Wwe figures and available stock

[beenye]

So I’m fairly new to the game and have enjoyed grabbing these little nuggets for the most part for like 6 months or so. No this isn’t another Walmart bash fest, although they are pretty terrible. Oddly enough as far as “in the wild figures” I’ve probably found the most there between them and Target.

I’m just generally curious how these are so hard to obtain? They are literally action figures lol. I don’t know a sole personally of anyone else in my actual life that would even comprehend buying these things, and I don’t even think kids play with figures that much anymore. I know my 7 year old doesn’t.

There is constant threads and comments about people going on trips to stores etc and coming out empty handed, Ringside is constantly on back order within seconds of going up for preorder…..just seems bizarre to me and an enormous miss on Mattel’s part. I mean if the demand is there, make more?

Was just thinking is there any other “Hobby” that is even like this? I mean I know the sports card thing has gotten a bit weird but always still attainable….

I guess more of a rant and I can’t be the only one generally frustrated at a hobby that literally doesn’t seem to want to take my money.



And I guess I should say that I’m taking eBay out of the equation here. I’ve done it but there should be no need to buy a 60-100 action figure EVER

[Deep Figure Value]

Sometimes you just have to get really lucky like I did this evening. I was making my rounds and when I rounded the toy section at one of my Wal Marts I see a dude standing there holding the only Piper. I got to talking to him and it turns out he's a new collector that only started last year. He was thinking about buying the Piper but I told him that he may be able to find one on sale at Ringside.. but the joke was on him because Ringside doesn't sell store exclusives and I was able to score a Piper!!

[Fighter Hayabusa]

Other than Walmart exclusives nothing has been hard to find. There are other sites besides Ringside. Target exclusives are the easiest to obtain.

[thep1]

May 9, 2024 19:07:23 GMT -5 Deep Figure Value said:

Sometimes you just have to get really lucky like I did this evening. I was making my rounds and when I rounded the toy section at one of my Wal Marts I see a dude standing there holding the only Piper. I got to talking to him and it turns out he's a new collector that only started last year. He was thinking about buying the Piper but I told him that he may be able to find one on sale at Ringside.. but the joke was on him because Ringside doesn't sell store exclusives and I was able to score a Piper!!

theman said the same line just a week or so ago. Are you "buddy"?! theman's burner acct?

[captncharisma19]

May 9, 2024 19:07:23 GMT -5 Deep Figure Value said:

Sometimes you just have to get really lucky like I did this evening. I was making my rounds and when I rounded the toy section at one of my Wal Marts I see a dude standing there holding the only Piper. I got to talking to him and it turns out he's a new collector that only started last year. He was thinking about buying the Piper but I told him that he may be able to find one on sale at Ringside.. but the joke was on him because Ringside doesn't sell store exclusives and I was able to score a Piper!!

Ew, that's messed up man.

[Flair Forever]

I think to an extent, you answered your own question.....

A lot of kids aren't playing with toys anymore. Cell phone apps, Tik Tok, and video games rule these days.

Mattel & the retailers are worried about over-producing. When certain lines or figures don't sell well - they are moved/sold (for pennies on the dollar) to clearance stores like Ollie's and Dirt Cheap, and even TJ Maxx, Ross, etc. At these stores, you'll often find figures that would have sold for $20 or more going for $6-$10 (sometimes even less). Even though these are great finds for collectors (I love finding this stuff) - this is a big loss for Mattel and/or the retailers who had to unload them. It means they either produced way too many or people just didn't buy them. And next time - surely Retail/Mattel will order less.

Look at all the current Flair & Hogan Superstars being sold for $3.99 at Ollies. There are literally tons of them. Thousands, from the photos I've seen. The stores I've been to had 20+ cases of EACH FIGURE. Someone is taking a loss on these. If Ollie's is selling them for $3.99 - what do you think Ollie's paid for them? $1 or $2 at most?

So Retail/Mattel try to find that "fine line" number of figures where they'll all sell and nothing is left to sit. I'm sure they're constantly tweaking and adjusting production numbers trying to find that magic number... terrified that the line or figure will be a dud and they'll have to unload them again (and lose money again). I'm sure there is Walmart and maybe even Target are constantly pressuring Mattel that they do not want to buy figures that aren't going to sell out.

