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TF-fan kev777 wrote:I think trying to make sense of in store distribution is really just an exercise in frustration because even if you can come up with a decent overall rule of thumb, you will always have some regional variation that may not fit.

Agreed 100%. I apologize if I come across combative sometimes, that is not my intent at all. To be perfectly honest, If there is any current item a REALLY want, yes I can find it online, one way or another, even if I have to pay higher than retail price. What I truly miss is the experience however. Living in a relatively large Suburban/City area, and having literally only two different chains to look for toys is wearisome, even if those two chains provide 30+ locations I can drive to in a relatively short distance. In this particular case I'm not trying to fight the future, I do order online quite a bit actually. I just wish some semblance of the fun of going to a store and seeing what you want to purchase, before you actually do, would still exist.

o.supreme wrote:

TF-fan kev777 wrote:I think trying to make sense of in store distribution is really just an exercise in frustration because even if you can come up with a decent overall rule of thumb, you will always have some regional variation that may not fit.

Agreed 100%. I apologize if I come across combative sometimes, that is not my intent at all. To be perfectly honest, If there is any current item a REALLY want, yes I can find it online, one way or another, even if I have to pay higher than retail price. What I truly miss is the experience however. Living in a relatively large Suburban/City area, and having literally only two different chains to look for toys is wearisome, even if those two chains provide 30+ locations I can drive to in a relatively short distance. In this particular case I'm not trying to fight the future, I do order online quite a bit actually. I just wish some semblance of the fun of going to a store and seeing what you want to purchase, before you actually do, would still exist.

That's just the new reality. Even for me. The images I put show stocked shelves, but a lot of it is old stuff I already have or dont need. I still resorted to getting some kingdome toys online and it will probably be the same for some 86 bots.

o.supreme wrote:

TF-fan kev777 wrote:I think trying to make sense of in store distribution is really just an exercise in frustration because even if you can come up with a decent overall rule of thumb, you will always have some regional variation that may not fit.

Agreed 100%. I apologize if I come across combative sometimes, that is not my intent at all. To be perfectly honest, If there is any current item a REALLY want, yes I can find it online, one way or another, even if I have to pay higher than retail price. What I truly miss is the experience however. Living in a relatively large Suburban/City area, and having literally only two different chains to look for toys is wearisome, even if those two chains provide 30+ locations I can drive to in a relatively short distance. In this particular case I'm not trying to fight the future, I do order online quite a bit actually. I just wish some semblance of the fun of going to a store and seeing what you want to purchase, before you actually do, would still exist.

You should try living in the UK, I know a toy store (not a specialist geek place, trying to flogg old Power of the Primes stuff for only 10% off.

The retail for TF toys is only saved by Symths, and even they don't get everything.

TF-fan kev777 wrote:I get that, but I don't think Target is just sitting on a bunch of Kingdom or regular SS stuff and saying, lets wait until the Buzzworthy stuff moves. If they aren't getting enough from Hasbro, then that would be a completely separate thing and not really have anything to do with the Buzzworthy Bee line.

And really, seeing the same thing at Walmart really tends to say supply from Hasbro is lacking overall, and not as a result of the Buzzworthy Bee line existing.

Man I just reread this post and it is so spot on.

I don't think Target is just sitting on a bunch of Kingdom product either. It's just their is an obvious disparity.

Either Target is ordering more Buzzworthy than other TF lines, or Hasbro is providing more Buzzworthy product to Target, than they are of their other TF lines.

I'm not blaming the Buzzworthy line for existing. It's fine, yes parents buy toys for kids, and this is a very marketable way to do it. I don't think in any way shape for form BB is taking away from Kingdom or SS. I just want to know why BB there in stores, and the other lines are not (I know we already agreed there probably is no clear answer, and to do so would only end in frustration, but I'm just trying to clarify my position)

I understand-it's not a scenario of *you only get to Pick 8* so Target picks 6 "BB" 1 "SS", and 1 WFC

It's More like, Target gets as much as they want (or Hasbro sends as much as they want...if you want to go the other way), and we are seeing in stores 6 "BB", 1 "SS", and 1 "WFC" , when the quantities should be at least enough to meet demand, which it is clearly lacking in.

