Walmart Wrestlemania shippers incoming

[rkmo: Autonomous Meat Shield]

Yes, because Mattel has never had a problem with dead stock that took years of b*tching and direct info from us to resolve.

[arossi417]

Mar 26, 2024 19:42:22 GMT -5 Flair Forever said:

Mar 26, 2024 18:44:47 GMT -5 arossi417 said:

At least the few times I saw it, it was 2 of RVD and 2 of Brock, same with Eddie and Rey for the first set. I didn't really see any stores around me that had them to begin with, but it was usually that 2 and 2 assortment whenever I did actually spot them.

Eddie & Rey were of no interest to me - but the stores where I saw them had 2 of each. I saw a store that had two Kurt Angles (I passed on that one too).

I never saw Ultimate Andre or Ultimate Razor Ramon at ANY retail store.... Never saw Ultimate Brock or Ultimate RVD at any store (my brother found them for me).

I'm fully expecting Piper/Bret to be the same ratio (2 or less) - - - and that doesn't bode well for finding these. One person gets there before me & they'll both be gone.

This thread does raise a valid question - I still blame Walmart, but how come they don't seem to care about over-stocking these damn AEW exclusives? Why do they act like they'll go bankrupt if they order too many WWE Ultimates and skip over NUMEROUS WWE Elite series but have no qualms about stocking these Jerichos & Kingstons up to the ceiling?

And why does Target do this so much better?

I catch the regular mainline Ultimates more at WM than I do Target, but I have seen more of them popping up there lately. I can remember Target stocking Ultimates pre-pandemic pretty well for I think the first three sets?

The AEW exclusives have their own item tags that only rotate I think twice a year, so I'm assuming Walmart doesn't really care to clearance them that aggressively? Target needing to do quarterly resets for new Legends stock probably helps in that regard.

[shanieomaniac]

When I found the RA UE figures, I believe it was 2 of each. As stated in another thread (not getting into it) the MNW ones are clearly being shipped the same. Those two of each was enough to get me the Rey and the RVD I wanted, but right now the only UEs they have there are the Greatest Hits Warriors which they have I swear six of and nobody is buying them. I lowkey hope that they decide to stock UE 21 so I can maybe go in store and snag a couple for customs. Would love to remake my tag run Sami into an Ultimate.

Sami not changing the lower half of his gear for the better part of a year comes in handy for custom options.

[POOR-ly Cuyler]

“Y’all got any of them WM shippers?”

[kgchampion]

Mar 27, 2024 23:30:41 GMT -5 shanieomaniac said:

When I found the RA UE figures, I believe it was 2 of each. As stated in another thread (not getting into it) the MNW ones are clearly being shipped the same. Those two of each was enough to get me the Rey and the RVD I wanted, but right now the only UEs they have there are the Greatest Hits Warriors which they have I swear six of and nobody is buying them. I lowkey hope that they decide to stock UE 21 so I can maybe go in store and snag a couple for customs. Would love to remake my tag run Sami into an Ultimate.

Sami not changing the lower half of his gear for the better part of a year comes in handy for custom options.

It’s interesting. Outside of SummerSlam ‘92 Warrior, Ultimate Maniacs Warrior, and the recent Legends Warrior, all the Elite Warriors seem to go pretty quickly at retail. But the Ultimate Ultimate Warriors have been pretty easy to find and hang around a while. Maybe it’s the difference between a $22 figure and a $32 figure. Maybe it’s the difference of having a case that’s half Ultimate Warrior vs a case that’s 1/4th to 1/6th Warrior.

[POOR-ly Cuyler]

5 Walmarts today and 2 had shippers and one there was 3 Hogans in the regular section. No Halls, no e106, 1 Stone Cold. Grabbed the Stone Cold, there was a LOT of Hogans and Undertakers, e105, WM elites, TPs and battle packs.

[One Punch Reigns]

I can't be the only one who never once saw a shipper yet right? 5 Walmarts within driving distance and zip. Been on the hunt since they were first spotted and my Walmarts are usually decent when it comes to exclusives.

