darkSpyro

Quote: Tashiji

I can't believe any stores would make the asinine decision not to limit quantities here. Some real morons in charge at those locations...

Poor form, man.

We had no formal line, ~20 people waiting, plenty of figures and everyone who was there for the first 20 mins got at least one, with more left over behind the counter. No limits, no tickets and no issues.

Just because some folks are idiots and fight over this kind of stuff doesn't mean every store needs to go to DEFCON-1.

Went to the nearest TRU 5 minutes after open time. Went in to find at least 30 angry people waiting for a rain check. I was a little disappointed and then it hit me that there was another TRU 5 mins away that not many people care to go to or even know about. So I gave it a try and headed on over there and when I got in no one was there and they had 10 Ninjini's and plenty of Eye Brawl and Thumpbacks.

I was laughing inside because those people at the other store cussing the employees should have just shut up and went to the other TRU nearby, I won in the end.

I picked up Ninjini and Eye brawl, completing my giant collection!

My TRU gave us one ticket each in our line outside (we had formed a line without any prompting). We then traded the ticket for a Ninjini that they kept behind the customer service counter. Easy. Unfortunately, there weren't enough for everybody.

Quote: Skylandscaper

My TRU gave us one ticket each in our line outside. We then traded the ticket for a Ninjini that they kept behind the customer service counter. Easy. Unfortunately, there weren't enough for everybody.

The best way to do it. No muss, no fuss. It was orderly at my TRU, despite Ninjini not even being on the shelf and the clerk handing them out as he opened the boxes. It's just better to limit conflict. People will be upset that TRU ran out, but it wouldn't be because of a Black-Friday-esque melee.

I went to a TRU at 9:30, just one other guy waiting. They let us stand in the vestibule but said they didn't get Ninjini yet, but to call in 30 minutes. I raced over to the next nearest TRU and got there at 10:10 and she was already gone... Went back to the first one just to be certain and not only did they have Ninjini, they held one behind the counter for me in case I called. Yay!!!!

They sold all 6 to the first 3 people.
I asked why they were letting people buy 2!
She said it was buy 1 get 1 40%.
No, why 2 of the same new guy?
She just shrugged.

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: Tashiji

I can't believe any stores would make the asinine decision not to limit quantities here. Some real morons in charge at those locations...

Poor form, man.

We had no formal line, ~20 people waiting, plenty of figures and everyone who was there for the first 20 mins got at least one, with more left over behind the counter. No limits, no tickets and no issues.

Just because some folks are idiots and fight over this kind of stuff doesn't mean every store needs to go to DEFCON-1.

I wouldn't say it's in poor form at all. Clearly not limiting figures sold is bad from a business standpoint. Pretty sure I don't need to enlighten you as to why that is. Twelve satisfied customers with one figure a piece is clearly and objectively better for the store than one satisfied customer with twelve figures. Heck, keeping them behind the counter and just funneling them out of the box is easier than unpacking them for display, so don't give me this DEFCON-1 crap. It wouldn't have taken anyone any special amount of effort to make this happen at all locations, and I'm not willing to have this debate with you, because there's no debate to be had.

Toys R US Centerville, OH
They had only 16 and handed out 16 tickets one per person per ticket. I got mine.. 16 people in line before 10 opening and man people after 10 open were quite mad that there were none left for sale.. I had a great day.

Quote: Tashiji

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: Tashiji

I can't believe any stores would make the asinine decision not to limit quantities here. Some real morons in charge at those locations...

Poor form, man.

We had no formal line, ~20 people waiting, plenty of figures and everyone who was there for the first 20 mins got at least one, with more left over behind the counter. No limits, no tickets and no issues.

Just because some folks are idiots and fight over this kind of stuff doesn't mean every store needs to go to DEFCON-1.

I wouldn't say it's in poor form at all. Clearly not limiting figures sold is bad from a business standpoint. Pretty sure I don't need to enlighten you as to why that is. Twelve satisfied customers with one figure a piece is clearly and objectively better for the store than one satisfied customer with twelve figures. Heck, keeping them behind the counter and just funneling them out of the box is easier than unpacking them for display, so don't give me this DEFCON-1 crap. It wouldn't have taken anyone any special amount of effort to make this happen at all locations, and I'm not willing to have this debate with you, because there's no debate to be had.

I agree with handing out tickets. I know it is a different level, but when new systems come out and they don't hand out tickets or do something, we have all seen what happens. Really the fighting could be handled or controlled by the store if they were to hand out tickets.

