Store Reports

I believe many of us have given up on physical brick and mortar to secure our Star Wars toys. Despite this, I am continually amazed at how worse the shelves become. For example, all of the TARGETs in my area have not seen a blessed The Vintage Collection figure beyond wave 17 and only have a single Jyn Erso and/or multiple Snokes hanging from the pegs. Walmart looks a tad better, but still, where are all of the new figures? It isn’t an exaggeration that no more than 2% of my Star Wars purchases are from retail stores. Thank goodness for Hasbro Pulse, Entertainment Earth, Empire Toys, Brian’s Toys,  Amazon and other online shops. I probably will never understand why retailers are unable to get the new waves into stores. Let’s be thankful that their exclusives mostly arrive without too many issues as of late (regardless of how they’re handled once they released).

I’ve lost count how many months my local TARGET has looked like this now; it’s probably going on years.

Holy cow! If you thought 50% off was a good deal, the TARGET exclusive “stormtrooper disguise” figures have hit a new low: $3.89 for Han Solo and $5.89 for Luke Skywalker! This is unreal. Why is there such an effort to get rid of these? Special thanks to JTA reader Rich K. for the alert and image!

If your TARGET has any leftover Han Solo (Stormtrooper), Luke Skywalker (Death Star Escape), or, yes, the Retro Collection figures, they’re all 50% because they fall under Father’s Day gifts, at least at JTA reader Scott K.’s local TARGET in NY! Unbelievable! He writes: “If any Target stores have leftovers the VC Han Stormtrooper, he is $6.49, the Retro figures are $4.99 and I believe The Black Series Luke Stormtrooper is $9.99.”

UPDATE: It looks like this might be universal. My TARGET had only the 6″ Luke Stormtrooper leftover and they all rang up $9.99.

Check it out! JTA reader and friend Mario M. found the second wave of The Black Series Archive figures at his local Eagle Rock TARGET which is not too far from the Glendale TARGET in California. They’re arriving folks! And that Anakin Skywalker and Yoda are looking fantastic!

JTA reader Matthew C. sends in a store reports for TARGET. The latest wave of Galaxy Of Adventures figures has graced shelves. To date, we’ve only seen them online at Walmart.

Yesterday I went to a liquidation store because I knew they had star wars figures. I just didn’t realize how many figures they had… There were cases upon cases full of Cassian and Jyn, and the remaining third of the stack was split between Death Troopers, Scarif Troopers, Lando, and Ackbar. Click through for more…

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Citing any store report (or even multiple store reports) is anecdotal at best. But if you combine store reports like the two examples shown in the image above with the near-instant sellout of the Walmart exclusive TVC Jabba’s Palace online. Or the impossibility of finding Saelt-Marae in stock online for MSRP. Or the binge-purchasing of the all-new Rogue One Imperial Stormtrooper, you’d have to have your head buried in the sand to not see the excitement and fever for all things 3.75″ super-articulated. I believe the HasLab exclusive Jabba’s Sail Barge was the catalyst to spark this interest. (more….)

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I don’t think putting The Black Series [Phase III] 6″ Sergeant Jyn Erso behind locked glass is going to help you sell her, Walmart. It’s hard to believe this figure still shows up at some Walmart stores. You’d think the $.03 they marked her down to would have cleared that stock out completely. By the way, this is from my local Walmart and it’s looked like this longer than I can recall at this point.

JTA reader Chad R. sends in a report that the Beetee wave of The Black Series [Phase III] 6″ figures arrived at his local GameStop store! Great find! The release date online has also changed to tomorrow (June 7th).

The last Ross exclusive was the Red Squadron A-wing. Are you ready for another? The once Toys R Us, turned Entertainment Earth then cancelled exclusive C-3PO and R2-D2 2-pack showed up at one of my local Ross stores in Mesa, AZ. It’s been available on Amazon for some time, but you can potentially get it for only $7 at Ross. Can we just send all the exclusives there so I can get them on the cheap? Check out our review of this nicely painted 2-pack here.

About a week ago we posted that Captain Rex was showing up at Ross stores in the US. Well, I went to six Ross stores yesterday and was sorely disappointed. Not only did I not find a single Captain Rex, I found something much worse (at more than one store). If you need reminded why this particular Leia figure is essentially terrible, just check out our RDR here. Has anyone had luck finding Captain Rex or the Target 3-pack at Ross? Let us know in the comments!

