Toys-R-SCUM!?! — Never, Never, Never, Never, Never, Never Do It Again (Not Until The Next Time)
Much like you, most of us (not pointing fingers to those who get freebies months in advance — as if we don’t know) hunt down stuff with the same level of exasperation that most readers have over exclusives and "rare" figures. This weekend, the painful search for the Star Wars — Expanded Universe wave (exclusive to Toys’R'Us stores) left many of us (myself included) empty-handed and exasperated.
For example —
• The central Atlanta Toys’R'Us store (Buckhead/Lenox Store 8886) received NO shipment for the endcap.
• Suburban Toys’R'Us Store 8807 (Tucker/Northlake) sold all 12 cases (@ 12 figures per case) to one man for $560+tax [which would be $1231 without the sale and discounts]. Way to go TRU # 8807!!!
• Another suburban outpost, Toys’R'Us in Lithonia, GA Store 8812 received NO shipment for the endcap.
• At Toys’R'Us Store 8803 in Morrow (Southlake) an employee named DEREK called Toys’R'Us store number 8802 and spoke to PAM who told him that the store did not have them in stock, but DEREK —such a funny guy— sent us 30+ minutes out of our way to Toys’R'Us store number 8802 in Fayetteville, GA where he claimed they had them, but PAM in the back room already told him they did NOT have them. (As you’ve already read, they didn’t! DEREK — such a trickster!)
• When I asked GENA at the front desk of Toys’R'Us 8802 in Fayetteville, GA for a manager, district manager, or regional manager’s phone number, she refused. (At Toys’R'Us 8802 in Fayetteville, GA, the customer is NOT always -or ever- right.) But thanks to the Intermess, I have all the numbers I need!
• I opened a case by calling 1-800-TOYS-R-US [that's 1-800-869-7787] and I hope that Toys’R'Us will phone me — I’d especially like to talk to them about that trickster DEREK at Toys’R'Us Store 8803 in Morrow, GA (Southlake).
Ultimately, many of us went home empty-handed. My partner and I drove around for three hours to no avail, and I don’t get out of bed to have a whizz at 7am on a Saturday unless someone is waving a BIG check (cheque) at me.
However, this has awakened me (a savage beast) and if I have to go rogue, I will. I consider this whole fiasco nothing less than a slap in the face to collectors, and ALL CONCERNED should be ashamed. (Hey, I’ve been doing this for almost 15 years, so I know where a few bodies are buried.) Oh yeah, and remember to TAKE NAMES and COMPLAIN. COMPLAIN A LOT. My good old friend Bill from Yakface.com taught me the value of a well-phrased certified letter, and I pass that on to you.
Now it’s your turn SOUND OFF if you missed out on this wave because of Toys-R-SCUM-Us.Tell your story here. Tell your story in EVERY forum. Let these corporations know that they missed out on your dirty, unwanted collector dollars because of pathetic distribution and CORRUPT EMPLOYEES.
I guess that collectors will get more FU this summer than expected.
May 3rd, 2010 at 6:17 am
I have 3 local TRU’s all within a 30 minute drive. All 3 not only did not have the figures, they didnt know anything about them. I just dont get how you can carry an exclusive item and then NOT HAVE ANY when they are supposed to be released.
May 3rd, 2010 at 6:43 am
If this wave were exclusive to Iraqi Ace Hardware franchises, it would be more accessible to the average collector than Toys R Us.
May 3rd, 2010 at 1:31 pm
I visited three TRUs in my area. I found the alternate Bespin Guard and saw Endor Luke, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 with the cool Jabba’s droid parts,so the wave must have been seen, but I never saw it. I really just want the droid and cool alien Jedi though.
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:12 pm
I feel your pain Adam, but somehow my roommate was able to score the whole wave (sale and all) this morning at the Times Square Toys R Us which often has a dismal selection. It sucks that you had to deal with a few a*hole employees, but don’t give up the hunt!
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:16 pm
Went to the Local TRUS and behold nothing nothing at all. One of the store clerks alloud one friend to come in a few minutes before the store open and bought all the boxes. Thank you for your sevice Toys for you own. My kids and I were waiting for an hour before the store open and saw this guy go in ahead of everyone.
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:26 pm
@shoeless_jedi — I came very close to just quitting, which would mean ditching a heaving ton of figures, but je suis, je reste. Times Square TRU??? Wow… that’s an accomplishment. Save that receipt just for posterity’s sake.
