G.I. Joe: Classified 6" figures

[CF79]

Anyone having any luck finding the Target exclusives?

 

[Buttmunch]

Despite my better judgment I went in a Target crawl today. I can confirm they are indeed hiding inventory numbers. While I’d didn’t find any Joes, I did find the new Lego Mandalorian set. They had 6 on the shelf, likely a full case. This was a set I heard the stocking guys being asked about over and over again on the first, a hot item to be sure. I took it over to the new fancy scanners and they said they had 0 on hand, 0 in back. Bold face lie. Not anything with a reasonable margin of error. 1-2 I can understand it saying they are out of stock. But a full case? 6 on the shelf? That’s just concealment. I flagged down a red shirt and asked about the Viper. None in stock of course but he did say they sold their last one two days ago! I’ve been watching the numbers like a hawk and they never so much as ever showed one in stock within a 50 mile area. His advice, check the website

So Target is officially fighting dirty against all collectors. That’s just vile and in this pandemic just negligent. I can only hope this debacle has convinced them to stop carrying collector lines and stick to things that don’t sell like snap ships and ghostbusters.

 

[ridetofight]

I worked for target for 21 years until a few weeks ago. They don't care nearly enough to orchestrate that. At least not as a company. Single stores, it still seems unlikely. Single team members, more likely. I worked at an RDC in quality control, doing spreadsheets six times a day to figure out where OHs get screwed up. It happens constantly. You're noticing it because you're not following 15 other random items that the same deal happens with. OHs are off all over any store, but it's more likely individual team members are exploiting their positions for profit. As long as they don't use their discount, Target is powerless to control what their team members do with items they've bought. Target does not care. It's just another DPCI in a sea of DPCIs.

 

[CF79]

Oh for sure. 1 Viper showed up on pop finder at two Targets near me the other day. I asked to look and 1 lady said they just got a new case in. She went in the back and came out and said there weren’t any. Meanwhile another guy asked an employee about the new Marvel Legends Spiderverse line. He came out with all of them from the back but they were missing a SpiderGwen. He said he pulled the case himself. Yet there was 1 figure short in the case. It was an odd number. So he was straight up lying about it to the guy saying the cases were odd numbered. He definitely pulled that Gwen because it’s short packed and the most valuable. Then magically both Vipers disappears from pop finder that evening.

 

[chewblacca]

After checking both pop finder and the target website, which both said zero for Vipers everywhere in my area, I asked a red shirt to do a dpci search. He told me a store 10 miles away had some. I quickly drive over and sure enough it was there. How is it both pop finder and the target app be wrong?

 

[Buttmunch]

Well, like I said earlier they are 100% concealing inventory from public view. I know ridetofight believes otherwise, and I don’t doubt his experience, but the evidence seems to indicate otherwise. If it was just happening on a local level, that’s one thing, but seeing it nation wide indicates a corporate level plan of action. It doesn’t seem a well thought out plan to me. It just seems we’ll end up bothering the employees more now that we can’t check stock on our own.

I just saw a guy on another board find a full case of 6 on the shelf at a store showing 0 in stock. I really hate that now we have to go back to archaic random hunting or calling. Not a ‘retro’ experience I want to relive.

 

[screamingmetal]

Had to go get cat food so I swung by my local Target. Nothing in store but I asked an employee and he checked the DPCI; one store that's a bit far away from me might have the Viper. Not sure why he would say that a specific store might have one if it didn't show some stock at that store on his device, however Target, Popfinder, and Brickseek showed nothing. I think they are hiding their inventory.
Too far away from me to run there, I'll just keep checking more locally.

 

[Buttmunch]

And apparently now Target is jacking the price of these up to $25! Something seriously wrong is going on with Target.

 

[mistermark]

I'm just going to focus on the ones I can get at my LCS. No need to teat my hair out as I think they're being kept hidden or the staff is selling them. Hopefully we get a camo Storm Shadow soon and a regular Firefly and Baroness release

 

[Azrael23]

And apparently now Target is jacking the price of these up to $25! Something seriously wrong is going on with Target.

