Transformers G1 Hot Rod Reissue Found In Walmart Stores in Canada

I've got the one I want on order but this bit of info from the WM app gives me cause for concern.



Now I'm taking that with a grain of salt because Walmart had never been a reliable source for information about Walmart.

They packaged him inside the box facing the wrong direction. Oops.

carytheone wrote:I've got the one I want on order but this bit of info from the WM app gives me cause for concern.

Screenshot_20180823-092250.png

Now I'm taking that with a grain of salt because Walmart had never been a reliable source for information about Walmart.

This would not surprise me, Hot Rod was online only too. Walmart has been going that way with exclusives as of late. WHile I usually dont get why that sucks for fans (since it being online means you dont have to rely on your walmart actuall stocking it), I do see how these not being put in stores kind of defeats the purpose of the packaging meant to be a callback to when these toys were in stores the first time. Hasbro is tryign to recreate the atmosphere of the tf toys department to reflect the 80s that the BB film is conveying, and Walmart is taking a dump on that idea.

william-james88 wrote:

carytheone wrote:I've got the one I want on order but this bit of info from the WM app gives me cause for concern.

Screenshot_20180823-092250.png

Now I'm taking that with a grain of salt because Walmart had never been a reliable source for information about Walmart.

This would not surprise me, Hot Rod was online only too. Walmart has been going that way with exclusives as of late. WHile I usually dont get why that sucks for fans (since it being online means you dont have to rely on your walmart actuall stocking it), I do see how these not being put in stores kind of defeats the purpose of the packaging meant to be a callback to when these toys were in stores the first time. Hasbro is tryign to recreate the atmosphere of the tf toys department to reflect the 80s that the BB film is conveying, and Walmart is taking a dump on that idea.

Well with WM you're fucked either way. You have to be lightning fast and in the right place at the right time to order online and pray to the toy gods that your local store bothers ordering the toys and more less actually setting the perpetual inventory levels correct. I'll never understand empty pegs/shelves unless the product is simply not available.

I still don't understand why exclusives just don't go up for preorder before manufacturering begins. That way everyone who wants one gets one. Make the deposits non refundable of you're scared of back outs.

I've learned if you want a thing, get it as soon as possible. Otherwise be prepared to pay more. It's the sad truth of collecting.

I've no interest in buying G1 toys again (especially at prices way above modern well articulated figures) but seeing that G1 box on the shelves there in the photo does make me nostalgic.

carytheone wrote:
I still don't understand why exclusives just don't go up for preorder before manufacturering begins. That way everyone who wants one gets one. Make the deposits non refundable of you're scared of back outs.

I've learned if you want a thing, get it as soon as possible. Otherwise be prepared to pay more. It's the sad truth of collecting.

2 things, one is that Hasbro has to have a minimum run of an x amount to come out above even. Which has to cover not just making the toy but the Logistics of transit blah blah blah. Now, that said,

The Model Train Hobby in the smaller scales has gone almost exclusively to that format for evwrything that is not basic necessity (track and scenrty materials). Every Engine, every train car, if you want it you have to get in the door or you are SOL, because if their minimum production run is 2,000, and they get 2,005 orders they are making 2,010. Don't have the money for it right then? Too bad. You either miss your pre-order or have to burn your hobby shop with an item they bought expecting you to buy it from them. The Model Train manufacturers have forced the stores, little mom and pop shops, to decide what excess inventory exists and be the ones responsible for warehousing it. And many engines run in the 2-300 range, so the number of shops stocking 1 or 2 extras is small. Because of things like this, Pre Orders are not a good representative of Demand, only a glimpse of Demand right now. And I'm not saying stores have a right to hold onto Shelf Warmer quantities of stock, but only fulfilling the Pre-Order quota is no different than the empty peg issues we have now.

