Austin, Texas Finds (Part 3)

[Los]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

At Target Greatland 290/Mopac, I saw Anakin, B. Fett and Maul Star Wars Transformers. They also had a Vader and B. Fett Die Cast Figure.

Walmart 290/Mopac had nothing. Brodie Oaks TRU still has some ROTS Vehicles (Jedi and Driod Fighters). Target on S. Lamar had nothing new.

No sign of U. Clones.

 

[Zuck]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

TRU Lakeline had VOTC Boba Fetts. Wal-Mart Lakeline had new titanium vehicles.

 

[GreyOwl]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

VOTC Boba Fett? Where did that come from ?!

TRU Lakeline had VOTC Boba Fetts. Wal-Mart Lakeline had new titanium vehicles.

 

[Zuck]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

I have no idea. They had about 3.

 

[GreyOwl]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

I just went by TRU Lakeline to pick up a VOTC Boba Fett (got the last one). They had just put out a bunch of new stuff. A case of Geonosis with EVERY figure still present. And a bunch of ROTS two-packs. I saw three that had the Tactical Ops Trooper still there.

 

[rileykill]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

FYI, the S. Lamar TRU has reverted to Carkoon.

 

[Los]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

I just went by TRU Lakeline to pick up a VOTC Boba Fett (got the last one). They had just put out a bunch of new stuff. A case of Geonosis with EVERY figure still present. And a bunch of ROTS two-packs. I saw three that had the Tactical Ops Trooper still there.

I went by and saw 5 ROTS two-packs with Tac. Ops. Troopers. Socred a Mundi/Bly two-pack!

 

[infallible]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

My fiancee is super sweet and ran by the Lakeline TRU a little bit ago. She said they didn't have anything on my list (TacOps, Sora, Scorch, Utapau clone).

 

[stormshadow]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

Thanks for the update, now i don't have to run by there after work. I sure hope some of our fellow collectors are getting this good stuff...i get a sick feeling when i start to think about scalpers possibly reading this thread...

 

[Los]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

My fiancee is super sweet and ran by the Lakeline TRU a little bit ago. She said they didn't have anything on my list (TacOps, Sora, Scorch, Utapau clone).

Wow! I hope fans got those 501st clones too. If I see anymore, I'll post.

 

[rileykill]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

i get a sick feeling when i start to think about scalpers possibly reading this thread...

I get that feeling too - as far as I know no one else that posts watches the Southside stores all that closely, but I have left tips at 8am and seen the store picked dry by my 10am break. Have we been infiltrated by scalpers? Scary, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

A little off topic, but do any of the comic shops have older figs for sale? Sometimes shipping on ebay, etc. is so high I might as well spend the extra cash in town.

 

[GreyOwl]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

Well, it may not be scalpers. After all, we usually only see a few of a desired figure and there are many members on this forum. That's not even counting non-scalpers that aren't on these forums. But you never know, I guess.

I've seen Tactical Ops troopers 3 times now, though, and nobody from this forum has been able to get to them in time. I think next time, maybe I'll buy one or two of them and sell them back to you guys (at cost, of course). Or half cost, if you don't want the other one in the two-pack and it's one I need for customizing.

 

[rileykill]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

That's cool of you and I would definitely be down for that, if you stumble across them and have the extra cash. The Northside TRU seems to be a LOT better than the South one about stocking. Also, I still have never seen a Tac Ops in the store. I'm just really unlucky with that one - I usually see everything at some point.

I think (and really hope) you are right about the scalpers. As long as someone who actually wants them to keep gets to them first, I am totally happy to report.

 

[GreyOwl]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

Speaking of never seeing a figure in the stores, has anybody ever seen a Shocktrooper in Austin? I've never seen one at all. Or a black clone pilot, for that matter.

