How do We Convince Target to Stop Stocking Solid Cases?

[EnigmaticClarity]

One piece of evidence that this is/was a Hasbro thing - BBTS had singles of Magneto (I believe it was Magneto) available for what seemed like a month or more before they got in the full wave - I don't think I had ever seen that before with them where they had one figure only from a new wave long before the whole wave appeared. That seems like a distribution issue.

It was, but that happened to every retailer--Target included. They also got Rogue and Magneto solids before all the others. But unlike BBTS they only order one type of case, whereas BBTS and Dorkside mix it up because they sell full wave assortment cases directly.

I don't see how Hasbro shipping the individual figures in a wave at different times--or more likely having them get unloaded in an odd order from the backed-up containers at every port on the planet during the pandemic--relates to Hasbro. Target and BBTS had already long ordered their product when those AoA figures were getting distributed off the boats in an uneven way.

[fac]

All I'm suggesting is that what we are seeing may not have been the plan or a policy change. The last year has had enough unexpected events and supply chain issues that I think it is hard to extrapolate as to whether what we are seeing is a new normal or an unintended consequence of other events. (Same with Walgreens and their exclusives)

Maybe Target purposely only ordered single cases of some characters instead of mixed cases - if so that was a bad decision especially for BAF waves. Target offered all the figures online for preorder so they didn't skip the other figures entirely. Maybe someone decided that since they ordered solid cases for online sales they should do the same for the stores to make it easier to track and balance demand and overthought it.

But maybe production issues made it harder to produce mixed cases, so single cases were substituted; maybe there are mixed cases in Target warehouses that aren't getting to stores because these single figure cases that were meant to supplement the stock arrived first, so Target sent them directly to stores in order to have some stock on the shelves, but now those figures are clogging the shelves so the inventory system isn't sending the rest.

[Roufuss]

I can only support solid cases if a store gets every figure from the wave, and that is not what Target is doing.

Except that's what they're doing now with retro Spidey. We'll see if they also do it with the Strange wave.

Sure, but in my area they are still doing it wrong.

My stores got solid cases of Shocker and Hammerhead, 6 each, and 3 Ben Reilly Spiderman per store.

Those numbers should honestly be reversed, because Ben Reilly will fly off the shelves whether it’s 3 or 6 and Hammerhead will sit there until the next clearance at six per.

If you’re going to do solid cases, do 6 of everyone. I love the idea of solid cases, stores SHOULD stock more than 1 wave every 2 months, but how and in what quantity they choose to stock in Portland is asinine. On what planet would you stock more Hammerhead than any version of Spiderman.

[Nebraska]

The solids do not to seem to be working in my area. Despite having dedicated pegs, my store only received AoA Magneto, AoA Cyclops, Reed & Sue. No Thing. No Torch. No Sabertooth, Rogue, Kitty, Iceman, or Legion. Eternals were missing Sprite and one other. Armadillo wave was missing a quite a few. And the pegs remained empty through Christmas and up until last week when my store completed it's restock. Today I found 6 Hammerheads. No others from the wave. And my store does not have pegs for Ben Reilly or MK 1. So what is the point if you're not going to carry/stock complete waves?

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[EnigmaticClarity]

The solids do not to seem to be working in my area. Despite having dedicated pegs, my store only received AoA Magneto, AoA Cyclops, Reed & Sue. No Thing. No Torch. No Sabertooth, Rogue, Kitty, Iceman, or Legion. Eternals were missing Sprite and one other. Armadillo wave was missing a quite a few. And the pegs remained empty through Christmas and up until last week when my store completed it's restock. Today I found 6 Hammerheads. No others from the wave. And my store does not have pegs for Ben Reilly or MK 1. So what is the point if you're not going to carry/stock complete waves?

This still means it isn't working just as you point out, but Target employees are trained to only fill the pegs and put the rest in the back. Ideally that means they would put 1 or 2 of each figure on the pegs, but half of the time I see them not give a crap and just shove entire boxes of 8 onto the pegs and THEN put the rest in the back, meaning that some figures aren't put out at all and go straight back to the stock room.

So two possibilities exist for your store--either they never did receive those other figures, or they put those other figures into the back. Looking up the missing figures' TCIN on Popfindr or asking a Target employee with a hand scanner can answer that.

[Sidewinder]

I don’t live near a Target. This past week, I was traveling and stopped by a Target. This thread now explains what I saw there:

Either 8 or 10 General Landos (no other Black series)

6 AOA Cyclops (no other AOA figures)

And a bunch of Eternal figures. (They may have been the same or different, I didn’t look. They aren’t interesting to me.)

[TheCollector1999]

At least with Star Wars it’s still full cases but they packed that Lando with to many in the case for sure

[EnigmaticClarity]

At least with Star Wars it’s still full cases but they packed that Lando with to many in the case for sure

Hasbro does sell at least some solid cases of 8 of figures; I saw Dorkside selling a solid case of 8 Mandalorian Stormtroopers in 2020. But I have no idea if those are generally available--are you sure Hasbro doesn't do solid cases widely for Black Series like they do for Legends?

[DetectiveHoag]

Perhaps the question should be: “How do we convince Target to Stock?” Judging by the stores around my area, this is the better phrasing.

[Akatsuki]

Stopped by one Target and saw 12 AoA Cyclops and 12 AoA Rogue. No other figures from that wave…


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[MayorMcThwipp]

Perhaps the question should be: “How do we convince Target to Stock?” Judging by the stores around my area, this is the better phrasing.

Basically this.

My local Target is super slow. Understandable to a degree, but still.

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[mattmurdog]

Perhaps the question should be: “How do we convince Target to Stock?” Judging by the stores around my area, this is the better phrasing.

Everything is so under ordered and cherrypicked at my stores. Solid cases kind of prevent scalping, but it also means people can't find what they want. Both my stores received solid Mr Fantastic and Sue only. Luckily I was able to order the wave online. If this continues, and I can order what I want online, then stores getting solid cases doesn't really bother me.

[Roufuss]

Ok, I’ll amend my previous statement — solid cases are fine if you let me do instore pickup on each figure.

Each figure has their own DPCI, Target lets me do it for some (Shocker, Web Armor) but not others (Ben Reilly).

Makes no sense. I understand why they didn’t allow it for assortments, now there is no real reason to not turn it on, especially since it’s available for some, but not all.

[red Ricky]

Solid cases don't prevent scalping. They actually make it worst. Think Build-a-Figures... think Giganta...

If you have a mixed case, then at least you know that all the parts of the Build-a-Figure were manufactured equally. For every torso there's a head and an arm in equal numbers. So even if you can't find a particular piece or figure, at least you know it's out there. And it's "scalper value" is just based on popularity and ease of finding... not an actual manufacturing shortage, but a perceived one.

Solid cases throw all that out of wack because they create actual real shortages. So the issue now goes from "Damn, I can't finish my Rhino figure because collectors keep buying the Scarlet Spider faster than I can find him!" To... "Damn, I can't finish my Rhino figure because Target never put an order for the Scarlet Spider and the factory never made enough Rhino heads for all the torsos, arms and legs flooding the market!"

So in other words, solid cases break the typical 1/6 manufactoring ratio for Build-a-Figures of typical/mixed cases... which create real shortages as opposed to perceived ones... which are a scalper's wet dream. Which is what happened to the DCUC Giganta when Mattel shorted the Gentleman Ghost; and why one-third of the fan base was unable to finish her.

So yeah, it is a problem. At least for me.

[TheSameIdiot]

I prefer shorting the BAF (which may or may not be a popular character) to shorting every character in the wave.