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Post by dynamitekido on Oct 27, 2017 20:12:07 GMT -5
So I’m curious from others all over to see if what I’m seeing locally is happening elsewhere.
So the last 6 months or so I’ve noticed a trend at retail. Specifically at stores like Walmart (don’t even get me started on TNF and the Retros) and Target. With both retailers having lines exclusive to their stores I’ve noticed something. They’re barely getting in regular elites anymore and it’s seemingly getting bad. By that I mean these places are getting in their exclusives and at best one case of regular elites. Then what happens is they sell out and don’t get anymore in its place. Or they don’t sell all of them and the remaining elites sit......FOREVER. There are a few Walmart’s near me that get elites in, accessories and belts are stolen, then they remain on the shelves for ages. So basically at these stores they’re getting a single case of a series of elites and in the best case scenario, they sell out and the pegs stay empty until they get another series in. No more getting multiple cases of the same series and if you miss you’re chance, it’s online you go to get them. It’s frustrating and is making figure hunting near me almost pointless.
Then there’s Toys R Us, which is starting to have issues near by as well. Whenever their exclusives (Network Spotlight Elites) are supposed to be released, they’re nowhere to find. I started ordering them online at this point. My local store never got the Issac Yankem SDCC Exclusive. The Ambrose spotlight took a month longer to get here than pretty much every other state I can think of. Same with the TJP. Then I see the AJ Spotlight gets released and they still haven’t gotten any in. Luckily I ordered mine online.
Just curious, but how many of you are seein this happen where you live?
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Post by Chewdeezy on Oct 27, 2017 20:20:00 GMT -5
Everything will be cleared out for Christmas.
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FUSamBaker
Main Eventer
Biggest crush on Sami Zayn.
Joined on: Sept 6, 2005 19:25:20 GMT -5
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Post by FUSamBaker on Oct 27, 2017 20:20:51 GMT -5
Glad I'm not the only one who notices this! I stopped by TRU today and all they had were the Network Spotlights. I don't think I've seen any new regular Elites this year! They also have a bunch of the Network singles and Make A Wish Cena toys. Barely any regular series of anything.
WalMarts here are littered with TNF Elite 2. I saw Series 3 Seth for the first time today and I managed to snag Liz a few weeks ago when a friend hid her for me. Them darn Earthquake, Typhoon and Macho Man figs are warming baaaaad!
As the "leading toys retailer," TRU should have up to date figures alone from their own exclusives. I'm a fan of the Superstars dolls series but I have all of them (including the 5 pack) so even those are getting old to look at :/. I can't wait for the Naomi, Bayley and Alicia that is elusively missing in action! But TRU really really needs to get up to date. I'm terrible with exact series numbers but the BPs at mine are the Miz & Maryse series, the Basics are series 74 and then that's about it in the way of none exclusives.
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xtremebadass
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Joined on: Oct 2, 2006 19:27:32 GMT -5
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Post by xtremebadass on Oct 27, 2017 20:23:31 GMT -5
I think Mattel is switching gears and would rather just do store exclusive sets only. The retailers would be more interested in those since that's a guaranteed way to get customers to shop at their stores opposed to others since that's the only place to get specific figures.
There's pros and cons to it.
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Post by ~*Young $ Money*~ on Oct 27, 2017 20:24:47 GMT -5
Everything will be cleared out for Christmas. I feel like this is what happens every year. Stores start getting caught with old sets around now and by Christmas everything is clear and they do their resets in January for new stuff
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FUSamBaker
Main Eventer
Biggest crush on Sami Zayn.
Joined on: Sept 6, 2005 19:25:20 GMT -5
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Post by FUSamBaker on Oct 27, 2017 21:47:49 GMT -5
Everything will be cleared out for Christmas. I feel like this is what happens every year. Stores start getting caught with old sets around now and by Christmas everything is clear and they do their resets in January for new stuff I love January resets! I've looked forward to them since I was 10 lol. It's cool to walk into a store and find at least the last 3 to 4 current series....then crap sits around til about March lol. But it's always grand to find current stuff stocked on the pegs. I never understood why, at least in my area, Christmas resets are just a bunch of old series of stuff. Literally why wait til the 3rd week of January to stock new stuff? Never made sense to me. You'd think stores would want brand new stuff for Christmas. Even Black Friday is just a bunch of recycled series. Never anything brand spanking new.
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Post by dynamitekido on Oct 27, 2017 21:57:36 GMT -5
Everything will be cleared out for Christmas. I would agree with this, except there’s nothing that needs cleared. It’s not a bunch of old series clogging shelves, they sell out of regular elites and then the pegs stay empty.
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jpickard
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Joined on: Jan 31, 2011 22:59:39 GMT -5
Posts: 351
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Post by jpickard on Oct 28, 2017 9:49:09 GMT -5
My local local Walmart and Target have a heck of a time with stocking action figures typically (not the case right now for Walmart, but Target is still very much doing this) they wil get in and stock on the shelves 2-3 cases of the same series of WWE figures once every 4-6 months. The problem is, the town I live in is still pretty rural so these aren't super popular. So I'll go through and get the ones, if any, that I still need and the majority rot on the shelves for the next 4-6 months and when they finally trickle off, the cycle hits again.
