Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

william-james88 wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Seibertron wrote:While this doesn't necessarily mean distribution will be good, it does raise the possibility to happen! This could be good news for those on the lookout for Novastar, as well as possibly lending credence to the idea that Hasbro's new four-wave system does result in (at least marginally) better distribution.

I get that Hasbro is trying to get rid of the "end of line syndrome" by making the final wave or assortment of a line mostly of repacks from earlier so there is a better chance that every unique character gets on the shelves before stores stop ordering more product. However, how does putting in a sole new figure in the last wave help that figure get better distribution at all? It's still creating scarcity because of a hugely flawed distribution system, just for a smaller selection of figures now. Why not completely exclude new releases from the final assortments? This business with Firestar and, before her, Slugslinger, seems kind of half-assed and self-defeating.

I think there is some confusion as to the strategies being used to fix the end of line syndrome.

Its not making the final wave mostly repacks that is being referred to, its the strategy of having only 4. Regardless of the final wave beign repacks or all new figures, its the fact that there are 4 waves total and not 6 that really helps us here. When a line lasts longer than a year (so six waves), you lose the incentive of retailers ordering the last wave for 2 reasons:

1. they already have a bunch of stock from the same line they still have to sell
2. at 6 waves, the line isnt new anymore and retailers live off the idea that new stuff sells better (and that media backed stuff sells more, but thats another story)

So by reducing it to a yearly thing, retailers can order all 4 waves, not dreading the idea of beign stuck with last year's line still on the shelves and not selling, plus they are less likely to have overstock from previous wave build up.

So I am pretty sure thats what Seibertron was referring to with the strategy currently being used to help the distriution issues they are reading about.

All I know is that it's September and I've barely seen anything from Wave 2 in any of the local stores. I've ordered all the figures I want from Waves 3 and 4 (and part of Wave 2) online; we're far enough past the halfway point of the year that, if I haven't seen even half of what's supposed to be in stores this year, I figure all bets are off.

Glarryg

I'm pleasantly surprised Novastar was so easy to obtain on Amazon.com. The Ideal thing Hasbro should have done was make wave 4 cases 4x Novastar, 2x Moonracer and 2xBlackwing (the only ones from wave 2 that were singles).

But instead it looks like it's 2x Novastar, 2x Blackwing, and - 2x Rippersnapper and Slag (which were already prominently featured in waves 1 & 2). But oh well, such is life. I did manage to see last years TR Slugslinger in stores at least, which was better than wave 5 that didn't appear barely at all, and certainly nowhere near me. We still received no official explanation from Hasbro as to what happened. Why they were never available on HTS etc... I have a theory because they did have placeholders on TRU.com for a short time, but then went away. My guess is that some really poor decision was made to *mothball* (for lack of better term) wave 5 toys bound for TRU, and just push ahead with PotP. Which is why we are seeing these show up at Ollie's now, for those fortunate enough to live near one.

But anyway, I digress. one other thing. I'm starting to visit Walgreen's again, when I have a chance, casually before or after work on my commute. PotP Wreck-Gar's I've noticed are starting to show up on eBay, with a couple are US sellers, so while no official sighting has been reported yet, I have a feeling he may be out there soon, if not already.

What do people think of the Star Saber as a sword for Volcanicus?

Glarryg wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Seibertron wrote:While this doesn't necessarily mean distribution will be good, it does raise the possibility to happen! This could be good news for those on the lookout for Novastar, as well as possibly lending credence to the idea that Hasbro's new four-wave system does result in (at least marginally) better distribution.

I get that Hasbro is trying to get rid of the "end of line syndrome" by making the final wave or assortment of a line mostly of repacks from earlier so there is a better chance that every unique character gets on the shelves before stores stop ordering more product. However, how does putting in a sole new figure in the last wave help that figure get better distribution at all? It's still creating scarcity because of a hugely flawed distribution system, just for a smaller selection of figures now. Why not completely exclude new releases from the final assortments? This business with Firestar and, before her, Slugslinger, seems kind of half-assed and self-defeating.

