hi, i was not collecting when wal-scream (hasbro mp starscream) came out,but i have read several threads about how hard it was to find him.now flash forward to 2009,and i picked up my hasbro skywarp without any problems,and am even seeing threads saying hes at clearance prices already(btw i also picked up 20th dvd mp prime at clearance earlier this year,so whats up with starscream?was it poor distribution?or another factor?

 

I think it's partially ordering larger numbers, partially people already owning SS not wanting another of the same mold, and at least in part the scalpers backing off a bit. plus we're all skint these days.

That said, there are still many places SW has not reared his head at all for whatever reason... Those 10 - 20 figures not moving in the stores that do have them may be their entire stock, and of the hundreds of weekly visitors to the toy section the line between shelfwarming and selling out comes down to a handful of shoppers choosing robots over aliens, dragons or whatever other badass toys they're buying their offspring this christmas.

In retrospect, mongy internet people will decry MP SW as a 'failure' that 'bombed' for years to come, but they're basing that on having seen some on the shelves of a toyshop one time. New transformers, especially masterpiece editions, actually being on those shelves in the first place is always huge win for the collectors.  

 

thanks,i myself havent been to wal mart since the day i bought warp,so i guess it was just speculation on my part,but back in april i found 5 20th dvd primes on sale for 25 bucks in rhode island,and i think prime is a better figure than starscream,even with the short smokestacks and no trailer (lol)

 

Couple of reasons
1) Poor distribution
2) When scream came out the economy was booming and the 1st movie was hot. This increased normal demand and scalping. Funny thing is last I checked his ebay prices are near original retail.
3) Starscream's initial retail price was $48.88 (versus $60 for Skywarp)
4) When starscream came out that was the 1st time he had been available in the G1 deco so there was overseas demand for Wal-scream also. The previous Takara version was Greenscream. The Wal-warp deco isn't that different from Tak-warp.
5) Due to the reasons above (plus the dedicated find-me-a-Wal-Scream thread) there were not many Starscream shelfwarming but Starscream was clearance by Walmart in about the same amount of time as Skywarp for $30.

This last one is a stretch but Wal-scream came out in the middle of the Games of Deception fiasco. Even paying scalper prices he was cheaper then GoD for a chance down the line to get all three seekers.

As for Prime, he was released several times, similar deco, and has a higher retail price then Scream.

 

i'd suspect some pretty rubbish distribution has played a part too.

i'd love to know how many units have been sold of MP SW verses the takara figs, hasbro MP SS and any TF products at the same price-point out at the same time.

ROTF prime being f'kin brilliant probably hasn't helped sales either!

 

I agree with all that you said except that the price was not universally 48.88. He was $60 bucks around here as well, just like Skywarp is now.

 

speaking of skywarp, i got a question. when starscream came out, a lot of people were using a knife to give his wings better clearance and all to keep it from snapping, do you go to cut away any plastic on skywarp or did they fix that issue?

 

damnit i have said it once, i have said it twice, and i have said it several times......starscreams retail price was $50 here in the states, end of the line

 

Um, I have to disagree with you SIR. I paid $120 USD for two. I think I remember how much I paid. K THanks.

 

Bummer, I paid less than that for two secondhand...

I've yet to see the Walmart Skywarp in person...granted, I haven't looked very hard, but he hasn't been available at the few Walmarts I've been to.

 

then you overpaid, cause the true retail price was $50, i ain't the only person that will say that. i hunted day after day for one and never found one, but i had the exact cash for it ready at all times, $50 of birthday money, it was the price. your store must of had a markup, but the initial retail price was $49.99

http://www.tfw2005.com/resources/classics-decepticons-198/starscream-masterpiece-1940/

heck i am even proven by the resource section of this very board

 

Starscream had a smaller run and also he was the only MP SS that was in G1 color. The only reason why I picked him up because of the G1 color.

 

Odd, but Walmart's never been consistent so I'm not suprised. He was $48.88 in Houston.

 

AND Starscream appeared BEFORE the first movie was the monster success that it was.

That alone would have effected availability. Skywarp is benefitting from retailers' fuzzy feelings for Transformers at the current time ON TOP of being a holiday item

 

What really hurt starscream was the sales of the 20th anniversary DVD mp prime. retailers were very skeptical of selling starscream when prime flopped big time

 

I've wondered that myself, and the reasons given in this thread are all probably factors into it. I can only say that I saw one Starscream, once, and came across Skywarp only once, but there was a good set of 6 or so there.

 

okay,thats my other question,so dvd prime flopped?any reason,because i bought mine for 25 bucks at wal-mart in 2009,a few years after his release i guess

 

yea he flopped.....stores ordered a bunch of them cause the first prime sold well.....well there was a lot of factors that turned fans off of it (the blue gun, the figure felt a whole lot cheaper, and the base with the "non-prime" voice to name a few). that thing collected dust and was heavily discounted.....and wal-mart was a bit weary to sell another masterpiece after that contastrophy

 

yeah,that voice box does suck.sounds like he has the flu lol