@eleavitt2000 — BG-J38 is probably the most motivating factor for me wanting this wave, so I’m with ya there.
Everyone else, note that the top brass at Hasbro has confirmed that more are coming down the pike, so don’t give up hope, and DO NOT but from scalpers on eBay.
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:28 pm
I’m tired of exclusive retail they need to go to all retail options not just one my boys Just wanted the one Janson,Jana and Shaka my boys are not collectors thay play with the figs they don’t let figures sit in the packages.
May 3rd, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Went to TRU on May 1st and what a suprise nothing to be had.well,they did have the TFU 5 packs but that was all.I aksed aout the EU wave and the employees and the manager had no clue what I was talking about.At least the manager tried to find out if they had them in and they didn’t.The is the biggest bunch of BS I have ever seen.Obviously the 4 figures I want(The Twins,The Phase one trooper,Shaak ti)were way to much to ask.
May 3rd, 2010 at 5:51 pm
I went on a wild goose chase to 3 TRU stores as well. At each store they contacted another store and sent me there promising they had the figs and of course none of them had any of them despite saying that they did. One employee even laughed at me saying "we sold out of those figures a week ago!" To that I replied while laughing back at her "Eventually Target and Wal-Mart will take this job out from underneath your fat a$$!" She did not laugh and I didn’t care about offending her after driving 50+ miles on broken promises.
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Hmmm. Well I was ready to go on Saturday Morning, The TRU I went to had one case! The employee there was very helpful and even mentioned that this was a bit of a mess and she knew about the endcap but what can you do with one case. She also told me that the next 2 closest stores broke the date and had already sold there stock a week earlier. She did tell me that a 3rd option which was 40 miles away showed 6 cases. So i decided to go for it. The kid and I made the drive. Feeling hopeful I walked in and found mountains of legends! I POLITELY asked an employee and she said that it does show in the computer but they did not have them. Weird. Politely I asked for the Manager, I even said I understand this is not your fault here in the store but I was upset after driving all that way when the other TRU’s sold there stock out etc etc but I wanted to get a district manager’s name to bring this distribution problem to light. Again I was nice polite and said I was upset but it was at their buyers and who ever is in charge of their alotments. The Store manager REFUSED to talk to me! I heard him on the walkie tell the girl to just give me the 1 – 800 toysrus number. I called it and the customer service lady had already mentioned she was having problems with my state, she did not say what exactly but I am still awaiting TRU’s customer service to get back to me with an apology and reason why they allow this kind of screw up to happen. All I know is I love Star wars I am not in this for the thrill of the hunt or the thrill of fighting with other local collectors , hoarders, or scalpers. I am not a collector I am a Star Wars fan.
May 4th, 2010 at 2:09 am
@darthmadge — Did you get figures from the one case at the first store?
@Jedi E — Undoubtedly Walmart and Target will destroy TRU, but I don’t want to be left to their tender mercies either. Toys’R'Us is on life support. I suspect that they get pity-"luck" deals from the big guys because Mommy likes to go to TRU for bikes and toys, etc. for birthdays and the Holiday Gifting Season.
@JTrooper — Exclusives are a sad necessity these days. I think e-tailers could have handled this better, but it is what it is. I miss the old days when LFL had a ban on exclusive 3¾" figures, but I don’t run that show.
Personally, I’m now disgusted for mentioning TRU in a national magazine. I think I forgot how corrupt and reprehensible they are. I await my call from TRU.
May 4th, 2010 at 6:36 am
At least you guys have an opportunity to pick up these figures, even if TRU screwed the pooch. Once again, Hasbro decided to take a giant dump on the Canadian fans. Yes, we got TFU multipacks (way overpriced…) but we’ve missed out on the entire EU wave. Now I’m stuck ordering online, at a hefty premium.Hasbro Canada…you can suck it.
May 4th, 2010 at 7:17 am
No I did not get a single figure the guy first in line bought the whole set. As I would have too or any of the others there that morning in line. There was about 15 people.
May 4th, 2010 at 8:56 am
I seem to recall that Hasbro made it clear that this wave would be quite a bit more difficult for collectors to get – I think that right there indicates that the retailer that is actually carrying these isn’t who we as collectors should be blaming.
If Hasbro had handled the Legacy line properly over the past 12+ months, this wave never would have been an exclusive and it would have just trickled in like all other waves have done. And I think we need to keep in mind that TRU did not advertise that they’d have this wave for everyone who wanted it on May 1st.
