TRU Wave 16

[DSTZach]

Unless that TRU got in specialty TWD sets, that was Dexter, not Tyreese.

Edited October 28, 2013 by DSTZach

[pappymojo]

I've got a 20% off coupon, Wednesday is double rewards dollars and I've got about half an hour free to make it to the local try store tonight. Would love to find tomb raider, wave 16 or wave 17 tonight.

[pk13]

Minimates exclusives have pretty much destroyed the fun of going to TRU for me. I went tonight and was greeted with one pack of W3 TWD, about a half peg of SFvT, enough Kirk/Khan packs to choke a donkey, and 5 cases worth of TRU W15.

It has been especially bad since the reset. The reset severely reduced the peg space for all Minimates but really killed the Marvel selection. I recently took a road trip and hit nine TRUs in five different states and they were all an absolute train wreck as far as Minimates are concerned. All of the stores were post-reset.

I remember a discussion not too long ago about if we would be better off or worse off if a different store took over exclusive Minimates. After the last couple of months with TRU, (not even going to add the cluster of an online system they punish people with into the equation), I really can't imagine it being any worse with any other retailer.

[bigvis497]

My store has two pegs of minimates mixed in with the other marvel stuff. Not even next to each other and with minimates price tags all over with different amounts, some not even on minimates pegs. Street fighter mixed with marvel mixed with iron man 3. And some MAX jets and knight riders buried behind Marvel universe three packs.

[pk13]

And just to make sure no one gets the wrong impression, I'm not bagging on DST here. I would think that having awesome figures that aren't getting into the hands of consumers is frustrating to them, even if they couldn't say so. This is strictly about how TRU is screwing up.

[Zexion_Armando]

Minimates exclusives have pretty much destroyed the fun of going to TRU for me. I went tonight and was greeted with one pack of W3 TWD, about a half peg of SFvT, enough Kirk/Khan packs to choke a donkey, and 5 cases worth of TRU W15.

It has been especially bad since the reset. The reset severely reduced the peg space for all Minimates but really killed the Marvel selection. I recently took a road trip and hit nine TRUs in five different states and they were all an absolute train wreck as far as Minimates are concerned. All of the stores were post-reset.

I remember a discussion not too long ago about if we would be better off or worse off if a different store took over exclusive Minimates. After the last couple of months with TRU, (not even going to add the cluster of an online system they punish people with into the equation), I really can't imagine it being any worse with any other retailer.

That's what bugged me most about the Star Trek wave (and still does)

There were 5 rows of this wave. 5! I know people like Star Trek, but dear lord.

I think 1 row was emptied, but the remainder are still there. It just bugs me cause it seems like common sense supply and demand. I don't think Star Trek is a big enough franchise (at least, not based on the current bleh movies) to demand that sort of order, while I only saw like 2 pegs of Wave 16 (Which I know some people haven't seen at all, bless their aching souls) that mostly came and went (Wolverine and Reaper, barred, are the only ones left)

[MisterPL]

For what it's worth, The Wolverine didn't perform as well as Star Trek Into Darkness at the box office. The Trek franchise has been around longer than any Marvel film and even most Marvel comics. However, despite the latest films' recent success in theaters and adding the fact that DST product isn't based on them anyway, Abrams' flicks haven't exactly reignited interest in Trek merchandise.

I'd love to be able to say Wolverine product is flying off the pegs but as with First Class, there's hardly any to fly onto the pegs, never mind the fact that I've yet to see any Minimates from The Wolverine at TRU. Maybe they're waiting for the home video release.

It's possible that Marvel's reached a saturation point among consumers. Perhaps there are only so many times you can see Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark (we're up to, what, five times in as many years?) or Hugh Jackman as Wolverine (we're going on seven in May). As popular as the films might be, if interest has peaked and is beginning to wane, I can understand studios' desire to try something fresh like Guardians of the Galaxy or relatively new like X-Force, Ant-Man, and Doctor Strange.

I think what we're seeing at retail (from end consumers and corporate buyers alike) is brand apathy. A hit property can often fade just as quickly as it struck. The hope is that it levels out to become an evergreen, never really going away and always being the safe, reliable bet. But consumers want hits and retailers don't want to lose marketshare to competitors who are willing to gamble on properties like Adventure Time or Monster High so they shift some of their dollars accordingly. Consequently, no Thor 2 or Cap 2 at TRU and Days of Future Past might end up as a 4-pack through Previews at best.

