From both a collecting and customizing point of view?
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I got started thinking about this the other night while we were podcasting on Custom Action Figure News and talking with Glorbes about whats on the pegs. Chad and I both commented that our brick and mortar stores might be hard to find new figures as they are so back logged with Wave One Fiigures. Is anyone else seeing this? It might be spring before I am able to see a full set of wave two figures let alone Wave 3 figures. Hasbro even commented about how they knew this was the reason the vintage line fizzled so why do they always bring their newer, never before released figures out in full force in later waves and always start with left overs? It is like not being able to get a new meal until you eat up all the leftovers. I mean the etailers now are selling wave one black series figures for like three dollars a figure if you want em, but we know that for most us our brick and mortar stores, even when they go to clearance won't move those wave one figures and then we know wave two will just see some of those same cloggers all over again.
Then, I see etailers like amazon and Hasbro Toy Shop offering Wave 2 and even Wave 3 figures (missed my Plagueis daggone it!) many times at discounted prices for just released figures and it seems to just make sense to get yourself an online account and go to etailers nowadays. If you compare the gas savings to what you might have to pay in shipping (a lot of free shipping on orders out there now) it just seems a no brainer. I know there are other issues associated with this like card condition and perhaps slightly inflated prices from some etailers, but do any of you think that the wave of collecting in the future is going to mostly mean online only?
And then we see new products in the form of the six inch line that brick and mortar stores aren't willing to carry (like Wal-mart and the six inch line) because they have been burnt by Hasbro so many times that they refuse to take a gamble on trying new things. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to see many of those larger stores that used to do an exclusive a year stop that altogether over this fear. In one way that doesn't irritate me too bad as exclusives are just so hard to come by at times, but it is another indicator that major retailers are loosing confidence in Hasbro. I guess we can all hope 2015 will rekindle the collecting fire with the release of Episode 7 Action Figures, but I am so worried they will try to repack these lamo figures we all know they won't be able to sell now or have so many repacks to new figure ratios that even newer action figure lines for new movie releases will be doomed to failure.
So, a bit of a rant, but I tried to back it up a bit and would love to hear the take the fine folks here have on this issue. I didn't even really cover the trend to reduce the super articulation in figures making it even harder to find good figures to customize. I also know there will be some of us that will never be satisfied, but as a whole are you satisfied with how the Black Series Line is being released and the case assortments and waves that have been released in your stores?
