Walmart's Handling of the Legacy Star Raiders Line Release is Causing Confusion and Frustration
Monday, September 9th, 2024 10:42PM CDT
Categories: Toy News, Company News, EditorialsPosted by: william-james88 Views: 35,549
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Simple question to start us off: Have you seen the Star Raiders line at your local US Walmart? I ask because the answers given to that question so far have been nothing but frustrating or confusing. While Walmart has gotten its stock for distribution, they've only used it so far to fulfill online orders. And there's a lot of stock online with both Road Pig and the Thundertron leader set still available for purchase.
That last bit is a rarity as Walmart will sell out of exclusives online, with the bulk of stock going to stores instead. However, these toys have been available and shipping from their website but they have yet to be found in stores... or have they?
With the toys shipping from the Walmart website, fans got excited to find these exclusives in stores. But that lead to frustration since the hunt resulted next to no sightings. What was found was confusing and has lead to some misinformation being spread by other news sites. The few toys from the Star Raiders capsule that were found were never found with casemates, but as single examples, and often times discounted too. Like the sighting below which just so happens to have the 2 products that have finally been shipping from Walmart.com.
It most likely means that these are returns and them being discounted is due to Walmart not having these skus on the planogram (no designated space on the shelf). We tend to see that with older releases which no longer have a designated space on the shelf, but it's the same cause regardless. And that is extra confusing and frustrating since it means that as of right now there is no plan to have these toys on shelves.
That also means that any sighting being shared online is not legitimate as it does not indicate that this line is being distributed to stores. It instead simply means that fans are returning toys they purchased online. So in the end, there is no concrete evidence that this line is being distributed to stores right now. We have no real sighting of this Star Raiders line in US Walmarts so far.
Let us know how your experience has been with this exclusive subline and if you have found it in a decent amount in your area (if you are in the US). Who knows, maybe one of you has a sighting of a non returned item to share.
Pictured above: returns and false hope
Photo by Red Snarl
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Posted by Sabrblade on September 9th, 2024 @ 11:29pm CDT
Posted by Bumblevivisector on September 10th, 2024 @ 12:30am CDT
Adding to the confusion.Sabrblade wrote:The image is broken.
Brilliant.
Posted by patahrak on September 10th, 2024 @ 3:09am CDT
Posted by Quantum Surge on September 10th, 2024 @ 3:54am CDT
Posted by ScottyP on September 10th, 2024 @ 7:49am CDT
Posted by william-james88 on September 10th, 2024 @ 8:45am CDT
Sabrblade wrote:He's a lion.-Kanrabat- wrote:I opened the "leader" 3 pack.
Thundertron is horrendous. The bot is great, sure, but the transformation is not fun for a wolf mode that is ugly all over.
Hence why his original toy was redecoed (with no retooling) into Leo Prime.
Fans seemed real quick to correct my youtube review and say he's a liger.
Posted by william-james88 on September 10th, 2024 @ 8:49am CDT
Bumblevivisector wrote:Adding to the confusion.Sabrblade wrote:The image is broken.
Brilliant.
HA! And that's because TFW2005 removed their article sharing misinformation along with the thread which included images of returns.
Posted by Emerje on September 10th, 2024 @ 9:47am CDT
Emerje
Posted by Sabrblade on September 10th, 2024 @ 9:52am CDT
Must've been a bunch of Zoids fans who think any big white and blue cat is a liger.william-james88 wrote:Sabrblade wrote:He's a lion.-Kanrabat- wrote:I opened the "leader" 3 pack.
Thundertron is horrendous. The bot is great, sure, but the transformation is not fun for a wolf mode that is ugly all over.
Hence why his original toy was redecoed (with no retooling) into Leo Prime.
Fans seemed real quick to correct my youtube review and say he's a liger.
You mean you were *gasp* "hotlinking" from a rival fan site?!!!!william-james88 wrote:Bumblevivisector wrote:Adding to the confusion.Sabrblade wrote:The image is broken.
Brilliant.
HA! And that's because TFW2005 removed their article sharing misinformation along with the thread which included images of returns.
