Does anyone know how much trouble stores can get in for breaking street dates on toys? More specifically, the employees? I have a friend who just got a job at Target and is offering to help me get some DOTM stuff early but if it would endanger his job in any way I don't want to do it. Hell, if it can put any employee at risk I'll just stop trying to break street date altogether, no matter how much I want a toy.

 

Alternative: wait a couple of weeks and don't risk a thing.

 

Just don't do it.

 

Seriously...if you have to ask for advice...you know it can't be good.

Just wait it out. Another week and you can have all of those toys.

 

They're just toys...you can wait.

 

Supposedly it's a $5,000 fine for the store. Not sure of the ramifications to the employee.

 

nah don't wait. purchase them fast. these toys are gonna be gone pretty fast. hurry!  

 

I know I can wait, I guess it just irritates me that others are able to get these, and that even though the stores have them they won't sell them to me.

 

The Hasbro rep told my room mate (who works in the Toy dept of a local Walmart) that the fine was $10,000.

Having worked in record stores for years, however, leads me to believe they never actually enforce such a fine, as it would only piss off the HQ of said toystores and they do all the buying of toys. I never head of similar fines being levied against ANY record store in my 10 or so years of working for them.

Really its more of gentleman's agreement, I suppose. Think about it, who would enforce it? The Toy Police?

In record stores they have new releases every week and in "the olden days" if they heard your store broke street date the next week you'd get your new releases a few days late as a punishment. Toys have release dates what, every 2 years?

 

Dude, we get it. You don't like them and want them off the shelves. But it doesn't work like that. If people buy a lot of them now, they will take it as a hint to just clog the place with many more.

 

Sadly I admit I did go to Target yesterday and got Sentinel,thereby putting an employee at risk,but hopefully no one saw him bring him out for me,and there was no one near us when he did.But I am pretty content with him till the official release the 16th,so no more for me till then.Finally I just say don't follow my example,its only a week and 2 days till the release.

 

That's...incredibly fickle of you.

 

Most likely you won't be able to ring it out in the register properly if it's too early for street date. I don't know about Target, but I know Wal-Mart works that way. Which means the only way you're getting it out of the store is probably stealing. Don't do it.

 

Ah but that's what the store cameras are for. 


But don't worry if you never see him in there again, I'm sure he was just transferred to another store or something. 

 

lol can't blame me for trying.

either way the aisles are gonna be clogged with these for a very long time. funny thing is that our aisles here got hit before anyone else'. we haven't even gotten to the thundercracker wave yet.

 

I agree with this.

Hasbro needs stores like Target and Wal-Mart more than the stores need them. Target would survive just fine if they never carried another Transformers product again. Hasbro, on the other hand, would take a huge hit. And given that Target is a larger supporter of Hasbro than Wal-Mart is, Hasbro wouldn't think of ruining that relationship.

 

Have you ever seen Dexter? Well, if Hasbro catches an employee breaking the street date, they will personally go to the store and give him the 'Dexter treatment'. So if you like this employee at all, DON'T ask him to violate street dates. If you hate him, violate away.

 

We kind of have a thread on this already:

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-news-rumors/396818-dark-moon-street-date-broken.html

There have already been 3 local reports of DOTM toy sightings in the Atlanta area. One location was a Target store, the other two were not disclosed.

Although I spent 10+ years in retail management, I haven't witnessed instances of street date violation involving anything other than media product. I do know companies can be real sticklers for street dates when it comes to CD, DVD and Blu-Ray titles. The fine is hefty, and in addition stores risk lawsuits and/or risk being put on probation or are even restricted from access to such media by the distributors/suppliers/companies. Employees can be fired for it as well.

When I worked at GameStop, corporate policy on street date violations was immediate termination of your employment along with your store manager...whether he was involved or not.

Some other links I found online involving street date violations:

Street date - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Two Percent Of Comic Shops Violating Street Date Agreements

Video game street date myths and reality - what's the deal?

 

1. They will indeed ring up.

2. The store will only get in trouble if someone calls Hasbro and reports the violation.

If he does it only for you, and you don't squeal, he'll be fine.

-Silvershot

 

I really agree that if you have to ask for advice just go the safe route. I mean is getting this stuff a week or two early more important than your friend getting fined and/or losing their job? I wouldn't risk your friendship or anything else that could happen from this. Hope I'm not ranting or coming down too hard, but thats my 2 cents.