Around the Toy Aisle

6-9-2009

This past week I was on the road for work and used the opportunity to stop at some Walmart and Target stores that I wouldn't normally be able to visit.  It was interesting to find that there was very little difference among stores over quite a large part of New York State.

I stopped in Walmart stores in Ithaca, Auburn, Waterloo, Queensbury and Oneonta and Target in Queensbury and Ithaca.  I'll tackle the Walmart stores first, particularly the three that I visit the most frequently.

Walmart - Ithaca & Waterloo

Walmart in Ithaca and Waterloo are not Supercenter stores.  The Ithaca store is relatively large but makes odd choices on what they stock as far as toy lines are concerned.  They very rarely carry exclusives, have not carried significant portions of toy lines and when they have a drought in toy stocking, the place looks like the Sahara.  Waterloo, while smaller, seems to do better on some accounts but not currently.

Transformers

On May 30th the Transformers figures were released in support of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  Walmart seems to have jumped on them quite well from the start.  The Deluxe and Voyager lines are prominent as is the new Scout Class.  I'm not familiar with all of the releases but the opening day stock seems to be available at both stores.

(The other) Summer Movie Lines

Neither store is carrying the Terminator Salvation or  Star Trek lines of action figures.  While both stores do have some Wolverine figures, neither had the large aisle display nor did they have end cap placement for anything. 

Star Wars

The Star Wars section is quite picked over.  Neither store has the exclusive Comic Packs and while I know the Ithaca store never stocked them, Waterloo probably didn't but I can't be positive.  Both stores had only one or two Titanium ships, a smattering of Mighty Muggs, Galactic Heroes, and non-exclusive Comic Packs.  Role play items are around but, as usual, I didn't pay close attention.  Neither store had Battle Packs and neither seem to have shelf space for them anyway.  I don't recall seeing Evolution sets but they may carry them.  Both stores have a few ships but nothing of note.

Basic action figures included some of all three lines, Clone Wars, Legacy Collection and Saga Legends.  Nothing of particular note, however.  Both stores appear to have received Clone Wars figures up to wave 5 (or 2009 wave 1) which included 212th Clone Trooper, Magnaguard, Padme and a couple others.  The TLC figures mostly include Yarna and the Organa family with a few carry forward figures here and there such as Kashyyyk Troopers and the odd ANH figure such as a Space Trooper or either Luke or Han as Stormtroopers.  As far as the Saga Legends line is concerned, nothing stood out so probably no Snowtroopers or anything that new. 

Unleashed is hanging around but it's easy to tell that it's a dying line.  Transformers still maintain a presence, however, including some newly released vehicles.

G.I. Joe

The G.I. Joe line is pretty much nonexistent at both stores.  The Ithaca store hasn't stocked since the first of the year.  What had carried over in the single packs and comic packs sold through in January and it's been empty since.  I don't recall seeing anything at the Waterloo store but there may have been the odd comic pack somewhere.

Superheroes

Neither store appears to be carrying the new Marvel Universe 3.75" figures.  While there were a few Batman toys on the pegs, the DC universe wasn't well represented in either store.  It seems that the smaller Walmart stores have conceded the superhero toys to Target and Toys-R-Us.

The Rest

While the Ithaca store has a decent stock on the various Lego lines, I didn't look closely in Waterloo.  I also didn't spend time browsing through the Japanimation toys at either store this week.

Walmart - Auburn, Queensbury, Oneonta

All three of these are Supercenters but serve three differently sized cities which was reflected in the size of the toy sections at the stores.

Transformers

Auburn, which I'm most familiar with, has a medium sized toy area and normally is well stocked.  Their Transformers section was packed with all the new toys including the Deluxe, Voyager, Scout and Leader class figures, Robot Replicas, role play and Robot Hero figures.  This movie will probably be the number one film of the year and there is every possibility the toy line will go along for the ride.  Hasbro and retail are definitely ready for it.

