Which do you do more?

Retail isn't really an option for me so I have to buy online.

I pretty much get all my elites from RSC, but I will go hunting for duplicates of elites. My area has been sucking lately...we had an onslaught of e18 in December, then onslaught of e19 on feb/march...since then e20 has been rather scarce, saw the whole set only once at tru & then just trickles here & there. I rarely buy basics, but if I do, always retail, gives me something to do in elite downtime, but I'm gonna give up basics all together, they are just so stiff play wise & pose wise, only positive to basics are they get more characters & updated attires quicker.

I pre-order the stuff I truly want no questions asked.

Most everything else I'll check Target's DPCI's online in the morning to see if they have it at any of the local stores. If they do I'll text a friend who works there to hold it for me until I get there.

WalMart, TRU, KMart I just drive to. Although TRU I will call if I am running late or don't fell like taking a trip for nothing. Also there are two TRU employees who hold stuff for me when they are packing out stuff and come across what I am looking for. (usually with the DC lines...although they held Yoko and Mankind for me also)

EBay is never an option I refuse to buy a figure I should be able to find at retail second hand. If it is long come from stores I can justify using eBay, but not for a brand new toy.

I do a little bit of everything and thats the way it should be. No one shop deserves all your business when it comes to anything in life. Spread yourself! I do prefer to buy from retail but when it comes to online exclusives and random older ones you decide you need in your collection, of course you have to buy online. I will only drive to the stores around my immediate area however, I wont drag all over town wasting gas and time looking for figures because its a waste of time usually and makes this hobby even more expensive than it already is.

I enjoy the thrill of the hunt. If I haven't fount it within 2 months or so, I then buy online. But other than a handful of figures, I've found pretty much everything at retail at one time or another. There are only about 6 figures that come to mind that I have never found at retail and most of them are Elites and I don't collect elites so it doesn't bother me much. Those figures would be DM 5 both figures, E16 Nash, E19 Miss Liz for Elites and the only 2 basics I never found were B8 Maryse and B21 Beth Phoenix.

For me to get Elites I have to drive an hour East and theres 6 stores that carry them, but none of the stores ever have anything new, and sometimes 1 of the Walmarts will get in a few cases at once. Thats a 3-4 hour trip total. If I drive 2 hours west theres 4 Trus and a ton of Walmarts so I can usually find what I want if I go to enough places, but that is literally a whole day and a lot of gas $. So if I have a 2nd reason to go to one of these places I'll usually try to stop at a few stores, but I mostly order off Ebay and RSC. I only buy 1 or 2 from each series too.

Now I find myself checking Amazon, TRU and Walmart's sites for figures more often than not, but I still like to go out on dedicated hunts at least once a month. I wish I could check more often like others, but driving just exhausts me.

After spending over a month hunting down all the figures in Elite Series 6, I switched to buying online. I almost always pre-order from RSC. Full sets come out to only a couple of dollars more per figure which isn't so bad considering how much time and gas I save when figures come to my house weeks before they even reach stores.

I don't enjoy the hunt anymore. I don't have time to figure out each store's restocking schedules or waste a couple of hours driving around town hoping to find something new. TRU is overflowing with BOPPV John Cena, one Target has nothing but Basic and Elite Randy Orton, and my not-so-local Walmart was taken over by those exclusive shirted R-Truth and Cena figures.

Instead, I'm happy to receive a big box at my door, with all the new figures that I want, without worrying about case ratios or stolen accessories!

And I'm the exact opposite with the exception of 2 Legends (Orndorff and Macho Man) I needed to get extras of for customs none of my wrestling figure collection has come from eBay.