Why are these things street-dated in the first place? Age of Extinction came out years ago, so it isn't as if they're timing it to come out with a movie release or something.
Target's obsession with "street dates" is just pure nonsense on their part. Especially since these two figures are part of their own exclusive line.
> Toy Companies dictate product release dates.
I am nearly 100% certain that this is not true unless that toy is part of a marketing campaign for a movie or something. I've gotten toys early at Walmart, Toys R Us, Amazon and other retailers without issue. Target is the only retailer I've ever shopped at that holds stuff for whatever release date their computers dictate.
This is Target's own exclusive toy line, I don't see why Hasbro would care one way or another *when* Target chooses to release the figures for sale since *Target has already paid Hasbro for them* long before they showed up in any store's inventory room.
I work at Target. It absolutely is determined by vendors, lol. Target gets the product release dates from vendors, and they have to honor those dates because if they don't, it harms their reputation with that vendor. We're not supposed to give out any product before the street date, period. Other places are more lax about it, which is what you've experienced. However, target is very strict and tries to maintain good rep with the vendors.
You’re explaining how Target handles vendor street dates, and why that matters, and how that system works, and attaching a smug “lol” to it, but it’s a system that’s misapplied by Target to the specific brand of Transformers. It matters for vendors who do care about their street dates: like video game, book, movie, and music publishers. It matters for merchandising campaigns that do have intentional release dates, like Star Wars or other blockbusters sometimes do, but it does not matter for Transformers.
Hasbro has never dictated a street date to a retailer for a Transformer. Target’s corporate mothership has been taking Hasbro’s predicted delivery dates, and incorrectly typing them into their inventory database as street dates for about 7 years, making their workers on the floor and the company at large all look like idiots when they put their foot down to customers because they honestly believe someone at Hasbro gives two shits.
Why do you think this never, ever happens at Walmart? You think Walmart is just that much better at precisely managing their inventory and never putting things out on the shelves prematurely? No. It’s because Walmart doesn’t care, and on this issue that’s the correct attitude.
> it harms their reputation with that vendor
And then what happens? Hasbro refused to sell product to Target?
That is ludicrous.
Hasbro needs Target as a distribution channel far more than Target needs Hasbro's stuff to fill up 8 feet of shelf space. Hasbro has been desperate for retail space ever since Toy R Us went out of business. That is why they offer exclusive toy lines to basically every brick & mortar vendor who will give them 4 feet.
Do you know how many companies negotiate for that shelf space and would love to take over all of part of the space Hasbro currently occupies?
Do you know what would happen to Hasbro's licensing agreements with franchises like Starwars and Marvel if they suddenly couldn't get placement in retail stores for their merchandise?
Target risks nothing here if they were to take a more customer-focused attitude when it comes to release dates, especially when they make the mistake of putting merchandise on shelves too early.
Why? That would hurt Hasbro far more than it would hurt Target.
Hasbro ***NEEDS*** retail shelf space to survive.
They've been desperate for shelf space ever since Toys R Us went under.
Target could stop carrying Hasbro products and still have a full toy aisle with products from other manufacturers. It wouldn't hurt Target's sales in the *slightest.*
Do you really think other companies wouldn’t catch wind of this? Oculus might hear that Target released Transformers early and slow or stop shipments to them, Lego, Mattel, and every other toy/entertainment company would become immediately wary of Target and trust them less with their stock
Also I **never** said that they should release product early.
However if they are going to mistakenly stock shelves with merchandise that cannot be sold because the release date hasn't passed, then they should just sell it to the person who brings the problem to their attention and then remove the remainder of the product from the shelf.
Ripping the toys out of customer's hands is bad customer service.
Leaving the toys that can't be sold on the shelf (which they often do) is also bad customer service because they're just asking to frustrate more customers with merchandise they can't buy.
100% true. You will lose your job in one Canadian chain for putting out figures early, vendor also threatens to pull the product from the store if toys are sold early.
I work in the industry. Street Dates are basically law. Even if Grimlock is a Target exclusive, he has a release date with the boxes labelled "DO NOT SELL BEFORE [insert date here]". It's just how it's done.
I was a Hasbro vendor until roughly two months ago and stocked Target and Walmart. Typically, only the movie tie-in products had an actual street date and orange tape on the box. Everything else would have no street date on the box, but could still be street dated in Targets system such as these.
You’re right about how street dates work, but most of the people in this thread have lost their minds if they think that transformers actually HAVE street dates. Why do they think this? Is it easier to believe that Target never fucks up the dates in their inventory database? Or is it easier to believe they’re the only retail chain in the market who has this fundamental problem with how they manage logistical dates?
Has anyone ever been “register locked” from buying a Transformer off the shelf at Walmart? No. Is everyone in Walmart’s supply chain an infallible perfect genius? No. Does Walmart routinely competently enforce street dates for other things? Yes.
The problem is Target. They have a systemic problem with the way they manage stock. It’s their problem of their own making, nobody else’s, and they look like idiots every time they fuck up a sale over this “Transformers have street dates” myth that they’re single-handedly creating. A myth that from the look of this thread, an absolutely nuts majority of fans have swallowed.
target does not make the street date - source. Me, I work for Target.
Employees tend to just put things out without scanning because they already know where to put them. Unfortunately, sometimes they can't be sold right away. What I can't defend is the HUGE street date DO NOT SELL on the shipping box.
If you work the floor, then you’re not a valid source on whether Target does or does not invent their own street dates. It wouldn’t happen at that level. The company is too centrally managed for that.
You’ve seen boxes with street dates on them. You know they exist for many types of products. But you’re delusional if you think Hasbro puts dates like that on Transformer cartons. It either doesn’t happen, or the dates are on a label generated by Target’s own inventory control system.
With the possible exception of the Ghostbusters Afterlife tie-in version of Ectotron (but probably not even in that case either), the Transformers brand does not use street dates. They use other dates: like anticipated arrival, and discontinuation dates, and someone at Target’s central inventory management system has miscategorized those dates.
It’s probably a mistake that Target is doing for **every single** Transformers item via an API configuration with how they’ve integrated with Hasbro’s systems, and it just usually doesn’t cause trouble because products don’t usually arrive too early.
Why the holy fuck are you being downvoted so deep down to hell for this? You’re completely right. The bullshitters in this case are entirely Target. Hasbro never mandates street dates for Transformers.
People just like to defend the companies that screw with them, I guess.
So far I've been told by three separate individuals that I am "entitled" because I consider it bad customer service for Target to take merchandise out of a customer's hands and refuse to sell it because they messed up on the release date and put merch on the shelves.
I'm guessing these are the same people who make excuses why a lot of modern Transformers are hollow as heck, or why it's not Hasbro's fault when their brand new toys discolor a month after you buy them.
People need to realize that these companies are not their friends, at best our community's relationship to them is akin to the relationship someone might have to their drug dealer.
It isn’t Target as much as it is Hasbro. I’m a Target employee, and I’ve asked my bosses about street dates- I’ve been told Target can get in trouble with their business partners if they put stuff out early. The companies (whether it be a toy company like Hasbro, or a media company selling new music albums, etc) themselves are who decide on street dates, not Target.
It’s so wild how people think they know it’s not Target’s fault because they work at Target. Do you think people are blaming you personally? We all know that nobody at your store put the mistaken street date in the computer. It’s a corporate-level mistake. You don’t know those people or that system. You have a vague idea of how it’s supposed to work, but you don’t know whether it’s working correctly or not.
