The Energon Pub

Wed Dec 28, 2022 12:07 pm

Ratchet got destroyed so bad when the Decepticons boarded the shuttle, his freaking face got blown off!

In other news, the whole holiday season saw absolutely nothing new in my area. In fact it's been a really bad year all together trying to pick up Transformers in store. I'm the kind of guy where if I can just go down the road a few miles and pick it up in store, I'd rather do that than wait for something to be shipped. Legacy wave one continues to clog shelves and I started seeing that in my area a week before Easter. And here we are 9 months later. The Skullgrin wave came and went in basically two days and nothing new had come in. Same for Velocitron wave one minus Cosmos of course. Tons of Coronation Starscream and the Bee core class continue to clog.
I have seen some new figures like Armada Starscream at a comic store in my mall, but I don't purchase figures from there due to the fact they try to upsell by $10 more than standard price for every class ($34 for a deluxe, $44 for a Voyager,etc).

News Credits: 7 · Wed Dec 28, 2022 8:01 pm

The Target in Kennesaw GA is all but wiped clean over the HSS. Went in and only saw a few Legends-class Bubmlebees and a SS86 Starscream. My Wal Mart has plenty of figures left that nobody wanted and finally put up some SS86 Sludges and Legacy Blitzwings that have likely sat in the back for months.

News Credits: 1646 · Wed Jan 11, 2023 11:02 am

My Target looks extremely sad

News Credits: 56 · Wed Jan 11, 2023 11:14 am

I think most Targets are getting ready for aisle resets. Mine still have some stuff, But nothing of note. Those big transforming primes that are like $75. Nobody bought those. A huge waste of space. Both Target and Walmart are trying to clearance things out, but to varying degrees of success. Fans may have enjoyed the offerings of 2022, but I think overall, Transformers and the toy industry as a whole did poorly last year. Unfortunately I think online is going to be the only way to get most things we want moving forward.

News Credits: 241 · Wed Jan 11, 2023 1:00 pm

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:My Target looks extremely sad

I guess they don't like yellow in any toy line :lol:

I may be able to visit my local Target on Friday, see what I can find.

News Credits: 9 · Thu Jan 12, 2023 11:08 pm

I don’t normally go to this Target, but it’s not that far away from me.

This is just sad…
5 different figures/sets between 7 total products.

News Credits: 56 · Fri Jan 13, 2023 3:30 pm

Yeah Target is definitely doing a reset. As to what/how much space there will be for TF when its all said and done though is anybody's guess. Sad to say, it seems I'll be fully going over to online ordering. All of Wave 1 Legacy Evolution is pretty much available (or will be soon enough). Whereas I never even saw Legacy wave 3 *anything*, at any retailer.

News Credits: 4877 · Fri Jan 13, 2023 3:52 pm

Sowndwave76 wrote:I don’t normally go to this Target, but it’s not that far away from me.

This is just sad…
5 different figures/sets between 7 total products.

Isn't this better than seeing the same toys for months on end not selling?

Fri Jan 13, 2023 6:55 pm

This is from last month, it's not there anymore, but I was quite surprised when I saw this at Target:

20221217_153752.jpg

News Credits: 9 · Sat Jan 14, 2023 3:04 pm

william-james88 wrote:
Sowndwave76 wrote:I don’t normally go to this Target, but it’s not that far away from me.

This is just sad…
5 different figures/sets between 7 total products.

Isn't this better than seeing the same toys for months on end not selling?

Not really..
Considering this is mostly due to Christmas, it’s not like toys suddenly flew off of shelves at some random point in the year.
And considering I’ve seen almost no wave 3 deluxes anywhere, no, I don’t think this is a good sign or trade-off.
I just mentioned this in the Legacy thread, but the 1 deluxe I’ve seen I actually wanted and snagged.
But it was a random, lucky find, and I’m 99% sure this showed up because it was returned. And not a retun that was originally purchased at this store.
Considering I don’t think there’s been much of any wave 3 in my area in general, and being that this Target is really close to I-35, I’m almost thinking it was a random pit stop and return from someone who was passing through from out of town.

News Credits: 56 · Sun Jan 15, 2023 9:51 pm

Went to my local Target, Toy area was trashed. But I went to another about 10 miles away. Toy section was clean. I was shocked to see some Legacy Wave 3 (all core class, and Crankcase).

Also Buzzworthy Leader RotF Prime and NEST Bonecrusher.

