Donny B Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 I will never understand the appeal of Minecraft (aside from the world-building aspect of it). The graphics approach is so rudimentary, that even my childhood perspective (which was defined by 8-bit and 16-bit awesomeness) couldn't justify the polygons. It makes me scratch my head incredibly hard to think that the same kids who love to bash Goldeneye (N64) for its graphics could then flock to Minecraft.BUT, regardless of the logic behind it, Minecraft is a massively successful property. The merchandise sells better than I would ever have believed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Sure I'd love to find them at sale price, but full price would have been fine too. Even if i miss them at the store, as long as I have a chance to buy them i'm good. Not having a chance and the situation seeming as if I never had a chance, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I hear this a lot . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pappymojo Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Yeah, TRU has become a mystery to me... everything has changed. I've checked multiple stores in my area on a weekly basis and never seen a hint of wave 18 or the Tomb Raider sets. I assumed they would eventually show up but with Walking Dead wave 5 now hitting in multiple stores near me I'm not so sure. It seems TRU may have skipped western PA with both waves. Sure I'd love to find them at sale price, but full price would have been fine too. Even if i miss them at the store, as long as I have a chance to buy them i'm good. Not having a chance and the situation seeming as if I never had a chance, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If anyone knows of either wave showing in the Western Pa area I'd be happy to be proven wrong. Also, what's up with all of the Minecraft merchandise at TRU lately, does that stuff sell? Not knocking it but I really don't understand the attraction, It looks like a bit-map nightmare to me. I can't see a parent buying their kid that pick axe they sell for like $20. Shit. My store didnt have walking dead 5. Didnt realize it was out yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shogi Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 My store just got WD 5 this week, it's been hitting different stores the past couple of weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigvis497 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Been to three TRU stores in upstate NY, I've seen the new Waking Dead but no Tomb Raider or new Marvel. What gives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cidman911 Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I got a few Star Trek sets for like $2.38 this week after the clearance price. The Battle Beasts are like $4.50 I think but nobody seems to be buying any. The same sets have been peg warming since December in my area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zexion_Armando Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 (edited) Yeah, saw WD5 (I dont care about WD, so I skipped them) but sadly the TR stuff wasn't mistakenly discounted Edited March 24, 2014 by Zexion_Armando Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youbastards Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Four more recents LCS exclusive box sets have now appeared on TRU.com for $20 each: - Thunderbolts - Marvel Zombie Villains - Age of Ultron - Ghostbusters "I Love this Town!" The Ghostbusters set is the only one of those listed as "sold in stores". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youbastards Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I'm looking for 2-3 packs of the discounted TRU Amazing Spider-Man Exclusive Gwen & Doc Connors if anyone can help? Please PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Four more recents LCS exclusive box sets have now appeared on TRU.com for $20 each: - Thunderbolts - Marvel Zombie Villains - Age of Ultron - Ghostbusters "I Love this Town!" The Ghostbusters set is the only one of those listed as "sold in stores". Sorry to be pedantic but are we saying that they are therefore NOT 'LCS exclusive' ??????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youbastards Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 No idea, initially I thought these were simply listed due to the partnership with Entertainment Earth, but I found the sub-listing at TRU.com for EE products, and Minimates aren't included in those categories at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanester Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 My closest TRU is an odd one. The Minimates have been relocated to an end cap and are the end of an aisle of Hot Wheels and Matchbox type cars. I found some Star Trek hanging in the DC section, but I am not sure they were supposed to be there. A few Walking Dead with the majority of the other Walking Dead stuff in the same aisle as the wrestling toys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja Mate Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 My closest TRU is an odd one. The Minimates have been relocated to an end cap and are the end of an aisle of Hot Wheels and Matchbox type cars. I found some Star Trek hanging in the DC section, but I am not sure they were supposed to be there. A few Walking Dead with the majority of the other Walking Dead stuff in the same aisle as the wrestling toys. Sounds the same as mine, except all the minimates are on an end cap on the hotwheels isle. The only ones they have are WD wave 5 and a few tombraider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pappymojo Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Isn't every TRU odd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanester Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Isn't every TRU odd? Yeah, I would agree. I have two TRUs within 10 miles and another about 20 miles away. The closest