Quote: Tashiji

\Clearly not limiting figures sold is bad from a business standpoint. Pretty sure I don't need to enlighten you as to why that is. Twelve satisfied customers with one figure a piece is clearly and objectively better for the store than one satisfied customer with twelve figures.

You say this, but we have an entire thread dedicated to crying because Walmart cancelled Molten Hot Dog orders that contained multiple figures and someone in this very thread gave an example of a store that had a "Limit One" and some kid left crying because his dad could only get one and he had two kids with him.

In my case, I bought three - one for myself and one for two different co-workers (who are going to be super-excited, because they were both working and I told them I was going and they both asked me to get one. Told them ahead of time that it'd probably be limit one, but that I'd try.).

You're right, I wouldn't have been upset at all if I could only get one (in fact, I was second in line, grabbed mine off the peg and stood back and waited for others to get their figures, then got the other two, although they were behind the counter at this point, as they filled the pegs and then had several boxes behind the counter). But then, I wouldn't be upset if I went in at Noon and they were sold out. Because I don't get upset when I can't get the toy I want.

Heck, they wouldn't even need to print the tickets if they didn't want to. Just keep them behind the counter and tell customers they can only have one to their face. Now we're solving problems and not creating them by lazily plopping the entire stock on a table and acting surprised when one guy buys the whole assortment and you're stuck fielding a dozen complaints from everyone else who waited outside the store that morning.

Quote: Bazinga

I agree with handing out tickets. I know it is a different level, but when new systems come out and they don't hand out tickets or do something, we have all seen what happens. Really the fighting could be handled or controlled by the store if they were to hand out tickets.

Funny. I've been at Midnight launches for the GameCube, Original DS, 3DS, Wii and Wii U (and have been involved with launches for the PS2, original xBox, the 360 and PS3). Never been at one that handed out tickets and never had or witnessed an incident.

The whole Wal-Mart cancelling orders is a bit different in my opinion, I don't agree with crying because you didn't get one, however some stores could have done better. Wal-Mart could have done better by having a better eye on their online stock and not letting a bunch of people order and then turn around and cancel them because they didn't have enough stock.


Handing out tickets is a clear way to make sure the people who were their first got them, and to make sure that the most amount of people could get them.

I applaud your action of letting everyone who was their get one before taking more. However, in most cases it sounds like most stores had less than yours did to go around.

Quote: Tashiji

you're stuck fielding a dozen complaints from everyone else who waited outside the store that morning.

Easy.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying a store should *never* have queue lines or limits. I'm saying that it should be managed at the store level on a store-by-store basis, depending on the needs of that store. That's why there are store managers - so they can manage their store based on the needs of their community.

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: Bazinga

I agree with handing out tickets. I know it is a different level, but when new systems come out and they don't hand out tickets or do something, we have all seen what happens. Really the fighting could be handled or controlled by the store if they were to hand out tickets.

Funny. I've been at Midnight launches for the GameCube, Original DS, 3DS, Wii and Wii U (and have been involved with launches for the PS2, original xBox, the 360 and PS3). Never been at one that handed out tickets and never had or witnessed an incident.

It don't happen everywhere. I am sure you have seen what happens in some cases. It just seems that a little better planning/action on both sides would made it go a lot smoother.

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: Tashiji

\Clearly not limiting figures sold is bad from a business standpoint. Pretty sure I don't need to enlighten you as to why that is. Twelve satisfied customers with one figure a piece is clearly and objectively better for the store than one satisfied customer with twelve figures.

You say this, but we have an entire thread dedicated to crying because Walmart cancelled Molten Hot Dog orders that contained multiple figures and someone in this very thread gave an example of a store that had a "Limit One" and some kid left crying because his dad could only get one and he had two kids with him.

In my case, I bought three - one for myself and one for two different co-workers (who are going to be super-excited, because they were both working and I told them I was going and they both asked me to get one. Told them ahead of time that it'd probably be limit one, but that I'd try.).

You're right, I wouldn't have been upset at all if I could only get one (in fact, I was second in line, grabbed mine off the peg and stood back and waited for others to get their figures, then got the other two, although they were behind the counter at this point, as they filled the pegs and then had several boxes behind the counter). But then, I wouldn't be upset if I went in at Noon and they were sold out. Because I don't get upset when I can't get the toy I want.

