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[Berserker Prime]

I guess I'm the rare case of finding most of the new figures. BUT after I find them once, they are never to be found again.
The TRU by my house dosnt even have a spot for voyagers on there shelves.
The Wal-marts near my house have nothing but Skulgrins and Thunderwings.
The Targets have very few new RTS but mostly HFTD.
I pre-order EVERYTHING at BBTS and cancel if I find it at the store before it is in my POL. Even then I have 15 days to cancel it for store credit. Win Win.

[Angelus]

For people in the US it probably works a little different but if you see/want something it doesn't mean it will be available.
Of course I want it to be like that as well but here in Europe it just doesn't work that way at all.

Many, many and even more than that Transformers that get released in the US will not end up in our toyshops. The best example is the Reveal the Shield and second half of Power Core Combiners figures.
Yes, they have cards with all the languages on them, even Dutch... But I have to buy them abroad + pay for shipping to get them here.
There are even more figures than that being released in the US and never even see the light of day in Europe. We end up getting these figures and paying even more shipping plus, when you are out of luck, import duties.

I also hear those sounds of high gas prices... Hold on tight: we have to pay 1.75 euro for every litre of fuel. This translates to a price of 6.62 euro for a gallon which translates to a price of 9.60 USD (at this time).

Of course I hate all this too... But that is the beauty of collecting. You never know when you will find the next piece for your collection and at what price...

We live in a profit based world.
If the retailers, shops and what not still have enough stock, do not have enough money to spend on sitting stock or simple do not want it, than it is all lost.
I miss those days of the 80s. Transformers would hit the streets and in a year time 25 to 40 figures would be released.
You would get some pocketmoney, save that up and buy a figure you really wanted to have.

Now I can work 50 hours a week and still not have enough to buy everything for my collection which results in us having to make choices... Which means (more or less), due to the huge amount of figures that are being released, each figure is sold less, in total it is more, but per figure would be less... and that means that the figures sold best (which are NOT the fan-figures but movie figures), are available and others are not.

To me importing from Japan is about the same as importing from the US. I just wish Takara and Hasbro would just release the same figure instead of different paint apps... It would make my (TF) world a whole lot easier...

It's crap... but it is the world we live in...

[fenrir72]

D@mn combination of a bad worldwide economy (thanks to the sub prime mortgage meltdown), overseas wars driving fuel prices up, the Japan earthquake (sure that is probably a contributing factor) and a lot poor decisions may have contributed to this.

Not all of Hasbro life revolves around TFs but yes if the other article is accurate, the TF line is one of their profitable but..............

Please confirm to me overseas Japan based members the first two statements

1.IIRC either Diem or Stormrider stated that TFs don't sell well in Japan.

2.A specialty shop online retailer friend of mine stated that TFs are a runaway hit China (go figure KO land), which is also suffering from their own economic problems like runaway food prices, so that now may not be as accurate as 2 years ago.

3.So if Encore products shelf warm, how come their latest "modern" incarnations in United all are but sold out online? (Except Straxus and Lugnut (no one seems to love them). Kudos for taking the risk Hasbro/Takara on the last two)

4.I can attest to some retail availability of RTS/Generations lines in SEA, why it doesn't reach the USA? Heck RTS Windcharger IIRC was given a limited release in my country sometime last November or December 2010 in a Hasbro event.So I'm in the same boat with most of you guys on looking for one.

Now the problem, as already stated by previous posters
what was Hasbro thinking with the PCC?!

All this freakin' repaint of the same molds? Aren't they diluting the value or the "I want" for them? In economics it's like putting out to much Rocky road Ice cream to the point that people get sick of it. Shouldn't they maximize their limited plastic based sources to a more 100% profitability release?

TF/Star Wars/Marvel cross overs? Puh leeeez!

Poseabilty is good and all but most of their latest designs, with the Bayformer line in particular is simply sucky in design. Breacher being an exception in the Neo G1 genre (at least in my opinion that is).

And now with DoTM coming,( how I wish this is over with ) more bad news.(for me I'd probably be getting just Shockwave)

[hook2]

Well, I'll tell you how it is here in WV. All the walmarts still have wave 1 and 2 of HFTD. And as for Generations, on at least ONE occasion the Walmart and the Target in Charleston got the wave which included one each of Kup and Scourge, but they were both bought by the same guy( who works early at Target every morning).
We have such a huge problem with hoarding new or desired figs here that for the longest time you couldn't even see a Blurr or Tomahawk on the shelf!!! Unbelievably, the two big retailers RESTOCKED wave 2 of the HFTD voyagers this month!!!!
This is exactly what happened at the end of the Universe line. When a movie is around the corner, Hasbro desides that only movie figs are going to sell and totally screws us on the last waves of classics figures.
Now, the online retailers are loving it, because we are paying 20 dollars or more a piece for the toys!! Or even that much for a scout!(Windcharger). In my town, there is a small time guy who sells on Ebay and Amazon who probably doesn't have a job, besause his van is in front of TRU and Target ALL THE TIME when they get trucks with his big sticker in the window, and people like that are probably the ones getting to any of these that are actually showing up.

