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Walgreens Marvel 'Mates


Gmonkey2k

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16 hours ago, gambitron said:

I caved and bought the wave on ebay. All four packs for 35 shipped isn't a bad deal and will save me stressing going to a different Walgreens store everyday of the week!

$35 shipped? That seems like even less than what it would cost if you found it at Walgreens! Sounds like a good deal to me!

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I was just now able to find Dark Iron Man/Black Widow, Dark Thor/Thanos, Taskmaster/Iron Spider-man and Gamora/Drax at one of the seven local Walgreens in the Blo/No, IL area.  I wish I could have found a second set of Taskmaster/Iron-Spidey and Gamora/Drax so I can do a couple of customs I have an idea for.

I doubt that 2.5 shows up before Christmas in my area, but I thought they were not to hit until Winter 2017 but I am not sure where I saw that.

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4 hours ago, slipstream said:

$35 shipped? That seems like even less than what it would cost if you found it at Walgreens! Sounds like a good deal to me!

That's a great deal. All four packs ring up at about 33.50. I snagged mine off ebay also. Overpaid about $7 each for the set. I justified the gas and time I saved looking for them. But it's not something I want to continue to do. 

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6 hours ago, bilbofett said:

That's a great deal. All four packs ring up at about 33.50. I snagged mine off ebay also. Overpaid about $7 each for the set. I justified the gas and time I saved looking for them. But it's not something I want to continue to do. 

AMEN!

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59 minutes ago, DSTZach said:

Lots of offers of help going around. Who are you still looking for?

So i assume no nycc exclusives this year, we only have a week left, unless dst's just taking their time, I think a bloody punisher and prison fisk 2 pack would be cool 

Edited by FightTheDead118
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12 hours ago, DSTZach said:

Lots of offers of help going around. Who are you still looking for?

Zach,

I have been helped for one of the sets and I'm grateful to the board for that. Still looking for the Man-Thing/Spider-whatever pack. I kind of wish I didn't have to ask the board for help since I have three of these stores in my immediate area, four if I wanna drive a half hour. If anything I should be helping other people but unless they want Wave one leftovers, that ain't happening.

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I have to wonder if collectors helping out other collectors comes up in meetings at DST. I mean, is our generosity any part of DST's strategic distribution plan? And if so, shouldn't minimatemultiverse.com get a shout out on the packaging? You know:

 

COLLECT THEM ALL!*

*But if you're having trouble finding them all, just visit MMMV.com and ask around!

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I can't control how they are distributed, but every wave except Series 3 has been seen in the wild, so my only point is that there are documented sightings and potential sources. Just trying to get Minimates into people's hands by any means possible.

While the distribution system can only work within the parameters set by Walgreens stores, patience seems to have paid off for many. A worse alternative would be that they did not exist at all.

I know eBay is considered the devil's playground, but there is at least one listing online where the set can be had for SRP plus the cost of gas, and another that is taking Best Offers. Just throwing that out there.

 

 

 

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I realize it's ultimately beyond DST's control but I wonder if retailers like Walgreens and TRU are given advice on how to better distribute their store exclusives as often as collectors are reminded to help each other out and be patient.

 

I'm sure Sales doesn't want to rock any boats but if a series experiences weak sell-through and it's obvious that distribution is to blame, does DST have the balls to tell that to retail buyers and risk hurting a relationship with harsh honesty? Or do they take the bull by the horns, act like an experienced category manager, and offer up some constructive criticism?

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...Do we tell Walgreens how to put merchandise into their stores? No. Do we work with them to make sure that the mix is correct and no one series is oversaturated? Yes. Did we have any sales data to work with when Series 1 shipped? No.

Edited by DSTZach
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I'm pretty satisfied with what we've gotta from the Walgreens waves. I was frustrated at first when 1.5 came out but I learned quickly I could just wait longer than some, not waste my gas and just get people here to help me out 

Like Zach said, better than not getting them at all

Edited by Heinous
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Have to say this is probably the most infuriating line of minimates to me (I'm not going to share my thoughts on the blind bags here as that's a whole other story.).

I'm assuming these are not going to be available online as the idea of exclusives to that store is to drive foot traffic who pick up other stuff while looking for exclusives, so we can prob forget that idea.

Last weekend I went to 7 different Walgreens near (and not so near) me, I only found a couple of straggler Thor/Thanos or Starlord packs.
My area seems to be heavily populated with MiniMate collectors ( I'm not even going to blame scalpers), so anything that comes in gets cherry picked pretty quickly, leaving maybe one or two of the unpopular packs that sit for months, that I'm assuming stop any sort of restock. 

Advocating picking up extras to 'help people out' as the solution to the quirky distribution IMO just skews things & makes it worse. 
If I you're picking up extras for someone else in a heavily trafficed area then it just means that you're stopping local collectors from getting those sets.
It's no wonder the stores have no idea about distribution if people here are redistributing for them.

Yeah, I know this is a little bit ranty but it's this sort of nonsense that has turned me from being a (from the start) completest to picking up just one or two packs if I really want the characters occasional buyer, it's just not worth the effort to me any longer.

T.

 

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I completely get that TBT. We have a great and helpful community and I'm very thankful for people always being so willing to help but I mean this distribution thing is a little nuts when 5 out of 5 Walgreens still have starlord around here. The argument of "better than them never being made" could be kind of a moot point if an individual can't get them anyway.... I'm not saying that I'm not grateful that this product has been made and I'm happy for those who can get them its just kind of a ridiculous saying in my opinion, at least when it comes to purchasing commodities. If the consumer can't buy your product or has to go out of their way to seek it out it kinda can make them start wishing it hadn't been made. At least if that happens you don't have to waste time worrying about it. I don't personally wish they weren't made or anything but I mean I can see where collectors would eventually reach that point. With distribution and scalping putting figures in people's/store's hands that just want to unload them but collectors not being able/willing to purchase them because of the increase in price that comes with seeking it out. 

Edited by The Scarlet Spider
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I guess I've been lucky with this line. There are two stores within 40 miles. One of them isn't very reliable as to what they get in but, so far, they do eventually get every wave in. The second store is much better. When a few weeks after the wave has been spotted in multiple locations I go in and check. If they don't have it in stock then I, respectfully, ask the manager if she can order in the new wave. However, I first make sure that any previous waves have been bought out. Even if that means I have to take a couple of extra weeks to buy up the older inventory myself. At most it has been two restocks, they never restock more than one set at a time, before the new wave comes into stock. Basically rather than running around to multiple stores, ranting about distribution, and being upset because you still can't find the newest wave try a different approach. Pick the store that's closest, or better yet the one with the most helpful employees a work with them. Oh , one other very important thing is to make sure that they know that your interested in the line for the right reasons: collecting, customizing, and a love of the brand. If you play up the exclusivity you're likely to hit a brick wall. Maybe it is just the store I frequent, but they seem to dislike the idea that they might be helping scalpers make a fast buck on exclusives.

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If most of us could afford to buy out old waves to try to trigger a potential restock of figures that may or may not be gone by the time we arrive I don't think the eBay prices would be a deterrent and we'd most likely just go there. I get what you're saying though and it definitely works if you like having multiples for customs and stuff. Multiple coulson troopers would be a blast, however I just don't have the money nor can justify having 4 starlords, groots, miles, venoms, etc. in order to get 3 two packs from the newest wave. 

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