I don't get upset about toys either. I get upset about being told via e-mail that one is available, making time to go to the store early, waiting out front for half an hour, and having one guy elbow his way past the line he didn't even wait in and purchase a whole stack of them because the store wasn't prepared. I'm not even mad at the hypothetical scalper, he's just taking advantage of the store's lack of preparation. I'm mad at the store for creating hype, creating an event, and then not being prepared to service the line they themselves brought in. Gas and time aren't free, and if I'm making a trip to the store on a Wednesday morning happen, and I'm anywhere near the front of the line, I expect the store to at least have reasonable accommodations in place. No need for tickets, but when they circulate hype and don't enforce limitations, it reflects badly on the entire establishment.

And for what it's worth, I did get a Ninjini today, so I'm not sour graping about the whole thing. Just saying it's shortsighted and ill-informed to allow one customer to take half the stock when they themselves manufactured the line AND the demand today.

Quote: Bazinga

The whole Wal-Mart cancelling orders is a bit different in my opinion, I don't agree with crying because you didn't get one, however some stores could have done better. Wal-Mart could have done better by having a better eye on their online stock and not letting a bunch of people order and then turn around and cancel them because they didn't have enough stock.

I'd say there's a pretty good chance that's all automated. I seriously doubt there's someone sitting at a computer screen saying "Oh, look.. another Molten Hot Dog order..."

The orders likely went through automated, Walmart sold out (or oversold), was like "what the heck? How'd we sell out of this so quickly?!?", reviewed the orders, saw that there were orders with multiples, so they set a limit and cancelled everyone over the limit, returning the merchandise to stock.

It's similar to having the stock on the shelf and when someone brings 24 Ninjini's to the register, they're told "Oh, hey - these are limit one." - Except that's it's mostly automated.

No Ninjini for me : (

The store near me opened at 10am and I arrived about 10:05. All sold out. An employee informed me they only received 4 Ninjini's and there was a line 2 hours before the store opened. I guess I will wait until Gamestop or Amazon gets their stock.

All a matter of location, I guess.

I went to my local TRU Express (Pittsfield, MA) around 1 PM just for the heck of it. They still had about a half-dozen Ninjini and Eye-Brawl on the shelves in plain sight. Given how they rarely bother to keep Skylanders in-stock or release them the same day the major TRUs do, I was pretty surprised by that.

Compared to my half-year hunt for an MSRP Wham-Shell (which ended up being free at the end of it all), the end of my Giants collection was rather anti-climactic. Now I've got seven months with nothing but reskins and reposes to hunt for. Ah, well.

Quote: trixster68

Toys R US Centerville, OH
They had only 16 and handed out 16 tickets one per person per ticket. I got mine.. 16 people in line before 10 opening and man people after 10 open were quite mad that there were none left for sale.. I had a great day.

Which one were you? I was #15.

TRU around me only got around 8, but I managed to get one.

I went to a local TRU this morning and it was crazy! I got there about 15 minutes before hand and there were about 8 people in front of me. I figured if they did 1 per person I had a shot if they had more than 8 but that it was unlikely unless they got more than 8. That was ok as I wasn't planning on being at TRU that morning anyway and work just kind of worked out that way. There was quiet a line at about 9:58 waiting to get in. Way more people than they would have figures.

The doors opened and everyone started running to the game section in the back of the store. I didn't want to run but figured if everyone else was it was my only shot. I got back there and one lady had grabbed about 6 of them and two other people were holding ninjini's. The crowd started yelling at the lady with 6 of them that it was one per person and the manager was explaining that they did not get any direction to limit individual sales on this item. So as I was watching this unfold by the games checkout counter the lady behind the counter said "oh, here's another case" and opened it up and put two ninjini's on the counter right next to me. I grabbed one for my 4 year old son and bumped the dad next to me and said "look behind you" As I was checking out the guy in front of me outside was still screaming at the employees and pointing at me about "how the guy behind me in line got one and I didn't" and he stormed out of the store. I saw him driving out of the parking lot with his tires squeeling and he ran over the curb.

The TRU should have given out tickets to the people waiting in line and limited it to one per person. If you put your time in you should get one. I most likely would have gotten one since they had 10 and I was 9th in line. But they didn't do that and I got luckly because instead of joining the crowd yelling at the lady with six I was just standing in the back and happened to have one put right next to me on the counter. At that point with the crowd there would have been no fair way to distribute the two short of a random drawing. I think at that point they just wanted everyone out of there.

That's my story. Crazy morning. My 4 year old was super excited when I dropped it of for him.

Even if they don't want to hand out tickets thats fine. Something as one per customer would do enough. That way the most people can get them.

