That was a super easy price match if you went through with it lol

 

She was pretty snarky when I asked why the same line was different prices. Swore off this Walmart for over a year, but sadly the other Walmart in town doesn't get nearly the stock, and has had a sharp increase in shady characters in the parking lot over the past year (not to mention that last week lightning hit one of the parking lot lights, and they have almost all been out, and I go after I hit the gym at 11pm). The front end management at the one I found them at treated me like a crook when I tried to use a coupons.com coupon, and had the wrong price on an end cap of voyagers a few years back, so I walked out and emailed them about how bad their front end management is (which was confirmed by employees later on Facebook), so long story short, it was a price I was willing to pay today.

 

Looks at avatar..... LOL

 

Are you sure? I don't think GCs boost your eBay bucks at all, es evident from buying gaming GCs. I think they treat it as buying credit, not actual product, so different rules apply.

That's.... a whole lot of effort.   Wouldn't it be easier to apply for a job, sabotage the current manager's career, and then conveniently swoop in to take over the store as new manager? You know, in order to get a fresh case of TFs?  

THIS is exactly why I dread the Walmart experience. You don't live in a big city, do you? You mention TWO Walmarts, which leads me to believe you do.

You'll want a country-side Walmart. They're like an entirely different chain. Clean, friendly, plus normal customers.

 

You're right, they must have changed the rules on that, because I remember they used too...

 

Cool Target.com trick:

1) Add stuff to your cart.
2) Leave it there (exit site).
3) Wait a few days.
4) Check email - Target will let you know you have stuff to buy, and offer you a unique code for $5 off of $50 (works with TF toys).

I actually just got a 2nd email!   The first one expired a few days after I set up my cart, and this one expires 2 days after the first (both coupon codes are unique). Useful for purchasing TF box sets or any other (non-grocery) goods. Expiration seems to be about a week from leaving stuff in your cart, but they may send you a new code (as happened to me). You can also empty your cart and put stuff in again to get another coupon.

Fine print:
Offer available online only. Save $5 on a qualifying merchandise subtotal of $50 or more. Non subscription orders only. Offer available online only. May not be combined with other promotional codes or applied to previous orders. Offer excludes: Grocery, Target GiftCards and Specialty GiftCards.

 

Earn 8% Ebay Bucks. No minimum purchase requirement. Targeted customers only.

Who’s eligible?

Only invited, registered eBay Bucks participants who receive the promotional offer from eBay in My Messages are eligible. Sorry, no forwarding—the offer is not transferable.

• 8% in eBay Bucks on every Qualifying Purchase

Promotion details
The Promotion starts at 5:00AM PT on May 18, 2017, and ends at 11:59PM PT on May 20, 2017 (the "Promotion Period"). Extra eBay Bucks can only be earned on every single item purchased that meets the minimum purchase requirement specified in the offer (a "Qualifying Purchase"). Promotion is valid on multiple Qualifying Purchases made within the Promotion Period. In order to qualify for the offer, you must click the activate link.

*Qualifying Purchases exclude all items in the following categories: Classifieds, Business & Industrial, but only for Heavy Equipment within that category, Real Estate, Gift Cards & Coupons (including eBay Gift Cards, Gift Cards, and Digital Gifts within that category), Bullion (within the Coins & Paper category), and all categories in Motors, except Parts & Accessories.

Rewards are capped at $100 per transaction and $500 per Earn Period. Purchases must be completed during the Promotion Period and paid for with PayPal before the Promotion ends. eBay reserves the right to cancel, amend, or revoke the Promotion at any time. Other restrictions apply. See Terms & Conditions for details.

 

My offer also earns ebay bucks for selling stuff too. Time to get some stuff listed.

 

I just found the hotrod wave in the walmart clearance section. they were only a penny off. $14.94 or .96 or something. mabye thats got something to do with the weird pricing.

Mabye someone thought with "new" movie toys coming they should clear out "old" stuff? Kinda made me wonder if thats why I havent seen any new stuff at the walmarts by me in forever.

 

I am losing hope on any new generations toys at any retailers around me, there is barely peg space for TFs before the movie toys, now they have to have room for 3 different figure lines.

 

Some food for thought: there are now THREE different toy series (not particular scale or feature within the toy line) above TR.

1) Movie line
2) Rescue Bots
3) RID

If you'll notice, all three of those lines not only compete, but actually succeed over TR (the toys hit shelves regularly and in ample supply). You can trip over RID SW, for example. And RB Sequoia isn't exactly big foot.  

Not to add salt to the wound, but this is definitely historical for Hasbro, as they're now managing several toy lines (1-step, 3-step, deluxe, etc.) within FOUR toy series (movie, RID, RB, TR) out on shelves. There's no way in heck you'll see any new TR stuff now. Not unless Hasbro starts calling movie toys TR (like in Generations 2014), in which case, you still won't really see new TR!  

On the bright side: save your money. Take a break. Maybe buy a 3P instead?

 

I would argue that those toys are on shelves and easier to find because less people are buying them. When RiD toys sell out here they take just as long to re-stock as Generations toys.

