Store Reports

JTA reader Andrew writes in to share his good fortune with his local Ohio Walmart and The Vintage Collection…

Despite the gloom of boxes worth of wave 1 hitting Walmart in droves this month, All is not lost, guys! I just dropped into the Wadsworth, Oh Walmart Supercenter and found, to my amazement, a treasure trove of Waves 2 and 3. I counted 3 Dr. Aphras and 2 Hovertank pilots, and plenty of Young Han and Range Troopers! Granted, the stock workers got lazy and hid the bulk of the new figures on the shelf above the pegs, but I did my duty and pulled them all down, then squeezed them onto the pegs to be found better. I’m personally set with TVC so far, so I didn’t grab any (tho I did pick up a Black Series Bespin Han that’s been there for a week), but hopefully this means others will be able to plug holes for a decent retail price.

Happy holiday hunting, guys! There hope yet for Star Wars collector’s this Christmas!

JTA reader Chris R. found the latest Dengar wave of The Black Series [Phase III] 6″ figures at his local Walmart,

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I went to Walmart late at night for some groceries, and of course meandered (first thing) over to the toy section. Christmastime is always fun because there are a good 5-10 pallets of new inventory waiting to be stocked. After searching through the pallets to see what there was, I found several boxes of goodies… and baddies! Click through to find out more.

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If your Amazon order was canceled, keep an eye out for the 6″ Dengar showing up at retail. JTA reader Jediscar found him at his local GameStop in Seabrook, NH. He also picked up the latest 5 POA wave at Walmart. 

Much to my dismay, I found a lone 6” Dengar at Gamestop in Seabrook, NH.  This just 2 days after Amazon canceled my order.  Then I went next door to Walmart and found the new 5poa wave – Rio, Val, Beckett, Han (mud trooper), L3, ERG, Tulsite). Thanks for your great site!

More The Black Series [Phase III] 6″ figures have arrived at Five Below locations across the country. New figures include C-3PO (Resistance Base) and Scarif Stormtrooper Squad Leader. We have “heard” that more of these case assortments will be arriving this week, so be sure to check out your local store. On a related note, we just joked about Star Wars [The Last Jedi] unsold product landing at Five Below in about two years. But they’ve arrived now. You can get $29.99 vehicles for $5 if you’re so inclined.

It’s older news, but Tuesday Morning stores are still getting in the final wave of the Walmart exclusive The Black Series [Phase III] 3.75″ action figures. These stores are also receiving other Star Wars items too. Special thanks to JTA reader and friend Martin M. for the alert!

This isn’t necessarily anecdotal. And it’s undoubtedly not hyperbolic. I’ve never seen the Star Wars brand perform this poorly in my 20+ years collecting. Out of curiosity, I wanted to check my local Ollie’s store to see what kind of Star Wars merchandise they acquired from the Toys R Us buyout. And while I found a crapload of stuff, I also found product TARGET gave up on too. Not even the Five Below TVC purge was this voluminous in unwanted Star Wars products. (Half of us never saw those TVC figures until they hot Five Below because it was a terrible distribution issue.) This sale product may sell at Ollie’s at reduced prices, but if it didn’t move at Toys R Us as they were liquidating everything, why would it sell for higher prices at Ollie’s? What a mess.

In Australia that is! Complete with Walmart stickers! Australia doesn’t even have Walmarts (yet)! How sad is it that the exclusive The Vintage Collection Stormtrooper (Mimban) figure for American Walmarts (that should have arrived months ago) is hitting in considerable numbers in Australia first? I mean, we’re happy for our fellow collectors in the land of “down under” but this is ridiculous. Special thanks to JTA reader General Solo for the image and report.

JTA reader and friend Russ T. sends us a report that his local TARGET restocked both Moloch and Gamorrean Guard The Black Series [Phase III] 6″ figures. I can confirm that my local stores were restocked today too. It looks like there are finally enough of those pigs out there now.

A discount store by the name of Roses is getting in hordes of unsold Rogue One products. Most notably, the basic figures are $1.99 each. You can click THIS LINK and see if there is a store near you. JTA reader and friend Josh M. sends us an image of the proof. What’s disconcerting about this is that Rogue One and The Last Jedi products are arriving at so many discount retailers. It’s almost if there isn’t a big enough audience to support 5POA Star Wars action figures. Please Hasbro, move away from 5POA and focus on getting all of the characters in super-articulated status. Thank you.

Take one step forward and two steps back, Walmart. JTA reader Scot M. found all of the latest The Vintage Collection basic figures at his local Walmart for $2 a piece. You couldn’t make this up if you tried.

