maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 31, 2017 5:59:02 GMT -5
Is this the most done topic of all time on any figure...
38 Elite 28 Big Shows still on the Toy Store, Dubai Mall. Don't mean poop.
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maske2g
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Joined on: Jan 31, 2011 7:00:54 GMT -5
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Post by maske2g on Jan 31, 2017 3:49:17 GMT -5
Anyone here heard of this comic shop called Ace Tech in Luton? I bought the Wrestlemania 28 Elite Shawn Michaels MOC for £40 there. He also has Elite 14 Booker T on card, Legends Ultimate Warrior and a full cabinet of loose Mattel/Jakks figures. Just 40 yeah? Sign me up....twice...
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maske2g
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Joined on: Jan 31, 2011 7:00:54 GMT -5
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Post by maske2g on Jan 30, 2017 5:33:56 GMT -5
I love his Elite figures. I'm not sure how many I have, maybe 30, but I really should sit down 1 day and maybe try to collect the rest.
Entrance greats is fantastic.
An honourable mention to Tribute for the troops.
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 30, 2017 5:13:54 GMT -5
Roster on yesterday's show was pretty good and I'm really not sure how Randy Orton is still relevant.
He is a master of Main Events at WM that crowds don't care about. At wM 24, I went to get a beer during the WWE championship match, and that is 9 years ago.
Really regret staying up til near 4 in the morning for the Rumble match, but the rest of the show was good enough.
Pretty sure the pop at the end was for Roman Reign not winning, more than Orton winning..
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 26, 2017 10:47:48 GMT -5
No HOF figures to be seen at my local Smyth's either. I assume scalpers have been snapping them up then selling them at £20+ online. maske2g : Odd how that happens, plenty of Regals and Macho's but not a single Tugboat at my store. Maybe there are a lot of local Uncle Fred Ottman fans? I really don't think they had many left to be honest. They haven't for aged.
Yeah, clearly, they messed up the distribution, although this is a London store, I expect sales are higher.
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 26, 2017 10:39:15 GMT -5
Jimmy and Ted HOF figs are both out of stock for home delivery on Smyths, any chance they'll come back in stock? Was hoping to snag them. It said in Low stock in beckton and I couldn't find one. zero chance of going back online, probably some stragglers hiding on shelf.
I wanted to make a custom Jimmy
There were also
26 Regals 20 Machos e44 20 Tugboats
seems they got a lot in for xmas, as the newer sets were on sale, like E45 and E46, but they never ever had as much stock as that. Still lots of Lex and Harlem heat though.
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 26, 2017 10:31:19 GMT -5
Lest thee forget, he who was in Elite 1 appearing in stores...
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 25, 2017 17:29:50 GMT -5
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 25, 2017 11:08:29 GMT -5
Oh expensive day!!
Dana Brooke has been and gone already.
And AJ Basic is back in.
68A also in stock
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maske2g
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Joined on: Jan 31, 2011 7:00:54 GMT -5
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Post by maske2g on Jan 25, 2017 8:52:15 GMT -5
A store needs to make more effort in getting some of these TNF series. Which stores sell WWE Figures now; Smyths, TRU, The Entertainer, Asda, Wilko, Argos and online sites like Amazon, Ebay and Wrestleshop and I admit it's cool that Wrestleshop got them in and aren't charging a fortune but it sucks that America get exclusives when they could charge £20-£25 for TNF because people are paying more for them TNF = Walmart Walmart = Asda Supermarkets = Poor toy sales and lack of reorder.
That's what I can ascertain from it. But I will certainly put it in the list.
Again the Pound is dictating the price. When it was 1.5 and above, you could easily get other 4 sets, such as the JR, RR, and JL BAF series, for 80-100 quid. At 1.2 per pound, if we can get the set of 4 imported for 110, that is actually a bonus.
If you look at them all.
Smyths, seemingly got HOF, because Target do not have offshore stores, so could not stop them going to global retailers. But it took a while to figure that out..... and Smyths got lumbered with HOF 2 and HOF 3.
TRU, are TRU, so in general we get the American exclusives. We've missed a few, but very few.
These can't be relied upon.
The Entertainer is aimed at younger kids and budget end toys.
Asda - are a supermarket, if they don't sell well, and quickly, they won't stock them. Their business model is quick small turnover.
Wilko, are a discount store. They specialise on stuff that didn't sell well, so they pick it up on the cheap and sell at a budget. Argos are a shambles. The only thing that they are good at is sucking so bad they have to have good sales all the time!!
Online I've mentioned the continued rise of Amazon to Smyths. They are so big and powerful, that they can force anyone out of a market. I have no time for firms like Wrestleshop. It's no surprise that 4-5 of these firms have gone skint over the years. How many of these are they realistically going to sell at those prices? not many. Maybe it's just a sideline for someone, who knows.
