how it is to collect outside of us
 

i read all these threads on alot of forums where people in the us are unhappy if only of 3 stores got the latest figs and waves of joes within less then a hour to drive.

i just want to share how its like to collect outside of us,maybe that drive under an hour wont feel so bad,i think sometimes its easy to forget what you got.

so i want to share a email i sent to hasbro in europe..they didnt even have a adress to my country sweden i had to email denmark division:


Dear T,



Thank you for your e-mail. I’m afraid GI Joe action figures will not be sold in the near future. Perhaps if a sequel to GI Joe: The rise of Cobra will premiere in theaters we will also be distributing new GI Joe characters. But for now nothing is certain. Please keep an eye on our webpage for updates.



Med venlig hilsen/ Kind regards



Morten S

Customer Service Representative



Fra: - -
Sendt: 4. januar 2011 21:36
Til: HasbroDK, HasbroDK
Emne: gi joe



Hello Hasbro!

My name is T.
Im a collector in sweden that collects g.i joe figures "it was sold under the name actionforce in europe in the 80s ,90s".
i have tried to get my hands on the figures from alot of stores but everyone keeps saying no we wont get any.

Is hasbro actually trying to get any gi joe products towards sweden at all at any time?
Not even the big stores like toys r us or br leksaker is saying there will be any more gi joe after the rise of cobra series ended.

Is my only option to buy from ebay /usa? or will any products reach any toy reseller in sweden? if so who? and when?

Its kind of sad when i see they restock starwars from hasbro all the time.


best regards.



t

I think what really bugs us here in the US is how erratically the stores allocate specific items. It sucks to hear that something you want is abundant several states away because that means that if a store sells through an item, the warehouse will most likely restock that store, rather than allocate that item to one that hasn't even gotten it yet. I'm with you all the way on the frustration in seeing Star Wars figures in Sweden and no Joes...it makes no sense, especially when they end up selling last year's waves and items that never made to retail to off price retailers :mad: In terms of getting figures, Draconian, let us know what you need. The Joedios crew is one of the best to trade within :)

i just dont get how hasbro thinks.
the roc movie was actually a hit in sweden with a wide fanbase of kids from the 80s and 90s actionforce was huge when i was a kid.

i actually pushed the point pretty hard with one of the bigger toy retailers after not accepting no i got the most strange answer but its seemed very honest.

we have sold out all the ROC figures there is no more figures anywhere in the country...so we wont take in more because they dont sell (???)

the answer from hasbro directly is also strange because their logic dictates that it isnt any POC figures out until the movie is in theatre...

i cant argue with that kind of logic it makes my brain hurt.
we both know they have poc figures.

i can still buy figures but it take alot of effort and its random and i buy what i can get not what i want.

i could probably buy drugs just 10 minutes from where i live but i cant buy small action figures.

its just strange...i mean the starwars figures comes in the same crate they could ship gi joe.

i work in a company that uses the same kind of logic so i know that i just means "no we have other plans period."

im not trying to get sympathy trading going here i just needed to vent some frustration i have really been poking asking mailing and calling alot of toy ppl to get somkind of grasp why its like this.

It's pretty much the same thing here in the UK. No new gi joe movie, no new gi joe toys. GI Joe just does not have a large enough market in Europe. GI Joe is so America-centric, and large UK toy store chains aren't likely to sell PoC since it has no media tie-in, like RoC toys had with the movie. Star Wars and Transformers are always more popular in Europe and will sell regardless, since a) they are more science-fiction and b) they are not tied to one specific nation state, as GI Joe usually is.

The irony is that the more international flavour of the RoC concept did the European joe fan a big favour; there would have been no toys without the movie for us.

This is all my humble opinion, by the way.

Im am sad to hear about this for you Euro guys/gals. Im gona look at this on a some what bright side. PoC is a small line, you will have to pay alil more then what you want but there are not alot of figures to collect unless you are army building. Ebay and Joe fan sites are your best bet. Like dancontrino said, there are alot of helpful people on the boards.

I too feel the same way about this as a collector in Ireland it sucks not being able to walk into a store and pick up joes. I used to do this as a kid all the time but I'm guessing becasue of the over priced hikes they put in for the ROC line it killed any chances of getting extra waves. heck even the store neat me only had Wave 1 Figures for months and very rarely saw wave 2 or 3 . the mobile pit was there first week of film launch then gone. same with the alpha vehicles tons of crusher and ise dagger not much of any other vehicle.

plus the price points was terrible .€9.99 per figure thats was like $16 a joe
and around the corner from the joes corps figures €5.99 for 3 figures and a small vehicle.
I mean honestly wich would you of gone for if you were a parent ??

I remember sending a similar email to hasbro once I learned of POC arrival. and getting the same response.

what I'd love to do is ask Hasbro what you need to purchase a crate of Joe figures and vehicles then ask fellow European joedio's to go shares in it and buy it that was then sell left over's and maybe get a lil on the side for a furture purchase. tho . I dunno how the waves are packed so that could lead to trouble.

I must say cudo's to the Fellow Joedio's troopers here for helping us Eurojoe's to get the newer POC figures and waves . tho one thing I must gripe about is since the release of those Canceled wave 3 Ross finds I find it distasfull that us Euro fans have to pay ludacous ebay prices for an item that was 5.99 at retail and then up to $24 for shipping costs. I get the shipping is expensive hence why i'd preffer to get all the ones I want from the same person instead of having to pay out 24.99 per seller for shipping that gets costly !!!

The Walmart near me tends to have nothing but a massive stock of Star Wars for some reason. When they stocked the 25th figures a couple years back they sold out completely without a single problem. Same with the ROC figures and somehow the Corps. Of all figures they keep stocked they have the ones that are selling poorly up on the shelves.


The Walmart I buy my POC's at is a half hour away (which isn't that bad) but everytime I go there they decide that "there's not a single POC figure up here, let's not bother restocking". Even though they still have ROC Storm Shadow and some smaller vehicles

Being from Brazil is wonderful for pictures. The weather is cool, the nature is beauty, but buy something at eBay and wait 30 days for it to show it is a $HIT. My collection isn't bigger, army bulding is expensive. And I'm sure that my collection would cost half what it did if I was in the US. And I can't remember how it feel go to a toy shop and found your G.I. Joe wanted.

At least you guys get those sweet BOPE vehicles in brazil :D

I do seriously feel bad for all of our collectors outside the U.S.
I'll think twice before complaining about having to drive to three targets to find the latest Joe from now on.

my only source in sweden pricetags are 29 dollars per singlecard figure.
thats not including shipping stuff.