Posted by Cheetron on September 10th, 2024 @ 10:05am CDT
Posted by RiddlerJ on September 10th, 2024 @ 10:14am CDT
Posted by o.supreme on September 10th, 2024 @ 11:03am CDT
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 10th, 2024 @ 11:18am CDT
ScottyP wrote:I'm not confused or frustrated. Never expect Walmart to do anything right to begin with and you can also avoid those emotions
That's what I did. I got all but Thundertron from Pulse, and thankfully walmart delivered my in-stock thundertron purchase next day.
Which is also funny since I have not seen even a shelf for them yet
Posted by william-james88 on September 10th, 2024 @ 12:34pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:"hotlinking" from a rival fan site?!!!!
Haha, there's no rivalry, we all serve the greater community. But yeah, I have issues with technology at times and have to do workarounds, which I'd fix later. But this one bit me in the butt as they nuked everything.
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on September 10th, 2024 @ 12:52pm CDT
RiddlerJ wrote:Sooooo....yet another Walmart line we have to wait for Ross to get?
My thoughts exactly
Posted by william-james88 on September 10th, 2024 @ 1:00pm CDT
Jelze Bunnycat wrote:RiddlerJ wrote:Sooooo....yet another Walmart line we have to wait for Ross to get?
My thoughts exactly
Looks like it since these toys are not on the planogram and returns get liquidated instantly so as to not be in stores.
Or, they will be stocked at the next reset (so 3 months from now)
Posted by TF-fan kev777 on September 10th, 2024 @ 2:37pm CDT
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on September 10th, 2024 @ 4:05pm CDT
TF-fan kev777 wrote:Since we're on the topic of incompetent retailers, does the lack of any exclusive figure for Walgreens this year mean they finally realised that they should not get exclusives and bowed out themselves? Or do you think Hasbro got fed up with them and told them no more?
... Or they simply ran out of viable medic characters.
Posted by -Kanrabat- on September 10th, 2024 @ 5:50pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:Always has been. He's right there with the original six from 2004:-Kanrabat- wrote:Bug Bite is a GoBots?
Goddammit, look at what you made me do:
Now, only the Powerglide mold is missing.
Might as well go for it and buy the original set t....
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?siteid=0&pub=5574891718&campid=5336631220&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.ca%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR4%20...%20Complete%26
Nope nope nope nope nope.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 10th, 2024 @ 5:56pm CDT
Unless they also give us Man-O-War, Buggyman, and Rest-Q (on the right side column of the pic below).-Kanrabat- wrote:Now, only the Powerglide mold is missing.
Though, unlike the first six, these extra three never got G1 Mini-Bot mold toys, just story art.
Posted by -Kanrabat- on September 10th, 2024 @ 7:12pm CDT
Posted by Emerje on September 10th, 2024 @ 8:31pm CDT
TF-fan kev777 wrote:Since we're on the topic of incompetent retailers, does the lack of any exclusive figure for Walgreens this year mean they finally realised that they should not get exclusives and bowed out themselves? Or do you think Hasbro got fed up with them and told them no more?
Hasbro doesn't really care if this stuff gets into stores, they get paid regardless upfront when it comes to exclusives. Of course they'd prefer everything they make gets into store and save them the headache of angry fans, but as they've done in the past they're more than willing to say "take it up with the store" and wash their hands of it.
Has Walgreens announced any exclusives at all this year?
Emerje
Posted by william-james88 on September 10th, 2024 @ 8:53pm CDT
Emerje wrote:TF-fan kev777 wrote:Since we're on the topic of incompetent retailers, does the lack of any exclusive figure for Walgreens this year mean they finally realised that they should not get exclusives and bowed out themselves? Or do you think Hasbro got fed up with them and told them no more?
Hasbro doesn't really care if this stuff gets into stores, they get paid regardless upfront when it comes to exclusives. Of course they'd prefer everything they make gets into store and save them the headache of angry fans, but as they've done in the past they're more than willing to say "take it up with the store" and wash their hands of it.
Has Walgreens announced any exclusives at all this year?
Emerje
They have not, and I don't think they will.
Posted by Dino-Snarl on September 10th, 2024 @ 8:55pm CDT
Posted by -Kanrabat- on September 10th, 2024 @ 9:05pm CDT
Dino-Snarl wrote:They need to stop with these idiotic store exclusives.
Preach.