I understand during the late run of TR pegs were overrun with Generations toys not selling, and Target doesn't want to lose money putting them on clearance. PotP struck a pretty good balance, even when wave 2 ran short, Hasbro produced more to meet the demand, and I praised them up and down for doing so at the time. Now... I have no idea what's going on. We always circle back to the pandemic, but if the pandemic was causing a shortage, that would affect every Transformers Product right? not just certain sub-lines.

O. Supreme, what I think you are missing is that you seeing 6 to 1 to 1 between Bee WFC and SS does not really mean anything on whether demand is being met because it is a very small part of the overall picture and none of us really know the exact reason for the disparity.

However, Target is the sole carrier of the Buzzworthy Bee line, so they end up getting 100% of the figures produced. It would make the most sense to do the entire shipment in 1 production run and deliver them all at the same time. It also generally wouldn't make sense for it to affect how much they order of the main lines, as the SS deluxes are the only product it would be in direct competition with.

For WFC and SS, they are one of many that get to receive them, so their portion from Hasbro logically would be smaller, but over more installments.

As for seeing a 6 to 1 to 1 ratio on the shelves, there is a potentially simple reason for that as well. If the Bee items shelfwarming in your location just aren't selling, but the other lines are, and you have seen that 6 to 1 to 1 ratio 3 or 4 different times with WFC or SS selling quickly and Bee not moving, then you aren't really seeing a 6 to 1 to 1 ratio. The Bee items are the same ones put out originally while the other 2 lines have been re-stocked, likely from having more come in. That 6 to 1 to 1 ratio is now more like a 6 to 4 to 4 ratio. Depending on how long until the next installment of Buzzworthy Bee items shows up, the main lines could easily catch up or even pull ahead by then.

This actually does somewhat match up with what I am seeing in my area. Most of the bee stuff took a little while to move, but was never restocked, except for once with the SS deluxes. Giant 1 step Bee and the core Bee with Spike are the 2 exceptions and haven't sold in my stores either, but also haven't been restocked with more being added. The main lines have been restocked about 4 times since the Buzzworthy Bee stuff first appeared.

Now, I definitely agree distribution from the viewpoint of being able to see products on shelves is still off. But I also think that just isn't as important to the stores themselves today as a direct result of the pandemic. Keep in mind there was a large shift to online ordering and curbside pick-up. Staff that normally would work on stocking all areas were re-deployed to meet this change, and as Walmart and Target both killed it last year at a time where keeping toys on the shelves had basically zero priority. It could be that they both came to the conclusion that its simply more profitable to sell more of their share online than in stores and the result is what we are seeing.

o.supreme wrote:Either Target is ordering more Buzzworthy than other TF lines, or Hasbro is providing more Buzzworthy product to Target, than they are of their other TF lines.

Target can't order more of the line, they are the sole retailer, so they get all the product that Hasbro deemed for US allocation.
And yes, I think Target is getting more Buzzworthy wave 1 toys than, say, Kingdome Wave 2 toys for similar classes. Just like Target probably got more Thrusts than the Quintesson figures in Earthrise. That only makes sense since they are the exclusive provider of one and not the other. But I don't see how that's any kind of problem or impacts any other line. It just means you get some toys on your shelves instead of the it being constantly empty.

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Either Target is ordering more Buzzworthy than other TF lines, or Hasbro is providing more Buzzworthy product to Target, than they are of their other TF lines.

Target can't order more of the line, they are the sole retailer, so they get all the product that Hasbro deemed for US allocation.
And yes, I think Target is getting more Buzzworthy wave 1 toys than, say, Kingdome Wave 2 toys for similar classes. Just like Target probably got more Thrusts than the Quintesson figures in Earthrise. That only makes sense since they are the exclusive provider of one and not the other. But I don't see how that's any kind of problem or impacts any other line. It just means you get some toys on your shelves instead of the it being constantly empty.

I think the problem comes from the frustration of not being able to find what he wants in store.

ZeroWolf wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Either Target is ordering more Buzzworthy than other TF lines, or Hasbro is providing more Buzzworthy product to Target, than they are of their other TF lines.

