Are Walmart Adventure Team Joes already history?

[MIB41]

Even though I was able to gather two sets of this series (thanks to a friend of mine who caught them when they were just put out on the floor) I have never actually seen them on the shelves (save for the Man of Action) and it doesn't look like their getting put out with these new seasonal set ups. Should we consider this series very limited and basically done or do you think this line will continue through Christmas? Just curious what the vibe is here. It's been incredibly frustrating for most of us and I'm starting to think alot of Walmarts have some kind of "underground" market in the stock room which intercepts them before they ever hit the shelves. It's d*mn peculiar...:sarky:

[toys2cool]

i haven't found them in the store yet either,i'm sure more will show up though

[batmanmc]

i havent seen them yet but am going to walmart tomorrow night and will check .

[DocDrako]

A friend tipped me off about some at my local W*M about 2 weeks ago. I went right away and managed to get a Sea Adventurer and an Air Adventurer. At the time, they had about 10 Man Of Action and 5 Adventurers, so I figured I'd be able to pick them up later. I haven't seen any since. They only had one of each of the Sea and Air guys, which were the ones I wanted most, and I'm glad I got them when I did. I asked a W*M employee about whether or not they had any more when I was there last, and was basically told, "If you don't see them, we don't have them. We're busy." It was pretty rude, but I guess I wasn't the only person to ask about them.

:grin:

[ramsey37]

There's still some at my local Wal-Mart. The staff in the Toy department is currently rearranging everything, so they've moved what Joes we have left to a top shelf. I had to do a fair amount of looking to spot them up there. I'm not sure which ones are still available. If you see them in your area, you should grab them while you can.
George

[thunderbolt]

As I said in another thread, they were on mark down at my WM, now they are back up to 9.97. And they still have loads of them.

[The Toyroom]

There's still some at my local Wal-Mart. The staff in the Toy department is currently rearranging everything, so they've moved what Joes we have left to a top shelf. I had to do a fair amount of looking to spot them up there.


Yup, that's where I snagged mine...

[megoat]

My Wal-Mart has had them on the shelves since they hit a couple of weeks ago.

[boss]

I've been going to multiple stores (in multiple states) and calling other stores for the past two weeks. I have also talked to a lot of different store personel and followed all the various threads here at the museum. Here is what I've been able to surmise...

In August, Walmart restocks their toy department for the holiday season. At the beginning of this process, they put out shelf plan-o-grams that show what products they will stock and where on the shelves they will go. This can happen anytime in August, but usually at the beginning of the month. The plan-o-grams I've seen simply say 12" Army assortment and have been found directly under the Sigma 6 figures.

After the plan-o-grams go out, they remove old product from the shelves. This process can take several weeks.

After old product comes down, the new product goes up. This can also take several weeks.

As far as I can tell, Walmart does not receive shipments from individual vendors (like Hasbro). It appears that all the shipments to walmart come from a central Walmart inventory processing center. The boxes that walmart inventory arrives in are very plain and usually only have the vendor logo, a brief description of the contents and various tracking/SKU numbers. Again, as far as I can tell... the inventory can show up at any time in the process I've described above. However, Walmart will not put the product out until they are damn-well ready. This means that if you ask someone if they have a specific product, you will probably be told that "unless it's out on the shelves, we don't have it". Which is probably NOT the case, but it makes their lives a heck of a lot easier.

My recommendation is to be patient. Apparently some walmarts are much more efficient at their restocking process. These are the stores where the GI Joes have already been seen. All the stores I've talked to... are not so efficient.

My local Walmart finally had 12 Man of Action figures out on Wed night. After talking to a stocking boy, he told me that the others were in the back and wouldn't come out for a while. For those of you who have only seen one or two different figures... chances are the others are still in the back.

Finally (and this one confuses me), a couple of people have mentioned finding the GI Joes in the clearance aisle. I have no idea how that happens. But you should definitely check those aisles too.