Indeed. And both Hasbro and Target are complicit in creating this type of atmosphere. Between jacking up prices and staffer hoarding and buying
up stock I only hope it doesn't have a long term negative effect on the line.

I'm just going to focus on the ones I can get at my LCS. No need to teat my hair out as I think they're being kept hidden or the staff is selling them. Hopefully we get a camo Storm Shadow soon and a regular Firefly and Baroness release

I believe that as well. I'm hearing from a number of sources of staffer secretly hoarding and buying up stock once they punch out.

 

[Buttmunch]

I mean frankly they’d be stupid not to at least try that. Seeing people lose their crap over them clearly telegraphs how valuable they are. But if Target can’t even get these on the shelves, I wonder if Hasbro would be able to call foul or beach of contract or something. Surely Target corporate wouldn’t big happy to hear that. Yeah a sale is a sale but if actual customers can’t ever purchase them, what’s the whole point of that exclusive? Might as well run some golden ticket contest on target brand products for all the good mythical items would be. At a certain point this makes no sense to Target or Hasbro right? This whole fiasco has just been so baffling.

 

[mikedanger]

I got lucky with a random Firefly on the pegs(none showing on popfindr) and then a buddy lucked into a Viper first thing in the morning and hooked me up. Still out hunting for friends but coming up bone dry.

 

[Bardoon]

Well, like I said earlier they are 100% concealing inventory from public view. I know ridetofight believes otherwise, and I don?t doubt his experience, but the evidence seems to indicate otherwise. If it was just happening on a local level, that?s one thing, but seeing it nation wide indicates a corporate level plan of action. It doesn?t seem a well thought out plan to me. It just seems we?ll end up bothering the employees more now that we can?t check stock on our own.

I just saw a guy on another board find a full case of 6 on the shelf at a store showing 0 in stock. I really hate that now we have to go back to archaic random hunting or calling. Not a ?retro? experience I want to relive.

Target is definitely obscuring their inventory. I'm in the Washington DC area and it's happening here. Both popfindr and Target App have been showing 0 stock for Vipers and Firefly all within 100 miles of me for about 2 weeks now (and there's plenty of Targets). I check it daily and semi-regularly...especially in the morning before Target opens when you expect to see those numbers. A lot of Targets have also now put out the tabs for Firefly and Viper.

G.I. Joe Facebook groups everyone is complaining about it and then is 'finding' product on the shelves. It is certainly nationwide. Maybe Target changed their system or has done this so employees aren't bothered as much. Who knows?

Also...funny/not funny-if-it-happens-to-you reporting on the Viper pre-orders. Lots of people who pre-ordered the Viper have had to approve Target's "Backstock" requests. A few have "received" Vipers from Target.com, but guess what? They're getting the Ghostbusters' Peter VENKMAN figure(s) instead! Major screw-up.

I wouldn't mind the old school toy hunting if there was actual product regularly on shelves...but since Target just seems to get 6 figures every 1-3 days, it's ridiculous.

The one toyline (besides the ones no one wants) that I see is consistently being stocked is the new DC Multiverse line.

 

[Boba Ben]

I saw Firefly stock on Brickseek on New Years Day and there weren't any other collectors waiting to get them, so I was able to walk in a few minutes after opening and get one from the stockperson easily. I saw a case of Vipers at my local Target pop up last week and had to wait outside for about 45 minutes, but was able to get one of those too.

It seems like Target's inventory system has been buggy and hit or miss very often. I've found the Neca TMNT figures and various other items in the store when Brickseek and other inventory checkers were showing no stock available and have had them show stock available for stuff like the Baroness set several times, and the employees couldn't find the item anywhere when I went to the store to buy it. It's been the same thing with Wal Mart too. They're useful tools, but not always reliable.

