The Energon Pub

News Credits: 409 · Wed Dec 11, 2013 6:52 pm

I have been keeping my eye open everyday for Generations Scoop's preorder. He is the only figure in Wave 2 that I am interested in. But I was shocked to see that he is already sold out the day that the preorder went up. I was also surprised that the preorder went up only 1 month before the release. Is there an issue with product listings and distributions from Hasbro to online retailers? I have seen this happen a few times.

News Credits: 2 · Wed Dec 11, 2013 8:48 pm

I think it was just the initial rush, including but not isolated to, the scalpers. I wanted 3 out of the 4 in this wave so I went ahead and bought the set of 4 from BBTS together (6 bucks cheaper than getting all 4 individually so not too bad).

All 3 of the "desirable" ones were sold out on BBTS yesterday but now they're all back instock except for Scoop so I'm guessing more preorders will pop up for him soon enough once BBTS and the others secure more cases.

News Credits: 402 · Updated Oct 21, 2022

Scoop was the desirable one to be sure. He sold out I suspect within 6 hours of the preorder going live. BBTS then broke up some of their 4- and 8-packs to make more available at an inflated price, which is typical practice for BBTS, and Scoop sold out again real quick. IIRC at some point I think each individual figure sold out at least once; a testament to this wave's popularity.

Sorry you missed out this time Stormrider, just keep watching over the next couple days and it's possible they'll open up more stock.

News Credits: 409 · Wed Dec 11, 2013 11:26 pm

Thanks guys for the info. I am surprised Scoop is that popular.

Any speculation why the preorders are going up a month before the figure is being released? I am used to the preorders starting 6-8 months before the release date.

News Credits: 402 · Updated Oct 21, 2022

Stormrider wrote:Thanks guys for the info. I am surprised Scoop is that popular.

Any speculation why the preorders are going up a month before the figure is being released? I am used to the preorders starting 6-8 months before the release date.

Dunno. TFSource uses a distributor, which I guess Hasbro solicited to long before they solicited to BBTS and maybe other online stores? Maybe Hasbro believes that online stores with a direct account with them don't need as much lead time as brick and mortar store distributors? If so, then why was Whirl (and the accompanying Voyager pack) solicited a week earlier to apparently all sources simultaneously?

Long story short: I dunno, only Hasbro knows (and possible Joel of BBTS)

News Credits: 3 · Thu Dec 12, 2013 12:20 am

Don't fret because they'll be up on HTS, and then flooding the shelves just like OP/Megatron/Trailcutter/Hoist/Bumblebee/Thundercracker.

News Credits: 12 · Thu Dec 12, 2013 11:07 am

Because every collector wants it!

bvzxa wrote:Don't fret because they'll be up on HTS, and then flooding the shelves just like OP/Megatron/Trailcutter/Hoist/Bumblebee/Thundercracker.

Exactly. I preordered the entire first wave of OP/Megs/TB/BB thinking they'd be hard to find at stores. Now they're practically shelf-warmers. I've even seen them on sale for $9.99. Hoist and TC are also easily found at stores now.

News Credits: 656 · Thu Dec 12, 2013 1:21 pm

Yeah these are definitely following the collector market pattern so far - everything at retail sells out extremely fast initially, but the subsequent restocks far outnumber the remaining demand.

This doesn't apply to many MPs, which get scalped from the get go and stay that way.