darkSpyro

I've been noticing lately I my area that the the restocking of any skylander is very slim! My two local Wally World SS had none for weeks and the other had the same ones for months! target has a lot but most of the same thing. Rip off R US i really don't go to because there over priced! Also GameStop dont restock we knw until othes ave moved and they had the same for MONTHS! So has the crazed slowed down or is activision just holding back?

I understand the issue is this: The stores don't order a box of Hot Dog or whatever, they get a box of random standard Skylanders, a box of Giants, maybe a box of Adventure Packs/Battle Packs. They have no idea whats in them. Their stock isn't "4 Flashwings, 4 Stump Smash, 2 Fright Rider", it's "10 Skylanders", because they all have the same barcode, the same ID number. So if those Fright Riders sell, they have "8 Skylanders". They're not out yet, so it isn't time to order more yet, even though they are indeed out of Fright Rider. (I picked characters at random, don't get on me about their availability, LOL!)

So the issue is that the shelves are filled with unwanted characters, so they aren't being replaced. Then they have to discount them to get rid of them. If they do, they're not terribly inclined to get more, they had so much trouble getting rid of the last ones.

So, I blame Activision for being stupid enough or short-sighted enough or lazy enough to not differentiate between the figures. What kills me is that this was already an issue with SSA, I'm flabbergasted that they didn't learn from that and fix it for Giants.

They actually come in pre determined wave boxes. All wave 1 have the same characters, Wave 2 have the the same guys in the boxes also.

You can read through this thread for some recent discussion related to this recent crappy restocking issue, wickedrunt:

//forum.darkspyro.net/spyro/viewposts.php?topic=78765

Here I will try and explain this a little bit better....

Gamestop does it's own thing. They ship them to their headquarters and then they ship them out to the stores with different guys in them. All of the other retailers that I know of get them in the boxes from Activision. They may go to their main warehouse but the boxes are not opened at all.


So as I was saying, Wave 1 boxes all contain the same assortment of figures. No matter if it went to Wal-Mart or K-Mart. It is the way they did it for S:SA. Which for awhile meant Boomer was everywhere. Wave 2 boxes have the same assortment of different figures. So wave 2 may of Drill Sargent in it but it didn't have Bash that Wave 1 did. (Just throwing those in as examples not saying that is how it worked.) So of course between those two boxes you are going to have some of the same figures in each. With more of those being out they will sit.

Some people are saying that Acti needs to put one kind in each box. Which is all fine and dandy but a couple things would happen in this case. Instead of having Flashwing, Eruptor, Gill Grunt, and Cynder sitting as "shelf=warmers" you would have 12 pegs of just one character. I know this has happened to some people in some cases but it would be much more widespread. Also, most stores don't have the option to keep 45 different boxes in the back as it would be now after all the figures are released.

I can agree that Activision could do something better to get different stock to the stores quick/faster. Keep in mind though it is not always their fault that the store don't take time to move stuff around. The stores could also rotate so the new stuff got put out and would maybe sell a little bit faster.

Not saying anyone in particular here but, some people forget that Activision is a business. Some people will hate on them because they have made bundles of money off of this game and can't they seem to give a little bone to us consumers. Well, if you think about it, when you have made bundles and bundles of money and pretty much saved your company from going under then you are going to do what you think is best for your company and employees. Which in our case probably means sifting thru old crap for now. Until the new stuff comes out. Also, we have to be thanful that we (some of us) are not overseas and having trouble looking for what we call common. Most of us in the States have Ninjini. She is not even out yet in EU. So look at it not as a bad thing, look at it as a trade off. We get stuff early and sort thru loads of backstock in some cases. While the EU gets to wait almost three months for stuff and then has to look for stuff that they get late and less stock on.


Moral of my post. Don't look at it from just your side. In all of life we will always have many many many many many sides to a story and might not know why somethings are done the way they are.

That definitely helps explain why Gamestop gets some of the newer 3 packs and figures perhaps a bit faster.

As a parent, seeing the "other side" is mandatory...so I get that. In this instance, we're the folks with cash to give--so yeah I think it gives us a bit more power...or SHOULD.

What happened to "CUSTOMER IS KING". I guess I should lick the boots of Activision. hahaha---NOT.

