Welcome back Alliance members, this episode the team breaks down some of the Emerald City Comic Con Funko Exclusives, their weekly pickups, Finders Series Vol 8 Toys R Us and Walgreens, and the Collectors Story of the Week.
Don’t forget the upcoming Pop Collectors Alliance events:
The next LIVE Cost Plus Shipping event will be on Sat February 24th at 7PM CST and 8PM EST checkout our Facebook page for more details.
Also we will be sponsoring a local Pop Swap in the Dallas / Fort Worth area. All details will be posted on our Facebook page.
If you are interested in attending the Pop Collectors Alliance SDCC 2018 Excursion please email us at [email protected] for all the details.
And finally listen to next week’s episode for the reveal of a listeners only drawing at the next cost plus shipping event.
Finders Series Vol 8: Finding Pops at Toys R Us and Walgreens:
Overview:
Disclaimer as always our ratings are based on our experiences, the experiences of our frends in the collector community or experiences that we read from blogs, forums or social media. This does not mean we are saying all BAM employees, stores or layouts are terrible or great, everyone’s experience is their own.
Pros:
- Toys R Us has a large selection of dedicated to Funko and most stores have remodeled their collectable sections and Pop! are easy to locate because of this.
- Toys R Us price matches everywhere, so you never over pay.
- Walgreens has a great selection of WWE exclusive pops and Star Wars Exclusives both rides and movie moments. VENOM IS THE BEST!!!
Cons:
- Toys R Us – Store closing will shrink an already limited store count.
- Toys R Us – Online store is not user friendly, product is difficult to locate without the placeholder links.
- Walgreens – Worst selection of commons ever, ever, ever, ever
- Both – Employees are often unfamiliar with Funko products, which often result in damaged merchandise and lack the ability to locate inventory. If you do not have an R number forget about it.
- Both – Exclusives are hit and miss and are not evenly stocked across stores. One location my have 30 and other stores are left with 0.0.
- Both – Inventory system is sub-par. forcing you to call location and hope the employees can locate merchandise (if they can even do it)
- Toys R Us – very rarely ever organizes their Pop! and often stacks them on top of each other or 13 deep on shelves.
Overall Rating:
Toys R Us has made great efforts to expand their Funko and collectables section in stores. This unfortunately came at a time where they are closing a large number of stores. They have a great selection of Pop!, and a wide variety of exclusives, but all this falls well short of their competition. Good luck locating products because NO ONE except managers can search inventory, this and many more reasons leaves Toys R Us with a score of 4.5 out of 10. Walgreens 4 out of 10.
Toys R Us and Walgreens Where to Find them:
Store Layouts are the same for Toys R Us but can vary for Walgreens.
Most stores have a dedicated Pop! section that is easy to locate, for Toys R Us this is the collectables section often located next to video games. Walgreens places Pop! in their toys section, side / end cap displays, seasonal aisle or around the register.
- Walgreens has a very small section of Pop! and often places back stock on the top shelves of aisles and sometimes at the opposite end of the toy aisle.
- Toys R Us can sometimes place pop in other aisles of the toy section. A good example would be Star Wars and Teen Titans Go.
Toys R Us and Walgreens Hunting Tips:
Hunting Tip 1: Toys R Us NEVER does a great job of rotating product on displays or shelves. DIG! Much like BAM it is important to complete a thorough search throughout the Pop! shelves.
Hunting Tip 2: Toys R Us – figure out the delivery truck schedule for your local store once you see they are releasing exclusives online they should appear in stores soon. You can always ask managers when stores should expect them and if any are delivering soon, just make sure you have the R number.
Expert Hunting Tip 1: Toys R Us – always ask employees if they have exclusives behind the counter. Often if they are receiving convention or exclusives they will hold them at the customer service or electronics counter.
Expert Hunting Tip 2: Locate UPC numbers on Walgreens exclusive and provide that number to the store manager for tracking. They can search through their inventory system and see when they should be receiving the product.
Expert Hunting Tip Exclusives: Both Stores – Patience is key here. Often stores get a TON of shipments of product. Always wait before you overpay because each store will most likely have multiple restocks and the price of the Flippers will lower. NO FLIP ZONE
Toys R Us and Walgreens Where are the Deals?
Not a ton of deals here, there are some sales but for the most part expect to pay full price at both stores. However, Toys R Us price matches and you should take every opportunity to enforce this policy.
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