is the one I spoke of. The next closest usually puts ALL Minimates in the same spot and it is usually in the Video Game toy section. The one a little further out puts everything in the action figure section, but it seems like they are always moving them around in the general area of Marvel stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellpop Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I still wonder why they don't put Minimates with the block figures. On the other hand, I question if they would sell any better there, since being close to Lego doesn't seem to help Kre-o or Mega Blocks all that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 On the other hand, I question if they would sell any better there......TRU Minimates would sell better if you could actually f*cking buy them somewhere . No joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pappymojo Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I still wonder why they don't put Minimates with the block figures. On the other hand, I question if they would sell any better there, since being close to Lego doesn't seem to help Kre-o or Mega Blocks all that much. My store has the HALO 2 packs in the block figure section but has the HALO vehicles near the random section. The random section also has SFvT 2 packs and random movie toys like 12 inch expendibles figures. Its very random. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSTZach Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I don't think we use the phrase LCS exclusive. Sometimes we use Previews Exclusive (PX) but I don't know that any of those were. Specialty exclusive is a thing I say sometimes, but I am not sure that toysrus.com does not qualify for that. They're separate from Toys R Us, even though they have access to the same products. I think that in-stores note is incorrect, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 Four more recents LCS exclusive box sets have now appeared on TRU.com for $20 each: - Thunderbolts - Marvel Zombie Villains - Age of Ultron - Ghostbusters "I Love this Town!" The Ghostbusters set is the only one of those listed as "sold in stores". Sorry to be pedantic but are we saying that they are therefore NOT 'LCS exclusive' ??????? I don't think we use the phrase LCS exclusive. Sometimes we use Previews Exclusive (PX) but I don't know that any of those were. Specialty exclusive is a thing I say sometimes, but I am not sure that toysrus.com does not qualify for that. They're separate from Toys R Us, even though they have access to the same products. I think that in-stores note is incorrect, though. Rather than fart around arguing about what I (......& I resist the huge temptation to say 'we') historically perceived as the difference between which Minimates got sold exclusively at ToysRUs (ToysRUs exclusives?) & what got sold exclusively at 'specialty' stores (specialty exclusives?) I'll just cut to the chase by asking a question ...... If you owned an LCS or B&M or Specialty store ( any store without a giraffe on the roof ) that stocked Minimates that you & your customers historically perceived as being historically unavailable at ToyRUs wouldn't you feel a tad insecure about the future ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellpop Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I'm not quite sure what you mean by that question, Rob. Would I, as a retailer, be worried about the future of Minimates in my store because they are at TRU? Well, yeah, but I was worried about this years ago. When the TRU deal first began, there was definitely a period of market adjustment. The biggest problem was not the exclusives but the shared packs, which were cheaper at TRU and sometimes in stock before the similar sets shipped to comic stores. And a lot of stores saw their Minimate sales drop and simply stopped ordering Minimates because they weren't selling through as much any more. Honestly, most retailers have no idea that Minimates are selling at TRU, and certainly not what the difference in assortments might be. By this point, though, I think the market has pretty much stabilized between the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Paco Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Nothing new at my local TRU. Just a few Wolvie/Reaper, some Kingpin/Daredevil, some SFxT and a few Wolverine Movie. Oh and two Tomb Raider packs. I was hoping for some TWD wave 5 and some more Tomb Raider but nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 I'm not quite sure what you mean by that question, Rob. Would I, as a retailer, be worried about the future of Minimates in my store because they are at TRU? Well, yeah, but I was worried about this years ago. When the TRU deal first began, there was definitely a period of market adjustment. The biggest problem was not the exclusives but the shared packs, which were cheaper at TRU and sometimes in stock before the similar sets shipped to comic stores. And a lot of stores saw their Minimate sales drop and simply stopped ordering Minimates because they weren't selling through as much any more. Honestly, most retailers have no idea that Minimates are selling at TRU, and certainly not what the difference in assortments might be. By this point, though, I think the market has pretty much stabilized between the two. Thanks for responding hellpop ,your interpretation of my question was correct . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Behold: The BIG (vague) PICTURE. (And no mention of Minimates.) If you've got any ideas how to make things better at TRU, they're all ears. You know, for a giraffe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 I'll clarify what they're saying with the following synopsis.............. "We're in the shit" ".....and reduced its long-term debt by $322 million to $5 billion " is.....er..... encouraging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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