Lack of Transformers recently (Toronto)

[Grimlocked]

It's weird... you would think that being in the city means more stock
... but what I'm seeing is that wal marts and EBs out of the city are receiving more stock. This is based on the sightings thread and sightings during my own time.

[Collectingtoys]

Probably been mentioned before, if you are specifically driving out spending time, gas, kilometage, automobile wear & tear, than it could mean a lot of disappointment. It's more logical and cost efficient to order full price online.

My contributions to the sightings thread is because my profession takes me on the road and I'll pass by a retail location if I'm in the area.

For Siege, distribution has definitely been all over the place, Wal*Mart and EB Games appeared to have moved onto Wave 3 while at Toys R Us, it feels they are still restocking Wave 1.

Oh well, still nothing beats the emotional excitement of finding what you want at retail though.

[Xtreme987]

Originally Posted by Collectingtoys

Oh well, still nothing beats the emotional excitement of finding what you want at retail though.

Ya ordering online is more efficient but when you find it in retail you don't have to wait to get it. It's instantly yours.

[ssjgoku22]

The west is just as bad, if not worse for distribution. Ordering online would be great if they'd actually put the figures on the damn websites (I'm looking at you Walmart ).

[Cyblue]

This is what my Walmart looks like: hopefully they're making space for some G1 Soundwaves and Cassettes. Also nobody is touching the Cyberverse stuff.
Siege Megatron and Cog are the biggest shelf warmers between Walmart and TRU. (They have more megatrons at TRU then any other figure of any line)
I did found a single copy of siege Starscream and Optimus Prime on clearance still laying around at TRU. No sign of Springer or Jetfire. Finally Walmart got rid of its remaining POTP stock, whilst TRU is still trying to get rid of its remaining Prime Masters (they have plenty of all but micronus) and Optimus Primal. They just got rid of their last copy of Predaking for $134.98 not too long ago.

[neevnav]

I just bit the bullet and ordered the Hightower wave of SS online, it's a $3 premium for the whole wave over retail including shipping. I'd use more then that in gas driving to get them. Well worth it.

EDIT: Pre-ordered the Arcee wave of SS, and it came out $3 cheaper then retail even with shipping. Can't go wrong there.

[imfallenangel]

meh, it's the same everywhere.

If I see a figure that I really want, I get it... long are gone the days of waiting for a sale.

There's quite a few that the first sighting was the only sighting.

A few took months, even several before I would see then again, others, never saw them again.

A few that were semi-shelf-warmers that I was hesitating on, would suddenly all disappear overnight just as I decided to get it... Twin twist (titans return) for example. I missed him simply because I hesitated a couple of times as I assumed wrongly that he'd be around for a bit longer as they were so many of them in stores and now he's hard to find online and he's somehow "rare" and way expensive, more than double what he was going for.

[MapleMegatron]

Originally Posted by MichaelQuach

Is it just me, but in Toronto or even the (GTA), has there been a lack of figures recently? It seems I have missed the entirety of wave 5 studio series and Bumblebee Movie Prime and Rampage. Along with wave 2 of siege, these studio series and siege figures have appeared to not be present at all at Toysrus. I'm also surprised amazon hasn't gotten any stock of sideswipe or optimus, as there are third party scalpers only present right now.

It's the same everywhere else. The situation you describe is what I would say about quebec as well, for instance. TRU and Walmart operate at the national level and thus what you find at one will probably be the same you find at another, for the most part.

And while we can't rely on Amazon, I dont think thats anything new. We never could rely on Amazon, hence why we were all shitting bricks at the idea of losing a brick and mortar retailer. Amazon orders a rather low quantity of toys for the older crowd, the only thing they seem to have plenty of (judging from when they do sales) is early wave toys for a younger audience and their exclusives.

To be honest though, I think this is the same situation every year, we just tend to forget since the end of year and begining of the year has the most new stuff arriving in stores all at once.

[Undrave]

Originally Posted by Xtreme987

Ya ordering online is more efficient but when you find it in retail you don't have to wait to get it. It's instantly yours.

Plus, sometimes, if your on the fence about a toy, seeing it in person would change your mind.



One that comes to mind if DOTM Voyager Megatron, which I thought looked cool but whenever I saw it in person looked SUUUUPER plain and boring so I never got it.



Buying online isn't good if you're a compulsive buyer.

[Undrave]

The disparity with the US is really the most annoying part... it's not like back in the days where WE had the multilanguage packaging and they had English only and that would cause delays... Packaging used in the US covers FOUR languages (English, French, Spanish and Brazillian Portugese). They shouldn't be arriving MONTHES later up here >< Aren't they shipped from Vietnam at the same time?



Is it because the Canadian distribution center is in Longueil and the ship arrives in Vancouver? Or do they just sit in the warehouse on the south shores for monthes until someone gets to them?