Figure Hunting Traditions

[breal59]

Im Just curious if anyone has any Figure Hunting Traditions. I don't get about as much now, but I used to enjoy journeying to a different Smyth's in every town, get a toy, have a quick look around the nearby sites and go for a beer at the nearby pub.
I used to like making a day of it.

[jt]

Mine is a little different because I also hit up a local toy shop as well as retailers like Target but two patterns I've noticed are I usually grab lunch between the second and third stop and usually pick one item im gonna come back for next time. Sometimes it's gone already, sometimes it's not but it's something fun to look forward to for the next hunt

[Crossfit Jesus]

I used to go every Saturday to 6 diff Walmarts starting at like 730am

[gnr4lyfe]

While most of my figure purchases have been online, one of my favorite traditions used to be going WrestleMania morning on a hunt at multiple stores. With Stand & Deliver being 1pm I try to go early and hit the stores up then grab some lunch to eat while watching the show. I feel like it just adds something special to the day.

[LA Times]

I was going to 3 Toys R Us stores each week for about 7 years before they went out of business.

[The Madness]

My grandparents used to take me to the mall to hit Children’s Palace, Toys R Us, Kay-Bee, and Circus World. I miss those days very much.

These days, it’s just go to a Walmart, see that they’ve got the exact same stuff they’ve had for a year, and leave without buying anything.

[thep1]

Not sure if "tradition" is the right word, but I am blessed with a cool wife that is all for stopping at WMs and Targets solely for me to hunt during road trips!

[shanieomaniac]

I've never had an action figure hunting regiment (mainly because since I've been collecting action figures as an adult I've only ever had one store to go to) but when I was living in the Toledo area in college I use to go on nail polish hunts. I would go to a section of Toledo and just start driving around the various strip mall areas looking for "dusties" (term for a dusty old nail polish salon that has a stockpile of old, valuable nail polish they're willing to sell you). I'd just drive around and stop at whatever ones I came across and pray to god I could remember how to get back home when I was done. At one point I came across a dusty that had put out an entire collection of highly anticipated China Glaze nail polish three weeks before street date. I bought the whole set.

Fun times.

[The Dave]

I take the day off from work and bring snacks.

[windycityelites316]

Ever since TRU closed down toy hunting hasn't been the same. Elites at Walmart used to be $15 and basics were $7 and the shelves were usually pretty stocked. The last few years have not been as fun to hunt because everywhere either has the same stuff or pretty much nothing at all. We would hit GameStop's,target, Walmart TRU and a few little shops in between and always come home with stuff. Now we're lucky to come home with one or 2 figures

[coldblooded]

Yeah I hunt online. Not as fun but less stressful.

[AxelSmackdown]

yeah

go to walmart, find nothing new or good, get disappointed

[azraelms]

I have two Walmarts and one Target in town that I tend to hit semi-regularly. I have a buddy that we go on a run around town to those three stores, plus anywhere else that we need to go. Usually some night during the week.

If something specific is showing up, like the recent Wrestlemania display, I will go on a more semi-regular basis. I also tend to go every 4-6 weeks out of town to visit friends in one of two directions, either to another city to the south or a big metropolis to the west, and both give me opportunities to hit a number of other Targets and Walmarts along the way.

But as far as traditions, it is just tooling around down once every week or two with my buddy, catching up on news, nerd stuff, etc, while hoping to find new toys and other collectibles we may be searching for.

[drblazelj]

I just recently ended my 3.5 year long daily run to my local Walmart. From about September 2020 - February 2024. Probably can count on both hands the number of days i didn’t check.

[One Punch Reigns]

Not really a "tradition" but every Wednesday night I have my men's small group at church, and I usually do a fig hunt an hour or so before we meet. I might grab a bite to eat for dinner out too, but typically most of my retail excursions outside of a grocery trip is on Wednesday nights.

[Back to the Codyverse]

I don't necessarily have a tradition but from 2010-2012 I lived in Houston. Every Sunday I'd drive around and hit up Targets, Walmarts and TRUs then find a new Mexican restaurant to try. Margaritas, fajitas and wrestling figures.

Good memories. I found so much good stuff and Walmart clearance used to rule

[Flair Forever]

I don't know if it's a "tradition" but I do enjoy the weekends where I have no plans or work.... I typically get up at 6am and hit the 3-4 closest Walmarts when they open. I love hitting the stores before the crowds/lines & there's sometimes a good chance that they stocked some new wrestling figures overnight or the night before, at least - that's when I seem to have the best odds of finding new stuff. I've found that even the scalpers don't get up THAT early....

If I do the full loop there's a nice half-hour drive between two of them and it's a rural area so.... it's a nice relaxing drive. I'll listen to a Jim Cornette Podcast or a Comedy channel on Sirius....

Sometimes if I don't find anything new (which can be often) I end up feeling a little sour about it but when I find a few new treasures it's a nice relaxing morning!

I'm usually home by 9am or so & then have the rest of the day - no need to worry that I might have missed out on something! Even when the shelves are empty, at least I know....

[czw4life]

I guess my new tradition is I only figure hunt when I stop at a store to buy something else like grocerys. I rarely ever find anything I want at retail so I'd rather just pay a little more on preorders than spending weeks of time and gas trying to track them down at retail

[underoos]

Pray

[kgchampion]

When I lived in Seattle in the 2010s, I would often spend a day once a month traveling to a nearby city to hit up Toys’R’Us and any Targets, Walmarts, Fred Meyers, Kmarts, and Sears in that area. Those were some of my favorite days because it turned out I actually like driving around long distances and listening to music.

Now where I live has a Walmart and Target 5 minutes one way and a Target and two Walmarts 15 minutes the other way, but I don’t have the disposable income I used to and I definitely don’t have the space. I’m thinking the current WWE main roster and gimmicks are as far as I’m willing to go.