I think there is some confusion as to the strategies being used to fix the end of line syndrome.

Its not making the final wave mostly repacks that is being referred to, its the strategy of having only 4. Regardless of the final wave beign repacks or all new figures, its the fact that there are 4 waves total and not 6 that really helps us here. When a line lasts longer than a year (so six waves), you lose the incentive of retailers ordering the last wave for 2 reasons:

1. they already have a bunch of stock from the same line they still have to sell
2. at 6 waves, the line isnt new anymore and retailers live off the idea that new stuff sells better (and that media backed stuff sells more, but thats another story)

So by reducing it to a yearly thing, retailers can order all 4 waves, not dreading the idea of beign stuck with last year's line still on the shelves and not selling, plus they are less likely to have overstock from previous wave build up.

So I am pretty sure thats what Seibertron was referring to with the strategy currently being used to help the distriution issues they are reading about.

All I know is that it's September and I've barely seen anything from Wave 2 in any of the local stores. I've ordered all the figures I want from Waves 3 and 4 (and part of Wave 2) online; we're far enough past the halfway point of the year that, if I haven't seen even half of what's supposed to be in stores this year, I figure all bets are off.

Glarryg

I never said anything about these being found in pysical stores, I only spoke about retailers buying them and making them available. Novastar being available on amazon is as good as anyone would hope in this day and age since even Amazon had skipped final waves in the past (TLK Cogman, RID Heatseeker, CW Skylynx). At least in this line, that first problem is officially solved. You forget how bad it was. It wasnt just that toys were not found in stores, its that nobody in the US could actually buy them from anywhere aside from e-bay sellers. To this day, no US retailer of any kind has ever stocked RID Legion Cyclonus and Heatseeker nor the final RID minicon weaponizers. Those have officially been skipped by the entire nation. That is not the case with POTP where you were able to get all these toys online at MSRP and we probably have this new 4 wave system to thank for it.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:
What do people think of the Star Saber as a sword for Volcanicus?

Not a bad idea! I think the Energon Saber would fit even better!

william-james88 wrote:

Glarryg wrote:

william-james88 wrote:

Wolfman Jake wrote:

Seibertron wrote:While this doesn't necessarily mean distribution will be good, it does raise the possibility to happen! This could be good news for those on the lookout for Novastar, as well as possibly lending credence to the idea that Hasbro's new four-wave system does result in (at least marginally) better distribution.

I get that Hasbro is trying to get rid of the "end of line syndrome" by making the final wave or assortment of a line mostly of repacks from earlier so there is a better chance that every unique character gets on the shelves before stores stop ordering more product. However, how does putting in a sole new figure in the last wave help that figure get better distribution at all? It's still creating scarcity because of a hugely flawed distribution system, just for a smaller selection of figures now. Why not completely exclude new releases from the final assortments? This business with Firestar and, before her, Slugslinger, seems kind of half-assed and self-defeating.

I think there is some confusion as to the strategies being used to fix the end of line syndrome.

Its not making the final wave mostly repacks that is being referred to, its the strategy of having only 4. Regardless of the final wave beign repacks or all new figures, its the fact that there are 4 waves total and not 6 that really helps us here. When a line lasts longer than a year (so six waves), you lose the incentive of retailers ordering the last wave for 2 reasons:

1. they already have a bunch of stock from the same line they still have to sell
2. at 6 waves, the line isnt new anymore and retailers live off the idea that new stuff sells better (and that media backed stuff sells more, but thats another story)

So by reducing it to a yearly thing, retailers can order all 4 waves, not dreading the idea of beign stuck with last year's line still on the shelves and not selling, plus they are less likely to have overstock from previous wave build up.

So I am pretty sure thats what Seibertron was referring to with the strategy currently being used to help the distriution issues they are reading about.

All I know is that it's September and I've barely seen anything from Wave 2 in any of the local stores. I've ordered all the figures I want from Waves 3 and 4 (and part of Wave 2) online; we're far enough past the halfway point of the year that, if I haven't seen even half of what's supposed to be in stores this year, I figure all bets are off.

