Toy Hunters: Do you call stores to find toys you're after?

[ITZTRU]

So I've been calling Big W store after Big W store near and far looking for leader class starscream for the sale price but with no luck. (So if you know where I can find one, let me know!) :rolleyes:

But everytime I get on the phone, I always feel like I'm dealing with those who I feel have no idea what I'm talking about and as a result, their search for my toy seems/feels half assed. By the time I get off the phone, I still feel the need to want to just go in there and look for myself just incase.

So aside from my shameless plug of looking for help, what I want to know from you is when u go looking for toys, do u call around to save yourselves the trip (especially if looking on the other side of town like i had to do yesterday for battle ops bumble bee and the weekend before for jetfire/buster prime) and hope and trust that the person on the other line knows what ur talking about and is accurate about whether the toy is actually there or not? Or do u not take any risks and hunt the toy down by yourselves?

I'd be curious to know!

[Paulbot]

No, because you're right: most staff have no idea what you're talking about.

[Hursticon]

No, because you're right: most staff have no idea what you're talking about.

Yeah, I'd have to agree with Paulbot for the same reason. :(
The vast majority of Retail Staff around my local area can't discern different Transformer toys at all, to them, if it has 'Transformers' on the packing then it's a 'Transformers Toy' and that includes Pencil Cases!?!. :rolleyes:
(No, I'm not kidding - I've had a 14-15 y/o tell me a Pencil Case is a toy!?! :confused::mad:)

[Doubledealer]

No, because asking staff that work in a toy section if they have a certain Transformer is akin to asking them the meaning of life. eg. You'll never get the answer you want and it's embarrassing for everyone. :p

[gantz]

The only store I call is Super Toyworld

Mainly because its a little difficult to get to, plus these guys know exactly what you're asking and know all of their stock, its fantastic!

[UltraMarginal]

I have called up a store once and found it to be an entirely unsatisfying experience, so not any more.

If I'm on a hunt, I tend to pick a location where there are a few stores withing walking distance and go to them all at once.

as for Leader starscream, I think they disappeared in a mighty hurry once the clearance started. haven't seen one anywhere.

[Lint]

No, but I've witnessed someone clean out a toy section of clearance items over the phone. The staff member utilised was reasonably competent.

I enjoy the thrill (read: pain) of the hunt. Getting someone else to do it for you is akin to having your child via a surrogate :p

[janda the red]

i do both...

i call if it's gonna take more than 1/2 an hour to drive to...

otherwise i just throw my fate into the hands of the gods...

janda :)

[Vector Prime]

I don't even bother calling them - the majority of the workers there have no idea.

[GoktimusPrime]

Even when you ask staff members in the stores they have no clue! Best way to check is to go and look for yourself. The sightings section on this board is also really useful - I find fan posted sightings WAY more accurate than asking store staff.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y227/goktimusprime/Transfandom%20Comic/transfandom08.jpg

[1AZRAEL1]

I lol'd at that comic. I seriously read that ninja like some kind of karate master :p

But I tend to agree, I don't call because they hardly know what they have in front of them. I like to hunt myself, even though the last few months have been dissapointing.

[jaydisc]

1. Don't call.
2. If you must, have the store's native product code. Then you don't need a toy specialist.

[ITZTRU]

I guess it's different when the item you're looking for is on sale. (And a good sale at that)

The money you spend on petrol driving around looking for the toys on sale could more than make up what you would have spent if you bought the toy full price anyway.

New or rare toys would be a different story and obviously the kind of situation the majority of you are relating to.

The hunt is fun though. So those of you in Melbourne looking for toys like Generations Wreck-Gar, Perceptor - come to South East. You're hunt will be over :p

[griffin]

Kmart seemed to be pretty good, when I rang around for any remaining Op/Jetfire 2-packs at the start of the year. Since the kmart near me has a toys 'manager', I'm assuming kmarts at least have dedicated people who have a better idea of what you are asking for (because they probably specifically order in the stuff themselves).
But I think if they talk to you while in the toy section, you can get them to verify words on the packaging, and mention if it is a boxed or a carded figure you are after, and/or its price. In my case, I was telling them it was a huge box with 2 figures called Optimus and Jetfire, for about $100. It took four stores, but I was able to get the person to describe details that verified that they actually had it.