Target can't order more of the line, they are the sole retailer, so they get all the product that Hasbro deemed for US allocation.
And yes, I think Target is getting more Buzzworthy wave 1 toys than, say, Kingdome Wave 2 toys for similar classes. Just like Target probably got more Thrusts than the Quintesson figures in Earthrise. That only makes sense since they are the exclusive provider of one and not the other. But I don't see how that's any kind of problem or impacts any other line. It just means you get some toys on your shelves instead of the it being constantly empty.

I think the problem comes from the frustration of not being able to find what he wants in store.

He's been harping about that for as long as I have known him. And the situation won't change. Buzzworthy line has nothing to do with it though.

william-james88 wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Either Target is ordering more Buzzworthy than other TF lines, or Hasbro is providing more Buzzworthy product to Target, than they are of their other TF lines.

Target can't order more of the line, they are the sole retailer, so they get all the product that Hasbro deemed for US allocation.
And yes, I think Target is getting more Buzzworthy wave 1 toys than, say, Kingdome Wave 2 toys for similar classes. Just like Target probably got more Thrusts than the Quintesson figures in Earthrise. That only makes sense since they are the exclusive provider of one and not the other. But I don't see how that's any kind of problem or impacts any other line. It just means you get some toys on your shelves instead of the it being constantly empty.

I think the problem comes from the frustration of not being able to find what he wants in store.

He's been harping about that for as long as I have known him. And the situation won't change. Buzzworthy line has nothing to do with it though.

Oh I know that, it's the way the world is going. He should try being in a different country

ZeroWolf wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

o.supreme wrote:Either Target is ordering more Buzzworthy than other TF lines, or Hasbro is providing more Buzzworthy product to Target, than they are of their other TF lines.

Target can't order more of the line, they are the sole retailer, so they get all the product that Hasbro deemed for US allocation.
And yes, I think Target is getting more Buzzworthy wave 1 toys than, say, Kingdome Wave 2 toys for similar classes. Just like Target probably got more Thrusts than the Quintesson figures in Earthrise. That only makes sense since they are the exclusive provider of one and not the other. But I don't see how that's any kind of problem or impacts any other line. It just means you get some toys on your shelves instead of the it being constantly empty.

I think the problem comes from the frustration of not being able to find what he wants in store.

He's been harping about that for as long as I have known him. And the situation won't change. Buzzworthy line has nothing to do with it though.

Oh I know that, it's the way the world is going. He should try being in a different country

I was talking to someone who it 10 years older than me and would ask for transformers for his birthday and christmas when he was a kid. he said his parents would always give him the unpopular ones, like Kup, since the others were sold out. So he'd end up with the B list characters. The popular stuff would sell faster than the less popular stuff, tale as old as time. Same thing now. But at least, we now have the internet if we can't find it in stores. Like I said, my stores usually stock well but even I had to go online the past couple of years for toys I simply never found either at Walmart or Toysrus. And it was always mainline toys. But I have all the toys I want right now, so no complaints from me. Aside from that damn Weirdwolf mold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TF-fan kev777 wrote:Giant 1 step Bee and the core Bee with Spike are the 2 exceptions and haven't sold in my stores either, but also haven't been restocked with more being added.

Those seem to have been overproduced for sure, I can definitely agree with that. But I don't think that matters. Hasbro has said in the past that they want to have more affordable versions of popular characters available for any parent (that was their reasoning for the core class g1 characters). I guess that's where both bumblebees come into play. The idea behind those bumblebees, if I were to infer from what hasbro said in the past, is simply to have that character on the shelf all the time. Like all those random batman toys that you still see on the shelves. I don't see disparity in it. It's not meant for us, it's meant for any kid's birthday or whatever and it shows that Transformers have reached the point where Bumblebee is as much of a fixture of childhood as Batman.

By the way, I will be moving this conversation to the Bumblebee thread tonight. You can respond to this message here if you need to , no worries.

william-james88 wrote:

TF-fan kev777 wrote:Giant 1 step Bee and the core Bee with Spike are the 2 exceptions and haven't sold in my stores either, but also haven't been restocked with more being added.