News Credits: 56 · Sat Jan 21, 2023 12:14 pm

Well another week has come and gone. I went to another close by Target (I know this is confusing because have 10+ I can go to). But the reset was done. Of some concern was that the TF section had shrunken to about 2 feet of shelf space. All they had was Buzzworthy, and Earthspark product. No standard Generations at all (SS or Legacy), not even any pegs for them.

I was about to hit the panic button, but then a story broke yesterday at TFW2005 that Legacy Evolution Voyagers had been spotted at a Target in Virginia So perhaps this is a new strategy.

I know previously Target had limited where they sold CC and Leaders to maybe only the top selling sores in a given area (one happens to be close to me thankfully). This would be regrettable, but perhaps they are going to apply this to all of the Generations line? I mean Having Earthspark in all stores for kids makes sense. Buzzworthy is there exclusive label, so they want to support that as well. It would just be a shame if the "main line" for each year, is now the obscure one. Perhaps collectors are driving it more than we think, if Target is only going to have it in certain stores? (Unfortunately online availability only in the near future seems all but inevitable now)

As for Walmart, who knowns what they are doing. They have reduced prices on the Beast Legacy wave and they still aren't moving. Still tons of Legacy Wave 1 and Velocitron (which is also price reduced), Tons of SS BB Arcee/Ironhide Deluxes as well.

In my area, it appears customers understand that Target is at least trying to get new product, so it is moving, even if slower than in past years. Whereas with Walmart, Toy purchasing in general (across many brands) seems to be almost dead. I can go into several stores week to week and see almost no movement across multiple brands (TF, GI Joe, SW, PR MOTU etc...).

News Credits: 22 · Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:48 pm

I guess it's a blessing and a curse that I only have 2 Wal-Marts and 1 Target within a 40-mile radius, otherwise my OCD would compel me to drive to all of them or until I found what I was looking for. Having 10+ close enough wouldn't be healthy for me. :lol:

Sat Jan 21, 2023 4:31 pm

o.supreme wrote:Well another week has come and gone. I went to another close by Target (I know this is confusing because have 10+ I can go to). But the reset was done. Of some concern was that the TF section had shrunken to about 2 feet of shelf space. All they had was Buzzworthy, and Earthspark product. No standard Generations at all (SS or Legacy), not even any pegs for them.

I was about to hit the panic button, but then a story broke yesterday at TFW2005 that Legacy Evolution Voyagers had been spotted at a Target in Virginia So perhaps this is a new strategy.

I know previously Target had limited where they sold CC and Leaders to maybe only the top selling sores in a given area (one happens to be close to me thankfully). This would be regrettable, but perhaps they are going to apply this to all of the Generations line? I mean Having Earthspark in all stores for kids makes sense. Buzzworthy is there exclusive label, so they want to support that as well. It would just be a shame if the "main line" for each year, is now the obscure one. Perhaps collectors are driving it more than we think, if Target is only going to have it in certain stores? (Unfortunately online availability only in the near future seems all but inevitable now)

As for Walmart, who knowns what they are doing. They have reduced prices on the Beast Legacy wave and they still aren't moving. Still tons of Legacy Wave 1 and Velocitron (which is also price reduced), Tons of SS BB Arcee/Ironhide Deluxes as well.

In my area, it appears customers understand that Target is at least trying to get new product, so it is moving, even if slower than in past years. Whereas with Walmart, Toy purchasing in general (across many brands) seems to be almost dead. I can go into several stores week to week and see almost no movement across multiple brands (TF, GI Joe, SW, PR MOTU etc...).

Yeah it's pretty sad to see how much Target has fallen off. The Target in my area is a shell of what it was since the pandemic. About 40% of the parking lot is taken up with trailers for some reason. Whether it's for resets or what I couldn't say. Those parking spots for pickups are annoying too. If you're taking the time to drive to the store already, you might as well come inside and pick up. Do you really need people to bring it or to you? LOL.

On the inside, where once there was the cafe/food area when you walk in has been walled off since 2020 and never re-opened. It's a shame because I used to like to get the pretzels or popcorn with my kids while we shopped around. They took down the big screen in the movie/book department that used to play the authors or musicians talking about their new releases. The movie section is now just one little aisle.

As for toys, it's been pretty horrible for a while now. I will say they do come through a few times a year. I was able to get SS DOTM Prime and NEST Bonecrusher there recently. But like you said, weeks and weeks go by with no movement which is just so crazy to me. How do you not get anything delivered for weeks at a time you know?