Queensbury, the largest of the three toy sections, was stocked as well as Auburn was.  Oneonta has the smallest of the three toy sections and still made at least a 1/3 of an aisle available for the new toys.  Both had the basic Deluxe, Voyager and Scout Class vehicles with Queensbury adding the Leader Class, Robot Heroes and other toys.

Summer Movie Lines

All three stores had larger offerings here.  While the Auburn store had the Wolverine aisle display back in May, they were now reduced to an end cap of figures.  Queensbury had a similar amount in their regular action figure aisle, including the exclusive figures, and I'm assuming they had the aisle display at one point as well.  I don't recall seeing these figures in Oneonta but admit I wasn't looking.

All three stores are carrying the Terminator and Star Trek lines to a certain extend.  All three had end caps for the Star Trek figures including the three and six inch figures, playsets and role play items.  Auburn and Queensbury added in the Hot Wheels die-cast ships but nothing but the NCC-1701 refit and the Reliant.  Oneonta didn't have the Hot Wheels ships but included the rest.  I don't recall seeing the Playmates Enterprise at any of them but it may have been there.

Terminator figures were on end caps or the back wall (in Oneonta) and originally came in cardboard shelf displays.  I really didn't pay much attention except that I did notice the 6" John Connor figure at a couple of the stores.  Hadn't seen that before.

Star Wars

These stores actually had better selections, if you call more abundant ANH TLC figures "better."  All three had a bunch of SL and CW (up to wave 5) figures.  All stores had some level of stock for Comic Packs, Titanium, Transformers, Role Play, ships, Battle Packs, Unleashed, and Galactic Heroes.  I actually purchased a couple items in Queensbury and Auburn.  I scored the Titanium Hounds Tooth and Virago in Auburn and the IG-2000 in Queensbury (along with a CW Magnaguard).

All three of these stores actually showed the recent wave of the Titanium ships, mostly picked over, but a couple hidden gems in there.  Role Play items were also in various degrees of cluttering things up.

While Auburn actually had some of their exclusive Comic Packs on hand, the other two stores were only showing the regular releases.  They were decently stocked, however.

G.I. Joe

Nothing from this line really stands out as being memorable at Queensbury or Oneonta but Auburn did have a couple single figures, Combat Heroes and a few comic packs.

I guess at this point it shouldn't be a big surprise that there isn't a lot of stock out there for this line.  The end of this month, or the beginning of July, is when the huge push for the movie will come.  We'll be seeing a lot more stock at that point.

Superheroes

I didn't pay these lines any attention this trip.  I don't recall seeing any of the Marvel Universe figures though.

Actually, there's one exception to this; I did see the new movie version of Harvey Dent, in full Two Face mode, from The Dark Knight.  I believe that was in Oneonta and I was kind of surprised to see him.  Looked good!

The Rest

While I did look around for some hidden bargains, nothing else stands out.  All three stores have their share of Lego and other toys in the aisles.

Target - Ithaca and Queensbury

Transformers

As with the WM stores, Target stocked up on the Transformer movie toys a week ago.  Both stores had two end caps with toys as well as being in the standard aisle.  All the normal lines were present as were the Role Play items.  Locally, unlike WM, Target is actually carrying the Robot Replicas line but all else is pretty equal.

Summer Movie Lines

Both stores are still showing a Wolverine end cap but I never did get excited enough about this line to bother looking through the pegs during my stops this week.

Terminator has an aisle presence with the 3.75" and 6" figures as well as some Role Play items and the Hunter Killer vehicle.  I did finally see some of the second wave of 6" figures at a couple WM stores, but neither Target seemed to have that stock.

Star Trek was in both stores as well.  Neither store had any Hot Wheels die-cast ships beyond the Enterprise refit and Reliant.  Still looking for that Bird of Prey. 

These three lines had potential and while Star Trek and Terminator do sell, neither is setting any type of record pace.

Star Wars

Again we're looking at three lines of action figures at these stores.  The Organa family, along with Yarna, are stinking up the TLC pegs while SL seems to be selling.  Both stores actually have a decent backup of CW figures up through wave 5.  I know the local store has had wave 6 a couple times but there wasn't any sign of that this week, WM stores included.

