The Hunt: Love it or Hate it?

[evenstaves]

Used to love it, and always looking/planning for sales
Got a family and a mortgage, really shouldn't be blowing my money on toys but I do anyways because YA KNOW

Back when I lived in the city, the hunt was always on (if gotta drive to place, how many WM/TRUs can I hit on the way back, etc)
Nowadays it's more "if I go into town, check out some places before the drive back"

I would do online, but the old sales-hunter frequently has me turning up my nose at MSRP right when new figs launch
Like, it has to be something I really, really want to go full price
And it won't be a $70 leader, I can tell you that right now
(been trying to put everything on the old WM MC in order to rack up Rewards bucks, and "count those" towards cutting price off a figure)

So I often end up getting figs way after everyone else has "oh wow, this figure from last year is p cool" etc

Paying the late tax more than I would care to, recently

[JonoPrime]

Similar to what others have mentioned here.

- used to like the hunt not so much anymore
- slim pickings/poor distribution killed the random days out looking, now its only when I have to go get something
- increase in cost per figure and q/c being down has made impulse buys a thing of the past
- online purchasing is comparable depending on shipping cost, online markup, custom/duty fees VS gas and my sanity browsing in the wild

[Goaliebot]

Used to love it when stores actually carried Transformers.

[pandaprime]

Originally Posted by Goaliebot

Used to love it when stores actually carried Transformers.

agreed. distribution is very very very very very very bad. And when there is stock the amount is so low that usually only the first customer gets it which really grinds my gears.


As Ricky Bobby would say: "if you ain't first, you're last"

[Matrix1981]

I can't stand the hunt. Sure it's fun finding something you weren't expecting but being unable to buy what you ACTUALLY WANT due to poor distribution in combination with scalpers/buy it all and swear they aren't scalping makes it frustrating. I have switched to mainly online.

[Omegatron]

I still like the hunt. Its fun when you finally do find a figure and especially when you get something on sale and avoid shipping costs. Heck, I'm old enough to remember the days when you could walk into a store and find something you didn't even know about because it was pre internet days and/ or Hasbro's information control was better.

I agree with everyone here though, the hunt is not what it was. We have fewer brick and mortar stores that carry transformers and hit and miss distribution when they do. I still hunt, but if I think something will be hard to find or disappear quickly I have no problem ordering on-line, its simply part of the hobby now.

[Ransak The Elder]

Given that the Netflix series was pretty successful i expect "the hunt" to get a little worse as new collectors come on board (like me!). The whole earthrise line is an affordable, consistant line that provides G1 characters to fans... i feel like this is the first time in 20 years this has happened.

[Soundwaves]

Originally Posted by Ransak The Elder

Given that the Netflix series was pretty successful i expect "the hunt" to get a little worse as new collectors come on board (like me!). The whole earthrise line is an affordable, consistant line that provides G1 characters to fans... i feel like this is the first time in 20 years this has happened.

Wasn't this exactly what the classics line was?
That's what sucked me back in.

[Omegatron]

Originally Posted by Soundwaves

Wasn't this exactly what the classics line was?
That's what sucked me back in.

Yep, also frankly, if you go back far enough, Beast Wars.

That was also the first time in years there were new toys on the shelf that were affordable and fun. That's what got me back in.

The franchise does this from time to time and its a good thing. It may make the hunt harder but it'll make the hobby better in the future.

[Robimus]

The hunt for me.

But I buy very little newly released product.

For me its as much about thrift stores as TRU.