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News Credits: 10 · by **GuyIncognito** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:44 am

Just a couple years ago, 95% of my TF purchases were made in brick-and-mortar stores. But over the last year, several factors have forced me to rethink the way I purchase TFs:

1. Terrible inventory at virtually every store
2. Hasbro's confounding decisions to simply not make certain figures (Breakdown, Gaia Unicron, Ironhide, etc.
3. Lots of cool repaints and exclusives only available in Japan or "Asia"

So more and more I'm turning to preorders and importing to get the figures I want.

Now I don't want this to turn into a bitch-fest about Hasbro; it is what it is and we just have to deal with it. I'm just wondering: have others started changing their purchasing habits as well? Do you think this is the future of collecting, that we can no longer rely on our local retailers and need to turn to the global market instead?

by **Cobalt Prime** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:39 am

Absolutely.

American retail is dead, as far as TFs are concerned. I tried holding off as long as I could but more and more I'm biting the bullet and turning to online retailers for products that A. Should have been brought to the U.S. market but weren't, or B. Are supposed to be in the U.S. market but never seem to make it to the pegs.

One can only stalk out of Target/TRU/Y'All-Mart grumbling so many times before the discouragement starts to overwhelm. So yeah, I'm in a transitional stage now where online satisfies where retail fails.

News Credits: 32 · by **Mkall** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:14 am

I gave up on retail 3 years ago and I haven't regretted it at all. I would love to see Hasbro move to a distribution style similar to Takara's, but I know that will not happen.

by **SJ21** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:23 am

I still go to stores for most of my purchases. My buying is limited to Classics style figures anyway, and we get most of them at retail. If there is an exclusive that fits into the Classics categoty for me, I will order online.

I am pretty lucky though. I have 2 TRU's, 3 Targets, and 2 Walmarts within 15 minutes of my house. i don't have to go too far out of the way to hit any of them.

News Credits: 8 · by **gavinfuzzy** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:29 am

Well, I don't own a credit card due to my age, and that rules out online purchases. The distribution here in Singapore is pretty good, waves do get released pretty fast. Plus, the country's so small you can take public transport across the island in under and hour. :lol:

But still, I rarely buy things at retail prices. I wait for it to drop to 20% off during the holiday season, or even around 45% off during clearance. I have been doing that around the end of Universe 2.0. Sure, I get the figures months later than the rest of you, but I end up saving more. :lol:

I collected the entirety of the Generation line while they were on sale (With the exception of Black Shadow, Warpath and Junkyard, who I had to pay slightly over retail price due to their rarity...)

News Credits: 2 · by **fenrir72** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 11:33 am

Not dragging politics here but a lot of these factors can also be blamed on the brilliant stewardship of the American economy. I'll leave it at that(whether we like to believe/deny it).

Being said, let's pray for a silver lining in the clouds or alight in the end of the tunnel by next year.

I hope that we return back to post 2000 sized TF toys but not the FOC size range :sad:

I hope by next year, we get more Encores such as the Dinobots among others (Ramjet and Thrust would be nice + the combiner cassetrons + more G1 combiners)

Sturdier MP figures from Tomy Takara.( to make the purchase worth the time and effort.

News Credits: 1 · by **Gauntlet101010** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 12:14 pm

I still check the stores for waves, but I have to admit it's with an air of futility. The pegs where I live have been clogged with BBs and Canada (or at least my area) seems to OD on the first few waves with nothing coming in for later ones. Heck, the Toys R Us near me still has some RotF BBs.

Plus, I really only collect Neo G1 and that's been 3rd party focused for a long time now. No choice with that, it's either online or wait until a con.

News Credits: 18 · by **JelZe GoldRabbit** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 12:25 pm

The only "evolution" I've noticed in myself is that I've grown more picky and more aware of my overall tastes. That and my current financial situation plus current lack of new stock puts me in a bit of a bind.
I'm basically forced to look at all the figures online, especially the Japanese ones and wallow in self-pity with the fact I can't afford them :sad:

by **Valandar** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:14 pm

Yeah, I still purchase mostly at B&M stores, but that might end up changing.

I got back into collecting around the time of the middle to end of TF:Cybertron, and back then I pretty much collected only the stuff I liked a lot (robot mode good, good articulation, not a beastformer, etc), including some of the Dollar Store Energon Basics. Shortly after my buying habits ramped up, and I bought every single Titanium I saw, etcetera etcetera. Lately, I've toned back down to ones I like, though my tastes are a good bit more relaxed now (and thus I buy more - this started around the second movie line, where I was heavily turned off by all the monowheel figures.

Unfortunately, my preference for B&M means I missed out on Windcharger, Grapple, and others of the tail end of Generations, not to mention nearly every figure after the first couple waves of DotM, and Prime. So... looks like it'll be more online purchases for me.

by **Doubledealer93** » Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:18 pm

i too am changing how i buy my TFs. i wanted a breakdown and ironhide. but no. i wanted a lot of things that takara only got. the last 3 DOTM toys, lead foot, que, and soundwave (have him now) last transformer i bought at a store was voyager starscream and that was over 2 months ago. i got my first 3 FOC toys from BBTS and a double of shockwave from target. i have been rethinking how i buy my TFs. its sad that we all have to due to hasblows stupid moves.

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