Not to mention, Gamestop's shipping company REMOVES variants from the shipments to sell in overpriced bundles...

Yeah, thumbs down to GameStop, in general (at least regarding Skylanders).

In my family's collection of 40+ Skylanders, we've purchased exactly one at a GameStop.
Compared to the other retailers, GameStop tends to have smaller stock, less stock turn-over, higher prices, and lesser customer service.
Other people's opinions may vary, of course.

And I concur with GhostRoaster. I tire of some voices on this forum frequently stepping-out to defend Activision's practices.
Yes, without Activision, we would not have Skylanders at all. I get that (duh), but it's a straw-man argument. The fact is that Activision DOES own the distribution rights to Skylanders, and they are most assuredly enjoying the benefits of that business decision. However, with rights come responsibilities, and Activision DOES have a responsibility to do a much better job with distribution of Skylanders figures! Do I expect perfection? No, of course not. But I certainly expect better than mediocre, which the the standard Activision has set for itself.

I want to make one point clear. I am not saying that Activision is not doing something wrong. Just trying to point out that it is their fault but also the retailers fault for not doing a better job at making things flow out to us better.


Couple of other things. The customer is not always right. Work in customer service for oh about three hours and you will find that out.


As for Gamestop. I really really despise them more even then TRU. Them taking out the variants is really really really really crummy to me. It is in a way a form of scalping and I will go anywhere else before I buy a figure from a Gamestop.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

Yeah, thumbs down to GameStop, in general (at least regarding Skylanders).

In my family's collection of 40+ Skylanders, we've purchased exactly one at a GameStop.
Compared to the other retailers, GameStop tends to have smaller stock, less stock turn-over, higher prices, and lesser customer service.
Other people's opinions may vary, of course.

And I concur with GhostRoaster. I tire of some voices on this forum frequently stepping-out to defend Activision's practices.
Yes, without Activision, we would not have Skylanders at all. I get that (duh), but it's a straw-man argument. The fact is that Activision DOES own the distribution rights to Skylanders, and they are most assuredly enjoying the benefits of that business decision. However, with rights come responsibilities, and Activision DOES have a responsibility to do a much better job with distribution of Skylanders figures! Do I expect perfection? No, of course not. But I certainly expect better than mediocre, which the the standard Activision has set for itself.

All they are doing is shooting themselves in the foot for swap force and for those that are going to go out for this, would you really want to do so? Once I get the last of the LCs I need, etc I think I'll be done. Since I'll have polar by amazon.it, etc and debating on the restock of the scarlet ninjini as i could wait on its arrival at target, etc.

I think in some of the decisions they made on the figures in general (4 ways to get shroomboom is a joke. Boomer only had two ways and Shroomboom no matter how you slice it is not going to get the same treatment if there is no s3 of him. Acti he's a shelf warmer stop sending him out) The prices are starting to add up so its either a wait and save at this point or pay the premiums to just have it done. I still need two more scarjini's and 3 polars to be done getting those for others.

Quote: Bazinga

I want to make one point clear. I am not saying that Activision is not doing something wrong. Just trying to point out that it is their fault but also the retailers fault for not doing a better job at making things flow out to us better.


Couple of other things. The customer is not always right. Work in customer service for oh about three hours and you will find that out.


As for Gamestop. I really really despise them more even then TRU. Them taking out the variants is really really really really crummy to me. It is in a way a form of scalping and I will go anywhere else before I buy a figure from a Gamestop.

I said CUSTOMER IS KING. The spirit in which that was intended is that Activision should hear out customer complaints and make REASONABLE attempts to solve REASONABLE issues.

BTW, I think Activision has done 100% better in terms of stocking in Giants than SSA. We still have more work to do, however. I can totally accept Activision's interpretation of our "issues" as simply being not warranted since they've pretty much laid a path for Giants. I do suspect they will tweak things in Swap Force. Here's to hoping.

If they do keep with the same SKU, I think they should have multiple versions of boxing configurations for each wave and send out the one that matches the buying trends at that location---or at least allow retailers to have more say so in what is needed.

Right. They have done better with the stock issue than with S:SA.

My bad I misread that on the King part.

They should at least send out a message saying: EMPLOYEES RESTRICTED FROM BUYING THIS PRODUCT.