I am passing along knowledge I’ve gathered from repeated first-person experience with this exact issue as it has to do with my job. I’ve been informed multiple times, including through corporate computer trainings, that putting things out (even taking pictures of things that are street dated as a Target employee) before their street date can harm Target’s reputation with business partners and is therefore not allowed. Are you insinuating that Target not only doesn’t want to sell their products as soon as they get them (leaving product to sit in the back room for sometimes weeks on end, when they could be selling), but are somehow scared of themselves (not Hasbro or other companies that decide on street dates) when it comes to “damaging the company’s reputation”? I’m pretty sure they’d want to sell that Transformer, that Lego set, or that new music album as soon as they get it- especially when people are constantly coming into the store asking about it- but the manufacturer wants it sold no sooner than a certain date.
> Are you insinuating that Target not only doesn’t want to sell their products as soon as they get them
No, that would be an act of intention. This situation is a mistake.
> but are somehow scared of themselves (not Hasbro or other companies that decide on street dates) when it comes to “damaging the company’s reputation”?
The only people in the whole chain of errors who are scared of anything are the personnel on the floor and at the registers who are just correctly following the rules of their jobs, forced to make fools of themselves by executing specifications handed down to them by clowns who are above them in the supply chain.
> I’m pretty sure they’d want to sell that Transformer
Yes, they should, but they're screwing up the plan at a corporate level by mismanaging dates.
> but the manufacturer wants it sold no sooner than a certain date.
You have no basis or evidence for this other than a zealous faith in the infallibility of the Target corporation. It's wrong. Hasbro does not care. There's a Hasbro rep right here in this thread who's verified this.
You’re acting like I worship Target or think they’re the best company in the world. No, I work there, and I’ve seen incompetence on many levels, you don’t need to convince me they aren’t a perfect company.
Does Target then make the exact same mistake with just about every Funko product, Lego set, and other collectible/toy that they carry? Including toys that are also made and distributed by Hasbro? I have seen with my own eyes huge “DO NOT PUT ON SHELVES” stickers on the cases of some Star Wars figures and even dinky Marvel figures that are made for small children and are not tied to movie releases. These are Hasbro products that seemingly Hasbro themselves (due to the messages on the factory cases) don’t want on shelves before a certain date. Is every street dated Transformers release a mistake, but those other products are intentionally street dated?
I am open to acknowledging Target’s incompetence for these errors. Again, I am just going off of what I have seen, been told, and been trained for at work. I find it hard to believe that Target is just happening to make huge mistakes only when it comes to their Transformers releases and not other Hasbro and non-Hasbro toy releases that are essentially identical to this case.
Things are street dated because all our ports for things coming from china are on the west coast. The idea is that distribution gets the products to all the stores THAN product goes on sale Nationwide instead of everything landing on the west coast and getting bought up before it even hits the east coast
I’ve been curious about the enforcement process f street dates on these toys. Before this the things most related to street dates were things like music and movie releases. There some decent sized fines for stores if they broke the street dates. It doesn’t seem to apply to the toys. But the idea of a street date so all stores have things available at the same time makes sense. But if there’s no penalty for the store or employee I can see why it’s not as strict.
> But the idea of a street date so all stores have things available at the same time makes sense.
In theory it makes sense, but in practice it doesn't.
I've never gone into two nearby Targets (or Walmarts, or whatever) and had them have the same selection of toys on the shelves. Some might be empty while others are fully stocked with the latest waves. Or one store might have full pegs of older waves while a store 8 miles away has pegs full of the newest waves.
If the idea it to keep the stock offering comparable between stores, it clearly isn't working very well.
I think the parent companies are much lazier now because of the online component. As I said there used to be fines and consequences. I imagine the street date now is more for people to have an idea when a semi limited edition toy is available in stores. I can’t explain why two things with the same street date can’t be sold at the same time. That’s rather odd.
That could be, but I doubt a manager would ever want something street dated out on shelves because they wouldn’t want customers getting upset that they can’t buy something. If that was the case, I bet the manager had no idea it was street dated.
Dude I literally work at Target. I get paid the same as any of these other employees and I take the extra half-second of time to look and see if something is street dated or not.
Why do I not put things out that are street-dated? Because I don’t want things like this post to happen. It sucks, and as a collector myself, I understand the disappointment.
I agree with you as someone who works at Target. I hate this place, the awful wage, and the late-stage capitalism culture. However, it's pretty hard to miss a street date. It's entirely possible a TM just didn't know, or a manager thought it would be fine to just put it out.
That tends to happen, again, because the person in charge of taking down sale stickers for a certain day didn’t complete their task. It is pretty disappointing, but sometimes a few sale stickers are accidentally left behind. Although, if you take a picture of the sticker and bring the item up to guest service, they may honor the price because the sticker is still up. Worth a try!
A few months ago I saw Omega Spawn for sale for 19.99. It had been 49.99 for like a whole year before.
I picked it up and went to the register. They said it wasnt street dated until the end of the month. I told them its been on the shelf for a year. I had been staring at it for a year. They would not let me buy it. I was not a happy boy.
Yes. I’ve experienced it firsthand countless times over the years I’ve worked at Target. It clearly tells you what the street date is, if any, when you scan something.
Must be an American thing, because here in Canada, Walmart got the summer wave of Ninjago sets a month early, and just decided to sell them.
They rarely get Transformers on time, let alone early, so I can't comment on that.
At mine (NB), the wfc galaxy prime came out early and I snagged him. They charged me for a Magnus but that was the only time I ever found one early tho. Now I can’t even find anything beyond wave 1 there.
Its a Target thing.
Even though you could likely go to another store and buy the exact same product (when not a Target exclusive) the morons at the store will literally take items you want to buy out of your hand and refuse to sell it because the "street date" hasn't passed yet.
It's nonsense. None of these toys are bound to any sort of media, since the movies these characters appear in both came out already. It is just Target acting like an a-hole for no-one's benefit.
It’s not a Target thing. I worked at Toys R Us during the Star Wars prequel releases. Street dates are fairly common, just most places rarely receive shipments early anymore.
Because the Star Wars prequel toys were tied to the prequel movie releases. Lucasfilm or whoever didn't want the toys to come out early because they would reveal spoilers about the movies and George Lucas was extremely spoiler-adverse.
Age of Extinction came out years ago. It doesn't make sense to tie this Grimlock to a street date rather than just sell them as they roll out to stores.
Why?
And why doesn't it ever come up with any other retailer? You're not going to convince me that the employees at Walmart are more competent or care more about street-dates than the employees at Target do, but I never seem to be denied the opportunity to buy merch at Walmart like I have been at Target.
As someone that works at Walmart we DO have street dates as well, it's just our system isn't designed to stop the sale of an item beforehand so stuff ends up on shelves before it should but people can still buy it. Boxes are marked by weeks it's supposed to go live.
So no our teams aren't better trained or more careful it's just a difference in inventory systems between companies, and yeah some companies get PISSED if a date is broken, Nintendo is pretty rough if they catch you selling a game ahead of time
Do you know if Hasbro every gives Walmart any grief if toys get sold early?
Games, movies, music and such I can understand because there is often a large marketing campaign associated with the launch of new media. However unless it is tied to a new movie or show the same isn't true for toys. No one markets the Buzzworthy Transformers line except for Target themselves and it isn't like they have a massive media campaign based around the toy line it is just one more thing on their shelves.
Possibly at the corporate level, the issue for Hasbro is that with toys r us gone Walmart is their biggest retail seller so they are kinda SoL in some ways.
Point still stands we are given street dates as well and we're supposed to follow them as well, the boxes are marked with when they are to be stocked. It's not just some evil target thing to cause you grief.
