Where am I missing out on figures at retail?

[nDroo73]

Still pretty new (but lucky) when it comes to finding guys at retail. I regularly check Target, Wal-Mart, TRU and Big Lots for WWE figs. I started checking Sears but it always seems like their stuff is always ripped to shreds with missing accessories. I've heard walgreens and Kohls has them but haven't checked. Kmarts website just tells me there are none in my area (heard the closest one is about 3 hours away). Am I missing any spots? I'm in Dallas, TX. Thanks for the help!

[blu3blazer]

Too bad there's no Kmarts in your area. Besides TRU, that's where I find the most good stuff. And Kmart is always running sales and their Rewards program is the best around.

[@.@ Hempsterdance @.@]

walgreens has basics. The one i work at hasn't had figures in since January, id like to think not all of them are like that.

[Lorenzo Alcazar]

Jun 6, 2013 13:32:03 GMT -5 blu3blazer said:

Too bad there's no Kmarts in your area. Besides TRU, that's where I find the most good stuff. And Kmart is always running sales and their Rewards program is the best around.

Where are you located? Neither of my Kmarts have gotten in any Elites since Series 17 in October, and they haven't gotten in any new Basics since Series 24 in January!

Both Kmarts within driving distance of me just have some Basic 22 remains, a few Tribute to the Troops shelf warmers, and some Elite 17 John Cena's that will never sell.

I've had my best luck at Target over the past month. I was able to get who I wanted from Basic 28 and Elite 21 there.

[blu3blazer]

Jun 6, 2013 13:38:53 GMT -5 Lorenzo Alcazar said:

Jun 6, 2013 13:32:03 GMT -5 blu3blazer said:

Too bad there's no Kmarts in your area. Besides TRU, that's where I find the most good stuff. And Kmart is always running sales and their Rewards program is the best around.

Where are you located? Neither of my Kmarts have gotten in any Elites since Series 17 in October, and they haven't gotten in any new Basics since Series 24 in January!

Both Kmarts within driving distance of me just have some Basic 22 remains, a few Tribute to the Troops shelf warmers, and some Elite 17 John Cena's that will never sell.

I've had my best luck at Target over the past month. I was able to get who I wanted from Basic 28 and Elite 21 there.

I'm in PA. Pickings have been kind of slim lately here too, but I've had much better luck at Kmart than Walmart or Target. I can honestly say I've only ever bought probably 5 items at Target during the whole time Mattel has made WWE figures. Walmart is a little better but not much. Walmart gets picked over pretty quickly. Kmart doesn't get picked over at all. It's like the collectors in the area don't even know that Kmart exists.

[RybackV1]

Its not just you pal its everywhere!!! I went to 6 different stores today, and found absolutely nothing. In fact, the one place had 3 pegs with nothing but E21 Mysterio..which is what E11,13,15,and 18 all did as well, shelfwarm. And yet we still regularly get a Rey in every odd series..its sad, just sad. But yeah WWE mattel is at an all time high, and they fly off the shelves. Especially new and htf guys. If you want Cena, Rey, and Orton collection, then thatll come easy. But if you want some of the rarer guys your gonna have to keep at it.

[Deleted]

Jun 6, 2013 13:55:55 GMT -5 RybackV1 said:

Its not just you pal its everywhere!!! I went to 6 different stores today, and found absolutely nothing. In fact, the one place had 3 pegs with nothing but E21 Mysterio..which is what E11,13,15,and 18 all did as well, shelfwarm. And yet we still regularly get a Rey in every odd series..its sad, just sad. But yeah WWE mattel is at an all time high, and they fly off the shelves. Especially new and htf guys. If you want Cena, Rey, and Orton collection, then thatll come easy. But if you want some of the rarer guys your gonna have to keep at it.

I have this problem with e19 Bryan

[qdogg]

Walmart is usually the place I find my elites at and Kmart is the place where i find the sales at to get ones for a discounted price and to fill holes in my collection. I also go to TRU but those 3 stores are about it. No other place really stocks enough to bother going into regularly.

[Agent_Bradley]

I'm in San Antonio, TX and I usually pass a lot of stores on my way home from work. So I'll stop in at any TRU, Target, or Walmart and usually I don't find squat. Seems like the scalpers grab everything day one. I did manage to find all of E20 in stores, but I checked out A LOT of stores. However, E21 has been much better. I was able to purchase E21 AJ & Ryback off TRU.com before they sold out, and I just picked up E21 HTM yesterday! They had 3 of them!! No Ryback's or AJs though. I have yet to check on the availability of Elites in Sears either. But my TRU sells $1-2 more than they should, Target is NEVER stocked, and Walmart has a lot of shelf-warmers. I just have to catch em at a good time!

[Flair Forever]

I've had some luck finding loose, used figures at local flea markets.... and I've seen other people on here that have found decent Mattel stuff at Thrift shops.... depends how picky you are...

I've found some older, loose Elites in good condition for as low as 2 bucks...

[nDroo73]

Jun 8, 2013 0:55:33 GMT -5 Flair Forever said:

I've had some luck finding loose, used figures at local flea markets.... and I've seen other people on here that have found decent Mattel stuff at Thrift shops.... depends how picky you are...

