My oh my, this line is off to one of the most horrific starts I've ever seen. As someone who doesn't typically collect new figures, mainly for the reasons associated with this line, I have to ask those of you who do, are these common problems? Is supply really this bad? Are exclusives really in such abundance? Are scalpers really that big of a problem to the collecting community? Is collecting really this stressful?
Many of you have already seen my prior rant on the Amazon exclusive Arctic Mission Storm Shadow. In that post, I talk about how Hasbro had already ruined this line for me. However, I decided I would try to right the course of this series and get past this. I even went as far as to take the plunge and give in to the scalpers by buying one off ebay - Something I wasn't necessarily happy to do.
With my feelings somewhat smoothed over, I thought I would look into the rumored wave three figures, to see if they too were up for pre-order. That was when the nightmare started all over, re-solidifying why I should have just walked away from this series.
Yes, wave three "was" available for pre-order already. And low and behold, it's a Target exclusive slated for August 14th. Guess what? It's sold out. Sigh...Of course, the lovely scalpers over at ebay have you covered. Yes, for a mere $120.00, they'll happily sell you the twenty dollar figure they pre-ordered, so that you couldn't get one.
Mind you, for the most part, these were not throw away characters for most people. This wave includes staples; Beach Head, Cobra Trooper and Baroness. Yes, sure, there was an unnecessary cash grab in a repainted Roadblock, but the other three figures would have been must haves for most collectors.
If Hasbro wants to produce products for scalpers, versus providing enough for the fans and true collectors, then I'm going to have to be done. I'll see how this wave pans out, but I wanted to enjoy collecting this line, not be stressed out and angry by it. So far, this series has only proved to do both.
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I have to agree,man! Scalpers are completely out of control, bro! Like I said, I'm waiting to see If these ever show up at my local WalMart and Targets. If I'm lucky I'll be able to snag up a couple before they disappear off store shelves.I'm also kind of tired of these toy vloggers showing us the product 10 years before they even release. It's a big spoiler In my opinion. They don't even visually stimulate me anymore I've seen them so much. The Snake Eyes has been showed and displayed on sites and blogs so much I feel like I already own It and It hasn't even hit store shelves yet lol! Plus that Roadblock is garbage.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. When I see a bunch of vloggers doing unboxings, it annoys me all the more that I still haven't even received my wave one case that supposedly shipped two weeks ago. It seems as if Hasbro is interested in catering to specific reviewers, who they give the product to, and scalpers, who try to rake the rest of us over the coals. It just makes me want to go back to the vintage line instead. If I'm going to pay sixty dollars (or more) for a figure, I'd rather it be one from the 80's that I know isn't on store shelves. At least then I can justify paying the additional price.
DeleteBeachhead looks pretty vanilla ,too.
ReplyDeleteThe green weapons look really bland, and I don't get why he has Scarlet's crossbow.
DeleteThis is exactly why I collect mainly old figure lines. I've bee working on Super Powers for a few years now! I only pick up new toys here or there but not trying to collect whole lines.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think I'm going back to original Joes. If I have to pay premium prices, it's not going to be for "new" products.
DeleteWhile I've enjoyed the new Classifed line so far. Looking forward to Gung Ho and Cobra Commander - not thrilled about the overstylized red ninja, this exclusive Wave 3 Target debacle was ridiculous. I totally missed it anyway so didn't experience the frustration. Not sure what Hasbro is thinking. Making a troop builder an exclusive. I've gotten to the point where I don't need to buy something first week, though I sometimes still preorder. If I see it great, but the whole process borders on idiotic.
ReplyDeleteGlad it's not just me. When I saw that Red Ninja with wave two I was admittedly confused. What a waste of a figure. Definitely generic in every sense. Should have been the Cobra Trooper.
DeleteWave three is killing me with how it's been handled. I want so much to be a part of this line.