Is Wave 7 Killing MOTU Origins?

[Deformity]

I was surprised late last year when I was actually able to find wave 7 (Buzz Off, Sorceress Jitsu and Comic version Stratos) at a Target. Regretfully, since then, that seems to be the only wave available, outside of a few characters here and there. Meijers has had that wave on clearance. I went to a Target last night anticipating finding wave two on the end cap display. Funny enough, they still had the end cap promoting wave 2, but it was completely filled up with wave 7, and they were also exclusively on the regular toy shelf as well. Why the glut of wave 7 over the course of an entire year? These are becoming the new MOTU 2000 Ice Armor He-Man, Spinblade Skeletor curse .

[AnimalGrandpa]

It certainly stopped the line cold in my part of the country. Target didn't have anything new until the wave 2 re-release, which sold out instantly. Every wave before 7 was barely in the store 2 or 3 days before they were all snapped up. We also get new Masterverse figures and those sell pretty well, too. So people here want more MOTU! I've even bought an extra naked Stratos and Buzzo Off just to get them off the pegs, but there's always more Buzz Offs and Stratos to take their place. When I go to other cities nearby with Targets, I check out their toy aisles and they are also choked with wave 7.

I know none of this is new info, but it just seems crazy to me to keep that wave on the pegs and not just clearance them off at this point. I've never worked retail, so I'm sure it's not as simple as that but... come on!

[Secret]

My area has mostly moved on to wave 9. Wave 8 barely saw shelves. Wave 7 is still hanging around alongside it. Mostly Stratos.

The frustrating part about collecting this line is every 2nd to 3rd wave tends to get skipped or under-ordered by retailers.

[Despondor]

It seems to be a pattern that causes every second or third wave to peg-warm for a while. Shipping delays from China cause manufactured figures to take months longer than they should to get to the Mattel distribution centers, and retailers (unwilling to leave pegs empty while waiting for the next wave) over-order the currently available figures to fill the pegs. By the time the next wave does arrive from China, the retailers won't order it because figures from the previous wave have been peg-warming for weeks or months and many go to clearance. In the meantime, Mattel schedules the release of the lines as if there is no shipping delay and just decides to sell the new wave to more international retailers rather than sit on a piled up stock of figures.

This is why almost no one in the States could find figures from the initial release of the Scare-Glow wave. I have seen the Sun-Man and Horde Trooper figures from wave 8 at retail, but I've only seen one Anti-Eternia He-Man and have never seen Clawful on the pegs anywhere. I don't think this pattern is likely to "kill the line," but it is very annoying, especially when it makes it nearly impossible to find a highly popular figure such as Scare-Glow.

[Man-Man]

That wave was definitely grossly overproduced in response to increased demand for product from the pandemic. My local Target still has the same four mini-comic Stratos that have been collecting dust since May, and the pegs at my Walmart are overflowing with wave 7. I’ve never seen wave 6, 8, 9, 10 or 11 in stores. Unless it’s an exclusive, I’ve long given up attempting to find new Origins at brick & mortar retail.

The problem is that the core figure assortments all use the same SKU, and they generally don’t get clearanced out. So unless someone decides to army build mini-comic Stratos and buys them all, nothing gets reordered and nothing new ever comes in.

But the desire is absolutely still there for this line at retail when it comes to the basic figures. I couldn’t believe how fast the recent wave 2 reissue shipper got obliterated. Vehicles and larger skus do seem to languish a bit, but people absolutely still want new characters. But good luck finding them.

[RocketPunch]

I'm surprised that more people aren't using that repainted Stratos as a Birdmen army builder. It is canon, since they appear alongside the regular Stratos in the wave 4 minicomic.

[Stinkor]

They’re killin the line!

[Smitty.81]

I'm surprised that more people aren't using that repainted Stratos as a Birdmen army builder. It is canon, since they appear alongside the regular Stratos in the wave 4 minicomic.

I've got three, with different beard colors. If I ever see them get marked down I might get some more.

[Trollanhunter]

They’re killin the line!

History is repeating itself...

[He-bro]

They’re killin the line!

Yes, they're Killin teh lein

[Dice]

In my area there was wave 1 and then nothing. Wave 7 was the first to get on the shelves and in my mind everyone wanted Buzz-off and Jitsu so it's not like they weren't popular. OK, maybe naked Stratos wasn't on everyone's want list.

But after that...nothing again. I would never say that release was the problem when I had to buy all prior figures from secondary buyers.

[Darkkosis]

In my area there was wave 1 and then nothing. Wave 7 was the first to get on the shelves and in my mind everyone wanted Buzz-off and Jitsu so it's not like they weren't popular. OK, maybe naked Stratos wasn't on everyone's want list.

But after that...nothing again. I would never say that release was the problem when I had to buy all prior figures from secondary buyers.

That's why I think we still need specialty toy stores in every city where someone can go there and make pre-orders for just a little extra as a commission to support someone's business. Also online businesses like BBTS and EE are very important outlet for the adult collector market.

Dedicated businesses like that with passionate staff and store owners can be the livelihood for this industry (aside from the consumer/customer), rather than those huge bricked & mortar businesses that don't give much crap about what it carry and for whom! Plus those huge places are usually the bread and butter for scalpers!

[depp76]

That's why I think we still need specialty toy stores in every city where someone can go there and make pre-orders for just a little extra as a commission to support someone's business. Also online businesses like BBTS and EE are very important outlet for the adult collector market.

Dedicated businesses like that with passionate staff and store owners can be the livelihood for this industry (aside from the consumer/customer), rather than those huge bricked & mortar businesses that don't give much crap about what it carry and for whom! Plus those huge places are usually the bread and butter for scalpers!

