groundhog7s Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 it's good that Tarantula is the variant for the other wave because people pay $10 at most for the pack. or sometimes more... Sometimes, for me, part of the hunt is finding a way to get what you want on a limited budget. Which is getting harder to do with everything recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamsm8 Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Personally, I've never found it too hard. I originally began buying minimates from brick-and-mortar stores. I think I actually got my first ones from a Target, back when they had those two packs that re-released earlier figures. Then I started finding packs at Wal-Mar, my LCS (The only one in my area) and Toys 'R Us. From there, after researching a bit online, I started finding out about Suncoast and Tower Records, and so my search expanded. However, recently, all these places have stopped stocking them (except for the TRU, which just recently started stocking them - the last time they did were the Street Fighter four packs). Thankfully, around that time my access to online shopping opened up since my mother found it a lot easier to order online than deal with traffic and driving around. I've gotten quite a few exclusives - the Giant X-Men set, the Iron Man 2-pack, Super Skrull and Clobberin' Time Thing, Sauron, Prof. X and Magneto, Elrond, Stealth Iron-Man two pack, and the Union Jack pack. I've also seen quite a few of the others in stores, and the only real reason I never bought them was a lack of funding at the time. Like I said, it's never been too hard for me. Sure, the occasional frustration pops up, such as not being able to get a Thor minimate anymore lest I pay $25 for two figures. Or missing out almost entirely on the DC minimate sets. But it's just part of collecting - you don't always get what you want. And that's the thing to keep in mind - nothing is GUARANTEED to you. No matter what anybody says. I buy things when I can, and since this is a hobby, rather than a necessity, it doesn't bug me too much when I miss out on something I probably didn't NEED anyways... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 (edited) I am seriously considering whether to continue at the level I've been collecting Minimates . I just don't consider the TRU direction is healthy. Everything I've seen regarding TRU & their supposed commitment to the Minimate line just sucks. Bearing in mind I have to rely on my US friends to order TRU 'Mates I have been informed that today they arrived & I've been sent a picture The packaging condition on the majority would be graded at about 'LESS THAN SHITE'. I profess to be a perfectionist when it comes to my packaged toys but the reality is... that I'm not ...but this is getting ridiculous. I don't dust & polish the packages when they arrive but I do bloody expect a reasonable quality when I buy stuff & these ain't cutting it. I was actually thrilled when I saw the new packaging on the Marvel 'Mates as I'd been moaning about the windowless packages for ages. Now we've got them it seems like they are perhaps unobtainable for many or being used as bloody footballs in the warehouse. Anybody remember the Chef Duff debacle with the crushed packages? That was Chef Duffs company's naivete. Am I to believe that this is the best that a global toy-seller , TRU, can do? If so then somebody had best tell AA/DST to stop bothering with the packaging. Edited April 25, 2009 by buttheadsmate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyc Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 (edited) I've never found it too hard, except in me being stupid. That said, I think the TRU and Amazon exclusives are changing things for the worse, especially for the non-North-Am fans. TRU exclusives just seem to lack the level of distribution of even the convention exclusives, their rarer and more expensive on ebay I've found. The Amazon GB pack-in doesn't interest me, but then I got out of consoles back in the SNES days so doesn't matter if I was as I wouldn't play the games, but I guess it is slight more than say the good old "Why should I have to buy a BatCave for these mates?" I accept that as a non-North Am fan I'm going to get screwed and budget and limit my interest accordingly. I hunt and stalk ebay to find the best deals and generally offer much more in trades here to make sure the "Oh, didn't know you were in Australia" issue is overcome. Edited April 26, 2009 by Cyc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttheadsmate Posted July 10, 2009 Author Share Posted July 10, 2009 Now that we've all got our Bullseye/Moonstone sets from TRU.com & the ease with which Wave 25 could be snapped up has helped with our army building ....we can look forward to the Amazonperhaps.com Ghostbusters SDCC exclusive. Thank God for reliable on-line sellers such as..... BBTS, who are now a branch of TRU.com.....Cornerstorecomics, whose pre-orders are ...er....pending.......& AFX who decided that I wouldn't want my Heroes box sets after all. It's never been easier to get the little buggers has it? Scifigenre is perhaps my favourite at the moment,you can still order what you like from them.....you won't get it from them but.....you can still order what you like from them SDCC is what I'm really looking forward to. I can't wait for the AFX Exclusives that will only be sold by AFX . I really loved those AFX Exclusive Web Armor Spider-Man figures & it's darned handy being able to Pre-order these on-line from TRU.com although they'll possibly be Exclusively 'Out of stock' . I realise that one or two members are having minor problems with distribution of TRU Minimates. Please be patient , those scalpers will soon tire of stalking TRU for the (overly generous in my opinion) 1 per case TRU chase variant & quadrupling their money on ebay. Nobody would just strip the variant & leave the rest...would they? Of course not. Have faith everthing is OK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amazing.JL Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Quite simply, it's become a pain in the a$$. I started disliking the idea when I bought 3/6 Avengers DVDs (forgot how many) of the same movie to get mates I already had and won't watch them because I want them sealed. As an insane completist, whether you like it or not, you have to draw the line. Once you start missing minimates in your collections, it's like you lost a finger. I missed the unification spock, the toy fair 08 mate, BTTF exclusive and a few others. You can be disappointed, frustrated, distraught and crawl in a hole or you can have fun, collect minimates and learn to live with it(the pain). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Quite simply, it's become a pain in the a$$. I started disliking the idea when I bought 3/6 Avengers DVDs (forgot how many) of the same movie to get mates I already had and won't watch them because I want them sealed. As an insane completist, whether you like it or not, you have to draw the line. Once you start missing minimates in your collections, it's like you lost a finger. I missed the unification spock, the toy fair 08 mate, BTTF exclusive and a few others. You can be disappointed, frustrated, distraught and crawl in a hole or you can have fun, collect minimates and learn to live with it. Or in this case, without it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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