What we are seeing is in many/most cases, each Walmart store gets 1 case of each series. If there are any distribution errors, they may not get any at all (this happens a lot). Most cases contain 1 of each figure. That MIGHT be okay for certain figures that aren't highly sought after.... but when you get to a set like the Ruthless Aggression series last year, or the Current Monday Night Wars - and there are numerous collectors AND scalpers looking for these things (or at least certain ones) - - - that "1 per store" equation simply isn't enough.

So the figures become hard to get. The Walmart exclusives are especially problematic, because you cant just hop online & place your order - you have to drive to the stores.

We've also been discussing in one of the other threads that Main Line Elites aren't being put into the stores in the quantities that they used to - so I suspect more and more people are buying them from Ringside - creating a shortage there. We haven't seen them go up on Amazon consistently either, and when they do - they often sell out pretty quickly.

To make matters a little more complicated - the recent success of Wrestlemania 40, the Bloodline/Cody Rhodes storyline probably increased public interest in these figures. Creating even more of a supply & demand issue. Remember, these figures are produced months and months in advance, then shipped on boats across the ocean. Production numbers are probably determined a full YEAR in advance of when they'd even be ready to ship. So if WWE suddenly becomes "hot" again it will take up to a year for retail/Mattel to properly increase production on these figures.

Target moved to putting each Legends figure on it's own SKU number and that helped them greatly with keeping them stocked - and I also suspect that Target isn't doing the "1 per store" method either. On top of that - Target just freely clearances items out as they age to get rid of them and make room for new stock. But I have noticed Target isn't doing any better than Walmart with the Main Line Elites - - - I suspect for the reason I just stated - - - they probably get a case or two (which contains mostly 1 of each figure) and when they're gone, they're gone.

Personally I have 5 Walmarts within about a 30-minute radius of my house. I can hit 4 of them in about 3 hours. There's one in the complete opposite direction and they rarely stock anything, so I only check that one as a last resort. It's best to start when they open their doors at 6am, often there is fresh stock out. Occasionally you can get lucky by going right before closing, but then you run the risk of the figures still being on pallets and not put out yet. I've found that going during mid-day or afternoon is generally pointless. I rarely find any of the good figures during those times. I'm planning to start the Walmart hunt for MNW2 Nash either tonight or Saturday morning. Early bird gets the figures!

[Mr. Show]

I can remember when the Mattel line started in 2010, these figures were abundant. Between Walmart, Target, Kmart, ToysRUs, etc. I never had any trouble at all finding any figure from any line, exclusives included. And multiples at that. I never once ran into another adult collector in a toy aisle. Kids were buying them, but they only wanted the big fan favorites. There was obviously a collector/resale market but it was very small at first.

Sometime during the pandemic, the collector’s market exploded. Not just WWE figures but EVERYTHING. Cards, toys, you name it. Suddenly being an adult toy collector was a normal hobby and not something people looked down on. So there are a lot more people out there buying things up. Couple that with the fact that WWE is in its hottest boom period in over 20 years, and the fact that there is less retail store shelf space to go around, we unfortunately end up with a lot more empty shelves.

[rkmo: Autonomous Meat Shield]

Adult Collectibles = STONKS

Kid Toys = NO STONKS

[Deep Figure Value]

May 9, 2024 20:49:06 GMT -5 thep1 said:

May 9, 2024 19:07:23 GMT -5 Deep Figure Value said:

Sometimes you just have to get really lucky like I did this evening. I was making my rounds and when I rounded the toy section at one of my Wal Marts I see a dude standing there holding the only Piper. I got to talking to him and it turns out he's a new collector that only started last year. He was thinking about buying the Piper but I told him that he may be able to find one on sale at Ringside.. but the joke was on him because Ringside doesn't sell store exclusives and I was able to score a Piper!!

theman said the same line just a week or so ago. Are you "buddy"?! theman's burner acct?

