Duke dies?! I have to get around to seeing this then.

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Yes they distribute them from their distribution center but they are in and out. Or at least at Wal-Mart. They come in on one truck from Hasbro's distributor. They get pulled immediately off of that truck put on a conveyor belt and within an hour are loaded on a truck going to the stores.

I finished business school about 6 years ago, but I do remember doing a case study on the success of Walmart and their distribution strategy. The use a JIT (Just In Time) strategy, so this is accurate, at least as far as I learned. They do not allow product to sit. They order it, move it, and get it out for sale as it arrives.

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tell that to the Vintage Carded Phantom Menace figures that still haven't sold out...

Yeah I know, and the 5 deep wave 1 Snake Eyes. Unfortunately, It just gets them out to the stores quickly rather than Walmart wasting money and space on stock sitting in a distribution center. It doesn't mean they will sell. I know one thing though, when they put them at $5 a piece in the clearance aisle they move. I got a couple Star Wars figures for fodder at $5. Even I would buy a couple of those Snake Eyes at $5 a pop and I already have a few from the 3 packs.

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That just in time strategy is actually a little different then how GI Joes work, but you are correct. They do not keep anything sitting in the back room of the stores. That is why they have warehouses. The Staple Stock items (stuff they always keep on hand) Are all stored at the warehouse and shipped as needed. Promotional, and seasonal items (which GI Joe waves fall into) arrive on the trucks and ship directly to the stores they are distributed among the stores depending on the stock an individual store has on hand and the products selling history at that store.

When I started I loaded trailers and as soon as I could I got off the loading dock and moved to the receiving end of the building. At times I may be loading 5 trailers at a time and it would not be uncommon for only one trailer to receive boxes of a wave of GI Joes..

Well this is all very interesting. To be honest, I'm not sure what to think anymore.

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Perhaps that explains this:

Walmart in Westminster, MD has some wave 1 figures, some 3 packs, maybe a vehicle or two, and then the other stuff like masks and guns and those large figures. Walmart near Hampstead, MD, 25 minutes away, has nothing. Not even an empty peg. It seems like they never even recieved anything. It drove me to preorder all the upcoming stuff.

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Dusty that most likely has to do with the size of the store. Smaller stores (square footage) get a more limited selection. If there is no peg that means they were not scheduled to carry it. I am not positive how much of that determination is made by Wal-Mart and How much is made by Hasbro. But my rough understanding is Wal-Mart tells Hasbro- This is the space we alot you let us know what you want where. They would give them this for the different demographic and size of the stores and then Hasbro determines that in the smaller stores they are better off keeping 8 pegs of Star Wars rather then sacrificing 2 pegs of the StarWars (or what ever) for GI Joes.

...which all has nothing to do with production. I've worked in distribution too. Distribution has nothing to do with what Wal-Mart's corporate office is telling Hasbro concerning core characters. Pluv explained how it works pretty well. Many different people that work for Hasbro (by which I don't mean suit and tie reps who read from a script) have explained that the retailers request core characters like Snake Eyes be readily available for those kids that drag their parents into the toy section wanting one. Retailers control what kind of product goes into their stores, not the companies making them. If for some reason Wal-Mart got mad at Hasbro for something, they could completely kill them if they wanted to. If you don't believe that, go do some reading up on Rubbermaid.

Is there any actual proof of a Walton kid demanding ore characters of an obscure toyline? Walmarts money maker IS NOT it's toy section, Walmart doesn't care about it's toy section.

Walmart rents shelf space, half of what is on the shelves at any given walmart is vendor controlled.
here is a nice article
http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/heari ... 219950.htm
full of useful information. No where does it say some bigwig at walmart is demanding core characters from GI Joe or any other toy line.

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Pyre---Very well aware of how Wal-Mart can manipulate their suppliers. Vlassic is a good example as well. Not positive that Wal-Mart has quite as much power over Hasbro as some of their suppliers. When the new Star Wars movie comes out Wal-Mart would catch some major flak over not having the toys. Not denying that they do not have power over Hasbro but they consider Hasbro the toy experts and expect them to know how to sell their product. I am sure that they have said that they would like to have core characters available year round but there are much better ways to accomplish that which would not result in Snake Eyes peg warmers preventing the store from getting the next wave.


It is not just toys- The entire shoe department is sub-letted (for lack of better description) as is the music, movies, sotware and games section (positive about music, movies and pretty sure about games and software).

They do care about their toy section because it is a big part of 4th quarter sales but it is just a small part of their whole. To say they do not care is a little far, after all they are the #1 toy seller for the past few years.