ReplyDeleteI can't say I collect any Mattel toys but it doesn't surprise me. And I'm no Business Major but I thought the point of producing toys was to make money by selling them. So how can they expect to do that when they're not actually in stores?
ReplyDeleteGranted both Mattel and Hasbro have horrible distribution but I believe scalpers are a problem too. I mean if supply is low and an unscrupulous scalper comes and buys, say an Archangel, and not one but 3 of them, then they are a part of the problem too. And this a real example I'm giving here. I don't want to name names but this scalper is definitely in the the circle of ppl who frequent our toy blog.
ReplyDeleteOf course on the company side of things, they also pack to little of what what ppl still want. I'm positive revision cases and older stock aren't what stores like TRU and Target order often. A good example of this is Transformers: Reveal the Shield line. I have YET to see my local stores carry the waves with Tracks, Wheeljack and wave that has classic G1 characters. Scalpers or poor distribution? I don't know but I believe it's a problem that go hand in hand.
Toy Hunt is really bad in my area in Michigan too and i have made minor voicing about it too.
ReplyDeleteAm still wanting a Croc Master and Cobra Viper and i have yet to see them anywhere but i think there is a ray of hope with my local TRU starting to empty pegs with the looks of finally getting something new end i might want.
And i think Mattel can be like this a little two with there exclusive packs like the Grey Ghost/Batman set or Worlds Greatest Heroes(Outside of peg warmers Sinistro and Lex Luthor).
Sorry for the spelling errors on the last post too lol i was in a hurry. : D
ReplyDeleteI agree Soundwave (about scalpers - that's a topic for another day :D) but there's definitely something odd going on with the distribution, too. I just checked my local TRU and found the two X-Men: First Class Greatest Battle packs. Reading other collectors' comments, these aren't out in their States, yet they've already got the S3 W2 figures!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any of the new GI Joes in Georgia, Jboy, so you have my sympathies! I've been checking for the last three(?) weeks but there's no sign of anything anywhere. As I said in the article, apparently there's ONE store in Georgia that has them in stock, which - if true - is insane.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is 3 fold. It's the stores, Hasbro and the scalpers.
ReplyDeleteI saw Crazylegs at a K-Mart here in new york, but nothing else.
The guy that I know that works for Hasbro was sent to Walmart to put the "only at Walmart" stickers on the Gigantic battle packs, but the store had none in the store.
And the biggest toy store I know of "Times Square" occasionally gets Series 3 Wave 2.
Oh, and it also doesn't help that Target raised their prices on Marvel figures.
That does sound like some kind of coordination issue (the stickers, I mean) but why were they sent out without them? And are they really that important? Collectors will already know they're Walmart-exclusives and chance-buyers won't care...
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much is the stores simply not knowing we want them. After all, I doubt many collectors go and badger the staff over them and even if we do and are rewarded with the shrugs or blank looks, it doesn't get back to their buyers/head office that people are looking for figures.
Perhaps we should all start simply writing to Hasbro/Walmart/TRU/Target and requesting they improve their supply levels.
Iok, that's odd that other states haven't gotten the X-Men 1st Class sets first because I've seen them here in NYC and usually NY seems to be the last to get toys.
ReplyDeleteI'll will admit that Target has been on point with the lastest MU wave and I managed to complete the in 2 trips. I still need an Archangel though!
I think writing to Hasbro/ stores is a great idea. It shows that there is a demand that isn't being met and hopefully encourage stores to order more.
The afternoon after I wrote this piece I found the X-Men First Class packs in TRU. However, they still don't have the latest MU Wave, to this day.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly I found GI Joe 2011W4 yesterday and W3 today, which makes no sense, given W4 was released a good three weeks earlier than W3, yet here they both were...
And yeah, as I say, maybe the toy stores/Hasbro just don't realise there's a demand for stuff.