What they had was in internal plan to set up displays and and put these figures on it if the store had them in stock. But as with anything retail, the employees who follow these instructions are human beings and that leaves room for problems (and heck, the distribution centers might not even have had time from Hasbro to get these shipped out – I don’t know if we’ll ever know).
But, every company struggles with that and they’re an easy scapegoat, but I don’t think they’re the real cause of this problem. It’s more Hasbro here, though they’ll probably look back and forth over their shoulders and say, "Who, me?" – just like they’ve been doing over and over with the problems with Legacy. They usually blame collectors for their problems.
We all know that Hasbro has mismanaged Legacy terribly the past year – if they hadn’t, we’d never be having to count on TRU at this point to get these figures to us. So while they are responsible for some fault in this situation I suppose, the real blame comes down to Hasbro in my humble opinion… and if we can’t all get the next round of exclusives with the comic packs – who are we going to blame? As much as I love their product, personally, I’ll be pointing the finger at Hasbro more than anyone else.
I know it’s frustrating guys… I’ve been in the hobby since day one of the modern era and have had many, many aggravating experiences too. Hopefully we’ll all be able to get these figures and the May 1st disappointment for so many will just be a hiccup for most.
May 4th, 2010 at 11:25 am
I live in Jersey City NJ so I go to the Times Square store a lot. I have found a lot of my figures there in the six months since I moved here from Chicago. There are two other TRU nearby, and I hot both of them yesterday to no avail. When I was in Secaucus last week, I ran into a guy who was furiously rifling through the pegs after we both saw the dregs of the EU wave. (Jedi Luke, R2 and Chewie) I asked if he found anything and he said he had found two cases earlier in the day and was looking for more "Because I don’t want to be the last guy on ebay with them." I kept him talking and he said he used to have a friend at the Secaucus TRU who would hide new figures for him and they would split the ebay proceeds, but that employee was promoted to the TRU he ‘found’ the other two cases at earlier in the day. I kinda pressed him to find out which one it was but he kinda figured out I was a collector and pretended he had a phone call.
May 4th, 2010 at 11:25 am
OH yeah, that being said, I did go to Times Square this morning and got all the EU figs besides Shaak Ti. My BAD is missing an arm!
May 4th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
@JaazMan, Rykrof Enloe & RadiantBaby — Apologies for the delayed moderation (which is done as an anti-spam measure, I’ve never "disapproved" a post for content). My partner was having a nose-job to fix a deviated septum.
@darthmadge — Ah, OK, missing piece to the story there was. I took some weird oath, and I won’t wipe out an entire store. One set + patience = good karma. If the guy behind me was an obvious scalper, I’d make an exception. (A shout out to my brothers-in-arms at ASWCC.com.) We know most of their faces here.
@Rykrof Enloe — I steadfastly refuse to blame Hasbro for the shenanigans that happen at the store level at Toys’R'Us. I’m not the only one who got played by these miscreants. (In my case these were fully-grown adults who should know that gasoline is $3/gallon —-or more— and they lose business by pulling stunts like this.
Yes, we knew these would be limited, but one guy buying 12 (TWELVE) CASES —12 CASES, not 12 FIGURES) should have raised an eyebrow with a manager. Hasbro had nothing to do with that, that’s for sure.
I’ll write a longer piece about the economy and the Legacy Collection. The fact is, Hasbro —even using their Ouija Boards— had no way to predict that the economy would tank, the housing market would tank, and the credit market would seize up with their 18+ month lead time from green light to completion.
Blame Gargan or some other "weak" figure (that we still all wanted one way or another). That’s fine, but the Legacy Collection was selling like mad (until the economy tanked). I’ll write a longer piece about it (because there is a lot more to the story) but that’s it in a nutshell.
@RadiantBaby — Have you heard of that hair removal product from Australia called NADS? (I can’t say more than that, but man it can hurt.)
All of you New York area people please stay safe. Times Square is pretty unsafe since they ran off all the hookers and stuff to turn it into a big theme park.
May 4th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
I am not blaming Hasbro for what happened at the store level.
As for the restricting what people buy, my understanding was that these had the same SKU as other Legacy figures – perhaps that is not the case, but TRU might feel that they have enough of the product coming in overall to not need to do that. And I don’t think that there’s supposed to be a manager at every register saying "Hey, you! You can only get one Shaak Ti because she’s hard to get! But those exclusive tin sets we have over there that aren’t selling – you can get 20 of those!"
