The Joe comic pack section of my Wal-Mart has actually expanded over into the Corps! area. What used to be three pegs positioned vertically are now four pegs (two by two). I think that's due more because of the glut in comic packs though than anything else.

Which has me thinking now. Since Corps! is always tailing Joe, I wonder if Corps! comic packs are in our future with the whole DD thing in the works and all.

That is the real question. Everyone complains about availability, but if the stores don't want any more than they're getting, there's nothing Hasbro can do about it.

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While I can't really say, concerning the retail stores and how much they receive vs. how much they order, I would imagine if Hasbro were truly making enough figures to fill demand, then Hasbrotoyshop.com should atleast have a nice selection of Joes. As is, their stock is just as bad, if not worse at times, than the retail stores have been.

It's mostly specualtion on my part, but I would think that if Hasbro had truly jacked up their production numbers, then their online store should, at the very least have decent stock, even if brick and mortar stores don't.



http://www.hasbrotoyshop.com

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Hasbro - crap distribution, but business is still good

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That's the great fallacy. HTS is far too small to have Hasbro produce Joes just for them. (They already tried that it failed miserably.) HTS only gets product from large production runs that are supported by Wal Mart, Target, TRU and a few other, large retailers. Stand alone, they can't just call up Asia and have them produce a few hundred cases of Wave 8. They have to get their ordered allotment of what Hasbro produced and are subject to whims of larger retailers as to when new shipments are produced.

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Actually, it's my understanding that HTS is near the *bottom* of the list as far as filling orders go. Walmart, TRU, Target, K-Mart, KB, etc - they all get theirs before HTS gets whatever is left.

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Actually they Hasbro said they weren't meeting demand in the last Q&A.

Except that some orders made last year and were cancelled were suddenly filled last month. This seems to be the pattern, but as I have said repeatedly, a college buddy of mine is a manager at Wally mart, he has told me time and again that Big H isn't getting the product to the distro centers. There is tons of speculations why, especially when SW and IJ have had NO prolems whatsoever.

BUt then on top of that go to the comic shop, especially those who hunt through different distributors besides diamond for toys. They'll order 3 cases and be lucky to get 1. They too can get SW and IJ figures, no problem. And they are ordering, not that the orders aren't getting cancled left and right. But it is easier to point at multiple stores in this chain or distro centers or the comic shops or ect. ect.

IJ and SW have movies now, so of course production is going to be more for them. With Joe, Hasbro has been behind since day 1. Retailers heavily underestimated how successful the 25th line would be. Plus the fact everyone is ordering more keeps putting Hasbro behind. Say retailers order a 1000 units each, by the time they get it and sell through, they've probably doubled the previous order and multiply that by the big chains, on-line stores, grocery stores, mom & pop stores. And no doubt Hasbro is already well into producing movie figures, that's gonna factor into things also, then their are more vehicles, exclusives, multi-packs, on top of the single cards and comic packs, being made, so distribution is gonna take awhile to catch up-if ever.

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Can you point me in the right direction as to which Q&A you are talking about? I've read so many Q&A's over the past month I can't tell you where anything I know about GI Joe has come from right now. It is all one pig pile of mush in my fading memory.

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I don't recall it in the Q&A mail ins, but at the convention they actually said it. Someone asked the question and they were direct and upfront about not meeting demand. They said they are working on it, which I took it that they are trying to figure out demand, scalpers, and how not flood the shelves so bad that they are stuck with product.

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I think you must have mis-read me somewhere, or (more likely) I didn't make myself clear.

I never said anything about production runs just for HTS.
I said, "if Hasbro were truly making enough figures to fill demand, then Hasbrotoyshop.com should atleast have a nice selection of Joes".

Ideally if Hasbro had increased their production, as they said they have (numerous times now) then the stock at the retailers should be increasing. It does not appear to be. Now if this was because the retailers didn't want more product, and aren't ordering it, then one would assume that, at the very least, this increase in production would mean more product going to HTS (if the retailers don't want it).

As it is, Hasbro says they are making more, people don't seem to be seeing more in the stores, AND HTS doesn't have very good stock either.

I call shenanigans on Hasbro!

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I noticed today that there is 12 inch Corps figures coming out, i saw the tag for it, seems like they are competing with Hasbro, i hope this means the same for other companies with the 3 3/4 inch joes, it would be cool to have such a variety like back in the day.

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If Hasbro is having trouble meeting deman, TRU must not have gotted the memo.

There are over 300 cases of 25th Joes at the KC distribution center.

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Tell that center to send them to the Columbia, MO and Springfield, MO TRUs, since they've both been empty for weeks.

Damn, it looks like a 3 year old typed that!

What a "LASER BLAST".

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