Mike T. wrote:
Quote:
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.
I see two issues with this approach:
1. The end result in cases like this is that some figures will never get made. There won't be enough overall demand to justify the production of certain figures. And, more often than not, those are the figures that are geared towards collectors. So, you would end up with more cases of major characters over and over again.
2. This actually leads to a more boom or bust situation. If dealers get it wrong and order a fig that, for whatever reason, doesn't click with collectors, they're screwed. There's not 5 other figures in the case they can sell. Think how many times you've seen a figure that looked awesome in preliminary photos but was incredibly disappointing once you got it in hand. If that's the only stock a dealer got, they're stuck with case after case of unsold figures instead of a smaller subset of a diverse case.
Well I'm not sure what the answer is, but when the stores around me (Target, Walmart, TRU, and Dollar General)either don't get any stock, or get one shipment then never restock, and I am forced to pay a higher price online or drive many miles to check stores in other areas, there is something seriously wrong with the way Hasbro distributes its product. I'm sure there are plenty of people like me out there just wishing Hasbro would give me a chance to buy their product at retail prices.