Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

[Aimless Misfire]

So if wave 5 never hit stores & they're not even hitting Ross, WHERE THE HELL DID THEY ALL GO???

Purchased by scalpers from online sites like TFSource & BBTS, and now found on eBay and Amazon for ridiculous prices.

Ok, say places like TFSource & BBTS ordered the usual amount they do for every wave. But places like Walmart & Toys R Us didn't order any. Does that mean Hasbro didn't produce as much of that wave? Or does it mean all the cases that Walmart & Toys R Us would normally get are still out there somewhere?

How does distribution work when a huge store like Walmart totally skips over a wave?

[o.supreme]

I'm inclined to think there was just way less produced in this wave. Apparently a few Targets & Walmarts in the U.S. did get them if the sightings section is accurate, but they were few and far between. In other places such as Canada and Asian markets, these items were not in short supply, so either they produced more for those markets, or yes, there are a ton of figures just sitting in a warehouse somewhere. If that were the case though, one would think they would have shown up at Ross/TJMaxx and the like a while ago. Of course the same thing happened with Kre-o. I had to really hunt for the last few Kreon Transformers figs. I even called Hasbro customer service to ask why these toys were being sold in Canada, Brazil, and Asian markets and NOT in the United States, and nobody could give a definitive answer.

[Randomhero]

So if wave 5 never hit stores & they're not even hitting Ross, WHERE THE HELL DID THEY ALL GO???

Purchased by scalpers from online sites like TFSource & BBTS, and now found on eBay and Amazon for ridiculous prices.

Ok, say places like TFSource & BBTS ordered the usual amount they do for every wave. But places like Walmart & Toys R Us didn't order any. Does that mean Hasbro didn't produce as much of that wave? Or does it mean all the cases that Walmart & Toys R Us would normally get are still out there somewhere?

How does distribution work when a huge store like Walmart totally skips over a wave?

That’s not how it works. I work in retail and deal with Walmart’s and targets and such. A lot of times stores don’t order certain franchises when they’re sitting heavy on other franchises. If a store is sitting on pallets and pallets of nerf guns they won’t order other stuff still their backstock is gone no matter how empty transformers are or something else.

Now with Star Wars back in full force and marvel having a movie out every fall spring and summer they’re sitting on tons of that. Star Wars especially. I had a Walmart I had as an account and I heard them say flat “don’t order anymore toys until we burn through our nerf and Star Wars backstock.

Late waves like wave 6 end up in discount stores because they sit in Hasbro a warehouse and they dump them off on Ross and TJ maxx and marshals at cost just to get rid of them or they do big sales on the Hasbro store.

[nycPrime]

That’s not how it works. I work in retail and deal with Walmart’s and targets and such. A lot of times stores don’t order certain franchises when they’re sitting heavy on other franchises. If a store is sitting on pallets and pallets of nerf guns they won’t order other stuff still their backstock is gone no matter how empty transformers are or something else.

Now with Star Wars back in full force and marvel having a movie out every fall spring and summer they’re sitting on tons of that. Star Wars especially. I had a Walmart I had as an account and I heard them say flat “don’t order anymore toys until we burn through our nerf and Star Wars backstock.

Late waves like wave 6 end up in discount stores because they sit in Hasbro a warehouse and they dump them off on Ross and TJ maxx and marshals at cost just to get rid of them or they do big sales on the Hasbro store.

I appreciate that insight. What this tells me is that Hasbro needs to get more involved in, or improve, the distribution of its toys. Maybe it needs to rethink everything, but something has to give. It is a major problem if there are products that its customers want, and Hasbro can't deliver that product because it's sitting in a warehouse. That just shouldn't happen. And with TRU going out of business, now is a great time for Hasbro to rethink through its strategy and figure out how to best get its products into the hands of its paying customers.

I'm sure the solution is much more complicated than anything I can come up with, but a great start would be to revamp its online store. It should make everything it sells available online, and you should be able to tell if something is in stock without clicking into the product page, for starters. I'm sure there are a ton of other suggestions we can easily come up with for the site.

[o.supreme]

I believe that is part of why Hasbro is rebranding Transformers and many of its other brands presumably *every year*. Instead of a particular line such as CW or TR that lasts 18 months-2 years, they will be rebranding every year. Presumably the toys may not change that much (The beginning of the next line may have toys intended for PotP...) we can only hope. Still, one would think, even if walmart decided to hold off on purchasing any toys, Hasbro still would have produced them...we did not see them at discount, so where'd they all go? is still a valid question...unless truly they did not produce as many for TR deluxe wave 5

[Randomhero]

That’s not how it works. I work in retail and deal with Walmart’s and targets and such. A lot of times stores don’t order certain franchises when they’re sitting heavy on other franchises. If a store is sitting on pallets and pallets of nerf guns they won’t order other stuff still their backstock is gone no matter how empty transformers are or something else.