Glarryg

I never said anything about these being found in pysical stores, I only spoke about retailers buying them and making them available. Novastar being available on amazon is as good as anyone would hope in this day and age since even Amazon had skipped final waves in the past (TLK Cogman, RID Heatseeker, CW Skylynx). At least in this line, that first problem is officially solved. You forget how bad it was. It wasnt just that toys were not found in stores, its that nobody in the US could actually buy them from anywhere aside from e-bay sellers. To this day, no US retailer of any kind has ever stocked RID Legion Cyclonus and Heatseeker nor the final RID minicon weaponizers. Those have officially been skipped by the entire nation. That is not the case with POTP where you were able to get all these toys online at MSRP and we probably have this new 4 wave system to thank for it.

It's still a weird risk for Hasbro to distribute Firestar as the ONLY new deluxe figure in the line for the final wave. For the other size classes, they're not doing that at all. Either they don't have a Wave 4, or it's just entirely repacks. They could have moved the Jazz repack to Wave 4 and put Firestar in Wave 3 instead. They did this too with Slugslinger at the end of Titans Return for no real discernible reason. If big box retailers don't care what's in the assortment, then Hasbro shouldn't fear having the final waves be all repacks. If it's a big deal to smaller/niche stores, then if they are paying closer attention to character packout, they can just skip the final wave and leave more for the big box stores hungry for inventory over the holidays.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:
What do people think of the Star Saber as a sword for Volcanicus?

Not a bad idea! I think the Energon Saber would fit even better!

Gonna break some house rules but if y'all remember FansProject not Convoy trailer? It came chromed weapons for the henkei releases. One of them was a bigass sword which fits perfectly for both Grimlock and Volcanicus.

Has Optimal Optimus been sighted at retail yet, especially in Canada? I'm getting some mixed info on the matter.

Skritz wrote:Has Optimal Optimus been sighted at retail yet, especially in Canada? I'm getting some mixed info on the matter.

He has been spotted in Canada. I don't think we have a US sighting yet

D-Maximal_Primal wrote:

Skritz wrote:Has Optimal Optimus been sighted at retail yet, especially in Canada? I'm getting some mixed info on the matter.

He has been spotted in Canada. I don't think we have a US sighting yet

correct

Rodimus Prime wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:-Image snipped-
What do people think of the Star Saber as a sword for Volcanicus?

Not a bad idea! I think the Energon Saber would fit even better!

I don't own the Energon Saber tho, just the Star Saber and Vorpal Saber (Hasbro version). Does the Energon Saber hold together any better? The Star Saber is a bit flimsy because of the short pegs on Jetstorm, especially the one that connects to Sonar.

As far as deluxe go, I’ve never seen anything in stores past POTP wave 1. I’ve even seen a few chains restock wave 1 as late as July. I’ve given up looking. It’s just so much easier to buy stuff from scalpers on eBay. No time wasted, no gas wasted, and you can get a figure in hand not long after it hits the pegs somewhere in the world.

1984forever wrote:As far as deluxe go, I’ve never seen anything in stores past POTP wave 1. I’ve even seen a few chains restock wave 1 as late as July. I’ve given up looking. It’s just so much easier to buy stuff from scalpers on eBay. No time wasted, no gas wasted, and you can get a figure in hand not long after it hits the pegs somewhere in the world.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just get a Prime account and stalk Amazon? Everything has appeared there at retail prices in good numbers with lots of restocking on most waves. The exception being Prime Masters, Amazon sells wave 2 and 3 itself at $10-$13+ each for some crazy reason. I've yet to find either wave in stores. Maybe I would have been better off getting them from HTS and paying the high shipping.

PotP is the first line that I've bought almost as many figures online as offline because of Walmart and Target being completely unreliable.

Emerje

I have the exact opposite issue. I would say the majority have been bought through B&M stores for me. Basically you need to know how to hunt your local area.

