my best gues is that they did very well....but there might be some straggelers left at the stores. they are just clearancing them out to open the peggs for some fresh new inventory. may not have to do anything with the longevity of the line. Stores do it all the time. for instance I was at walmart last week. the convereted the ENTIRE indoor garden center for clearance of left over un-bought christmas stock. there were things like Razor scooters, power wheels, crayons...etc. Major items that wont be discontinued. Stores are just getting rid of overstock in preperation for the new years lines of the same brands/toys.
as for my TRU. they sold out of all MAX stuff within a week.