Most stores do not let you buy product while you are on the clock. Putting it behind the counter should be frowned upon also.

The thing is, my blaming Activision for not differentiating between figures is also that if they DID differentiate, stores could stock better, customers could find the figures they want better, and Activision would make more money. Activision is shooting themselves in the foot by making things unnecessarily hard. They're just fortunate that they're selling so well that they can afford such an oversight. Unfortunately, that also means they probably won't see that they're losing money (in that they could be making more money).

Quote: Bazinga

Most stores do not let you buy product while you are on the clock. Putting it behind the counter should be frowned upon also.

there was a guy at TRU that had like 3 ninjinis behind the counter when i saw i figured he must kno about scalpers and i kept looking for what i was looking for (S2 slam bam (it wasnt there)) then he came up and said "u got dis guy?" so i bought it....i guess i got lucky

Quote: Ninpire

Quote: Bazinga

Most stores do not let you buy product while you are on the clock. Putting it behind the counter should be frowned upon also.

there was a guy at TRU that had like 3 ninjinis behind the counter when i saw i figured he must kno about scalpers and i kept looking for what i was looking for (S2 slam bam (it wasnt there)) then he came up and said "u got dis guy?" so i bought it....i guess i got lucky

I should clarify. When stores put it behind the counter in the case of stopping scalpers from buying all of them, I am okay for that and actually think that is a good idea. However, when workers put it behind the counter to hold for them shelves to buy, that is when I get a problem.

Quote: Bazinga

Quote: Ninpire

Quote: Bazinga

Most stores do not let you buy product while you are on the clock. Putting it behind the counter should be frowned upon also.

there was a guy at TRU that had like 3 ninjinis behind the counter when i saw i figured he must kno about scalpers and i kept looking for what i was looking for (S2 slam bam (it wasnt there)) then he came up and said "u got dis guy?" so i bought it....i guess i got lucky

I should clarify. When stores put it behind the counter in the case of stopping scalpers from buying all of them, I am okay for that and actually think that is a good idea. However, when workers put it behind the counter to hold for them shelves to buy, that is when I get a problem.

I remember someone said that their Best Buy had 3 Clear variants, but some employee said "You can't buy them, I'm taking them."

It happened to me on Black Friday at a wal-mart. They had a glitter sprocket and someone was holding it for another employee to buy after they got done doing other shopping.

Ooh, that REALLY stinks.

My Target NEVER restocked . My Wal*Mart's never even got !

Quote: Ash Starkindle

My Target NEVER restocked . My Wal*Mart's never even got !

A couple of Walmarts in my area had some of Molten for a nice period of time. Target however appears to have only gotten one shipment of Jade and sold it. The annoying part is a few of them still have the signs out advertising "Get the exlcusive Jade Flashing here!". -.-

Quote: Seiki

Quote: Ash Starkindle

My Target NEVER restocked . My Wal*Mart's never even got !

A couple of Walmarts in my area had some of Molten for a nice period of time. Target however appears to have only gotten one shipment of Jade and sold it. The annoying part is a few of them still have the signs out advertising "Get the exlcusive Jade Flashing here!". -.-

I know a target that still has the Granite Crusher sign up.

Quote: Rand O M

Quote: Seiki

Quote: Ash Starkindle

My Target NEVER restocked . My Wal*Mart's never even got !

A couple of Walmarts in my area had some of Molten for a nice period of time. Target however appears to have only gotten one shipment of Jade and sold it. The annoying part is a few of them still have the signs out advertising "Get the exlcusive Jade Flashing here!". -.-

I know a target that still has the Granite Crusher sign up.

That's just messed up. False advertising!!

Both of my local Targets still have Granite ads up and most of the WalMarts still have the red Drill Sergeant sign up, just silly. There is a pretty cool guy at the local TRU though, he keeps Ninjini's and everything else new under the desk in electronics when he cracks the new cases open. He said its because the first time they got Ninjini they got 6 of them and one guy bought all of them despite a sign posted saying limit of 1. The cashier apparently didn't know/care and by then it was too late.

He also told me that they had to terminate an employee who had his own secret stash in the back room. Everything collectible and rare he could get his hands on while on shift went into his stash, not just Skylanders but all sorts of goodies. Some people are just shameless.