If it weren't for BBTS I would have absolutely nothing lol.

[Orko's Magic Hat]

Ugh don't wish that on the line! The Spin blade/Smash blade horror was something else! At least you have 4 individual characters and they're all a-list/b-list, I'm sure they will go eventually.

Who would have thought that Sorceress would be classed as a peg warmer in some places

[binkibonsai]

Wave 6 (Goddess, Stinkor, Webstor and red Beast) killed the line at retail over here in the tropics, but Mattel's online shop only just brought in Wave 8 (minus Horde Trooper).

Specialist shops still bring in subsequent waves (at 10 now) in limited quantity but won't let go of em in singles for fear of being saddled with the sun people.

[AnimalGrandpa]

Wave 6 (Goddess, Stinkor, Webstor and red Beast) killed the line at retail over here in the tropics, but Mattel's online shop only just brought in Wave 8 (minus Horde Trooper)

Wave 6 is still sitting in Wal-Marts where I am, but MOTU never sold at Wal-Mart here. I think there may even be some Wave 1s on the shelves.

[Trollanhunter]

Wave 6 (Goddess, Stinkor, Webstor and red Beast) killed the line at retail over here in the tropics, but Mattel's online shop only just brought in Wave 8 (minus Horde Trooper).

That's hilarious considering I've never seen that wave at retail, and seems like it was a blink-and-miss-it situation online.

[DynamicG]

I'm in Baton Rouge La and distribution here has been really spotty. There are still lots of Jitsu's and naked Stratos around. We hardly got anything new until the Pig Head \ mantenna wave showed up a few month back. I have not seen the Wave 2 display near me and instead both target stores got a re-up of the Pig head wave. I saw 5 pig heads at one store today. I'm doubtful I'll ever see the restock so I bought the whole set on ebay for $99 +12 shipping.

Walmart has been iffy as well. One store got a 5-10 Snout Spout \ Leeches but only one sorceress on peg. Same store has 6 Rotons and several flocked panthor at $40. Online has been a life saver for me because I didn't start collecting until 2021 and missed out on all of the early waves. I'm hoping for a Triclops \ Ninjor restock at some point.

[ZexisStryfe]

Even though I do run into a few figures from that wave, I haven't seen MOTU clogging the shelves at any local Target/Walmarts. Heck, the Orko/Man-E/Trapjaw/Scare Glow wave reissue sold out in a weekend at every Target in my state (yes... I went to them all )

[Powersword123]

I've lost count of how many I have bought of wave 7. They are still around a few stores but I just found Mantenna at 2 different targets last week so pretty happy to finally get him.
Wal-mart near me clearance all of wave 7 down to $3 each except Jitsu and I bought all of those. I was at that same Wal-Mart yesterday and they restocked the aisle with Wave 7 at regular price.

They are on sale this week at Target $8-$9, so I might buy the ones near me and donate them.

[timrollpickering2]

I've never worked retail, so I'm sure it's not as simple as that but... come on!

IIUC a big problem is that a lot of retailers use a stock system that groups all the figures of a particular price point under a single code. So a really popular army builder that will clear out as soon as it makes it onto the pegs and some weird looking repaint of a C-List character that nobody's excited about are one and the same to the system and less aware employees. Consequently the shelves will be full with the figures and replaced with the same stock unless an employee aware of the difference brings out the more recent shipments, assuming it's even been ordered. I've seen this problem with catalogue shops where the most recent release of a product is shown in the catalogue but an older wave turns up from the stockroom.

I'm surprised that more people aren't using that repainted Stratos as a Birdmen army builder. It is canon, since they appear alongside the regular Stratos in the wave 4 minicomic.

And also on the regular Stratos's card art. I did pick up an additional one I found discounted in a very battered card and customised a Slime-Pit Avionian, but in general over here I've yet to see this one shelfwarming en masse.

That's why I think we still need specialty toy stores in every city where someone can go there and make pre-orders for just a little extra as a commission to support someone's business. Also online businesses like BBTS and EE are very important outlet for the adult collector market.

Dedicated businesses like that with passionate staff and store owners can be the livelihood for this industry (aside from the consumer/customer), rather than those huge bricked & mortar businesses that don't give much crap about what it carry and for whom! Plus those huge places are usually the bread and butter for scalpers!

Have a look at The Entertainer, the UK's leading dedicated high street toy chain who are in many cities and towns here. I'm not sure the speciality shop in practice is quite the paradise you're describing.

[Darkkosis]

Have a look at The Entertainer, the UK's leading dedicated high street toy chain who are in many cities and towns here. I'm not sure the speciality shop in practice is quite the paradise you're describing.

Toy businesses/stores aren't easy to operate but necessary for the industry to survive on. The bigger and the all inclusive brick and mortar stores won't be able to provide you with all you/kids need in toy assortments and such. I wasn't describing a paradise, but rather something that needs to gain momentum against the virtual gaming and app entertainment world.

We have candy shops, boutique clothing and accessory shops, coffee shops, and so on, is it a sin now to have local specialty toy shops?!

[binkibonsai]

Have a look at The Entertainer, the UK's leading dedicated high street toy chain who are in many cities and towns here. I'm not sure the speciality shop in practice is quite the paradise you're describing.

Big toy store chains aren't the answer, those are more likely to stock more mass market items like MCU, Nerf and the like than up-to-date MotU origins.

Collectors in SEAsia go to private small collectors shops for that stuff like origins and marvel legends nowadays.

[Secret]

I may be evil but I think Minicomics Stratos would have sold better if they'd reversed the armor and wings color on regular Stratos and you could get different armor/wings on the minicomics version to swap.

[nicholighkun]

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!