In my area it seems like too many people are hunting... When something gets announced in the sightings thread it disappears quickly.

They hardly restock stuff either. My local Walmart only has one peg and it is of Movie Snarl.

 

The last two areas I lived in where both better for toy hunting for different reasons. One had a huge suburban sprawl, I could keep going all night. The other just had the stuff, if there was a U.S. Retail sighting on the first page I could go out and find it that day.

The area I'm in now is pretty limited. That being said I keep hearing about possible new internet sales taxes. That's a bummer.

 

still like the occasional jaunt around town but expectations are generally VERY low, and I've only been at this about 2 years now :C

 

I miss the thrill of the hunt, but I have less time for it these days. Plus, I can usually find things easier and cheaper online anyway. That being said, whenever I am in a store, I always take a trip through the toy aisle just in case.

 

I used to *love* the hunt. But that was back when B&M would do sales all the time, so not only did I get to be out searching, but I would save money.

Now, it is very difficult to save money at B&M, over just ordering online. In fact, the best deal you can find these days, is HTS with a good coupon. And most of the time, the toys are available online before B&M. So, I'm just falling into the "order online and make it easy on me" routine.

 

I still enjoy the hunt, but do find myself buying more online. I live in an area that has a bunch of stores close. i still check the stores when i am there. Most times I do find all the normal releases at retail if i look hard enough. but it does get tiredsome

 

In know how you feel. It seems like every store has the same damn thing. And why get it at Walmart when you could get it a month earlier at BBTS.

 

Too many of the desireable figures only ever get one case shipped, and if you miss it, Futz you. But hey, there's always more cases of RiD Warriors to ship. >_>

 

I love the hunt. For the people being disappointed, here is something I over heard once from a mom to a kid, "you can't get a toy everytime you vist the toy store".

 

I still actively hunt and enjoy doing so. I live just a few miles between two Walmart, three Target, and a TRU. That definitely makes a difference. At times I'll check all of them and not find a damn thing. I don't feel empy though. I feel like i just saved a few bucks. The gas money spent was worth the entertainment imo.

 

Hunting where I live is pointless. I have bought 99% of my stuff from Online Retailers like BBTS.

I have 2 Walmarts 20 minutes away, other then that I have to drive an hour to the closest big town where there is 1 Target, Walmart & TRU. Ironically I have had more luck getting stuff at TRU then anywhere else in this area.

 

I only collect MPs now so I don't need to hunt for anything. But, I definitely used to hate it back when I was buying classics. It was nice when you actually found what you were looking for, but all the driving to the next city over and coming up empty was a drag.

 

Hunting used to be a lot of fun, but around the time HTFD came out distribution tanked. Really just gave up after seeing the umpteenth Bumblebee and Jetblade. Can't even remember the last figure I bought at retail it's been so long.

 

I almost liked the 'hunt' when deluxes cost $7.xx in the store and were more plentiful, but when it's just as much or more to buy it in the store IF you can actually find it...nah dood. It might be a little exciting finding something you're looking for, but it doesn't outweigh the disappointment of not finding something the other 28 or more attempts.

 

I live in England where unless you're looking for 1 step changers or bayformers you're going to be disappointed.

 

I really don't understand why around a release window i can walk into basically any store and find all of a given line of Lego (like the Force Awakens sets for instance) and usually find even the most desirable sets, but waves of Hasbro (i.e. Star Wars/Transformers) product languish, Target goes unstocked for 6 months, gets a ton of wave 1 then never restocks until wave 3-4, Wave 1 never shows at Walmart then they get a ton of Wave 2 and skip wave 3, etc... i mean, in 2014 i was trying to get my son the figures from Star Wars rebels, and they didn't show up when the show launched (September), first sightings happened around November, then they didn't actually show up in bulk until around February last year, on (IIRC) wave 3, and they never repacked some of Wave 1 (Chopper finally got repacked in TFA 2 pack -- with the biggest peg warmer in the line) some later waves NEVER got widespread distribution... just a mess. (that seems to be continuing with their TFA line)

..and while i'm not hunting regularly, i'll still pop by the aisle now and then if i am at a store: never saw the Protectobot deluxes at retail, and now the Wave 4 bots seem to be shelf warming everywhere.

 

Hunting is becoming less and less of a thing for me. I have a couple local sellers with Diamond and Hasbro accounts, so buying through them is a better option most times.

 

This.

Only time I've ever gone looking for a figure in a shop was when mp08 first came out and even then I ended up reserving it so not really a hunt.

 

I still hunt even how I rarely buy retail lol