Many of us know the struggle of pinpointing the release dates and availabilities of the items we collect. This task becomes ever more a struggle as certain retailers receive their products at an alternative date from one another (ed. note: or when there is a longshoreman strike on the west coast), and yet all later than the company’s release date. NECA might say a figure comes out in February 2015, and Big Bad Toy Store or Entertainment Earth will have them received - and then redirected to customers by the end of the month. Hasbro can say a figure is scheduled for March, but ToyZoo won’t get it until March and send them in April. In the meantime, NECA will start selling them directly through Amazon and eBay the moment they are released.
Now, I don’t mean to pick on NECA (huge NECA fan, never had an issue) but this is an example that comes to my mind when fellow collectors complain about releases. But another company recently faced with big setbacks is Sideshow Collectibles. The Port of Long Beach recently faced protests from dock and shipyard workers, leaving hundreds, if not thousands of crates of OUR figures on ships and in the storage lots. There was also word of Hasbro having this issue, but Sideshow faced the biggest backlash from customers.
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I think the worst cases come when hunting reaches the brick-and-mortar locations. When I first started collecting, I was not a fan of the shipping prices adding up to the same as basically another figure in my shopping cart. So, frequent visits to Toys "R" Us, Target, and local toy/comic stores meant daily drives around the city. I soon realized the money I paid for gas could have just been used to order online and get them during the time I went searching the city. More recently, the issue with Walgreens acquiring more Star Wars Black Series figures (and an exclusive Funko Pop line) just drove collectors wild. First stated, the 6” Prototype Boba Fett would be released around early Fall 2014 (August, September, and even October). Frequent visits to one shop were met with a truly helpful store manage who checked emails from corporate and shippers constantly, stating the figures would arrive on such-and-such date. Then a visit to other stores and online chats showed that Walgreens was not supposed to have these available until the holiday season when the store resets took place. Yet, week after week, still no luck. For myself, I made good relations with fellow collectors through Facebook and acquired a Boba, only to have them slowly appearing in stores.
We continue to hunt in order to collect, and our collecting is derived from our determination to hunt. We are wolves in the collecting world! Companies feed us their plastic and polystone, yet we are never quite full! Scheduling and release dates have to be one of the most frustrating aspects of this hobby, but it doesn’t ever stop us from continuing to do what we love.