Literally...they don't.

I check the local walmart at least twice a week...if not more for 25th anniv joes...come home aggravated every time.

So....Friday morning my wife calls me at work out on the shop floor...to ask: "What Joes do I need to grab for you and (my son) ? They have single packs and two packs (which we all know as comic packs, lol)."

So after 10 minutes on the phone (she was in the toy aisle at walmart)....she came home with these:





Soooo...I decided to test this theory of her being a good luck charm further today. Today we traveled south to TRU (a 45 mile trek), along the way we hit 2 walmarts, 1 kmart,1 Target, 1 KB outlet and then the final TRU destination.

Came home with this:



I told the wife....its official, any and all joe hunts...she tags along.

HOLY CRAP what a haul!
What I want to know is what was her response to having to tag along on all joe hunts from now on.

_________________

She gloats.

Literally...she does. When I came home at lunch on Friday she was all: "Nah, Nah, Nah...I find joes and you don't!!" Hey....no problem, I'll stay home....YOU GO GET THEM FOR ME!!

Does she go to the store with other people? I need some luck of some type. My wife ain't working or something, hehe.

_________________

That is actualy more than I have seen on the shelves in 10 stores. Unfortunatly my wife doesn't bring me any luck.

Did you leave anything for other collection and even kids?

Thats like 6 weeks of toyhunting for me.

ALthough I do find blue shrits ALL the time,

_________________

Tell me, apacolypse, how does she fare when it comes to other toy lines? I mean, I don't know if you collect anything else, but after a near-week absence from my nearest Wal-Mart due to illness, I headed over there today with the hopes of finding -- I dunno, the new Force Unleashed Stormtroopers, a new assortment of Marvel Legends perhaps, couple of new Hot Wheels, or SOMETHING. Came up empty.

Very impressive score there, too! Can't say as my Wal-Mart has that much Joe stuff on the shelves even after a new shipment.

I can't testify as to her abilities on SW items...I don't collect them, but I should apparently...they are always plentiful in this area...very plentiful in my local WM they have 3/4 of an aisle...same as TF"s, while Joes get about 2 foot x 3 foot of shelve/peg space.

As for leaving some for other collectors...yes, I did. I did not once empty the pegs in any store of any item I took. Keep in mind I hit alot of stores today. When my son and I were in Target (which had the most of all joe product....very disappointed by the TRU display)....I spotted a 16 yr old checking out WWE figs next to us. He seen the joes...and stared at me. I turned around and said to him..."Hey pal, you want any of these....if so, let me know....you can have first dibs, we'll look through what you leave." He replied "No." So...we took what we were after. Keep in mind....we did drive a little over an hour out of our area to actually pick up this product.

Before the witch hunt begins....I am not a re-seller, I am a collector....who is father to a 7 year old collector....apparently I have passed on the army builder gene to my son.

I showed him the ways though....don't take everything....leave some for the next person in hope that they are not a "get rich quick selling what others can't find" guy...that they are a father and son just like us.

Millsy lives not 5 minutes from my home...and as soon as I got home from work on Friday I did send him a PM telling him to get over to our local Walmart and grab what he needed.....my wife did leave plenty there.

He did manage to grab some of the items he needed....and I believe my wife did grab an extra of one of the items he couldn't find when he got there....so there is local collectors who work together.

You mean they had more?! My Walmarts would only have like one of each!

Yes sir...wife said there was 4 pegs full of singles, and 3 pegs full of comic packs...and then some on the shelve below piled up. This walmart I haven't spotted zilch at since the 25th box sets hit retail.

Can I marry your wife...? at least for a weekend...

_________________

How about a variation of 'Project Giveback' or the 'Traveling JOE'?

Bus her around from board member to board member so she can help everybody out finding stuff at their local Wal-Marts. People who live near each other can simply meet up and hand her off to the next.

Or even ship her from town to town...

[gets mental image of a ticked off woman sealed inside a big shipping crate with several air holes, baggies of food products, and 'this end up' stencils plastered all over it]

Naw, that wouldn't work.

You wouldn't see her for over two years then...









(Note-the above should not be construed as suggesting anything other than use for locating action figures at retail. No subtle implication implied on intended...)

_________________

And people have the nerve to complain about toy "scalpers"!

Don't take this wrong, I'm not ripping on you at all! I'm quite sure I would've bought probably the exact same things in the same numbers or more, and you even left some on the shelf!

What I'm getting at is all the complaining that so-called scalpers are hoarding up all of the toys. Obviously, that's not the case, look at the mother-load you found, at several different stores. That alone blows the theory of scalpers out of the water. Anyone with patience, or willing to go to several stores, will eventually get their items, 99% of the time.

Seriously, what is the difference to me if it is you or a scalper that goes to the store before me? Either way, I don't get to build my army of Crimson Guards, or Air Troopers, or whatever. But there is no way scalpers can get to all of the stores, at the same time, and clean them all out. Sorry, just not going to happen.

Anyways, good haul! And anyone that starts whining and saying you are as bad as the "scalpers", think of it this way. He got his haul now, so when the next shipment comes in, he won't be cleaning that out and you can get yours then. If you have a heartache with having to wait, then beat him to the store next time, make him wait.

_________________