Maybe it's easier for one-off items like that exclusive 2-pack though, as a general release item in a common size class might be trickier to get them to identify... especially if the toy you want is something like a Bumblebee or Optimus. :rolleyes:

[GoktimusPrime]

Japanese department store staff are the best. They can tell you the exact time of when the next shipment of Transformers toys are coming in! :eek: I remember the first time I asked -- it was at a Daimaru or Itoyakado (most of my Japanese TFs are from those stores)... and she just said something like, "This Sunday 12:00." I was like, holy cow... I would've just been happy with the day! :cool: And she didn't even have to look it up, she spent like a few seconds to think about it, then answered me straight off the bat.

[Seraphim Prime]

I have rung stores before. Not very frequently, but I have done it (particularly when I was at school and my ability to go to different shops was limited). When i got my car/started working at Target it was easier to drive around, and the phone calls were reduced.

Like Griffin said, if they've got a cordless phone on them, they can walk around and describe a product to you. I've never really had any problems with ringing, though that is probably because I've been fairly exact, and progressive in my details.

Not: Do you have deluxe Tracks?

Instead: I was wondering if you had a particular Transformers figure. It's a Deluxe figure, in the yellow packaging. It's name is Turbo Tracks. It should be a blue sports car.

The bits in bold are the individual identifiers, and can of course be changed depending on what figure you're looking for. By guiding them through, you often get a better result. It's their job to work the toy department, but that doesn't mean that they are going to learn the names and basic qualities of every toy that they stock.

I work in the games/movie department of my local Target. Doesn't mean I've watched every movie or played every game that we stock.

[5FDP]

I work in the games/movie department of my local Target. Doesn't mean I've watched every movie or played every game that we stock.

I see the point you are trying to make, but I'm sure if someone were to ask you if you sold a particular movie surely you'd be able to tell them if it was in stock. If not, it's no wonder that consumers are taking their business online.

No one can expect you to describe the plot-line of a movie much in the same way I wouldn't expect store staff to describe to me how to transform a Transformer, but they should be able to tell you if they have the one you are after if mentioned by name. If they can't, you can only assume that they can't read or can't be bothered looking.

[Seraphim Prime]

I see the point you are trying to make, but I'm sure if someone were to ask you if you sold a particular movie surely you'd be able to tell them if it was in stock. If not, it's no wonder that consumers are taking their business online.

No one can expect you to describe the plot-line of a movie much in the same way I wouldn't expect store staff to describe to me how to transform a Transformer, but they should be able to tell you if they have the one you are after if mentioned by name. If they can't, you can only assume that they can't read or can't be bothered looking.


I see your point, but let me clarify. I was more equating it to the idea that I know the movie titles like they know toy lines, but probably wouldn't off the top of my head tell you the individual actors in it. In a similar way, the toy staff might know they have Transformers/Beyblades/Ben 10 toys, but may not know the individual figure by name the way that we would.

Do you know the name of all the Ben10 aliens? Probably not, but a 10 year old fan does. In the same way, we may know the TFs by name, but the assistant (unless a TF fan themselves) probably won't, which is why you generally need to provide a bit of hand-holding.

[GoktimusPrime]

I was more equating it to the idea that I know the movie titles like they know toy lines, but probably wouldn't off the top of my head tell you the individual actors in it. In a similar way, the toy staff might know they have Transformers/Beyblades/Ben 10 toys, but may not know the individual figure by name the way that we would.

I tend to agree with 5FDP here. If you tell them the name of the toy line and the name of the individual figure, it's not that hard to go look for it. Obviously the more information you can give the better... but one would imagine that the name of the product line and the actual product itself would suffice...



Do you know the name of all the Ben10 aliens? Probably not, but a 10 year old fan does. In the same way, we may know the TFs by name, but the assistant (unless a TF fan themselves) probably won't, which is why you generally need to provide a bit of hand-holding.
I wouldn't know, but let's say someone asked me to buy a Ben 10 toy for their kid, and he wanted the Ben 10 Alien Force Ripjaws & Ghostfreak set, I would simply look for a set matching this description and get it. Unless there's several different sets fitting this same description, it shouldn't be hard.

How many different toys would be called "Transformers Reveal The Shield Turbo Tracks"?