The highlight of my wait (after I got mine) was hearing the loud, collective "AWWWWWW!" from the parents who were still waiting when they were told Ninjini was sold out. >.<

Regardless of whether the store gets "direction"to limit quantities, any manager with half of a brain should create a system like some stores did, where they handed out tickets and limited to one person each. Why cater to one or two scaplers, instead of making more customers happy? There's a lot of people who had dissapointing experiences going to their Toys R Us, many who will think twice about shopping there the next time they want to make a toy purchase.

Anyway, I was working today, but my friend was planning on going to Toys R Us today anyway to pick something up for her daughter, so she offered to look for me. she got there at 10:30. one employee told her that they sold out, but another employee overheard and went and grabbed one behind the counter (the last one..or so they say). Maybe it was because she was a mom with two young girls instead of a scalper...either way, I'm just glad she got me one.

Did not get s chance to get one since I work from 6am to 4pm and the closest tru is around the corner from my house which is about 15 miles from my work oh well have to wait and keep checking wally world

Quote: czs716

Quote: wayiswho

Was about 5th in line got there 15 minutes before they opened and managed to snag one. I feel bad for the guy in front of me with two kids with him who didn't get any because they weren't limiting them 1 per customer. His kid left in tears and the heartless guy at the checkout with five wouldn't even spare one of them.

How were you able to snag one, but the guy in front of you in line couldn't?

He had kids with him so he wasn't able to get to the back of the store quick enough. Once inside we weren't directed to the game section but instead just made our ways back without running, so I got there quicker.

If TRU went to the trouble to send out the Toy Alert emails and to make sure all the stores had them, they should have given a directive to the stores to limit the quantities that could be bought. It's not rocket science, some D Bag shouldn't be able to buy them all up when other people waited outside too.

Some scalper snagging 6 of them in front of others missing out is a headache managers don't want. Why deal with it all? Limit to one each and sure you will get grumblings from a few, but they can just get back in line and get another until they run out. Fifteen happy and one mildly unhappy customer is far better than one very happy and fifteen mad customers, always.

Again, I really like the way mine does it for HTAs. The line is completely managed, you walk in the exit before the entrance is opened, so no running or chance of altercation. Employees only touch the figures until you have finished paying. Figures are sorted so they are fully aware of how many of each they have. I guess scalpers have figured this TRU out, because they never show up for HTAs, at least all the times I have been. I usually talk to people in line, and it is always parents like me.

I don't like the TRU prices, but I really like this store. It is worth it to have a predictable time to go and spend a little time in line to ensure I don't have to drive around looking for figures. When Thumpback and Eye Brawl came out is was a pain to have go to Gamestops over and over.

Quote: Zylek

If TRU went to the trouble to send out the Toy Alert emails and to make sure all the stores had them, they should have given a directive to the stores to limit the quantities that could be bought. It's not rocket science, some D Bag shouldn't be able to buy them all up when other people waited outside too.

Yep. That is pretty much it.

Hi I was number 2

Quote: esmeraude

Quote: trixster68

Toys R US Centerville, OH
They had only 16 and handed out 16 tickets one per person per ticket. I got mine.. 16 people in line before 10 opening and man people after 10 open were quite mad that there were none left for sale.. I had a great day.

Which one were you? I was #15.

I was at the Centerville one also, and I was #13. I can't believe that amazon has them off and on today also. I just saw it online for $14.99, I hope some of our Forum members can score one.

I glad I was not at fairfield commons tru they had 0 because that store is closing and moving to a new location. I feel bad for the 30 people who showed up there and didn't get anything. Toys R us should of posted a sign at that store stating that they were not going to have them.

This one per person thing is just complaining cause you didn't get one. Not every person who got extras is gonna scalp em. What if they have 6 kids who don't wanna share a toy that is made to be alive on the inside. What if she was buying them for a hospital where there's a bunch of sick kids who just want ninjini and some of em might not make it to the next shipment. You don't know their story.

The stores will sell em regardless. People will buy them regardless. You didn't get one today? Your life will not be effected beyond having to wait a bit longer. Move on. It's just a toy. Now if this was some variant where this was the only shipment ever then sure, whine about it. Otherwise, just wait a week and get it then. There's much bigger problems in the world. This doesn't even qualify as a 1st world problem. This is just bratty kids/adults who must have their way.

Quote: trixster68

I glad I was not at fairfield commons tru they had 0 because that store is closing and moving to a new location. I feel bad for the 30 people who showed up there and didn't get anything. Toys R us should of posted a sign at that store stating that they were not going to have them.