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 24, 2017 17:32:54 GMT -5
The whole UK as a whole need better buying teams. Smyths do the best, TRU seems to have good and bad months and Asda need a whole new team. The fact the UK don't get their own exclusives like the TNF Elite line baffles me. I don't think you can stop scalpers, that's their nature. However I certainly don't think Mattel are helping the retailers like they claim. Using Smyths as an example. Mattel have released far too many figures. If Smyths don't get them all or miss a wave fans complain. They obviously have to order x amount to make it cost effective. With so many figures in a short amount of time, buyers have to be more picky. So ones like a Sid, Bulldog or Godfather would have probably all sold through normally, but when so many are coming, buyers have to be more picky. Due to the pound the prices have gone up. They release more elite waves. They release Zombies. They release Mutants. They release more Basic waves. More figures, higher prices .... of course things are going to warm. This in turn actually leads to more scalping where people pick up 2 or 3 to offset the cost of the others. So how can Smyths prevent this: 1. Quicker ordering of certain lines. The reason the HOF figures warmed and then reduced is they were way too late. Buyers had already paid £30 for them months ago. 2. Set Bundles. The option to purchase a whole set at cheaper. If they have a set with 6 figures and sell them at £19 each. That's £114. The top ones go first then 1 or 2 may shelf warm and then prevent them from putting newer ones out. They then reduce them to £10 or £13. 5 at £19 is £95. Then one at £10. They get £105 for that set but they have their shelves clogged for months. Offering a reduced price for a set of 6 at the beginning would help shift the Sid's of the world earlier. 3. Better website for ordering and communication for stores. There should be a minimum of 2 per item on the website. The website should be completely detailed on what the store has. It's all linked on the same EPOS system, so it should be more accurate. Click and collect should be available on everything. 4. This one is controversial. But less deals lol. Smyths is very samey with deals. As are Toys R Us. So the more stringent buyer simply waits for the right time or voucher to pick up the less desirable figures. This again causes major shelf warming. I'm talking from a store perspective not as a buyer as I'm the same I wait. But if people know that items are going to get reduced and there are 29 of them. Then they are going nowhere. If they don't sell they warm, so their team of buyers don't buy so heavy next time. So it's a vicious circle. Of course the main reason for this is price point (i.e. £25 for a TRU Spotlight) that has no more than a £19 figure. They need to create a more of demand. Yes price is one major issue but if you knew that is what it was going to stay at, you simply buy it because you want it. This is where Mattel aren't helping the retailers. If they need to justify the higher price points, you need to make it worth it to the consumer. A bog standard Austin with no decal and no vac belt for £25?????? DM Stone Cold with 3 vac belts for £24. .... How are those 2 figures the same price to the end user? Anyway I've lost my thought process now lol However how those become worth it is a loyalty system. You only get loyalty points on non reduced items. Basic gets you 5 points. Elite 10. DM/Battlepack etc gets you 15. Every 100 points converts to a money off card etc. So with this and the 4 points above that reduces shelf warmers and hopefully gets the UK a better turn around To your points. It shouldn't baffle you that we do not get exclusives. The USA has a population of 300m, and I would a imagine a far bigger percentage of wrestling fans than us. We have 80 Smyths store. Any idea how many Walmarts and Targets, and TRU's there are in America? It's thousands. This stands to reason in the case of MORE figures too. The Dollar is very strong against the RMB/CNY at the minute. So figures are cheap, meaning prices have remained competitive in the US. A battle pack for instance is 19.99 USD. About £16.50 Which is a perfectly normal reason why we are getting certain figures not selling as you say. But in America, I am sure they are still selling many many more times the amount of Sid's sitting at Home Bargains. 1. Agreed, will be a primary point. 2. Very good idea. I would actually pre order every set if it means not leaving the house. 3. Click and collect takes a lot of admin, which is why they only put it up after a certain amount of time. They would get a lot of people not turning up to pick up a hot new figure that otherwise would have sold out. But if they simply engaged the fans, they could figure out who that hot figure will be. sAme goes for Star Wars. 4. It's very difficult to say how many they order, because they are ordering based off of 47 series. They know how many they need. If 1 figure per set warms, it probably isn't as big a problem as not meeting demand by a few hundred figures. I agree there are people who wait, but my time is worth more. I don't want to make 2 tripe, to save 12-18 quid on 2 or 3 in a set. My time is more valuable. 5. I am guessing they have the same percentage mark up for every figure. Which means they are paying too much for DMs in the first place. The price of Network Spotlight is a disgrace. Nearly every one has been on sale. I've been a TRU gold card member for years. The rewards are an absolute sham. Spend 30, save 5, must be used in a month. Waste of time. What would we want from a rewards scheme? Another idea. We want them to price match.
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maske2g
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Joined on: Jan 31, 2011 7:00:54 GMT -5
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Post by maske2g on Jan 24, 2017 9:53:54 GMT -5
Can I have a list of suggestions for Smyths please? I was in Smyths Oldbury, nearly Three weeks ago - and they still had a lot of E40 Figures. I think I would suggest not buying so much from one set, but then use the extra resources (cash/space) to stock all the exclusives that are out at the moment. Then they can push themselves as the 'one stop WWE shop'. While on a similar subject, where can I contact Smyths if I have a request for something to be stocked? please take into account I don't do social media. I don't think we can get very American and pinpoint problems for specific stores.