Now, if I got to a store and someone bought all 12 cases though, I’d have been mad too and would have probably taken it up with that guy to see what his deal was.
Anyways, my whole point here is that this Expanded Universe fiasco began with Hasbro (look at what they say about EU figures anyway, with the comic packs for example) and what you see is a trickle effect in availability – and the final result we see is the retailer who is getting the brunt of the blame.
Maybe that’s fair… or maybe it’s not. Or maybe, give this a bit more time as Hasbro has confirmed that there’s more coming (and hopefully enough to meet demand). I saw proof of this today, so maybe in the end most collectors can end up with a positive outlook on this wave.
May 4th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
I’m kinda gonna go all over the map, so I apologize… @Adam: Yeah NADS is the most unfortunately name for a product since AYDS weight suppressant. And the fact that that woman named it after her daughter’s nickname makes me think her daughter has thought of matricide at LEAST once.And if I used it, my bf would kill me. You also brought up something that has bugged me for months. Hasbro has consistently blamed collectors for the glut of figures on the shelves killing Legacy. They kinda gloss over the economy in the Q&As and blame it on Gargan, or Breha and Bail, and take NO responsibility themselves. Three different lines on almost identical cards and employees who usually don’t care what they are putting on the shelf is a recipe for disaster. Sure, they have different SKU numbers, but when it’s closing time and you are in a hurry, are you going to separate TLC from SL or CW? I know I wouldn’t. But I am lazy, so… yeah. As a collector, it is frustrating to have to dig through pegs of figures and see the same Plo Koon or Saesee Tiin I bought five years ago released for the umpteenth time. (Luckily, the TRU in Times Square pulled all of them and marked them down to $3.90 and threw them in a big bin) I also think the horrible release strategy of the comic packs in 2009 killed the line, not poor sales. The poor sales were a result of awful distribution and poor case ratios. There comes a time when you can stop releasing the Vader/RFT comic pack. I don’t know what was going on at Hasbro in 2009 with the comic packs, but they dropped the ball, not collectors. I *DO* have some positive comments for Hasbro, though. The Vintage reboot? AWESOME! I stopped collecting carded figures in 2004, so I am gonna still open these, but the fact that I will be able to go to Target a block away and be able to tell immediately which figures I want (I don’t collect CW figs) makes me sublimely happy.I really hope with the (slow) uptick in the economy and the Vintage reboot that collectors will come back, if for no other reason than that it holds a glimmer of hope I will get a Cane Addiss figure. And don’t worry Adam…I only ever go to Times Square to go to TRU, and that’s only as little as possible. If I want seedy goodness, I know where to go!
May 4th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
@Adam_May - I hear you and I am with you 100%. I don’t want to be at the mercy of any of these horrible stores either. In fact, I wanted to buy this case from EE and save some gas, however I didn’t want to deal with the 5 repeat figures. After all of these years, why in the hell wouldn’t Hasbro put two of each of these figures in this case? They truly just don’t get it. I agree with the other collectors on here that Hasbro, solely by themselves, are killing this line and I believe that they murdered other lines too like the Comic Packs and Titanium. Even in the Titanium Figure line they made idiotic mistakes like making humanoid characters out of metal such as Luke Skywalker and Darth Maul. Why not make a Titanium Probe Droid? Hello? The Probe Droid is a made of metal and needs a stand to display!!! Isn’t R2-D2 metal? Why not make a Titanium version of R2-D2, or 8D8 with the torture rack? How about a Titanium Battle Droid that can actually stand up in the display case? Seems like a no brainer to me. OK, I feel better now.
May 4th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
@RadiantBaby — I think, regarding the economy, hindsight is better than 20/20. I don’t think Hasbro has been willfully ignorant about the economic tailspin. I just don’t think they’ve used it as an obvious scapegoat. (Probably just as many people would scoff at that.) Sadly, it’s an issue that involves politics, and the company seems to steer pretty well clear of tiptoeing through that minefield.
I remember chewing my nails off over the Euro leapfrogging over the U.S. Dollar, but the geopolitical climate seems to spin on the head of a pin. If you had told me then (before the turn of the century) what is going on now, I’d have told you to hand the pipe back to Jabba The Hutt. (Anyway, I don’t look at the markets today without Dramamine these days.)
