Is Wave 9 out of print?

[Bogusoid]

I'm seriously worried it might be - not even my local game store has it showing up as something they can order, yet they can get Wave 8. This has to be a mix-up of some sort. Why is the most recent non-special wave so hard to find all the sudden? They still have Wave 7 and 8 in stock at HasbroToyShop.com but they have yet to stock this wave once.

[Therrian]

Wave 9 was not up on Hasbro's webstore because Wave 9 was not put out by Hasbro, it was put out by WOTC. WOTC does not have an online store that I am aware of, other then for the actual retailers of course.

Wave 9 was also the first 'new' release in a long time, and as such, got snatched up fairly quickly by the community. However, it is still in abundance at many Walmarts around the US, so chances are you can find what you need from someone on the boards...perhaps even at marked down prices :)

[jschild]

Lot's of Wal-Marts seem to have them (the 2 closest to me probably have 15 cases combined).

Online they do seem scarcer however.

[nyys]

Out of print? No. Hard to find? Yes, in some areas.

[Jdet]

In the UK most of the online shops still carry it.

[Toad Rocket]

I talked to my FLGS owner about this.

Wave 9 is NOT being produced any more.
Wave 10 is NOT being produced any more.

He can no longer order these products from WOTC. You would have to find someone who has these in stock. (It is slightly possible that he cannot purchase them from WOTC because he is a Canadian dealer).

[wriggz]

YOu have to remember there are people who get product directly from the company, and others who order it from a supplier. Different Shops will have different suppliers meaning avaliablity will very from shop to shop.

For example my Local FLGS is still getting wave 1, 9, and 10 on a regular basis. They are fairly large (I doubt there are more magic cards in one location anywhere in Onatrio) so i'm not suprised.

[Bogusoid]

Wow, this is lame. I bought one single set of Wave 9 right before Christmas week at a local Wal-Mart and they have not restocked. I took in the bar codes for an employee to scan, and they told me they won't be getting anymore! The barcode on the shelf says they have five (no telling what wave) in stock, but they are nowhere to be found so maybe they were stolen or deposited somewhere nobody will find them.

[Wytefang]

Not that I'm looking for them, directly, but I've yet to see a single Wal-mart anywhere in Minnesota with Wave 9 or ANY HeroScape for that matter. And I live by a ton of Wal-marts here in Minneapolis, at least 4-7 and none have any HS.

[Bogusoid]

I'm seriously worried here. It's just not fair, they're not even a year old and no one is restocking! Has Wizards already pulled the plug on production?

When did Valkrill's Gambit come out, November? It's just as scarce and nowhere near as old. I don't understand what's going on - I hope this is just the post-Christmas slump and they're working on a good number of packages to ship out to TrollandToad and all the other friendly online dealers. Sorry HMG, but I'm not dropping $25 a pack with or without the shipping cost - even then, HMG has limited supply.

I don't mean to sound ungrateful but this is ridiculous. Am I missing something? Someone clue me in. If there really is no hope of seeing these restock and you live by a store that has them, please get in contact with me and we'll strike up a deal - I'll pay you every cent they charge including tax, I'll pay the shipping, everything fair as long as I can get some common doubles, for retail price!

[Toad Rocket]

Like I mentioned earlier, according the owner of my FLGS the last two waves were very short producion runs. Not sure why that is, my only guess is that perhaps WOTC feared doing a larger production run because they didnt have enough money to do so, or they thought it would not sell out so fast. But thats only a guess.

[Sherman Davies]

When did Valkrill's Gambit come out, November? It's just as scarce and nowhere near as old. I don't understand what's going on!

My guess is that Wave 10 was a small production run because it was essentially a reprint wave. Reprint runs will probably never be as large as original runs.

[Bogusoid]

When did Valkrill's Gambit come out, November? It's just as scarce and nowhere near as old. I don't understand what's going on!

My guess is that Wave 10 was a small production run because it was essentially a reprint wave. Reprint runs will probably never be as large as original runs.

But, but, Warriors of Feldspar... why put in one set of new figures only to take them away like that? I could really use some golems in my campaign, too. That's two official squads I may never get now, and I will be at a competitive disadvantage. That, or I will be limited to what campaigns I can play because someone will make a really great one that just happens to require some golems or saquatches.

[Wytefang]

Yeah, I tend to agree that this is pretty lame. Why produce the game in such ridiculously small numbers? My only guess is profit margins but all this does is upset the large customer base for the game. And what it all comes down to is that when new players realize that they have no chance of owning all the components of this great game (similar to newcomers for games like M:TG), they just turn away to find some other game where they can actually purchase the parts of the game that they'd like to own.

It's worse now that WotC is in charge (though we don't know profit margins, so my guess is that's the reason for the horribly limited supply) but it was happening even back in the day with Hasbro.

Admittedly it's a great problem to have, people wanting to buy your stuff, but if you can't put the products out that people want to buy, you're eventually going to strangle the enthusiasm and interest for your game.

