Hunt or order?

[Paulbot]

Tiby started the ball rolling with a post of his purchasing a lot of new released toys from overseas. In some ways its a protest about the lack of toys coming out here (and the inflated retail prices).

I like that idea. Who knows when the toys will get on the shelf here and how much driving around we'd have to do.

But I also like the hunt and satisfaction of finding a cheap or rare toy. The hunt is getting very frustrating though when there's not much to find.

[1orion2many]

:) Two G1 items I have been waiting for finally showed up in the mail today:D,
they were Targetmaster Quake complete and Pretender Submarauder complete:D. Just a litlle side note about people buying overseas instead of off the shops in Australia, I actually enjoy the hunt around trying to find that harder to get hold of TF. I get satisfaction and a mild sense of accomplishement when I finally do find that figure I've been looking for. I know it can be time consuming as well as petrol wasteing but if you were really worried about petrol you would pick up the phone and ring the shop instead. We could just be cutting our nose off to spite our face as the old saying goes, i don't think Hasbro would really notice a small group of collectors buying from overseas but say if it did make a slight impact and there was less demand for TF's, we would then get even less on the shelves and complain even more. I know we are over charged for our TF's but we must make an allowance for shipping, because of the smaller numbers of items being shipped here I would think there would be a higher amount to pay per item for making the trip to Australia. Maybe I should have posted this somewhere else:o. Almost forgot , my Cybertron DVD's showed up today in the mail as well, a big thank you to a certain person for those;).

[Tiby]

Yeah, I know as a protest it is pretty futile. I really enjoyed the hunt myself, but with some items selling out overseas before we even see them, and the comments Hasbro made in their e-mail to you, I just got sick of it. I never call the shops anymore because they lie or simply do not check.

Then the interest rates went up so I had to make a commercial decision.

[dirge]

Personally, I hate the hunt. I like going into a store and deciding what to buy, but that's not how it happens anymore. I check out 10-20 stores and if I'm lucky I might find something I'm after. Frustration, not enjoyment.

Adding to this the fact that Hasbro AU often skip the later assortments (BM, Energon, as examples), I don't want to spend 3 months looking at shelves with nothing but Turnarounds in a vain attempt to find the few figures I'm after.

BBTS order placed! (:

[STL]

I looked around BBTS last night after Tiby posted. I put in a basket all the items I wanted and tbh I can't see myself saving any money. Everything they list is quite expensive apart from the Leader Nightwatch Prime. Slap shipping on top of that and I'm paying at least $50 on top of RRP. I already get most of my stuff in Ausrtralia at on average 20% bellow RRP courtesy of sales.

I'd stick to driving around unless there's a cheaper alternative. It's still a social thing to do and passes time. I can take my gf shopping or just have an opportunity to pass time. I can always drop by the bookstore and spend an hour there or catch up with a mate in the process.

So yeah, unless there are cheaper places online, I'm sticking with "the hunt". I wish there was a store in Singapore that sold to us. We'd be saving something at the least.

[Tiby]

I found that I had to order pretty big to get real savings. When I ordered small, I about matched Australia (including postage). But even that suited me as I have not seen anything in stores for ages. My other problem is I am in Wollongong where we get even less stock.

[Saintly]

So yeah, unless there are cheaper places online, I'm sticking with "the hunt". I wish there was a store in Singapore that sold to us. We'd be saving something at the least.

What about this? -> http://www.tfsource.com/rants.html = our own import store?

[1orion2many]

:)I couldn't find the item number or price for the Transformer pictured at the bottom right of that page Saintly as I want to order two:D:D.

[Kyle]

I used to only order a few Takara items that my local dealer could not get. Now I'm tempted to order the Hasbro ones... :(

[Saintly]

:)I couldn't find the item number or price for the Transformer pictured at the bottom right of that page Saintly as I want to order two:D:D.

I had to look it up to see what you are on :P ROFL!!! erm... I want four of them ;) it will keep me entertained :D:eek: and then happy to sell them cheap as it will be loose and not MIB once I'm done :/

EDIT again: On a serious note, is wholesale import possible?

[TheDirtyDigger]

For me new TF's are good to order for the convenience and sometimes the price.
G1 stuff I love to hunt down. Mainly on ebay but there are other sources as well. But yeah....nothing so satisfying as hunting down some G1 figure that you've craved for 20+ years.

[Gutsman Heavy]

I am toying with the idea of importing animated, I'll see if some of my usual ebay seller will help me out

[dirge]

I found that I had to order pretty big to get real savings. When I ordered small, I about matched Australia (including postage).

I about matched Australia, too. And picked up some stuff not available here at prices below what they'd go for on eBay.

More than anything, I can save myself looking at 15 stores for the toys I wanted.

[Soundwarp]

I like the idea of order but i am impatient

[autobreadticon]

i like the thrill of the hunt, for example movie legends easy to just order them online, but the thrill of the hunt on a free day to just do a little hunting and actually finiding something you want is just XTC. but for harder to find stuff or t/f that wont appear on retail shelfs, ordering online is def a better way to acquire them.

[Tober]

On a serious note, is wholesale import possible?

It's completely possible so long as you have the right criteria. You will need an ABN with a business name and associated import license and have to be prepared to deal with the tax involved. Also most shipments will require a minimum spending of AU$1200 even if you want to try to cut down using BBTS.com or HLJ.com.

There was a rather interesting post at TFW from Spencer of A3+ on his experiences dealing with Hasbro directly. What you have to account for is that Hasbro ships in waves as opposed to Takara who ship individual toy cases. So you can import a case of 6 deluxe figs which (for example) consist of 2 BB08s, Landmine, Dropkick and 2 Camshafts, so you have to be able to account for those 2 Camshafts...