Figures it's the one set I decided to go all in on right?

[jjh1292]

3 Wal-Marts and zero shippers. A handful of basics on the pegs and a few scattered elites. I’m over this.

[kgchampion]

Nada

[thep1]

Mar 30, 2024 17:59:26 GMT -5 kgchampion said:

Nada

John?

[ddt4thee]

Mar 30, 2024 17:06:56 GMT -5 One Punch Reigns said:

I can't be the only one who never once saw a shipper yet right? 5 Walmarts within driving distance and zip. Been on the hunt since they were first spotted and my Walmarts are usually decent when it comes to exclusives.

Figures it's the one set I decided to go all in on right?

It's a set a lot of people would love to go all in on, just like the Ruthless Aggression line. Arguably the biggest era of modern professional wrestling ever. Unless you lived through it you really don't understand how big it was. And, just like RA, it was given to the worst retailer. Just another in a long, long line of headscratching decisions and disappointments I'm afraid.

[nomorexclusives]

Mar 31, 2024 5:36:39 GMT -5 ddt4thee said:

Mar 30, 2024 17:06:56 GMT -5 One Punch Reigns said:

I can't be the only one who never once saw a shipper yet right? 5 Walmarts within driving distance and zip. Been on the hunt since they were first spotted and my Walmarts are usually decent when it comes to exclusives.

Figures it's the one set I decided to go all in on right?

It's a set a lot of people would love to go all in on, just like the Ruthless Aggression line. Arguably the biggest era of modern professional wrestling ever. Unless you lived through it you really don't understand how big it was. And, just like RA, it was given to the worst retailer. Just another in a long, long line of headscratching decisions and disappointments I'm afraid.

Had a long post drawn out but ill let these statistics do the talking.

1. Action figures experienced a 13% decline in 2023.
Source: toybook.com/state-of-the-toy-industry-2024-circana/

2. Walmart has cut a chunk of their workforce to equal that of 2010 numbers, despite operating 500 more stores now.








Overall things are not looking good in the near term despite long term global trends mainly pushed by india and other emerging markets.

"In 2023, retail sales of toys in the U.S. totaled $28 billion, reflecting an 8% decrease — equivalent to $2.4 billion — compared to 2022. This decline was mirrored in both unit sales and average selling price (ASP), which experienced an 8% and 0.4% drop, respectively, with the ASP settling at $12.08"

So yeah toys are not a priority for walmart right now. Most of their (and other retailers) priorities lie with essential goods. We will continue to struggle this year and i predict we will see a lot more toys to hit ollies.

Conclusion: walmart is ordering less and has a ton of overstock that is all being clearanced out since people are buying less action figures due to the ecomomic situation (inflation=high prices) and scalpers and resellers are taking advantage of low stock to pay their credit card debt (you have to buy to sell) - i also foresee a lot of resellers clearancing out their overstock as people definitely dont want to pay double the already high industry standard ARP (especially now that all that walmart overstock is hitting oulet stores)

Hi paul!

[Flair Forever]

Mar 31, 2024 8:35:07 GMT -5 nomorexclusives said:

Mar 31, 2024 5:36:39 GMT -5 ddt4thee said:

It's a set a lot of people would love to go all in on, just like the Ruthless Aggression line. Arguably the biggest era of modern professional wrestling ever. Unless you lived through it you really don't understand how big it was. And, just like RA, it was given to the worst retailer. Just another in a long, long line of headscratching decisions and disappointments I'm afraid.

Had a long post drawn out but ill let these statistics do the talking.

1. Action figures experienced a 13% decline in 2023.
Source: toybook.com/state-of-the-toy-industry-2024-circana/

2. Walmart has cut a chunk of their workforce to equal that of 2010 numbers, despite operating 500 more stores now.








Overall things are not looking good in the near term despite long term global trends mainly pushed by india and other emerging markets.