Now with Star Wars back in full force and marvel having a movie out every fall spring and summer they’re sitting on tons of that. Star Wars especially. I had a Walmart I had as an account and I heard them say flat “don’t order anymore toys until we burn through our nerf and Star Wars backstock.

Late waves like wave 6 end up in discount stores because they sit in Hasbro a warehouse and they dump them off on Ross and TJ maxx and marshals at cost just to get rid of them or they do big sales on the Hasbro store.

I appreciate that insight. What this tells me is that Hasbro needs to get more involved in, or improve, the distribution of its toys. Maybe it needs to rethink everything, but something has to give. It is a major problem if there are products that its customers want, and Hasbro can't deliver that product because it's sitting in a warehouse. That just shouldn't happen. And with TRU going out of business, now is a great time for Hasbro to rethink through its strategy and figure out how to best get its products into the hands of its paying customers.

I'm sure the solution is much more complicated than anything I can come up with, but a great start would be to revamp its online store. It should make everything it sells available online, and you should be able to tell if something is in stock without clicking into the product page, for starters. I'm sure there are a ton of other suggestions we can easily come up with for the site.

Well they can’t. Just like with my company places like Walmart’s targets and all they are their customers and they deserve to be treated as such and in the end Hasbro makes most of that stuff so it’s not like they’re hurting when a store has a warehouse of Star Wars and marvel toys because people want that more than transformers. That’s just fact

[Etseterrestrial]

Good thing the closest Ross to me is 219 miles away.

[Sparkimus Prime]

Good thing the closest Ross to me is 219 miles away.

The Ross where I am never has anything, don't feel bad. The only time I saw anything was a single g2 boxset for menasor.

[Relic0037]

Amazon.com has POTP Rippersnapper for only $16.99 right now. This looks like one of the first of the Wave 2 figures I've seen on there not being sold by scalpers:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B072MZ21 ... ref=plSrch

[nycPrime]

Amazon.com has POTP Rippersnapper for only $16.99 right now. This looks like one of the first of the Wave 2 figures I've seen on there not being sold by scalpers:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B072MZ21 ... ref=plSrch

Nah all of wave 2 was available earlier in the week. I only ordered the Dinobots, and it's arriving on Monday.

[highburn]

So let me help with something. I used to be an Operations Manager for a big box retail chain. Most stores, have the wave in a system by its SKU. The SKU is usually keyed to auto replenish when stock hits 1.

Lets use POWER OF THE PRIMES Starscream as an example: Most of us thinks the figure sucks...the store gets the initial shelf stock an a refill usually. So we now have 6 Starscreams sitting on a shelf because everyone wanted Grimlock. We have to wait until there is 1 left for it to trigger the auto order of the new wave. Then we get all the Elita’s and Hungrrs everyone wants, and we clean the shelf fast. Usually an auto order system will see a trend and order more stock. So say wave 3 is Starscream and Hungrrrr...well now we as collectors are all stocked on what we want... so wave 3 sits on the shelf...we miss wave 4 because 3 is on the shelf, we get wave 5 because someone took pity and bought the Starscreams and Hungrrs left over. So once you see this pattern you will see when you need to go online and order. Stores care about peg space and looking full, they don’t care about wave or assortments.


Also those people who buy a figure and switch them, or the returns also clog those systems. Returns are usually sent back once, maybe twice a month. They are in most inventory systems as a 1...which keeps new waves from showing up and an empty space on a shelf as well. Takes around 3 weeks for a return to clear an inventory system and another 2 weeks for it to restock a shelf.

AND NOW YOU KNOW......

[nycPrime]

Thanks for that. So what I'm saying is this isn't a sustainable model. Something has got to change or Amazon is going to knock them all out of business. I'm exaggerating (a little).

[Relic0037]

Amazon.com has POTP Rippersnapper for only $16.99 right now. This looks like one of the first of the Wave 2 figures I've seen on there not being sold by scalpers:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B072MZ21 ... ref=plSrch

Nah all of wave 2 was available earlier in the week. I only ordered the Dinobots, and it's arriving on Monday.

They must be starting to restock then. Seems like if you don't catch it at the right time, all you see is the offerings with the prices jacked up.

