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Originally Posted by evenstaves
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Yeah, I know. I wasn't saying that I couldn't find it or that I wasn't sure if it was in stock (I have the link bookmarked from earlier discussions on here and have been checking it almost daily for restock notices)
What I'm saying is that TRU normally doesn't de-list item pages from their search results or brand-based listings simply on account of being out of stock. Just for example, if you look at all Transformers branded stuff:
https://www.toysrus.ca/en/toysrus/Br...Transformers#1
Stuff that's out of stock entirely appears in that list, just marked "out of stock". Stuff like most Siege & Earthrise Micromasters, or ER Grapple & Starscream, or a bunch of Botbots packs. They're not available for store pickup or online purchase, but they're still listed with a red "OUT OF STOCK" label plastered over the image. Even some of their older specialty packs and Generations Selects stuff like the Rainmakers or the Reflector Camera pack are still there but out of stock.
But the Cassette pack doesn't appear in their listings at all. Neither does Red Wing, for that matter. Or Nightbird, or Smokescreen. And if I just search "Transformers Generations Selects" the only results that come up are the two Powerdashers they sell/sold (Cromar and Zetar).
It's just me speculating, but that sort of setup makes me wonder if they aren't expecting any more of them to come in for online purchase and it was just easier to sever all its links to being found by shoppers as a means of marking the product as (essentially) discontinued) than it would be to wipe the page entirely.
Of course, I could just as easily be reading too much into this since there's basically no reason for them to have some of the older listings like the Rainmakers still up when it's abundantly clear they won't be getting any more of those in stock to sell, or the fact that several Wave 1 Earthrise figures don't appear in their search results or brand lists either (Cliffjumper, Wheeljack, Astrotrain, and Optimus) when they are very much still for sale if/when you can find them in stores.
It was just something I thought was worth mentioning because of how odd it seemed. And because I've been frustrated at how ridiculously all of this sort of distribution is being handled. Sometimes I feel like these sorts of short runs and small, unannounced bursts of limited stock are intentional to drive up the frenzy in the collector market. Because the social media buzz of people panicking and celebrating finding that thing they were looking for like it was the holy grail plays well for generating attention on a brand.