I don't know what the specific numbers for Trek Minimates are but according to a recent Ask DST, they're not enough to end the line nor are they enough to brag about. I'm beginning to suspect the same of Marvel movie Minimates and both franchises might be suffering from the same evergreen apathy. They're the kind of properties that are taken for granted until they're no longer readily available.

Star Trek imploded not too long ago. There was a time when there were at least two new TV series being broadcast while reruns of two other shows were being shown in syndication and fresh feature films were being produced. Novels were being published on a steady schedule and merchandise was abundant. But it was too much for the market to bear and the franchise went into a coma. Likewise Marvel properties are not only in comics but in film, on television (both live-action and animated), and in video games. It's everywhere, a star so dense it might go supernova.

The Marvel movie schedule keeps getting more and more congested. We've got Thor 2 out now. Cap 2 hits in April. A month later there's Amazing Spider-Man 2 and three weeks after that Days of Future Past. Then there's a breather before Guardians hits in August. For a Marvel licensee like DST and for buyers like TRU, it's a gamble. Knowing how past product has performed, do you buy down (or at all) and play it safe or do you put your finite, budgeted dollars toward the potential next Hot New Thing™ and pray that Guardians becomes the next Star Wars?

By the way, those are just the MARVEL movies stores like TRU are considering. Now toss in Godzilla, Transformers 4, Ninja Turtles, and 50 Shades of Grey. (Okay, maybe not the last one but I wouldn't be shocked if NECA jumped on it.)

I'm just saying this toy market is as volatile as ever and buyers don't always have a Magic 8-Ball that's accurate. The economy sure isn't helping. Even I'm pickier about what I'm collecting and I'm a plastic crack addict! I have to have it!

[DSTZach]

It's not like other chain stores are banging down our doors to get exclusive Minimates rights.

Toys R Us takes a gamble on a lot of our stuff. Next year they're taking a lot of new lines. I don't blame them for being a little selective, and I think they distribute as best they can. It's better than nothing.

[hellpop]

Trust me, as bleak as things are right now with TRU, it would be much worse with Target or Wal-Mart.

Your comments on Trek and Marvel are interesting, PL. I do think that Star Trek stands as a cautionary tale to all other IP managers about what can happen if you mismanage a successful property. I don't know if Trek will ever again have anywhere near the cultural significance that it did at its' peak. And that would be a good thing, I think, if it meant that 50 year old entertainment properties were being replaced by new things, but I don't really think that's the case.

Personally, I keep expecting the Marvel movie bubble to burst, but I don't think it has yet. People seem to be invested in the Marvel movie universe, really much like the way most of us comic book geeks are invested in the core product. The marketing has been rather cagy; I don't think a Thor movie could have stood on its' own quite like the first one did without the Big Picture tie-in. Of course, there's been a bit of luck there, as Iron Man was a much, much bigger success then anyone could have anticipated, and really set the stage (to see what happens to a potential shared universe kickstarter when the parts don't click, look at Green Lantern). Who knows, maybe Thor 2 will disappoint.

I do think, though, that the toys have peaked. I think DST is suffering a bit from the way Hasbro oversaturated the market with Iron Man and Thor merchandise; I doubt that sales of the first Thor 'mates were poor enough that TRU wouldn't want to carry them; on the other hand, Thor merch overall has definitely pegwarmed, so I can see them not really wanting much of anything. The Hasbro line seems to be very small, and TRU also passed on a Wolverine 6" line from Hasbro. So I think they are starting to be much choosier, rather then being stuck with some of this inventory for literally years.

None of this really has to do with why Wave 16 is MIA, but, y'know, interesting to talk about nonetheless.

[winkerbean]

Trust me Thor 2 won't dissapoint

[Shanester]

This is how it is for me, in a nutshell. I am thrilled that TRU is stocking Minimates. I think its cool that they have exclusive Minimates that only they sell. What I think is uncool is that I cannot find those exclusive figures anywhere. Even at a premium third party price, they are still not real easy to get and I should not have to go third party when I have two brick and mortar stores in my area. Not to mention the fact that I go to these locations once a week looking for these rarities...

{end}rant

[MisterPL]

Exclusives are supposed to drive traffic to the retailer.

Ideally, the presence of the product should encourage consumers to visit the stores or website but apparently even its absence is achieving the same result so TRU can't lose in that regard.