Still, the overstock can find their way into independent stores at their normal prices. It happen often.
Posted by Immortal Starscream on September 11th, 2024 @ 12:31pm CDT
Posted by Dino-Snarl on September 11th, 2024 @ 8:54pm CDT
-Kanrabat- wrote:Dino-Snarl wrote:They need to stop with these idiotic store exclusives.
Preach.
Still, the overstock can find their way into independent stores at their normal prices. It happen often.
There is that side benefit. True.
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 12th, 2024 @ 8:04am CDT
Posted by -Kanrabat- on September 12th, 2024 @ 11:59am CDT
But the Thundertron set was just mid for me. I have no attachment to the bat and I found Thundertron to be horrible. The bot is great, but the beast is sad. Also, what's up with the detachable butt-plate? A missed opportunity to be a shield for sure.
For me, the value of the Thundertron set is for the "ice" Rocklord. It was worth buying just for him.
Especially worth it because I ended up getting back almost half of what I paid by selling Thundertron and his bat to my local geek store for store credit.
Now, I need that second Rock bike for my rocklords crew. Plus, that rockcopter could use a repaint or two.
Posted by Emerje on September 13th, 2024 @ 1:05am CDT
Emerje
Posted by Rodimus Prime on September 13th, 2024 @ 1:08am CDT
Same here. Was about to post it in the Selects thread. I thought that's what it was...Emerje wrote:Just got a "shipping soon" email from Hasbro for Straxus!
I'm excited. That comic story was always 1 of my favorites.
Posted by Nemesis Primal on September 13th, 2024 @ 2:40am CDT
Posted by Emerje on September 13th, 2024 @ 3:58am CDT
Rodimus Prime wrote:Same here. Was about to post it in the Selects thread. I thought that's what it was...Emerje wrote:Just got a "shipping soon" email from Hasbro for Straxus!
I'm excited. That comic story was always 1 of my favorites.
They're Pulse exclusives, definitely not Selects.
Emerje
Posted by D-Maximal_Primal on September 13th, 2024 @ 6:38am CDT
GI Joe Kup also got kicked back to November and then days later moved up again to October.
Posted by Emerje on September 13th, 2024 @ 10:28am CDT
Emerje
Posted by Sabrblade on September 13th, 2024 @ 3:16pm CDT
PulseCon 2024 exclusive - Dinoking
Legacy United
Deluxe Cosmos - rerelease of the short-packed Velocitron Cosmos
Deluxe class G2 Breakdown - uses the toy-accurate head from the giftset
Deluxe class Origin Bumblebee - rerelease of the Buzzworthy Bumblebee Origin Bumblebee
Deluxe class Armada Wheeljack - redeco of SG Sideswipe, Takara/toon-accurate colors, no Mini-Con due to parts count
Voyager class Ramjet - rerelease of Earthrise Ramjet, learned their lesson about putting out Seekers as exclusives
Voyager class Tarn - rerelease of the hard-to-find Legacy Tarn, was too short-packed the first time
Leader class Galaxy Shuttle - rerelease of hard-to-find Velocitron Galaxy Shuttle, they kept erroneously calling the tender or coal car a "caboose"
Leader class Overcharge - redeco of Legacy Blitzwing, new head, Leader class troop-builder
Posted by Emerje on September 13th, 2024 @ 3:23pm CDT
Emerje
Posted by Sabrblade on September 13th, 2024 @ 3:24pm CDT
That part of the toy coverage went by so fast.Emerje wrote:You left out that they're in talks about doing the DJD to go with Tarn.
Emerje
In fact, the whole Transformers segment felt like it was on Fast Forward, rushing to get through everything with no time to really digest it all.
Posted by Emerje on September 13th, 2024 @ 3:51pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:That part of the toy coverage went by so fast.Emerje wrote:You left out that they're in talks about doing the DJD to go with Tarn.
Emerje
In fact, the whole Transformers segment felt like it was on Fast Forward, rushing to get through everything with no time to really digest it all.
Everything was running behind because they didn't leave proper time between segments for the trivia and Jordan's hosting bits. Since Transformers went last and had to be absolutely done by 4pm they had to rush through everything. I'm guessing that was by design since anything they didn't do they could do next week.