"In 2023, retail sales of toys in the U.S. totaled $28 billion, reflecting an 8% decrease — equivalent to $2.4 billion — compared to 2022. This decline was mirrored in both unit sales and average selling price (ASP), which experienced an 8% and 0.4% drop, respectively, with the ASP settling at $12.08"

So yeah toys are not a priority for walmart right now. Most of their (and other retailers) priorities lie with essential goods. We will continue to struggle this year and i predict we will see a lot more toys to hit ollies.

Conclusion: walmart is ordering less and has a ton of overstock that is all being clearanced out since people are buying less action figures due to the ecomomic situation (inflation=high prices) and scalpers and resellers are taking advantage of low stock to pay their credit card debt (you have to buy to sell) - i also foresee a lot of resellers clearancing out their overstock as people definitely dont want to pay double the already high industry standard ARP (especially now that all that walmart overstock is hitting oulet stores)

Hi paul!

This is fascinating to me....

Because I'm truly not sure if the drop is due to trends, or if the drop is actually due to them NOT stocking all the series that they could.... I know Walmart didn't get every Elite set last year. They probably got every 3rd set or so.

I have several Walmarts stores where shelves ran empty for 3 months (or more). How does that effect sales? Target was good for the first 2-3 quarters of 2023 - - - but later in the year their shelves ran empty for several months as well.

How do all the "cancelled online orders" that Walmart generates effect these sales numbers?

Is it safe to say that HAD WALMART FULFILLED all their online orders - sales would have been 8-10% higher? IF THEY DIDN'T LET SHELVES RUN EMPTY for 2-3 months at a clip - could sales have gone up 8-10%?

And yet they are claiming there is all this "overstock" - - - which yeah, based on the number of Superstars Flairs & Hogans are turning up at Ollie's lately, they definitely made way too many....

So it's which came first, the chicken or the egg? Are sales down because they just aren't stocking/carrying the figures that people are looking for? Or are they not stocking all the series/sets because people aren't buying them?

So it's gotta be a real fine line for production on these action figures.

My GUESS.... is that Walmart is buying a good number of figures and they just aren't making it to the shelves where customers can buy them.... they sit somewhere (either at Distribution centers or in the back of stores) where they eventually "pile up" and then they say "well these things just aren't selling." How else can we explain all the empty shelves?

[ChuckPOORis55 Cody Gang 4 Lyfe]

Apr 1, 2024 10:27:24 GMT -5 Flair Forever said:

Mar 31, 2024 8:35:07 GMT -5 nomorexclusives said:

Had a long post drawn out but ill let these statistics do the talking.

1. Action figures experienced a 13% decline in 2023.
Source: toybook.com/state-of-the-toy-industry-2024-circana/

2. Walmart has cut a chunk of their workforce to equal that of 2010 numbers, despite operating 500 more stores now.








Overall things are not looking good in the near term despite long term global trends mainly pushed by india and other emerging markets.

"In 2023, retail sales of toys in the U.S. totaled $28 billion, reflecting an 8% decrease — equivalent to $2.4 billion — compared to 2022. This decline was mirrored in both unit sales and average selling price (ASP), which experienced an 8% and 0.4% drop, respectively, with the ASP settling at $12.08"

So yeah toys are not a priority for walmart right now. Most of their (and other retailers) priorities lie with essential goods. We will continue to struggle this year and i predict we will see a lot more toys to hit ollies.

Conclusion: walmart is ordering less and has a ton of overstock that is all being clearanced out since people are buying less action figures due to the ecomomic situation (inflation=high prices) and scalpers and resellers are taking advantage of low stock to pay their credit card debt (you have to buy to sell) - i also foresee a lot of resellers clearancing out their overstock as people definitely dont want to pay double the already high industry standard ARP (especially now that all that walmart overstock is hitting oulet stores)

Hi paul!

This is fascinating to me....

Because I'm truly not sure if the drop is due to trends, or if the drop is actually due to them NOT stocking all the series that they could.... I know Walmart didn't get every Elite set last year. They probably got every 3rd set or so.

