The Energon Pub

[Till-all-R1]

Looks like a nice set and I'm glad they're in bot form already!

Hasbro's reissue methodology is odd to say the least, they don't seem to get the idea of letting people actually build up to wanting to see it out again for certain characters like Arcee for example by releasing them back to back when the earlier version is still plentiful. While others like Sunstreaker take rather long hiatus. I mean they didn't even allow Siege Mirage or Sideswipe much shelf time before their Kingdom 2-pk release, granted they were different molds.

[sol magnus]

Haven't heard anything about Hasbro Pulse shipping out or even charging people for this set yet.

Oh, so we Canucks are the early birds!

Also on Minerva apparently!

[william-james88]

Haven't heard anything about Hasbro Pulse shipping out or even charging people for this set yet.

Oh, so we Canucks are the early birds!

Also on Minerva apparently!

Yup, we always get those Walgreens exclusives early since gamestop has a year round dedicated area, unlike Walgreens which waits for the holiday season to put it up (if ever they do).

I saw Minerva in store but I dodn't get it. Don't have any attachment to the character and it feels like one of those "redecos with a different head" placeholders that I thought we were past.

[chuckdawg1999]

Did somebody say Minerva?

[o.supreme]

Did somebody say Minerva?

Never heard of Toy Arena before but egads! $50.00 USD (It was out of stock by the way, so apparently several people were that crazy). I can definitely wait. My Walgreens had pretty nice toy sections year round from 2017-2020. In 2021 they became barren, and now we know why:



I wouldn't be surprised if Minerva ends up at another retailer here in the United States, otherwise it will likely be like Kingdom Red Alert last year. It will show up on Pulse and sell out in a couple of hours, then randomly show up on Walgreens website without fanfare. Kingdom Red Alert is still available last I checked just FYI...

https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/trans ... 60-product

[Emerje]

Did somebody say Minerva?

Never heard of Toy Arena before but egads! $50.00 USD (It was out of stock by the way, so apparently several people were that crazy). I can definitely wait. My Walgreens had pretty nice toy sections year round from 2017-2020. In 2021 they became barren, and now we know why:



I wouldn't be surprised if Minerva ends up at another retailer here in the United States, otherwise it will likely be like Kingdom Red Alert last year. It will show up on Pulse and sell out in a couple of hours, then randomly show up on Walgreens website without fanfare. Kingdom Red Alert is still available last I checked just FYI...

https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/trans ... 60-product

Scott made that video with some personal bias and didn't factor in current events at all. The more likely answer isn't because his friend doesn't work there anymore and therefore Walgreens doesn't care, but because there's still massive supply chain delays keeping the figures from being made quickly, shipping delays causing the figures to miss their release window, and, you know, a global pandemic. When I commented on this his reply was "there's still a pandemic?" Yes, Scott, it didn't just magically go away one day, there's still hundreds of Americans dying every day from it.

Hasbro can't even get us a new Leader in wave 1 of Evolution in 2023, of course other figures are going to be delayed as well.

Emerje

[o.supreme]

Scott made that video with some personal bias and didn't factor in current events at all. The more likely answer isn't because his friend doesn't work there anymore and therefore Walgreens doesn't care, but because there's still massive supply chain delays keeping the figures from being made quickly, shipping delays causing the figures to miss their release window, and, you know, a global pandemic. When I commented on this his reply was "there's still a pandemic?" Yes, Scott, it didn't just magically go away one day, there's still hundreds of Americans dying every day from it.

Hasbro can't even get us a new Leader in wave 1 of Evolution in 2023, of course other figures are going to be delayed as well.

Emerje

I will agree that I'm sure there was some bias when Scott made that video. However it's hard to ignore the evidence I see around me. I have 3 Walgreens that I can hit that are less than 5 minutes drive from where I live. I was able to find past exclusives at at least 2 out of 3 of those stores until 2021. Several more if I wanted to drive further. What I'm seeing is not a supply chain issue. I'm seeing Walgreens toy section virtually disappear (except for the afore mentioned holiday season), which even then is filled with cheap kids toys, no longer collector exclusives from Funko, Hasbro, or Mattel. Before the holidays this year Walgreens toy aisle looked exactly like CVS and Rite Aid, with toy sections basically no better than your average dollar store, and after the holidays going into 2023 it will again be so.

While things aren't perfect, Target and Walmart are looking better then they have in over a year in terms of toys. Again I can't say for sure, but I would be shocked...utterly shocked if Minerva is found in store at a U.S. Walgreens this season (that also was not an online return).

As for the pandemic. Yeah my family and I are still taking precautions, because of common sense. But then you have things like this:

[Emerje]

I won't go as far as saying Minerva will definitely be in stores, but I wouldn't call anything we've seen in the past couple years proof of anything. The toy section looking the way it does could be simply a matter of that being the easiest stuff to get. Walmart and Target were terrible until they they got their own ships and brought things over themselves, Walgreens isn't going to do that for toys.