 

[stormshadow]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

Oh i agree, i'm sure most of these figures are ending up in hands of collectors that don't know about these forums...but you have to wonder considering other cities' threads have been infiltrated recently (in Texas). For now i'm just chalking it up to the fact that the TacOps was hardly seen initially coupled with the fact that it's one sweet army builder as well. The Utapau Clone and Scorch i feel pretty confident about finding as they'll be shipping in more than one wave.

But if anyone feels like picking up an extra or two of them when you see them, that would be awesome too.

 

[stormshadow]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

I saw the Shocktrooper and black Clone pilot once each i think...but i was lucky and hit the motherload of Shocktroopers and Green Commanders in the Woodlands last summer (driving through) when they first hit...

 

[shysty]

Re: Wake up! Geonosis is here!

I missed the geo wave at TRU on parmer last week. Just saw about 8 Sun Facs which means i missed out on 4 clone troopers and 4 scorch.

Assuming that the volume of cases produced will be equal across waves, clone troopers and vader is going to be the most produced figures. CLone troopers are 2 per case in 6 out of the 9 waves between Wave 3 and Wave 4.5. I'll get one eventually when Target/Walmart and tru start stocking 8,9,10 cases at at ime.

 

[Lazarus]

Geonosis wave - issues

Well, I think there are several problems with the Geonosis wave:

1. Crappy case pack-out. Only putting in one clone, one Scorch, and 1 Jedi seems silly. Especially for the clones - Hasbro clearly knows by now that there is a crazy demand for clones. Even having two assortments for this wave, one that was very clone heavy would have helped.

2. High demand. I'll admit, even I have been surprised at the demand for these. Even the Geonosians seem to be flying off the pegs.

3. Army builders. Let's face it, a lot of us like to have more than one clone. Between the regular MOC buyes who want one of each, and the army builders who want as many as they can find, there is a huge demand for 1 per case figures.

4. Scalpers. There - I said it. It's not just an Austin problem - I am pretty sure the Hot Wheels mafia are out looking for these guys. A ton of the auctions on eBay are from die-cast collectors. My wife stopped by the Lakeline TRU yesterday not 2 hours after the report was posted that the figures were they and they were all gone. I have seen that happen more than a few times with this wave. I don't know for sure that there is a problem, but I have my suspicions.

I really hope that we are all able to keep helping each other out. there are a lot of solid collectors on this board like Infallible, Levtox, and others. I have been helped and helped others out before. but this wave is really frustrating me. I was only planning to get 8-10 SW figures this year, but if they are all going to be this difficult, I may have to re-think that plan.

BTW, nothing new at the Lakeline Target or WM this AM.

 

[infallible]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

I never saw the Shocktrooper at retail. If not for Lazarus, I'd have never gotten it. I haven't had to turn to eBay since the EU figures so long ago. Shoot, I haven't even purchased any figures online since right around Clone Wars.

Even if we don't have a scalper issue, we may at least have a moocher issue here. People reading the boards, but not posting. I don't mind helping out fellow collectors, but it'd be nice to at least see a post if they take something. That way we're not wasting time going to places that were already cleaned out.

I remember Lady Jaye mentioning how the Rochester group does their postings in code. Maybe we've come to the point where we'd need to do that here. Either way, this Geonosis wave and the TecOps packs have been really frustrating.

 

[Letovx]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

Man, I should check the post more often, this is a great discussion and something I've thought about lately too. I've seen the Tac Ops 2 packs once (at the TRU at Parmer), and I'd say within an hour of me posting, the four or five that were there when I left (I picked up two) were gone. From reading the thread later, no one that normally post were able to get them.
Same with the Geo wave. I've yet to see a Scorch or Utapau Clone in Austin and I probably check stores twice a week.
I've considered buying the extras and selling them at cost to scummers, but sometimes that's seen as scalping by other members. I had a friend on the boards a couple of years ago who did that and I really appreciated being able to get figures that way, but we kept it on the down low because of the issue of scalping.
Granted, there are alot of fans in Austin (check out the local Austin fan club site) and only a few are actually on the Scum boards (some used to be, saw a problem with scalpers, and quit posting all together). I've met some of these persons and they are very concerned with scalpers on the rebelscum forums.