[Thanatos]

You guys are missing the simple fact that most people who work for Kmart are now younger than me (aging between 14 and 19), and let's be honest, they're casual and they just don't care if they have it in stock. A phone call is simply an inconvenience to their slacking off. It's not the way it should be, it's the way it is.

I would only bother calling if it's a toy store - ie. Toyworld or Toys R Us. They aren't much better, but at least they have no excuse for not knowing a product they hold since they're all toys not like Kmart which is "general".

Suffice it to say, I don't bother calling.

[GoktimusPrime]

Sadly I am inclined to agree with you Thanatos -- and also, this is why I also don't bother calling.


I would only bother calling if it's a toy store - ie. Toyworld or Toys R Us. They aren't much better, but at least they have no excuse for not knowing a product they hold since they're all toys not like Kmart which is "general".
Yeah, but as you said, they're really not much better.

If the typical Kmart staffer has 0 knowledge about toys, and say the typical TRU employee has say ten times that amount of knowledge... well, we all know what 10 x 0 gives us. ;)

[Seraphim Prime]

How many different toys would be called "Transformers Reveal The Shield Turbo Tracks"?

Not many. But if I was your average toy staff, and someone rang up and simply said, do you have "Transformers Reveal the Shield Turbo Tracks" I would at first wonder what the hell type of language they were speaking.

By guiding them through you can determine at which point they are getting confused and provide elaboratin if need be.

Perhaps they should be more informed, but the truth is they're more often not, and by asking in the way I wrote above, I have always had good help - they either have the toy and will hold it for me (as in the case of Masterpiece Grimlock last year) or they will be able to tell me definately not. It's a tip that helps me with Engineering presentations, talks at my youth group, phone calls, etc - always assume your audience knows less than you do.

[griffin]

Like Seraphim says, the average child, parent or dedicated-to-one-toyline fan wouldn't have the frame of mind to ask more than the brand and character name, or they overwhelm the staffer with too much info at once.

Start small, by saying it is a Transformers toy.
When they get to that section, tell them the size class/packaging type (big/small box/carded item + colour packaging/sub-title).
Then tell them the name and description (colour/alt-mode).
If they think they've found it, ask for verification on the name and description, and price (if you already know what it should be).

Step by step is the most successful method I find. Overwhelm them with something like 'Transformers Reveal the Shield Turbo Tracks' will be like speaking a different language, and you just confuse anyone who doesn't collect them.

[Hursticon]

Well, I'm guessing that I'm not average then? :confused:
IMO it's not Rocket-Science to figure that most day-to-day retail staff wouldn't know scrap about TFs and hence asking them:
"Is Tracks in?"
"Have you got RTS Jazz yet?"
"Where's the toy that has just been released that is based on the original 1980's Transformer Grapple, he's a crane that is is a simple retool of a figure released a couple of years ago of a fire truck who is also based on a 1980s figure..."

-Would receive a Durp answer. :rolleyes:

What is annoying is the fact that one has to hold a staff members hand all the way through a question that really should be easily understood, rendering asking the question in the first place completely redundant. :mad:
IMO, asking a question like:
"Have you got Transformers Reveal The Shield Turbo Tracks in stock?"

-Is completely within reason and the simple reason why is by taking the question and purely breaking it down (And this should be done for anything, not just toys!):

Transformer - A Boy's/Male's Robot Toy.
Reveal The Shield - Assortment Type.
Turbo Tracks - Specific Character/Toy.

The fact that a vast number of Australian Retail floor staff can't figure out how to simply hear a question like:
"Do you have Transformers Reveal The Shield Turbo Tracks in stock?"

-And discern from that to mean:
"Do we have A Boy's/Male's Robot Toy by the name of Transformers, of the Assortment Type named Reveal The Shield and with a Specific Character/Toy name of Turbo Tracks in stock?"

