I agree. And I've been to all the stores galvascream has gone to in Waco.

 

that may be, but he basically just said everybody who shops at wal-mart fits into this category, and i am highly offended (that is why i reported it)

 

Are you serious?

 

About which part? All of the above I suppose.

 

About the part.....you know.....that I quoted.

 

Yes I saw that happening. Yes it was a first for me.

I mean I had seen gang members out and about before, but never pushing shopping carts full of chips and milk.

 

Even in Canada, Zellers (Canada's equivalent to Target), is the only one to get it right. I STILL haven't found Arcee or Ratchet at TRU, nor have I found Legends class Devastator at Wal-Mart. However, Target/Zellers always gets the least interesting of the exclusives.

 

I'm sorry, but stuff like this bothers me. I work 50+ hours a week. I do not have time to camp out at TRU, so when somebody tells me I should "make time" for it, it's rather irritating. I'm sorry, I have responsibilities beyond buying a Transformer figure, so I guess that means I'm somehow less worthy of getting one?  

At least Arcee was on the website. For 20 minutes or so.

Screw TRU. I've preordered the Japanese version from BBTS. I can depend on getting product from them, at least. And yes, it costs more, but not having to drive 25 minutes one-way, on the chance that Arcee might be on the shelves, is worth it.

 

"Make time for it" does not necessarily refer to going to a physical place. There are a lot of fan forums and communities set up for transformers and "makeing time for it" could be as simple as looking for someone who has an Arcee to trade for something else (they do exist but they don't last all that long) or finding a board member who is willing to pick up a spare and ship it to you.

I am by no means trying to knock the working man's timetable.

 

How odd. Expecting toys to be waiting on the shelves for you at Toys 'R Us.
What was he thinking?

 

oddly enough the only time i actually find something im looking to buy is at a walmart. i dont check target enough to see if they have something but toysrus is complete crap every time i go there. the only time they seem to be chalk full of transformers is when its on full display in the front with all its fancy lights and cardboard cutouts. even then i didnt find what i wanted. i gave up on them awhile ago.

 

Well, if you live outside the Baylor Bubble, Waco isn't the nicest place but they are not all bad people. Waco is just a very poor area to begin with. All you have is Dr. Pepper


I'm really holding back but I find this highly offensive.....

 

Maybe Target should have gotten Arcee.

 

*Whew!* Thank God there's nothing from Rhode Island. All we have are old people, misbehaving teens, confused non-English speaking minorities, and mothers yelling at their rowdy children.

 

Also factor in that it's far easier for scalpers to buy out all the figures at the one or two Toys-R-Us stores in driving distance than it would be for them to hit up every last Target or Wal-Mart in driving distance. Plus there are Wal-Marts and Targets in all sorts of out of the way little towns where you might have a shot at finding the exclusive that you can't find in the big city.

 

Good man. Sometimes you really have to weigh all the time and wear on your car and gas spent, plus the frustration, against just paying for an import and waiting. Patience is a virtue.

And I say that as someone who does have the luxury of intercepting trucks and standing outside with Hot Wheels nerds and all that nonsense. I won't do that anymore.

 

On the subject of TRU distribution:

Although this certainly may have changed in the last decade (and may have been incorrect info to begin with!) when I did my 6 month stint at TRU I was told the following:

Stores themselves are not directly responsible for ordering. Apparently the system is tied to what is leaving shelves. So it is not necessarily "Steve" at your local TRU who can't get it right but a much larger, much more flawed, and much less likely to change system.

 

ChrisR, I'm with you on this one. Even if that was a joke, that was pretty bad form. There can be just as much rich trash as poor trash.

And I'm reminded of that every time I go to a Target or high-end mall.

 

This.

The nearest Target to me is nice because of their generally well stocked toy dept and it is VERY easy to find exclusives there (Too bad I didn't want Leo Prime, even at $4.50.). The puzzling thing? It smells like very burnt tuna. It's awful.

The Walmart next to it smells fine, as do the other stores that I frequent in that town.

But every time we go to Target, my wife and I take a deep breath before we head in and make a beeline to the toys section, trying to get out before we develop a headache. It's been this way to varying degrees for at least the last year.

And the funny thing is? It's usually chock full of well dressed, overly fashionable people taking their time and even milling around the built in starbucks. We have no idea if they just don't notice or if they don't want to say because they think no one else notices.

Either way, lulz.

As for classy stuff, there's a Walmart I go to that touts its Sushi deli.  

I've not had issues with Walmart exclusives, but that's probably something to do with how many are near me. I picked up a Walscream when they were shelfwarming for $35, and kept passing on classics devs when they had close to 20 of them glutting the shelves.

Toys R Us exclusives seem to be easy to find for the most part. The problem with them is that they never put the things on clearance. They clog the shelves but refuse to even put them on sale. Their last sale on Ultras was great because I was going to finally pick up a Countdown, except Countdown wasn't on sale...

I found an Arcee and Ratchet (and an Arcee for a friend) because the store manager just happened to be walking by and asked if I needed anything. He brought out an entire box and let me pick though what ones I wanted. I left several on the pegs and was glad I got to pick and choose, because there were paint and plastic problems (sprue excess.)

The store manager turned out to be a really nice guy, and he said their main problems come from 'car collectors.'  

~Matt Booker

 

You know it's odd but it's not just exclusives I seem to have problems with at the stores.

I collect a few Hasbro lines and most of the Wal-Marts I've hit have had a pretty good selection of Marvel, GI Joe and Transformers. So if there is not an exclusive there is still a chance of finding a regular figure for one of my collections. Only problem is it's often older stock instead of newer waves.

Targets have been the same way with a pretty good selection of regular toys. In fact the odds of finding a regular figure to add to the collections is even higher because they seem to rotate stock better so I find the newer figures there before I do at Wal-Mart.

Short of a mega display at the front of the store I often leave Toys-R-Us empty handed. They just never seem to have a good selection of Marvel, GI Joe, or Transformers so it's almost a waste of time to go there except for exclusives.