 

[GreyOwl]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

I finally broke down and bought a black clone pilot off eBay, but I found a somewhat honest seller. He was selling it at "buy it now" for $6.99 and the shipping was $1.50. A little more than retail, but definitely cheaper than most online sources. I still don't have a shocktrooper though.

 

[GreyOwl]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

I was just thinking about this, and I can't see how buying something and then reselling it at cost could be considered scalping. After all, if you're not making ANY profit off of it, what would be the motivation except for trying to help fellow collectors? I think scalping is when somebody tries to make a profit by created an artificial reduction in supply.

 

[Lazarus]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

I agree. Anything that is done at cost should be fine. I have helped out several folks by selling figures at cost.

Where it gets into a grey area for some folks is when you buy to trade (and then try to trade high for your figures). That can be just as bad as selling them on eBay.

I think any time you are buying more than you personally plan to own, you have to ask yourself why you are doing it. I pick stuff up for fellow collectors sometimes, but I try not to buy things just to trade/sell.

 

[Noire]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

I don't see a problem with helping out fellow collectors.
I, myself, end up buying things that I see for both myself and my buddy, who doesn't get out as much.

It's the people who "hide" things and then post about it that get on my nerves.

Still hunting for a Scorch at some point, but I'm not awfully worried about it.

 

[Kimbote]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

I've seen the Tac Ops 2 packs once (at the TRU at Parmer), and I'd say within an hour of me posting, the four or five that were there when I left (I picked up two) were gone. From reading the thread later, no one that normally post were able to get them.

This is PRECISELY why I stopped posting here. On your first post about the TacOps troops, someone called that TRU store and put all ***10*** of those MegaBuy packs "on-hold".

WTF?!?

While Levotx was only trying to be helpful to fellow 'scummers, the anonymonity of these boards allows lurkers to benefit from the hard work of others.

It just doesn't seem fair, does it?

 

[GreyOwl]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

In all fairness, we don't really know that the person that had TRU hold the figures read about it here. However, I understand your frustration. On the other hand, I have benefited many times by people posting here. I think the scalpers would find a way to get the figures even if we stopped posting here, but it helps some legitimate collectors out when we do post.

On that note, I checked Lakeline Target this morning. They STILL haven't restocked. Not sure what they're waiting for, unless they're out of product to restock with. Lakeline Wal-Mart had restocked, but only with Hoth figures. I saw every one of them except for Vader.

 

[infallible]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

Hit Lamar/360 TRU just as they were opening this morning. Nothing new. Any chance the other collector that was there happened to also be a Scummer?

On a side note, we've reached the 500 post mark again, so per the admin's requests, I'm going to open up a new thread for us to continue the discussion.

 

[jaymac]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

I have been lucky enough to see all the clones at retail. I was able to pull the only 2 shocktroopers out of the case late one night at Wal-mart. I saw about 10 black clone pilots around. I did find one tac ops mega pack at the Parmer TRU when it was posted. It does seem that things move really fast when they are posted here.

If I can I will pick the clones up for someone at cost, but I haven't even seen a Scorch yet. Found 2 Utapau Clones but not scorch.

 

[GreyOwl]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

I've actually seen Scorch and the Utapau Clone 3 times around town. Twice at Target and once at TRU. I bought 2 of each during separate occassions (one extra Scorch to customize and one extra clone for my son to play with). The third time I posted on here, but I don't think any members got them before they sold out. I'm actually having just as much trouble finding Jango Fett as I am the other two, which seems odd for a repack. I just never got it the first time around so it's new to me.

 

[Jonathan71]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

GreyOwl I was there at 7 AM and saw thoses cases full. I wonder what it is about the Darth Vader... unless someone is trying to get all the hologram variations.

 

[shysty]

Re: Geonosis wave - issues

POsting on new thread.