-Is the exact reason why major Australian Brick and Mortar Stores/Chains are in their arse these days and losing out to Online Retail. :mad:

The pitiful level of service and incompetence in favour for Low Staff Costs and Stockholder Profit in this country is ridiculous and is why I love dealing with Independent Toy Stores like Uncle Pete's Toys, because at least their staff are trained to know what the hell they have on the shelf or in the stock room. :cool:
Don't give me the crap excuses of 'Smaller stores can do that because they have less staff, etc.' or 'Staff from bigger stores deal with more people, etc.' because if you're hired and placed in a specific section you should be bloody well trained properly for that section and rarely do I ever see any staff in their respective sections at all in bigger stores unless a sale is on. :mad:
(At least Kmart Stores have Section Managers, but their usefulness is purely individual dependant :o)

*Rant Over* :p

[UltraMarginal]

Well, I'm guessing that I'm not average then? :confused:
IMO it's not Rocket-Science to figure that most day-to-day retail staff wouldn't know scrap about TFs and hence asking them:
"Is Tracks in?"
"Have you got RTS Jazz yet?"
"Where's the toy that has just been released that is based on the original 1980's Transformer Grapple, he's a crane that is is a simple retool of a figure released a couple of years ago of a fire truck who is also based on a 1980s figure..."

-Would receive a Durp answer. :rolleyes:

What is annoying is the fact that one has to hold a staff members hand all the way through a question that really should be easily understood, rendering asking the question in the first place completely redundant. :mad:
IMO, asking a question like:
"Have you got Transformers Reveal The Shield Turbo Tracks in stock?"

-Is completely within reason and the simple reason why is by taking the question and purely breaking it down (And this should be done for anything, not just toys!):

Transformer - A Boy's/Male's Robot Toy.
Reveal The Shield - Assortment Type.
Turbo Tracks - Specific Character/Toy.

The fact that a vast number of Australian Retail floor staff can't figure out how to simply hear a question like:
"Do you have Transformers Reveal The Shield Turbo Tracks in stock?"

-And discern from that to mean:
"Do we have A Boy's/Male's Robot Toy by the name of Transformers, of the Assortment Type named Reveal The Shield and with a Specific Character/Toy name of Turbo Tracks in stock?"

-Is the exact reason why major Australian Brick and Mortar Stores/Chains are in their arse these days and losing out to Online Retail. :mad:

The pitiful level of service and incompetence in favour for Low Staff Costs and Stockholder Profit in this country is ridiculous and is why I love dealing with Independent Toy Stores like Uncle Pete's Toys, because at least their staff are trained to know what the hell they have on the shelf or in the stock room. :cool:
Don't give me the crap excuses of 'Smaller stores can do that because they have less staff, etc.' or 'Staff from bigger stores deal with more people, etc.' because if you're hired and placed in a specific section you should be bloody well trained properly for that section and rarely do I ever see any staff in their respective sections at all in bigger stores unless a sale is on. :mad:
(At least Kmart Stores have Section Managers, but their usefulness is purely individual dependant :o)

*Rant Over* :p

RANT BEGINNIG:eek:

see now the discussion is starting to slant towards, "People are idiots".

I don't mean to offend anyone but it's the truth. True, if you call up someone who doesn't know the details of transformers and say, do you have any Reveal the Shield Wreck Gar's? they probably aren't going to know what you are talking about.
If you call up the same person and lead them through the trail of looking for a toy, it's a Transformer, it's about this big, it look like a bike, it has red packaging it says Wreck Gar on the front, you might get right answer but also possibly not.

People are generally idiots, mainly because they are not observant. They do not pay attention to their surroundings. And by no means am I picking out department store employees, I'm talking about most people. If you took an average person stood them in front of a wall of transformers merchandise and asked them to pick you a Reveal the shield WreckGar, if it was on the front, they might take a few seconds to find it. or maybe longer.
If it was on the second or third row back from the front peg, some people would only take a little while to look deeper for it. A lot of people though would shrug their shoulders and say it's not there.
They would not be inclined to look past the first row.

I'm not saying that all people are like this, but a large majority are, and part of the reason is imperative, actually caring about their environment. All toy stores have fairly meager wage, so this often leads to staff not caring. which leads to people not looking carefully or even making up an answer to a cutomer enquiry because the really don't care. they clock in they clock off and as long as the pay keeps coming what does it matter to them.

On the other hand though there are people in the world who do care, and regardless of the pay or incentive to do something, they pay attention. These are the people who will be able to tell you if something is in stock, and if they don't know they will do their best to find out, they may even go so far as to proactively ask you for details about a product. These are the people who make the world go round, whether they are working at maccas, big W, Westpac, Boeing or a Law firm (nothing comes straight to mind). as you talk about section managers at Kmart and their usefulness being individual dependant, this is exactly what I'm talking about. An idividual who cares about their role in a job, or life in general will go out of their way to be knowledgable about it.

