Going to be even less at TRU?

hotrodrock · Post by **hotrodrock** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:54 am

Read an article in the paper this weekend by TRU's CEO. He said TRU was gong to be carrying fewer toys and was going to concentrate more on smaller childrens toys. Sounds like there may be one less place to find any 1/18 military items.

c44 · Post by **c44** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:17 am

I saw that news release...bad tidings...I don't understand this change when a decent amount of sales are action figures, etc. ... maybe they should change the business name to Adult Collectors Ain't Us...

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:51 am

I think we are witnessing the death throws of TRU. It’s been coming for some time now. I hope they can pull it back out but I think they are just destroying there selves now from the inside out.

Post by **aferguson** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 12:16 pm

It's interesting.....TRU in Canada is thriving. It's pretty much the only store, except for the odd small specialty store, where you can get any decent selection of toys. WM up here has very little selection in their toy department and most of the bigger chain stores have closed down or greatly reduced their toy departments.

Mind you there hasn't been any 1/18 stuff in TRU up here for about 4 years now..

shadow83 · Post by **shadow83** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:00 pm

I hope they dont stop carrying bbi.A few things i still cant find online and when you do it costs double the price.

tkjaer21 · Post by **tkjaer21** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:08 pm

Other than Wal-Mart and online, there would be no other place to by our 1:18 scale lines. I have not found a hobby shop yet that carries them.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:43 pm

The hobbytown USA store in my AO carries 1:18 products... They origionally had a selection that was as representative as the one at BCA, but then something happened - I'm not sure what - and what little 1:18 there was is gradually disappearing with no extensive restock. However, one can't blame the stuff for not selling too well when their most numerous 1:18 vehicles were the 21c "Red nose" ME-109G and the FW-190. Those were shelf warmers at Wal Mart and the ones at HT cost $10 more

corpbob · Post by **corpbob** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:28 pm

toyktdlgh wrote:I think we are witnessing the death throws of TRU. It’s been coming for some time now. I hope they can pull it back out but I think they are just destroying there selves now from the inside out. :cry:

I couldn't agree more. They gut their software section and then wonder why people don't buy any there. They gut their die cast section and wonder why those sales lag. Whoever is running the show can't see the forest for the trees. Is Geoffrey a giraffe or a Lemming?

Moth · Post by **Moth** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 8:41 pm

He's a lemming

Plastic Spastic · Post by **Plastic Spastic** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:19 pm

Yeah TRU has delighted in selling fewer and fewer toyes in the past few years and selling more and more diapers, diaper creams, diaper wipes, diaper tables, diaper accessories, and other things related to diapers.

Adults in this country quit playing decades ago and it would appear from looking at TRU that kids have too, or at least that TRU no longer has any conception of what's going on.

Things tend to suck hard when they get big and TRU is a great example.
The TRU stores in my area used to be on a cycle. They would start filling with new stuff for the holidays in july thorugh october and the place was magic. Then from January to June the place was a morgue, with bare shelves and a general lack of energy, like a fireworks stand open year round with the same stock they got in July. Now Sears and JCPenney and other stores used to be like this, because they were not in the business of selling toys exclusively; they were department stores that took on the toys for the holidays only. The rest of the year those stores were as interesting to a kid as the wallpaper store or the bank lobby. It struck me as odd, however, that a TOY store, one that claimed in its title to be almost synonymous with toys, would not be bringing their A game 365 days a year. In other words, there shouldn't be a time of year when they were phoning in the toy selection, it should be consistent year round. Well in a way they have achieved that; they now have bare shelves and a generally dishevelled look all year long, as if perpetually locked in the worst month of the year for toys.

I guess the kids today are reduced to doing one creative thing, and TRU has the diapers to hold the result.

Sentinel · Post by **Sentinel** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 11:46 pm

TRU changed for me right around the time they instituted their "new" aisle system or floorplan.

Their stock of interesting stuff largely went into the dumpster after that - and never really ever came back.

I so wish my kids could have experienced those rows upon rows of floor-to-ceiling toys that always had something for almost everyone.

It used to be a very desireable destination ... and fairly unique place.

holensock · Post by **holensock** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:59 am

smalljoes.com is MY favorite toy store!! No screaming kids, no lines at the check outs, I can shop early in the morning or late at night, no shirt, no shoes, and I still get waited on!

digger · Post by **digger** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:40 am

I so wish my kids could have experienced those rows upon rows of floor-to-ceiling toys that always had something for almost everyone

Tell it.

I remember when passing TRU in the car was like passing Disney or something...no chance you were going in but there it was in all its glory...and the off chance you earned a trip outside of the holiday season was an absolute coup...

smalljoes.com is MY favorite toy store!! No screaming kids, no lines at the check outs, I can shop early in the morning or late at night, no shirt, no shoes, and I still get waited on!

So true.

Online stores have gotten so much better over the last few years - and the prices so much more competitive - that we are really better off than ever. For example the WWII bbi guys which were $5 a piece or even less online - better than TRU. Sherman was 30 something online, 40 at TRU. And to bbi's credit, they have managed to make items without the distribution guarantee of large stores. The line started in Game Stop, but we also saw the F16 & Zero which have [yet] to go to TRU. Kudos for that.

Oh, and I just realized what TRU should sell to get today's kids in there [insert old man voice] cellphones! What do kids love more?! Trios, sidekicks, cellies, digital cameras...I can't believe they haven't thought of this...where is that purchaser's email...