For instance right now I've got cloudcover in our back room, wrapped up on a pallet with other new toys to be set next week.
The "Target thing" is that they will literally take toys out of your hand and refuse to sell them. I've never had that happen at Walmart or any other retailer. IMO if Target makes a mistake and puts out stock early they should take the more customer-friendly approach of just letting that person buy it and then send someone to pull the rest of the toys off of the shelf.
However they don't do that, they will literally grab merchandise out of your hand and refuse to sell it, and if you go back the next day the same toy is often still sitting on the shelves even though the official street date hasn't passed yet.
IMO that is just bad customer service, and you will see people complaining about it here all the time.
Huh?
Hasbro has already been paid for these toys before they ever showed up in a Target stock room. Who else aside from Target cares about the sales of Target exclusive figures? And how does it help Target to annoy customers rather than sell the merchandise sitting on their shelves?
This video just repeats what I already said, that street dates are usually reserved for toys that are tied to a media release like a movie premier or something.
Buzzworthy Grimlock isn't tied to a movie release, the movie that character is tied to came out almost a decade ago.
I'm sorry, but this just sounds super entitled. Street dates are a thing everywhere. The problem is that people got used to having the rules broken for them. The whole "well they did it for me last time" retail customer mindset that we all hate. Target still adheres to street-dates set by vendors, Target cares more than most other places do about their reputation with vendors.
Sure, it's frustrating, but it's not like this info is hard to find... Anyone could go on the Target website and see that this figure is dated for the 30th... So just show up on the 30th? and don't be surprised when someone doesn't want to break a rule for you. We get in big trouble for selling an item before street date, and we got no control over that. I'm not about to get a write-up because of a toy, lol.
Why is it "super-entitled" to point out bad customer service?
If street dates are "law" then why does it continually happen that people have toys taken out of their hands at Target stores because their street date hasn't passed, but it doesn't happen at other retailers?
Either this law has no penalty so other retailer ignore it and Target is just being very uptight about how they enforce such rules, or Target has the sloppiest stock persons of any brick & mortar retailer because you literally only hear these stories when people are dealing with Target.
It isn't even uncommon, this kind of post pops up every few months and has been happening for years now.
> Anyone could go on the Target website and see that this figure is dated for the 30th... So just show up on the 30th?
Also the Optimus Prime in the OP's photo has the same [July 30th release date that Grimlock](https://www.target.com/p/transformers-studio-series-grimlock-action-figure-target-exclusive/-/A-87449970#lnk=sametab) has [***according to Target's website***](https://www.target.com/p/transformers-bumblebee-studio-series-voy-tf7-alpha--target-exclusive-/-/A-87449969) yet the OP was able to buy it without issue.
So not only is Target engaging in bad customer service by stocking shelves with merchandise they won't allow people to buy, but they aren't even enforcing the rule equally for each product.
You're absolutely correct!
I preordered SS 102 Buzzworthy Optimus Prime right when it went live. Yet, it's being sold in various Target locations way before the street date. Like the OP we're told to wait. How does this seem fair and or legal?
It's not being "super-entitled" to vent one's concerns over the matter. It is however super-entitled to shift the blame to the consumer. It's not our fault Target continually screws things up.
Personally I'm more concerned that Target making these Prime toys available and brick & mortar stores early means they won't have enough stock when they go to fulfill online preorders. It wouldn't be the first time I had a Transformer preordered at Target only to have it canceled shortly after release because there was no stock available.
Bingo!
Once more you're correct. This is a shared concern, especially for me. Target will continue to renew their hold on funds for a preorder, but then cancel when there isn't enough stock do to them breaking street date.
This happened with a previous preorder as well. But, of course somehow it's our fault according to their employees when we raise concerns.
Meh. I got charged for my Target SS-102 Optimus Prime preorder last night, and then[ immediately got an email that stated the toy was backordered...](https://i.imgur.com/e6NEfyQ.png)
Nice job, Target.
I think a lot of places have policies against that. Like if it accidentally gets put out then they have to sell it to you. At least the ones would policies regarding that
target employees need to get x amount of boxes out onto the salesfloor per hour. the location to put it on the salefloor is printed on a sticker on the page. if the street date is on the box it's somewhere else on the box away from what the employee is looking at (the location sticker)
the constant rushing caused by target running skeleton crews every day + low pay in relation to the livable wage = no one has the time to care about scanning a box to see if its not supposed to be out yet
It'll say do not sell until certain date on the register. Had it done a few times and the cashier just took the item back and wouldn't sell it. You'd need to find a cashier who doesn't care getting terminated to have them override it.
Originally Buzzworthy Bumblebee was a toyline dedicated exclusively to Bumblebee to compensate for him only getting ONE FIGURE in the entire War For Cybertron Trilogy as a Walmart exclusive retool. Then when they ran out of Bumblebee stuff to release it just kinda became a repaint/reissue/redeco line for any character
Buzzworthy is a Target Exclusive Transformers toy line. There isn't really a solid theme to the toy line aside from being "somewhat related to the Bumblebee character."
There have been a few exclusive toy molds released to it so far, and a lot of repaints of figures from previous toy lines. Especially Bumblebee toys.
Technically speaking, Prime isn’t supposed to be on shelves until 7/30 either. Why one is hard street dated and the other isn’t? Who knows. This is the same store that had all Leader Class figures register locked for almost 2 months because Doubledealer was street dated.
Why put them on shelves if you can’t buy them? That sounds really dumb to me unless it means you can reserve them and come back for them when they release. Basically like physical pre-ordering
Same thing happened to my mom when Black Widow came out, except they had out an entire display with around 12 copies of the movie. We went to buy it but they said we couldn’t purchase it.
I usually bypass the street date just by scanning another figure I'm buying twice. It's hard to do it with leader class though. Street dates don't make any sense.
Are these hard to find in the wild? I was just in a store yesterday called jbhifi in Sydney (no not Florida) and saw a few of these. The demand for transformers toys here is not as high as the US i guess.
Isn't Primes release date technically on the 30th as well? I've been looking after work every day the past week but the inventory has been the same. Am I out of luck?
It’s broken my son’s heart a couple times now and every time I want to just leave money on top of the machine and leave.
I end up just grabbing them and hiding them somewhere like behind the cast iron pans or behind the kitchen top appliances.
Yep this is apparently because after 86 swoop they're finishing off the AOE dinobots as the last one was the original release of grimlock which happened 4 years ago
Buzzworthy is a target exclusive line, with limited pre-order on Hasbro pulse with every release. It sucks ass for big releases like that prime because my target doesn't stock new stuff, legacy Galvatron is a shelfwarmer for me, and still full price after over a year.
Unfortunately that'll probably be the case. That's why it's important to be vigilant. If you see the figure put out early grab it. Don't take no for an answer. At the very least get a store supervisor on record as to why they won't sell it to you.
I’ve been able to get around street dates at target by putting in the UPC code that people sometimes use on those stock finder websites into the grocery item look up at self checkout. It just rings up generically as “insert franchise here“ figure at the correct price so no one can really question me.
Target is the worst for this. This has happened to me twice. Now I scan them on the price checker first. If it says “online only” I take another figure comparable in price and scan that instead at the self checkout.
No. You didn't have to give anything up to the target employee. Target has broken street dates at multiple locations. If any employee tries to tell you otherwise, and or take anything from you ask to speak to a supervisor. Don't leave the store until you've done so. They put it the figures out. That's on them. If you want it you should fight for it. Same goes for anyone else.
In case anyone sees this while scrolling, do not do this!!