They I am sure have an inventory tracker of their total inventory. I know for a fact now their numbers are refreshed hourly.
My local has about 20 Macho Man E44, and not a single E40, but still lots of Sid.
They can't order specific figures of a set, and we know for instance that Sami Zayn in that set moved liked crapoff a shovel!!!
We need more creative suggestions for them.
how can they stop scalping.
How can they be sure they are getting in at the right time. For instance, not like 8 months after with HOF 3.
How can they maintain a consistent approach to series names and release information on the webset.
Think economies of scale. They are an 80 m EUR company, they don't care about 12 TYphoons in Chichester, so to speak.
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 24, 2017 8:46:00 GMT -5
The price point has been raised. I'm looking for more suggestions around long term improvements to the buying experience.
Obviously the pound is a big factor to price, and I think they have mispriced battlepacks too.
The sales have always correlated with how much stock they have in. I've seen shelves only 2 deep before, and obviously they won't have a sale then.
At the moment, they are putting up for sale some figs prior to E46 it seems which is fair enough.
But price is not our only gripe!!
There will always be toys aimed to entice kids. They will be the fans of the future.
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 24, 2017 5:23:42 GMT -5
Can I have a list of suggestions for Smyths please?
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 24, 2017 5:19:41 GMT -5
I really like them. But with the amount of figures in my display they are of little use to me. It's great that they made some different backdrops too.
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 23, 2017 12:12:46 GMT -5
I'm speaking to an excellent senior customer service rep from Smyths. I'm trying to get some dialogue going with their buyers as well. I've complained about people buying multiple figures on the first day of sale. (Yes, I'm a hyprocrite, shoot me, but I'm doing it for you guys!!!!) I told them I've managed to order 9 of a figure on line before. That shouldn't happen. I told them my AJ figures got dumped from my basket today. And maybe most enjoyably it was confirmed... "Our customer service reps have access to the same information to re-stock dates that you do. Our team try to contact the buying team where possible"
YES, THEY JUST LOOK AT THE WEBSITE.
So, don't waste your breathe any more there. I told her, that they should not be telling people matter of factly, that items won't be available online, when they don't know whether that is true. I know it's bad considering there's only one logical reason (that I don't even need to say) as to why people would probably consider buying more than 3 of a single figure, particularly someone as coveted and popular as AJ, but at the end of the day as long as Smyths are managing to shift their stock and add to their bottom line I doubt it'll change. His basic is in stock as of me posting this comment (if that helps anyone) so there's always more chances You know what I think though. I think that by letting one person buy all of the stock, you are alienating fans and discouraging from coming to the store and thinking, "while Im here I will pick up this and this as well". Because ultimately, people wont make the journey, AND, the premium figures will sell out regardless of Scalpers. FWIW i've scalped more often than not to trade as others here would testify. And Ive actually been stuck woth a load due to the Americans' reluctance to trust their post office for London. Some farm in the deep south, 200 miles from anyone, is fine though...
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 23, 2017 9:50:48 GMT -5
I'm speaking to an excellent senior customer service rep from Smyths.
I'm trying to get some dialogue going with their buyers as well.
I've complained about people buying multiple figures on the first day of sale. (Yes, I'm a hyprocrite, shoot me, but I'm doing it for you guys!!!!) I told them I've managed to order 9 of a figure on line before. That shouldn't happen.
I told them my AJ figures got dumped from my basket today.
And maybe most enjoyably it was confirmed...
"Our customer service reps have access to the same information to re-stock dates that you do. Our team try to contact the buying team where possible"
YES, THEY JUST LOOK AT THE WEBSITE.
So, don't waste your breathe any more there. I told her, that they should not be telling people matter of factly, that items won't be available online, when they don't know whether that is true.
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 23, 2017 9:18:31 GMT -5
BasIC 68 IS UP ON SMYTHS. Grab that Alexa and AJ whilst you can! is Dana Brooke in stock too? No, it's actually Basic 68B. up at the mo
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maske2g
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Post by maske2g on Jan 23, 2017 6:54:39 GMT -5
BasIC 68 IS UP ON SMYTHS. Grab that Alexa and AJ whilst you can! AJ gone already.
Absolute joke that they can take it out your basket while you are adding other figures to it.
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maske2g
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Joined on: Jan 31, 2011 7:00:54 GMT -5
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Post by maske2g on Jan 20, 2017 5:41:57 GMT -5
Great post from @heroesandmartyrs
I really enjoyed my "debate" with @haunted. But he got all bipolar and I couldn't help winding him up some more!!!
Lots of great basics have been mentioned already....
B29 Warrior WMVIII Ric FLair WM5 Macho WM3 Steamboat
Love the sky blue and pink New Day. T shirt series Hulk Hogan "Hulk Rules" with correct bandana and cloth shirt Gold Razor Ramon
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