OMG you might be on to something

[HothHan]

May 9, 2024 19:03:17 GMT -5 beenye said:

So I’m fairly new to the game and have enjoyed grabbing these little nuggets for the most part for like 6 months or so. No this isn’t another Walmart bash fest, although they are pretty terrible. Oddly enough as far as “in the wild figures” I’ve probably found the most there between them and Target.

I’m just generally curious how these are so hard to obtain? They are literally action figures lol. I don’t know a sole personally of anyone else in my actual life that would even comprehend buying these things, and I don’t even think kids play with figures that much anymore. I know my 7 year old doesn’t.

There is constant threads and comments about people going on trips to stores etc and coming out empty handed, Ringside is constantly on back order within seconds of going up for preorder…..just seems bizarre to me and an enormous miss on Mattel’s part. I mean if the demand is there, make more?

Was just thinking is there any other “Hobby” that is even like this? I mean I know the sports card thing has gotten a bit weird but always still attainable….

I guess more of a rant and I can’t be the only one generally frustrated at a hobby that literally doesn’t seem to want to take my money.



And I guess I should say that I’m taking eBay out of the equation here. I’ve done it but there should be no need to buy a 60-100 action figure EVER

Rude...


/s

[MonsoonMan]

re-selling and re-sellers plays a huge part in it too, lets really be honest here.

ever since covid, there have been poachers that refuse to go back to a normal job and instead hawk over stores and create a shortage of available product intentionally, and re-sell them for a higher price.

a $20 figure off the pegs now becomes $40+shipping and its nothing short of predatory and honestly scummy. for 90% of us its just a pure, fun, harmless hobby that appeals to our inner child that maybe didnt have access to the resources to get them when we were younger. finding a chase figure on the pegs now literally give me an adrenaline rush because im like YES BEAT THE SCALPERS AND INFLUENCERS. some guys buy motor bikes for thousands of dollars, some guys buy exotic cars, some guys collect etc, etc but our damn action figures are $20 a piece and somehow someway people gotta edge in on the already cramped market and make it hard for everyone.

i cant tell you how HARD it was for me to collect the 4 MNW elite figures locally BECAUSE THEY ALL ENDED UP ONLINE. endless listings of $40+ figures and the full sets of series 2 are $200+. $65 for kevin nash and $65 fake diesel HAHAHA

thats why too i dont quite understand why comapanies are still doing the whole chase figure thing because they arent seeing any of that money that the re-sellers are making on banking from the scarcity they create

[Flair Forever]

May 10, 2024 15:31:29 GMT -5 MonsoonMan said:

re-selling and re-sellers plays a huge part in it too, lets really be honest here.

ever since covid, there have been poachers that refuse to go back to a normal job and instead hawk over stores and create a shortage of available product intentionally, and re-sell them for a higher price.

a $20 figure off the pegs now becomes $40+shipping and its nothing short of predatory and honestly scummy. for 90% of us its just a pure, fun, harmless hobby that appeals to our inner child that maybe didnt have access to the resources to get them when we were younger. finding a chase figure on the pegs now literally give me an adrenaline rush because im like YES BEAT THE SCALPERS AND INFLUENCERS. some guys buy motor bikes for thousands of dollars, some guys buy exotic cars, some guys collect etc, etc but our damn action figures are $20 a piece and somehow someway people gotta edge in on the already cramped market and make it hard for everyone.

i cant tell you how HARD it was for me to collect the 4 MNW elite figures locally BECAUSE THEY ALL ENDED UP ONLINE. endless listings of $40+ figures and the full sets of series 2 are $200+. $65 for kevin nash and $65 fake diesel HAHAHA

thats why too i dont quite understand why comapanies are still doing the whole chase figure thing because they arent seeing any of that money that the re-sellers are making on banking from the scarcity they create

On 4/28 I went to Target hoping to find the new Legends set (and possibly score a chase Hogan). Got there at 8am when Target's doors open.

Two other dudes were also waiting at the door and when it opened, they RAN to the toys section. In my mind, I said "this is where I draw the line. I'm not RACING these guys to the aisle just to try to get these things." It's bad enough I feel like I've gotta get there the exact minute they open to be able to get something good.

Fortunately, Target hadn't put anything on the shelves, and I went to the other Target across town, and guess who I saw there? Same two dudes. Same situation with the stock and we all just ended up pulling out our phones and ordering them for in-store pickup.