Also, Rescue Bots is in a different aisle and sold to a different consumer. All the other lines will have 5-8 waves per line, rescue bots has two. Also, RB lines last much longer (2.5 years vs 1.5 years) per line. They shouldn't be looked at in comparison to Movie/Generations/RiD.

 

Regardless of RescueBots, Zap above, states the truth. TFs cannibalize themselves for peg space at stores. This is why I don't understand Hasbro's marketing, you would also think Hasbro's own web store would be the best place to get their stuff, but most of the time they get things for sale last.

 

Right now, ordering online is definitely the way to go for me. Brawn is about the only thing new I've seen in stores lately. I haven't seen any deluxes past the Hot Rod wave.

 

Spoiler: Off-topic

Great points (and I always defer to your expertise on these things, as you know your stuff  ), but I was saying RB competes from a resource/production point of view. Hasbro is likely not investing in more factories or resources, right? So instead, they allocate what they have (and maybe add a little extra, but not much). So RB competes in the sense that the factories are pumping out the new RB stuff instead of the TR stuff. Or if not on a production level (arguably not), then on a distribution level for certain. And by that, I mean that Hasbro has X amount of space on that shipping container, and you can bet your last dollar, it's reserved for movie, RB, and RID.

It's true that RID gets slow restocks sometimes... but it's also true that all of the new waves have hit stores everywhere, consistently (with the rare exception of Deployer Crazybolt and a few mini-cons). The same cannot be said of the TR line. And, for example, if you cannot find Premier Bumblebee or Barricade, I can say with certainty that your local store WILL get that stock SOON, and that there are an abundance of online shops to get these same toys (TRU.com itself keeps selling out of Barricade, but quickly restocks; Chaos on Velocitron was sold ONCE online, briefly, and has never been restocked - apples to oranges, but TRU is also behind on TR Legends and Deluxes, in general).

It's the McDonald's strategy: when sales are low, you add to the menu. When sales pick up, you cut the menu down. I'm certain it's just business 101. And your observations are 100% right, too - it doesn't seem to make much sense, especially when you consider how they do a poor job of tracking individual sales (i.e. Target uses the same SKU for all Deluxes and all Legends and all Voyagers). Hasbro also doesn't pay any attention to WHO is buying what. For example, though RID seems like the most obvious kid purchase, I saw (on a few occasions) kids drop their RID toys in favor of TR toys!   If that happens a lot more frequently than we think, then surely Hasbro is investing in the wrong toy line (and should ship more TR toys than RID) - but we have no way of knowing; and I doubt Hasbro is paying attention either. So, imo (I don't work for Hasbro), this is a business running TFs like an old business - blind, clumsy, and throwing as many darts as possible to hopefully hit the bulls-eye a couple of times!  

For certain, Hasbro pays attention to store orders and re-orders; theoretically, the stores only order product that they successfully sell (and the stores do keep track of different toy lines, even if they don't pay attention to which particular characters sell well). But it's also true that stores will invest in cheaper junk in order to avoid heavy losses, so I've always suspected 1-steps and plastic Titans are cheaper/safer to sell than Generations toys (and NOT that these simple things sell much better). And the counterargument for this is... nothing. You can't trust Hasbro's word on these sales, as (like any other corporation) they've been known to exaggerate or lie. It's all just speculation on our part.  

But back on topic: Has anyone else noticed that both Seaspray and Cosmos are OUT already? Amazon has listings, Chosen Prime had Seaspray in-stock (at some point?).   It's odd that we haven't seen major pre-orders... I'm thinking of buying, but maybe I should wait for a revision wave of Legends? You can now get a 4 pack of Gnaw, Kickback, Brawn, and Roadburn for $39.99 (at TF web shops), which is excellent for those who missed out on the first two. It'd be nice to see a set like that with Seaspray somewhere.  

 

Walmart is always stupid like that. They'll put something in the clearance section at full price with red clearance stickers on them.

 

Yeah I just went to my local WalMart and they had a full case of wave 1 in the back. While another WalMart 30 miles out did have a sighting of the new wave. I would have driven there but it's probably gone by now.

 

Yeah, I'll add to your post!  

I drove out to a good Walmart where I found TR Deluxe Wave 1... God knows how long ago. BrickSeeker showed 18 deluxe items in stock!!!!   Get there and find 13 TR Deluxe Wave 1s!       #WhenBurningYourMoneyIsABetterIdea

EDIT: And found Deluxe Wave 4 at Target, during milk run.   Also snagged an OCTANE (Octone?)   so shocked that's out in my area, too. It's been about 5 months since New Year, so I guess it was about time to stock toy shelves...  

 

Thank you for this post. I was able to use the 20% coupon in store and got the set for $55. I did not have a Springer or Arcee at all. This is really a great set overall. Especially as a G1 movie fan.

Edit: Might as well post a deal. Fortress Maximus $108.91. Not the greatest, but good for anyone that have missed the last. Amazon.com: Transformers Generations Titans Return Titan Class Fortress Maximus: Toys & Games

 

Sorry... can I ask you for more details? You had 20% off in store... what store? Target? Cause I didn't know these sets were ever found in-store...   Or did you somehow have an Amazon coupon? Or is this a thing where you go to Target and they order the item for you, with store coupon?