Those seem to have been overproduced for sure, I can definitely agree with that. But I don't think that matters. Hasbro has said in the past that they want to have more affordable versions of popular characters available for any parent (that was their reasoning for the core class g1 characters). I guess that's where both bumblebees come into play. The idea behind those bumblebees, if I were to infer from what hasbro said in the past, is simply to have that character on the shelf all the time. Like all those random batman toys that you still see on the shelves. I don't see disparity in it. It's not meant for us, it's meant for any kid's birthday or whatever and it shows that Transformers have reached the point where Bumblebee is as much of a fixture of childhood as Batman.

By the way, I will be moving this conversation to the Bumblebee thread tonight. You can respond to this message here if you need to , no worries.

I'm responding here as it is less about Bumblebee and more about, well, just everything. Honestly, none of it is 'meant for us' with the 'us' being adult collectors. It's meant to be sold, regardless of who buys it, and the primary market for toys are kids and parents of said kids. If you have kids, then it is meant for you to give to your kids and not for yourself. Adult collectors are icing on the profit cake. The fact that they still appeal to us has nothing to do with the business side of these things and I think a lot of people forget that these are being manufactured as a business and not out of some love for the franchise. The people who work on the product may love the franchise, but ultimately Hasbro the corporation is what dictates things and they only love money.

william-james88 wrote:

TF-fan kev777 wrote:Giant 1 step Bee and the core Bee with Spike are the 2 exceptions and haven't sold in my stores either, but also haven't been restocked with more being added.

Those seem to have been overproduced for sure, I can definitely agree with that. But I don't think that matters. Hasbro has said in the past that they want to have more affordable versions of popular characters available for any parent (that was their reasoning for the core class g1 characters). I guess that's where both bumblebees come into play. The idea behind those bumblebees, if I were to infer from what hasbro said in the past, is simply to have that character on the shelf all the time. Like all those random batman toys that you still see on the shelves. I don't see disparity in it. It's not meant for us, it's meant for any kid's birthday or whatever and it shows that Transformers have reached the point where Bumblebee is as much of a fixture of childhood as Batman.

By the way, I will be moving this conversation to the Bumblebee thread tonight. You can respond to this message here if you need to , no worries.

Honestly, if Bee has to be on the shelves at all times, then this is a perfect way to do that without having to eat up slots in WFC or SS. I would much rather corporate mandates like that are handled in this way then letting them overrule the normal planning and layout for the main lines.

Reading people from the US complaining about Transformers distribution in stores not being quite the way they want it to be is always funny in a strange way when you live in a country where there's practically never any Transformers on shelves, and if there are it's a single wave from a single line each year.

Not saying you can't complain, of course, I understand why it bothers you.

To continue the discussion, here is an example of what I am taking about and it goes with what TF Kev was saying too. While my Walmarts have items on the shelves, most of it is nothing any of us want want right now, since it's mainly all stuff that has been there for months. The only Kingdom left are the core class figures which also happen to be a class not available to purchase online from Walmart. Wave 1 deluxes never made it, and I have yet to find Magnus. The new toys which are available are the Netflix deluxes which in Canada were not available online. So all that stock is in the store. No new SS of any kind found either. Whatever is popular gets grabbed, same as it's always been.

Pics from 2 walmarts

What will be interesting will be to see what happens at Walmart in the US with Kingdom wave 3. They have not put any of wave 3 up for pre-order. Similarly, Target has not sold out of their pre-orders for most of the wave either.

So if some of the lack of stock we are seeing in stores right now is a result of online orders leaving less stock for the actual stores, wave 3 might reverse that.

I went to one to the nicer outlying walmarts about 3 weeks ago, they didn't have much, but they got a TON of the new Core Class, must have been at least 20 of the new Megatron & Starscream on the pegs, along with some leftover from wave 1. I went back there last week, and surprisingly they were all Gone.

But just to keep things real, the below picture was taken at my closest walmart Tuesday. For the past several years, I have always endeavored to straighten up the TF section in every store I go in. This time I just said...forget it, if they don't care, why should I? My apologies, it's probably just one contributing factor to my foul mood lately. Hopefully i'll get out of this funk soon.

o.supreme wrote:I went to one to the nicer outlying walmarts about 3 weeks ago, they didn't have much, but they got a TON of the new Core Class, must have been at least 20 of the new Megatron & Starscream on the pegs, along with some leftover from wave 1. I went back there last week, and surprisingly they were all Gone.

