Small Scale Military Headquarters

Most of the stores I have visited lately are in the midst of their rearranging. What I have seen doesn't bode well! The 1/32nd vehicles, 1/18th planes and 1/18th vehicles are being clearanced and there is NO layout for them! So either Walmart has given up on them, 21C has given up or the sku number will be different. I hope it is the latter.

Ray

Not true...at least not in SoCal...the 32x playsets, vehicles, planes, and minis have all been reset. The only 32x that's been discounted has been the 2-packs (which have been reduced to $10).
--Mike, gitoys

It appears (at least in my AO) that there are four types of WM's.

- Super Walmart (Large)
- Super Walmart (Medium)
- Standard Walmart (Small)
- Neighborhood Market

Super Walmart (Large)
Not sure what makes these any different than the standard Super Walmarts but they appear to carry all lines 1/144, 1/48, 1/32, 1/18, 1/6 of 21C. They vary of course by what is actually in stock at any time but generally appear to get the same kind of stuff. There is shelf space and pegs for everything including the RC items.

Super Walmart (Medium)
Seem to only carry the model kits and the 1/48 items as of late. The three of these in my AO all completely eliminated all 21C product, and then after Christmas received the 32x Opel Kits, 1/48 planes at the same time. These are still their only 21C product. There are no pegs or shelf space for anything else.

Standard Walmart
These are the older Walmarts that are in smaller towns or have yet to be replaced or converted to Super Walmarts. As in the Large Super Walmarts, these tend to carry a good selection but don't turn over the items as frequently depending on the population so could pretty much have anything on the shelf.

Neighborhood Market
Pretty much the mini-mart of Walmarts. No 21C at all and likely no plans for it..

All the Walmarts in San Antonio are "resetting their racks too. Most of them have made room for my favorite goodies.

Mark

Same here, space has been provided.....

-Ski

Sadly, I think 32X is the big money maker in my AO. XD keeps getting squeezed into a smaller and smaller area while 32x gets more space, gets newer items a lot faster and also gets restocked more often. I guess the smaller size and cheaper price tag appeals to soccer moms who know their kid is going to destroy it within a week anyway.

I suppose 32X is also more attractive to WM because they can fit more product into the same area that only a few XD vehicles would fit into. In other words, why display two XD Halftracks when you can put a bunch of 32X vehicles in the same space. Especially with XD aircraft. WM knows mom is far more likely to buy junior a $20 32X aircraft than the $40 XD Smoke II thats been sitting on the shelf for months.

I agree - the price is what hurts XD with the moms and children.
a $40 buck plane or $13.00? If 21st Century only did 1:18 then im sure they would sell a lot better - they have to compete with their own products. I also believe XD would sell better if GiJoe was on the shelves - was one of the reasons i bought some of the early bradleys before i got hooked on WW II.

Well, I made a stop off my neighborhood WM and did a little snooping around at the shelf plan diagrams. They have a whole 4 foot section reserved for 21st! They are dedicating a fair number of pegs for 1/48 vehicles and 2-packs, 1/144 2-packs, and 1/6 weapons. They also have 2 pegs reserved for 1/18 figures, a full shelf for 1/32 assortments (I am guessing planes and tanks), and they actually had shelf space set aside for 1/18 aircraft. The only thing I didn't see space for was 1/18 armor, but that means little...

So I am crossing my fingers that this is a sign of things to come. I know that most 1/32 aircraft and armor goes away pretty quickly, and any newer 1/18 aircraft and armor went away quickly--only older stuff seems to linger. And (finally) there are no 1/18 figures left. I can only hope we see the new series of figures soon!

On the other hand, if anyone wants a Hanomag (basic) or either Mutt, there are several for $17 each. Yippee...

Looked at our closest Walmart here in Hampton, VA tonight and they are resetting as well. They never had any XD before except for a few left over RC M113s. They had the new layout page hanging on a peg so I looked at it and they will carry XD figures, 1/48 aircraft and vehicles, 1/32nd aircraft and vehicles, and the 1/144 aircraft and vehicles. But, sadly, there is no spot reserved for 1:18 vehicles or aircraft

At least figures will be close

It must be up to the store manager. Some walmarts in my area have no space for 21stC and some WMs have them altogether and then some have them scattered throuh out the toy sections.