I've found some older, loose Elites in good condition for as low as 2 bucks...

I really want to hit flea markets but only being off on Sundays makes it hard as I'm usually doing family stuff.

Anyone know of any grocery stores that carry them?

[qdogg]

Jun 6, 2013 13:32:03 GMT -5 blu3blazer said:

Too bad there's no Kmarts in your area. Besides TRU, that's where I find the most good stuff. And Kmart is always running sales and their Rewards program is the best around.

Ya Kmarts rewards are pretty cool, especially when they give you free points and stuff. I was able to get a Elite 16 Rock for 8 bucks and some change during their 12.99 sale because they gave me 4 bucks of free points.

[HydroX]

You're in Dallas ... you have a plethora of options.

Ross
dd's Discounts
Hastings
Kroger (if there's any in Dallas, not sure)

Walmarts are great to check at night (around 9-10 or so) when they pull their toy pallets out on the floor to stock. You can usually find full cases of stuff if you catch it at the right time. There's no rhyme or reason as to when certain cases come in, so you just have to hunt on the regular if you want to get the stuff you want.

[nDroo73]

Jun 8, 2013 12:54:03 GMT -5 HydroX said:

You're in Dallas ... you have a plethora of options.

Ross
dd's Discounts
Hastings
Kroger (if there's any in Dallas, not sure)

Walmarts are great to check at night (around 9-10 or so) when they pull their toy pallets out on the floor to stock. You can usually find full cases of stuff if you catch it at the right time. There's no rhyme or reason as to when certain cases come in, so you just have to hunt on the regular if you want to get the stuff you want.

Heard about Kroger, just haven't checked them yet. DDs discounts I've seen driving around but had no clue what it is, as well as Hastings. I check Ross and the stores like it, but haven't seen WWE there since I started collecting. Thanks for the list, definitely a couple of new options for me to check.

[HydroX]

Ross and dd's Discounts will be hit and miss as stock there changes weekly considering they are a "closeout" type of store. In my experience, you may not see things there for a long time, but when you do, it's usually the motherload.

Hastings is mostly books/movies/music but they do have action figures, albeit not many of each item. I have found E12 Kane on a peg there before, as well as some other rare figures from other toy lines.

[nDroo73]

Jun 8, 2013 14:38:52 GMT -5 HydroX said:

Ross and dd's Discounts will be hit and miss as stock there changes weekly considering they are a "closeout" type of store. In my experience, you may not see things there for a long time, but when you do, it's usually the motherload.

Hastings is mostly books/movies/music but they do have action figures, albeit not many of each item. I have found E12 Kane on a peg there before, as well as some other rare figures from other toy lines.

HydroX, I saw some guy trying to beast you on another topic on the boards earlier this week about talking crap to members, but since I've joined the forums you've been one of the most helpful. For that, I thank you! But I do want to find the stores with old stock as I'm a couple of years behind collecting. I'm really only interested in the Mattel stuff so I'm not too behind. I've read other posts where people are talking about how hot Mattel WWE is now and how they fly off the shelves. Has it always been this way or was there a "boom"? I can recall seeing some defining moments/legends of some of my favorites from the past at retail all the time, but never bought them because I wasn't considering toy collecting until a toy show I went to back in Feb.

[Deleted]

You got them all pretty much down any other store you would find would maybe be like a comic shop or like some said walgreens or CVS which usually has some basics of older series.

[fallbrawl]

I would also say Kmart. I love looking for figures there because you never know what random old elite figure will showup on the pegs.

[HydroX]

Jun 8, 2013 14:51:34 GMT -5 nDroo73 said:

Jun 8, 2013 14:38:52 GMT -5 HydroX said:

Ross and dd's Discounts will be hit and miss as stock there changes weekly considering they are a "closeout" type of store. In my experience, you may not see things there for a long time, but when you do, it's usually the motherload.

Hastings is mostly books/movies/music but they do have action figures, albeit not many of each item. I have found E12 Kane on a peg there before, as well as some other rare figures from other toy lines.

HydroX, I saw some guy trying to beast you on another topic on the boards earlier this week about talking crap to members, but since I've joined the forums you've been one of the most helpful. For that, I thank you! But I do want to find the stores with old stock as I'm a couple of years behind collecting. I'm really only interested in the Mattel stuff so I'm not too behind. I've read other posts where people are talking about how hot Mattel WWE is now and how they fly off the shelves. Has it always been this way or was there a "boom"? I can recall seeing some defining moments/legends of some of my favorites from the past at retail all the time, but never bought them because I wasn't considering toy collecting until a toy show I went to back in Feb.

You're quite welcome! Some people just can't handle my awesomeness.

Like some others have said, definitely check out comic shops or flea markets as well. Sometimes yard sales can yield some good finds as someone posted they found an E3 HBK loose/complete. Yard sale finds may be scarce though.

I think there was a "boom" all of a sudden semi-recently and things just kind of caught fire. To be honest, I didn't really jump on board the Mattel/WWE train until recently, but the figures have always seemed to be found few and far between during my browsing of other toy lines. Maybe some of the other members could answer that question a little more accurate for you!