SCW

K*B story looks like BS. Just another vulture trying to cash in on TRU's demise. Call me when they start opening some stores... Or even own the KB IP. Until then, I'll steer you guys to my upcoming press release on how I'm going to save the Retail Industry by reopening Sears as soon as they close. I'm also going to save Disco.

Great shot. Was just watching the old 60s Spider-man cartoon and an episode that featured Rhino had a bunch of scenes just like that.

Someone could buy several hundred stores and keep them open. Presumably purchasing the name as well. Right now it looks like the group in charge of TRU Canada very well may do that.

My store also jumped to the BP wave. I'm looking for Parker/Chameleon. I can trade for Gwenpool set or Scarlet Spider set if you need those, or I can pay cash. I stopped in my store tonight (BTW for what it was worth everything was business as usual there) but they still didn't have the wave. We've been backlogged on previous waves and we got the BP wave, which has sold well.

It's still not official yet.

Eh, while I'm sure it's still happening... Nothing has been officially announced. Today's "story" is basically a reprint of last week's story. Until TRU announces it, it's still speculation at this point. I did hear that all the Canadian and possibly several hundred of the US stores could be sold.

It's confusing because that BBC article almost makes it like the UK TRU shutdown is completely separate from the US one. I'm sure there's a relation but it's odd. Sounds like the UK division has been trying to sell off for a while.

Or literally end up in a landfill somewhere.

Yeah I should mention my anecdotal story, that the TRU I went to was already closing. It was part of the recent closure program. And to be honest, I expect it to be a few months before that store even closes. Even though they were packed and lots of stuff was up to 30% off, lots of other stuff wasn't even on sale (Lego for example) and they were still stocking stuff. Whether it was new stuff or just clearing out the back or whatever I don't know, but they were nowhere near their last legs. The store was full of merchandise.

Popped in to a local TRU, not my usual one, but one a little further away. Turns out it's one of the stores that's closing, but you really couldn't tell that. Didn't look bare or anything so I don't know when they started their "sales". Anywho I was hoping to find the TRU Wave 25 (I think it is? The one with Jack O Lantern) but no such luck. My TRU is clogged with older figures so I doubt that wave will ever hit. Store was PACKED with people. Madhouse. Like Christmas. Don't know if it was the rumors of TRU's demise, or the fact that this one was just starting to put stuff on decent clearance. I picked up quite a few Mates, prices weren't that great, but I'm a sucker for cheaper figures so I bought some extras. But I was really shocked how busy the store was. Make of that what you will.

The scary part is, according to that article, TRU is actually doing pretty good. They're declining because of the rumors of shutdown and such, but in general profits are up. It's just that they're saddled with so much debt and interest payments from Bain Capital, that they can't get ahead. What places like that do should be illegal. Bleeding a viable business for years until they force it to close.

The sewer lair looked like the only good thing to come out of this. The fan reaction has definitely been overwhelmingly negative. Of course, it's possible the show could be great and turn into a sleeper hit, but certainly as it stands there's not much enthusiasm. The last Nick incarnation had a few growing pains, but generally had a better reception. I'm sure it'll do alright, given that it's the Turtles, but I'm guessing this one will have a shorter life than more. DST should try and figure out another way to get the retro TMNT out though. Those would be more in demand I'd think, with the market being flooded with these new less popular designs.

Tails and Robotnik for me and... That's it.

Interesting. This will depend entirely on how the figures look. Could translate well to Minimates, but could be odd. Likewise, if they stray away from traditional looks, it could be an issue. But classic versions? Yeah could be awesome.

Well I thought the first reveal redesigns were bland and lifeless, but those were certainly better than what turned out to be the real designs. Shame this show and toys and so forth is such a hard pass. Their last go round was awesome.

Whew, those new TMNT designs look pretty bad. So bland and lifeless and yet borrows so heavily from the most recent Nick series. Why not just take the original Nick designs and do those in 2D as opposed to just doing a watered down version. Oh well.

The lack of TMNT has really made my Minimate interest wane. Hoping for some other licenses that I'm stoked for.

Definitely! I'm not as big into Marvel and a classic WWF/wrestling set of Minimates would be awesome. So count me all in.

Minimates are canceled and the new show sounds like it's going to be pretty terrible. That's GREAT NEWS... If you're the SHREDDER!

Lots of ways DST could do this, but I don't have a lot of faith. I feel like they must have had a huge order requirement or something.

No real interest in KH, never played it and would prefer Disney characters in classic looks, but I'm down for the Tron ones and some Mickey/Donald variants.

Really dig those Tick Minimates, neat entries all around!

Not to speak for Zach, but I assume he meant that if the line does well, perhaps that will make manufactures and movie companies, to continue to put out more black characters/lines/movies, etc. If Black Panther helps to bust the "myth" that these toys don't sell.

I'm pretty sure TG said back then that WB was to blame but not because they didn't have the rights, but because they wanted it to be "exclusive" because of the gift nature of Holiday Hal, but given that TG said it, that almost assuredly means it was a lie. I doubt we'll ever know the full story. Regardless, Mattel mistreated JLU fans for a long time, so they have to share a fair amount of the blame. On one hand, yes they pumped out tons of figures and continued a line far past the point that it realistically should have gone, but they did so because the sales were there and they had solid retail support from Target. And Target loved JLU. I think they'd still carry JLU if Mattel hadn't so poorly managed the line. Target was creating whole new SKUs for JLU exclusives five or six years into the line. Unheard of in this day and age. But as I mentioned earlier, rather than trying to expand that fanbase, Mattel realized they had a very dedicated group that would buy just about anything JLU. So they devised a plan to milk those fans dry. "You mean to tell me they'll buy a 3 pack with one new figure? A 6 pack? Then that's how we'll release all our new figures!" And that's exactly what they did in ways not seen in any toyline since. And once they realized they could do that, they ended up pursuing that on a larger scale with MOTU collectors and the disaster known as MattyCollector was born. And eventually JLU even ended up there, for a few last twists of the dagger. Holiday Hal was sort of the straw that finally broke the camel's back with JLU, though. The beginning of the end, no doubt. Anyway, would love to see pics of these exclusive Minimates.