The Hunt: Love it or Hate it?

[Echotransformer]

They both kinda suck right now....

I still prefer to buy in-store vs. online...not that I don't get the occasional item online, but the TRU site never seems to have stock on even mainline stuff, Walmart searches have to be incredibly specific and still return too many results and Amazon often doesn't have the more exclusive stuff in stock (yes, Amazon, I'll add another item to my wishlist, sigh)..admittedly Amazon is pretty much the best of the 3, IMO.

Because of this, I don't find online enjoyable, and for everything but mainline I personally find it quite a hassle! It seems online scalping is ramping up as more people choose this route. It's at the point where you actually have to purchase stuff online during the work-day! Or at 12am...WTF? I think it's nuts.

The hunt is also pretty painful lately and I'm guessing the future isn't going to get much better. But man when you watch the sightings boards, guess at when it's going to arrive, actually go into to the store, find the item, pick the best painted one, walk out with it in hand etc...it's as good as ever, IMHO.

So I am revamping my collecting priorities based on this...for example I may purchase far fewer exclusives obscure/collector-specific characters such that I have to do less online (and therefore reduce the search/insane shipping/not available unless you order at 10am in the middle of the workday hassle) and put more priority on of MP/3rd party/Legends, which, outside of FanToys seems much easier to do online.

And at the same time I'll have high hopes that TFCon comes back, because that is far and away the most fun way to buy TFs!

[Gatchatron]

Still love it when you manage to stumble onto one of those items ya know is (or at least think is going to be) tricky to find... something about that whole scenario that just evokes a fun little "rush"

(Just had two of them back to back - when I managed to find Sky Lynx a few days ago - and Scorpy today!)

[optimusb39]

I miss the toyshows... and even though i get alot if my figures online the wait is unbearable! Never know when they will arrive... even with tracking.

[Prime Sinister]

Still love the hunt. Found the 3 main figures (Scorponok , Sky Lynx and Double Dealer) I wanted this year in stores. Finding Villains 2-pack was a bonus.

[OptimusB38]

The hunt was fun before serious online shopping came along. Online is less satisfactory

[Akroyer]

The hunt died for me when Zellers closed. With only a Walmart here and TRU almost 2 hours away.. The poor distribution and what not just made things frustrating. And online shopping as mentioned isnt very satisfactory / rewarding but got the job done I guess.

[imfallenangel]

Thanks to exclusives, bad distribution, and low numbers on many figures, the hunt tends to sucks now compared to before.

I do prefer to hunt than order online BUT that tends to be a case of "can't really get it easily otherwise" to "no other way to get it".

Heck, look as RedWing from Siege... that was a disaster. I ended up making my own by repainting a StarScream.

And the increase in prices has taken a lot away from the fun.. that not only many figures are hard to find, the quality issues are numerous, but that collectors are almost tripping over each other or being kicked by scalpers as there's really is a huge number of collectors compared to 20-30 years ago before "geek chic" happened.

Same with flea markets and special events where it used to be great to find some figures at a decent aftermarket price.. now that everything is a "collectible" prices have gone up like crazy... and rarity at such events due to missing out because either another collector or scalper hit it before you (and cleaned everyone out of anything worth while) kills the joy of the "hunt" .

That said... Hasbro is the winner as this proved that they can increase prices all they want and they are still selling just as much...

So the hunt has been becoming more of a stress instead of fun.

Siege was the "big one" for me and I spent more than I ever did, but ER has slowed things down a LOT and with the Beast war theme coming (which bares no interest to me), that will kill it for me and I'll be back to the random figure that catches my interest.

So to me, the hunt will be looking for older figures I've missed out that I can find at acceptable prices, and 3rd parties stuff possibly, or re-flip outside TFs for a while, but at the same time, my collection is starting to hit a certain saturation point.

[thekevinz]

For me it really depends on what I'm hunting for.

For new product, I enjoy The Hunt insofar as I have the time and energy for it. Working from home during covid allows for a lot of flexiblity in timing so I've been able to hit my local Walmarts, EB Games stores, TRU (and now thrift stores) more frequently. But I typically do a lot of preordering for new product as a bit of insurance against not finding them at retail. And I'm also starting to move towards 3P so online shopping is about the only option at the moment.

For vintage G1 though, I have ALL the energy and have willingly driven a few hours for a good pick.

[evenstaves]

Originally Posted by Robimus

The hunt for me.

But I buy very little newly released product.

For me its as much about thrift stores as TRU.

Originally Posted by imfallenangel

Same with flea markets and special events where it used to be great to find some figures at a decent aftermarket price..

So to me, the hunt will be looking for older figures I've missed out that I can find at acceptable prices

Are you guys literally me

[Marcotron]

When sales used to be 50% off of voyagers, and you could get voyagers for 15 bucks, it was great. I think deluxes could be found for 12 bucks too. Nowadays, the best sales are 25% off, which isn't great on a 40 dollars figure. Now that deluxes are $30 each, they really aren't worth it anymore. My purchases have slowed to a near standstill. I bought Hoist this year so far, and that's it.
The studio series toys are overpriced, and undersized. If I'm going to spend that much money on something, it's likely going to be a masterpiece level toy. But then again, the masterpieces are getting up there to the 200 or 400 range.

Somebody wake me up when the Quintesson is released, that's the only other must have toy for me this year.

I miss the toy shows due to Covid, but I can wait till they get going again.