Figure hunting isn't like it used to be.

[nomorexclusives]

May 10, 2024 15:31:29 GMT -5 MonsoonMan said:

re-selling and re-sellers plays a huge part in it too, lets really be honest here.

ever since covid, there have been poachers that refuse to go back to a normal job and instead hawk over stores and create a shortage of available product intentionally, and re-sell them for a higher price.

a $20 figure off the pegs now becomes $40+shipping and its nothing short of predatory and honestly scummy. for 90% of us its just a pure, fun, harmless hobby that appeals to our inner child that maybe didnt have access to the resources to get them when we were younger. finding a chase figure on the pegs now literally give me an adrenaline rush because im like YES BEAT THE SCALPERS AND INFLUENCERS. some guys buy motor bikes for thousands of dollars, some guys buy exotic cars, some guys collect etc, etc but our damn action figures are $20 a piece and somehow someway people gotta edge in on the already cramped market and make it hard for everyone.

i cant tell you how HARD it was for me to collect the 4 MNW elite figures locally BECAUSE THEY ALL ENDED UP ONLINE. endless listings of $40+ figures and the full sets of series 2 are $200+. $65 for kevin nash and $65 fake diesel HAHAHA

thats why too i dont quite understand why comapanies are still doing the whole chase figure thing because they arent seeing any of that money that the re-sellers are making on banking from the scarcity they create

I would say this. The number of resellers in front of target has quadrupled easily. Now it is a footrace nearly every day. However the othwr big problem is that these guys are only lookong for one thing in the action figure aisles at the moment; WWE FIGURES.... it used to be star wars/motu/transformers/tmnt but now all those lines are basically dead as most of us got our nostalgia from it so the only figures selling on a regular basis on ebay is anything wwe related and these poachers know it. They still go for the hot wheels but they all check for wwe figures first
It is a wild time to be collecting these. Competition is hot. Luckily you can find anything you need at target eventually and most of the time at clearance too. I only shop here now. Any other store (besides ollies) is a waste of time. Good luck. Target FTW!

Edit: and as you said the chase figures and the fact that they are exclusives is the ONLY reason these poachers are buying them. Get rid of the chase figures and the market returns to normal.

[mrh]

May 15, 2024 17:48:54 GMT -5 nomorexclusives said:

May 10, 2024 15:31:29 GMT -5 MonsoonMan said:

re-selling and re-sellers plays a huge part in it too, lets really be honest here.

ever since covid, there have been poachers that refuse to go back to a normal job and instead hawk over stores and create a shortage of available product intentionally, and re-sell them for a higher price.

a $20 figure off the pegs now becomes $40+shipping and its nothing short of predatory and honestly scummy. for 90% of us its just a pure, fun, harmless hobby that appeals to our inner child that maybe didnt have access to the resources to get them when we were younger. finding a chase figure on the pegs now literally give me an adrenaline rush because im like YES BEAT THE SCALPERS AND INFLUENCERS. some guys buy motor bikes for thousands of dollars, some guys buy exotic cars, some guys collect etc, etc but our damn action figures are $20 a piece and somehow someway people gotta edge in on the already cramped market and make it hard for everyone.

i cant tell you how HARD it was for me to collect the 4 MNW elite figures locally BECAUSE THEY ALL ENDED UP ONLINE. endless listings of $40+ figures and the full sets of series 2 are $200+. $65 for kevin nash and $65 fake diesel HAHAHA

thats why too i dont quite understand why comapanies are still doing the whole chase figure thing because they arent seeing any of that money that the re-sellers are making on banking from the scarcity they create

I would say this. The number of resellers in front of target has quadrupled easily. Now it is a footrace nearly every day. However the othwr big problem is that these guys are only lookong for one thing in the action figure aisles at the moment; WWE FIGURES.... it used to be star wars/motu/transformers/tmnt but now all those lines are basically dead as most of us got our nostalgia from it so the only figures selling on a regular basis on ebay is anything wwe related and these poachers know it. They still go for the hot wheels but they all check for wwe figures first
It is a wild time to be collecting these. Competition is hot. Luckily you can find anything you need at target eventually and most of the time at clearance too. I only shop here now. Any other store (besides ollies) is a waste of time. Good luck. Target FTW!

