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Target getting Mates???


cbatt13

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On the bright side, Target might be back in the picture, so we can start peg warming in three locations instead of two.

I know they said to move this to a new thread and i got some ?'s...Could someone please fill me in on how Target is back in the mini picture? If this has already got its own thread i apologize. And what are the disadvantages of another store carrying Minimates if any?

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On the bright side, Target might be back in the picture, so we can start peg warming in three locations instead of two.

I know they said to move this to a new thread and i got some ?'s...Could someone please fill me in on how Target is back in the mini picture? If this has already got its own thread i apologize. And what are the disadvantages of another store carrying Minimates if any?

Nothing is certain with Target but at the Q&A Chuck said that the Halo Minimates were going to be a game changer and maybe what gets Minimates in Target. The comment was referring to the fact that many of the TRU locations around the country have many sets of various Minimates just sitting on the pegs not selling which is a very fast way to kill a brand.

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so do you think there is a possibility of them carrying other MM license? such as Marvel?

They may end up carrying other licenses, but their agreement with TRU may preclude them from offering any marvel product. Whatever they have, it's a good thing that another major retailer will once again be selling minimates. I think the new TRU deal with BSG, Ghostbusters and Marvel mates has been a huge boost to the line.

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so do you think there is a possibility of them carrying other MM license? such as Marvel?

They may end up carrying other licenses, but their agreement with TRU may preclude them from offering any marvel product. Whatever they have, it's a good thing that another major retailer will once again be selling minimates. I think the new TRU deal with BSG, Ghostbusters and Marvel mates has been a huge boost to the line.

I think DST has said that the TRU thing only limits sale of the TRU exclusives in the US. I would think that selling the standard figures through Target would be ok.

I find it so odd that Halo is the game changer as opposed to Marvel. Are video game figures really such a hot commodity?

I suspect that it's not so much Halo as opposed to Marvel as it is Halo AND Marvel. That's two sellable licenses rather than just one with lots of stiff competition.

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Don't know if this is good or bad. There is a Target near where I currently live, so it is good in that sense. However, Target has "scalp-ors" as bad or worse than TRU, IMO. If Minimates are seen to be a hot commodity, I'm not sure that they will be any easier to find in Target.

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Target has always been one of the best retailers at handling exclusives, in my experience. Any problems could most often be attributed to the manufacturer. As for being able to look for Mates in more places? I'm all for it.

Yeah, I have several Targets in my area and the one closest to me does pretty well with exclusives and hard to find figures. The only competition I have is a friend that does sometimes by to sell exclusives on eBay, but he always prices things lower than anyone else on eBay. It's almost like he's helping other folks out (with a small commission). Also, he usually doesn't buy all they have in stock, just one or two extras. However, if he did that with the TRU exclusives MiniMates that would be all of them. Luckily, MiniMates are off his radar.

I don't care about the Halo MiniMates, but if Target would start selling other MiniMates, I'd be all for it!

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I'm all for it if they really push these to ALL Targets. Last time they were in Target stores, it didn't work so well, and they had no presence on their website either.

Of course, I'd be all for it if we could get them in some international retail chains too. Won't someone think of the starving Europeans/Australians/Asians who aren't stealing these from the factory/etc?

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Don't know if this is good or bad. There is a Target near where I currently live, so it is good in that sense. However, Target has "scalp-ors" as bad or worse than TRU, IMO. If Minimates are seen to be a hot commodity, I'm not sure that they will be any easier to find in Target.

Yeah, but while they're scalping Target, you go off to TRU. Like a ninja. A Ninja Mate. It's his birthday. Plenty of shout-outs are in order.

And honestly, I miss the days where I could get Minimates at my local Target. I'm around a Target far more often then I am a TRU.

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Target has always been one of the best retailers at handling exclusives, in my experience. Any problems could most often be attributed to the manufacturer. As for being able to look for Mates in more places? I'm all for it.

Around here, it isn't really Target's fault, so much as the fact that people apparently get up at the crack of dawn to clear Target out of any reasonably or potentially popular item. It was that way with the 25th Anniversary Joes when they were out, and it was that way with the DCUC figures. They always have left-overs, but very rarely have any prime meat.

Edited by karamazov80
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the targets around here are not really collector friendly. when I used to collect DCUC figures I would constantly meet resistance when asking an employee to check the DCPI number on their computer, or when I scan a figure and their price scanner says more in the back room and ask them to bring them out or ask what was back there, occasionally get people saying they cannot do that for toys, citing "policy".

Had a TRU, the one about a 30 minute drive north, not the one 5 minutes away. They gave me crap about holding a figure because "they cannot hold collectibles".

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One of the Targets near my home actually has signs posted in the Hot Wheels and action figures aisles that effectively say, "Don't ask us to bring cases out. We restock when appropriate." I thought it was kind of cool, gives the scalpers a wedgie for the day. Also interesting that some managements are aware of, and pissed off by, hard-core collecting habits.

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Video game figures are decently popular it seems though right now my TRU has several on clearance like Dante's Inferno and some of the first wave of Bioshock 2. But Halo seems to be a consistent seller for Mcfarlane as it's one of the few toy lines they continue to make new product for. Both TRU and Target have Halo exclusives (in fact every retailer has had one at some point it seems; I remember an FYE exclusive once upon a time) and there's a billion minor variations involved in the line what with all the different helmets, armors and colors so there's a lot of return markets for guys who want to have a figure version of everyone in their clan. That's why it's one of the few lines available in two major scales that continues to do well in both.

What's that mean for Target getting 'mates again? I have no clue. I'm scared of exclusives, though I've survived with the TRU ones so far despite having to get a few over the internet (Swordsman, Secret Wars boxset). I do remember a while ago how Target was going to have Marvel exclusives though what they were I can't quite recall. I do know one of them was going to be Iron Spidey and the Green Goblin that eventually ended up in the Civil War and Villains box sets respectively.

Though I'd jump at the chance if it gave me a shot at some more army builders. Only one LCS carries minimates, pretty much just because of me and my best friend so if I could get more AIM or Hydra, I'd be glad to see a wave at retail. Hopefully not anymore exclusives though unless it was an exclusive with Guardsman and Multiple Man or Kree and Skrull...

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Target has always been one of the best retailers at handling exclusives, in my experience. Any problems could most often be attributed to the manufacturer. As for being able to look for Mates in more places? I'm all for it.

Around here, it isn't really Target's fault, so much as the fact that people apparently get up at the crack of dawn to clear Target out of any reasonably or potentially popular item. It was that way with the 25th Anniversary Joes when they were out, and it was that way with the DCUC figures. They always have left-overs, but very rarely have any prime meat.

Right, but exclusives are always plentiful. Like, entire endcap plentiful.

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