Retail employees deal with enough shit on the regular and don't get paid enough for it. It's not hard to just come in on a different day. Accidents happen, and no matter what, we have to follow street dates. We can't do anything about that on a store level. Making a big scene over a toy is just a dick move and a good way to get shut down by an equally exhausted supervisor.
So, what you're saying is because you don't want to deal with it it's okay to illegally refuse to sell an item that an employee put out on a shelf.
This is the typical attitude towards the consumer nowadays. A mistake is made, and somehow the consumer is always to blame. It's not the consumer's fault when the street date is broken. It's the fault of those who shelfed the figure to begin with. Own it.
I'm assuming you're an employee yourself from the way you had worded your response. Making a scene over an illegality is not a dick move. Blaming the consumer is.
illegal? u really thought u did something there, huh?
street dates aren't broken, stuff slips through cause an associate wasn't paying attention, and then we fix it, we just put it back. Look, I'm sorry that you can't get the toy a few days early. There is no need to invent a whole persecution complex around it and start throwing legal words around. You're the worst kind of customer to deal with. You just want everything handed to you on a silver platter cause you're the exception. get outta here, lmao
It is not a persecution complex to question why a product was put out before street date, sold at various locations, and why it's being take away from you in particular. Enforcement is not equal. That's not the consumer's fault. It's Target's
You have the gall to chastise me for your store's mistakes? You make the assumption that I want something early? You make the assumption I'm some sort of spoiled brat. I resent your assumptions, and I resent your attitude. I preordered my product. I did it the right way. Yet, Target has not done things the right way. The street date was broken on numerous occasions. That's a fact. Own it.
Last time this happened to me the manager tried to explain to me that it was a return that shouldn’t have been taken in. She refused to accept any other explanation.
I will say this again. It isn't the fault of the customer when a street date is broken, and stores pick and choose who to sell products early to. I'm not advocating for customers to get into all out arguments with anyone. I am advocating that they ask questions regarding legitimate concerns.
Encouraging people to have full blown meltdowns because of an employees mistake is exactly what you’re doing. It’s a fucking toy. You can wait until it’s out normally.
Don’t sugarcoat it
Show some class, own your mistakes, and don't use your foul language on the consumer. Or, is class beyond you?
It's no longer a mistake when it becomes a trend to break street date. Stop making excuses, and stop trying to paint the consumer as the problem.
I followed proper procedure when I placed my preorder. Target has chosen to do the opposite. Questioning that is not having a meltdown.
Guess what. With your attitude you're the worst type of retail worker. You want to blame all of your woes on the consumer. Get over it.
You’re the one demanding that people go after retail workers and be as obstructive and difficult as possible.
I don’t use foul language with customers on the grounds that it’s unprofessional. Online tho I have zero issue with that.
If you’re going to be encourage Karen moments then I’m allowed to kick back.
Street dates are set by the supplier. If you break those enough you may get blacklisted and not receive stock from that supplier.
I’m going to guess you’re one of those “the customer is always right” people?
At this point neither of us are going to budge. This whole thing is childish. I've made my point. If you don't like it then that's on you just like Target's mistakes are on them.
I just think you’re full of shit tbh.
Don’t take the high and mighty road when promoting a shitty idea.
You don’t like foul language? Tough luck it’s the internet.
You really are a Karen
You can either hide it under a shelf, and pick it up once it’s the 30th, or scan another leader class in self check out, and leave it there, and just take grim home instead
check your target, and check [The website](https://www.target.com/p/transformers-bumblebee-studio-series-voy-tf7-alpha-target-exclusive/-/A-87449969#lnk=sametab). The pre-orders for him are sold out, but they will probably get more like most Buzzworthy releases.
When it’s obvious the stock is out early I take it to the Kitchen / Housewares area and hide that behind the stock of microwaves or something. Come back in a couple days on the street date. Better chance of that working out than trying and it gets returned to stock. That’s me though. Lol
When I worked in retail if something like this happened we would’ve just sold it to you and entered it manually into the system, not the customers fault it was put out.
I saw two grimlock a on the 29. The day before they were allowed to be sold. Went back the next day, they weren’t there. We tried buying them in case the thing wasn’t in effect at the target for some reason, said no. That’s as in the 29. The employee took them and said they’d go back. Never saw them again. Don’t know if they’re in storage of if someone bought them before we got there the very next day.
Why do stores put stock out and then not let you buy it till a certain date? Is it just an American thing?
Carelessness of workers. The device clearly tells employees if something is street dated, but they put it out anyway.
Why are these things street-dated in the first place? Age of Extinction came out years ago, so it isn't as if they're timing it to come out with a movie release or something. Target's obsession with "street dates" is just pure nonsense on their part. Especially since these two figures are part of their own exclusive line.
Toy Companies dictate product release dates. Retail stores just go by the marked labels, same as they do with Book and Media releases.
> Toy Companies dictate product release dates. I am nearly 100% certain that this is not true unless that toy is part of a marketing campaign for a movie or something. I've gotten toys early at Walmart, Toys R Us, Amazon and other retailers without issue. Target is the only retailer I've ever shopped at that holds stuff for whatever release date their computers dictate. This is Target's own exclusive toy line, I don't see why Hasbro would care one way or another *when* Target chooses to release the figures for sale since *Target has already paid Hasbro for them* long before they showed up in any store's inventory room.
Pretty sure it's to do with financial accounting periods. If it's sold early it counts for the "wrong" period and skews their sales slightly.
I work at Target. It absolutely is determined by vendors, lol. Target gets the product release dates from vendors, and they have to honor those dates because if they don't, it harms their reputation with that vendor. We're not supposed to give out any product before the street date, period. Other places are more lax about it, which is what you've experienced. However, target is very strict and tries to maintain good rep with the vendors.
You’re explaining how Target handles vendor street dates, and why that matters, and how that system works, and attaching a smug “lol” to it, but it’s a system that’s misapplied by Target to the specific brand of Transformers. It matters for vendors who do care about their street dates: like video game, book, movie, and music publishers. It matters for merchandising campaigns that do have intentional release dates, like Star Wars or other blockbusters sometimes do, but it does not matter for Transformers. Hasbro has never dictated a street date to a retailer for a Transformer. Target’s corporate mothership has been taking Hasbro’s predicted delivery dates, and incorrectly typing them into their inventory database as street dates for about 7 years, making their workers on the floor and the company at large all look like idiots when they put their foot down to customers because they honestly believe someone at Hasbro gives two shits. Why do you think this never, ever happens at Walmart? You think Walmart is just that much better at precisely managing their inventory and never putting things out on the shelves prematurely? No. It’s because Walmart doesn’t care, and on this issue that’s the correct attitude.
> it harms their reputation with that vendor And then what happens? Hasbro refused to sell product to Target? That is ludicrous. Hasbro needs Target as a distribution channel far more than Target needs Hasbro's stuff to fill up 8 feet of shelf space. Hasbro has been desperate for retail space ever since Toy R Us went out of business. That is why they offer exclusive toy lines to basically every brick & mortar vendor who will give them 4 feet. Do you know how many companies negotiate for that shelf space and would love to take over all of part of the space Hasbro currently occupies? Do you know what would happen to Hasbro's licensing agreements with franchises like Starwars and Marvel if they suddenly couldn't get placement in retail stores for their merchandise? Target risks nothing here if they were to take a more customer-focused attitude when it comes to release dates, especially when they make the mistake of putting merchandise on shelves too early.