Emerje

[sol magnus]

To the point of Scott's video - which I commented on.



Got to 1:38 if you don't want to watch the entire review.

[o.supreme]

That really doesn't prove anything though. That looks more like poor distribution than anything else. Those Marvel Legends had likely been sitting there for months, not "restocked" as the video maker claimed. It's kind of like those Target exclusive Decepticon Clone ER rereleased from TR. A few Targets got like 30 of them, and the majority of stores got none.

Also, not all exclusives are themselves in high demand. The TR clone 2 pack was readily available at Walgreens in my area for well over a year in 2017/2018 . They may have restocked once or twice, but if you start out with 3, that means you only moved 9 of those in a whole year. Now if everyone Walgreens store had them, that would actually not be too bad, but as noted, not every store did.

[sol magnus]

That really doesn't prove anything though. That looks more like poor distribution than anything else. Those Marvel Legends had likely been sitting there for months, not "restocked" as the video maker claimed. It's kind of like those Target exclusive Decepticon Clone ER rereleased from TR. A few Targets got like 30 of them, and the majority of stores got none.

It does prove that they were in stores, which makes it apparent that he simply can't find them in North Carolina. And they weren't 'there for months', I bought one a few weeks before that video and then they ended up with all the Quasars AND the restock of Binary. They are, for the most still there months later. As stated in the video, this Walgreens is around the corner from my house. And I'm the maker.

It's anecdotal, yes. But so was his claim. Which this refutes.

[Emerje]

Yes, I saw exactly one Quasar at Walgreens one time and I wasn't even looking for toys (I had gotten my Red Alert from Pulse), it just caught my eye, I didn't know it was an exclusive until Scott's video. Walgreens doesn't handle toys the same way as department stores, instead of whole cases they get a selection from the warehouse so not finding an exclusive could mean anything from them never showing up to each store only getting one and they all sold out fast. We can guess that Red Alert was a victim to shipping delays as the figure didn't show up in stores (though I thought one was recently found, maybe I imagined that), had a very limited release online in December (perhaps from the same shipment as Pulse), and now nearly a year later is easily obtained online again. That is a very clear sign that Walgreens had no ill intent or a sudden lack of interest in selling them in stores, they clearly didn't have them to sell in the first place and it's time for other things to be in stores.

Emerje

[chuckdawg1999]

I can't remember if it was here or on another site but somebody explained the Walgreens distribution. Basically, stores in an area get milk crates of goods, take what sells at their store, and leave what doesn't. The containers are then passed on to the next store in order of sales volume. If you don't see an item at your Walgreens it probably doesn't sell.

[william-james88]

Yes, I saw exactly one Quasar at Walgreens one time and I wasn't even looking for toys (I had gotten my Red Alert from Pulse), it just caught my eye, I didn't know it was an exclusive until Scott's video. Walgreens doesn't handle toys the same way as department stores, instead of whole cases they get a selection from the warehouse so not finding an exclusive could mean anything from them never showing up to each store only getting one and they all sold out fast. We can guess that Red Alert was a victim to shipping delays as the figure didn't show up in stores (though I thought one was recently found, maybe I imagined that), had a very limited release online in December (perhaps from the same shipment as Pulse), and now nearly a year later is easily obtained online again. That is a very clear sign that Walgreens had no ill intent or a sudden lack of interest in selling them in stores, they clearly didn't have them to sell in the first place and it's time for other things to be in stores.

Emerje

They did have them to sell on time, but their whole toy business model may have been in dissaray. Hasbro was able to get these from asia to north america in time. That's why they were found at Canadian retail in June https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... le%20times).

And that's the same time Canada got all the previous walgreens exclusives, and in the meantime in the states they sit in Walgreens warehouses waiting for the holiday season to be distributed to stores.

So Walgreens did have them. BUT what we don't know is if due to not having other toys, they chose to do things differently that year with their holiday shopping options.

[Overcracker]

Wasn’t expecting this guy out so soon.

Emgo got his hands on a Legacy Leader class Transmetal 2 Megatron.

[william-james88]

We thank Cyberbishop for letting us know that Legacy wave 3 core class Bomburst was found in the US. He found his at Target in Covington Louisiana. We have some video reviews below if you want to check those out first before buying it.

Found this at a Target in Covington Louisiana

[william-james88]

We have a video review of Scraphook now available. It shows all the accessories he comes he, along with the various parts that can be detached. As a bonus, we get to see shots of Needlenose as well and how Scraphook can combine with him. The video comes from prime vs Prime.

[william-james88]

Wasn’t expecting this guy out so soon.

Emgo got his hands on a Legacy Leader class Transmetal 2 Megatron.

He's been out in Asia for a couple weeks

[-Kanrabat-]

The transformation of TM² Megatron is a bit more involved than expected. I have one nitpick for the bot mode. That giant back panel-kibble just hanging there. It's unsightly and I'm sure with some extra hinged, it could have been folded neatly on his back. Appart that detail, he's pretty damn nice.

Now, for my Amazon preorder to be fulfilled...

