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Why is it a BIG PROBLEM finding G.I.Joe and Starwars


RedKat

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i dont get whats going on when trying to find the toys that you want?

no matter where you go. its like your unsuccessful . this seems like it here in Conn.

and parts of NewYork. and its not only with the joes. dc toys are hell of hard to find ..

is it like this every where?

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well............

 

joes are in heavier demand now and mroe than they ever were. It reminds me when I was a kid and all I cold find were cobra commanders hangng on the pegs. Its the same now. I went to my walmart and all they had were hooded cobra commanders. I say if you want the figures, youre gonna have to go out and hunt for them. not wkly but several times a week

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well............

 

joes are in heavier demand now and mroe than they ever were. It reminds me when I was a kid and all I cold find were cobra commanders hangng on the pegs. Its the same now. I went to my walmart and all they had were hooded cobra commanders. I say if you want the figures, youre gonna have to go out and hunt for them. not wkly but several times a week

 

Or you can order online and save yourself some gas!

 

-Kevin

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Some factors are that January is typically the month where stores are doing year end invetory and tring to clear out the old stuff to make way for the new. Another factor is that lead paint issues causing a tremendous number of toy toy re-calls late last year which in turn has forced companies to enforce more stricter saftey regulations which in turn has slowed down toy production.

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I was talking to one of the hot wheel collectors at one of the stores and he said that GI JOE is in demand, then a few weeks later I heard him talking to some other collecting buddies and they were talking about selling other lines to fuel their hot wheel collecting money, damn scalpers...... ohh well, that is why I order online now.

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Star Wars went cold in my area. Waves 1-3 of 07 were found at WM, Target, TRU and even K-Mart, when they were first released, then nothing but Saga Legends. January wave 7.5 finally started hitting, never saw 4-7 and I hunt on my store restock days as thats when I would fing all the Joes. Had to get waves 4-7 from HTS. Wave 1 08 has only been seen at WM, twice at 2 different stores, but all other toy brands, see regular restocks. I've had better luck with new Joes than new Star Wars. I bought all of waves 1-5 singles, waves 1-3 comic packs and the three 5-packs all at retail, plus extras for army building.

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There are a lot of starwars figs around where i am, dc is harder to find because tru is the only place that carrys them. But gi joe is very hard to find right now as soon as target,wally,are tru get them they are gone. Ive been there when they got some fresh figures and the next day theres nothing.

Its one of those lines where if you see it and want it you better get a it then.

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To all you guys who are shopping online, what places are you using that has fair prices?

 

The main ones I see (smalljoes, Bigbadtoystore, etc.) charge about 40% more per figure plus large fees for shipping. I thought about ordering a 2 pack and a single from one of them. Total cost with slowest available shipping would be about $35 dollars, which is crazy.

 

Any places that sell for at least close to the actual retail cost (and actually have them)? Habro online/TRU online charge retail, but they never have enough figs for normal people to catch them.

 

Thank you for the help!

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I have been getting mine from either BBTS, Hasbroshop (mainly Star Wars) and TRU.com. Lately I have been cancelling alot of orders from BBTS because somewhere else gets them first and cheaper. Wal-Mart is slowly getting better at stocking Joes.

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To all you guys who are shopping online, what places are you using that has fair prices?

 

The main ones I see (etcsmalljoes, Bigbadtoystore, .) charge about 40% more per figure plus large fees for shipping. I thought about ordering a 2 pack and a single from one of them. Total cost with slowest available shipping would be about $35 dollars, which is crazy.

 

Any places that sell for at least close to the actual retail cost (and actually have them)? Habro online/TRU online charge retail, but they never have enough figs for normal people to catch them.

 

Thank you for the help!

 

This is true. but i was wondering why they never have, to meet the demands. could it be that smalljoes, Bigbadtoystore ect. buys off them, which makes it harder for us to get?

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The problem with G.I.Joe is, stores are only getting 1 - 3 cases at a time usually. That's only 8 figures a case. They sell out quick. Sometimes there are pegwarmers left, but not usually. Try to find out the days that trucks come in at your stores and go that day in the morning.

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Actually, finding Star Wars figures is no problem whatsoever. The problem is you can't find what YOU want. In my store for example, we have 8 pegs of Star Wars figures, granted none are wave 1 08, but that is still a LOT of figures.

 

 

Heh, all the stores around me are slammed with wave 1 07. I just saw the ewoks this week, and those came out when, last Nov. I wont even start on the proto figs, I rarely ever see them. But on the Joe side of things we seem right in line with everybody. Ive seen everything except wave 2 comic packs, those seem to have skipped me.

Now these things fly off the shelves, except CC, Buzzer and Shipwreck, which is really funny because I had the same problem as a kid, Shipwrecks everywhere and not a single Snake Eyes. I guess kids havnt changed that much in what they like. Sailors and Bikers arent as cool as black suited commandos.

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Same problem in my area. GI Joe, Star Wars, and DCUC (which I collect) are all extremely hard to find currently. Well, at least the new stuff. I see tons of SW Legends, and GI Joe Wave 1-3 (and comic pack 1). I was fortunate enough to finally find all of DCUC Wave 1 in one fell swoop.

 

And I know its not other collectors or at least swarms of them. I've seen a The Batman Hawkman sit on the shelves for 3 weeks. I've seen McQuarrie figures I already have sit for a week or two (even seen the UGH gold coin ones sit there for days.) I've seen HML 3 variants sit on pegs for a week or so. The closest Wal-Mart to me (about 5 min) has been bare for close to two months. I constantly ask about new SW and Joe product. 3 weeks or so ago the main lady asked me what was out and I told her a new wave of Joes and Star Wars as well as a few new waves of comic packs each. She said give her a week. 3 weeks later I stare at the same barren pegs. Although I see tons of the new Eon Kid, Storm Hawks, Power Ranger Jungle Fury stuff all over the place.

 

I would order online, but like Rolling Thunder I check sites and never find close to retail deals. HTS and the main chain stores online have the best prices, but rarely have anything in stock. And I know the justification of spending a little extra to save on gas, but I don't really hit up a lot of stores. I only check a Wal-Mart, Target, or TRU if I happen to already be in the area. I never go on whims.

 

But, I do always find everything in store in the end. I've seen every SW/Joe 07 figure in store at some point and I've found a few 08 items from both. This hobby has definitely become a game of patience.

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All we get is SW up here in Canada. It seems like toy stores won't carry a line unless it's got a movie behind it, so I figure I won't be seeing any GI Joe for a while yet... :(

 

Oh my God, there's nothing but Star Wars up here! It's obscene! When I walk into a TRU it's some LCBH pegwarmers, DCSH Supermans & Bizarros pegwarmers HML series 1 pegwamers and Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars!

 

Star Wars being the largest section of the pegs, by far.

 

Since the GI Joe 25th line rolled out I've seen the in stores four times (comic pack series 1 last week. only had one SS & SE and one Scarlet & Hawk).

 

I had to order them all from BBTS for simplicities sake.

 

I honestly think the stores are waiting to sell old Sigma 6 Joes, before ordering any 25th Joes.

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To all you guys who are shopping online, what places are you using that has fair prices?

 

The main ones I see (smalljoes, Bigbadtoystore, etc.) charge about 40% more per figure plus large fees for shipping. I thought about ordering a 2 pack and a single from one of them. Total cost with slowest available shipping would be about $35 dollars, which is crazy.

 

Any places that sell for at least close to the actual retail cost (and actually have them)? Habro online/TRU online charge retail, but they never have enough figs for normal people to catch them.

 

Thank you for the help!

 

Well, this argument has been made many times before--but think about the costs of hunting store to store:

 

"40% more per figure" is balanced out by a lot of things.

 

What's your time worth?

What's your patience worth?