Brickseek has been spectacularly helpful for me. Here is the breakdown of where I first got each figure:

Target:
Wave 1 Prime Masters
Wave 1 Legends
Wave 1 Deluxes
Wave 1 Voyagers
Wave 1-2 Leaders

Meijer:
Wave 2 Prime Masters

Walmart:
Wave 2-4 Deluxes (except Moonracer)
Wave 2-3 Voyagers

HTS:
Wave 3 Prime Masters
Throne of the Primes
Wave 3 Legends

Amazon:
Wave 2 Legends
Moonracer
Grotusque
Blast Off
Punch/Counterpunch (on preorder obviously)
Nemesis Prime
Predaking


B&M: 28
Online: 15*

*11 not counting exclusives, 10 minus the never to be stocked Predaking

Taking out exclusives, the 28/39 figures were bought through B&M stores. That's 72% for me, 65% including the exclusives. That's a surprisingly strong ratio.

Target started strong but has since done little in the way of restocks in my area. They only have stocked wave 1 and 2. Walmart has been on point with Deluxes and Voyagers. Meijer is a crapshoot. Definitely have a good stock of things, but they don't cycle through the inventory fast enough. Heck, even Kroger has a decent selection of Legends and Deluxes. I first spotted Wave 2 Legends at Kroger.

How I hunted was using Brickseek for Target to determine when new shipments came in stock, then with Walmart used it to check inventory levels. If deluxes had 3 one day, then 11 the next, I went in. It worked every time. Sometimes I got there and the shipping boxes were just in the middle of the floor ready to put out. I also used camelcamelcamel for alerts on Amazon for figures I bought there. And HTS, for Throne, I was checking minutely that day (Aug 13th right?). Online has actually been harder for me because things were going in and out of stock so fast.

First Novastar sighting in the St. Louis area: Two of them here at Brentwood Walmart.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:-Image snipped-
What do people think of the Star Saber as a sword for Volcanicus?

Not a bad idea! I think the Energon Saber would fit even better!

I don't own the Energon Saber tho, just the Star Saber and Vorpal Saber (Hasbro version). Does the Energon Saber hold together any better? The Star Saber is a bit flimsy because of the short pegs on Jetstorm, especially the one that connects to Sonar.

The Energon Saber and its redecos aren't any better I'm afraid. I will say that fire- and ice-colors go really well with anything Dino

Patrickab7 wrote:First Novastar sighting in the St. Louis area: Two of them here at Brentwood Walmart.

Nice find! My Firestars got delivered this morning, right before I had to leave for work. I'm excited to open them up once I'm home.

Novastar got delivered today. Colors are great and the mold ain't to shabby either.

Novastar is the only PotP that I've "had" to order online. She hasn't popped up in my area yet. Outside of PM wave 3 (and OP/OP), I've seen every figure at retail, some more than others. I have ordered a few online, but it was more of a pad and order for free shipping situation.

I do travel a lot for work so my hunts are probably at a higher percentage than most.

This might just be a personal thing because I have no interest in Novastar, but for me it really stings that the US now has the only new figure in Wave 4, and yet we still don't have Optimal Optimus yet. This is ridiculous, is it really that hard to finish a wave before putting out the next one? Cause it shouldn't be.

...I just want my munky.

Novastar was a must-have for me -- if she hadn't shown up in my Walmart, I absolutely would've gone online. I like her colors a lot......but Moonracer has got DAT FACE

Nemesis Primal wrote:This might just be a personal thing because I have no interest in Novastar, but for me it really stings that the US now has the only new figure in Wave 4, and yet we still don't have Optimal Optimus yet. This is ridiculous, is it really that hard to finish a wave before putting out the next one? Cause it shouldn't be.

...I just want my munky.

Waves are not synched for all classes. And the US is the first place to get throne of the primes

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:-Image snipped-
What do people think of the Star Saber as a sword for Volcanicus?

Not a bad idea! I think the Energon Saber would fit even better!

I don't own the Energon Saber tho, just the Star Saber and Vorpal Saber (Hasbro version). Does the Energon Saber hold together any better? The Star Saber is a bit flimsy because of the short pegs on Jetstorm, especially the one that connects to Sonar.