Edit: and as you said the chase figures and the fact that they are exclusives is the ONLY reason these poachers are buying them. Get rid of the chase figures and the market returns to normal.

Interesting -- is there any data or have you seen that anywhere about nothing selling but WWE? Or just anecdotal?

[thep1]

May 15, 2024 17:48:54 GMT -5 nomorexclusives said:

May 10, 2024 15:31:29 GMT -5 MonsoonMan said:

re-selling and re-sellers plays a huge part in it too, lets really be honest here.

ever since covid, there have been poachers that refuse to go back to a normal job and instead hawk over stores and create a shortage of available product intentionally, and re-sell them for a higher price.

a $20 figure off the pegs now becomes $40+shipping and its nothing short of predatory and honestly scummy. for 90% of us its just a pure, fun, harmless hobby that appeals to our inner child that maybe didnt have access to the resources to get them when we were younger. finding a chase figure on the pegs now literally give me an adrenaline rush because im like YES BEAT THE SCALPERS AND INFLUENCERS. some guys buy motor bikes for thousands of dollars, some guys buy exotic cars, some guys collect etc, etc but our damn action figures are $20 a piece and somehow someway people gotta edge in on the already cramped market and make it hard for everyone.

i cant tell you how HARD it was for me to collect the 4 MNW elite figures locally BECAUSE THEY ALL ENDED UP ONLINE. endless listings of $40+ figures and the full sets of series 2 are $200+. $65 for kevin nash and $65 fake diesel HAHAHA

thats why too i dont quite understand why comapanies are still doing the whole chase figure thing because they arent seeing any of that money that the re-sellers are making on banking from the scarcity they create

I would say this. The number of resellers in front of target has quadrupled easily. Now it is a footrace nearly every day. However the othwr big problem is that these guys are only lookong for one thing in the action figure aisles at the moment; WWE FIGURES.... it used to be star wars/motu/transformers/tmnt but now all those lines are basically dead as most of us got our nostalgia from it so the only figures selling on a regular basis on ebay is anything wwe related and these poachers know it. They still go for the hot wheels but they all check for wwe figures first
It is a wild time to be collecting these. Competition is hot. Luckily you can find anything you need at target eventually and most of the time at clearance too. I only shop here now. Any other store (besides ollies) is a waste of time. Good luck. Target FTW!

Edit: and as you said the chase figures and the fact that they are exclusives is the ONLY reason these poachers are buying them. Get rid of the chase figures and the market returns to normal.

You must live in some crappy, weird place. I don't see anyone ever camping out or racing to toys, and I live in a major metropolitan area. Not even on street date day for L22. I got to Target at 8 opening and there was 1 person yes, but he got 1x Ali. I am a frequent hunter too and never see anything like that either. On the contrary, I have met others who were also hunting and have become buddies that look out for each others' wants and share texts/pics of finds.

[marklud]

May 9, 2024 19:03:17 GMT -5 beenye said:

So I’m fairly new to the game and have enjoyed grabbing these little nuggets for the most part for like 6 months or so. No this isn’t another Walmart bash fest, although they are pretty terrible. Oddly enough as far as “in the wild figures” I’ve probably found the most there between them and Target.

I’m just generally curious how these are so hard to obtain? They are literally action figures lol. I don’t know a sole personally of anyone else in my actual life that would even comprehend buying these things, and I don’t even think kids play with figures that much anymore. I know my 7 year old doesn’t.

There is constant threads and comments about people going on trips to stores etc and coming out empty handed, Ringside is constantly on back order within seconds of going up for preorder…..just seems bizarre to me and an enormous miss on Mattel’s part. I mean if the demand is there, make more?

Was just thinking is there any other “Hobby” that is even like this? I mean I know the sports card thing has gotten a bit weird but always still attainable….

I guess more of a rant and I can’t be the only one generally frustrated at a hobby that literally doesn’t seem to want to take my money.