But just to keep things real, the below picture was taken at my closest walmart Tuesday. For the past several years, I have always endeavored to straighten up the TF section in every store I go in. This time I just said...forget it, if they don't care, why should I? My apologies, it's probably just one contributing factor to my foul mood lately. Hopefully i'll get out of this funk soon.

There's some good toys on those shelves. I have never ever seen SS Blurr in stores, I'm surprised he's still available at your store. And you have a nice offering of Power Rangers figures, I had to order those online. They are a pretty good deal; decently articulated at the same size of Marvel legends figures but one third the price. Plus you still have cyberverse deluxe Bee and Prime, two toys I have not seen in a long time. They were sold out a while back leaving my shelves filled with Shockwave and Megatron.

I can't speak to any non TF toy lines. All I really collect is WFC at this point, and you can see, there really isn't much to speak of. I'm glad you are impressed by old Cyberverse TF's, but the reason they are there is because nobody in this area wants them. Blurr is the shelfwarmer of SS86 (if there is one), as is Arcee for Kingdom wave 2. I can guaranty, when they do eventually disappear, it will be long before those Cyberverse do though. Oh also, I have seen plenty of RED figures, but of course I'm not into those, but also no retro Headmasters to speak of so....who knows what's going on? I thought it was hilarious just one sparkless bot was there also. I've seen sufficient amounts of Netflix wave 3 at other stores, but usually they get whole assortments, I have no idea where that one toy came from, since there were no tags at this store for them, probably a return form another store.

Emerje wrote:

william-james88 wrote:And you have a nice offering of Power Rangers figures, I had to order those online.

If they didn't have those in stock then they wouldn't have a PR section. Walmart basically cut the line down to strictly action figures and role play and sometime those big 10" soap bottle Zords. They entirely skipped the combining Beast Morphers Zords and will probably do the same with Dino Fury. They did get the "Buildable" Dino Zords, but retailers will always prioritize MMPR.

Emerje

My Walmart indeed does not have a PR section. The last zords I ever saw at Walmart were the ones for Ninja Steel. They do, however, have the Walmart exclusive retro figures which is the MMPR ones that have a head flip gimmick. And they got these for some reason:



Anyways, someone on a TF facebook page I follow posted what their TF section at Walmart and Target looked like and in terms of new stuff, I have to say, you Americans might have it the best of all of us (if your store looks like this). Please note the fact that the Buzzworthy Bee stuff by no means makes it impossible to have other new toys on the shelf.

That 2nd pic from a Target does look nice. I have no idea where it's at, but ok. I never said having Buzzworhty made it impossible for other toys, just curious as to why all the Target's in my area have IT, and very little else. Just remove all the Kingdom and SS from that 2nd pic, and that's what ALL the Target's in my area look like.

Man my Walmart looked NOICE today!



Grabbed another Weirdwolf to replace my broken one.

oh wow, Inferno! That is like Bigfoot in my area. Only Legends, no confirmed sightings .

This was a bigger walmart in my area 2 days ago. It appears pretty well stocked, but again what is missing? No Kingdom (other than core class), no Netlfix (although I've seen sufficient amounts at this store previously), and definitely no Headmasters. They just don't seem to exist in my area, as this is what most of the stores look like.

Also this specific store must be running some sort of pilot program. It is probably the 3rd biggest store in my area, but is in an area where a lot of theft occurs. They have more items on lockdown than any other. Every couple minutes you hear someone over the intercom asking for an item to be unlocked. Even high-priced men's underwear is under lockup (no joke!). They have virtually eliminated manned checkstands, and everything is self checkout. But everyone is herded into one big line (kind of like what Fry's used to do), then you are signaled to a specific self-checkout. They have redesigned the store so basically you can't get out without going through this area. So needless to say, anyone just browsing, and not purchasing anything (often I walk out without making any purchases), is given suspicious looks by numerous employees as you navigate a gauntlet of obstacles just to get out.

This was also the store that a couple years back actually bent all the Vintage Optimus Prime packaging in order to physically attach anti-theft devices to the shelving.