Wait and See OK, hate Released now Find
Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:53 pm
I don't mind the wait and see answer so much as the "Released, now find!" Waiting for a company to announce plans for this armor, this figure, or that plane is fine by me. If a company announces plans to produce an item that interests me, I think "Oh cool, I will have to get that when it comes out" and I don't think much more about it til I hear of sightings of it for sale.
Then the problems arise. I know this item is out there, I search everywhere I know to look within 50 miles of my home to not find it anywhere. Perfect examples are the most recent 21st Century OMG figures and Dodge WC51. I hear they are out, go looking for them almost everyday for two weeks, nothing. Finally find them, buy a few and think well I will come back for more or others at a later time.
Well guess what! Out of 3 Walmarts locally only 1 got any of these items. They got 1 case of the vehicles and 1 case of the OMG/Imperial Marines. They sold out within a couple days. It has now been almost two weeks and no restock. Granted Hasbro is a larger company and Star Wars has a huge following, but the latest Star Wars figures have been restocked at least 3 times at this store that I know of. I get tired of spending time and gas looking for a product that is rarely ever there. I have a limited budget to spend on these items, so it makes paying shipping from an e-tailer not a viable option unless there is a huge sale or I have sold some things on EBay.
In my opinion, this factors in the most with these companies. They are fairly small when compared to the mega-toy companies and need to make smart business choices to stay afloat and make a profit. Wait and see is an acceptable response in my opinion when every dollar counts to keep these companies alive and growing. I can understand not wanting to announce a project is in development only to discover that actually producing the item may put a financial strain on the company. What I can't understand is producing an item. Announcing that the item has shipped to the retailers, brick & mortar or online. And then having the item never be available or be available in such a limited quantity that it is gone within a week and possiblly never seen again. Consumers can't buy what is not there. So in closing my little rant, opinion, or whatever you may want to call it. I am 100% fine with a company responding with wait and see. But please get with your distributors and retailers to assure that the products you do release are available in quantities that meet consumer demands and allow there to always be at least some product on the shelves to hopefully intice someone new to the product.
Then the problems arise. I know this item is out there, I search everywhere I know to look within 50 miles of my home to not find it anywhere. Perfect examples are the most recent 21st Century OMG figures and Dodge WC51. I hear they are out, go looking for them almost everyday for two weeks, nothing. Finally find them, buy a few and think well I will come back for more or others at a later time.
Well guess what! Out of 3 Walmarts locally only 1 got any of these items. They got 1 case of the vehicles and 1 case of the OMG/Imperial Marines. They sold out within a couple days. It has now been almost two weeks and no restock. Granted Hasbro is a larger company and Star Wars has a huge following, but the latest Star Wars figures have been restocked at least 3 times at this store that I know of. I get tired of spending time and gas looking for a product that is rarely ever there. I have a limited budget to spend on these items, so it makes paying shipping from an e-tailer not a viable option unless there is a huge sale or I have sold some things on EBay.
In my opinion, this factors in the most with these companies. They are fairly small when compared to the mega-toy companies and need to make smart business choices to stay afloat and make a profit. Wait and see is an acceptable response in my opinion when every dollar counts to keep these companies alive and growing. I can understand not wanting to announce a project is in development only to discover that actually producing the item may put a financial strain on the company. What I can't understand is producing an item. Announcing that the item has shipped to the retailers, brick & mortar or online. And then having the item never be available or be available in such a limited quantity that it is gone within a week and possiblly never seen again. Consumers can't buy what is not there. So in closing my little rant, opinion, or whatever you may want to call it. I am 100% fine with a company responding with wait and see. But please get with your distributors and retailers to assure that the products you do release are available in quantities that meet consumer demands and allow there to always be at least some product on the shelves to hopefully intice someone new to the product.