Of course, Transformers is a lot different. Instead of $200 they are only 20 or 30. Which means its easier to set aside the scratch for what you want whenever it comes out. The lower Market prices though (what we are willing to pay) mean that Hasbro has to stretch its Production Costs across more units, because profits per unit off a $200 piece will be higher on average than a$20 piece. The Advantage to Toys is that they are simpler than Model Trains, fewer parts, and in the case of Hot Rod, that tooling is already paid for so the overhead is much less. But for new Exclusives like Punch/Counterpunch and Repugnus, Those sales have to cover the tooling. Hasbro knows we aren't crazy about paying $60 for a Deluxe as a habit (Botcon being the only exception and that was once a year. And not every year for some fans) and certainly their Target Market (Children. Don't forget that Generations is pulling Double Duty for Kids and Fans) cant afford that, so they make more toys.

The point to my long-winded runaway is that Pre-Ordering stuff sucks, may not guarentee a Break Even point for Hasbro even though they would easily sell out what they need to be ahead, and is a dangerous slippery slope because not everyone may be able to put the dough together in time, limits the amount of excess stock for new or future Collectors out there; putting the stores in control of stock levels, and no store wants unguarenteed sales.

As it is, many of us are having to trn to Preordering anyway because we cant guarentee it will be on shelves at all. And while it might be more accessible, for tight budgets its not more convienent

I really hope these show up on the shelves locally!! All of them. All at once. Boom 80's.

itscramtastic wrote:I really hope these show up on the shelves locally!! All of them. All at once. Boom 80's.

How do you know we're not already back in the eighties? Non-politician as president in the US, a female Prime Minister in the UK, cold war...Feels like it's the eighties

ZeroWolf wrote:

itscramtastic wrote:I really hope these show up on the shelves locally!! All of them. All at once. Boom 80's.

How do you know we're not already back in the eighties? Non-politician as president in the US, a female Prime Minister in the UK, cold war...Feels like it's the eighties

No my joints didn't hurt back then, and the toys I have now have articulation

ZeroWolf wrote:

itscramtastic wrote:I really hope these show up on the shelves locally!! All of them. All at once. Boom 80's.

How do you know we're not already back in the eighties? Non-politician as president in the US, a female Prime Minister in the UK, cold war...Feels like it's the eighties

You aren't wrong, a time paradox may be happening. Someone figured out time travel!!

itscramtastic wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

itscramtastic wrote:I really hope these show up on the shelves locally!! All of them. All at once. Boom 80's.

How do you know we're not already back in the eighties? Non-politician as president in the US, a female Prime Minister in the UK, cold war...Feels like it's the eighties

You aren't wrong, a time paradox may be happening. Someone figured out time travel!!

I was this close to go full political and tell about how the 1980's were the good old days. Then I remembered that no matter the decade, there's always some heavy bull going on that we better forget about.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

itscramtastic wrote:

ZeroWolf wrote:

itscramtastic wrote:I really hope these show up on the shelves locally!! All of them. All at once. Boom 80's.

How do you know we're not already back in the eighties? Non-politician as president in the US, a female Prime Minister in the UK, cold war...Feels like it's the eighties

You aren't wrong, a time paradox may be happening. Someone figured out time travel!!

I was this close to go full political and tell about how the 1980's were the good old days. Then I remembered that no matter the decade, there's always some heavy bull going on that we better forget about.

Indeed but at least the 80s had catchy music (I may be biased as I pretty much listen to eighties stuff all day lately)

Also, looking at the reissues again, Why do you think these were selected

ZeroWolf wrote:Also, looking at the reissues again, Why do you think these were selected

With my superior IQ of over 9000, I can say without ANY doubt that it's a combination of the availability of the molds and how popular the character is. I'd bet my left AND right nut that if the G1 Dinobots molds were available, we would have seen them reissued along them as well.

william-james88 wrote:This would not surprise me, Hot Rod was online only too. Walmart has been going that way with exclusives as of late. WHile I usually dont get why that sucks for fans (since it being online means you dont have to rely on your walmart actuall stocking it)

I'd rather compete with my local area where there isn't a huge collectors market and scalpers than have to compete with the rest of the country as these come in and out of stock. Plus if I find it in store I know for a fact it's coming home with me, I can't get that same guarantee buying online, especially with all the people complaining about Walmart canceling their reissue orders AFTER they had supposedly shipped.

But you're right, it does mess up the 80's theme that Hasbro seemed to be going for on store shelves, but seeing as how US Walmart doesn't seem to really want to sell Transformers I can't say I'm surprised.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:...but seeing as how US Walmart doesn't seem to really want to sell Transformers...

Ain't that the truth!

Where's the up vote and thumbs up button?

ZeroWolf wrote:

itscramtastic wrote:I really hope these show up on the shelves locally!! All of them. All at once. Boom 80's.

How do you know we're not already back in the eighties? Non-politician as president in the US, a female Prime Minister in the UK, cold war...Feels like it's the eighties

I wouldn't know, I didn't exist until the 90's were half over

Kinda bummed if it's online only. I really want to see a G1 Devastator in stores

Found Starscream at my local Wal-Mart. 50$can plus taxes. A fair price but it's the one I don't need because I already have Takara's Encore.

This is more of a PSA to the community than actual full fledged news but since this site's main mandate is to help the community, the community should probably be made aware that there is no indication that the G1 reissues, exclusive to Walmart, will be found in stores across the US. Instead, we have evidence for the opposite, that these will be mainly available online.

Fellow Seibertronian Carytheone has found it written in the Walmart App that the G1 reissues are available for online purchase only. This is very important as it has come to our attention that several American fans are waiting to find these toys in stores rather than purchase these online. This is very similar to the release of Walmart exclusive Hot Rod from Transformers The Last Knight where several fans were left saddened and frustrated to never find this toy in stores when it was available online. So as to not repeat the same frustration, this article is being written now to indicate that the very same thing can happen, and that these G1 exclusives will probably be online only even though nothing has been outright said from Walmart.



The only one currently available on Walmart.com is Hot Rod, so if he interests you, it would be wise not to wait to find him in stores. We also included the links to the other toys which are currently not in stock but may come back online.

Of course, we have no confirmation from Hasbro, this is purely speculative based on what is said in the app and as Carytheone said:

Now I'm taking that with a grain of salt because Walmart had never been a reliable source for information about Walmart.

Starscream

Devastator

Hot Rod

Bumblebee

Outback

Swerve

Tailgate

This site's main mandate is to make Ryan money.

Otherwise, I'm not really surprised, most people probably were going to buy the reissues online anyway.

Well I was only going to buy them if I came across them in stores. Oh well money saved

Rodimus Prime wrote:This site's main mandate is to make Ryan money.

Otherwise, I'm not really surprised, most people probably were going to buy the reissues online anyway.

Not me.
I would buy them if I found them in person. I will not buy them online.
Small potatoes.

Saw them earlier online. I just had to get 2 rods. Hopefully one will be nice and minty with the correct, non-variant display. I'd love to get one AFA graded in those nice plastic boxes.

KVO Prime wrote:Saw them earlier online. I just had to get 2 rods. Hopefully one will be nice and minty with the correct, non-variant display. I'd love to get one AFA graded in those nice plastic boxes.

Please don't. You will waste your money big time. It's only a reissue. There is no point to keep it sealed but mostly even less so to AFA grade it. The sealed thing and AFA grading is only worth it on true vintage products or ultra rare, ultra limited releases such as lucky draws.

-Kanrabat- wrote:

KVO Prime wrote:Saw them earlier online. I just had to get 2 rods. Hopefully one will be nice and minty with the correct, non-variant display. I'd love to get one AFA graded in those nice plastic boxes.

Please don't. You will waste your money big time. It's only a reissue. There is no point to keep it sealed but mostly even less so to AFA grade it. The sealed thing and AFA grading is only worth it on true vintage products or ultra rare, ultra limited releases such as lucky draws.

I appreciate the heads up!! Maybe I'll use the 2nd one as a giveaway then for my instagram channel! kvo.prime

KVO Prime wrote:

-Kanrabat- wrote:

KVO Prime wrote:Saw them earlier online. I just had to get 2 rods. Hopefully one will be nice and minty with the correct, non-variant display. I'd love to get one AFA graded in those nice plastic boxes.

Please don't. You will waste your money big time. It's only a reissue. There is no point to keep it sealed but mostly even less so to AFA grade it. The sealed thing and AFA grading is only worth it on true vintage products or ultra rare, ultra limited releases such as lucky draws.

I appreciate the heads up!! Maybe I'll use the 2nd one as a giveaway then for my instagram channel! kvo.prime

Now THAT is worth getting two for.

While I can't see US Walmart stores stocking Hot Rod, Starscream, and Devastator, I could see them grabbing the mini bots for hanging off the corners of the end caps like they did back in the day with with key chains. Walmart may not want to commit space to these in stores, but they do know the value of nostalgia and impulse buys.

I also wouldn't be surprised if these ended up in the electronics aisle if Walmart were to stock them simply because that seems to be where TV and Movie collectibles have been turning up lately.

Emerje

My question is if they will ever be available online. They have shown out of stock since the pages went up eons ago.

hausjam wrote:My question is if they will ever be available online. They have shown out of stock since the pages went up eons ago.

Actually, the question is if Walmart will ever ship them! The only one most of us have received is Hot Rod. I believe a select few have received Devy and SS.

If you use nowinstock.net, you'll notice that most of them have gone in and out of stock. SS pops in and out almost daily.

Just an FYI, there’s a thread in the Cybertron Cafe on Facebook where an employee who works in Toys in PA claims they just received the shelf labels for the G1 reissues. So take that for what it’s worth. Is there any way to reach out to Hasbro or Walmart for clarification?

achildfromthe80s wrote:Just an FYI, there’s a thread in the Cybertron Cafe on Facebook where an employee who works in Toys in PA claims they just received the shelf labels for the G1 reissues. So take that for what it’s worth. Is there any way to reach out to Hasbro or Walmart for clarification?

We reached out to Hasbro, we will see what happens.

william-james88 wrote:

achildfromthe80s wrote:Just an FYI, there’s a thread in the Cybertron Cafe on Facebook where an employee who works in Toys in PA claims they just received the shelf labels for the G1 reissues. So take that for what it’s worth. Is there any way to reach out to Hasbro or Walmart for clarification?

We reached out to Hasbro, we will see what happens.

That sounds great! I look forward to their response if they choose to give one.

They went to great lengths at SDCC to talk about finding them on shelves again so I hope they follow through on that.

they need to b available like they were on the 80s

william-james88 wrote:

achildfromthe80s wrote:Just an FYI, there’s a thread in the Cybertron Cafe on Facebook where an employee who works in Toys in PA claims they just received the shelf labels for the G1 reissues. So take that for what it’s worth. Is there any way to reach out to Hasbro or Walmart for clarification?

We reached out to Hasbro, we will see what happens.

I doubt Hasbro will be able to give a meaningful answer, once an exclusive goes to a store their job is done. Hasbro doesn't have much influence on Walmart after all, they'er often left in the dark. At best they can make more figures and encourage a store to buy them, but that's about the extent of it.

Emerje

So far, I received my hot rod, I ordered two of them and both boxes were in crap condition. Lucky I planned on opening them to display in Robot and Vehicle mode, but it still ticks me off. For collecting purposes in store would have been nice.

Meanwhile outside the US, I bought 2 Devastators from Kapow Toys for some friends, as there aren't that many physical stores that would stock these anymore, in the wake of Toys R' Us. It's the way of the world now. Evolve or die. Never realised how tiny they were in G1 though, it's almost cute.

As an aside, when I was looking for a boxed G1 Soundwave on eBay for another friend (I don't collect G1 toys), I encountered AFA graded toys for the first time. £2,500 for an AFA Soundwave.. they go to the pit for that price. No Toy is worth that.

Got TlK Hot Rod in this fashion. Just received G1 Hot Rod, same method. Good thing there's "pickup at store" or else s&h on the small guys might be as much as the toys themselves. Where's Starscream, and why does Canada get them in store?

I got an order delayed email for the Satrscream I ordered for in-store pick up. Luckily, so far I haven't recieved a "order canceled" Like Itscramtastic did( ).

I too am wondering...

hurricane567 wrote: Where's Starscream?

hurricane567 wrote:Got TlK Hot Rod in this fashion. Just received G1 Hot Rod, same method. Good thing there's "pickup at store" or else s&h on the small guys might be as much as the toys themselves. Where's Starscream, and why does Canada get them in store?

There are 4,761 stores in the US and only 1/10 of that in Canada, so its much easier to manage and coordinate stock in Canada.

I only ordered Bee (ship/deliver 8/30?) and they are shipping to the house for free but they offered to save me around 30 cents if I shipped to store.

It was worth it to me to not drive there and have to walk in.

Rodimus Knight wrote:So far, I received my hot rod, I ordered two of them and both boxes were in crap condition. Lucky I planned on opening them to display in Robot and Vehicle mode, but it still ticks me off. For collecting purposes in store would have been nice.

Another argument for why it sucks having exclusives that are online-only. It's much better being able to handle a figure in stores and picking the best one than being at the mercy of a warehouse worker that has no concept of proper packing. Walmart, Amazon, and TRU have all sent me collectibles in nothing more than padded envelopes, at best a thin box with no padding. Much prefer being able to handle something before I buy it than take a chance on something arriving damaged and mangled from a big box store.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:So far, I received my hot rod, I ordered two of them and both boxes were in crap condition. Lucky I planned on opening them to display in Robot and Vehicle mode, but it still ticks me off. For collecting purposes in store would have been nice.

Another argument for why it sucks having exclusives that are online-only. It's much better being able to handle a figure in stores and picking the best one than being at the mercy of a warehouse worker that has no concept of proper packing. Walmart, Amazon, and TRU have all sent me collectibles in nothing more than padded envelopes, at best a thin box with no padding. Much prefer being able to handle something before I buy it than take a chance on something arriving damaged and mangled from a big box store.

Emerje

Or if there are multiples you can pick the best paint job.

carytheone wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Rodimus Knight wrote:So far, I received my hot rod, I ordered two of them and both boxes were in crap condition. Lucky I planned on opening them to display in Robot and Vehicle mode, but it still ticks me off. For collecting purposes in store would have been nice.

Another argument for why it sucks having exclusives that are online-only. It's much better being able to handle a figure in stores and picking the best one than being at the mercy of a warehouse worker that has no concept of proper packing. Walmart, Amazon, and TRU have all sent me collectibles in nothing more than padded envelopes, at best a thin box with no padding. Much prefer being able to handle something before I buy it than take a chance on something arriving damaged and mangled from a big box store.

Emerje

Or if there are multiples you can pick the best paint job.

Or one without any mold defects, which is worse.

Rodimus Knight wrote:So far, I received my hot rod, I ordered two of them and both boxes were in crap condition. Lucky I planned on opening them to display in Robot and Vehicle mode, but it still ticks me off. For collecting purposes in store would have been nice.

Too bad. I hope this won't discourage you from supporting more re-issue that may be released in the future.

What I really wanna know is if they'll be available-online or retail-OUTSIDE of the US, I wanna know if Walmart Mexico willsell them in some form

I just got a cancellation notice on the Starscream I ordered because he's not in stock. Funny thing is, he's been restocked at least 6 times since I ordered him too. I hate walmart's web order service.

In fact looks like he's in stock right now.
I've gone to place another order, and I bet he got cancelled because they gave me free shipping last time, because this time they wanted me to pay for shipping.

Yes a lot of people have gotten delay/cancellation emails. My SS was cancelled but I placed an order for 2 last week that is delayed. As a precaution, I ordered 2 more. My Devy is on back order but my friend said his was cancelled. Walmart is the absolute worst. I really wish Amazon did all exclusives.

First time poster here. Yep, my Devastator got cancelled and I was one of the first to order him. I'm guessing it's only a matter of time before the rest of my orders are canceled. Welcome to Walmart exclusives...

Glad to see I'm not the only one who would like to get these in person.
Shipping from stores like Wal-Mart and Kmart is like picking them from a crane machine.

Wow Walmart really is terrible. So they cancelled my original SS order. I placed one last week as a backup, and that is backordered. But the second backup I ordered this morning? Preparing to ship... Can't make this stuff up.

My Devastator order got cancelled today. They sent me an e-mail last week saying it was backordered and if they didn't get it in 2 days, they would cancel. I contacted WalMart and told them I didn't want to cancel and was willing to wait. So they waited until this week, then cancelled. I contacted them again and they said there was nothing they could do. I really hate Wal-Mart.