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Hot on the heels of our report of the TVC Han Solo (Stormtrooper) figure hitting en masse, The Black Series [Phase III] Luke Skywalker (Stormtrooper Escape) 6″ figure is also arriving in substantial numbers as well. Special thanks to JTA reader and friend Russ T. for the image.

More and more Star Wars collectibles are showing up at discount retailers, and it looks like the next one to hit Ross is Captain Rex. Surprising to me since it’s such a good figure, but this probably has more to do with distribution than collectors not buying it at retail. It looks like the search is on once again to find this figure on the cheap. Thanks to Mike Y. and Rand R. from Arizona for the images. Have you found this figure at Ross too? Let us know in the comments!

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JTA reader Matthew C. via Facebook user Kylo Ortiz lets us know that the TARGET exclusive TVC Han Solo (Stormtrooper) (VC143) figure is hitting massively and getting placed in those “separate” Father’s Day displays outside of the toy aisle that we reported about weeks ago. They should be everywhere soon!

JTA reader MiketheRatGuy sends us proof that his local Walmart has put the Galaxy Of Adventures figures on clearance for $3.00. We don’t know how widespread this is, but it could show the beginnings of a company-wide clearance. It’s impossible for this line to be a success. Collectors, the only people buying Star Wars figures in the greatest numbers, want super-articulated action figures.

As we told you, many TARGET locations set aside the new Hasbro Star Wars exclusive items in a special section away from toys for a quasi-Father’s Day type of display. See image below for the proof. As you know, the merchandise sold out almost immediately. There is good news as well as a silver lining. Just after selling out hours on May 12th, Gary H.’s store received a new shipment of Retro Collection figures. Other merchandise is expected soon as well. Keep the faith!

Wow, what a find…. Thanks to Chris from Arizona for sending this report. Some people have all the luck! As of now, most stores near me are still showing $19. Who knows if they’ll go down before they sell out at that price?

As you know, there are four major releases this Sunday at TARGET. The already popular Retro Collection figures will make their debut (and have already shipped from online if you’ve pre-ordered them). The second big release is The Vintage Collection Han Solo (Stormtrooper) figure. The third is The Black Series [Phase III] 6″ Luke Skywalker (Death Star Escape) figure with slicked-back wet hair. Lastly, the Escape From Death Star Board Game with exclusive Grand Moff Tarkin is also an official release May 12th.

Here’s what you need to know….

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JTA reader Matthew Z. found the TARGET exclusive TVC Han Solo (Stormtrooper) figure at his local store and was able to purchase it! If you need to know why you ABSOLUTELY NEED this figure in your collection, check out our review of it RIGHT HERE!

At Toy Fair 2018, Hasbro said that The Vintage Collection “repack” was going to be internationally available to help those in the foreign markets get another chance at these figures. Then these figures quickly transitioned to an “online only” type of exclusive. Now, it appears that they are a general marketplace wave and part of the regular assortment number. JTA reader Alexander C. found them at his local Walmart. Now I’m worried. This wave of all reissued figures could play the same part in clogging future NEW shipments of figures from arriving at retail. I take back my suggestion of adding new “photorealistic” figures into the line now. This approach will only work against the flow of new figures. There is no doubt about it.

Cool! The Escape From Death Star Game with exclusive Retro Collection Grand Moff Tarkin is hitting some TARGET stores. The good news is that there is not a street date for this item. Use DPCI 087-10-0431. The set is $19.99. Special thanks to our anonymous source for the images and news.

The Walmart exclusive TVC Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard) figure has been found at a brick and mortar store in Virginia. I suppose it’s possible these could be returns from online, but it’s aesthetically pleasing to see them hanging from the shelves to cover up so much junk behind it. Special thanks to JTA reader Thomas N. for the image and news!

JTA reader Terminal Voracity sends a cool store report for the Walmart Exclusive TVC Stormtrooper (Mimban) figure. It’s now on Rollback at some retail locations. See images below for proof. By the way, you can still order the figure online HERE

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You never know what you’re going to find Star Wars toy-related at ROSS. JTA reader and friend Josh M. located a Quay Tolsite action figure for $4.99 on the shelves. Oh, and let’s not froget about that red A-wing Fighter! Insanity.

JTA reader Michael found the TBS6 Jumptrooper at his Northern California GameStop. Start checking your local GameStops and lets us know in the comments where he’s showing up.