Tired Of The Toy Hunt

[Roy Focker]

Remember the good ole days?

If you're my age that's from 1980 to 1990. The toy selection of your local drug store might have sucked any time besides xmas but you could always go to some nice toy store on the weekends and find every thing.

Skip ahead a decade. My generation grew up and a lot have become adult collectors. The social stigma against it not as strong as might have been. Now when we are looking for toys its not that easy. I'm not refering to expensive imports that are hard too find to begin with but domestics that should be cheap and everywhere. You read on a message board about the new line of super deformed man and his mighty armored warriors of freedom. Perhaps you decide that will would like to get two figures out of the next wave. Misses Deformed with elevating Skirt and armored warrior with the special midnight blue armor. In the old days you could luck out and find at the nearest drug store or go a toy store and find nearly all the figures. Today's toy stores selection is sad.

There are stories of bad disturbution. The toy makers making less of the likely popular characters on purpose. The Walmat effect, Then there are horders or scalpers who run to the stores once they open. In some cases having an in with people who work in the stores. You can combat them by playing their trick against them. Some collectors will drive to twenty stores hunting down a certain figure or check every store they pass when they are on the road. I don't have time to drive to every store. You could use the internet. Ebay maybe but that's where the scalpers are. Who else could be selling the latest hottest toy so fast? What about an online merchants. They're are'nt scalpers but most are smart to jack up prices and charge you extra for shipping.

If you find anything good today without paying more or putting in a lot of effort you're lucky. Some collectors have said you if you really want something you have to pay more or really work for it. Not all adult collectors want to pay more for a silly toy or want to spend their free time running around looking for one. If you go to extreme lengths then you're a lot more than a casual geek. Sure toy makers have really started to make toys the appeal to the ten old in each of us but the real ten year olds are missing out. Toy collecting shouldn't be someone's obession or way to fund their retirement.

[Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0]

God man I definitely agree!

I NEVER found any anakin evolutions sets after xmas. Hell during xmas and during december even it was nowhere to be found. ditto for the SITH pack.

Marvel Legends? The distribution on there could be the opposite of legendary. Holy crap has that line been hard to find! Its hard to tell exactly what the hell you can find from it! I have NEVER SEEN DEADPOOL OR HULKBUSTERIRONMAN OR JUGGERNAUT EVEN ONCE WITH MY OWN EYES! Same with Hawkeye! I only saw wave 8 once, then POOF onslaught of shelf hogging wave 9 comes around.

I thought the day would never come where star wars figures would be hard to find. Boy was I wrong. 3 months after initial release, the shelf clogging clone pilots dissapeared from shelves. Good thing I bought the clone commander very early on in may!

Seems to me only gijoes and transformers are in one's reach during toy runs. Everything else you either gotta be the first to get or donate limbs to get.

[Rocket Punch]

Sick of it all.

[zeo-mare]

yes i am am sure everyone here is with you on this, I was never able to find any of the TF Alternators here in MA even now half the time most places only have the basics and it is not because of scalpers they simply are not getting them in stock. then they would only show up on ebay for a fortune, i simply gave up on the alts and will stick with the more expensive binaltechs. but there are so many things like this that i can never find anymore, i hate the fact that 90% of my toys i have to buy online in order to have. i have learned to live with it. but i really wish there was a easier way to get this stuff.

chris

[myk]

Yeah, to hell with it all. After a while you just don't give an F-whoever's hoarding these things can HAVE the whatchamacallits and choke on it...

[JB0]

God man I definitely agree! 

I NEVER found any anakin evolutions sets after xmas.  Hell during xmas and during december even it was nowhere to be found. 

Sheesh, I saw a whole PILE of 'em at my local MalWart a while back(gone now, but then...). I thought it was just stupid.

Guess I shoulda stocked up and become an eBay gouger instead of mocking the package.

[buddhafabio]

i would agree on the hate of the "hunt" but most of the stuff i found were easy finds. and the 2 items i hunted for i got cheap. (apu from matrix 20$ and large spiderman 14$) oh wait i wanted something rare to agument a model i plan to build and after 2 months of searching i found one for 25$ 20 more then i wanted to get one for.

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

I think the toy collectors market has changed due to the make-up of the customers.

In the 80s, many who buy were kids who had to beg dad/mom for the $. Rare is the kid who can make mummy buy him the whole shelf. Nowadays there are many working adults and toylines are also being geared towards working adults. Working adults have the $ to buy up the shelf in multiple stores.