75th Ranger · Post by **75th Ranger** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 5:42 am

Well, well, well,

If TRU is dying, and I know for a fact that the Babies r us deal is almost dead in many of my local TRU...then what?......walmart, kmart and target, sell more and sometines better baby stuff....and if the toys sections are reduce in size, then the kids will not find their items in TRU.....therefore, we will have an even harder time to find our toys. Once again, I make my point that soldiers, and military toys have become less and less appealing to kids that can play almost everything on X-box...hahahaha!
It is my opinion that military toys such as the BBI, 21st and other brands are NOT toys....no matter what people say....they are preassemble models for collectors....and if they are not handled with care they break really easily; therefore, kids cannot really play with them...think about it! if these bbi, 21st and others manufactures toys are massed produce....Where do the majority of the items end?....In the TRASH, because parents buy them and most kids break them! This is true as most of you, including myself, may have had one or more new itmes break right out of the box. Even GI JOE, the real american hero, 12" inch figure that was the icon of military figures is GONE!
Time change, I know that, but the way I see it, collectors need to buy thier itmes on specialty shops and "toy" companies need to make playable toys for kids and models for the collectors....not just one mass product for both. As you can see toys and globalization don't mix...because globalization means more things in a common market and our military toys are a custumized narrow niche which doesn't appeal to mass groupies....for example, and just a generalization, when have you seen Dragon at walmart?.....or Tamiya at Sears?.....the answer, never, because, specialty items sell in specialty shops, basic marketing rule.....anyways, let's keep our hopes up!
take care.
My 5 cents since, it seems like the penny may be also a thing of the past i nthe near future...hahahaha!

Aviatornut.com · Post by **Aviatornut.com** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:08 am

75th Ranger I could not say it better myself. I am not sad to see the 1/18 product disappear out of the mass market stores. When one goes to a TRU or WM they don’t have service at those stores or the selection that hobby stores have, they don’t have a passion for the hobby it is just another item on their shelf. Nothing worse than selling at a show and have people walk up telling your customers at your booth that they could get that at TRU or WM for less. There is no loyalty and as retailer I am not sad to see TRU stop selling1/18. It is only going to help the online hobby stores to grow and offer more selection to their customers. (just my 2cents)

jeffrowse · Post by **jeffrowse** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:25 am

"Kids these days" would rather sit on their butts and play X-box or PlayStation than do anything that actually makes them THINK.

The other half of the problem is the Bean Counters who run most companies now. Used to be a shop was there to sell whatever the customer wanted, with stock adjusted to the customers' wants and needs. Now it's a case of the Buyers decide what to order and the customer can take it or leave it.

It's amazing how often I overhear shop staff saying to customers "There's no demand for product X, but lots of people keep asking for it". (And yes, I do a lot of overhearing! I spend far too much time in toyshops...

)

HELLO??

Earth to retailers - if customers ask for something, it generally means there is a demand for it. If you buy in loads of left-threaded whangdoodles and your customers want 1/18th scale warbirds, the customer will go elsewhere.

I sometimes feel sorry for the shop staff - they're caught in the middle. But then I get some pimply-faced little brat sneer when I ask where the action figures have gone and all I feel like doing is introducing him to the concept of "Customer Service"... wrapped around a large brick.

Bitter and twisted? Me?

Hell yeah!

Coreyeagle48 · Post by **Coreyeagle48** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:17 pm

Hi Guys

I agree with a lot of people, TRU used to be the place to go for the cool stuff.

Around here we used to have a great store called Kiddie City that carried everything too, but then the TRU store put them out of business.

Sigh.

Corey

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:50 am

Great I just started collecting.

IS this the beginning of the end for 1:18 scale military collectable /toys
Or are the 1:18 scale military collectibles going to be marketed to the collector’s solely.

digger · Post by **digger** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 5:51 am

VMF115 wrote:Great I just started collecting.

IS this the beginning of the end for 1:18 scale military collectable /toys
Or are the 1:18 scale military collectibles going to be marketed to the collector’s solely.

Fear not my friend, this is not the beginning but we are FAR from the end.

And now is not a bad time to start - you can skip the misses like the S1 P-51, and jump in with a remake, or army build with the bbi Infantry or 21C USMC which have come a long way from the original issue figs. Things should be getting much better before they get any worse..

corpbob · Post by **corpbob** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 7:23 am

digger wrote: I remember when passing TRU in the car was like passing Disney or something...no chance you were going in but there it was in all its glory...and the off chance you earned a trip outside of the holiday season was an absolute coup... :D

Now there's a perfect description of how it was! And I don't just mourn its' death watch because of 21st and BBI. It used to be a treat for kids (and adult kids) to go there because no matter what kind of toys or games you were into, you'd know they'd be there. Now..... diapers.

DocTodd · Post by **DocTodd** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 9:14 pm

I must agree. TRU lost touch a long time ago. It was a fun place to go for all but hasn't been in a long time.
Todd

rmoore456 · Post by **rmoore456** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 3:30 am

TRU hired the former Target CEO. He has now hired someone from Best Buy and a nother former Target exec for the HR position. One day there will be a bulls-eye behind Geoffrey's head on their signs.

Ray

digger · Post by **digger** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 7:04 am

Then maybe they will start carrying cell phones, trios and digital cameras.

billgiff · Post by **billgiff** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 7:06 am

What in the world is TRU thinking?

Shin Densetsu · Post by **Shin Densetsu** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:09 pm

Did they ever say TRU is done with 1/18 scale stuff or is it just speculation at this point?

Small Scale Military Headquarters

Going to be even less at TRU?

Going to be even less at TRU?

TRU up the creek without a compass...

yup

1/18

Re: yup

well