I have several Walmarts stores where shelves ran empty for 3 months (or more). How does that effect sales? Target was good for the first 2-3 quarters of 2023 - - - but later in the year their shelves ran empty for several months as well.

How do all the "cancelled online orders" that Walmart generates effect these sales numbers?

Is it safe to say that HAD WALMART FULFILLED all their online orders - sales would have been 8-10% higher? IF THEY DIDN'T LET SHELVES RUN EMPTY for 2-3 months at a clip - could sales have gone up 8-10%?

And yet they are claiming there is all this "overstock" - - - which yeah, based on the number of Superstars Flairs & Hogans are turning up at Ollie's lately, they definitely made way too many....

So it's which came first, the chicken or the egg? Are sales down because they just aren't stocking/carrying the figures that people are looking for? Or are they not stocking all the series/sets because people aren't buying them?

So it's gotta be a real fine line for production on these action figures.

My GUESS.... is that Walmart is buying a good number of figures and they just aren't making it to the shelves where customers can buy them.... they sit somewhere (either at Distribution centers or in the back of stores) where they eventually "pile up" and then they say "well these things just aren't selling." How else can we explain all the empty shelves?

The failure to fulfill online orders, especially pre-orders, is genuinely the dumbest thing imaginable for Walmart to do. The customers are coming directly to them, the product is sold before they even have it, they know exactly how many people want, they save money on shipping because the customer pays for that instead of having to pay for sending them to stores to be stocked. It's free money left on the table for zero reason.

Mattel is even dumber for not just selling their product on their website too since it's even more free money for them. They get to charge MSRP instead of what Walmart is giving them for buying wholesale. Hasbro already does this for some lines AND store exclusives after a bit. There's no reason mainline elites cannot be sold like this at minimum.

[bigvis497]

Apr 1, 2024 10:27:24 GMT -5 Flair Forever said:

Mar 31, 2024 8:35:07 GMT -5 nomorexclusives said:

Had a long post drawn out but ill let these statistics do the talking.

1. Action figures experienced a 13% decline in 2023.
Source: toybook.com/state-of-the-toy-industry-2024-circana/

2. Walmart has cut a chunk of their workforce to equal that of 2010 numbers, despite operating 500 more stores now.








Overall things are not looking good in the near term despite long term global trends mainly pushed by india and other emerging markets.

"In 2023, retail sales of toys in the U.S. totaled $28 billion, reflecting an 8% decrease — equivalent to $2.4 billion — compared to 2022. This decline was mirrored in both unit sales and average selling price (ASP), which experienced an 8% and 0.4% drop, respectively, with the ASP settling at $12.08"

So yeah toys are not a priority for walmart right now. Most of their (and other retailers) priorities lie with essential goods. We will continue to struggle this year and i predict we will see a lot more toys to hit ollies.

Conclusion: walmart is ordering less and has a ton of overstock that is all being clearanced out since people are buying less action figures due to the ecomomic situation (inflation=high prices) and scalpers and resellers are taking advantage of low stock to pay their credit card debt (you have to buy to sell) - i also foresee a lot of resellers clearancing out their overstock as people definitely dont want to pay double the already high industry standard ARP (especially now that all that walmart overstock is hitting oulet stores)

Hi paul!

This is fascinating to me....

Because I'm truly not sure if the drop is due to trends, or if the drop is actually due to them NOT stocking all the series that they could.... I know Walmart didn't get every Elite set last year. They probably got every 3rd set or so.

I have several Walmarts stores where shelves ran empty for 3 months (or more). How does that effect sales? Target was good for the first 2-3 quarters of 2023 - - - but later in the year their shelves ran empty for several months as well.

How do all the "cancelled online orders" that Walmart generates effect these sales numbers?

Is it safe to say that HAD WALMART FULFILLED all their online orders - sales would have been 8-10% higher? IF THEY DIDN'T LET SHELVES RUN EMPTY for 2-3 months at a clip - could sales have gone up 8-10%?