-Grishnaar

Quote: Seiki

Quote: Ash Starkindle

My Target NEVER restocked . My Wal*Mart's never even got !

A couple of Walmarts in my area had some of Molten for a nice period of time. Target however appears to have only gotten one shipment of Jade and sold it. The annoying part is a few of them still have the signs out advertising "Get the exlcusive Jade Flashing here!". -.-

My targets had granite up till jade, 1 still has granite up and jade.

Yeah, it amazes me that some stores don't police themselves some more with this stuff. It would be hard seeing a pearl Hot Head or some rare figure come thru. However, that is the the way it goes when you work at a place that sells this stuff.

Quote: SlayerX11

Quote: Seiki

Quote: Ash Starkindle

My Target NEVER restocked . My Wal*Mart's never even got !

A couple of Walmarts in my area had some of Molten for a nice period of time. Target however appears to have only gotten one shipment of Jade and sold it. The annoying part is a few of them still have the signs out advertising "Get the exlcusive Jade Flashing here!". -.-

My targets had granite up till jade, 1 still has granite up and jade.

Wow...then either they get a ton of restock or no one buys skylanders there.

^

I think SlayerX meant the advertising/signage ... not actual Granite Crusher figures.

My stores didn't even get ! I.Need.Her.

Massive images

Quote: BahamutBreaker

^

I think SlayerX meant the advertising/signage ... not actual Granite Crusher figures.

Ya sorry I should been more clear, I mean the signs I've never seen granite crusher in store, had to ebay him. Thou even today when i was at target I still see crushers i tend to look hoping one somehow got lost in the back, you never know.

ZapNorris: Could you PLEASE use a picture editor to resize those???!?! LOL! No picture ever needs to be that big.

Quote: niceguy1

ZapNorris: Could you PLEASE use a picture editor to resize those???!?! LOL! No picture ever needs to be that big.

Bigger the better...keep it up bro!

i blame the traditional short barcodes, it's almost impossible to keep up with modern item databases using just, what, 10 characters?

switch to micro QR codes (those funny looking little boxes you scan with your phone). they're extremely easy for scanners to see and read, and they store FAR more data in a FAR smaller space.

a qr code the same size as a regular barcode would literally record every aspect of an item, and could very very easily keep track of every single skylander (and every single variant) ever made and keep them up to date in the store's database.

so the real villain here is LAZY DATABASE DESIGNERS

Checked some targets.. Flashwings and cynders EVERYWHERE! I did see a spyro thou and a wrecking ball. Bought wrecking and left spyro.

Quote: Osbor

i blame the traditional short barcodes, it's almost impossible to keep up with modern item databases using just, what, 10 characters?

switch to micro QR codes (those funny looking little boxes you scan with your phone). they're extremely easy for scanners to see and read, and they store FAR more data in a FAR smaller space.

a qr code the same size as a regular barcode would literally record every aspect of an item, and could very very easily keep track of every single skylander (and every single variant) ever made and keep them up to date in the store's database.

so the real villain here is LAZY DATABASE DESIGNERS

I'm sure the final say so weren't on "lazy" IT developers. But hey--isn't everyone in IT lazy? Ever since point and click's been around---EVERYONE is now an "expert".

That's sarcasm, btw.

I'm trying to figure out how it went from Restocking to lazy IT people. I could read the posts, but that would just take sooooo long....

Sum up.... restocking sucks cause of activisons wave box assortment...
barcodes suck cause of lack of info...
so mirco QR is better...
flame on IT ppl being lazy for not using it already.
.ppl mad

Moving on!!!

Quote: GhostRoaster

I'm sure the final say so weren't on "lazy" IT developers. But hey--isn't everyone in IT lazy? Ever since point and click's been around---EVERYONE is now an "expert".

That's sarcasm, btw.

i should clarify; overly bureaucratic database designers. switching standards is kind of expensive and takes a while to roll out (have to update scanners and such). the actual database could be retrofitted in a week and pushed to active status over a few hours of downtime. various stores just don't want to change because change is bad and hurts the bottom line, no matter how much more effective they would be after they get to changing.

they're going to update sooner or later. it's just a question of ripping the band aid off or slowly peeling