Did 30 people really go there today? I live in Beavercreek, and I knew (I have 4 kids, so I get around) not to go there...they are using a third party liquidator to sell of all the merchandise. The store is an absolute disaster right now.

Quote: UncleBob

Quote: Tashiji

\Clearly not limiting figures sold is bad from a business standpoint. Pretty sure I don't need to enlighten you as to why that is. Twelve satisfied customers with one figure a piece is clearly and objectively better for the store than one satisfied customer with twelve figures.

You say this, but we have an entire thread dedicated to crying because Walmart cancelled Molten Hot Dog orders that contained multiple figures and someone in this very thread gave an example of a store that had a "Limit One" and some kid left crying because his dad could only get one and he had two kids with him.

In my case, I bought three - one for myself and one for two different co-workers (who are going to be super-excited, because they were both working and I told them I was going and they both asked me to get one. Told them ahead of time that it'd probably be limit one, but that I'd try.).

You're right, I wouldn't have been upset at all if I could only get one (in fact, I was second in line, grabbed mine off the peg and stood back and waited for others to get their figures, then got the other two, although they were behind the counter at this point, as they filled the pegs and then had several boxes behind the counter). But then, I wouldn't be upset if I went in at Noon and they were sold out. Because I don't get upset when I can't get the toy I want.

UncleBob, your comparison here doesn't really hold water.
People were angry with Wal-Mart (regarding Molten Hot Dog online orders at Wal-Mart.com) because Wal-Mart cancelled their orders AFTER the orders were submitted, because Wal-Mart (apparently?) decided to impose a quantity limit AFTER the fact. Frankly, people who griped about that have a legitimate gripe. If Wal-Mart wanted to limit quantities, they simply could/should have posted "Limit Quantity: 1" on the Molten Hot Dog page on their website. They didn't do that, and they allowed/duped paying customers into believing they could purchase several Hot Dogs. Even if it was an accident/oversight on Wal-Mart's end (mistakes do happen), it's lousy form, and a business as large as Wal-Mart should most certainly know much better.

I personally only ordered 1 Molten Hot Dog from Wal-Mart.com, so I wasn't affected by the post-purchase cancellation fiasco. Nonetheless, I feel it's important to point out the obvious (I thought?) differences between the TRU "only one per customer" policy at the Ninjini event today and the Wal-Mart screw-up.

My friend called me and said about 30 people were there and no one came outside and told them they did not have any. That's to bad oh well I hope that their new location is awesome.

Quote: trixster68

I glad I was not at fairfield commons tru they had 0 because that store is closing and moving to a new location. I feel bad for the 30 people who showed up there and didn't get anything. Toys R us should of posted a sign at that store stating that they were not going to have them.

Yeah no new shipments of anything until after they move and I only found that out from the Dayton TRU last week. As I was leaving I overheard one of the CSMs saying she had to tell Beavercreek (who called more than once to tell her they were referring people to Dayton) to tell them to stop sending people over b/c she was already out. Any idea how long those people stood in line before being told?

ETA - Just saw the comment above!

Today was a good day

Quote: ThePunchPopFizz

This one per person thing is just complaining cause you didn't get one. Not every person who got extras is gonna scalp em. What if they have 6 kids who don't wanna share a toy that is made to be alive on the inside. What if she was buying them for a hospital where there's a bunch of sick kids who just want ninjini and some of em might not make it to the next shipment. You don't know their story.

The stores will sell em regardless. People will buy them regardless. You didn't get one today? Your life will not be effected beyond having to wait a bit longer. Move on. It's just a toy. Now if this was some variant where this was the only shipment ever then sure, whine about it. Otherwise, just wait a week and get it then. There's much bigger problems in the world. This doesn't even qualify as a 1st world problem. This is just bratty kids/adults who must have their way.

I got one today..... I still think it is crap that some stores didn't do the limit one. So, No I am not complaining because I didn't get one.

Quote: ThePunchPopFizz

This one per person thing is just complaining cause you didn't get one. Not every person who got extras is gonna scalp em. What if they have 6 kids who don't wanna share a toy that is made to be alive on the inside. What if she was buying them for a hospital where there's a bunch of sick kids who just want ninjini and some of em might not make it to the next shipment. You don't know their story.

