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Post by Flair Forever on Jun 19, 2023 8:24:36 GMT -5
From the few scant sources I've spoken with, the blame for this stuff lies with Walmart being "understaffed" - - -
I've heard that they get pallets and pallets of products into distribution centers - so much stuff and yet people nation-wide are buying less stuff due to inflationi/recession; so the pallets and pallets of stuff pile up with no one to sort through them and no where to go;
To ease the back-log, Walmart sells the pallets off to discount retailers and in some cases, private buyers, or even donates stuff out - just to get rid of it as they've nowhere to store it or put it.
I kid you not there was a guy selling Elites at the flea market - he only had a few left when I got there but he had a few of the recent "Greatest Hits" Elites in there - and I heard him say he had just bought another pallet from Walmart.
My brother works for a ministry and regularly is called to Walmart to pick stuff up that Walmart can't sell - he has reported there being wrestling toys in these lots as well.
Toys aren't deemed as "essential" to Walmart like groceries or other necessities so often this is the stuff Walmart just dumps to get rid of. It never makes it to the stores or the shelves.
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glassoni0n
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Mar 29, 2022 7:06:55 GMT -5
Posts: 433
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Post by glassoni0n on Jun 19, 2023 10:08:32 GMT -5
That's a really great inside take into how this stuff actually works and it's immensely appreciated. The question I have is why can't Walmart use that surplus product to stock and fulfill orders on Walmart.com? Whether it be RA, Superstars or whatever else Walmart presently has an exclusive, they're notorious for cancelling pre-orders on products. If the problem is backlog, then why can't that backlog be eased by getting things out online?
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mmondrag96
Main Eventer
43 refs and counting
Joined on: Apr 10, 2010 12:35:28 GMT -5
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Post by mmondrag96 on Jun 19, 2023 11:22:52 GMT -5
How is it that jazwares has no problems at least in my area stocking tons of AEW exclusives yet Mattel canβt? Because nobody buys AEW figures Really? I'm pretty sure they out sale WWE figures in my area. Why because they actually stock figures not having 10 Liz figures and Orton clogging the shelf space. |
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Post by Flair Forever on Jun 19, 2023 13:07:17 GMT -5
That's a really great inside take into how this stuff actually works and it's immensely appreciated. The question I have is why can't Walmart use that surplus product to stock and fulfill orders on Walmart.com? Whether it be RA, Superstars or whatever else Walmart presently has an exclusive, they're notorious for cancelling pre-orders on products. If the problem is backlog, then why can't that backlog be eased by getting things out online? Again I would say their answer is "understaffed" - there just aren't enough bodies to open the boxes, sort the stuff out, and send it where it's supposed to go. When you have pallets upon pallets upon truckloads upon boat-loads of merchandise and nowhere to put it all. It isn't just toys, it's all kinds of merch - think housewares, clothing, etc. I'd guess Walmart puts priority on perishable stuff, food, and expensive stuff like electronics, TV's, etc. They don't give a crap about the dinky $10-$20 toys and other household stuff. Think about when you place an online order with Walmart (and how many items Walmart actually sells) - somebody has to go through a VAST warehouse of items and FIND that item, package it up for you, slap your address on it, and mail it out. If the stuff never got unpacked off the truck - - - guess what, your order is getting cancelled. The toys are the least important thing in the Walmart distribution chain, and when the chain is hopelessly back-logged, the toys are dumped overboard to keep the ship afloat. Just my speculation/guess though, based on the few sources I've spoken with (either people who have worked there or others who have bought surplus or received donated merchandise). All of this is why Mattel should never be offering Walmart anything "exclusive" - it's a waste of effort on Mattel's part to design, tool and produce attractive figures that the consumers actually WANT (see upcoming Monday Night Wars line) and then make them exclusively available at a chain that is not able to currently get them to those consumers. They should just offer Walmart the regular main-line elites. At least then if Walmart doesn't get them out, the fans can still get them elsewhere. |
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Post by LK3 on Jun 19, 2023 14:14:34 GMT -5
At this point all I want is to get that Edge. Maybe Bischoff but Iβm not overly concerned about it.
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powerfred3k
Main Eventer
Joined on: Aug 12, 2012 22:12:11 GMT -5
Posts: 3,783
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Post by powerfred3k on Jun 19, 2023 14:25:11 GMT -5
Flair Forever Here is an idea, mattel stops selling all elites at walmart and target except when they order full end-cap displays. Thats already happening now in most of the stores around the usa anyway. Lets just make it official... Tell me when I am telling lies, to quote a great wrestler.