 

[Buttmunch]

Had the day off for the holiday and decided to go on a blind target run. None of the stores showed any in stock on pop finder or the Target app. Got to the store. None on the shelf. This is a new store so they have the fancy price scanners. Pull up the DPCI# and they show 3 on hand and 0 in back. Progress! I requested a team member and she comes over and punches it into the handheld. She says she’ll check with the toy manager and see if he’s holding them in the back room. She’s gone 10-15 minutes. I’m thinking she’s forgotten about me. When she gets back she says it looks like they just came in on the truck and toy manager is on break. I tell her I’ll wait. I continue to roam the toy isles for another 20-25 minutes and she apologized for the wait and went to see if the manager was off break. She comes back about 5 minutes later with a single Viper. It was all they could find she claims. I know that’s probably BS but I was happy to take the victory. I thanked her genuinely and made sure to get her name and headed to check out.

I had a return to make and I had spent enough time at that Target so I went to my next closest one. Made my return and headed to the toys. Zilch. Scanner also shows nothing. Interesting it said none available in any nearby stores. I don’t think they sold the other 2 in 15 minutes without anyone else at the other store looking for them. So it looks like the store scanners are either blocking each other or not sharing at least.

I’d have liked to grab more but I’m honestly content with just the one now. The Viper is more of a specialty trooper than the regular Cobra Trooper so I’m ok with not being able to get a small army of them. 2 would have been nice but no doubt a regular release will happen so this guy can be made into a commander. So relived to finally have secured one but I really hate the games I had to play to get it. I can only hope this is the end of these exclusives or at least the last of them being under produced.

 

[Bardoon]

Nice story Buttmunch!

In G.I. Joe lore; The Cobra Viper is essentially a better-equipped and better-trained Cobra Trooper ("Blue-shirt"). They might be akin to an Army Ranger but definitely not quite Green Berets or SEALs, etc.

From the standard 'Viper', a Viper can then move into a "specialized" Viper track and this is where we see the various "Vipers" from the old RAH line and beyond: Tele-Viper (comms), Alley Viper (Urban Assault), S.A.W. Viper (Semi-Automatic Weapons/Heavy Machine Gunner), Toxo-Viper (Biological Warfare), Flak-Viper (anti-aircraft), etc. The Viper specialization list goes on and covers a lot of military specialization tracks. Ice Vipers and Hydro Vipers technically fall under the Snow Serpents and Cobra Eel tracks even though those don't have the 'Viper' designations.

The most elite (aside from the individual Cobra characters) are the Crimson Guards. "SIEGIES" (CGs) are trained to infiltrate American society in various job tracks (doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc.) to secretly push Cobra's agenda. Many of them get plastic surgery so they look similar to each other and are able to "replace" each other in case the original CG passes away. The "Fred Broca" series of Crimson Guards is probably the most infamous.

 

[unmc2001]

 

[Ljaat]

Interesting email I just received from bbts..

"Hasbro has informed us of an important design change regarding the G.I. Joe Classified Wave 1 Figures. They are doing a rolling production change in deco/colorway on the Duke, Roadblock, and Scarlett figures."

 

[mistermark]

Interesting email I just received from bbts..

"Hasbro has informed us of an important design change regarding the G.I. Joe Classified Wave 1 Figures. They are doing a rolling production change in deco/colorway on the Duke, Roadblock, and Scarlett figures."

Yes they've already revealed the new paint work on the Hisstank forum. Same figures just more toned down and they look great and better match the new Flint and Lady Jaye. Either color scheme looks great though imo

 

[LV702Eldar]

Finally have Firefly & Viper thanks to my son in law who knows a local collector that sold them for retail. Funny thing is my son in law works at Target in the Toy Dept. but wasn't able to get them at his store because he was off on the days they came in. So I lucked out and my set is up to date. Hopefully no more Target Exclusives for awhile.