Hikuro Posted March 21, 2018 Posted March 21, 2018 I’ll probably go on a Star Wars splurge at my locations. There’s at least 3 stores in an hour drive from my home. Might even buy some legos for once in my life who knows! Quote
JetJockey Posted March 22, 2018 Posted March 22, 2018 On 3/20/2018 at 11:09 AM, TangledThorns said: Remember FAO Schwarz? That is where the rich parents shopped for their kids. I don't think FAO Schwarz had many good toys. I think they had the NES when it was new. Also Smurfs but I remember those being expensive for small figures. Or maybe I didn't like them because they weren't articulated. Or course they had Star Wars. But I remember the good stuff was always at KayBee, Toys R Us, Circus World, and Child World. There might have been a few others. I'm on a search for vintage toy stores now. On 3/20/2018 at 6:44 PM, mikeszekely said: Can't speak for you, but in my case it was becasue KB was in the mall, and Children's Palace/TRU was its own thing. My parents didn't really like taking me to the toy store because they didn't want to go out just to hear me beg them to buy something. But my dad was really into music (he played bass in a band before I was born), so he liked going to the mall to shop the record stores (remember those?). Since we were already there, it was a lot easier for me to get to KB. We always made it to Toys R Us because just about every location I went to was near a mall. At most in a section a block or so away from the mall. So if whatever mall toy store didn't have anything good we always wanted to check out the Toys R Us and see if they had anything. I searched and actually a few of the odd Toys R Us stores I used to go to are still open. Also this podcast from RetroBlasting is worth a listen. He used to work at Toys R Us. They put some of the blame on the big toy makers as well and their distribution to Toys R Us. It's something I noticed when I went to Toys R Us back in the day. I was always looking to see new toys but they never had them. I started a topic about RetroBlasting's Studio Collection as well. It's something people here might want to check out. Quote
Axelay Posted March 22, 2018 Posted March 22, 2018 I am highly annoyed that the TRU exclusive Marvel Legends Scarlet Witch and Vision 2-pack from Infinity War has never shown up at either of my nearest stores and likely won't now. The prices for that box set are already going nuts on eBay. I really badly wanted that set, too. If anybody should miraculously happen to find one and would be willing to hook me up, I would be extremely grateful. I'd also happily trade anything you want of reasonable value from Best Buy. Quote
sh9000 Posted March 22, 2018 Posted March 22, 2018 I might just try to find some deals for the baby. Quote
TangledThorns Posted March 22, 2018 Posted March 22, 2018 Wife went to our local BRU and found the liquidation sale was postponed, probably till tomorrow. Quote
sh9000 Posted March 23, 2018 Posted March 23, 2018 Went to Scavengers R Us today and it was packed with people. The signs outside said up to 30% off even though mostly everything inside was marked 10% off. There was nothing really good to get so I probably won’t go back anymore. I had good memories there as a kid and as an adult I enjoyed lots of good deals, sales, and price adjustments. It was good while it lasted. Here’s one example of a good deal from the past. The missing figure was invisible. Quote
Mommar Posted March 23, 2018 Posted March 23, 2018 (edited) On 3/22/2018 at 6:41 AM, Axelay said: I am highly annoyed that the TRU exclusive Marvel Legends Scarlet Witch and Vision 2-pack from Infinity War has never shown up at either of my nearest stores and likely won't now. The prices for that box set are already going nuts on eBay. I really badly wanted that set, too. If anybody should miraculously happen to find one and would be willing to hook me up, I would be extremely grateful. I'd also happily trade anything you want of reasonable value from Best Buy. Damn, I was too late seeing your message. Bbts put out an e-mail mid-day for pre-orders for the two pack but I just looked now and it’s sold out. You might watch them, Dorkside Toys and Entertainment Earth. Hasbro may have shifted stock to the online stores. Yup, Entertainment Earth right now. Go, go! https://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HSE2118 Edited March 23, 2018 by Mommar Quote
