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Sorry AA/DST, but I'm going to have to boycott TRU for now


Dio

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I have nor ever will have any access to any TRU at all & I'm coping. I genuinely sympathise Dio, but surely someone here will help if you ask,there seems to be enough people offering.

If anything boycott ebay which is the slaughter-table for the scalpers. Impatience empties your pockets & despite the furore of the Moonstone set & TRU GBs things will settle down & these items will find their true level albeit still more than their initial TRU price.

I do feel that the one variant per case idea is nuts & nobody ,especially TRU, are benefitting. If TRU sell the variant at the same price as the others which I believe they do(?) then they're losing money because everybody knows (I do anyway) that variants are expected to cost more . Crazy,plain crazy. TRU isn't benefitting & it just antagonises the real collector/fan who now doesn't seem to get the chance of just paying more for his chase ....he has no chance.

TRU can only get better!

Edited by buttheadsmate
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Being as I live just south of you and Cappy, I do sympathasise(Spellcheck!!), but was the complete quote really necessary? It's something that drives me nuts and makes it hard to read through a thread quickly. I understand, we have some immature folks on other boards who have changed their comments in the past. So us seasoned vets feel it necessary to include their original quotes in our comments, when honestly all it does is make it hard to read what you have to say. There have been some valid points made here, by folks who seem to know how the system works. Being an old TRU sales floor manager, I can confirm what they say to be true. If I can make a suggestion, maybe start networking with other collectors in this and other forums. While the other forum folks might not collect these, I find they are usually more helpful. I appreciate the venting, but anger is misdirected. Your anger should be solely aimed at TRU and their old ass system. Once any toy company fills the order, it's up to stores to fill the shelves.

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i still dont have a moonstone/bullseye 2pack... but i kinda dont aggree with this... having a VHTF and limited collectible give the Capital "T" in collecTing for me.

one more thing... always remember...

"Patience is a virtue"

Peace Out! :timbo:

-M-

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Well, thank you for the sympathy guys. BHM, what will boycotting eBay do? I mean, isn't it common sense to just wait it out until more of these become available? It's okay for people to pay whatever they like for their collection, but it's wrong because of the poor distribution. I'd like to reiterate my points:

-TRU employees are unreliable

-the system is unreliable

-the site is unreliable

-the hotline is unreliable

-inventory is unreliable

-there are not enough Minimates for even the members of this board

-because employees have neglected to fill up the floor with the Minimates they have, it will take much longer for these to appear in stores than others because

-TRU stores do not receive new Minimates until a sufficient amount of the current ones have been sold

-until TRU gets their excrement together and stops using bait and switch to get me to come to the store I'm not going there anymore

Yes, I agree that other members have made good points and that's why I have not replied to those points, but only to the points that I disagreed with. Honestly, if the wave had showed up in the stores and someone else had bought the chase, I wouldn't be mad because I would at least have had the opportunity to get it. I'm mad because those bumbling employees at all. three. stores. told me they didn't have a case in the back and then suddenly they do which were really in the back for MONTHS. Like I said, it will be a miracle if people buy enough of the wave 2 packs for them to get the new wave and Ghostbusters.

Also, I've asked other forums and even buy/sell/trade communities on LJ and no one has responded. And what incentive would they have to sell it to me anyway when they could make a huge profit on eBay? Not to mention that there's a long list of people in line that need help with these.

So guys, please don't buy off of eBay. I'm sure if you give a month we'll all have Bullseye/Moonstone. I think maybe I'll call the hotline again and try reasoning with them. I'm just really depressed from this.

EDIT: So I talked to some very helpful people on the hotline and they're going to see about stocking stores with the newest wave.

Edited by Dio
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I can understand your frustration. I was recently at TRU asking about Bullseye/Moonstone as well as Ghostbusters, and the employee was not only clueless about the line (which I don't mind; I don't expect them to know everything about all the stuff in the store, and Minimates are still pretty small comparatively), but also clueless about how to find out what they had. The computer was right there, but he clearly didn't know how to use it or didn't want to.

In their defense, there is another employee that's just stellar. When I've seen him, he's gone out of his way to check the system as well as check the system for stock at other stores. (I thought I was going to score when he said that another store had a case in the back, but it was the UJ/WM wave. That was annoying because I figured that they'd have separate identities in the system.)