While they were sold out, both stores are carrying the Battle Packs.  Locally we have Evolutions on the shelf and I believe I saw some in Queensbury also.  Titanium is scarce but both stores had Unleashed, some common Comic Packs and Transformers.  Muggs are still on the shelf as are the vehicles.  Both stores have the newest wave which includes the Magnaguard Fighter and Vulture Droid.  Role Play is still a decent seller and both stores was stocked up.

Besides the exclusive wave at Toys-R-Us, Target is the only store I've seen the new marbles from JAKKS Pacific.  Both stores had some marbles.  Both stores also had some of the new Bobble Heads.  While the local store carries them in the back with the collectible card games, the Queensbury store had them in the action figure aisle.

Galactic Heroes also have a decent presence at Target.  That includes the Battle Packs that seemed to be in abundance. 

Not in abundance, Target exclusive Rancor with Luke Skywalker, which I still have not seen.

G.I. Joe

Target is probably the current go-to store for Joe.  Both stores had single carded figures, Comic Packs, vehicles, Resolute figure packs, DVD packs and 12" figures.  Both stores also have their exclusive planes.  Locally they just have the Tiger Force and Python Patrol repaints while Queensbury had the regular versions from 2008.

But, while both stores have stock, that stock is aging.  They're also poised for the movie figure release, they just haven't sold down as far as the Transformers were prior to their launch in May.

Superheroes

Next to TRU, Target is the place to be for superhero figures.  Both stores are carrying the Marvel Universe lines and both had what appeared to be remnants of the latest wave.

Target is now also the exclusive seller for the 5" Justice League Unlimited figures and both stores had various amounts of stock.

The Rest

I'm forgetting the extent of the Lego section at the Queensbury Walmart, but Target definitely puts the other WM stores I've talked about to shame.  Both stores seemed to have more lines than the WM stores, not to mention more depth to the lines they do have.  Toys-R-Us still probably kicks all their asses, but Target is no slouch.

I didn't think to mention this for the WM stores specifically, but all the stores I've been in have a decent stock of WWE wrestling figures.  I believe JAKKS Pacific is scheduled to end production on that line, maybe the end of this year.  So, some time in the near future, we may see that slot open up in stores.

Both Target stores have a healthy Japanimation section.  Ben-10 and Bakugan are big sellers locally and I would assume at the other stores as well. 

The Wrap-up

I hit these stores over a 4 day period this week.  It was a lot of miles between stores and there were certainly more I could have stopped in, especially between here and Queensbury.

The Walmart Supercenter stores definitely had some better stock than the other two stores did.  I don't know if that's necessarily based on the population served because I don't believe the Oneonta store serves a larger customer base than Ithaca does, especially not when college is in session.

On the Star Wars front specifically it was nice to see some of the newer Titanium ships.  There is a big potential for the last waves of this line to be hard to find and Hasbro is looking to wrap things up this year. 

The Clone Wars figures were out in abundance, up to that Magnaguard/212th Trooper/Padme wave.  I believe the following wave, with Jar Jar, Kit and the 41st Clone, is the last before the new line look takes over.  So that should give the stores some time to catch up on that.  Since the stores were almost up to date I would guess that this line sells well in the stores I visited.  I know it does well locally.

Saga Legends, while having a decent presence in the stores I visited, did seem to be picked over when I looked.  That would suggest it's selling well as it is here.  TLC, on the other hand, seems backed up.  I didn't see any evidence that the new Empire wave had hit any of the stores I was in.  Based on previous years I might suggest looking online for this and the AOTC wave.

One thing is for sure, no matter what store I was in, there were people in the toy aisle browsing.  Kids were leading the way during my stops so I can't speak to the collector presence in the stores I visited.  That may change over the next week or so as the younger kids get out of school for the summer and families start taking vacation.

In two weeks I'll be heading south to Pennsylvania for Wizard World Philadelphia and I'm sure I'll sneak in a few stops along the way.  It will be interesting to see if the trends in Upstate NY are reflected in the Southern Tier of NY and the eastern half of PA.