You have to wonder if The Last Jedi was such a “masterpiece” as some claim it is why the merchandising of it is in the toilet. (That’s not a dig at the film. I didn’t hate it as YouTube does.) While I think both extreme unbridled praise as well as volatile criticism of the film are a tad ridiculous, I can’t deny how poorly the merchandising performed (and in all honesty, this is where the real money comes into play). How many of us actually found the final wave of 3.75″ The Black Series [Phase III] exclusives? I have seen more reports of no one finding them than finding them. And if we did see retailer exclusives, how many of them clogged up shelf space until discounted and eventually removed? JTA reader Scot G. found some key “The Last Jedi” exclusives at his local Tuesday Morning store along with other unsellable stuff. Hopefully, the next film will be a marketing juggernaut.

Holy cow! Wave 4 of the Star Wars [Solo] Force Link 2.0 line has just been found in King of Prussian PA at Walmart, just 30 minutes from where I live in fact Special thanks to JTA reader JediJones77 for the report and image. If you need to know more about these figures, we’re reviewing them right now in our RDRs.

Collectors of The Black Series 6″ line may be interested to know that the brand new Imperial Patrol Trooper is showing up at GameStop stores. JTA reader Ray M. provides us with the evidence. You can see more about this figure in our review RIGHT HERE.

We provided one of the first store reports for this figure, but there are also a ton of new store reports for the Walmart exclusive Stormtrooper (Mimban) 6″ figure too. From Lehighton PA to Atlanta GA, they are hitting across the land. Post your reports in our comments! Thanks to JTA reader Chris G. for the image and report from PA.

And speaking of more clearance, former Walmart exclusive The Black Series [Phase III] 3.75″ figures are ending up at ROSS for cheap. How many of these figures did they repack?

Another item you should be looking for on clearance at your local Walmart is The Black Series [Phase III] 6″ Dewback. Some readers, like Tony P., have found it for $15. Where are all of the 6″ collectors?

JTA reader and friend Danny R. sends in an image to us reflecting the new life breathed into Walmart stores as of late. While I cannot say my store looks anywhere as stocked as his store does, I can say that I have witnessed signs of life that are both comforting and therapeutic. Philly was “Hasbrotopia” during the Golden Age of Collecting. For the last five years, it has become a barren wasteland. But I was one of the fortunate ones who found wave 3 of The Vintage Collection arrive (before I received my supply from my Asian sources) and General Veers has just begun to hit my local Walgreens. Before this, I didn’t find ONE Walgreens Star Wars exclusive, and there is a store on every corner out here. Plus, I expect to see the 6″ Mimban Stormtrooper hit shortly as well. Oh, and in typical fashion, TARGET has pretty much held it together well without issue, although their mainline stock is mostly dreadful. In short, I do see improvements. Do you?

JTA reader Ed. D from upstate NY recommends checking your local Walmart store for some great deals. Although applicable to limited characters, he found many for $1 each. The Black Series [Phase III] 6″ Kylo Ren exclusive was $7 too.

Hey! Check it out. It looks like The Black Series [Phase III] 6″ Stormtrooper (Mimban) figure really is coming to Walmart in a more widespread fashion. I believe there have only been one or two store reports to date, correct? Well, JTA reader Anonymous has found a full case at his local Walmart in Virginia. The receipt for proof is in the image below.

Retailer Bargain Hunt is the latest discount chain to try and push the successful The Black Series [Phase III] First Order Special Forces Imperial TIE Fighter. How many of these things did Hasbro make? It’s like the 2012 TPM 3D debacle all wrapped up in one vehicle. It doesn’t go away. Bargain Hunt will be disappointed that they won’t be able to get $60 for this thing and will likely lose its shirt too on it. This report comes from member Brandon M. from The Black Series 6″ Action Figures Facebook Group.

Wow. This Walmart thinks The Vintage Collection is on clearance. Do they know something we don’t know? That’s doubtful, because they have three exclusives from The Black Series [Phase III] and The Vintage Collection lines that for intents and purposes have yet to arrive. I suppose our string of goodf luck could only last so long with Walmart. We all got a lift in our step when we dound wave 2 and wave 3 pretty much across the country. And we got more excited when the Imperial TIE Fighter started showing up too. Now we’re getting reports of the latest TVC figures getting out on clearance for almst 50% off. Does the Star Wars line truly have a chance at Walmart? Special thanks to JTA reader Reuben G. for the report and images.

Hey! If anyone’s interested, it looks like you can get pack-in figures for a reduced cost at my local TARGET right outside of Philadelphia. Just buy any Hasbro vehicle, take out the figure and nd then return it as if nothing is different. It appears to be going over quite well here. Good luck to all!

As we;ve known for months now, the Princess Leia (Bespin Escape) 6″ figure and the “Imperial Forces”six-pack of Force Link 2.0 figures street date was today. We are also getting a lot of reports of our readers finding them on the shelves. JTA reader Shakes The Clone sends us an image from Charleston South Carolina.

The reports continue to pour in with reade success of finding the Walgreens exclusive General Veers at their local stores. We have received reports from Ohio (Scott), Tennessee (Brad), New Jersey (Mike R.), Pennsylvania (Jesse L.), Texas (Martin K.) and North Carolina (Robert I.). Report your owns finds in our comments!