But all this comes with the territory when dealing with a mass retailer. Sure, I'd love to be able to search inventory from home or talk to someone that's deeply knowledgeable about Minimates, but I don't think that's a reasonable expectation. While I don't particularly like it, I can even understand doing Bullseye and Moonstone as one per case (though I think 2 would have made more sense, assuming that there was nothing external limiting them to just one per case). So I'll hit TRU every week and see what's new. I figure I'll find them eventually.

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ummm...i am buying the webarmor spider-man because I was never willing to pay the ridiculous amount for shipping over on afx.

I should be surprised that there has been little comment here about this re-issue of a 'so-called exclusive' but there is very little left to surprise me lately.

I reckon a DST 'Puppet Master' is long overdue :rolleyes:

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ummm...i am buying the webarmor spider-man because I was never willing to pay the ridiculous amount for shipping over on afx.

I should be surprised that there has been little comment here about this re-issue of a 'so-called exclusive' but there is very little left to surprise me lately.

Case in point: Wave 7?

And by "Puppet Master" I'm presuming you mean this... however, I'd be even more surprised if DST does something along the lines of this (

AAAAAAAGGHHH!!!!

), though it'd be right there next to Silence of the Lambs as far as "inappropriately freaky selections for kids" go :blink:

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Sorry, but it seems that boycotting TRU is the absolute worst idea in this discussion. Firstly, as BHM as so aptly indicated, TRU is giving life to a line that was otherwise very limited in its distribution. So far, TRU has given us multiple variants of figures that were previously not available anywhere else. Indeed, each variant has seemingly been more desired than the last (excluding the Wolverine Origins wave). As long as these keep selling and TRU continues to see the benefit of keeping Minimate figures in-stock then we should expect to see DST producing newer waves and variants. One should also consider that this is still a learning experience, if you truly desire a Bullseye/Moonstone set - DST/TRU will likely make sure one is available, as we saw with the once harder to find Union Jack/Wonder Man set.

As someone that has volunteered to help some of our overseas members, I can vouch for helping many different TRU's clear some space and bring in more stock. If yours has become overfilled with older stock, maybe it's time to start working the various threads and contacting some of our other members to see if its possible to move some product and hook some international members up. By the same token, if our international members are looking for mates - let some of the US members know so that we can help. Heck, if you know the comic owner for your area and they're trying to get MM stock into the store, many of us have been able to obtain entire waves and would be more than willing to help these stores obtain stock to sell in other areas of the world.

I'm not attempting to attack anyone that feels frustrated (as I've been there before myself) but let's work to find inventive ways of making sure others can enjoy this wonderful addiction and keep these new figures coming to TRU in droves. The last thing we want is to see the line stagnant and TRU drop all of the various MM lines (including Marvel, BSG, Ghostbusters, T2 and anything else that may be in the works).

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ummm...i am buying the webarmor spider-man because I was never willing to pay the ridiculous amount for shipping over on afx.

I should be surprised that there has been little comment here about this re-issue of a 'so-called exclusive' but there is very little left to surprise me lately.

I reckon a DST 'Puppet Master' is long overdue :rolleyes:

I would think AFX if anyone should be irked by it. Both the Web Armor Spider-Man and Venom were their exclusives, that turned out not to be.

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The 'Puppet Master' as I remember manipulates people ....& there were always strings attached .

For some reason my mind suddenly flashed to this :lol:

And as to 3Dean's observation about Web Armor Spidey and Venom being former AFX exclusives until now, who initiated that pack perhaps, TRU or DST? If TRU did then it might be a good sign that they're interested enough in the Marvel mates to dig into the past/future releases a bit for a release of their own. Otherwise though it means DST really is making an active effort to shove the "big guns" down everyone's throats against even their better judgment... look at the Hulk-derived movie waves and Skaar/Red Hulk packs that are pegwarming in some places.

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I'm very aware that my tastes are not everybody elses but Skaar/Red Hulk will keep Riot Spidey very very happy . Any love anywhere for these ?

I'll put it another way .....who'd have preferred an Aim/Aim 2 pack???

Maybe this will be a Cornerstorecomics Exclusive ...............

....... Pre-Order :P

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Take all this piss and moaning to heart DST/AA.

Build brick & mortar stores solely for minimates. :D

Call it Only F***ing Minimates

Customer: Do you sell Lego as well?

OFM Employee: Uh, let me just in the... NO!

Customer: What about Kubricks?

OFM Employee: Get the hell out, now.

No, but seriously I'd like a minimates only shop or maybe a Mr. Softee truck converted to dish out sweet minimates on hot summer days.

I'll take 4 Bullseye/Moonstone packs with sprinkles on top.

:buttrock:

Thank you, this post made me laugh which I needed on a crappy monday. It also reminds me of the part in Fanboys where the Star Trek fans come into the comic shop and they inquire about the Phaser in the display case and the dude is like, "We don't hock Trek here, we use that to suss out the Trekkie bitches! So get the hell out!"

(note: I am a Star Trek fan as well as Star Wars fan so don't misinterpret this but I just find it very amusing!)

I would love to get my BE/MS with sprinkles on it too with the convenience of just walking out to the street to a vending truck.

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-TRU employees are unreliable

In one way I strongly agree and one way I do not.

Don't agree: How much do you care about your job if you are getting minimum wage? really though. I find that for the most part, people only care as much as they get paid. There are many exceptions though.

Strongly Agree: I find that for every three TRU stores, you will only find one employed "geek" who will know what you are talking about. Sadly I work at a TRU and most of the other stores I call to make sure they have stock or to do a transfer, they have no idea what I am talking about.

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-TRU employees are unreliable

Sadly I work at a TRU and most of the other stores I call to make sure they have stock or to do a transfer, they have no idea what I am talking about.

Waitaminute.......so you're saying that you should be everyone's TRU plant with information and the hook up for all our future TRU MM wants? :woot::yes:

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-TRU employees are unreliable

Sadly I work at a TRU and most of the other stores I call to make sure they have stock or to do a transfer, they have no idea what I am talking about.

Waitaminute.......so you're saying that you should be everyone's TRU plant with information and the hook up for all our future TRU MM wants? :woot::yes:

No, he's saying that he plans on picking me up the next BE/MS pack that crosses his path; God, were you NOT LISTENING?!?! B)

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It is true. I am Canadian. I do check every week to see if us Canadians will be getting anything soon. But sadly it looks like all the action figure money is going towards blockbuster films and video game characters.

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Just thinking aloud here. But are the characters exclusive to TRU or is it just 'THAT' combination of characters that's exclusive?

The reason I'm thinking this, is that with the former AFX exclusive Spidey being bundled with Venom as a TRU exclusive, then surely it's just the pack that's exclusive and not the characters?

This could give us the possibility of seeing both new Bullseye and Moonstone seperated out into future waves of Marvel Minimates. After all DST have only ever said they'll never reissue variant characters.

Then again, I could be talking complete and utter bollocks. It has been known. :D

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You mean like Union Jack, Wonder Man, Silver Fox, Agent Zero... like THOSE toys r us exclusives showing up somewhere else? I'm not saying it's not impossible. I have no information regarding the production run of Bullseye and Moonstone. They may eventually be literally clogging the pegs one day. Maybe when the next series comes out (27?) and TRU does its next wave of mix-n-match packs, we'll see 3 BE/MS per case. Who knows?

One thing I find amusing is that people can cry foul on the availability of this pack. I'd like to get a set of the AFX keychains from SDCC, but am not going, and that's the ONLY way to get them. Is THAT fair? Sure. That's life. It'll go on.

Maybe I'll hold on to a BE/MS pack and trade for them...

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One thing I find amusing is that people can cry foul on the availability of this pack. I'd like to get a set of the AFX keychains from SDCC, but am not going, and that's the ONLY way to get them. Is THAT fair? Sure. That's life. It'll go on.

Theoretically in a perfect world I genuinely believe only Minimate fans going to SDCC should get SDCC Minimate Promos. The reality is that anyone waiting in line at the AFX or DST kiosk will get a Minimate promo & many people I was in line with last year had no concept about what they were actually receiving. Putting this into perspective I was just stood at the Sideshow kiosk & had discount vouchers thrust at me & it was more than my life was worth to refuse accepting them* . Trust me ....going to SDCC is not the best/only/most convenient/economical method of obtaining an SDCC promo & if AFX don't sell these after the Con I'll eat my hat.

I don't call foul on the Moonstone availability ,I just don't think it's a good marketing ploy.

*I gave these to 1/6 toy collectors here but I have subsequently seen these for sale on ebay .

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