And I suppose the pure number of different toys coming out (just look at Star Wars?!?!) makes it pretty difficult for one store to stock every damn thing for an extended period.

[Veritas]

I think the toy collectors market has changed due to the make-up of the customers.

In the 80s, many who buy were kids who had to beg dad/mom for the $. Rare is the kid who can make mummy buy him the whole shelf. Nowadays there are many working adults and toylines are also being geared towards working adults. Working adults have the $ to buy up the shelf in multiple stores.

And I suppose the pure number of different toys coming out (just look at Star Wars?!?!) makes it pretty difficult for one store to stock every damn thing for an extended period.

389127[/snapback]

You make a good point, but at the same time it really doesn't help when the toy makers only make one of each figure in their case assortments. It should be a given that the most popular characters should have more figures per a case. Why would they not want to sell these guys faster than the rest? The more figures they sell, the quicker the stores will buy more cases eventually equaling more money for the toy manufactures.

For example for the Star Wars figures they should just release an entire case of clone troopers for every regular case assortment they release, since those guys almost always sell out quickly. Who the hell wants Senator whozamawhatsit from whothehellcares when you could have something like a clone trooper or clone commander? These guys are commanding insane prices on ebay since for whatever reason they've only been packed one each per a case, leaving the rest of us paying a middle man for being at his local Wal-mart from 12 to 4 every night. I just don't see the logic in this, and i'm not sure i ever will.

Edited April 9, 2006 by Veritas

[Mowe]

Look at it from another perspective, the chasing is often as good as the toys themselves.

The harder to get, the more intrigue that toy is. Remember that state of esctacy you reached when THAT parcel finally arrived at your front door?

[zeo-mare]

Look at it from another perspective, the chasing is often as good as the toys themselves.

The harder to get, the more intrigue that toy is.  Remember that state of esctacy you reached when THAT parcel finally arrived at your front door?

389137[/snapback]

true enough, i have a few coming next week that i cannot wait for so you do have a point.

chris

Edited April 9, 2006 by zeo-mare

[Nightbat]

Hell when I walk in a toy-shop

it's videogames, dvd's, cellphones and [insert fad of the week here]

What the hell happened to the toys?!?!

[Sumdumgai]

When I hunt for the "cheaper" toys (like certain characters from star wars, the standard figures) the getting it was never satisfying enough, because it wasn't really worth it.

Now, when I go for the big things, the high quality things... Oh man, it can be so damned satisfying. Like getting myself a VF-1A Low vis v1 for around original retail price, months after they were sold out everywhere. That was really satisfying.

But for standard toys, the hunt doesnt feel worth it if you even manage to find that figure you're looking for. Besides, toy stores aren't as cool as they used to be (probably because I'm older now, I appreciate higher quality things and standard kids stuff annoys me, and there's few cool toys).

Speaking of quality, I always hated while I was growing up the low quality of figures. The sculpts always sucked, figures came with GIANT weapons that launch big stupid red missiles. The Terminator 2 line and Aliens line annoyed the hell out of me as a kid. Hicks didn't have a bazooka! Where's his pulse rifle?! There were no other animal aliens in the alien series except the dog-burster alien. Where the hell did the rhino, gorilla, and snake alien come from?

[promethuem5]

I really hat ethe current toy distribution models as well right now... friggen Iron Man is always impossible to find when the ML waves come out...

(apu from matrix 20$

On a side note, I got one of these from KB Toys for like 15, and it broke right nout of the package (one of the shoulders is defective,) and then proceded to exchange all 5 left in teh store, only to have them all break the exact same way. I always wished that toy wasn't broken like that, as it was friggen gorgeous.

[Kin]

I'm a guy with patience. If I see something rare for sale on the Internet and is acceptible for my budget, I'll do everything to get that toy. So far, I'm still lucky.

Also depends on where you live. I'd rather ship something expensive to the other half of the globe.

Edited April 9, 2006 by Kin

[memnon]

I finally reached a point where I stopped collecting toys altogether. I mainly just concentrate on models now. I do have a fairly extensive Star Wars Action Fleet collection though.

[eriku]

Toy shopping has definately become a drag. Any "thrill of the hunt" I once experienced has long since been replaced by the 'thrill' of waiting for a package to come in the mail.

And now that Sam Goody, Musicland, Media Play and Suncoast are being systematically shut down, (not to mention KB and TRU) it's only going to get worse. I hated buying any kind of media at those places, but damn if they weren't a toy jackpot sometimes.

