I'm fairly certain that the only figure I bought from a local retailer last year was Masterpiece Acidstorm, and I bought him via Toys R Us' online store. :eek:
The combination of a sheer lack of variety, availability and a reasonable price made the decision incredibly easy to simply seek out what I wanted from foreign online stores; they had what I wanted, when I wanted it (Predominantly preorders) and 9 times out of 10 - cheaper (Even after postage/shipping) than what I would've been able to get locally IF the particular figure was even available locally. :rolleyes:
...
I hate sounding like a broken record on the issue but aside from a handful of instances, Hasbro AU & AU Major Retailers (With the exception of TRU AU) continue to let the Transformers Brand down here in Australia and to the detriment of its standing in the eyes of many parents & children - For without their involvement with the brand it'll die here & that will have dire ramifications for collectors. :(
I just think of little Jimmy and/or Sally, looking forward to the weekly shopping trip, nagging Mum or Dad to let the go to the Toy aisle so as to checkout the Transformers, because the Bumblebee & Optimus figure they got for Xmas needs some back up or someone to fight...
...they tear off down the lanes to the relevant toy aisle in Big W/Kmart/Target/Myer/Toys R Us/Toyworld/Uncle Petes, it's March now so said store MUST have new toys after everyone bought them at Xmas! - Jimmy and/or Sally pull up in front of what used to be the "Transformers" section, only to find it's half the size of what it was at Xmas and it only has a handful of the same Bumblebee/Prime i.e. Wave 1 (Maybe 2) toys that were there even BEFORE Xmas...
...Jimmy and/or Sally broken-heartedly shuffle back to where Mum and/or Dad are, being asked what they found and which toy they'd like? - Mum and/or Dad are met with an answer they not expecting to hear: "Nothing"...
...it's June now and Jimmy and/or Sally figure that maybe their luck has changed and their local store might have something new! - once again they're disappointed and again in September but at this point Jimmy and/or Sally's friends are all about that cool new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon! and what should they find when they arrive at the toy aisle?...
...an absolute s***-tone of every "Turtles" character in the cartoon! - All the brothers are there, Shredder is there, Krang and Dogpound and Fishface and Master Splinter... - You get the picture.
...
Playmates is doing amazing things with the current NickTurtles toyline; there's always stock, always variety and all at incredibly good "Value for Money" prices - It's true that Australia was lagged behind the rest of the world by a year with the new line, but it's been going gangbusters ever since, with plenty of support for the brand by its local distributor beyond simply:
"Hey Mr. Retailer; buy these 20,000 units of Wave 1/2 stock, you've gotta do all the advertising though, oh and you have to buy it all at double the current US RTP, Oh! and you can only discount the items twice a year - See you in 24 months". :rolleyes:
- I just want to continue going down the Toy aisle and be greeted by 2-5 screaming kids arguing about which Transformers character is the "bestest" and which one they want and why so-and-so can't have it.
- I don't want to continue hearing Mums and/or Dads saying: "You've already got that Optimus/Bumblebee" or "I'm sorry honey, maybe they'll have that transformer who's on the back of the box next month?".
- I don't want to hear: "Oh, Jimmy and/or Sally were totally into Transformers last year, they don't even play with them anymore and they cost a mint! - Now all they want is (Insert a Toyline here)...".
I realise that kids change their minds like the underwear they're meant to change regularly; I also realise that kids today aren't like when we were kids, holding interests longer than 5 minutes - I just want there to be a TF fandom 20 years from now etc. you know? :o
/end.rant