The Energon Saber and its redecos aren't any better I'm afraid. I will say that fire- and ice-colors go really well with anything Dino

I disagree. My Energon Saber is sturdy and solid, it's never come apart since I've owned it. And that's been like what, 13 or 14 years? I do agree that Star Saber is kinda flimsy, but its redeco, Dark Saber, is also a solid piece.

As for Novastar, I found her 2 weeks ago at the Walmart I work at. There were 2 of her, I got one for myself and the other for someone else on this board. Haven't seen her since, anywhere. I do like her, she makes a good limb and she's a great figure on her own. Honestly all the G1 fembots could have used this mold, even Elita, instead of making her a torso.

Emerje wrote:

1984forever wrote:As far as deluxe go, I’ve never seen anything in stores past POTP wave 1. I’ve even seen a few chains restock wave 1 as late as July. I’ve given up looking. It’s just so much easier to buy stuff from scalpers on eBay. No time wasted, no gas wasted, and you can get a figure in hand not long after it hits the pegs somewhere in the world.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just get a Prime account and stalk Amazon? Everything has appeared there at retail prices in good numbers with lots of restocking on most waves. The exception being Prime Masters, Amazon sells wave 2 and 3 itself at $10-$13+ each for some crazy reason. I've yet to find either wave in stores. Maybe I would have been better off getting them from HTS and paying the high shipping.

PotP is the first line that I've bought almost as many figures online as offline because of Walmart and Target being completely unreliable.

Emerje

i believe it is cheaper i got rodimus unicronus for 45 with free shipping novastar is 16

Yes, waves are not synched by size class. The same thing was seen in Titans Return - I saw the later-wave Prime Masters, Legends, Deluxes, and Voyagers show up at stores, but never Sky Shadow or Overlord because the stupid Turbo Changer Dragonstorm from TLK was shelfwarming and crowding out the Generations Leader Class spot on the shelves.

Rodimus Prime wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:-Image snipped-
What do people think of the Star Saber as a sword for Volcanicus?

Not a bad idea! I think the Energon Saber would fit even better!

I don't own the Energon Saber tho, just the Star Saber and Vorpal Saber (Hasbro version). Does the Energon Saber hold together any better? The Star Saber is a bit flimsy because of the short pegs on Jetstorm, especially the one that connects to Sonar.

The Energon Saber and its redecos aren't any better I'm afraid. I will say that fire- and ice-colors go really well with anything Dino

I disagree. My Energon Saber is sturdy and solid, it's never come apart since I've owned it. And that's been like what, 13 or 14 years? I do agree that Star Saber is kinda flimsy, but its redeco, Dark Saber, is also a solid piece.

As for Novastar, I found her 2 weeks ago at the Walmart I work at. There were 2 of her, I got one for myself and the other for someone else on this board. Haven't seen her since, anywhere. I do like her, she makes a good limb and she's a great figure on her own. Honestly all the G1 fembots could have used this mold, even Elita, instead of making her a torso.

I think you might just be lucky with your sabers. I own both the Vorpal/Dark Saber and the Star Saber, and they both decombine just as easily because of the Jetstorm mold's short pegs. I was hoping that the retooled main body piece on the Energon Saber version would have a longer hilt connection peg, and that the protrusions added to the wings would lock into the hilt for better stability.

As for that mold working for all the female Autobots? Eh. For one thing, I would say Deluxe is too small for Elita - she's fairly close to Optimus height-wise though not quite as bulky - though at least in her original body she's some sort of car or truck rather than a jet (so I kinda wish they'd tried making her from Hot Spot instead of doing Inferno from Hot Spot.. Oh well). Speaking of trucks, Firestar was very definitely a truck (not a recolor of Moonracer's car mode), and looking at her animation model her transformation scheme is somewhat similar to Kup's. She might also be a bit big to be a deluxe, but it does work better for her than Elita. Now, Siege does make the mold work as Chromia, but that's with a lot of new parts. Whereas PotP Novastar is very blatantly "Recolored Moonracer with a new headsculpt". I still want her, but I would plan to either rebuild her or get and customize an extra TR Kup to transplant her head onto.