sh9000 Posted March 24, 2018 Posted March 24, 2018 I hope the other Marvel Legends TRU exclusives that were planned get picked up by BBTS, EE, and Dorkside. Too bad there won’t be any possible BOGO 50% off sales at those places. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted March 24, 2018 Posted March 24, 2018 There's a crowdfunding effort under way to save TRU, at least in part. https://www.gofundme.com/helpsavetoysrus Quote
sh9000 Posted March 24, 2018 Posted March 24, 2018 I’m not donating. MGA should already have a lot of money to begin with. Looks like MGA will be making a lot more. Quote
Mommar Posted March 24, 2018 Posted March 24, 2018 (edited) Crowd funding to save TRU? Their interest (just.the.interest) for last years debt was $400 million. Good luck raising that kind of cash. Edited March 24, 2018 by Mommar Quote
Omega Prime Posted March 25, 2018 Posted March 25, 2018 20 hours ago, Mommar said: Crowd funding to save TRU? Their interest (just.the.interest) for last years debt was $400 million. Good luck raising that kind of cash. Is this "kickstarter" thing being run by the people who recently bought the Canadian Branch of Toyrus? Quote
M'Kyuun Posted March 25, 2018 Posted March 25, 2018 Yes. MGA Entertainment brokered a deal to buy all 82 Canadian stores, with the possibility of keeping 200 US stores. Personally, I hope he's successful, learns from the mistakes of the previous ownership, and makes what remains of the franchise into a successful venture. I don't want to see it die, even if our particular store isn't one of the 200 saved. Visited my local TRU yesterday, and what a difference from my last weekend's visit. They're now in full liquidation mode, and at least a good quarter of their LEGO stock was gone. LEGO is not on their list of liquidation sales, is clearly posted as not discounted, and whatever remains of their stock will return to LEGO when the stores finally close. I didn't see the same evidence of mass sales anywhere else, though. I visited the Star Wars isle and then onto Transformers. They still looked like they usually do. I bought the smaller die-cast versions of the Netflix Voltron Lions- not a bad little set, except Voltron can't turn his head, and his wings aren't hinged to allow them to spread behind his back properly. I think they used the product photography from the full sized combining toys on the packaging for these smaller figures- little shady. Still, the lions individually look pretty good, have decent articulation, and they combine to form Voltron, so I'm ok with it. It's my first ever Voltron figure, and I knew when I bought it I wasn't getting the premium set. Anyway, I also picked up some more LEGO for good measure. Quote
sh9000 Posted March 26, 2018 Posted March 26, 2018 Plenty of online stores and physical stores in my area to get toys and baby stuff once TRU is gone. Quote
TangledThorns Posted March 27, 2018 Posted March 27, 2018 Shopped at my local TRU yesterday. Found plenty of cool toys for my daughter's four year birthday in September. From Leapfrog electronics to Barbie, she is gonna be spoiled! I found the collectibles aisle to be more picked through though. The only thing of interest to me was the spinner car from Blade Runner: 2049. There was a Deckard action figure but it was far from interesting. Looked like casual weekend Harrison Ford with a gun, lol. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted March 27, 2018 Posted March 27, 2018 I was surprised to find the Robot Spirits Pacific Rim 2 figures at TRU last weekend, as I generally don't see Japanese toys there ( I generally have to check the Comic Book Store, Barnes & Noble, or other specialty stores to find Japanese and higher end collectible figures). Anyway, looking through the assortment, I was tempted; they were $30 a pop, but all figures were marked down 10 percent, so I would have saved a couple bucks. Alas, I've already way-overspent this month, and I had another armload of LEGO and the Die-cast Voltron set, so I left them on their pegs. They looked nice, though. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted June 25, 2018 Posted June 25, 2018 Just visited our local store today, probably for the last time, as they're within about 60 days of final closure. LEGO and Transformers are my hobbies, and they had neither. It was a sad feeling to walk through the store, as I have bought any number of LEGO sets there over the years, and often looked forward to their exclusives. Even on visits when I didn't make a purchase, I always enjoyed just walking around the store. There used to be a cashier who always remembered us when we came in, and though she left the area several years ago, those memories remain as well. It's extremely disheartening to see a homegrown business that soared to such great heights under the leadership of its founder fall asunder so poorly due to mismanagement of finances by its new owners. I'm glad the name will remain alive in other countries, but it's lamentable that it died an unseemly death in its home. I'm going to miss Toys R Us. Quote
sketchley Posted June 25, 2018 Posted June 25, 2018 4 hours ago, M'Kyuun said: (...) I'm glad the name will remain alive in other countries, but it's lamentable that it died an unseemly death in its home. I'm going to miss Toys R Us. Speaking of that, a couple of months ago they had a commercial on TV (here in Japan) informing that they were not going out of business (in Japan), and apologizing for the confusion (it's Japan after all...). While not being able to partake in any sales, it is heartening to know that I'll still be able to take my kids there (well, at least until they outgrow toys). Quote
sh9000 Posted June 25, 2018 Posted June 25, 2018 http://news.toyark.com/2018/06/25/party-city-to-open-seasonal-toy-city-pop-up-stores-303593 Quote
M'Kyuun Posted June 25, 2018 Posted June 25, 2018 3 hours ago, spacemanoeuvres said: Whatever legal actions these former employees take, I hope they come out victorious. They were robbed of their jobs/careers/retirements, we as a country lost an institution, and the bastards behind the fall of TRU walked away with impunity. Reminds me of the mortgage shenanigans from back around 2008 or so. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted June 25, 2018 Posted June 25, 2018 https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/former-toys-r-us-ceo-works-to-reboot-the-retailer/ar-AAz9nRf?ocid=spartanntp Quote
sh9000 Posted July 15, 2018 Posted July 15, 2018 Looks like they’ll be opening one of those Party City pop-up toy stores near me soon. Quote
Axelay Posted July 17, 2018 Posted July 17, 2018 Huh. I'm interested to see what that's like. I don't have a lot of faith at the moment. Quote
sh9000 Posted June 22, 2019 Posted June 22, 2019 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-21/toys-r-us-back-from-the-dead-will-open-u-s-stores-in-2019 Quote
Dynaman Posted June 22, 2019 Posted June 22, 2019 2 stores is hardly worth worth the time it took to write the article. A different format of store too - much smaller. This is TRU in name only, kinda like Atari when whoever bought it revised the brand name. Quote
TehPW Posted June 22, 2019 Posted June 22, 2019 3 hours ago, Dynaman said: 2 stores is hardly worth worth the time it took to write the article. A different format of store too - much smaller. This is TRU in name only, kinda like Atari when whoever bought it revised the brand name. maybe.... but at least its EMPLOYMENT however so tenuous. Not that I think its worth it (do kids today do anything besides play with their phones now?)... Quote
Mommar Posted June 22, 2019 Posted June 22, 2019 3 hours ago, TehPW said: maybe.... but at least its EMPLOYMENT however so tenuous. Not that I think its worth it (do kids today do anything besides play with their phones now?)... They don’t seem to. I can’t get my niece or nephew to care about action figures at all. Quote
pengbuzz Posted June 23, 2019 Posted June 23, 2019 Yeah; Kay-Bee Toys was supposed to be reopening as well, then delayed it when they realized they were too close to the holiday season. That was the last i heard, and nothing else since then. At this point, I'll believe either one when I see it. Quote
sh9000 Posted October 9, 2019 Posted October 9, 2019 https://comicbook.com/2019/10/08/toys-r-us-new-website-partner-target/?fbclid=IwAR0YP5qXYwlekVJyO7L-qQxQBy8yThfndB7ZaqeHPH07PiYHQ6yLlyLcA9A Quote
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