So I haven't bought a retail transformer figure for almost 20 years but I want to try to find all the WFC: Kingdom Beast Wars figures in-store, just like in the 90s. I'm kind of confused that the online stores say they will be released in February but I am seeing a ton of people online showing them off in-hand. Does anyone have a good idea of when they will start showing up at places like Target & Walmart? I'm not familiar Hasbro's release process.
I'm going to go with February for shelf date. January is a terrible month for anything new as stores are resetting shelves post holidays. I went online retailer (BBTS) for my Cheetor and Warpath, but I'll likely not see my Amazon Kingdom figures until February and again I see retail figures showing up then also. I'd love to be wrong, but alas that's how I see it.
Any time I preorder BBTS I add at least 3 months to their projected release date, lol. I shop with them a lot, but damn are they slow getting preorders in.
I just spent 7 days hunting down Runamuck,he’s no where in any chandler,Mesa,or Gilbert store Off to go swoop up Hotlink to fill my empty heart...
I believe I saw Runamuck at the Gamestop at The District. Also known as Desert Ridge Marketplace. He's the white bot, right?
Ya, usually they're one of the slower stores, but not always. Over the past couple of years there have been a few times where I've gotten things from BBTS before they started showing up in stores or shipped from Pulse. Recently I got the Power Rangers monsters from them earlier, and just last week they got the Kingdom deluxes in, and they're either the first or one of the first to have those available. (mine were supposed to be delivered today, but, ya know, FedEx...) These days I do end up cancelling more BBTS orders than I end up keeping, but I do always order from them as a backup, and sometimes they end up coming through early.
Whew, well, it's not like it was in the 90s, so don't expect things to be the same. There aren't entire walls of one franchise anymore, and without Toys R Us or KB there are that many fewer places to look. You can't just go into a store and expect to find what you're looking for these days. If you insist on finding everything in stores you're going to end up wasting a lot of time and gas (not to mention the whole pandemic thing). Wave 1 of a line usually ends up shelfwarming eventually, but only after a while once everyone who wants them has already gotten them. And then waves after that are a crapshoot. If you really want the figures I'd highly suggest just trying to order them online (though even that is difficult sometimes). Like I mentioned above BigBadToyStore has the Kingdom Deluxes already, and you can preorder the rest of the Beasties there or at Hasbro Pulse or Amazon or several other places. But if you insist on hunting the stores, get familiar with BrickSeek and PopFindr (not a typo, it's really "findr"). I use BrickSeek for Walmart and PopFindr for Target. For Walmart you need the SKU number, and for Target you need the DPCI number. But there's a complication. The websites will have a number for each individual figure, but these individual numbers won't work on the stock checking sites. Because there are also numbers for an entire assortment, like one number for deluxes, one number for voyagers, etc. And those are the numbers the tracking sites use, and they're usually harder to find. There are a couple of threads for these, but they can be hit or miss if they actually work or not. I usually only find numbers that work when I'm randomly looking at other threads and someone mentions it. And even when you do have them you don't know what individuals they actually have, just that they have some of that size class in-stock (and "in-stock" doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to find them either, sometimes they're still in the back and haven't been put out yet, or sometimes the stock numbers are just wrong). The exceptions are for the store exclusives, the numbers for those that are on the websites usually work in the stock finders. When I'm using these to actively try and find something I watch for the stock numbers to jump, and that usually means there's a better chance that they got a newer wave in, but it's still not a guarantee if getting them because of the caveats above. But it's usually a good system to use, I was able to get the Netflix figures pretty easily using that method. UPC/EAN barcode list for modern Transformers toys Ongoing Target DPCI log and new/restocked/shipped/preorder thread As for release dates, who the hell knows. Some websites will have dates listed, but they're never reliable, you may get them earlier or later. For example both Hasbro Pulse and Amazon say Black Arachnia and Cheetor are shipping next spring, but I've already got them on a FedEx truck somewhere on their way to me from BBTS. And Kingdom figures were sighted on the shelves in a Walmart in Canada last week. So does that mean they'll start showing up in the US soon? Who the hell knows. Maybe. Sometimes they do. But usually when they do show up in one state it can take weeks for them to show up in other places. There is no rhyme or reason to it. Last year wave 1 of Siege showed up at a few Targets in Phoenix early on, but then took weeks to actually show up in any other stores in the area. And the final wrinkle, like someone mentioned above, sometimes Target streetdates Transformers for some insane reason that I've never seen an explanation for. But no one tells the stock crew (and I'm pretty sure the dates aren't on the box), and they get put out on the shelves anyway, and then the register will refuse to sell it to you. When that happens you either get lucky and get an employee who does something and overrides it for you, or you get one that goes by the book and won't sell it to you. But even then it's usually very inconsistent which stores' systems have a streetdate problem and which ones don't. There have been a few times where people posted here about being denied, but then I found the same figure at another Target and was able to buy it just fine. The only time I've heard of it being widespread and consistent was with Runabout last month, where people all over the country were posting about being denied (including me in a post a few pages back), and only a few people were actually able to buy it. The only other time I've ever been streetdated was with an Overload, and that time I got lucky with an employee that punched a few numbers and overrode it. Luckily this never seems to be a problem at Walmart. So in conclusion to the term paper I've just written, I know that finding a new toy on the shelves is a fun experience, we all get that. But with the ways the toy industry and retail have changed since the 90s finding them in the stores is just stressful now. If you just care about getting the figures I would highly suggest that you order them somewhere online (or multiple somewheres if you're impatient), and use the store shelves as a backup. Then keep an eye on this thread for when someone else finds them in a store, and you can start checking the stock trackers to get an idea of where you should look, and maybe you'll get lucky and find them earlier and can cancel your online orders. Good luck!
If you any of you want to check out a Gamestop that reminds me of the heyday of TRU, check out the one on Baseline/24th St. They've upped their game enormously and have a selection of AF's that would rival the best toy stores (that still exist) out there. They also frequently run sales on AF's. I have no vested interest in that store per se, but as I used to live near there I was in that shop often. Their selection at that time was nothing to write home about, but that appears to have changed now that they are considered what one of the clerks referred to as a 'flagship store'. Anyway, check it out as they carry TF's as well.
@Cyrian, This was such an incredible writeup! Thanks for putting the time into it for me. This was exactly the expert insight I was looking for and you answered every follow-up question that I would have had. Like you suggested, I'll probably order them all online then maybe casually collect duplicates IRL just so I have a little bit of a hunt without the pressure of needing to find everything. You probably saved me $100 in gas in 2021 haha.
Tip from from David Willis for telling Beavis and Butthead apart: Runa'B'out is 'B'lack, Runamuck is the other one.
Son of a bitch. Went to about a dozen targets last few days and they are so wiped out its pathetic lol. Spent my damn tf money on crap like stuff for the kitchen. Damn u target
Too bad I’m no longer in Arizona anymore work requires me to travel and leave the collection behind till I can ship it too myself