Compared to NYC, I live in Small Town America, and I saw mothers (many, many times) buying the "boring" Comic Packs at Target (where a shopping trolley is a weapon, not a convenience). It boggled my mind, but they did. If I could have smuggled in a video camera (which are frowned upon in the Toy Dept.) I’d have documented this strange phenomena. (I was amazed, honestly.)
@Rykrof Enloe — I don’t expect anything from Toys’R'Us anymore. They’ve been openly hostile to customers for years (collectors and general customers). Their policies are, well, distasteful (for the average customer) and their business-model as a whole has left me amazed that they’re still in business. (Hey, on the last tour, I bought a pretty rockin’ non-kiddie record player —yes, some of us still buy and love VINYL records— for $10. I spend (well, a lot more) on a top-quality needle, and it’s a nice part of my A/V set-up.
It’s Tuesday, and they’ve yet to return MY customer service call, so what does that say about a company? (I wouldn’t invest my money, and I will try to avoid spending any money that isn’t absolutely necessary there in the future.) That’s sad because I plugged them in a NATIONAL MAGAZINE ARTICLE. I guess the "Toys’R'Us Kid" died from neglect. Que sera sera…
May 4th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
@Adam: I take an almost monthly drive from NYC to Iowa and see the same comic packs errrwhere. I was just using the Vader/RFT pack as an example. The Walmart near my sister’s house in Iowa has the 2008 packaging Luke/Deena Shan Officer packs. Like, Nine of them, and 2 Xixor packs. My friends and I call that one The Herpes Pack, because IT NEVER GOES AWAY!And I get the economy/hindsight thing, I do…but I still think Hasbro killed the comic packs, and their accomplices were uninformed toy department managers. I also agree that for the initial push of a new wave of figures, 2 per case is a great idea. Especially if Saga Legends is on the shelves next to TLC. This will all be moot for a few months as they switch to Vintage. Unless they decide to put Bossk on a Vintage Card at teh same time he is in Saga Legends, or The Clone Wars style…
May 5th, 2010 at 6:58 am
I went to three different TRU on Sat and traveled 100 miles between one. It was on my way home so it was not out of my way and they had nothing. I blame Hasbro in multiple ways. There is no issue with the Legacy line, The issue is with continuously releasing repacks. Every store I go to is overflowing with saga legends, No one is buying them or has since they came out. Which gives the stores the inpression that these are not selling and they do not stock the shelves with anything new. When they do it is only one case and gone within minutes. Same with Comic Packs, Stop repacking, the new ones are gone within minutes and the repacks clog the shelves. Do not announce you are making an exclusive and then tell us it is in short supply. The people that really want one will never get them at store cost, the scalpers will always get them first, because they will never hit the pegs.
May 5th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
@pistfan I’d say that this is where "your mileage may vary" because some stores in this area are, in fact, flooded with Saga Legends, and some are practically bare altogether. It varies exit-to-exit, really.
I definitely agree with the last part. Never throw out bait for the scalpers. Leave that to Hot Wheels or whatever.
May 5th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Adam
I think that your wrong on the exclusives. I really don’t care of the e-tailers there more expensive anyways. I will never buy a figure over the net and never will. So that is a sorry excuse for exclusives. I wish we could really get rid of packaging just put the fig in zip lock bagging and I will by it.
May 5th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
@Jtrooper — The art of packaging is part of the hobby. It will always be that way. I’ve never said that any figure (or figures) should be an Intermess exclusive, but I do like to have the option to buy figures that way. HasbroToyShop.com is one of my top sites for purchasing figures (especially to open) and (not a plug, but) Entertainment Earth has become my go-to destination for their mint-condition guarantee (for stuff I want to keep packaged).