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glassoni0n
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Mar 29, 2022 7:06:55 GMT -5
Posts: 433
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Post by glassoni0n on Jun 19, 2023 14:33:27 GMT -5
That's a really great inside take into how this stuff actually works and it's immensely appreciated. The question I have is why can't Walmart use that surplus product to stock and fulfill orders on Walmart.com? Whether it be RA, Superstars or whatever else Walmart presently has an exclusive, they're notorious for cancelling pre-orders on products. If the problem is backlog, then why can't that backlog be eased by getting things out online? Again I would say their answer is "understaffed" - there just aren't enough bodies to open the boxes, sort the stuff out, and send it where it's supposed to go. When you have pallets upon pallets upon truckloads upon boat-loads of merchandise and nowhere to put it all. It isn't just toys, it's all kinds of merch - think housewares, clothing, etc. I'd guess Walmart puts priority on perishable stuff, food, and expensive stuff like electronics, TV's, etc. They don't give a crap about the dinky $10-$20 toys and other household stuff. Think about when you place an online order with Walmart (and how many items Walmart actually sells) - somebody has to go through a VAST warehouse of items and FIND that item, package it up for you, slap your address on it, and mail it out. If the stuff never got unpacked off the truck - - - guess what, your order is getting cancelled. The toys are the least important thing in the Walmart distribution chain, and when the chain is hopelessly back-logged, the toys are dumped overboard to keep the ship afloat. Just my speculation/guess though, based on the few sources I've spoken with (either people who have worked there or others who have bought surplus or received donated merchandise). All of this is why Mattel should never be offering Walmart anything "exclusive" - it's a waste of effort on Mattel's part to design, tool and produce attractive figures that the consumers actually WANT (see upcoming Monday Night Wars line) and then make them exclusively available at a chain that is not able to currently get them to those consumers. They should just offer Walmart the regular main-line elites. At least then if Walmart doesn't get them out, the fans can still get them elsewhere. Absolutely and thanks again for your insight. I'm not speaking from personal experience, but in an effort to be as nice as possible while still calling it what it is, Walmart has a pretty notorious reputation for not being the most positive employer to work for. It wouldn't shock me if that's started to catch up to their ability to staff. Not to get too meta, but my generation gets a lot of flack for "not wanting to work," but that couldn't be anything further from the truth in my experience. We want to find work that's meaningful for a company that values us, I'd actually gladly be paid a salary to sort through wrestling figures all day if I felt like my time and effort was valued. It's a shame that the entire retail ecosystem is kinda killing itself at the moment. It does seem like it's well-past time for Mattel to abandon store-exclusives for retailers who can't support them, I imagine those contracts are still pretty lucrative though. It will probably take Walmart itself to realize that these exclusives aren't financially beneficial to them anymore. |
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Jackass Pacific
Main Eventer
WF 20 Year Member
Joined on: Dec 22, 2001 22:58:55 GMT -5
Posts: 3,281
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Post by Jackass Pacific on Jun 19, 2023 14:55:05 GMT -5
Flair Forever Here is an idea, mattel stops selling all elites at walmart and target except when they order full end-cap displays. Thats already happening now in most of the stores around the usa anyway. Lets just make it official... Tell me when I am telling lies, to quote a great wrestler. they arenβt lies, sure. just delusions. |
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Post by βππ£π ππ ππππ on Jun 19, 2023 14:55:37 GMT -5
Holy smokes, you guys, I don't think that Flair Forever has much to do with any of this.
Shooting the messenger...whether its pitching superchain merchandising ideas or intergenerational values.