And I guess I should say that I’m taking eBay out of the equation here. I’ve done it but there should be no need to buy a 60-100 action figure EVER

Aside from the store exclusives, use Ringside to buy anything you want and get in on the preorders. Been doing it for 15 years now. For an extra $5 or whatever per fig you get anything you want delivered right to your front step with zero hassle + waiting + gas money + driving to stores + etc. It's honestly the best advice I could give to anyone. I don't know why anyone does anything otherwise.

And to answer your question, yes, this is just how collecting action figures goes these days. It was different when Toys R Us was still around. They had a steady stream of product + made it generally easy to find stuff imo. Now all we have is Walmart or Target, and those stores have a billion other things to worry about that are more important than toys. So it's totally the luck of the draw if you'll get stuff at your stores or not. I live in a moderately big city and my stores still absolutely suck so I rarely ever bother hunting in person. The "thrill of the hunt" died for me when Toys R Us died. I buy off ringside and end up buying most store exclusives for a small markup online. It's just the way it is.

(And one quick follow-up: RSC is not constantly on back order within seconds. There's a handful of things that go to backorder the first day they go up but I'd generally say 85 percent of stuff is available on the first preorder for several weeks. Get in on those preorders and save yourself soooooo much hassle, as I mentioned above.)

[Flair Forever]

May 15, 2024 20:35:57 GMT -5 thep1 said:

May 15, 2024 17:48:54 GMT -5 nomorexclusives said:

I would say this. The number of resellers in front of target has quadrupled easily. Now it is a footrace nearly every day. However the othwr big problem is that these guys are only lookong for one thing in the action figure aisles at the moment; WWE FIGURES.... it used to be star wars/motu/transformers/tmnt but now all those lines are basically dead as most of us got our nostalgia from it so the only figures selling on a regular basis on ebay is anything wwe related and these poachers know it. They still go for the hot wheels but they all check for wwe figures first
It is a wild time to be collecting these. Competition is hot. Luckily you can find anything you need at target eventually and most of the time at clearance too. I only shop here now. Any other store (besides ollies) is a waste of time. Good luck. Target FTW!

Edit: and as you said the chase figures and the fact that they are exclusives is the ONLY reason these poachers are buying them. Get rid of the chase figures and the market returns to normal.

You must live in some crappy, weird place. I don't see anyone ever camping out or racing to toys, and I live in a major metropolitan area. Not even on street date day for L22. I got to Target at 8 opening and there was 1 person yes, but he got 1x Ali. I am a frequent hunter too and never see anything like that either. On the contrary, I have met others who were also hunting and have become buddies that look out for each others' wants and share texts/pics of finds.

I have runners. There were two on 4/28 for the L22 Target street date. I refused to RUN to the aisle, but they didn't have anything put out yet anyway.

It was a little discouraging though, that this is what it's come to.

[nomorexclusives]

May 15, 2024 20:18:30 GMT -5 mrh said:

May 15, 2024 17:48:54 GMT -5 nomorexclusives said:

I would say this. The number of resellers in front of target has quadrupled easily. Now it is a footrace nearly every day. However the othwr big problem is that these guys are only lookong for one thing in the action figure aisles at the moment; WWE FIGURES.... it used to be star wars/motu/transformers/tmnt but now all those lines are basically dead as most of us got our nostalgia from it so the only figures selling on a regular basis on ebay is anything wwe related and these poachers know it. They still go for the hot wheels but they all check for wwe figures first
It is a wild time to be collecting these. Competition is hot. Luckily you can find anything you need at target eventually and most of the time at clearance too. I only shop here now. Any other store (besides ollies) is a waste of time. Good luck. Target FTW!

Edit: and as you said the chase figures and the fact that they are exclusives is the ONLY reason these poachers are buying them. Get rid of the chase figures and the market returns to normal.

Interesting -- is there any data or have you seen that anywhere about nothing selling but WWE? Or just anecdotal?

I wasnt talk8ng about the 80s figures...