I guess in the end it boils down to passion, if you're not passionate about it and you can't get passionite about it, it's time to try something different.

Like Agent K said:
Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.

RANT ENDED (Phew)

[Hursticon]

I completely agree with you dude and it's thoroughly frustrating how many sheepish idiots do make up a significant portion of the populace. :(

This quote:

Like Agent K said:
Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.

-Is spot on man and it's actually one of my most favourite quotes from a movie. ;):)

[sanbot]

I really enjoy the hunt (I'll probably get blasted for this) sometimes even more so then the toy itself! Case in point was when I drove around all of Sydney looking for Wreck Gar and ended up also finding HA Jazz.

But on the occasion where I'm simply just too lazy to get off my ass. I do call. I seem to share the same experience as many of the previous posts so I agree that you need to get specific and it helps. Although, I've never had success finding something via calling.

And another reason calling isn't effective is coz unlike yourself who's a crazed transformer fan, the store staff don't go scrummaging through the back of the pegs or behind boxes to see if someone has hidden one there! :mad::p

[GoktimusPrime]

I was once at Target looking and a staff member asked if they could help me. I told them that I was looking for a toy that was:
+ a Transformer called Solar Storm Grappel
+ part of the Reveal the Shield line
+ a yellow Voyager Class robot that transforms into a crane
+ part of the same assortment as Strafe and Lugnut
+ and that I couldn't find it in the aisle where the Transformers are

Despite all this information that I gave, I was still directed to the same aisle with the store attendant insisting that the toy was there. I led the attendant to the aisle (who reluctantly complied) and pointed out that the toy was indeed not there.

I agree with what UltraMarginal said - it also boils down to how much they care about their products, which IMO is dependent on how much pride they take in their job. IMO if people took pride and care about their work, then they would be more observant. So whether you're being served at a department store or dedicated toy store doesn't matter all that much, it's whether or not the person serving you actually cares about the products they work with. It also depends on whether or not the employee cares enough to train staff about product knowledge.

My next door neighbour used to work at TRU and her boyfriend works at Bunnings. TRU staff are notoriously ignorant about their products wheres Bunnings prides themselves on their staff's expert knowledge. She explained to me that this was because Bunnings regularly trains their staff in product knowledge whereas when she was working at TRU they never gave her product knowledge training. She desperately _wanted_ training, but they never gave it to her.

As I said before, I find Japanese department store staff to be quite knowledgable -- if I ask them when their next shipment of Transformers is coming in, they can tell me the exact date and time off the top of their head without even having to look it up. I reckon this is a combination of worker's pride (and honour) and occupational training and open sharing of product information.

JMHO.


I completely agree with you dude and it's thoroughly frustrating how many sheepish idiots do make up a significant portion of the populace.
Idio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBvIweCIgwk)crac (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSROlfR7WTo)y'd (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vw2CrY9Igs&)

[Hursticon]

Idio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBvIweCIgwk)crac[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vw2CrY9Igs&]y'd (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSROlfR7WTo)

Ah yes, that movie. :p

[UltraMarginal]

I really enjoy the hunt (I'll probably get blasted for this) sometimes even more so then the toy itself! Case in point was when I drove around all of Sydney looking for Wreck Gar and ended up also finding HA Jazz.

snip><

Like you I also really do enjoy the hunt, though it's dissapointing to go on a bit of a hunt and not come up with anything.
Looking in 4 or 5 stores on a Thursday evening is something I quite enjoy. I seem to like shopping more than my wife does... :eek:

[Mr Ed]

I generally find the smaller specialist toy shops know more. eg Toyworld.

I had a horrific experience at Target a few years ago.

I rang up the Brisbane CBD store and said I wanted a Legends Devastator

1. I said it is small
2. It is $40
3. It is not the big construciton devastator

Well they said they had one, but when I went to the lay buy counter to collect, they had the big construciton..... clearly they didnt listen to any of the three key points!

[jazzcomp]

yes, specially if interstate like Toyworld:
Verify if item is on sale, in-stock and if they would be able to ship it to me :)