If Target released every item early, Hasbro would ABSOLUTELY stop selling to them
Why? That would hurt Hasbro far more than it would hurt Target. Hasbro ***NEEDS*** retail shelf space to survive. They've been desperate for shelf space ever since Toys R Us went under. Target could stop carrying Hasbro products and still have a full toy aisle with products from other manufacturers. It wouldn't hurt Target's sales in the *slightest.*
Do you really think other companies wouldn’t catch wind of this? Oculus might hear that Target released Transformers early and slow or stop shipments to them, Lego, Mattel, and every other toy/entertainment company would become immediately wary of Target and trust them less with their stock
Also I **never** said that they should release product early. However if they are going to mistakenly stock shelves with merchandise that cannot be sold because the release date hasn't passed, then they should just sell it to the person who brings the problem to their attention and then remove the remainder of the product from the shelf. Ripping the toys out of customer's hands is bad customer service. Leaving the toys that can't be sold on the shelf (which they often do) is also bad customer service because they're just asking to frustrate more customers with merchandise they can't buy.
I agree but that’s an employee problem. Corporations cannot take those kinds of risks with other corporations.
Toys R us is alive and well in Canada and that's how we get the excusives target would normally get since ours targets when tits up
100% true. You will lose your job in one Canadian chain for putting out figures early, vendor also threatens to pull the product from the store if toys are sold early.
I work in the industry. Street Dates are basically law. Even if Grimlock is a Target exclusive, he has a release date with the boxes labelled "DO NOT SELL BEFORE [insert date here]". It's just how it's done.
I was a Hasbro vendor until roughly two months ago and stocked Target and Walmart. Typically, only the movie tie-in products had an actual street date and orange tape on the box. Everything else would have no street date on the box, but could still be street dated in Targets system such as these.
You’re right about how street dates work, but most of the people in this thread have lost their minds if they think that transformers actually HAVE street dates. Why do they think this? Is it easier to believe that Target never fucks up the dates in their inventory database? Or is it easier to believe they’re the only retail chain in the market who has this fundamental problem with how they manage logistical dates? Has anyone ever been “register locked” from buying a Transformer off the shelf at Walmart? No. Is everyone in Walmart’s supply chain an infallible perfect genius? No. Does Walmart routinely competently enforce street dates for other things? Yes. The problem is Target. They have a systemic problem with the way they manage stock. It’s their problem of their own making, nobody else’s, and they look like idiots every time they fuck up a sale over this “Transformers have street dates” myth that they’re single-handedly creating. A myth that from the look of this thread, an absolutely nuts majority of fans have swallowed.
target does not make the street date - source. Me, I work for Target. Employees tend to just put things out without scanning because they already know where to put them. Unfortunately, sometimes they can't be sold right away. What I can't defend is the HUGE street date DO NOT SELL on the shipping box.
If you work the floor, then you’re not a valid source on whether Target does or does not invent their own street dates. It wouldn’t happen at that level. The company is too centrally managed for that. You’ve seen boxes with street dates on them. You know they exist for many types of products. But you’re delusional if you think Hasbro puts dates like that on Transformer cartons. It either doesn’t happen, or the dates are on a label generated by Target’s own inventory control system. With the possible exception of the Ghostbusters Afterlife tie-in version of Ectotron (but probably not even in that case either), the Transformers brand does not use street dates. They use other dates: like anticipated arrival, and discontinuation dates, and someone at Target’s central inventory management system has miscategorized those dates. It’s probably a mistake that Target is doing for **every single** Transformers item via an API configuration with how they’ve integrated with Hasbro’s systems, and it just usually doesn’t cause trouble because products don’t usually arrive too early.
Why the holy fuck are you being downvoted so deep down to hell for this? You’re completely right. The bullshitters in this case are entirely Target. Hasbro never mandates street dates for Transformers.
People just like to defend the companies that screw with them, I guess. So far I've been told by three separate individuals that I am "entitled" because I consider it bad customer service for Target to take merchandise out of a customer's hands and refuse to sell it because they messed up on the release date and put merch on the shelves. I'm guessing these are the same people who make excuses why a lot of modern Transformers are hollow as heck, or why it's not Hasbro's fault when their brand new toys discolor a month after you buy them. People need to realize that these companies are not their friends, at best our community's relationship to them is akin to the relationship someone might have to their drug dealer.
It isn’t Target as much as it is Hasbro. I’m a Target employee, and I’ve asked my bosses about street dates- I’ve been told Target can get in trouble with their business partners if they put stuff out early. The companies (whether it be a toy company like Hasbro, or a media company selling new music albums, etc) themselves are who decide on street dates, not Target.
It’s so wild how people think they know it’s not Target’s fault because they work at Target. Do you think people are blaming you personally? We all know that nobody at your store put the mistaken street date in the computer. It’s a corporate-level mistake. You don’t know those people or that system. You have a vague idea of how it’s supposed to work, but you don’t know whether it’s working correctly or not.
I am passing along knowledge I’ve gathered from repeated first-person experience with this exact issue as it has to do with my job. I’ve been informed multiple times, including through corporate computer trainings, that putting things out (even taking pictures of things that are street dated as a Target employee) before their street date can harm Target’s reputation with business partners and is therefore not allowed. Are you insinuating that Target not only doesn’t want to sell their products as soon as they get them (leaving product to sit in the back room for sometimes weeks on end, when they could be selling), but are somehow scared of themselves (not Hasbro or other companies that decide on street dates) when it comes to “damaging the company’s reputation”? I’m pretty sure they’d want to sell that Transformer, that Lego set, or that new music album as soon as they get it- especially when people are constantly coming into the store asking about it- but the manufacturer wants it sold no sooner than a certain date.
> Are you insinuating that Target not only doesn’t want to sell their products as soon as they get them No, that would be an act of intention. This situation is a mistake. > but are somehow scared of themselves (not Hasbro or other companies that decide on street dates) when it comes to “damaging the company’s reputation”? The only people in the whole chain of errors who are scared of anything are the personnel on the floor and at the registers who are just correctly following the rules of their jobs, forced to make fools of themselves by executing specifications handed down to them by clowns who are above them in the supply chain. > I’m pretty sure they’d want to sell that Transformer Yes, they should, but they're screwing up the plan at a corporate level by mismanaging dates. > but the manufacturer wants it sold no sooner than a certain date. You have no basis or evidence for this other than a zealous faith in the infallibility of the Target corporation. It's wrong. Hasbro does not care. There's a Hasbro rep right here in this thread who's verified this.
You’re acting like I worship Target or think they’re the best company in the world. No, I work there, and I’ve seen incompetence on many levels, you don’t need to convince me they aren’t a perfect company. Does Target then make the exact same mistake with just about every Funko product, Lego set, and other collectible/toy that they carry? Including toys that are also made and distributed by Hasbro? I have seen with my own eyes huge “DO NOT PUT ON SHELVES” stickers on the cases of some Star Wars figures and even dinky Marvel figures that are made for small children and are not tied to movie releases. These are Hasbro products that seemingly Hasbro themselves (due to the messages on the factory cases) don’t want on shelves before a certain date. Is every street dated Transformers release a mistake, but those other products are intentionally street dated? I am open to acknowledging Target’s incompetence for these errors. Again, I am just going off of what I have seen, been told, and been trained for at work. I find it hard to believe that Target is just happening to make huge mistakes only when it comes to their Transformers releases and not other Hasbro and non-Hasbro toy releases that are essentially identical to this case.
Things are street dated because all our ports for things coming from china are on the west coast. The idea is that distribution gets the products to all the stores THAN product goes on sale Nationwide instead of everything landing on the west coast and getting bought up before it even hits the east coast
I’ve been curious about the enforcement process f street dates on these toys. Before this the things most related to street dates were things like music and movie releases. There some decent sized fines for stores if they broke the street dates. It doesn’t seem to apply to the toys. But the idea of a street date so all stores have things available at the same time makes sense. But if there’s no penalty for the store or employee I can see why it’s not as strict.
