Thinkway Toy Story Collection

[french-collector]

I found Hamm on disneystore.com, in resin, for 19,99$ !!

 

[OlivusPrime]

Looks like Hamm still hasn't made it over to the UK! Although Buzz is on discount for £25, but I suspect everyone has him by now (judging by the numerous Buzz's I commonly see on toy store shelves).

 

[Bluecamelguy]

Its interesting. When Hamm showed up last year he disappeared from shelves almost instantly. Of course there were many souls online who were happy to offer him on Ebay for $80 a pop. I couldnt bring myself to spend four times the retail price, nor believe that the Disney Store would fail to capitalize on an item with such an obvious demand and popularity. So I waited, and today I was able to buy one in-store. They even hand picked the best one they had in the back and wrap it in two inches of butcher paper so that I could get him home safely. Then I went over to TOYSRUS who, a month ago, might have had a single but a single Buzz on the shelf. Not only did they have a dozen Buzz's and "Movie Scale" Rex's, but four TSC RC's at $70 each. It gives me hope that even the rare TSC Rex is possible to find in a retail setting with enough patience.

 

[solostardestroyer]

great collection they are very detailed and as movie accurate as they will get

 

[OlivusPrime]

Its interesting. When Hamm showed up last year he disappeared from shelves almost instantly. Of course there were many souls online who were happy to offer him on Ebay for $80 a pop. I couldnt bring myself to spend four times the retail price, nor believe that the Disney Store would fail to capitalize on an item with such an obvious demand and popularity. So I waited, and today I was able to buy one in-store. They even hand picked the best one they had in the back and wrap it in two inches of butcher paper so that I could get him home safely. Then I went over to TOYSRUS who, a month ago, might have had a single but a single Buzz on the shelf. Not only did they have a dozen Buzz's and "Movie Scale" Rex's, but four TSC RC's at $70 each. It gives me hope that even the rare TSC Rex is possible to find in a retail setting with enough patience.

I still haven't been able to get Hamm. When he came out, and he was still relatively common online, I thought I'd wait until he appeared in English stores. He never arrived though, so I missed out alongside many others.

The TSC toys, especially the ones from the first wave, do seem to be getting very common, possibly due to overstock. In any toy store I go to, they'll have many, if not all, of the collection toys on sale, with a lot of stock on the shelves. I guess that, with the Toy Story 3 craze coming to an end, people have already bought these toys/aren't interested anymore. I hope Thinkway don't see it as a bad sign and withdraw the elusive plans for wave 3 completely.

Despite all of the TSC stuff on the shelves at the moment... I still haven't ever seen Utility Belt Buzz in a store!

 

[greygoose]

I've not been able to find any Hamm in the UK to go with my Thinkway toys

 

[OlivusPrime]

I've not been able to find any Hamm in the UK to go with my Thinkway toys

I don't think anyone has. Disney released Bonnie's toys and the Ken/Barbie pack over here much later than the US release, so we might see Hamm in the future. Then again, maybe not. They probably all broke while getting shipped over here

 

[JDW1]

I purchased a THINKWAY "COLLECTION" edition Woody and Jesse from Amazon (USA) in Dec. 2010 without much problem. The toys were about $50 each. But in my search for other toys in the "COLLECTION" series at the time, it seemed like everyone was out of stock and those who were selling them wanted "hundreds of dollars."

I starting looking again this month, this time for a "COLLECTION" edition Buzz Lightyear with Utility Belt, and also for the Bullseye. But at present, the Buzz is selling for $580 from one scalper and although the Bullseye is available from the Amazon marketplace and EBAY, the prices exceed $100.

I wrote to THINKWAY about this, asking if indeed they are still building the "COLLECTION" edition toys, and they replied as follows:

Thank you for your interest in the Toy Story toys. We are still producing the Toy Story Collection toys. Most of our toys are sold to Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart and Disney stores. However we do not know how these toys are distributed among the stores. Some stores may be temporarily sold out. The Toy Story Woody’s Horse Bullseye is still being shipped to Toys R Us. Please check with your local area stores or online at www.toysrus.com, www.wal-mart.com, www.target.com, www.k-mart.com and www.disneyshopping.com for availability.

But the problem is that it appears most of these stores (in the US) are perpetually "sold out." I suspect the reason is due to scalpers who buy them up quickly and then selling them on EBAY or in the Amazon Marketplace for outrageous prices. These toys are not cheap at $50 each anyway, but the scalpers are pulling in $100 to $500 a pop simply because they appear to have cleaned out the stock of most stores for a long time, and people who want them have become desperate and pay the prices the scalpers want.

I would therefore appreciate hearing the purchasing experiences of others over the last few months. Who did you buy from and how? Was your only success to find a local store, or were you able to get it online (at the normal retail price)?

Thank you.

 

[Adoptedscot]

But the problem is that it appears most of these stores (in the US) are perpetually "sold out." I suspect the reason is due to scalpers who buy them up quickly and then selling them on EBAY or in the Amazon Marketplace for outrageous prices. These toys are not cheap at $50 each anyway, but the scalpers are pulling in $100 to $500 a pop simply because they appear to have cleaned out the stock of most stores for a long time, and people who want them have become desperate and pay the prices the scalpers want.

That one paragraph pretty much sums up how the collecting world works. It's not exclusive to the Disney Thinkway items.
x

 

[greygoose]

But the problem is that it appears most of these stores (in the US) are perpetually "sold out." I suspect the reason is due to scalpers who buy them up quickly and then selling them on EBAY or in the Amazon Marketplace for outrageous prices. These toys are not cheap at $50 each anyway, but the scalpers are pulling in $100 to $500 a pop simply because they appear to have cleaned out the stock of most stores for a long time, and people who want them have become desperate and pay the prices the scalpers want.

Damn scalping b*****ds! The world is full of them.

 

[JDW1]

That one paragraph pretty much sums up how the collecting world works. It's not exclusive to the Disney Thinkway items.

But it could also be said that the collecting world itself gives rise to these much-hated scalpers. For truly, if there were not so many out there collecting them (i.e., "strong demand"), scalpers would not be making the profits they are now and the toys would be readily available.

What I find unfortunate about these THINKWAY toys is that even the "COLLECTION" edition toys are priced at just under $50, which puts them within reach of "your average American parent." Hence, many kids ask for these toys for their birthday or Christmas, and parents then go out seeking the toys only to find that scalpers control their distribution due to market apathy on the part of THINKWAY. Again, these THINKWAY toys are very accurate in terms of being built like what you see in the movies, but they aren't breakables made of porcelain, nor are they weighty die-case (not-to-be-played-with) toys meant to be put on a collector's shelf, nor is the retail price set above what most "families" can afford. No, these are toys that are well-made but built for kids to love and enjoy. And that, my friends, is why this particular case is more evil than others. The scalpers are sticking it to the upper class who have the cash to pay the hefty price they demand and keeping these toys out of the hands of kids in the lower classes, who otherwise might have been able to have the toys had the toys been available in stores at their retail prices of about $50.

As member of a company that manufacturer products, I can tell you that manufacturers can exhibit some control in the market, whether they admit it or not. THINKWAY does have a considerable amount of responsibility here, although I am not laying all the blame on them. I simply wish THINKWAY would do more to get the toys out of the hands of scalpers. (Even Apple is trying to do that now in China with regard to their iPad and iPhone products. Even if one wishes to contend Apple is failing, at least they are trying, and that is more than what THINKWAY is doing.)

 

[Bluecamelguy]

I wholly agree that the marketplace is rife with opportunists whom are unfairly manipulating supply. I have a way to even the score. I was just at the Disney Store yesterday and they're flush with Hamms. I am willing to purchase him and sell him to someone here on the boards at retail ($19.99 + tax) + whatever it will cost to ship him. I would like to do so with someone who has the same kind of access to a TSC Rex and would also pay retail + shipping. Maybe we could start some sort of Retail Swap Club, which could equalize the "Greed Effect" and put these toys back into the hands of the collectors and parents. My email should be accessible through my profile.

 

[JDW1]

I wrote THINKWAY again and they replied back to say that the Blue-belt "Toy Story Collection" Buzz Lightyear was a 2010 toy that is no longer in production. But they added that the regular "Toy Story Collection" Buzz (without the blue belt, TS3 edition) is still being built and shipped to Toys R Us and the Disney Store.

Even so, after a considerable amount of checking at Toys R Us stores in the Central Valley in California state, I could not find a single one of the "THINKWAY Collection" Buzz's. None of the retail stores even knew when they would get one. One store told me to wait until they got their next shipment. I then asked why they don't know what is in their shipment, and they didn't give me a straight answer. I wasn't pleased with that response, but I waited for their shipment to arrive. I telephoned Toys R Us the very morning they told me their shipment was expected to arrive. They told me there were no THINKWAY Collection edition Buzz's in that shipment.

Most stores have the non-Collection Buzz's, which include the Blast Off Buzz, Karate Action Buzz, Ultimate Buzz (IR controlled robot), iDance Buzz, and the keychain edition Buzz. But the "Collection" edition Buzz's are the most authentic and therefore are the one's most buyers (collectors or not) seek. Heck I too sought after the Collection edition Buzz's. But that is partly why they are no where to be found.

To be fair to THINKWAY, it's not all their fault. A lot of blame must rest upon the shoulders of Disney/Pixar, in their licensing terms. I say this because the kind rep at THINKWAY told me flat out that she'd love to sell me the item I wanted "direct from THINKWAY," but their licensing terms with Disney prohibits such! Hence, they have no choice but to sell to Toys R Us and other retailers, even knowing about the scalping that's going on. And to be sure Disney/Pixar must know about it too, but they are turning a blind eye to it being keeping their existing licensing terms in check and doing nothing to prevent the problem. Funny, but in light of the Toy Story 2 plot, it's almost like the guys at Pixar want it to be this way -- a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Well, not being a quitter, I then spent quite a number of hours online to see what my options were, especially for the blue-belt Buzz. Of course, the one that crops up most when you search is that same nutcase scalper whose hoping a desperate rich man will pay his price of $580 for the blue-belt Collection Buzz. But with a more diligent search and a hefty amount of patience, I was able to find a more reasonably priced scalper in the UK who seems to have a large stock of them. I say that because he listed 5 of them in his stock, I saw one sold, and then I decided to buy two, then a day later someone else bought his fifth; but I then saw that he opened another auction and listed 5 more. Here's the auction in question, which is currently selling the blue-belt Buzz's for 59.99 British Pounds (plus 25 Pounds international shipping):

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190533528682

Take note, however, I've still not received mine. But if the items is truly "new/unopened" as the seller describes, then I will be mostly satisfied. I am still very dissatisfied that I couldn't get it at the not-so-cheap-anyway "retail price" of just under US$50. And I am especially dissatisfied that THINKWAY claims to sell their TS3 Collection Buzz to Toys R Us, yet none of the retail stores I checked (for a considerable time too, mind you) had them or knew when they ever would. But in light of all the demand for the blue-belt Buzz, and with Disney/Pixar turning a blind eye to scalping, and considering THINKWAY told me it is no longer made as of 2011, I considered 84.99 Pounds a fair price for its rarity. But if you don't care about the blue belt, you can find the THINKWAY TS3 Collection Buzz on EBAY for an overall price (including shipping) that is a bit less than what I paid for the blue belt Buzz.

 

[galmando]

man, i got these figures a while ago, when they came out i guess, it must have been

i love them, i know that they're more toys than display items to some, but for me they're amazing replicas at the price tag they are.

i never knew, however, that things got this bad with them, the buzz's were available everywhere, last i saw them was in a local tesco supermarket for the normal (if not cheaper than) retail price

if anyone's interested i can take another look, see if they still have them, they a collection RC for something like £50, very cheap.

i only have one of each, never thought and still wouldnt want to buy and sell these. it's a shame really.

i got the standard slinky to put with them, need to get a decent Hamm.

maybe i'll post a pick of the shelf, they look awesome, Bullseye is amazing!

 

[The Ringer]

^^^^^^


https://www.disneystore.com/toy-story-home-decor-toy-story-hamm-bank/mp/1265235/1000055+1000207/

 

[galmando]

Thought I'd share a pic if my modest toy story collection

I'm the kind of collector who doesn't like too much stuff, keep it streamlined!

 

[Coheteboy]

Looks great!

My TRU recently got a restock of the normal Buzz Lightyears and Lotso bears. So the poster who said something about them not showing up anymore... keep checking.

 

[galmando]

there's lot's of of Lotso in stores over here, but he's not a figure that i'm all that interested in, so i'm not sure if i'll ever get him

something i do still need but dont know about is the soldiers, are they worth it for a box of soldiers? i'm thinking if need be i could get some cheap ones

hmmm

 

[Coheteboy]

there's lot's of of Lotso in stores over here, but he's not a figure that i'm all that interested in, so i'm not sure if i'll ever get him

something i do still need but dont know about is the soldiers, are they worth it for a box of soldiers? i'm thinking if need be i could get some cheap ones

hmmm

The soldiers are pretty cool and really add to the display I think. Cheap ones don't do it justice because the Thinkway ones are made using Pixar's data. They look great.

 

[RyanSD]

FYI - I was at a TRU this past weekend and they had restocked Bullseys. They had 4 on the shelf. So he is still being released, just keep checking them TRUs.