Now al that's left is comic shops that are filled with crap nobody wants and the K-Tar-Mart chains. I still get pretty much everything I want from online sources, but I miss the good old days of walking out of a store with a bag full o' goodies. One of my fondest memories was when me and a friend drove around for a whole day, in a 100-mile radius, hitting all of the stores we could find, focusing on the lesser-shopped stores like Shop-Ko, Pamida and Ben Franklin. We came home with literally a car-load of stuff. Ahhh...mammaries.

[bandit29]

I gave up on the toy hunt awhile ago. Online shopping took its place for awhile. Nowadays I don't buy toys at all anymore. Old age(32) and life in general has killed that hobby lol

[Eternal_D]

I wish I could be in the same boat as some of you, to stop finding toys altogether and just giv up. but alas, I still find good stuff once in a while...ML's, SW's, McFarlane stuff.

it also helps to have friends in other parts of the city who look for you as well...helps with the collection but not with your wallet.

[one_klump]

Honstly, I don't see much in the local toystores that even intrest me anymore. The Starwars figures never really grabbed me, and the only thing left in the stores around me are Transformers, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and some Comic action figures. The Transformers sometimes have a design that will grab my eye, but 90% of them are crap.

Toys R Us is the discount bargin bin, Target and Walmart have neary put them out of business in my town. There is a KB Toys in our mall, but its only stocked with the same stuff TRU has with a 20% markup.

After katrina, Suncoast shutdown, with a sign saying "Sorry for the inconvience, our Baton Rouge store is still open" (Baton Rouge is a 2 hour trip from here).

If I need anything nowadays, I go online. The hunt is dead.

[Dante74]

If it wasn't for the internet I would never have found out about the Yamato's, so I love online shopping

It's the only opportunity I have of ever getting a 1/48 Valk.

I found some 1/60's in an import shop some time ago, but whats the point of buying those, I have my 1/48's

[Greyryder]

It's gotten beyond old. I can't even find Transformers that other people have been seeing for over a month. I still haven't found a second CD Hotshot. (first one was custom fodder) My local wal-mart is two waves behind on most size classes, and anyplace else is an hour away. The only reason I don't like to buy online, is because the online toy stores all jack up the prices. Only Hasbro's own online store charges retail price. This is the only hobby I have that actually costs more online. I honestly don't understand why that is.

TFs and the odd Marvel Legend are all I collect. The occasional import is always bought online. Revoltech Dougram is so tempting.

Distribution is horrid on everything, especially this part of Ohio. I think only the UK, has worse distribution. I consider myself extremely luck to have found a Hulkbuster IM. It's still the only one I've ever seen.

[Guppy]

I started out seriously collecting in '99 or so. So I finished hunting all the old stuff a few years back, thankfully. While I did enjoy the thrill of finding something rare for a good price I'm glad it's all done. Now all I have to do is lazily pre order the new stuff on the net.

[Roy Focker]

Nowadays there are many working adults and toylines are also being geared towards working adults. Working adults have the $ to buy up the shelf in multiple stores.

Plus they have the resources to hit the stores once the new stocks come in. Other adult casual collectors hit the store when are off work or on the weekends. It just takes one horder or scalper to hit everystore when everyone else is at work. Strange this is I heard people defend the scalper and horder.

Look at it from another perspective, the chasing is often as good as the toys themselves.

The harder to get, the more intrigue that toy is. Remember that state of esctacy you reached when THAT parcel finally arrived at your front door?

I get excited tracking down and finding a import or an true rare toy. Not some new toy that should be avaliable in retail at the MSRP. Even should you find an online retailer selling a new action figure at the MSRP. The shipping charges will be just a dollar less than the figure. Few six dollar action figures are really worth eleven dollars to me. Like wise when I have a day off I'm not in the mood to hit all the toy section of every store with in a 25 mile radius just to find a couple of items. Some people do that. I just check the stores that I am already in for something else. Sometimes I strike good but most of the time I see empty pegs or stuff or peg warmers from a year ago.

These should be easy to find, affordable domestics. You shouldn't have to be lucky, dishonest or obessed to get them.

[Kin]

Sometimes you can find a big catch at clearance topics under "for sale" in the MW forum. I'd rather buy something from a MW member than unknown people on Ebay etc.

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

If you find anything good today without paying more or putting in a lot of effort you're lucky. Some collectors have said you if you really want something you have to pay more or really work for it. Not all adult collectors want to pay more for a silly toy or want to spend their free time running around looking for one. If you go to extreme lengths then you're a lot more than a casual geek. Sure toy makers have really started to make toys the appeal to the ten old in each of us but the real ten year olds are missing out. Toy collecting shouldn't be someone's obession or way to fund their retirement.