However, I'd be more inclined to make additional purchases (and did online) if I could actually find the damned product.

So while they're still getting traffic, TRU could be making a bit more money.

[Trekker 42]

And that would be a good thing, I think, if it meant that 50 year old entertainment properties were being replaced by new things, but I don't really think that's the case.

Clearly.

[buttheadsmate]

I know I can be a bit repetitive but I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I realise I remember watching the first broadcast episode of Doctor Who

[TENIME_art]

oldheadsmate?

[stack32]

In defense of TRU, for every one of you that can't find something in the store there's plenty of others who have been able to track things down with zero problems. My local TRUs are predictable enough that from the first sighting I can pretty much circle the day on the calendar when I'll see something in the store, though wave 16 was a little off because of the reset. Obviously if you have a bad store there's not much you can do about it and it sucks, but I don't think they're representative of the experience most people are having.

[pk13]

I would've agreed with that a few months ago. I really do understand that a single store, or even district, isn't representative of the whole chain. But lately, what I've seen at my local store, plus a much larger sample of stores I went to in five different states, plus what the majority of people here are saying, plus what many of my toy collecting friends that are spread out across the country are saying... it all seems to point to something more than this being a problem for the minority of collectors.

I just wish that TRU would get it together. From the website to the pegs in stores, it's been kind of lousy the last couple of months. I just want to give my money to DST and get the figures in return. And I completely understand that there has to be a middleman for that process. I just wish the middleman was doing a good job.

[elmeaux]

My local TRU has not gotten this wave. It's the first wave I can remember them not getting in years. They also just went in the recent reset from a nice 4 foot minimate section to about 8 pegs.

[MisterPL]

My local TRUs are predictable enough that from the first sighting I can pretty much circle the day on the calendar when I'll see something in the store, though wave 16 was a little off because of the reset.

I'm hoping that this is true of my TRU, as you suggest, because of the reset since my stores have usually been just as predictable. But it's not just about Series 16, it's about Tomb Raider Legacy and The Wolverine, too. None of them have shown up in my area.

[stack32]

Those last two haven't showed up anywhere (in the US at least) yet though, right? So, whatever the deal is, it would be different than stores not getting wave 16. I get the frustration, but if you're looking for something that you know won't be there you shouldn't be too shocked when it isn't on the pegs.

[youbastards]

Yeah, TRU Tomb Raider and TRU Wolverine haven't hit eBay yet. That is my litmus test for starting the hunt in-store.

I'm convinced the TRU 16 debacle is entirely due to the shared Item Number.

[CortherX]

Have these shown up in Portland, Or other than Jantzen Beach? I went out a few weeks ago but they didn't have the Emma/Colossus set...

[thereasonsy]

It's not like other chain stores are banging down our doors to get exclusive Minimates rights.

Toys R Us takes a gamble on a lot of our stuff. Next year they're taking a lot of new lines. I don't blame them for being a little selective, and I think they distribute as best they can. It's better than nothing.

Zach - completely get that. I just wish that Target would take the chance again for at least a boxset. Heck even for a DC boxset since they are the home of the JLA figures. Or maybe more love from the Disney store. Please don't take it the wrong way. We are grateful to TRU for giving us a home outside of the LCB store environment. We are just greedy because we love the mates so much!

[hellpop]

Obviously, DST wishes all those things would happen too. But Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, whomever are BAD partners for niche toys like Minimates. TRU at least attempts to serve collectors. Admittedly, they haven't done so hot with this wave. But we all did at least have a chance to get them from TRU.com, which wouldn't happen from the other web sites, most likely.

[MisterPL]

Those last two haven't showed up anywhere (in the US at least) yet though, right? So, whatever the deal is, it would be different than stores not getting wave 16. I get the frustration, but if you're looking for something that you know won't be there you shouldn't be too shocked when it isn't on the pegs.

My point is that TRU is usually hypersensitive when it comes to timing. Both the Tomb Raider Legacy and The Wolverine series have already been released through specialty to try to coincide with the video game and film releases respectively but neither have shown up at TRU. Assuming they've been delivered and are sitting in a TRU warehouse collecting dust, one has to wonder why.

I guess I share a concern mentioned by someone else; that these series won't make it to TRU pegs at all and will end up being shuttled off to some obscure clearance retailer because TRU feels that they've missed their window of opportunity to maximize sell-through.

Someone at TRU must be on the marijuana.