Most of the time this causes a 3-4 series skip for my area. In some cases with Walmart the next series they stock on the shelves is actually a series that should have been put out much earlier because our Walmart's stock room pallet/ inventory system sucks. Nerf products can make it on the restock pallet every stocking night but heaven forbid we look at making sure other boys brands get current product. Currently the issue I'm having with that store is there have been zero regular elite stocked since July with E51. TNF has been updated since series 2 (and even those were out out late) with the exception of a Seth Rollins and Chad Gable. The only thing that I've seen on the shelves were SS Balor and Mandkind. Both sold out within a month. So what I'm currently left with is a single Rhino that's been the only regular elite figure since late July. Needless to say I fill out the surveys on my receipts now to let them know how unhappy I am.
I'm not sure if this order a bunch at one time and wait for them to sell over 4-6 months is a store problem with ordering, but what it seems like is people not knowing how toys are marketed taking the lazy way when ordering inventory.
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Post by PJ on Oct 28, 2017 9:52:54 GMT -5
Mine are going backwards. They had E51 and I think E52, but now every Target and WalMart are getting E50 again. I swear if I see one more Enzo, Cass or Apollo I will snap. There’s also plenty of Becky and Orton.
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MiniFigChamp28
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Post by MiniFigChamp28 on Oct 28, 2017 10:29:09 GMT -5
Mine are going backwards. They had E51 and I think E52, but now every Target and WalMart are getting E50 again. I swear if I see one more Enzo, Cass or Apollo I will snap. There’s also plenty of Becky and Orton. This is what happened at my Target. They got in E51 and I picked up Aj Styles. They sold out, nothing for a few weeks and now they have a case of e49 and only enzo & cass sold. It's really annoying. Walmart had empty shelves for months, a case of e52 came in and sold out, and now the shelves are clogged with e49. TRU got in a case of e51 and sold out, nothing for a few weeks and finally a case of e52 came in this week.
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Post by ajrobles51 on Oct 28, 2017 10:33:13 GMT -5
Mine are going backwards. They had E51 and I think E52, but now every Target and WalMart are getting E50 again. I swear if I see one more Enzo, Cass or Apollo I will snap. There’s also plenty of Becky and Orton. Same thing happening her on Long Island. One Target has about 12 Apollo's and one Walmart has another dozen, plus 8 Orton's from that set. Nutty.
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Post by Mr Ezekiel Jackson If Ya Nasty on Oct 28, 2017 10:57:58 GMT -5
Some figures just can't sale. I still see Bo Dallas, Sid Vicious, Damien Mizdow, Daniel Bryan, and Bray Wyatt elites years after they were made. I remember Alberto Del Rio's figures still in Walmart long after he got fired. By the time he returned and quit, they were still there with his new figures. Cody Rhodes figures only started to sell when people needed them for Balor customs. Walgreens is especially bad. Still can buy Great Khali and CM Punk basics.
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Post by elitecollector89 on Oct 28, 2017 10:59:04 GMT -5
My Walmart has been great. Just about every Friday there's a new set of elites.
But I know that's going to stop. Still no sign of TNF3 or Retro series 2.
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Post by FBtagteamsrule on Oct 28, 2017 11:36:30 GMT -5
Local Tru hasn't had Yankem, Perkins, or Ambrose yet let alone AJ.
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Plastic Cowboy
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Post by Plastic Cowboy on Oct 28, 2017 12:10:54 GMT -5
My TRU hasn't got any new regular elites since the narcissist lex wave they only seem interested carrying their network spotlight line. Wal mart and target are almost as bad but they do still get the occasional regular releases but not a lot of them, they just keep restocking their exclusives and basics regularly
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Post by screech on Oct 28, 2017 12:17:04 GMT -5
I don't go hunting often but my local Walmart put out E51 about a month ago. They only had Sami at the time and still had him as of yesterday with no other main line Elites. Before that, they had E49 Apollo sticking around for awhile. It seems like they only go through one case at a time and don't refresh until they're all gone. As for the exclusives, we're still sitting on at least 1 full set of TNF 2 and I have yet to see a single figure from TNF 3. I haven't checked Target or TRU in a bit but the elites are usually sparse as well.
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Post by Mongo Bears on Oct 28, 2017 12:21:11 GMT -5
So be it. I haven't been noticing because I'm not a customer of the regular elite line anymore as long as they don't have flashbacks.
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Post by LA Times on Oct 28, 2017 12:28:04 GMT -5
My TRU wont be carrying Elite 53. They are giving the shelf space to Jakks UFC instead.
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Post by qdogg on Oct 28, 2017 15:19:51 GMT -5
Ya I just buy online now pretty much and don't bother going to the stores because I'm really not a fan of Target or Walmart or big box stores in general anymore anyway and don't want to waste gas and time looking for expensive action figures.
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guster
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WF 15 Year Member
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Post by guster on Oct 28, 2017 15:27:24 GMT -5
My TRU wont be carrying Elite 53. They are giving the shelf space to Jakks UFC instead. They only need the shelf space for about 2 days. Everyone knows Jakks UFC sell like hotcakes. Delicious hotcakes.
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