Could be worse, the G.I.Joe team screwed up their time management so badly they didn't have time for new figure announcement render reveals! They said they'd put them online today instead but didn't say where.
Emerje
Posted by Overcracker on September 13th, 2024 @ 4:33pm CDT
Pre-Order now at Amazon.com Legacy United Wheeljack - Amazon.com
Still waiting for a Earthrise Thrust re-issue....
Posted by Sabrblade on September 13th, 2024 @ 4:42pm CDT
...They are the same guy. That's how Wheeljack looked in the Armada cartoon.Overcracker wrote:Very surprised at the pulse con reveal that we arena;t actually getting Armada Wheeljack out of the Selects SG Sideswipe retool, but instead the much much nicer Micron Legend Rampage.
Posted by Jelze Bunnycat on September 13th, 2024 @ 4:45pm CDT
Overcracker wrote:Very surprised at the pulse con reveal that we aren't actually getting Armada Wheeljack out of the Selects SG Sideswipe retool, but instead the much much nicer Micron Legend Rampage.
They're still gonna call him "Armada Universe Wheeljack" as they didn't call Tidal Wave "Micron Legend Universe Shockwave" did they? And... where's Wind Sheer?
Posted by Overcracker on September 13th, 2024 @ 4:46pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:...They are the same guy. That's how Wheeljack looked in the Armada cartoon.Overcracker wrote:Very surprised at the pulse con reveal that we arena;t actually getting Armada Wheeljack out of the Selects SG Sideswipe retool, but instead the much much nicer Micron Legend Rampage.
Yeah, I know they are the same guy in the cartoon, but the toys were very very different.
Sad, he don't come with his mini-con. But alas, no retail release of Armada guys has yet... so...
Posted by Sabrblade on September 13th, 2024 @ 4:55pm CDT
Jelze Bunnycat wrote:And... where's Wind Sheer?
Sabrblade wrote:no Mini-Con due to parts count
Posted by -Kanrabat- on September 13th, 2024 @ 5:26pm CDT
In the NORMAL, non-exclusive main line I hope?
Same thing with G2 Breakdown, he's not a something-or-other exclusive?
Posted by Sabrblade on September 13th, 2024 @ 5:28pm CDT
No exclusives were revealed today.-Kanrabat- wrote:So many Walmart/Target exclusives getting reissued!
In the NORMAL, non-exclusive main line I hope?
Same thing with G2 Breakdown, he's not a something-or-other exclusive?
Posted by -Kanrabat- on September 13th, 2024 @ 5:36pm CDT
Sabrblade wrote:No exclusives were revealed today.-Kanrabat- wrote:So many Walmart/Target exclusives getting reissued!
In the NORMAL, non-exclusive main line I hope?
Same thing with G2 Breakdown, he's not a something-or-other exclusive?
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.
Speaking of exclusives, I secured my pre-order of Dinoking. He's expensive as fuk, but the fact that the shipping is FREE for some strange reasons help.
Gone are the days of the mandatory 25$US shipping fee for a paperclip!
Posted by william-james88 on September 14th, 2024 @ 2:41pm CDT
Amazon Links
Cosmos: https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Leg ... 80&sr=8-37?tag=seibertron07-20&
Armada Wheeljack: https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Uni ... 80&sr=8-38?tag=seibertron07-20&
G2 Breakdown: https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Uni ... 80&sr=8-43?tag=seibertron07-20&
Origin Bumblebee: https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Leg ... 80&sr=8-44?tag=seibertron07-20&
Ramjet: https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Leg ... 80&sr=8-39?tag=seibertron07-20&
Tarn: https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Leg ... 80&sr=8-40?tag=seibertron07-20&
Galaxy Shuttle: https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Leg ... 80&sr=8-41?tag=seibertron07-20&
Overcharge: https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-Leg ... 80&sr=8-42?tag=seibertron07-20&
Posted by -Kanrabat- on September 14th, 2024 @ 2:53pm CDT
I ridiculised Legacy Blitzwing until I had it in hand. He wasn't so bad. So, before dismissing Overcharge, I have to admit that he rocks those colors. I may not pre-order him, but I'll keep an eye out for a potential sale.
Posted by Sabrblade on September 14th, 2024 @ 2:54pm CDT