SWNZ Forums

(I'm not sure if this is in the correct section so apologises if its not)

I just popped into my local Warehouse store and made my way to the Star Wars section for a bit of a bargain hunt, as I usually do, and was confused to find the section filled with girls dolls.
I had a search around the toy section thinking the SW toys must have been moved to a different area but after not being able to find them I resorted to asking a member of the staff. He lead me to some SW merchandise that had been relegated to the 'sale' sections at the end of the toy aisles.

.....I asked what had happened to the other toys, figures, light sabres, ships and he had no idea but found out that not only had they lost their shelf space but had also been stacked away in the store room and there were no immediate plans to get them back out. I was shocked at this and never thought that SW would be off the shelves, especially with Christmas coming up.

So I guess its safe to say that Star Wars is dying in my little part of NZ.....is this sort of thing happening to anyone else??

Wow, interesting. Star Wars toys were taking up their usual shelf space at our local TW when I called past earlier today.

We only have one Toyworld in Taranaki and their Star Wars section seems yo be getting smaller each month.....even the New Plymouth Warehouse seems to be downsizing their SW section. Not a good time at all

I've noticed similar with other stores the selection really is dying off and hasbro aren't helping they flood the market with peg warmers and it only moves during sales lol.
Kind of a waste to sell it locally, and collectors already buy from overseas.
Its a horrid cycle that hasbro nz has forced everyone into by making sure we don't get exclusives or a wave every few years which means buying locally isn't ideal for anyone wanting a whole selection.

even mightyape can't get the exclusives its really troubling.

It doesn't help when Hasbro release the same figures on different cards.....I purchased a Luke Skywalker (Jedi Master) on a red card and I was disappointed to see pretty much the exact figure released on a yellow card as well. Before my Warehouse removed the figures from the shelf both were still available....it really drives home that Hasbro have produced way over demand and now they're forced to do what ever they can to get rid of them.

It's not all doom and gloom though because I did get a lot of 3.75 Han Solo figures and I'm so happy I got them. The Range Trooper and StormTrooper (Mimban) have already become favourites of mine.

On my frequent trips to and from Auckland from Taranaki I've noticed that even the Variety ($2 Shops) have stopped bringing in bootleg SW merchandise as well.....Im glad I scooped up everything I did when I saw it.

Seems like they haven't been bringing in new figures for ages. I have been buying SW stuff from overseas for at least 6 months now as I stopped going to local stores since they almost never have the latest stuff. Hasbro releasing lot of exclusive figures (Walmart, Walgreens, etc) doesn't help as they are not available on the international market, which contributes to the 'death' of SW merchandise.

Hasbro increasing their local price (for at least Marvel Legends) doesn't help, they went from $40 to $45. I no longer buy them locally as it costs almost the same or sometimes even cheaper, when buying from online stores in US but at least I am guaranteed to get them since Hasbro NZ don't release all the figures here (e.g. 2017 X-Men).

Dawfydd wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 5:59 pm I've noticed similar with other stores the selection really is dying off and hasbro aren't helping they flood the market with peg warmers and it only moves during sales lol.
Kind of a waste to sell it locally, and collectors already buy from overseas.
Its a horrid cycle that hasbro nz has forced everyone into by making sure we don't get exclusives or a wave every few years which means buying locally isn't ideal for anyone wanting a whole selection.

even mightyape can't get the exclusives its really troubling.

Indeed and we'd need a television ad to really rally the collectors in our country to action they don't seem to visit websites very often we have about 10-15 people who check here weekly then bunches who might check in every couple of months, rebelscum nz section has about 1 person in it also haha.

I really do think we kiwi collectors want more stock you can see that easily just from Trademe how quickly rare items get scooped up, and the traffic and how popular that section is, but if there isn't a movement behind asking hasbro to allow exclusives and fair prices to get to Nz we are screwed.

I think if you have the cash for bulk that is the way to go, buying boxes a couple at a time it really hurts somebody like me who is a one figure a week kinda buyer.

I do hope in the future the stores start refusing the crap or they open up to us a little and try to get feedback they're losing out on money ordering over supply of box Y when box Z would yield much more interest etc lol

My locals in chch have had such a small selection for months.

I hate to inform you but this has happened worldwide, Hasbro's star wars merchandise has been sitting on shelves and nobody is buying it .it is a direct result of Disney destroying the franchise devaluing the brand and splitting the fandom .Hasbro's profit Margin's and solo's box office results reflect this # fire Kathleen Kennedy

mike wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 6:32 am I hate to inform you but this has happened worldwide, Hasbro's star wars merchandise has been sitting on shelves and nobody is buying it .it is a direct result of Disney destroying the franchise devaluing the brand and splitting the fandom .Hasbro's profit Margin's and solo's box office results reflect this # fire Kathleen Kennedy

Indeed, i had noticed that from other sources.

I am not sure what they are going to do exactly they don't seem likely to listen to fans to help repair the situation, even though we could give them 4 years worth of figures to make in order which would make them tonnes of money, leaving space for new movie figures to be reviewed after the films come out.. having stock for the films hasn't seemed to have helped lol.