MyFigureCollection.net collection · Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:48 pm

Wow, that Target sounds terrible. My target is just a regular one (no fresh produce, just freezers in the food area), but it has a small Pizza Hut takeout and Starbucks in front of the registers that never closed except for when they couldn't get their supplies. They still have a surprisingly large electronics and book section, as big or bigger than the local Walmart Supercenters. I also still have a full length collectables section in electronics with more in the toy aisle, not the 6' that Scott Neitlich is always talking about on his channel. The toy aisle is usually pretty well stocked, but unfortunately it isn't necessarily anything new just like most Targets.

Supposedly those trailers are all full of pandemic stock that showed up too late to be put in stores and they haven't figured out what to do with yet. I see them at every Walmart and Target I go to. One of my local Walmarts has a wall of them behind the store (you have to drive back there to get to the tire and lube area) while the other put them in the outdoor lawn and garden space in the parking lot.

The pick up sections are done wrong everywhere except for at Walmart where they sit on the side of the buildings (for stores that have that space available). Placing them in the best parking spaces in the center of the lot is stupid, they should be as far away as is reasonable from the entrances. Near the entrance is only convenient to the employees, not to any customer. Also one of my local Walmarts put in an indoor pick up tower not too long before the pandemic and only got a little use out of it before shutting it down and moving everything to outside pickup. If you haven't seen one before it's this giant round tower with a monitor and barcode scanner at the bottom and basically works like an enormous vending machine. You scan your barcode and it retrieves your pick up item. It now just takes up a ton of space in the self checkout area.

Emerje

MyFigureCollection.net collection · Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:43 pm

Target this morning, no sign of Legacy Evolution yet, but they very well could have all sold out. Same goes for Earthspark, saw one Deluxe Twitch (which I bought), one Warrior Skywarp and three of those big Primes with the mini figure.

20230128_091012.jpg

They also had two SS BB NEST Bonecrushers. Funny thing is they tried to hang them from the top peg using adhesive hooks and both of them came down leaving the hooks behind. :roll:

20230128_091021.jpg

There was also a Tonkanator in the clearance aisle, but it was still coming up full price.

Walmart did their reset but hasn't stocked anything new. Only thing worth mentioning is they left no spaces for Velocitron Leaders or Voyagers. Last I checked they had a bunch of Haulers left but they seem to have disappeared, they weren't in the clearance aisle.

Emerje

News Credits: 22 · Sat Jan 28, 2023 11:49 pm

I saw that at my Target as well. 4 Bonecrushers, and they all stayed up. They also hung the Legacy leader figures up as well, which was odd. 2 Galvatrons just hangin' out. The SS86 leader Starscream and Sludge were on a shelf below, next to the empty spot for the new version of SS-44 Optimus, which used to be the spot for Motormaster, so I guess fat chance of seeing him in store again.

I went to Target spurred by the sightings reported here, but as usual, my Target is dragging their feet. They also still had a Bulkhead and a Prime Arcee and Tarantulas.

News Credits: 9 · Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:44 pm

Emerje wrote:Target this morning, no sign of Legacy Evolution yet, but they very well could have all sold out. Same goes for Earthspark, saw one Deluxe Twitch (which I bought), one Warrior Skywarp and three of those big Primes with the mini figure.

20230128_091012.jpg

They also had two SS BB NEST Bonecrushers. Funny thing is they tried to hang them from the top peg using adhesive hooks and both of them came down leaving the hooks behind.

20230128_091021.jpg

There was also a Tonkanator in the clearance aisle, but it was still coming up full price.

Walmart did their reset but hasn't stocked anything new. Only thing worth mentioning is they left no spaces for Velocitron Leaders or Voyagers. Last I checked they had a bunch of Haulers left but they seem to have disappeared, they weren't in the clearance aisle.

Emerje

This looks very similar to my Target as of 7pm...
There were a couple Core Rumbles and a Wheelie, a 4-5 Earthspark deluxes, and 6 Bonecrushers...
I don't believe that there have been any wave 3 or 4 Legacy deluxes yet.

News Credits: 56 · Fri Feb 10, 2023 9:36 pm

So, I know it was reported a few days agp that Legacy Evo Core wave 2 was already spotted at a Target in San Jose CA. Wouldn't ya know... I went to a local Target TODAY and saw a single Nemesis Prime Core on the peg. It was not coming up in Target's system. Unfortunately I'm only interested in Grimlock from this assortment. I know from working retail previously it cant be that difficult to find the case pack this toy came from. But of course trying to communicate that to any employee who cares is the challenge, because it dosen't come up in their system, apparently this phantom case assortment is impossible to find according to the one employee AND Manager I spoke to. I'm almost certain I could find it relatively quickly without ever having seen their stockroom, but knowing how one is organized form past experience.