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GR81J
Main Eventer
Joined on: Mar 18, 2003 11:12:08 GMT -5
Posts: 1,294
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Post by GR81J on Jun 19, 2023 15:17:54 GMT -5
Listen is Mattel, these figures will be everywhere else but in Walmarts for mania shipper 2024 and hen the next series will be mania shipper series 4 2025....come on people!!! π€£ Also aew figs suck and only fools buy that crap up and then they sit bc nobody else in the area wants them. Only the select 4-6 ppl I'm sure π ah yes, love people that talk crap about others' hobbies π€ π How am I talking crap about others hobbies??? I collect wrestling figures too. Just jazwares is being more and more cheaper as they go. The figures aren't getting better and they barely have anything new coming out. They have released the past 2 series in how long??? I haven't bought a single one yet but I bought the Kenny SE from Walmart. Just Mattel is way better but sometimes also sucks at putting out exclusive products from Walmart. Nothing new we haven't seen. I'm telling ya if it's not on a summerslam or survivor series shipper we ain't seeing them until next year. It's just how they do unfortunately. crapneeds to change with them too |
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Post by Flair Forever on Jun 19, 2023 15:38:24 GMT -5
Flair Forever Here is an idea, mattel stops selling all elites at walmart and target except when they order full end-cap displays. Thats already happening now in most of the stores around the usa anyway. Lets just make it official... Tell me when I am telling lies, to quote a great wrestler. See I THINK (don't know, but I'm guessing) that the "shippers" are probably packed & sent out differently (like FEDEX or UPS - hence the term "shipper") in order to go around the whole Walmart distribution process and get these items out for timely promotions like Wrestlemania, & WWE2K releases, etc. So, yeah, the best answer might be for Mattel to ship the products directly to the stores (or distribution centers) and avoid the whole Walmart distribution process. But I'm sure the cost of shipping stuff that way is expensive, and who pays for that? Mattel? They'd have to charge Walmart more, who would then charge US more. And if the price of these things goes up again we'll be the first to complain (myself included). Of course it's much cheaper for Walmart to buy these things by the pallet and move them around through their own system - they just can't seem to do it. This is a lot of speculation on my part. I don't have any inside info on it, only what I've gotten from a few people. |
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Post by Flair Forever on Jun 19, 2023 15:56:09 GMT -5
Again I would say their answer is "understaffed" - there just aren't enough bodies to open the boxes, sort the stuff out, and send it where it's supposed to go. When you have pallets upon pallets upon truckloads upon boat-loads of merchandise and nowhere to put it all. It isn't just toys, it's all kinds of merch - think housewares, clothing, etc. I'd guess Walmart puts priority on perishable stuff, food, and expensive stuff like electronics, TV's, etc. They don't give a crap about the dinky $10-$20 toys and other household stuff. Think about when you place an online order with Walmart (and how many items Walmart actually sells) - somebody has to go through a VAST warehouse of items and FIND that item, package it up for you, slap your address on it, and mail it out. If the stuff never got unpacked off the truck - - - guess what, your order is getting cancelled. The toys are the least important thing in the Walmart distribution chain, and when the chain is hopelessly back-logged, the toys are dumped overboard to keep the ship afloat. Just my speculation/guess though, based on the few sources I've spoken with (either people who have worked there or others who have bought surplus or received donated merchandise). All of this is why Mattel should never be offering Walmart anything "exclusive" - it's a waste of effort on Mattel's part to design, tool and produce attractive figures that the consumers actually WANT (see upcoming Monday Night Wars line) and then make them exclusively available at a chain that is not able to currently get them to those consumers. They should just offer Walmart the regular main-line elites. At least then if Walmart doesn't get them out, the fans can still get them elsewhere. Absolutely and thanks again for your insight. I'm not speaking from personal experience, but in an effort to be as nice as possible while still calling it what it is, Walmart has a pretty notorious reputation for not being the most positive employer to work for. It wouldn't shock me if that's started to catch up to their ability to staff. Not to get too meta, but my generation gets a lot of flack for "not wanting to work," but that couldn't be anything further from the truth in my experience. We want to find work that's meaningful for a company that values us, I'd actually gladly be paid a salary to sort through wrestling figures all day if I felt like my time and effort was valued. It's a shame that the entire retail ecosystem is kinda killing itself at the moment. It does seem like it's well-past time for Mattel to abandon store-exclusives for retailers who can't support them, I imagine those contracts are still pretty lucrative though. It will probably take Walmart itself to realize that these exclusives aren't financially beneficial to them anymore. I wouldn't even blame it on a "generational" thing, many places are still understaffed since COVID; Personally I think a lot of people (regardless of generation) decided during COVID that they could figure out how to get by without working; No idea how, as I'm still hopelessly broke  If someone could clue me in, I'll happily quit my job. Yeah it sounds like a great job to "sort through wrestling figures all day" but that's not the job; You'd be moving pallets of boxes of EVERYTHING under the sun, from candles to blenders to cat litter to TV's to lamps to women's shoes to potato chips to video games to Barbie dolls to toilet plungers. Walmart sells EVERYTHING. In most cases, at least 3-4 varieties of everything. You might unload crates, boxes, and pallets for months and never even see a wrestling toy. So when we sit here and complain that we can't find the latest Stone Cold figure at their stores, they don't care - they're still trying to figure out how to get the pallets of stuff unloaded. I like shopping at Walmart, I really do. I feel like their prices are generally very fair and I can (almost) always find what I need to supply my house with stuff. I'm on a budget and I find that their grocery prices for the most part cannot be beat - the grocery stores are way to expensive for me these days. I've even bought a big screen TV or two there over the years, and for the first time ever - I bought new tires there this past spring. Being on a tight budget - if I want to even buy ANY figures at all, I need to shop at Walmart to save a few bucks here and there. Since I happen to be a collector of wrestling toys - I absolutely hate the way they run their toy department and their online shopping. It really surprises me that they don't even seem to be trying to fix it either. It's very frustrating that I do work a couple bucks into my "action figure budget" and then I can't even buy them - because they aren't available anywhere! (Ruthless Aggression Series 4, please). |
