I'm tempted to actually preorder one. Since Hasbro can't seem to put out enough product to even allow me to buy one of each figure at retail.

I'm tempted to actually preorder one. Since Hasbro can't seem to put out enough product to even allow me to buy one of each figure at retail.

Not Hasbro's fault. You should have seen DePriest at con in the Hasbro booth on his phone at con trying to get to the bottom of some distro issues in real time, in front of a group of guys. I just kind of wandered into the conversation so I don't know how it came up. But he said he had no idea that certain waves or certain figures were not showing up in places as they should have. Somewhere between the factory and then the warehouses, with the retail stores to top it off.... there's too many hands involved and then too many circumstances backing everything up. Not to mention that the film moving around made things worse. It seems to be like a domino effect that starts at both ends. Retailers make some decisions which hold things up or just simply keep things out of stores and then the film gets three release dates on the other end... and then in the middle the warehouses and distro have to do what it is they do.

Not Hasbro's fault. You should have seen DePriest at con in the Hasbro booth on his phone at con trying to get to the bottom of some distro issues in real time, in front of a group of guys. I just kind of wandered into the conversation so I don't know how it came up. But he said he had no idea that certain waves or certain figures were not showing up in places as they should have. Somewhere between the factory and then the warehouses, with the retail stores to top it off.... there's too many hands involved and then too many circumstances backing everything up. Not to mention that the film moving around made things worse. It seems to be like a domino effect that starts at both ends. Retailers make some decisions which hold things up or just simply keep things out of stores and then the film gets three release dates on the other end... and then in the middle the warehouses and distro have to do what it is they do.

So... Preorder huh? Good thing. I'd hate to miss out on this the way I did the Skystriker.

Oh wait, that was, and still is, literally everywhere.

If there are multiple online outlets for GI Joe, why can I not readily find some of these toys without getting completely gouged on ebay or sometimes paying $12 to $15 plus shipping for a figure with online retailers? .

Not Hasbro's fault. You should have seen DePriest at con in the Hasbro booth on his phone at con trying to get to the bottom of some distro issues in real time, in front of a group of guys. I just kind of wandered into the conversation so I don't know how it came up. But he said he had no idea that certain waves or certain figures were not showing up in places as they should have. Somewhere between the factory and then the warehouses, with the retail stores to top it off.... there's too many hands involved and then too many circumstances backing everything up. Not to mention that the film moving around made things worse. It seems to be like a domino effect that starts at both ends. Retailers make some decisions which hold things up or just simply keep things out of stores and then the film gets three release dates on the other end... and then in the middle the warehouses and distro have to do what it is they do.

The reason the figures cost more at online retailers is because they're not ordering enough items to get a price break. Most likely Target and Walmart are, which means they can charge us less.

Plus online retailers typically increase the price on more desirable figures to cover for figures that will sit around for a while and not sell. Not many people are looking to buy that Wave 1 Retaliation Duke by himself from an online retailer compared to the Joe trooper.

Unfortunately the current retail environment isn't great for boys action figures as we currently know them. And it's probably not going to change for the better.

There is no reason why they should not be able to release figures in cases of a single type to online retailers so figures that are highly sought after can be readily found and purchased. The online retailers will tell them which ones are sought after by ordering that figure in quantity.