As for Hasbrotoyshop, I had a while there where I checked twice a day for 3 WEEKS waiting for them to stock the new toys, and FINALLY one night they had Wreck Gar. As I was getting my credit card info ready they sold out...I turned away from them and their inferior shipping and stocking practices in disgust.

But like I said, this is a case of underproducing the classics to produce more movie plastic. And really, WHY do they always wait until a movie line is 2 months away to release the stuff we want?

[Mykltron]

It's been the same story in Europe SINCE THE 80s. Hasbro's distribution to a major landmass (Europe) is shockingly bad. Have they considered how much PROFIT they're missing out on by not sending all the waves of all the lines to Europe?

[hook2]

Well, I'll tell you how it is here in WV. All the walmarts still have wave 1 and 2 of HFTD. And as for Generations, on at least ONE occasion the Walmart and the Target in Charleston got the wave which included one each of Kup and Scourge, but they were both bought by the same guy( who works early at Target every morning).
We have such a huge problem with hoarding new or desired figs here that for the longest time you couldn't even see a Blurr or Tomahawk on the shelf!!! Unbelievably, the two big retailers RESTOCKED wave 2 of the HFTD voyagers this month!!!!
This is exactly what happened at the end of the Universe line. When a movie is around the corner, Hasbro desides that only movie figs are going to sell and totally screws us on the last waves of classics figures.
Now, the online retailers are loving it, because we are paying 20 dollars or more a piece for the toys!! Or even that much for a scout!(Windcharger). In my town, there is a small time guy who sells on Ebay and Amazon who probably doesn't have a job, besause his van is in front of TRU and Target ALL THE TIME when they get trucks with his big sticker in the window, and people like that are probably the ones getting to any of these that are actually showing up.

As for Hasbrotoyshop, I had a while there where I checked twice a day for 3 WEEKS waiting for them to stock the new toys, and FINALLY one night they had Wreck Gar. As I was getting my credit card info ready they sold out...I turned away from them and their inferior shipping and stocking practices in disgust.

But like I said, this is a case of underproducing the classics to produce more movie plastic. And really, WHY do they always wait until a movie line is 2 months away to release the stuff we want?

[griftimus prime]

i really dont want to have to pay out the ass for a windcharger on ebay.

[H0TR0D]

Reading this is welcome sigh of relief in a way. I was wondering what the heck was going on. I live in Eastern Canada, Newfoundland. I've managed to scope and pick the following:

- Wreckgar
- Blur
- Drift
- Preceptor

I have almost all of the classics from a few years ago and when I heard news that the generations/classics will be released in RTS and Generations I was so stoked!

When I went looking for them, the same figures where on the shelf, or next to nothing were left..

I thought maybe the shelf stockers at walnuts here where getting the Megatron, Soundwave, Kup, Wheeljack, Tracks and Jazz. I'm glad to know this is not so.

The "Kup" half full sort of dude! I SO WANT KUP!!!!

Anyways, ....One thing is for sure if these are all made and package, they have to start to trickle at some point? I know the DOTM is on the way...but the generations/classics is my passion...I'm done with TF's that just have bigger guns and things can plug into (ie. mechtech?)

Bring on the Generations and Classics please hasbro!

Till all are one!

[retrothomas]

I'm bummed about Perceptor. I've seen all his case-mates but not him. I found one Target store that did have him in stock but I missed out. I've called other stores for weeks with no luck.

I figure it's still early to be seeing Wheeljack and Thundercracker.

Every RtS/Generations figure I have was difficult to buy, and I have one Kmart, about 5 Toys R Us stores, and 6-8 Targets, and a bajillion Walmarts all within an hour drive. Interestingly, I don't think I've ever seen a single RtS or Generations figure at Toys R Us, though I have seen some Classics/Universe figures there. It just doesn't seem like it should be so hard to find these figures and that it would be in Hasbro's best interest to get them in stock since everyone's buying them.

As hard as the figures are to find, I'm still hesitant to spend twice as much to order through BBTS.

[ae_productions]

I was told by several local retail chains that they didn't order any new figures because of all the old ones that did not sell.

IE: Revenge of the Fallen toys. They are EVERYWHERE. The same toys have been sitting on pegs here since November or earlier.

Other stores

If Hasbro is aware of this issue, these toys SHOULD BE FULLY available on line at their toy shop, not this randomly sporadic, extremely limited supply BS. There wouldn't be a HUGE PROFIT LOSS if your customers could actually find ANY THING. Or, here's an idea, quit alienating your customers by forcing your movie toys on them. There has been numerous toy lines for Transformers selling together for years. Release the RTS and Generations toys with these movie toys.