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captncharisma19
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 16, 2019 12:54:17 GMT -5
Posts: 2,659
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Post by captncharisma19 on Jun 19, 2023 16:53:30 GMT -5
ah yes, love people that talk crap about others' hobbies π€ π How am I talking crap about others hobbies??? I collect wrestling figures too. Just jazwares is being more and more cheaper as they go. The figures aren't getting better and they barely have anything new coming out. They have released the past 2 series in how long??? I haven't bought a single one yet but I bought the Kenny SE from Walmart. Just Mattel is way better but sometimes also sucks at putting out exclusive products from Walmart. Nothing new we haven't seen. I'm telling ya if it's not on a summerslam or survivor series shipper we ain't seeing them until next year. It's just how they do unfortunately. crap needs to change with them too "Also aew figs suck and only fools buy that crap up..." this you? |
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GR81J
Main Eventer
Joined on: Mar 18, 2003 11:12:08 GMT -5
Posts: 1,294
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Post by GR81J on Jun 19, 2023 17:14:05 GMT -5
How am I talking crap about others hobbies??? I collect wrestling figures too. Just jazwares is being more and more cheaper as they go. The figures aren't getting better and they barely have anything new coming out. They have released the past 2 series in how long??? I haven't bought a single one yet but I bought the Kenny SE from Walmart. Just Mattel is way better but sometimes also sucks at putting out exclusive products from Walmart. Nothing new we haven't seen. I'm telling ya if it's not on a summerslam or survivor series shipper we ain't seeing them until next year. It's just how they do unfortunately. crap needs to change with them too "Also aew figs suck and only fools buy that crap up..." this you? That's why they warm pegs, the Adam Cole series we haven't even seen in stores. They release a bunch of rereleases or peg warms. Some figures are GREAT others not so much and it really shows. The ankle joints are absolute garbage 90% of the time. I don't really need to go on. I collect both but aew is pretty bad and most ppl will agree π€· sorry you're butt hurt |
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captncharisma19
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 16, 2019 12:54:17 GMT -5
Posts: 2,659
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Post by captncharisma19 on Jun 19, 2023 19:58:10 GMT -5
"Also aew figs suck and only fools buy that crap up..." this you? That's why they warm pegs, the Adam Cole series we haven't even seen in stores. They release a bunch of rereleases or peg warms. Some figures are GREAT others not so much and it really shows. The ankle joints are absolute garbage 90% of the time. I don't really need to go on. I collect both but aew is pretty bad and most ppl will agree π€· sorry you're butt hurt Naw, just don't need to be talked down to by some rando on a toy board that now admits they're a fool, by their own definition, which is those that buy AEW figs. |
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mulkeymania
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Nov 29, 2021 21:35:25 GMT -5
Posts: 118
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Post by mulkeymania on Jun 19, 2023 20:50:07 GMT -5
Traveling through GA and finally found a Walmart with the end cap which of course was picked over and no Nash. None of the Walmarts close to me in NC have had any of RA. Still holding out hope that they will still hit this summer.
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arossi417
Mid-Carder
Joined on: May 30, 2022 2:28:28 GMT -5
Posts: 252
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Post by arossi417 on Jun 19, 2023 20:53:58 GMT -5
Flair Forever Here is an idea, mattel stops selling all elites at walmart and target except when they order full end-cap displays. Thats already happening now in most of the stores around the usa anyway. Lets just make it official... Tell me when I am telling lies, to quote a great wrestler. See I THINK (don't know, but I'm guessing) that the "shippers" are probably packed & sent out differently (like FEDEX or UPS - hence the term "shipper") in order to go around the whole Walmart distribution process and get these items out for timely promotions like Wrestlemania, & WWE2K releases, etc. So, yeah, the best answer might be for Mattel to ship the products directly to the stores (or distribution centers) and avoid the whole Walmart distribution process. But I'm sure the cost of shipping stuff that way is expensive, and who pays for that? Mattel? They'd have to charge Walmart more, who would then charge US more. And if the price of these things goes up again we'll be the first to complain (myself included). Of course it's much cheaper for Walmart to buy these things by the pallet and move them around through their own system - they just can't seem to do it. This is a lot of speculation on my part. I don't have any inside info on it, only what I've gotten from a few people. It feels like you're better off going to directly to consumer if you're going to make them pay for that shipping cost. I doubt Mattel would change their business plan and seriously consider that though (the sheer comedy of trying to order $1.19 Hot Wheels online seems like a terrible idea). I'm surprised Target doesn't utilize more space for the Mattel products if the part about Walmart being horribly understaffed is true. Have them just focus on exclusives if it's that bad, I guess. |
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crippler160
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Nov 25, 2017 13:13:41 GMT -5
Posts: 232 
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Post by crippler160 on Jun 19, 2023 20:56:26 GMT -5
The Mattel store has series 4 and 5. Mercari sellers from CA have them posted from $40 to $120 a figure.
