youbastards Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Zach, I'm concerned about the "vendor serviced product" terminology that I was told about during one of my TRU visits for WD Wave 5. The TRU rep I spoke with indicated that label means the stores only receive restock when the vendor orders it directly. Is there any way you can look into that? Mnemosis, are you able to look up the item number for Walking Dead Wave 5 and verify if you also see that "vendor serviced product" description? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSTZach Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Who is the vendor? Us? Or whoever is supplying that store with product? I don't think we're fielding requests for more product from individual stores, it would need to come from the home office, and the distribution center would need to supply it to them. So I don't know what we would be able to do -- unless that's your point, that a mis-code might lead a store(s) to not getting new Minimates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youbastards Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 -- unless that's your point, that a mis-code might lead a store(s) to not getting new Minimates.Exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youbastards Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 I went back to toys r us at lunch today, and had them check the item number for walking dead wave 5. The distribution center has 0 quantity, but they show stock for the website of 348 pieces, or exactly 29 cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onyx_6 Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 I don't know if this is related, but I have had multiple different releases and brands of Minimates ring up as big ticket items in the past. Like bike big - pull around the back to pick up big. The employees have thought this odd too. Again, I am not sure if that is related to the vendor order issue or anything. Regarding TWD5, my store rang up as full price and was on a full price tag. Now, if only I could get my TRU to stock the 6-inch Captain America figures so I can get my Black Widow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigvis497 Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 My stores complete Minimates selection. Newest Marvel wave still has not surfaced. Pathetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja Mate Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 That's more mates then my store has! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSTZach Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Spidey 2 should arrive in a few weeks. BIgVis, was that a Battle BEasts set behind Wolvie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuisporQuake Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Made a great find in Medford OR , all four TRU Wolverines, Star Trek ( 2-2pks) & Vigilante Spiderman and Capt. Stacey ( finally someone to keep an eye on Gwen among all those TWD mates). Green tagged 50% off $3.98 already marked down to $1.99 a pack AND no tax! Full racks of Street Fighter mates too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigvis497 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) Zach, it's one of the Street Fighter X Tekken mates and something else non-minimate. There is a lone Battle Beasts pack sitting in one of those clearance "buckets" at the end. Spidey 2 is good if you like movie stuff, but I don't. I just want the opportunity to buy the latest Marvel wave like everyone else had. I'm not encouraging and supporting scalpers who probably lucked out and got these on clearance. If these don't show up, then nobody gets my money which is downright idiotic on the retailer's end. Edited April 13, 2014 by bigvis497 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stack32 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 While it's distasteful, given the actual prices being charged this is one time where I wouldn't feel too bad about dealing with scalpers. You can pick up a set of TRU 18 for normal retail plus shipping, so it's not awful. I still suspect TRU has more 18 somewhere in a warehouse, it seems really unlikely that they ordered so much less than other waves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youbastards Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 FYI, check those clearance prices, the Halo Warthog deluxe sets are down to $5.99 and SFxT are $1.59 a pack. Looks like all the discounted items are actually cheaper than the colored sticker prices. If anyone can help with some cheap X-Men First Class packs, please PM. Looking for a couple each of the Emma Frost or Magneto packs, loose is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterPL Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 From the Star Trek Legacy thread: ...we are investigating a new method of distribution for an upcoming line that may turn out to be one of our most successful. Perhaps one day it can be applied to the Star Trek brand. "New method of distribution" sounds like it refers to a new way of getting product from the manufacturer to us. TRU has been open to new ideas lately. I have to wonder if they'll try distributing Minimates exclusively online and shipped to local stores for free instead of maintaining inventory at brick & mortars. I've recommended that in every TRU survey I've taken. Maybe that's why they've clearanced Minimates over the last few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSTZach Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 (edited) Not putting Minimates in TRU stores would be a pretty big deal. I just meant new packaging. I forget what we were talking about at the time. Four-packs vs. two-packs, I believe. Edited April 19, 2014 by DSTZach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youbastards Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Today I went to 2 stores I had never been to before, and neither had ANY Marvel Comic or Walking Dead 'mates. I did pick up several Universal Monsters, First Class, and Star Trek packs for $1.59 each, so it wasn't a total loss. There were quite a few of the non-exclusive Tomb Raider packs at full price, and don't get me started on SFxT... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM2 Dinobot Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Really sick of walking into TRU and finding nothing at all. I'd even settle for seeing SxT again at this point. OH! And someone cleared out my stash at the Lake Charles store. After I begged my friend to go grab it for me. I was not happy. (My stash being no one ever goes into the Lake Charles TRU so I've essentially got the store to myself.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmeaux Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I always go to the Lake Charles TRU. Best toy stop I make on a trip back home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM2 Dinobot Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 My buddy who lives there was like "Don't worry about it. No one buys Minimates here." So I didn't. And I get there, expecting to find IM2/3 Minimates, wave 14, untapped WD5. You know, the usual. What do I get? Nothing. I gave him an earful over that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmeaux Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Well, he's not really wrong. I don't think anyone from LC actually buys them. I mean, they even still had Avengers Movie Minimates not that long ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karamazov80 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 (edited) I went to the local TRU tonight, and picked up 10 of the $1.50 packs. . .hard to pass on a deal like that. This is after buying about 10 packs at the Slidell TRU earlier in the week. Edited April 27, 2014 by karamazov80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Paco Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 I was able to find some Minimates at a nearby TRU in Champaign/Urbana, IL. It about an hour and a half drive from my house but my wife was running the Illinois Marathon there so I took advantage of the location while she showered after the run. I found the whole line of The Walking Dead Series 5. I got a complete set and then a few extras of Grimes and Porter. Would love to have a about three more Ford's for the Military Zombie but they only had the one package. Surprisingly to me, they scanned on the price check at 50% off, and then I got to the register and scanned my rewards card and as associate scanned them she took another 50% off thus making them 75% off the regular price. It was like buy four packs for the price of one regular pack. I got three Grimes, Three Porters, two Michonne and one Ford plus one pack of Tomb Raider Scavengers and one pack of Tomb Raider Storm Guards. It was like $1.73 a pack. But when I called a friend to go back in on Sunday, he told me they were scanning at $7.49 each. I guess I was just very lucky so I can't complain. I will likely never find a bargain like that again. I am still looking for more of the Ford/Military Zombie packs as I would like a few more Military Zombies and I would like to use parts from Ford for some customs I am working on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pappymojo Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 This article made me sad: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2179943-toys-r-us-has-major-problems Summary Toys "R" Us is failing in its core consumer promise of best assortment and competitive prices. Sales continue to fall, and the company is cutting staff andclosing stores in response to intense profit pressure from the owners. This can turn into a vicious circle that could doom the company and severely affect the major toy manufacturers. Toys "R" Us (TOYS)has basically three main businesses in the United States: toys, videogames and baby products. None has done particularly well,... This is how one of my esteemed colleagues described it: "Theynow have color coded clearance. Each box gets a different colorsticker. Yellow is 20% off the marked clearance price. Brown is 30% off.Green is 40% and blue is 50%. So… simple "clearance" is not enough. Wenow have tiers of clearance. Furthermore, the stickers have the oldprice, but don't have the new clearance price. Nor do the stickers tellyou how much off the clearance price you get. You have to know thatyellow means an additional 20% off. So if you see a toy for clearance at$8.99 and it has a green sticker, the price is actually $5.39. But,again, you have to know green means an additional 40%, and then you haveto do your own math." First reactions from consumersare mixed. A lot are simply confused and there are, according to myretailer panel contacts, continuous discussions at the checkout countersabout pricing. Also, the Service Desks report numbers of unhappyconsumers arguing that they have been misled and wanting to returnmerchandise. It would appear that somebody in the company's Wayne, N.J.,HQ was just too clever for their own good when designing andimplementing this approach. However, there is little doubt that Toys "R" Us' management is tryingto adapt its business model to accommodate pressure from the company'sowners for greater profitability. I understand that a number of changesare in the offing to achieve this. Specifically, following the lay-offsalready implemented at its Wayne headquarters, staff cuts are slowlybeing carried out on the shop floor level. Secondly, the closing of asignificant number of unprofitable stores is under consideration. Andfinally, a greater emphasis on more profitable private label toyproducts is likely to become apparent as we move towards the 2014 fourthquarter selling season. This is likely to be only the beginning - allthe three leading rating agencies Moody's, Fitch and Standard + Poor's -downgraded Toys "R" Us' debt this year, which means significantlyhigher borrowing costs starting in 2016. In short, Toys "R" Us' outlookover the next few years will be characterized by cost cutting, storeclosing, store staff lay-offs and other measures designed to boostshort-term profit at the expense of long-term life expectancy. Itcould well be that Toys "R" Us' overriding consumer promise of broadestproduct selection at competitive prices is no longer practical in theface of competition from Amazon and others who have a built-in economicadvantage. The comments made me nod my head and/or laugh. ToysR Us being a big box brick and mortar retailer can never compete onprice and on selection with online retailers especially Amazon. RatherToys R Us should thrive on sales knowledge and physical shoppingexperience yet that's what it lacks. Rather than spending money onmarketing ploys they should spend it on employee education and customerservice improvements. Until it proves its actually going there to lookand see the product it will continue to lose out on market share. Whydo I go to stores? Because I want to look, see, try out, or try on theproduct and know there's someone I can ask questions or return somethingI don't like. So far I have not had a hankering to go to Toys R Us. Forone thing, it should sell premium toys and models with a knowledgeablestaff, and less junk. In the end, if you entice the adults shopping toalso see something they like you are liable to get more traffic. TheToys R Us stores near us have one thing in common: Every one is acomplete dump. When were any stores last renovated? My guess would bethe 1970's or 1980's as they look exactly the same as I remember being akid during that time. Why would customers want to go to stores thatfeature poor lighting, HVAC units that make so much noise I can't helpbut think one is imminently going to come crashing into the store, wornout floors, and dated fixtures? All this while having high prices. I'mnot sure what the high prices pay for, but the money certainly is notbeing invested into making shopping at TRU a pleasurable experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigvis497 Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 In fairness to TRU: All TRU's near me have been updated in the 2000's, not sure what they mean by falling HVAC units and such, maybe it's different other places? I think not understanding the clearance pricing is more a reflection of the dumbing down of our ADD society, not TRU's fault. There's signs all over the place telling you what the stickers mean. Learn how to read and do math. It's like it's not enough to have a sign anymore, I think people honestly think they should have their own personal employee follow them around the store and tell them how much everything costs. Dunno how to fix that, more signs I guess? In regards to staff, I agree they should be more knowledgeable. I don't want a staff of Comic Book Guys, but you need to know what you're selling. I get insulted when I'm looking for something and they help me by doing a website search. I know how the internet works, it's 2014. And we all know the problems with their website so that doesn't need to be repeated here. We should be able to ask about stuff without memorizing SKU numbers. Employees should know when things are coming out and what's on their trucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stack32 Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 I can't blame the problems with clearance on the customers. Forcing people to remember four different percentages (which may not be marked well in the store, I think mine has about two signs) and do math for every item is a recipe for confusion. Since they've changed the percentages I assume the idea was to make it simpler for employees but it sounds like every bit of time they've saved marking items has been lost again at checkout. I know I had an issue where they ended up selling me a Final Battle Predator 2-Pack at a discount because they had marked it with a discount sticker meant for a Prometheus 2-Pack. I've never had a problem with employees but then I'm not the guy who will quiz them on the contents of the next truck. I'm sure they could be more knowledgeable, but collectors would be absolutely the wrong people to ask for expectations on that score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pappymojo Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 I know I had to buy TRU Wave 18 off of Amazon because it wasnt sold near me or on the TRU site. That is very clearly a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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