The stores will sell em regardless. People will buy them regardless. You didn't get one today? Your life will not be effected beyond having to wait a bit longer. Move on. It's just a toy. Now if this was some variant where this was the only shipment ever then sure, whine about it. Otherwise, just wait a week and get it then. There's much bigger problems in the world. This doesn't even qualify as a 1st world problem. This is just bratty kids/adults who must have their way.

Nope, a lot of the people that are talking about it actually did get one, including me. Can I only comment on a situation if it negatively affects ME, or is it ok that I have a little empathy for others? Should I assume that all of those that don't think there should be limits are hoarding scalpers? No?

I could also give the same story about this mythical six kid family where they have to have one per kid. If you could only buy one, well then it is a good time to teach those life lessons that you are preaching about (First World Problems, yo) to the six of them, and maybe a little bit about sharing. One of those people that wanted to buy ONE might also be buying it for sick kids at the hospital, but instead they die without getting to play with Ninjini because the lady needed not one, not two but SIX of them. So much for torching the strawman.

I GOT NINJINI! YAHHHHH!

Quote: ThePunchPopFizz

This one per person thing is just complaining cause you didn't get one. Not every person who got extras is gonna scalp em. What if they have 6 kids who don't wanna share a toy that is made to be alive on the inside. What if she was buying them for a hospital where there's a bunch of sick kids who just want ninjini and some of em might not make it to the next shipment. You don't know their story.

Disagree! Your feeble attempt to sound enlightened is transparent, in my opinion.
I personally got a Ninjini today, so I assure you my take here is not sour grapes.

There is a very, very important concept in business ... one satisfied customer might tell one friend or random person about his/her positive experience.
However, one dissatisfied customer will almost always share his/her unsatisfactory experience with at least 10 friends or random people.

Toys R Us has a shaky public reputation as it is. With the increasing prominence of online stores, the LAST thing TRU needs is to discourage lots of would-be customers who actually took time out of their days to actually visit one of their real actual stores .... especially when they're there to attend a special event that TRU promoted via email to their most dedicated customers. Trust me, any TRU location that allowed a "free-for-all" or didn't limit quantity-per-customer this morning was shooting themselves in the foot.

^ agree

There was only Ninjini. There were NO others from Wave 4...

I like ruffling feathers. Bottom line is tru will still make its money cause no matter how pissed people get, they'll still buy the skylanders there. Only place to get legendaries. Often get new ones first. They've got your wallet in a vice. They raise the prices and you still go. Myself, if I do get ninjini there it'll be price matched and I'll have a coupon otherwise I won't be there. You can talk about customer relations all day and good business til you're blue in the face. Won't change a thing. They'll make their money. They are still going strong even tho the idea of a specialty store is so hard in this economy with targets and walmarts carrying the same things at cheaper prices. Yet they are still going strong. Obviously they know what they're doing.

Also, why so serious?

Quote: trixster68

My friend called me and said about 30 people were there and no one came outside and told them they did not have any. That's to bad oh well I hope that their new location is awesome.

Yea I actually called them last night and was told they would have them at the fairfeild one is why I went. Spent about 40min in the cold for nothing. The manager even came and looked out the door at the line and didn't bother to say a word. He then greeted everyone inside the door at 10 and told us they didn't have any.

So yea. Wasn't to happy. Manager knew what everyone was there for but didn't care. I could of made it to another store in time to pick one up if they would of told us while in line.

TRU is not doing very well right now. Not at all. Bad PR. They had a terrible Holiday season. I believe their CEO or some big wig got fired or forced to quit over this last holiday season.

http://news.yahoo.com/toys-r-u...-232848180.html

Yeah, I'd make the argument they do NOT know what they are doing, not in the current market with Web based competitors. It was their CEO that was pushed out, he is still with them, just not as CEO. It had to do with disappointing holiday sales compared to the market.

Back in the day, they could survive and thrive as a specialty retailer with slightly higher prices because they made up for it with selection and got practically every toy first. Now they are competing against Amazon. They may do great with new Skylanders, but their Hot Toy Alerts are not where they make the majority of their money, they make that off sustained sales to loyal customers. And in that measure they are failing. If I want a new Skylander, I go to Toys R Us, if I want practically any other toy for my boys (Nerf, Lego, etc.) - I definitely do not go there.

Quote: Bazinga

TRU is not doing very well right now. Not at all. Bad PR. They had a terrible Holiday season. I believe their CEO or some big wig got fired or forced to quit over this last holiday season.

http://news.yahoo.com/toys-r-u...-232848180.html

Well played. Still don't think a one per customer skylander release rule for future waves would solve anything.