My observation with Wal Mart is that some stores recieve or order 60+ halftracks, or 20 Avengers, etc. sell very few and then heavily discount them following the holidays in a business move that doesn't make much sense

Just prior to Christmas, I saw a huge stack of halftracks and Pak-40s at the Wal Mart in Selma, Ca. just south of my AO, and had to wonder what the logic was? There are still about 40 left, now discounted to $17, and which I expect will go lower. Heavy discounts (especially for a new product) are not good for Wal Mart and especially 21c.

Although the store in question sits along Hwy 99 (a main artery for central California, connecting the likes of Sacramento with LA and everything in between) the store is a standard-sized Wal Mart servicing a small agricultural community of largely low to middle income families. Such families are generally not the type of people that would be picking up armloads of Pak-40s, Stuka zu Fusses, Panzerpioneerwagens, and M-16 halftrack models for their kids - most would have no idea as to what they were beyond being some sort of tank! I'm estimating that about 20 were sold from the origional batch of 60+, which is respectable, but only 1/3 of the alotment.

Who in the store decides these things or does the distribution send so many items to one store and none to another? None of the four Wal Marts just 10mi north in the much larger city of Fresno (where there is a greater number of potential collectors) ever saw the Halftracks or Paks, but 60 of them went to one podunk and remote store! It just doesn't make sense

However, I guess there is one simple answer: its Wal Mart

maybe a great deal are sent to distribution sites. If a store manager orders them - then they are sent to that store - but if a managerdoes not make an order then they are all probably sent to the store closest to the distribution center? I dont know it does not make sense to me either.

It could also have something to do with the amount of XD sold at that store earlier - it is some equation they use and the number just comes out big for certain stores. They may have only had 8 items but sold all 8 without clearance for instance - the "score" comes out high and they get 60 items the next time. ok im rambling and not a math wiz - so goodnight

Any of you guys know someone in the government or at a high level university with access to a super-computer? Maybe we can use one to answer this WM question once and for all.

You all are overlooking the core issue here. You are trying to find some sort of rhyme or reason to the whole distribution process. There is none! Or at least none that us mortals can perceive.
Suddenly I am having visions of Walmart distribution managers with a ouija board trying to channel Sam Walton...

Rowsdower wrote:Any of you guys know someone in the government or at a high level university with access to a super-computer? Maybe we can use one to answer this WM question once and for all.

We could always go distributed computing like United Devices (for Cambridge) for cancer research. I've been running my desktop and laptop 24/7 for years now for that. It's well worth the pennies in electricity. Tho' I think that might still have the priority.

...And we can always make owe own team too...

Que Monte Python--Wink, Wink.

Either way, Wal Mart makes the US Government with all its various inconsistencies look good - as do alot of other large corporations once you get to know their inner workings or lack thereof

tmanthegreat wrote:Either way, Wal Mart makes the US Government with all its various inconsistencies look good - as do alot of other large corporations once you get to know their inner workings or lack thereof

Can't argue with that one.

tmanthegreat wrote:Either way, Wal Mart makes the US Government with all its various inconsistencies look good - as do alot of other large corporations once you get to know their inner workings or lack thereof

Even a few small corporations I can think of...

WM's distribution system is like KFC's fried chicken reciepe. Only a few select really knows the secret ingredients to what makes it work or not-work as the case may be.

That is it!!! You math wizard !
WM's distribution is "finger licking good.."

this should have been obvious to us all the entire time.

Speaking of Walmart... I did a multi-store scouting run (I have ceiling space left to fill!) and kept an eye out for shelf planning sheets. I have already mentioned Benton Harbor's space planning. Mishawaka, IN had similar space set aside. The Niles, MI store, which has historically had the best selection, had less space set aside. But all 3 seem to have room for both 1/32 aircraft assortments and 1/18 aircraft. All 3 ALSO seem to reserving more space for smaller scales, especially the Niles store--more than haldfof the 21st space was dedicated to 1/48 and 1/144. So we'll see...

Dang it! Now I'm hungry for chicken strips!

Drive-thru is open until 1 or later