And yet they are claiming there is all this "overstock" - - - which yeah, based on the number of Superstars Flairs & Hogans are turning up at Ollie's lately, they definitely made way too many....

So it's which came first, the chicken or the egg? Are sales down because they just aren't stocking/carrying the figures that people are looking for? Or are they not stocking all the series/sets because people aren't buying them?

So it's gotta be a real fine line for production on these action figures.

My GUESS.... is that Walmart is buying a good number of figures and they just aren't making it to the shelves where customers can buy them.... they sit somewhere (either at Distribution centers or in the back of stores) where they eventually "pile up" and then they say "well these things just aren't selling." How else can we explain all the empty shelves?

I'll never understand shelves being consistently empty.

I was brought up old-school. My first retail job, my boss hammered into my head that you do not leave empty shelves. You're paying for the real estate, use it. You're not guaranteed to sell all of your stock, but you are 100% guaranteed to not make a sale with an empty shelf.

This was kind of a golden rule...

[cableV]

Roxanne Perez found what she was looking for from the shipper.

[coldblooded]

Apr 1, 2024 11:04:04 GMT -5 ChuckPOORis55 Cody Gang 4 Lyfe said:

Apr 1, 2024 10:27:24 GMT -5 Flair Forever said:

This is fascinating to me....

Because I'm truly not sure if the drop is due to trends, or if the drop is actually due to them NOT stocking all the series that they could.... I know Walmart didn't get every Elite set last year. They probably got every 3rd set or so.

I have several Walmarts stores where shelves ran empty for 3 months (or more). How does that effect sales? Target was good for the first 2-3 quarters of 2023 - - - but later in the year their shelves ran empty for several months as well.

How do all the "cancelled online orders" that Walmart generates effect these sales numbers?

Is it safe to say that HAD WALMART FULFILLED all their online orders - sales would have been 8-10% higher? IF THEY DIDN'T LET SHELVES RUN EMPTY for 2-3 months at a clip - could sales have gone up 8-10%?

And yet they are claiming there is all this "overstock" - - - which yeah, based on the number of Superstars Flairs & Hogans are turning up at Ollie's lately, they definitely made way too many....

So it's which came first, the chicken or the egg? Are sales down because they just aren't stocking/carrying the figures that people are looking for? Or are they not stocking all the series/sets because people aren't buying them?

So it's gotta be a real fine line for production on these action figures.

My GUESS.... is that Walmart is buying a good number of figures and they just aren't making it to the shelves where customers can buy them.... they sit somewhere (either at Distribution centers or in the back of stores) where they eventually "pile up" and then they say "well these things just aren't selling." How else can we explain all the empty shelves?

The failure to fulfill online orders, especially pre-orders, is genuinely the dumbest thing imaginable for Walmart to do. The customers are coming directly to them, the product is sold before they even have it, they know exactly how many people want, they save money on shipping because the customer pays for that instead of having to pay for sending them to stores to be stocked. It's free money left on the table for zero reason.

Mattel is even dumber for not just selling their product on their website too since it's even more free money for them. They get to charge MSRP instead of what Walmart is giving them for buying wholesale. Hasbro already does this for some lines AND store exclusives after a bit. There's no reason mainline elites cannot be sold like this at minimum.

Preach.

Main reason I like Hasbro is the store exclusive are available on hasbro pulse.

I wish mattel and retailers can eventually come to terms.

[oprtnshtdwn]

My Walmart has nothing but Scott Steiner.

My target has nothing out but Nash Carter (not even joking either)

It’s a joke at this point.

[nomorexclusives]

Apr 1, 2024 20:20:59 GMT -5 cableV said:

Roxanne Perez found what she was looking for from the shipper.

Green screen?

[Deleted]

Apr 1, 2024 21:48:55 GMT -5 oprtnshtdwn said:

My Walmart has nothing but Scott Steiner.

My target has nothing out but Nash Carter (not even joking either)

It’s a joke at this point.

If I could find some Carter and Lee figures are a really good price, I’d probably snag them. Been wanting to do a few customs.