Hope this helps.

[toys2cool]

My wife just checked the closest wal-mart and nothing today either

[The Sentry]

WOW! Really? I see 'em all over Charleston and Outside of Charleston that have "Wally World"'s and all of 'em are stocked up!

[Earth 2 Chris]

Nothing here yet. Our Wal-Mart recently reopened as a Super Center. This will be the first reset for the store, and they have put some of the 88¢ toys at one end of the action figure aisle. That doesn't bode well.

Chris

[Mawni]

I found about 6-7 Joes in the clearance aisle of the Ormond Supercenter near Daytona Beach. They had at least one of each kind but I didn't see any "Man of Action" figures. They were still $10.00.

[MIB41]

Wow. Thanks for all of your responses. This ranks right up there with the Hot Wheels Batmobile when it comes to availability (or lack thereof) in a number of key regions. I'm thinking about sending a message to Hasbro so they are aware of the markets starving for these figures. It frustrating...:die::muh:

[LadyZod]

I still have yet to see one at retail at any of the walmarts I've checked here in the middle of nowhere florida. At times like this I wish I lived in a bigger city.

[Adam West]

I finally found 1 set this morning on the way to work. I have been checking every day for the past week or so. There were some Man of Actions and that was it.

Like most people said the Walmart staff isn't very helpful. I talked to the manager of the toy department who said he saw very few and they were snapped up fast. He also said it wasn't a restockable item and doubt they would receive any more.

So I stopped by this morning and there was one complete set there and that was it. I grabbed them immediately. Maybe there will be more or that is it. I do think there is something going on with the warehouse people and they aren't even making it out to the shelves since they continuously act like they have no idea what you are talking about and then hem and hawl about seeing them and selling out quickly, yada, yada.

I have yet to see a Batmobile show up on a pegboard.

[LadyZod]

I haven't given up on the Batmobile yet.

I did buy one at a comic shop, it only cost me $2.99 so it didn't hurt... but still at a regular store at retail it should be $0.99.

At least I know what the package looks like now, so it's easier to skim the pegs. If you haven't seen it, the side stripe is yellow/gold and says 2007 New Models... it's numbered 15.

[thunderbolt]

I picked up a Man of Action today. He's damn cool!! I really hope these do well for WM and we get playsets or accessories.
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v330/tboltcustoms/DSCN1235boywonder.jpg

[MIB41]

I decided to call the Hasbro Customer Service line to see if maybe the company had plans to sell them online...nope. I tried Walmart's online store and got the same response. Right now it appears Hasbro and Walmart are sticking a limited supply in the marketplace to see what kind of response they get. I've got to believe if they are truly selling out in most stores around the country then this might inspire Hasbro to start up a massive production for all retail stores and carry the old Adventure Team sets and accessories again. I can't believe Hasbro would walk away from something this successful. This is really blowing the doors off the failed 40th anniversary line.

[kingdom warrior]

Went to my local wal mart today spoke to the guy who was the Head of stock and deals with the trucks He said they were expecting them but they were a noshow so far.....I'm so PO about this......Might have to go out to Long Island and see if they have them there.....

[HardyGirl]

I wish they'd do what Target did when the first Hall of Fame figures came out, and have a waiting list for figures. I remember I put me and my ex hubby on the list and we got ours right away. It's unfair that someone's laziness if affecting toy sales.:sarky:

[LadyZod]

Thanks to a tip from thunderbolt, I was able to snag me one of each at a Supercenter north of me (except for the land adventurer, but that's ok-got a hot topic one)... AND I snagged a display box to...uh, help me carry them out.

Hit the local walmart on the way home... and still nothing.

The Joes I picked up were marked down to $7.96, so that made it sweeter. I'm a happy camper. You know, if I camped.

[thunderbolt]

See, I told ya you'd get them there. :)

[Adam West]

I wonder what kind of profits they WalMart/ Hasbro is making on them.

With all grievances aside over the funky hair coloring and flocking (which I presume is being done purposely to prevent someone from trying to pass it off as an original), these figures are a great deal a $10 or less a pop especially since they have clothes and not plastic molded clothes.

Somthing tells me they were about $2 or so back in the 70's. $10 is just a great deal for the figs.

[Randy]

If anyone has an extra Man Of Action PLMK!!!
Thanks,
R

[MIB41]

I wonder what kind of profits they WalMart/ Hasbro is making on them.

With all grievances aside over the funky hair coloring and flocking (which I presume is being done purposely to prevent someone from trying to pass it off as an original), these figures are a great deal a $10 or less a pop especially since they have clothes and not plastic molded clothes.

Somthing tells me they were about $2 or so back in the 70's. $10 is just a great deal for the figs.

$2.00??? Boy I wish! A talking commander was roughly $7.00 in 1972 while a regular Joe like a Land Adventurer was $4.38. When they got the Kung Fu grip in '74 they went up to a little over $5.00 with tax so some 30 years later, paying only double is very, very good. Toys were not as cheap as many people might think back then. If you ever come across an old Sears catelog from the mid-70's, take a look at everything (not just the toys). Alot of things were actually expensive. Look at something like a tape recorder or stereo equipment for the day. It was crazy how pricey that stuff was!!!

[Adam West]

$4+? That does seem pretty steep.

Maybe because of the gas crisis, pure raw material costs were high.

Our local WalMart seems to be fully stocked and not a Joe in sight. I don't know if the few I saw the one day was it or if they are getting more.

I can't believe they would have limited the production that much.

[MIB41]

$4+? That does seem pretty steep.

Maybe because of the gas crisis, pure raw material costs were high.

Our local WalMart seems to be fully stocked and not a Joe in sight. I don't know if the few I saw the one day was it or if they are getting more.

I can't believe they would have limited the production that much.

I agree with you Adam. Usually a limited run, especially with a client like Walmart does not consist of just a few weeks, but rather a number of months ending after the Christmas season. Makes me wonder if maybe they just put out a limited run initially to see how they would do. Now that they know, maybe they'll go into a full blown production for the holidays. That is my hope.

[AAAAA]

thats possable, The last series of Joes started to creep to 14.99 to 18.99.and sat of the shelf.
The Secret Agent Boxed set was 29.99 at TRU, and did not move untill 14.99 and than 10.00.
Having Road Block (one of the most popular of the ARAH Joe's) in a orange Molded vest
was not a good Idea. The Figure sat warming the shelf.
These toys would move if they not price Gouge.
Like the 40th editions, you were paying for mostly packing!!39.99 forget it.

[batmanmc]

randsy ill go back to my walmart and see if they still have him and get one for you if they do . ill just charge you cost plus postage. mike

[toysrus]

None at my walmart today ( 8-27-07) , has anybody found any lately? I hope i didnt miss out! We Live in Nevada

[JDeRouen]

I've searched all the Wal-Marts in Northwest Arkansas (Wal-Mart is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, which is about three minutes from my house!) and nothing. My wife even crossed the border to Missouri looking for them. Zip. Really disappointing.

[batmanmc]

none at my walmart today but il check the other one tomorrow. mike

[Marvelmania]

I've been watching for them too and zip, none to be found.

[DocDrako]

Ever since I saw them the first time, no luck here. I keep looking though. I still need two of them.

[gman]

I got 4 out of the box in an iasle waiting to be stocked -- I still need Adventurer w/o beard...

[The Toyroom]

I have a complete set up on e-bay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170145381012

But if anyone is interested, PM me ASAP as I think I might be able to snag at least one of each of the others still for cost plus shipping. Possibly another 2 of each, not sure though. They're all on the high-shelf at this Wal-Mart and no one else seems as eager to scale the wall as I am apparently. :smiley1: