JoeCanuck
General Section => General Joe Talk => Topic started by: Storm.Shadow on August 22, 2009, 01:42:23 PM
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I was looking at some images of the Wal~Mart exclusives battle station and noticed the print on the back of the packaging.
Note the "Hasbro Canada" and the presence of some French. Is this proof these are coming to Canadian stores? I for one certainly hope so. It'd be great to be able to get this things without any hassle.
(http://http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q44/Storm-Shadow/hc.jpg)
Edit: On second thought...maybe not. I looked at the Wal~Mart exclusive Transformers I picked up recently and they have almost everything in both languages, which this picture does not show. Also, the Hasbro Canada bit is on all American packaging as well.
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Sorry to get your hopes down, but all the single figs and vehicles on US cards have that. I think it's for trademark purposes and not a sign of them coming to canada.
I really hope we end up seeing the TRU, Target, WM exclusives up here but I'm not holding my breathe.
The bbq and firefly figs have been available at US TRUs for a while now and no sign of them up here...so it's not looking to bright.
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Ya I just noticed that. I guess I was grasping at straws. Ah well...you never know.
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They can come to Canada for reimbursement or trade via me if they are common enough (most exclusives so far have been here in the US).
I know I am a new member and as such probably not trusted very well yet, but I have already found a Pit Commando and Agent Helix (among other things) for a board member that we are working out a trade for. I will complete the trade with him and then let you guys ask HIM how I was to deal with ;D
I have no problem picking up exclusives and sending them to you guys that can't get them. All I ask in return is either straight reimbursment or a fair trade.
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I have no problem picking up exclusives and sending them to you guys that can't get them. All I ask in return is either straight reimbursment or a fair trade.
That's good to know!
Martin
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Wal-mart in Canada has carried many of their exclusives, just look in the music department, many of the releases are WM-only. They also get DVD exclusives among other things, so let us be positive about the possibility of toy exclusives until we know for sure we are screwed out of them.
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OK, how about this picture of the Target exclusives:
(http://http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q44/Storm-Shadow/hc-1.jpg)
These certainly look destined for Canadian shelves.
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I'm guessing they'll show up at Zellers like the Tiger Rat and Python Conquest have.
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These exclusives are being billed as International exclusives. So, I think we should be seeing them.
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These exclusives are being billed as International exclusives. So, I think we should be seeing them.
Yes... and no.
What that means is that these are being made AVAILABLE internationally.
It's still up to the individual retailers to order the product. Just because we CAN get it, doesn't mean we will. It all goes back to how well the existing stuff is selling, and therefore how excited the retailers are at getting more.
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I wish Hasbro would let us know when a Canadian retailer has signed up for an exclusive. I would gladly use the money I spend on shipping (to bring it in from the US), to buy even more of the exclusives. I know I'm beating a dead horse but if you really want something you have to bring it in from the US yourself. Then if a Canadian store does pick up an exclusive the market has already dried up and they don't sell very well. Wash, Rinse, Repeat....
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I just wish that TRU and especially Zellers would get their heads out of their asses and start realizing that they are screwing themselves when it comes to exclusives.
The track record as far as they know (with Joes, and TF's) is that if they get an exclusive item, they bring it in as they have the stock and room at stores, and then they sit on the shelves.
If they would bother to read the complaints logged on their websites, talk to the people in their stores, or just look at the release dates Hasbro publishes, They should realize that they are stocking their shelves anywhere from weeks to months after these items are released in the States.
Sure, if this was the case a few years ago, it wouldn't matter as mail-order options and fan groups who would buy for others was hardly an issue that would effect their bottom line. However this is 2009, not 1989 and the need to start realizing that the fans are in easy, constant contact with the fans (or resellers) grabbing them from TRUUS/Target to be sent up here.
I'll use the example of the Transformers Animated Target Exclusives (1 Voyager class, 1 Activator class) for this point. Target started selling them in March ($30us I believe), and by April had them on sale (including a mistake where they were at $4.99us). By May I was tired of waiting and bought them both on Ebay for less than $30us each. Zellers finally had them in stores in Late June I believe, and for the low price of $49.99 Canadian or for sale at $39.99.
I would imagine that there is a fairly similar story with the Tiger Rat and Python Conquest.
Gee Zellers rep, of course it's taking a long time to sell them, All the worried fans already bought them (for less) so you are stuck selling to casual collectors, parents, and people taking the chance you'll put them on clear out as you'll have stock for ages.
Simple solution, Hasbro when you sign the agreement with these stores do the fans a favor and not only release their stock at the same time, but put it in their contracts to have them on shelves here at the same time. I can understand sitting on some stock until the other sells thru but for so called exclusives, have enough pride in your products to push your retailers to get the stuff out. Or else this sad story will continue, the store will say "well we brought your stuff in and we can't sell it" and decide not to carry them. I'm sorry, but you don't need to be a economics major to see that this is a bad way to try and sell products let alone build your brands.
That said and done, Got my Bench Press in the mail yesterday, Great figure. One less figure that TRU Canada will be able to sell if they ever get them.
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If they would bother to read the complaints logged on their websites, talk to the people in their stores, or just look at the release dates Hasbro publishes, They should realize that they are stocking their shelves anywhere from weeks to months after these items are released in the States.
Sure, if this was the case a few years ago, it wouldn't matter as mail-order options and fan groups who would buy for others was hardly an issue that would effect their bottom line. However this is 2009, not 1989 and the need to start realizing that the fans are in easy, constant contact with the fans (or resellers) grabbing them from TRUUS/Target to be sent up here.
This is such a key point that I think retailers are completely missing out on. Information spreads so quickly on the internet that they need to get their product out ASAP. In the past, sure they could sit on stock for months and the customer would be none the wiser, but that is no longer the case.
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All you can do is complain and hope somebody finally listens.
One of my biggest complaints with Sherwin-Williams when I started was at the start of the year, they'd preview all these great new products. You'd get excited about them, tell your customers, get them all excited...
...and then the products show up finally in June. Or you'd get the product when promised, but no one would be trained on it or there'd be no color formulas or pricing set up.
After much hell raising they finally got that stuff figured out. Being American, I am lucky enough to get all the stuff you guys miss out on...but I'm so far south it does take forever. So I feel some of your pain anyway.
Just keep raising hell guys. Someone will listen eventually.
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I lived twenty minutes from Target nearly all my life. Then I moved to Canada.
It never even occurred to me it would matter until I started collecting toys again last year. Sigh.
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I just wish that TRU and especially Zellers would get their heads out of their asses and start realizing that they are screwing themselves when it comes to exclusives.
But they aren't.
Getting these kinds of products in or not don't even count as a blip on the bottom line of the ledgers for the year. Its a tiny handful of THOUSANDS of products they carry over time, and the variety is changing constantly. They simply do not move enough of this kind of stuff to make it a priority.
I mean........they have, what.............20 or so of the exclusive planes at each Zellers right now? Wholesale price on them was probably about $10-$15each? So.............maybe $600 take on the shipment, minus their wholesale cost.........they are probably taking in $300 from those planes in each store.
Thats not going to spur them into carrying these exclusives, there's simply no urgency to gain so little.
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It should be also noted that it's entirely possible (and likely, especially in terms of Target) that Target has in the contract that no other retailer internationally can carry it for a specified period of time.
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It should be also noted that it's entirely possible (and likely, especially in terms of Target) that Target has in the contract that no other retailer internationally can carry it for a specified period of time.
Entirely possible, but that is the kind of fact that it would be easy for Hasbro Canada to let us know about when they make the blanket announcements that we are supposed to get them.
ARROW, I fully know that when the bottom line is looked over by the suits in the head offices our concerns mean jack and $#**, regardless, why do they bother with the meetings and the time involved to get exclusives when they don't bother with the end result.
I would almost rather Zellers/HBC not get these items, to save the hassle of either waiting (sometimes to the point Target is sold out for weeks) until we see them, and just get them second-hand from the states and get it over with.
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Another instance of can't please the fans.
Fans want the exclusives in Canada!
Hasbro Canada works with retailers to make it happen - but fans don't buy them because it's "too little too late"
Which has proven what the retailers thought to begin with. Exclusives won't sell.
What fans want is instant gratification. Same exclusives, same time, same price.
Well guess what - unless you're an American, that's pie in the sky talk. Pipe dream. Ain't going to happen. Our dollar is worth less. Cost to get product here is higher. Consumers here buy MUCH less than US so volumes are much lower.
The fact that we get any at any time is a marvel.
So if you want exclusives at the same time, same price as the US - then I suggest you start immigration procedures now.
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What fans want is instant gratification. Same exclusives, same time, same price.
Well guess what - unless you're an American, that's pie in the sky talk. Pipe dream. Ain't going to happen. Our dollar is worth less. Cost to get product here is higher. Consumers here buy MUCH less than US so volumes are much lower.
I can't speak for everyone but I don't need the instant gratification, I would just like to know that they will show eventually. If I have no reason to think that they will come to Canada eventually, then I might as well arrange to bring them in from the US while they're still readily available there. I'll gladly wait for them, but only if the retailer or Hasbro gives an indication that they are coming. I fail to see what makes that an unreasonable request.
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I think it really depends on price and the exclusive.
TRU sold through so well on the SRO 3 packs that they over ordered and now are stuck with a ton of them. Same went with the 5 packs, but they didn't order as much and so they are now gone.
I would think the larger exclusvies like the Jets would be harder sells than $10-$15 exclusive figures or packs.
Personally, I don't think that the Walmart/Target exclusive packs would have trouble selling up here if they were released 2-3 months later because they are desired, small items. As such, I know that I would buy a couple of each at $15-$20 a pack. Again though, price and desirability are the two key factors in my decisions.
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Let's just hope that we'll get the rescue mission 4 pack since it contains the best SE figure ever!
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I wouldn't mind seeing exclusives show up in Quebec, period.
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What fans want is instant gratification. Same exclusives, same time, same price.
Well guess what - unless you're an American, that's pie in the sky talk. Pipe dream. Ain't going to happen. Our dollar is worth less. Cost to get product here is higher. Consumers here buy MUCH less than US so volumes are much lower.
I can't speak for everyone but I don't need the instant gratification, I would just like to know that they will show eventually. If I have no reason to think that they will come to Canada eventually, then I might as well arrange to bring them in from the US while they're still readily available there. I'll gladly wait for them, but only if the retailer or Hasbro gives an indication that they are coming. I fail to see what makes that an unreasonable request.
I agree 100% with storm.shadow on this. It isn't about instant gratification in many cases. It's the ambiguity. And in some cases it's the item itself. I have zero interest in python patrol or tiger force, but if it was the real rattler I'd be interested. for a place like zellers gi joe is a niche market, and tiger force is a niche within a niche.
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Canadian Joe fans do buy the exclusives. The problem there isn't enough Joe collectors in the country, regardless if the product is released a month before the American shelf date or two months after. We can't buy it all nor should we.
When a wave of product like the senior ranking 3-packs or the 5-pack sets first hit TRU, they sold out. Fans, in the most part, bought them. The problem is that TRU kept re-stocking again and again. Sounds like the retailers may of over-ordered. However, I don't buy that one anymore. GI JOE product has been released in Canada in the 2000s at various times. Retailers have ordered Joe product before. They know it collects dust after the third or fourth re-stocking. So why do they keep doing this? Hasbro Canada.
You have to look at Hasbro Canada as part of the problem. Yes, they make the product available, but are their minimum case orders realistic for retailers in Canada? Isn't this the reason why Mike didn't go through with ordering from Hasbro in the first place when he had his store? I suspect the same is happening here.
As for instant gratification, this in large part, is caused by US retailers, who want wave after wave to be released in a short period of time. If you wait out too long, then you will stuck finding another way to get that item, at a higher cost, on ebay.