[Va'al]

Courtesy of the Hasbro Toy Shop website, we have another promotional sale in occasion of St Patrick's Day (today, 17 March 2018), with three time brackets with respective discounts , decreasing as the day proceeds! Starting at 9am until 12 noon (Eastern, so already over at the time of writing, unfortunately), you get 25% off orders, 20% off then until 5 pm, and 10% until midnight after that, all with code LUCKY18. Check out the terms below, and happy hunting!

25% off from 9AM-12PM ET on 3/17/18, 20% off from 12PM-5PM ET on 3/17/18, and 10% off from 5PM-11:59 ET on most products currently for sale on HasbroToyShop.com with promo code LUCKY18. Discount applies to pre-tax and pre-shipping amount. This offer cannot be combined with any other offer. Excludes HasbroToyShop.com exclusives and gift cards. While supplies last. No rain checks. Not valid on previous orders. Subject to terms and conditions of use and HasbroToyShop.com policies. ©2018 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

[Cobotron]

Hey everyone! Before this turns into another long marginally off topic rant on how, "I hate HTS", please consider the useful nature of this thread, and possibly contemplate starting a new thread where your hatred, contempt and bad luck/timing with HTS can be discussed and vented.

Thanks!
The Management


P.S. Good hunting, and happy savings!

[WreckerJack]

Hey everyone! Before this turns into another long marginally off topic rant on how, "I hate HTS", please consider the useful nature of this thread, and possibly contemplate starting a new thread where your hatred, contempt and bad luck/timing with HTS can be discussed and vented.

Thanks!
The Management


P.S. Good hunting, and happy savings!

And in said thread, I'd like to see some constructive criticism mixed in with the venting. Along with people's proposed solution ideas.

[Megatron Wolf]

Any one else think its kinda funny how no one is posting here, might it have something to do with the previous 2 posts????? We can still joke in this thread right or has that been outlawed here too?

[Sparkimus Prime]

Any one else think its kinda funny how no one is posting here, might it have something to do with the previous 2 posts????? We can still joke in this thread right or has that been outlawed here too?

Power hungry mods make me less inclined to post anything. I'm trying to find the upside to hts sales, but without anything in stock that I want it's not exactly enjoyable to talk about this. Hopefully the store restocks soon.

[leokearon]

The irony of having a St. Patrick's Day Sale when you don't ship to Ireland

[Ironhidensh]

If you live near a Meijer, they have a buy one get on 50% off sale on all Transformers except for Studio Series this week.

[Va'al]

According to fellow Seibertronian Ironhidensh, store chain Meijer seems to have a week long sale on Transformers figures - all lines except for the recent Studio Series - of the buy one get one 50% off. The image below shows the store in Elkhart, Indiana, but is it very likely the sale is available across the entire chain, and sports the likes of Transformers The Last Knight figures, both Turbo Changers and Premier Edition, alongside Robots in Disguise Combiner Force Warriors and simpler toys.

Let us know if the sale is also happening stores closer to you, by joining the conversation in the Energon Pub discussion boards!

[william-james88]

Thats a decently stocked Meijers. I see all three lines being well represented, even in such small a space, which further reinforces the notion that having more concurent lines doesnt harm anything.

[Relic0037]

Looks like POTP Deluxes are on sale at Target for $14.99 through 3/24.

[WreckerJack]

Thanks to fellow Seibertronian Sjeng we are now aware that HasbroToyShop.com is offering Free Shipping. The code to use is EASTER2018 and the deal runs until April 1. This only applies to items under the "Easter Basket Favorites" category which does include some of the smaller Transformers figures. If you explore the third page of the Easter Basket Favorites you will find some Titan Masters, Prime Masters, Legion Class Figures from The Last Knight and Rubik's Crew Optimus Prime. As always, we leave you the terms and conditions below.

PROMOTION: Free shipping on all items in the Easter Basket Favorites category
Free standard shipping on most products currently for sale in the Easter Basket category on HasbroToyShop.com March 18, 2018 through April 1, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Discount applies to pre-tax and pre-shipping amount. Offer excludes purchases of HasbroToyShop.com exclusives. Other exclusions may apply. No rain checks. Not valid on previous orders. Offer valid in continental U.S. only. Subject to terms and conditions of use and HasbroToyShop.com policies. ©2018 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

[WreckerJack]

The deals just keep coming today! Several of our readers have pointed out that Target is having some deals recently. Relic0037 has notified us that Power of the Primes Deluxe Class figures are 2 dollars off in store. Lori has provided us with pictures of Remote Control Transformers: The Last Knight Autobot Sqweeks that has been discounted by a whopping 40$. If you have had your eye out for any of these toys, it is a good time to go and have a look if you have a Target store near you.

Happy Hunting, please let us know if you find any good deals so that we can help fellow TF fans!