[sol magnus]

We thank Cyberbishop for letting us know that Legacy wave 3 core class Bomburst was found in the US. He found his at Target in Covington Louisiana. We have some video reviews below if you want to check those out first before buying it.

Found this at a Target in Covington Louisiana

I got him like Friday in Target. LOL

[Emerje]

Yes, I saw exactly one Quasar at Walgreens one time and I wasn't even looking for toys (I had gotten my Red Alert from Pulse), it just caught my eye, I didn't know it was an exclusive until Scott's video. Walgreens doesn't handle toys the same way as department stores, instead of whole cases they get a selection from the warehouse so not finding an exclusive could mean anything from them never showing up to each store only getting one and they all sold out fast. We can guess that Red Alert was a victim to shipping delays as the figure didn't show up in stores (though I thought one was recently found, maybe I imagined that), had a very limited release online in December (perhaps from the same shipment as Pulse), and now nearly a year later is easily obtained online again. That is a very clear sign that Walgreens had no ill intent or a sudden lack of interest in selling them in stores, they clearly didn't have them to sell in the first place and it's time for other things to be in stores.

Emerje

They did have them to sell on time, but their whole toy business model may have been in dissaray. Hasbro was able to get these from asia to north america in time. That's why they were found at Canadian retail in June https://www.seibertron.com/transformers ... le%20times).

And that's the same time Canada got all the previous walgreens exclusives, and in the meantime in the states they sit in Walgreens warehouses waiting for the holiday season to be distributed to stores.

So Walgreens did have them. BUT what we don't know is if due to not having other toys, they chose to do things differently that year with their holiday shopping options.

I'm not convinced. Pulse and EB Games had them in the summer and Walgreens.com had small amount in December, sure, but I have a hard time believing Walgreens simply forgot they had them in the warehouse in November when they normally start showing up in stores or didn't care to put them in stores while still stocking other exclusives from Hasbro plus I believe they had some exclusive Pops and a few other things in stores.

Not everything comes in one shipment, especially now when everything is still backed up and things are often shipped as space is found, not necessarily everything all at once. Does Hasbro ship to Canada by land across the boarder or do they ship by boat to Canadian ports? I'm guessing the latter. Just because Canada got their entire lot they were able to move them off the wharf into warehouses in a timely manner and Pulse got their 5% on time and Walgreens got enough to put what felt like another 5% on Walgreens.com from their website's warehouse doesn't mean they got the entirety of their stock all at once. To me it seems more likely that they had crates full of Red Alerts that were sitting on a dock somewhere until months later, at which point it wasn't a priority and sat in their warehouse until they recently decided to do something about it.

If Minerva doesn't show up in Walgreens stores I still wouldn't call that undeniable proof that they don't care about exclusives, we're still suffering from various delays. Most of us still haven't seen Legacy Deluxe Wave 2 or Core wave 2 in stores and it's almost November! Things will likely be better next year, that should give us a better idea of what's going on (unless someone at Walgreens comes along and actually tells us).

Emerje

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

On the subject of distribution woes... if you're in North America and especially the US then many of your anger bricks over that should be chucked at the big railroad companies, especially Union Pacific and BNSF (who bring stuff in from the western ports), for being so addicted to cost-cutting that it's made them inefficient at actually shipping goods.




Been appreciating Skids

[william-james88]

I got him like Friday in Target. LOL

What do you try to accomplish with posts like this?

[william-james88]

Pulse and EB Games had them in the summer and Walgreens.com had small amount in December, sure, but I have a hard time believing Walgreens simply forgot they had them in the warehouse in November when they normally start showing up in stores or didn't care to put them in stores while still stocking other exclusives from Hasbro plus I believe they had some exclusive Pops and a few other things in stores.

Not everything comes in one shipment, especially now when everything is still backed up and things are often shipped as space is found, not necessarily everything all at once. Does Hasbro ship to Canada by land across the boarder or do they ship by boat to Canadian ports? I'm guessing the latter. Just because Canada got their entire lot they were able to move them off the wharf into warehouses in a timely manner and Pulse got their 5% on time and Walgreens got enough to put what felt like another 5% on Walgreens.com from their website's warehouse doesn't mean they got the entirety of their stock all at once.

Pulse can only sell their 5% if Walgreens has their shipment as well. The fact that they didn't restock later means it all came at once, for all of US distribution. They came through the ports at the same time. He was sold in solid assortments and a crate would have only him, in the thousands. So yes, his primary shipment for Pulse and Walgreens was from the same shipment. Whatever happened was on Walgreen's end, that is 100% guarantee. It was not the shipping. What we have to wonder now though is if Walgreens didn't place him in stores because they had to rethink their distribution due to other products not coming in on time and thus the seasonal rearrangement of stores not being worth it and just relying on online retail.

[sol magnus]

I got him like Friday in Target. LOL

What do you try to accomplish with posts like this?

Mostly I forgot to let you guys know? The other part is it's probably more widesoread than just a sighting.