I agree. Toy hunting has wasted so much time. I gave up and caved in to the scalpers and got used to it. But for those little kids it must really suck that thier fave figure is now rare thanks to being either short supply, sold for insane price by some fat dude who rushed out to make it rare and wants a higher price for it, or the company didn't distribute something evenly enough so you have this struggle between the haves and have nots.

Pretty much toy forums have a "sightings area" for people to post where they saw a specific figure and in which store to help eliminate the travel for the collectors but still I would rather see an abundance of the toys than to have to resort to hunting for everything. The time alone puts strain on the person.

Sometimes I wish I had a pocket sized fold booster from macross to fold the toys I could never find to my house.

Edited April 10, 2006 by 1/1 LowViz Lurker

[Macross73]

when I go to the local toy store I usaually hear the kids ask their moms to buy that great new toy on the shlef. But mom's usually reply "wait till Xmas". Its OK to a point for toy company to creat the chase figure if its something extra special but to intentionally withhold a childs opportunity to have a character that they love or just want, Sucks. No Parent is gonna want to pay 40 pr 50 bucks for an ML Iron man just b/c the scalper got to it 1st and there was only one in the box to begin with. Ultimately TOYs are for kids and should be abundant atleast enough to satisfy the kids. Who really wants to tell their kid that he cant buy a toy b/c there was just one and the Scalper go to it at midnight when they restocked the shelves.

[sabretooth]

don't forget your local stockroom horders

i'm cleaning out ours this weekend

who the hell needs 3 scarlet witches and 3 hulk buster iron mans

yeah i work at target and i'm putting what ever i can on the shelves asap.

god i hate scalpers.....we get like 6 cases of ml at a time and yet all the exclusives "magically disappear" well i found a stockpile and this weekend they'll be on the first peg that i see....

someones going to get pissed

[Macross73]

GOOD!!

[fansubs2000]

don't forget your local stockroom horders

i'm cleaning out ours this weekend

who the hell needs 3 scarlet witches and 3 hulk buster iron mans

yeah i work at target and i'm putting what ever i can on the shelves asap.

god i hate scalpers.....we get like 6 cases of ml at a time and yet all the exclusives "magically disappear" well i found a stockpile and this weekend they'll be on the first peg that i see....

someones going to get pissed    

389509[/snapback]

What the hell!?!?!?

People do that!?!??!

Geez no wonder I can't find anything where ever I go!

Damn!

[hevangel2]

That's why I stay away (and hate) those special limited edition which is really just a repaint of the same toy.

[Graham]

I hardly ever go on toy hunts for myself anymore, despite Hong Kong having many great toy and hobby shops.

These days, if I get some free time away from the wife and kid, I'd rather spend it having drinks and dinner with friends, rather than traipsing round endless toyshops in the sweltering heat and humidity of Hong Kong's summer.

Pretty much the only toys that interest me anymore are Yamato's Macross toys, which I usually pick up from Neova. On the rare occasion a US toy catches my fancy, I'll order it online rather than checking the import shops.

The only time I do toy hunt these days is if I'm looking for a toy for my 22 month old son.

Graham

[Mowe]

That's right, that reminds me of those really cool local toy store that I grew up with in HK. Chain store now days are boring. But those old fashion toy shops were awsome. Every shelves were packed with amazing toys of all kinds.

As a kid I used to get into trouble for going home late after school 'cause I hanged around at those shops for too long, many slap in the bottom..he..he .

Ah...the good old memories...unfortunately I don't think I've changed too much, except I now hang around on the E-bay and Yahoo JP, definitely different expeience where everyone is that bit more agressive with bidding.

I think shopping Japan toystore would still be pretty cool. Anyone from Japan can verify??

I hardly ever go on toy hunts for myself anymore, despite Hong Kong having many great toy and hobby shops.

Graham

389541[/snapback]

[Guest Bromgrev]

The only time I do toy hunt these days is if I'm looking for a toy for my 22 month old son.

389541[/snapback]

Sure, we believe you ... "But, honey, it's for the boy!"

[Black Valkyrie]

I remember in the 80`s it was easy to find Japanese robot toys everywhere, even in your local supermarket for a good price and now I also buy from net but not that much.

I have this crazy idea still got some old Macross IMAI under the rt logo 1/200 kits and giving them a custom paint from other Jap robot show since the real toys are expensive.