Found it in Ohio. It's in the Midwest, actually. No coastal finds, yet.

 

Aw come on, nobody's scalping them? Everyone who's bought one is going to keep and enjoy it? How dare you! How dare you all!

 

Found mine in Cleveland TN.

 

any sightings for Texas or other southwest states?

 

One turned up in our local sightings thread all the way up here in Maine! Off to see if he's still there today...

 

Niiice! Good luck!

EDIT: Plug your zip code and this number: 224626525 into this link: Walmart Inventory Checker - BrickSeek to find them. If there's 2 or more, chances are it's the case of this guy. Especially if they had zero yesterday.

 

is that code supposed to be for Ultra Magnus?

 

Walmart has it screwed up. It's actually the case assortment number, but Walmart incorrectly listed it as Ultra Magnus. If you check his actual code, nothing comes of it. Mislabeled, nothing more.

I used that exact number to find my Shockwave and GFOP. It also found Ultra Magnus, simply because he was packed in.

 

I'm curious to know how this works. It sounds like you might know..

So that SKU number is actually tied to the Wave 2 box itself? Because it's interesting... if I search for that I get hits at my walmart, but if I search with the Galaxy Prime UPC i get no hits. Curious as to what makes that distinction somewhere.

 

The only thing inventoried is the assortment box, with no indication of the individual items inside. A specific SKU will always show as not in stock because it isn't tracked (only assortments are). The specific SKU's are typically for the online stores.

 

Individual SKU’s seem to only work for online ordering. Always go with the master case SKU/DCPI when looking at brick & mortar.

 

Thank you for the replies. INteresting.
I knew DCPIs were used with target for the entire line/class size. (usually changing between lines but not always).

But I didn't know this applied to Walmart too. I thought thye were famous for having things much more precisely tracked and relying on the UPC. So then, that SKU above, despite it showing ultra magnus, is actually the sku for the box that would have Galaxy force? no chance of that being a mistake and referencing the first assortment?

 

I can confirm, it’s the same way I found shockwave and magnus earlier. Best hint is to wait to find the inventory go up and then go check. Usually happens overnight.

 

It's amazing how this is always overlooked in the rush to scream "it's so much smaller than the original!" Meanwhile ignoring that the original was oversized compared to all the other characters, and simplistic.

 

So the posted SKU is supposed to be for Galaxy prime's case I thought? I think I get it now... so this is more like the dcpi where you can't tell the difference? I returned to a Walmart that had two listed but was empty last night. They have SW and UM here.

 

Aw crap, on of my local one's has 3 but I won't have a chance to get there until Friday...

 

Actually, the SKUs, UPCs, and DPCIs work like this:

Each figure (and its packaging) has a UPC for inventory control and point of sale. The problem is, that's more for Hasbro's records, smaller stores who actually have the time to inventory each and every item they carry and online purchases as mentioned below. Another problem is, the overall SKU can also lead you to the individual item's product page, but not the other way around.

Because they don't have the time or resources to enter each and every item into the computers on the floor, they have the home office do it at the main hub (Bentonville, AR for Walmart and Minneapolis (I believe?), MN for Target) and then tie it to the barcode on the outer case, much like how the shipping companies do with parcels. Someone scans it in at origin, it's then thrown on a truck, train or plane cargo hold and added to that hold's manifest. The manifest's barcode is what's scanned at various locations. Then once it's out for delivery, your driver scans it much like the cashier at the store does. It registers both the individual parcel and the cargo hold so both are processed and the business is concluded. Same thing with figures.

That's also why sometimes when wave 2 or 3 of a product line comes in and the store says it's not on file and they either override to complete the sale, or refuse the sale. Each case has a new barcode, which is then added to the SKU and the system updates.

So, basically it works like this:
The barcode on the case locks to a SKU in the store system. All of the items in that case (let's say Leaders) tie to that SKU, so all Leaders, no matter what wave, will tie to that SKU. So when you scan Galaxy Upgrade (Force) Optimus Prime's barcode, it's going to tell the palm pilot the employee is using that it's in stock, but the computer is actually reading that they have Shockwave in stock, or Ultra Magnus, instead. It's part of the reason why it can be so difficult to find someone to help you, let alone actually get the correct item.

This also applies to all size classes. Deluxe for all Deluxes, Voyager for all Voyagers, Leader for all Leaders, and so on. Only Titans and store exclusive special edition figures get their own SKU that can be used to find exactly that one. Walmart exclusive TLK Hot Rod, for example. Let's say Cogman had been a Walmart exclusive along with Hot Rod, the SKU would've worked for their case, rather than for each of them, alone.

That's why it's so difficult for stores to keep inventory straight. One manager overrides a sale, it counts toward the old items on the SKU, which prevents ordering of new. They can overorder thinking they don't have enough new stuff on the SKU, even though they actually do have it on hand. And it happens all the time. That's why brand new figures are sometime clearanced out for bargain basement pricing as well as what's overstocked and never stocked. It's a mess. =\

This.

And depending on the retailer (Kmart) the shared UPC thing (like Walmart does with a SKU) will lead to the same problems. That's why so many people end up returning their online orders to Kmart and why some websites don't actually share Kmart links (even before the store closures) because it was a 70/30 thing on how often your order would be wrong or fail.

DPCIs, SKUs, UPCs, all different sides of the same coin. If one was three-sided, but you get what I mean. We don't know the internal systems for Kroger Marketplace and Meijer, both of which sell Transformers, but I'd imagine there's some kind of system like it. When TRU was open, they had SKNs.

This is a good option. Also, if your local store(s) have zero the day before and suddenly have 2 or more, that means they got them in.

It's for all Leader Class cases. Works for Shockwave/Ultra Magnus, Galaxy Upgrade (Force) Optimus Prime/Shockwave and whatever wave 3's assortment will be, which is Astrotrain/???

 

Wasn't it Astrotrain/Ultra Magnus?

 

Is it? You know what? I think you're right. Either way, next wave is Astrotrain as the new Leader Class mold/pack in.

 

Oh. gotcha. Yea, that's totally fair.