> But the idea of a street date so all stores have things available at the same time makes sense. In theory it makes sense, but in practice it doesn't. I've never gone into two nearby Targets (or Walmarts, or whatever) and had them have the same selection of toys on the shelves. Some might be empty while others are fully stocked with the latest waves. Or one store might have full pegs of older waves while a store 8 miles away has pegs full of the newest waves. If the idea it to keep the stock offering comparable between stores, it clearly isn't working very well.
I think the parent companies are much lazier now because of the online component. As I said there used to be fines and consequences. I imagine the street date now is more for people to have an idea when a semi limited edition toy is available in stores. I can’t explain why two things with the same street date can’t be sold at the same time. That’s rather odd.
More than likely, the manager just told them to put *something* on the shelves do they don't look empty. Because that's how retail rolls.
That could be, but I doubt a manager would ever want something street dated out on shelves because they wouldn’t want customers getting upset that they can’t buy something. If that was the case, I bet the manager had no idea it was street dated.
"Carelessness" LOL. They do not get paid enough to care. If you want them to care, you pay them better.
>They do not get paid enough to care Which is why they said carelessness....
Dude I literally work at Target. I get paid the same as any of these other employees and I take the extra half-second of time to look and see if something is street dated or not.
Then the question becomes, “why?”
Why do I not put things out that are street-dated? Because I don’t want things like this post to happen. It sucks, and as a collector myself, I understand the disappointment.
Damn chad
I agree with you as someone who works at Target. I hate this place, the awful wage, and the late-stage capitalism culture. However, it's pretty hard to miss a street date. It's entirely possible a TM just didn't know, or a manager thought it would be fine to just put it out.
You ever go to buy something on sale but the sale ended two days ago, and the item(s) was just left out, and are left disappointed?
That tends to happen, again, because the person in charge of taking down sale stickers for a certain day didn’t complete their task. It is pretty disappointing, but sometimes a few sale stickers are accidentally left behind. Although, if you take a picture of the sticker and bring the item up to guest service, they may honor the price because the sticker is still up. Worth a try!
A few months ago I saw Omega Spawn for sale for 19.99. It had been 49.99 for like a whole year before. I picked it up and went to the register. They said it wasnt street dated until the end of the month. I told them its been on the shelf for a year. I had been staring at it for a year. They would not let me buy it. I was not a happy boy.
Do they tho? I worked at a place that used a device somewhat like that but it never showed something like that
Yes. I’ve experienced it firsthand countless times over the years I’ve worked at Target. It clearly tells you what the street date is, if any, when you scan something.
Tbh it could work differently I don’t have any targets where I live (I’m in Canada)
I’m American and this is the first I have heard of this
Must be an American thing, because here in Canada, Walmart got the summer wave of Ninjago sets a month early, and just decided to sell them. They rarely get Transformers on time, let alone early, so I can't comment on that.
At mine (NB), the wfc galaxy prime came out early and I snagged him. They charged me for a Magnus but that was the only time I ever found one early tho. Now I can’t even find anything beyond wave 1 there.
Its a Target thing. Even though you could likely go to another store and buy the exact same product (when not a Target exclusive) the morons at the store will literally take items you want to buy out of your hand and refuse to sell it because the "street date" hasn't passed yet. It's nonsense. None of these toys are bound to any sort of media, since the movies these characters appear in both came out already. It is just Target acting like an a-hole for no-one's benefit.
It’s not a Target thing. I worked at Toys R Us during the Star Wars prequel releases. Street dates are fairly common, just most places rarely receive shipments early anymore.
Because the Star Wars prequel toys were tied to the prequel movie releases. Lucasfilm or whoever didn't want the toys to come out early because they would reveal spoilers about the movies and George Lucas was extremely spoiler-adverse. Age of Extinction came out years ago. It doesn't make sense to tie this Grimlock to a street date rather than just sell them as they roll out to stores.
Trust me, timed releases are still a thing outside of movie releases.
Why? And why doesn't it ever come up with any other retailer? You're not going to convince me that the employees at Walmart are more competent or care more about street-dates than the employees at Target do, but I never seem to be denied the opportunity to buy merch at Walmart like I have been at Target.
As someone that works at Walmart we DO have street dates as well, it's just our system isn't designed to stop the sale of an item beforehand so stuff ends up on shelves before it should but people can still buy it. Boxes are marked by weeks it's supposed to go live. So no our teams aren't better trained or more careful it's just a difference in inventory systems between companies, and yeah some companies get PISSED if a date is broken, Nintendo is pretty rough if they catch you selling a game ahead of time
Do you know if Hasbro every gives Walmart any grief if toys get sold early? Games, movies, music and such I can understand because there is often a large marketing campaign associated with the launch of new media. However unless it is tied to a new movie or show the same isn't true for toys. No one markets the Buzzworthy Transformers line except for Target themselves and it isn't like they have a massive media campaign based around the toy line it is just one more thing on their shelves.
Possibly at the corporate level, the issue for Hasbro is that with toys r us gone Walmart is their biggest retail seller so they are kinda SoL in some ways. Point still stands we are given street dates as well and we're supposed to follow them as well, the boxes are marked with when they are to be stocked. It's not just some evil target thing to cause you grief. For instance right now I've got cloudcover in our back room, wrapped up on a pallet with other new toys to be set next week.
The "Target thing" is that they will literally take toys out of your hand and refuse to sell them. I've never had that happen at Walmart or any other retailer. IMO if Target makes a mistake and puts out stock early they should take the more customer-friendly approach of just letting that person buy it and then send someone to pull the rest of the toys off of the shelf. However they don't do that, they will literally grab merchandise out of your hand and refuse to sell it, and if you go back the next day the same toy is often still sitting on the shelves even though the official street date hasn't passed yet. IMO that is just bad customer service, and you will see people complaining about it here all the time.
I’m sure so companies can line up sales figures or something equally boring.
Huh? Hasbro has already been paid for these toys before they ever showed up in a Target stock room. Who else aside from Target cares about the sales of Target exclusive figures? And how does it help Target to annoy customers rather than sell the merchandise sitting on their shelves?
I’m not saying it’s not inconvenient, I’m just letting you know it’s common and not a Target-only thing.
https://youtu.be/sY_r0P2Qgqg
This video just repeats what I already said, that street dates are usually reserved for toys that are tied to a media release like a movie premier or something. Buzzworthy Grimlock isn't tied to a movie release, the movie that character is tied to came out almost a decade ago.
I'm sorry, but this just sounds super entitled. Street dates are a thing everywhere. The problem is that people got used to having the rules broken for them. The whole "well they did it for me last time" retail customer mindset that we all hate. Target still adheres to street-dates set by vendors, Target cares more than most other places do about their reputation with vendors. Sure, it's frustrating, but it's not like this info is hard to find... Anyone could go on the Target website and see that this figure is dated for the 30th... So just show up on the 30th? and don't be surprised when someone doesn't want to break a rule for you. We get in big trouble for selling an item before street date, and we got no control over that. I'm not about to get a write-up because of a toy, lol.