I have pretty much everything I'm interested in on pre-order so I'm not worried about missing out, but it is infuriating, when casually shopping, and not expecting to find anything, that the potential is there to bring something home before getting it online. If only anyone cared to offer some semblance of decent customer service. No wonder retail is dying.

:BANG_HEAD:

MyFigureCollection.net collection · Sat Feb 11, 2023 11:47 pm

Man, I thought by this point we'd be knee deep in Legacy Evolution figures, and yet a year later it's just Legacy Core and Deluxe wave 1 and Voyager and Leader wave 2. And here we are in mid February and that's still all we've got in stores while people are starting receive Evo wave 2 stuff. How is anyone making money with distribution like this?

At least Earthspark is finally in full saturation wherever I go. Walmart also has the G1 Starscream repaints and some weird x-ray plushies I've never heard of before that are taking up WAY TOO MUCH shelf space. I can't picture those selling well at all.

20230211_073331.jpg

Only thing on the top shelf was two Velocitron Deluxe figures and a SS86 Starscream.

Also the clearance section is so packed with toys they haven't put out all of the clearance stuff they took down a few weeks ago.

Emerje

MyFigureCollection.net collection · Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:23 am

With the talk of people finding a bunch of new figures at Target I made a special trip there this morning hoping to find some Legacy Voyagers or something. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. The only newly stocked things I found were from Studio Series:

3 SS NEST Ratchet
1 SS86 Starscream
2 SS86 Sludge
1 SS the Fallen

In other words that means they got in a case of SS wave 9 Leaders and a case of SS wave 10 Leaders since both Screamer and Fallen came with Sludge.

Still nothing new at Walmart either as far as Legacy and SS goes. Last new figures still in stock there are 3 Jhiaxus and a couple SS Junkheaps and Soundwaves. What you see in the picture from my post above in mid February is basically how it still is, just without the Legacy Leaders.

Emerje

News Credits: 56 · Fri Mar 03, 2023 12:08 pm

I dont have any pictorial evidence but, the Target closest to me where I found Metalhawk on Wednesday also was the same one where I found multiple other voyager waves recently. But there was something odd...

They had several cases of the SS86 Ironhide/ AoE Galvatron wave (maybe 7 of each), which was clearly overstocked on the shelf. When I went back there a few days later, they were all gone except for maybe 2 of each.

There was no sale, I'm salmost certain someone took the excess and just put them all in the back room, which I would consider "normal" for a retailer. I mean you want as much variety on any plan-o-gram as possible. Yet the lady at this particular store (probably one of the managers) told me "we dont back stock toys", back when they had 4 Elita-1 on the peg, and I knew they had a whole remaining case of wave 2 deluxe Legacy in the back, but just didn't want to bring it out.

Its unfortunate that corporations like Target and Walmart dont have any real synergy between their websites and their retail stores. I mean if something is out of stock online, and they are just sitting on a store shelf in an area that has no demand, that would certainly assist with distribution issues. They have to pay to ship the items anyway, so I dont understand what the difference would be shipping from a warehouse directly vs a store. In some cases they would probably save money of the item was shipping to a near by customer.

News Credits: 42 · Fri Mar 03, 2023 1:07 pm

I had a weird Walmart section near my work where I found Legacy Metalhawk. They had a full peg of wave 1 Legacy deluxes from last year, a full peg of the Legacy beast deluxes at full price still, and a full peg of wave 1 Legacy Evolution wave 1 deluxes. Voyagers were a bunch of Jiaxus/Soundwave plus the lone Metalhawk I snagged. A weird combination of really old stock not being clearanced while also putting out new stock.

News Credits: 4877 · Fri Mar 03, 2023 10:40 pm

TF-fan kev777 wrote:I had a weird Walmart section near my work where I found Legacy Metalhawk. They had a full peg of wave 1 Legacy deluxes from last year, a full peg of the Legacy beast deluxes at full price still, and a full peg of wave 1 Legacy Evolution wave 1 deluxes. Voyagers were a bunch of Jiaxus/Soundwave plus the lone Metalhawk I snagged. A weird combination of really old stock not being clearanced while also putting out new stock.

Unlike other trilogies, this one doesn't have a different assortment code for a new year/line. So to the store, the non beast deluxes are all from the same line.

News Credits: 1646 · Sun Mar 05, 2023 8:01 pm

So, in my journey this weekend out of town for a concert, I visited 3 Targets, 3 Walmarts, 1 Burlington Coat Factory, and 1 Marshalls. Below is all I could find

Target/Walmart:

Burlington: