Hey, everyone, Great news for Australian collectors seeking the elusive SS-14 Voyager class Ironhide! I've found myself one on the shelf of Kmart in Eastland Shopping Centre, Victoria. Ironhide was sharing the shelf with 1x SS-12 Brawl and 1x SS-05 Optimus Prime. Hopefully this means other Kmart stores across the country will replenish with this hard-to-find Autobot warrior. Happy hunting! ~L~
He's a good one...one of my top 3 favorite SS figures. He's solid and the bumper gut doesn't appear nearly as prominent in person.
Oh snap!!!, which means there may be hope for the missing voyagers wave 4 and 5 to show up someday. Need to check out my local Kmart for him.
It's funny - Ironhide is extremely common at German retail, at least he was for a very long time. Meanwhile, DOTM Ratchet, Volkswagen Beetle Bumblebee, helicopter Dropkick and ROTF Starscream are a complete no-show. (Don't worry though, I got them all online.)
I look forward to opening him very soon. Although, from the day it was announced, I have planned to order the DNA upgrade kit, so if the gut bumper does bother me I'll be able to do something about it. I'm actually just as excited about the handheld guns, as I am about any replacement parts, they will allow me to switch Ironhide back and forth from 2007 to 2011 configuration. Speaking from my experience, no Studio Series Deluxe figures have been particularly common at Australian retail except the current wave (and Crowbar). Wave 1 Bumblebees would consistently vanish right away, soon followed by Ratchet. Stinger and Crowbar hung around longer, Crowbar often warming shelves up through the release of Wave 5. Waves 2, 3 and 4 came and went extremely fast. I would only ever see one case of each wave arrive on shelves in any given store and then the next restock would be the next wave. KSI Sentry was particularly scarce, only shipping one per case. I only ever saw two copies in store, one of which being the one I bought. Waves 5 and 6 have been much better stocked, Wave 5 being heavily stocked by Kmart, enjoying no less than three restocks of the same assortment, although Kmart might have been the only local retailer to carry that wave. Wave 6, the current wave, is the only wave so far to be stocked to saturation, appearing on all major retailer shelves. Studio Series Voyagers have been on hold since Wave 2. We've had a glut of Brawl and RotF Megatron for months. Wave 6 has been spotted interstate, but aside from my Ironhide discovery yesterday, I haven't seen anything but a shelf full of Brawl. As for Leader class, stocking habits are erratic. Wave 1 was stocked lightly at the beginning and still pops up here and there from time to time. No signs of Wave 2 anywhere yet. Brief as the releases have been, at least we haven't experienced too many no-shows so far, and I have renewed hope for the absent Voyager class waves showing up, even if we only see one or two of each before moving on to the next wave. ~L~