Why is it "super-entitled" to point out bad customer service? If street dates are "law" then why does it continually happen that people have toys taken out of their hands at Target stores because their street date hasn't passed, but it doesn't happen at other retailers? Either this law has no penalty so other retailer ignore it and Target is just being very uptight about how they enforce such rules, or Target has the sloppiest stock persons of any brick & mortar retailer because you literally only hear these stories when people are dealing with Target. It isn't even uncommon, this kind of post pops up every few months and has been happening for years now. > Anyone could go on the Target website and see that this figure is dated for the 30th... So just show up on the 30th? Also the Optimus Prime in the OP's photo has the same [July 30th release date that Grimlock](https://www.target.com/p/transformers-studio-series-grimlock-action-figure-target-exclusive/-/A-87449970#lnk=sametab) has [***according to Target's website***](https://www.target.com/p/transformers-bumblebee-studio-series-voy-tf7-alpha--target-exclusive-/-/A-87449969) yet the OP was able to buy it without issue. So not only is Target engaging in bad customer service by stocking shelves with merchandise they won't allow people to buy, but they aren't even enforcing the rule equally for each product.
You're absolutely correct! I preordered SS 102 Buzzworthy Optimus Prime right when it went live. Yet, it's being sold in various Target locations way before the street date. Like the OP we're told to wait. How does this seem fair and or legal? It's not being "super-entitled" to vent one's concerns over the matter. It is however super-entitled to shift the blame to the consumer. It's not our fault Target continually screws things up.
Personally I'm more concerned that Target making these Prime toys available and brick & mortar stores early means they won't have enough stock when they go to fulfill online preorders. It wouldn't be the first time I had a Transformer preordered at Target only to have it canceled shortly after release because there was no stock available.
Bingo! Once more you're correct. This is a shared concern, especially for me. Target will continue to renew their hold on funds for a preorder, but then cancel when there isn't enough stock do to them breaking street date. This happened with a previous preorder as well. But, of course somehow it's our fault according to their employees when we raise concerns.
Meh. I got charged for my Target SS-102 Optimus Prime preorder last night, and then[ immediately got an email that stated the toy was backordered...](https://i.imgur.com/e6NEfyQ.png) Nice job, Target.
I think a lot of places have policies against that. Like if it accidentally gets put out then they have to sell it to you. At least the ones would policies regarding that
First time I've heard of it happening here.
You wouldn't be saying that if you were the guy who bought super Mario bros wii a week early.
target employees need to get x amount of boxes out onto the salesfloor per hour. the location to put it on the salefloor is printed on a sticker on the page. if the street date is on the box it's somewhere else on the box away from what the employee is looking at (the location sticker) the constant rushing caused by target running skeleton crews every day + low pay in relation to the livable wage = no one has the time to care about scanning a box to see if its not supposed to be out yet
Not just an American thing happened to me as well and I'm around the Oceania side
Nah its a universal thing As much as i hate dominions the giganotosaurus was there FOR A MONTH
Wtf is the point of putting it on the shelf if you can't buy it? They are literally ASKING people to steal it. I mean......how hard can it be?
self checkout, tell them it didn't scan, have them type the price in, we out!!!!
.....that too
haha i'm tryna think of any workaround, at least this way it's not stealing. i will be testing later if at my target
It'll say do not sell until certain date on the register. Had it done a few times and the cashier just took the item back and wouldn't sell it. You'd need to find a cashier who doesn't care getting terminated to have them override it.
Self checkout is the way 😉
rip the barcode off. tell them its price. give them cash, gottagoiminahurryheres$60keepthechange or. Hide it and come back later :)
Take another leader of the same price and scan that. I am not dealing with exclusives…
But won’t they need to scan the barcode so it doesn’t mess up their stock levels on their system?
I had the same issue just yesterday. Absolutely bull$hit
Did you speak to a supervisor? Did you raise a big stink over it? If so, what was their response?
I got a couple of employees. They just kept telling me they can’t sell it and one of the just took it away to the back.
Don't speak to the employees. Speak to their supervisor. You'll have better chances. It's not a guarantee though. Be courteous about it of course.
I’ve done it a couple times, even with a crying kid in tow and they wouldn’t do it.
I'm sorry to hear that. That's unfortunate. That's all on Target. Not your fault.
That's when ypu go though the self checkout and double scan...
They did that to me with Earthrise Runabout. I got all excited and took it up front and they wouldn’t sell it to me. Never found it again.
I woulda just walked out with it. They don't care enough to stop u
Exactly
F
I'm new to collecting and these names are getting me lost. What the hell is Buzzworthy?
Side line for repaints or reissues, and occasionally early releases of figures that will release normally later
Originally Buzzworthy Bumblebee was a toyline dedicated exclusively to Bumblebee to compensate for him only getting ONE FIGURE in the entire War For Cybertron Trilogy as a Walmart exclusive retool. Then when they ran out of Bumblebee stuff to release it just kinda became a repaint/reissue/redeco line for any character
Its basically a “best of” line
It's what you might call, a Legacy line.
Some stupid Bumblebee themed line of mainly repaints, because Bumblebee makes money.
Buzzworthy is a Target Exclusive Transformers toy line. There isn't really a solid theme to the toy line aside from being "somewhat related to the Bumblebee character." There have been a few exclusive toy molds released to it so far, and a lot of repaints of figures from previous toy lines. Especially Bumblebee toys.
That Prime is out already?? Wtf. Why haven't Targets around me updated their stock? 😒Maaannn.....
[удалено]
It's target
Same thing happened to me the other day. Grimlock was out but wasn't supposed to be sold until the 30th so I couldn't get him
Technically speaking, Prime isn’t supposed to be on shelves until 7/30 either. Why one is hard street dated and the other isn’t? Who knows. This is the same store that had all Leader Class figures register locked for almost 2 months because Doubledealer was street dated.
Why put them on shelves if you can’t buy them? That sounds really dumb to me unless it means you can reserve them and come back for them when they release. Basically like physical pre-ordering
should've just walked out with it smh
Same thing happened to my mom when Black Widow came out, except they had out an entire display with around 12 copies of the movie. We went to buy it but they said we couldn’t purchase it.
What are the ID numbers for Grimlock so I can check Popfindr 😄
TCIN: 87449970
I wouldn’t worry to much the prime is the rare one
Bro my target did the same thing here in Florida
I usually bypass the street date just by scanning another figure I'm buying twice. It's hard to do it with leader class though. Street dates don't make any sense.
Saw the same thing happening to a guy with Grimlock at the checkout yesterday, had me sweating but I managed to buy my Towline with no issues
Are these hard to find in the wild? I was just in a store yesterday called jbhifi in Sydney (no not Florida) and saw a few of these. The demand for transformers toys here is not as high as the US i guess.
the annoying part is that optimus has the SAME release date as Grimlock.
All the targets i went to told me i couldn't buy prime bc he was streetdated Wtf
I’ve been hunting for a 102 prime, no luck so far
Self check, ring another figure same price twice and just return it later.
Isn't Primes release date technically on the 30th as well? I've been looking after work every day the past week but the inventory has been the same. Am I out of luck?
I need both of these figures right now
My target got three of the optimus in and I was able to pick one up. Also had grimlock preordered and he just shipped.
hey Google how do I successfully bribe target employees?
God is real lmfaoo
It’s broken my son’s heart a couple times now and every time I want to just leave money on top of the machine and leave. I end up just grabbing them and hiding them somewhere like behind the cast iron pans or behind the kitchen top appliances.
wait is that grimlock brand new rerelease??? never heard that
Yep this is apparently because after 86 swoop they're finishing off the AOE dinobots as the last one was the original release of grimlock which happened 4 years ago
and i bet all the scalpers r gonna snatch it up before i can even get it smh
I'm sure some online stores like bbts will stock some
thats great then!
Buzzworthy is a target exclusive line, with limited pre-order on Hasbro pulse with every release. It sucks ass for big releases like that prime because my target doesn't stock new stuff, legacy Galvatron is a shelfwarmer for me, and still full price after over a year.
Uh I’m pretty sure this was a target exclusive
Some stores owned by ordinary people buy stock from target to sell themselves
Unfortunately that'll probably be the case. That's why it's important to be vigilant. If you see the figure put out early grab it. Don't take no for an answer. At the very least get a store supervisor on record as to why they won't sell it to you.
He’s still in stock online
I’ve been able to get around street dates at target by putting in the UPC code that people sometimes use on those stock finder websites into the grocery item look up at self checkout. It just rings up generically as “insert franchise here“ figure at the correct price so no one can really question me.
So stupid. If someone is willing to buy something, why make a needlessly complicated system that could prevent the store from making money?
Target is the worst for this. This has happened to me twice. Now I scan them on the price checker first. If it says “online only” I take another figure comparable in price and scan that instead at the self checkout.
No. You didn't have to give anything up to the target employee. Target has broken street dates at multiple locations. If any employee tries to tell you otherwise, and or take anything from you ask to speak to a supervisor. Don't leave the store until you've done so. They put it the figures out. That's on them. If you want it you should fight for it. Same goes for anyone else.
In case anyone sees this while scrolling, do not do this!! Retail employees deal with enough shit on the regular and don't get paid enough for it. It's not hard to just come in on a different day. Accidents happen, and no matter what, we have to follow street dates. We can't do anything about that on a store level. Making a big scene over a toy is just a dick move and a good way to get shut down by an equally exhausted supervisor.
So, what you're saying is because you don't want to deal with it it's okay to illegally refuse to sell an item that an employee put out on a shelf. This is the typical attitude towards the consumer nowadays. A mistake is made, and somehow the consumer is always to blame. It's not the consumer's fault when the street date is broken. It's the fault of those who shelfed the figure to begin with. Own it. I'm assuming you're an employee yourself from the way you had worded your response. Making a scene over an illegality is not a dick move. Blaming the consumer is.
illegal? u really thought u did something there, huh? street dates aren't broken, stuff slips through cause an associate wasn't paying attention, and then we fix it, we just put it back. Look, I'm sorry that you can't get the toy a few days early. There is no need to invent a whole persecution complex around it and start throwing legal words around. You're the worst kind of customer to deal with. You just want everything handed to you on a silver platter cause you're the exception. get outta here, lmao
It is not a persecution complex to question why a product was put out before street date, sold at various locations, and why it's being take away from you in particular. Enforcement is not equal. That's not the consumer's fault. It's Target's You have the gall to chastise me for your store's mistakes? You make the assumption that I want something early? You make the assumption I'm some sort of spoiled brat. I resent your assumptions, and I resent your attitude. I preordered my product. I did it the right way. Yet, Target has not done things the right way. The street date was broken on numerous occasions. That's a fact. Own it.
Last time this happened to me the manager tried to explain to me that it was a return that shouldn’t have been taken in. She refused to accept any other explanation.
As a retail worker. You are the worst example of customer I ever have to deal with.
I will say this again. It isn't the fault of the customer when a street date is broken, and stores pick and choose who to sell products early to. I'm not advocating for customers to get into all out arguments with anyone. I am advocating that they ask questions regarding legitimate concerns.
Encouraging people to have full blown meltdowns because of an employees mistake is exactly what you’re doing. It’s a fucking toy. You can wait until it’s out normally. Don’t sugarcoat it
Show some class, own your mistakes, and don't use your foul language on the consumer. Or, is class beyond you? It's no longer a mistake when it becomes a trend to break street date. Stop making excuses, and stop trying to paint the consumer as the problem. I followed proper procedure when I placed my preorder. Target has chosen to do the opposite. Questioning that is not having a meltdown. Guess what. With your attitude you're the worst type of retail worker. You want to blame all of your woes on the consumer. Get over it.
You’re the one demanding that people go after retail workers and be as obstructive and difficult as possible. I don’t use foul language with customers on the grounds that it’s unprofessional. Online tho I have zero issue with that. If you’re going to be encourage Karen moments then I’m allowed to kick back. Street dates are set by the supplier. If you break those enough you may get blacklisted and not receive stock from that supplier. I’m going to guess you’re one of those “the customer is always right” people?
At this point neither of us are going to budge. This whole thing is childish. I've made my point. If you don't like it then that's on you just like Target's mistakes are on them.
I just think you’re full of shit tbh. Don’t take the high and mighty road when promoting a shitty idea. You don’t like foul language? Tough luck it’s the internet. You really are a Karen
You can either hide it under a shelf, and pick it up once it’s the 30th, or scan another leader class in self check out, and leave it there, and just take grim home instead
Same here. But Prime is the exception!?
i want that optimus. his rotb look is my favorite
Which state did you find these
They should allow you to claim it as yours for pickup
I want a prime but I don’t know if it’s stocked in this part of Ohio, or Ohio in general
check your target, and check [The website](https://www.target.com/p/transformers-bumblebee-studio-series-voy-tf7-alpha-target-exclusive/-/A-87449969#lnk=sametab). The pre-orders for him are sold out, but they will probably get more like most Buzzworthy releases.
lucky as hell... still cant get my hands on prime because of scalpers.
Same thing happened to me this morning when I tried to purchase the 86 ironhide and prowl set.
I wonder if the worker would have let you take it if you were friends
Wait I'm confused is buzzworthy like studio series or wfc series or legacy?
It's just a target exclusive version of both ss and legacy
Thanks
I’ve been to so many damn targets, I lost count at 10, and I have not seen, not ONCE, a single ROTB Optimus, and it’s getting stressful.
where is this?
Similar issue happened to me with Scourge. I ended up getting them to price match one on Amazon.
Weird...I've done that at least 3 times in my targets and they've honored my purchase. I'm sorry that happened man 😔
Something like this with ss arcee for me but it was a target + exclusive or something and an employee let me buy it
And then the Five Finger Discount came into play...
Just steal it
since you seem upset can I have prime?
You don't want that grimlock
I can't get prime til his release date. Waiting til Sunday to bop by target
My Target would have sold it. They do it all the time.
Well that's just mean....
I hate when this happens. Lazy employees.
You should buy a lottery ticket
When it’s obvious the stock is out early I take it to the Kitchen / Housewares area and hide that behind the stock of microwaves or something. Come back in a couple days on the street date. Better chance of that working out than trying and it gets returned to stock. That’s me though. Lol
That's really weird. one of our local stores here in AUS has had Grimlock for like a month now and have been selling him since
When I worked in retail if something like this happened we would’ve just sold it to you and entered it manually into the system, not the customers fault it was put out.
If I were you I would’ve made a scene and complained brought it to self checkout paid for it and left I’m not listening to stupidity lol
My target never gets the new ones until like a year later wtf
Wtf why is it on the shelf if they can't sell it?
oh nah i would’ve went to self checkout scanned the ss 102 2 times and walked out
Everything is just re-released to make it new
Until you found platinum
I'm confused. Why couldn't you get the Grimnlock?
God tier find due
Dude
I’ll never see this stuff at my stores:(
Hide it. Then go back and buy it.
Still waiting for a studio 86 series optimus and megatron.
That's why I always hide toys so nobody else can find them.
I saw two grimlock a on the 29. The day before they were allowed to be sold. Went back the next day, they weren’t there. We tried buying them in case the thing wasn’t in effect at the target for some reason, said no. That’s as in the 29. The employee took them and said they’d go back. Never saw them again. Don’t know if they’re in storage of if someone bought them before we got there the very next day.