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glassoni0n
Mid-Carder
Joined on: Mar 29, 2022 7:06:55 GMT -5
Posts: 433
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Post by glassoni0n on Jun 19, 2023 21:08:39 GMT -5
Absolutely and thanks again for your insight. I'm not speaking from personal experience, but in an effort to be as nice as possible while still calling it what it is, Walmart has a pretty notorious reputation for not being the most positive employer to work for. It wouldn't shock me if that's started to catch up to their ability to staff. Not to get too meta, but my generation gets a lot of flack for "not wanting to work," but that couldn't be anything further from the truth in my experience. We want to find work that's meaningful for a company that values us, I'd actually gladly be paid a salary to sort through wrestling figures all day if I felt like my time and effort was valued. It's a shame that the entire retail ecosystem is kinda killing itself at the moment. It does seem like it's well-past time for Mattel to abandon store-exclusives for retailers who can't support them, I imagine those contracts are still pretty lucrative though. It will probably take Walmart itself to realize that these exclusives aren't financially beneficial to them anymore. I wouldn't even blame it on a "generational" thing, many places are still understaffed since COVID; Personally I think a lot of people (regardless of generation) decided during COVID that they could figure out how to get by without working; No idea how, as I'm still hopelessly broke If someone could clue me in, I'll happily quit my job. Yeah it sounds like a great job to "sort through wrestling figures all day" but that's not the job; You'd be moving pallets of boxes of EVERYTHING under the sun, from candles to blenders to cat litter to TV's to lamps to women's shoes to potato chips to video games to Barbie dolls to toilet plungers. Walmart sells EVERYTHING. In most cases, at least 3-4 varieties of everything. You might unload crates, boxes, and pallets for months and never even see a wrestling toy. So when we sit here and complain that we can't find the latest Stone Cold figure at their stores, they don't care - they're still trying to figure out how to get the pallets of stuff unloaded. I like shopping at Walmart, I really do. I feel like their prices are generally very fair and I can (almost) always find what I need to supply my house with stuff. I'm on a budget and I find that their grocery prices for the most part cannot be beat - the grocery stores are way to expensive for me these days. I've even bought a big screen TV or two there over the years, and for the first time ever - I bought new tires there this past spring. Being on a tight budget - if I want to even buy ANY figures at all, I need to shop at Walmart to save a few bucks here and there. Since I happen to be a collector of wrestling toys - I absolutely hate the way they run their toy department and their online shopping. It really surprises me that they don't even seem to be trying to fix it either. It's very frustrating that I do work a couple bucks into my "action figure budget" and then I can't even buy them - because they aren't available anywhere! (Ruthless Aggression Series 4, please). Walmart is a great one stop shop for fair prices on things people need, and those kinds of stores always had exclusives going back to the BCA days. But Walmart and Target have never been "toy stores," and I think they generally still position their toy sections as a place where parents buy things for their kids. Which (I hope) still exists, but let's call a spade a spade, exclusive Ultimates, Superstars, Ruthless Aggression figures aren't really geared towards those customers. |
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GR81J
Main Eventer
Joined on: Mar 18, 2003 11:12:08 GMT -5
Posts: 1,294
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Post by GR81J on Jun 19, 2023 21:41:40 GMT -5
That's why they warm pegs, the Adam Cole series we haven't even seen in stores. They release a bunch of rereleases or peg warms. Some figures are GREAT others not so much and it really shows. The ankle joints are absolute garbage 90% of the time. I don't really need to go on. I collect both but aew is pretty bad and most ppl will agree π€· sorry you're butt hurt Naw, just don't need to be talked down to by some rando on a toy board that now admits they're a fool, by their own definition, which is those that buy AEW figs. I definitely don't "buy that crap up" I pick and chose bc they haven't put out anything in the past 2/3 series worth getting |
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