To be honest, I with a few exceptions (they were bad at the time, but there’s nostalgia) I’ve loved the packaging for the modern line(s). I even like the new, bold packaging for The Clone Wars, and if you don’t love the packaging for The Vintage Collection, leave this place! (That’s a joke that only a few people will get — don’t leave.) I’m kvelling over the retro style. I’m only concerned about the lack of a j-hook, which means "mint"/display-worthy figures will be difficult, at best, but… I’m a kid again! Oh well…
May 6th, 2010 at 11:34 am
I’ve marveled for years about how TOYS ‘R’ US could be beaten at their own game by stores like Target and Walmart. Toys are all they do!!! TOYS ‘r’ us consistently gets toys after I’ve already purchased them elsewhere. KayBee toys HAD the same problem. TOYS ‘r’ us will eventually go that route if they don’t change something drastically soon. At the very least, there should be one person in the store that doesn’t have head and rectum inverted. If you are selling girl scout cookies, but don’t have any information about what you have, when you’ll have them, or even what this thing called a "cookie" might be… I think you might have a problem. Having informed employees is a thing of the past. It doesn’t matter where you go, but 2 different TOYS ‘r’ us stores told me they had NO IDEA what I was talking about when I asked about the exclusives. This being said, I can’t blame the mouth-breathers making minimum wage at the store. It’s the people in charge and those that deal with distribution. However, store managers only get about 25% blame from me. I can’t buy what is not available. I place the blame on Hasbro. The fact that Hasbro is destroying my favorite toy line stinks. The last year I felt like Indiana Jones finding the ark if I came across anything new in a store. These days, if you don’t buy it when you see it, you aren’t getting it. (unless you deal online… I’ll wait thank you) The packaging is Exhibit A. If it’s not obviously different, it’s the same. Go to the wrestling action figure area. There will be 4 different lines on the same peg and those ARE packaged differently enough for most people to tell the difference. Changing a small strip of color on the package is like a bald man getting a hair cut… you might notice, but who cares. (I’m pretty bald, so don’t get huffy) Exhibit B is Hasbro’s own words. "Kid oriented toy line", "collectors have fallen off", "no more animated style figures"… oops that one slipped in there. They don’t know what they are doing. Legos are "build-your-own" playsets… but "kids play patterns have changed and don’t include playsets". I say, give me something fun to play with and it will sell. Exhibit C is simply choice of figure and number of figures. We got spoiled. We didn’t need 60-70 figures a year. I loved it, but I nearly went broke. I bought the Yarna’s and Breha’s and ICMG’s, but they made too many of these. I could get a better guess on how much of a product I could sell by using an Oija Board. Don’t they have people whose job is to work out numbers for production? Someone should be getting fired. (out of a cannon) August… Why are we getting everything (supposedly) in August? It’s just dumb business. Rant over.
May 6th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Adam
I just wanted to say is that packages are nice,but the price is going to high soon figure will be 8 to 9 bucks and if it gose that way for a figure do to packaging I rather have the figure and not the artwork on the package it goes in the trash anyways. Having the rubber band and the extra plastic to keep the figure moving in the package makes it more expensive. give me the artwork in a smaller package.
May 6th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
We (whoever we is) don’t set the prices. I just love The Vintage Collection‘s throwback to my childhood.@Everyone Who Has Asked — Yes, TRU finally called back today. I was having some tailoring done on a suit for a friend’s memorial service. It was clearly a call-center call, and the woman calling for TRU apologized for my "unhappy experience" (or something like that). She said that she couldn’t give me the District/Regional Managers’ phone numbers (and seemed FLOORED when I told her I had already obtained their numbers via the Internet). Is there anything the Internet can’t do? The situation, especially regarding that trickster Derek at Toys’R’Us Store 8803 in Morrow, GA (Southlake), is an "internal" matter, and she could not discuss that. No problem. I know that with an attitude like that he’s destined to become Toys’R'Us management eventually (which I hear is worse than any punishment I could possibly imagine).
May 6th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Got my wave this morning at my local TRU (on La Cienega)… staff super helpful and obliging… Can we blame TRU, no not really… they did us a favor and actually ordered the wave for us for retail (as opposed to jacked up online retailer pricing). Can we blame Hasbro? Well they may have messed things up with bad case assortments and the like, but I honestly blame us as a collecting group… This is the first wave in probably a year that I have found in the wild as it were. I have resorted to buying everything online (thank you HasbroToyShop.com) because scalpers and dear fellow collectors snap up all the good stuff the moment it hits the shelves (one to open, one to keep on card and an army builder or two.. phooey). The store had several boxes by the way which I left for others to purchase rather than scalp myself on ebay (or so I could have one to open, one to keep on card and an army builder or two..)
May 8th, 2010 at 5:13 am
Love you all. As a collector, dad, marketer, ex-customer service punching bag, with a pulse and a wallet, I applaud this thread. Copy and paste the tactics into an email or print and put in your wallet or glovebox. There will be other battles. The Rebellion’s alive and well. I have been on alert since the fall, as this got pushed back many times. LOVE the taking names, store #s, certified letters, etc, TRU is the last chain, and it looks like she wants to be no more. Hopefully Hasbro learns that the EU are worthwhile!!! Jonzing for K’kruhk! Thank you all again. – "the Djarik Csar"