Motu origins: highest price avg 25-30 barely over what they cost at retail. In comparison most wwe superstars figures from wave 4-10 sell for 35-60. (I am only talking retail so don't come at me with the 200 dollar powercon set)
/sch/i.html?_nkw=mattel+motu++origins+2020&_sop=16&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&_pgn=2

Transformers reissues: avg price 35/figure. Retail price/35 dollars.... wow huge profit!!!!
/sch/i.html?_nkw=walmart+transformers&_trksid=p2334524.m4084.l1313&_odkw=mattel+motu++origins+2020&_sop=16&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1

Tmnt classics reissues: do i even need to say this? They are pegwarmers at every walmart and target? They are selling for less than retail in most instances and only a few morons are paying double for the first wave of turtles when they are everywhere and no doubt heading to ollies soon.
/sch/i.html?_nkw=tmnt+classics+action+figure+lot&_trksid=p2334524.m4084.l1313&_odkw=tmnt+classics+reissue+complete+action+figure+set&_sop=16&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1

Star wars: again pointless. Name one recent "retail" figure anyone hunts for. Noone is buying star wars at retail anymore other than from haslab. Ollies is flooded woth them and target regularly puts them on clearance.

Gijoe retro classifieds? Other than the destro and zartan waves, most are selling at cost or less. You could buy the entire set thats been released for a little over half of cost.
/sch/i.html?_nkw=gijoe+classifieds&_trksid=p2334524.m4084.l1313&_odkw=gijoe+vladsifieds&_sop=16&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1

Other than pokemon figures what else is interesting in the action figure aisle? Jurassic park? (75% off at target) Buzz lightyear (80% off at target) superheroes (on cleRance at walmart).marvel? They have entire aisles of marvel at ollies. Its dead dude. Overpriced neca and reaction figures noone buys until they go on clearance? Funkos (the new beanie babies, funkos wont last much longer.

Lets face it the only thing anyone hunts for are the exclusive target (red) and walmart (blue) hot wheels and matchbox, a few m8 and johnny lightnings, pokemon figures and cards and WWE. By far wwe is the only mover.

Easy to prove because they are the only things not at ollies (other than overproduced ric flair and hogan superstars).

At olies you can find pretty much most of what i listed other than the tmnt classics which are there after the next reset.

WWE is all thats left. The nostalgia bubble is over until we get dinoriders/battle beasts/dinosaucers/and the upcoming street sharks.


Edit: i didnt say they dont sell. Everything sells eventually especually on cleRance but poachers are no longer looking for those items. The margins are too small for them other than for a few weeks after release day until everyone gets their fill. Even the hard to find tmnt-motu figures are starting to hang. Go look for yourself in the morning. Most of them all go straight to the wwe section because there are chase figures!!

[nomorexclusives]

May 16, 2024 9:51:06 GMT -5 Flair Forever said:

May 15, 2024 20:35:57 GMT -5 thep1 said:

You must live in some crappy, weird place. I don't see anyone ever camping out or racing to toys, and I live in a major metropolitan area. Not even on street date day for L22. I got to Target at 8 opening and there was 1 person yes, but he got 1x Ali. I am a frequent hunter too and never see anything like that either. On the contrary, I have met others who were also hunting and have become buddies that look out for each others' wants and share texts/pics of finds.

I have runners. There were two on 4/28 for the L22 Target street date. I refused to RUN to the aisle, but they didn't have anything put out yet anyway.

It was a little discouraging though, that this is what it's come to.

Haha yeah have seen this as well. All the targets i visited on release day had them in the back still. Was funny when i calmly walked up and went straight to an employee to ask him to bring out yokozuna. Target gets it.

It used to be much much worse in the early 2000s. The recent pickup in scalpers can be avoided so long as mattel makes enough to go around and so long as we all delay our last resort ebay purchases. Hard to do for walmart exclusives tbough...

[beenye]

Some good responses here for sure.

I order often from ringside but it’s kind of frustrating when your decision is either preorder immediately even if you have no idea what the figure looks like in some cases which is insane btw, or wait to preorder and probably be at the back of an extremely long wait after release, or possibly wait a bit longer and the figure is gone altogether for 6 months. The retailers are doing no favors at all as they mostly either don’t bother stocking or don’t stock enough.

I guess that’s just the state of this thing these days, I just thought it was crazy when I jumped into this game. I was thinking It would be much easier as like I said I think adults buy these way more than kids.

Interesting debate none the less..