I did a toy run today, and seeing the Ninja Battles set at WalMart made me realize something. All the store exclusives seem to ship in time, and ship plentifully. Whether Target box sets, Toy R Us individual figures, WalMart 2 packs, etc, they always show up when they are supposed to and they stock plenty of them.

The stores obviously do not have an inventory or distribution problem. So why is it that newer waves of single figures are so scarce? Wave 3 is just beginning to trickle in, and I have not seen any wave 4 or 5.

What is going on? I know some areas have gotten the newer waves, but they seem to be the exception. I wonder if Hasbro is deliberately holding back the newer waves? Why would they do this, you ask. Well, it seems PoC won't be coming out till Fall of next year, so maybe this way Hasbro can put wave 4 and 5 as new figures on the shelves next year, leading up to PoC. Just a guess, I have no idea what's really going on.

Anyone have any insights?

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Because exclusives get new shelf space. The single figures, and the vehicles, all share order codes, so until the store sells through enough of what they have, they don't get the new items. And depending on the initial order, the warehouse may have tons of the same stuff. This is why stores which ordered less of the initial waves (K-Mart, TRU, smaller retailers) have recieved newer waves, while Target and Wal-Mart are still mostly full of the first few waves. So basically, if something has a unique order number (exclusives) it gets from factory to store quicker than items carried by every store.



Also, I'll wager any PoC figure that PoC wv1 hits shelves before March of 2010.

My guess is that since stores are still choking on the first couple waves of RoC, they're not putting out any of the new stuff until it sells through. Locally, all I've been seeing is Destro, Baroness, and Vipers... by this time last year, Hasbro had flooded stores with waves 11 through 13.

Really wish there was more 25th product available. Don't really have any use for the movie stuff, apart from fodder, and even that's limited.

PoC looks like it's going to be pretty rad, though, specifically the jungle stuff.

I'm wondering what's going on myself. The ROC figs have sold down considerably in my parts in the past few weeks... my local Target doesn't even have enough to put one figure on each peghook. But I haven't seen any replenishment of figures anywhere, of any wave.

As far as Walmart exclusives go... I've been told that some of the lower-volume stores don't get any exclusives.

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So the Target exclusive Serpent Armor wave is abundant now? Or is it lost in the shuffle because that wave shares the same code as the first wave which is clogging shelves everywhere?

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That would be my guess. Its the same as the TRU 3-packs which all share the same SKU even though they are different items.

I think given enough time all this stuff will filter through. You just have to be patient (collectors? patient? yeah I know ) and you should get everything you want.

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Ah, ok that makes sense. And I hope you're right about PoC, I'm just wishing we see wave 4 & 5 by March!

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The second wave of Target exclusives just started hitting here. If I run into another Serpent armor, it's yours pluv. But yeah, same DPCI as the first wave, so if your stores have a lot of that, it may be a bit before you see the second. Target is very good about their exclusives though, so don't worry. If it was a Wal-Mart exclusive I'd advise otherwise, but not for Target.

I get the feeling that wave 4 may end up being scarce. TRU and Wal-Mart seem to gave skipped it, or only received a bit of 4, but I'm already seeing 5 turn up at both. Fortunately, other than Kamakura and Nano-Viper, all the unique wave 4 characters are carried forward into 5 (and in the case of Night Adder, are significantly improved, pity they didn't fix Charbroil's crap arm paint decos)

Still no Target wave 2 here yet either.

Maybe I've been out of the loop- what is the Ninja Battles set at Wal-mart?

Its a repainted RoC Snake-eyes and Storm Shadow with the VvV Ninja Battles Temple and some weapons.

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Could you elaborate on this please? What is the difference between wave 4 and 5 Night Adder?

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Wave 5 Night Adder has a lighter skin tone and black instead of blue tattoos. Looks much better IMO.

Ok, thanks. Then I may put off buying wave 4 if I ever see him and wait for the wave 5 version.

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No Battle Stations or Ninja sets at all 5 of my Wal-Marts and NO Kamakura anywhere. The wave he comes with has been out twice at a Wal-Mart in the county I work in but no Kamakura. I also have not scene any new stuff at Target other than the figure/vehicle wave with the jet pack and Aero-Viper (AVAC)

Yep I can echo that my Wal-mart (the only store in town - literally) has 0 exclusives. I've been looking for battlestations for a month.

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