What about the obvious expenses: gas/transit fees , parking, food enroute etc.....everything you'd spend getting out the door to hunt at your local haunts.........and factoring that EACH time you hunt?

 

It adds up, though it might not surpass the cost of a online purchase. The biggest advantage in buying on-line as opposed to on-foot is convenience. What is that worth to you?

If the different between the cost of an on-line figure and a retail chain figure is a buck or so, when all those above factors are added up--I'm not gonna sweat the extra cost by ordering on-line.

Less hassle is worth a few bucks to me--and THAT is the real difference in the equation.

 

I've placed a couple of orders now with BBTS, and I recommend them because the service has been excellent. Their prices are fair,though shipping is what I would consider to be high ( but that's life...)

I took advantage of their January clearance sale and ordered some stuff that was 25% off.

With shipping and exchange rate, the cost to me was just under Canadian retail for the same stuff that can be found on Canadiam retailer shelves.

But..........I came out ahead in several respects.

 

- I didn't have to hunt on foot--taking up valuable time and funds.

- The stuff came directly to me.

- I got two complete waves from the line I ordered, all in one go.

- I did not have to run the "scalper gauntlet" at any store--it was literally one-stop shopping.

- They had the stuff in stock, and if there was a problem, I stood a better chance of getting a replacement through them than just about any brick & mortar store.

- And lastly.........it was EASY. It took no effort, little time, and I'm able to sit here and enjoy life more because of it.

 

Needless to say, all of those things are worth a LOT more to me than the mark-up for this stuff is, and I'm completely sold on the idea of buying on-line.

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"Sailors and Bikers arent as cool as black suited commandos."

 

Throw Spirit and Law into the mix and you got the Village People! C'mon...the rest of you were thinking the same thing when you read that statement too. @loll@ "YMCA!"

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But..........I came out ahead in several respects.

 

- I didn't have to hunt on foot--taking up valuable time and funds.

- The stuff came directly to me.

- I got two complete waves from the line I ordered, all in one go.

- I did not have to run the "scalper gauntlet" at any store--it was literally one-stop shopping.

- They had the stuff in stock, and if there was a problem, I stood a better chance of getting a replacement through them than just about any brick & mortar store.

- And lastly.........it was EASY. It took no effort, little time, and I'm able to sit here and enjoy life more because of it.

 

Needless to say, all of those things are worth a LOT more to me than the mark-up for this stuff is, and I'm completely sold on the idea of buying on-line.

 

These are all excellent points, and if someone is spending countless days a week and many many tanks of gas this would be a better reasoning. But for those with more self constraint and patience (and also with the ability to find them) are still better off waiting. Like I said before I only go toy shopping when I'm already in the area or happen to be at one of the stores for another reason. The only store I check relatively often is the Wal-Mart 5 minutes away and I might do that twice a week.

 

It all comes down to patience, diligence, and what people find to be most important. I personally don't care for the hunt, but I don't want to pay more than I have to. If someone is spending more than an an hour or so a week to search toys and drives countless miles just to look - then yes the slightly higher internet mark-up is a much better idea.

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Also helps to know your stores restock days. In my area, Target restocks Monday or Tuesday and Thursday or Friday and WM Thursday or Fridays and TRU is hit and miss with Wednesday-Friday. Weekends are never good days to look for new product. Going on the restock days, I have been able to get all of waves 1-5 singles and waves 1-3 comic packs and all 3 boxed sets.

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Like I said before I only go toy shopping when I'm already in the area or happen to be at one of the stores for another reason. The only store I check relatively often is the Wal-Mart 5 minutes away and I might do that twice a week.

 

It all comes down to patience, diligence, and what people find to be most important. I personally don't care for the hunt, but I don't want to pay more than I have to.

 

Absolutely!

The thing to emphasize here is that there's no right way or wrong way to go about collecting. Its a matter of personal choice. If the circumstances and choices of a collector say to shop in stores, then I'd say by all means do so. I just feel for collectors that "complain" they cannot find anything, and believe that exploring other options might be the solution.

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