So... after getting a few Siege figures after 30+ years of no TFs, I'm hooked and want to get the whole set. But I live in Australia where it seems really hard to find TF toys that aren't either movie toys or the new Cyberverse figures. Can someone else in Australia let me know where they prefer to buy from? Bricks and morter are all I've found so far (I am hesitant about ebay due to obvious HK knockoffs being sold there) and most online stores have been a bust... the big retail giants won't let you pick what you want (i.e. you get a "randomly chosen Leader class" when you order!) and smaller online toystores I know from my Lego collecting days don't seem to sell the Siege line. Overseas (US/UK) online is certainly an option, despite our government's tax "reforms" but the big guys like BigBadToyStore seem to want insane shipping ($115 when I tried to place and order for a dozen figures!). Advice or suggestions is most welcome!
My local Kmart has almost nothing Siege (all Cyberverse and movie stuff); one Sixgun, two Starscreams and four Chromia (our pegwarmers, it seems, as it was the only figure everyone had), along with a bunch of the animal battlemasters and tapes. My other local stores: Target = cheapest, and had Ironhide, Sixgun, Starscream, Soundwave, Chromia, Prowl, same small figs as Kmart (I bought several of these). Toyworld = way more expensive but had Flywheels, Hound, Cog, Starscream, Shockwave and Ultra Magnus (I bought the two big guys - $90 each! - and Flywheels). Nobody had Prime or Megatron, who I would have bought, or Sideswipe or the other battlemasters; only the rescue patrol for micromasters anywhere. Online for all the above is useless because they pick figures from whatever class you pay for at random (?!). Toys R Us never had tons of stuff locally, but I miss them already.
Hey there fellow Aussie Siege hasn’t had the best distribution so far over here. Stuff has mostly been showing up at Toyworld and other smaller toy store franchises (toymate, kidstuff, hobbyco, uncle Pete’s, etc) but depending on the store they could charge pretty steeply. Eg for a Deluxe I’ve seen the prices range from $34 to $45 depending on which Toyworld I’ve gone to. They’ve started showing up in the major retailers now. But it’s taking them a while and they seem to have skipped wave 1 (Kmart has he best prices on deluxes $29 compared to target’s $34 but right now Target has them at a sale price of $29 so...) Depending on what state you’re in you could try some independently owned comic/collectable/pop culture stores. But yeah, right now it seems like Online is the best way to go. I purchased an Optimus Prime from Amazon Australia last week. The price seems to fluctuate pretty constantly. But I ended up paying $58 for it which isn’t so bad. (that’s altogether for the figure and the shipping) Now I’m just waiting for it to show up. Haha. Mightyape appear to have some siege stuff available too for basically the standard retail prices. But I’ve never used them before so I can’t vouch for them. At this point. I’d say buy what you can locally as it comes out and then get the rest from amazon Australia. They’re prices + shipping seems to be the most reasonable and you’re able to pick exactly what characters you want.
The short story is that the major department stores and chains missed wave 1. Wave 1 did have a limited release in Toyworlds within the southern states and territory. It also turned up in boutique toy stores e.g. Kidstuff. You're looking at a $5-$7 premium if you happen to live near one of those. OP and Megs are likely to have been cleaned out of many locations, though. In regards to online sales, The Little Toy Co. received some stock, but it sold out quickly. Amazon is a mixed bag. The .au site has been traditionally pretty hopeless, but you should be able to order from the US site again, just not any of the third party sellers. Ebay has a local store that is allegedly an official distributor, they ship a deluxe for $35.
U need to use google chrome. Set it to translate. If u can work it all out like i did u will be incredibly happy. Its not easy mind u. But if a aussie noob like me can do it. U can too.. check the taobao thread on here. And the, how to taobao, website. Ask questions in the thread. Ppl there are amazing too help. Or ask me and ill try talk ya through it.
Thanks for the advice, folks! I made my first online TF buy from Amazon Australia. Prime and Megs on the way, along with the other Micromasters. Who was in Wave 1 besides the two leaders, can I ask (so I know who I need)? I also ordered Siege Sideswipe via Amazon and he arrived today... with Asian-language stickers on his otherwise-normal box! Should I be worried they sold me a knockoff (I deliberately avoided eBay for that reason, as most "local" sellers are in Hong Kong and Singapore on eBay au!) or is it more likely it was just from a batch re-labled to sell to Asian markets?
You're best bets are Target, Kmart and Toyworld since ToyRUs shut down. Or see if you can buy them online, though that will be bit more expensive because of delivery fees
Toyworld was my best "hit" in terms of range, though they had just ONE of everything they had. Target seems best for price, easily, but they seem to just have tons of certain figures. Kmart had loads of just a few figures (Chromia, Starscream and Six-Gun). Neither Target or Kmart let you order online, and I'm a bit wary of Amazon AU after I got Sideswipe from them and got sent an import version with an ugly sticker on the box. I have a local Toyworld I'd love to support over the big chain stores, but they were very "meh" when I tried to ask about ordering/buying certain figures ("depends what we get, check back from time to time"). Like, I'm a nostalgic 40-year-old with disposable income willing to drop big bucks on a ton of overpriced kids toys who's chosen not to shop online but at your bricks and mortar store! Aren't I a dream customer?!