And no, Bogusoid, as a customer, you shouldn't have to feel worried that you might sound "ungrateful." You don't owe anything to ANY company. They want your money and need to act appropriately to earn it, or you can take your business elsewhere - there's a ton of great games out there, after all. Besides, we've all made it clear (at least on the is great website) that we greatly appreciate WotC's work and this new Master Set and all that. We've mostly snapped everything up they've offered (though Wave 1 is still sitting around in too many places, sadly) and now folks are wondering where some of the product can be found. It's their job to answer that cry from their consumers.

Also, has ANYONE heard ANYTHING from ANY WotC reps in the past several months?? Once Paul got promoted (I believe that's what happened, iirc), the news utterly dried up. Again, were it not for the kindness of Truth and Grunge, we'd be totally in the dark here. :(

The one saving grace is that we do, at the very least, have some new product lined up for this year so HeroScape is still very much alive.

What people can do at this point is go out and buy Wave 1, get it off the shelves, let WotC know that it's been sold out now, too, even if it took a little bit more time.

[Estin]

The reason you are having trouble finding wave 9 is because they are all in Norfolk VA. I went to a WalMart in Norfolk that literally had 2 END CAPS of wave 9. There was at least 80 packs marked down to $10.88. I went on visual overload.
My problem is wave 10. Hero's of Feldspar is a bear to find even online. I had to buy three complete wave 10 sets (and violate my 1 each unique rule) from HouseMouse just to get my minimum 3 of each common.

[jschild]

10.88 is the standard price, it wasn't marked down.

I just wish WotC had an online store - sales would be much more reliable if they had one because people would have a one-stop shop for their merchandise.

[Bogusoid]

10.88 is the standard price, it wasn't marked down.

I just wish WotC had an online store - sales would be much more reliable if they had one because people would have a one-stop shop for their merchandise.

Why don't they? They've been one of the leading game companies for nearly two decades now.

[jschild]

Because many companies still don't understand the internet. They have no idea for some crazy reason that if they had a direct store online they could manage their inventory far more effectively because that would allow them to easily sell merchandise across the entire world, instead of selling to distributers to have them do the exact same thing, except not as well.

I'm not saying they shouldn't have distributors as well, just that they should also sell merchandise directly also.

[Bogusoid]

Seriously, man. I miss being able to rely on HasbroToyShop. Before all the old stuff started to dry up, I got every unique and two of every common from Waves 1-4, except the Wave 4 heroes (which I have now) and Drones & Minions (which I need three of to make Marro Drones reach their full potential, woe is me!). I think they had some kind of coupon code where you would get free shipping on orders over $100. I could have squeezed in some Drones & Minions, but it was a gift from my parents and I was trying not to be greedy and I stopped after I passed the $100 mark.

Oh how patience pays off :roll:

[Therrian]

The reason that WOTC does not have an online store is that doing so would put a significant number of FLGS out of business when the initial drop in sales hit due to the online store (Since almost all FLGS have some sort of price markup). This in turn would kill a significant amount of WOTC's business because having those places around provides avenues for people to use the WOTC merch and thus drives sales. Think of how many people play DND and MTG at FLGS...how many of them would still play the game (and spend the money) if those places were gone.

So while it may save them money in the short term, in the long term it would cause them to take a big hit.

[jschild]

Only if they undercut their distributors or released items on their store front first.

Most companies do not sell at below MSRP on their personal sites. So the distributors would be free to undercut WotC in cost. It's nowhere as dire as you act.

[Therrian]

Only if they undercut their distributors or released items on their store front first.

Most companies do not sell at below MSRP on their personal sites. So the distributors would be free to undercut WotC in cost. It's nowhere as dire as you act.

Well I guess we can agree to disagree...but I stand behind my statement that the reason that WOTC does not sell online is because of the above. Many FLGS shops (not counting the really large ones) are a month or two of really bad sales away from going under. Many of them sell their product at above MSRP, and are able to do so because there isn't any real competition in many areas. Many of them, especially the smaller ones, couldn't afford the hit they would take from WOTC selling things online. Perhaps things are different in the US, but that is the reality in Canada.

PS - Remember that a large number of FLGS are making upwards of 80%+ of their money on WOTC products (and a big chunk of that is MTG)...especially those that don't cater to the Warhammer/Mini game market. Even a 10% dip in sales due to an online store would be a significant hit to their bottom line.

[jschild]

If it was that simple, then the sheer fact that online retailers exist should drive them out of business. I think video games, and not online stores, has been the biggest slam to FLGS. That and most families don't have family game nights and when they do, they are generally basic Wal-mart fare and rarely anything very different.

[Phaethon]

If it was that simple, then the sheer fact that online retailers exist should drive them out of business. I think video games, and not online stores, has been the biggest slam to FLGS. That and most families don't have family game nights and when they do, they are generally basic Wal-mart fare and rarely anything very different.

That's true, and it's a shame...

I got Carcassonne over the holidays and the kids and I love playing it! It's easy to set up, easy to play, easy to put away, and boatloads of fun! My daughter and I guilted my son into completing a 48 point city last night and in return, we connected his farm to two other cities...

He did NOT like how that one turned out... LOL

Even so, the time we're spending playing games is time very well spent (even when my daughter and I play "Sleeping Queens")!

[jschild]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Phaethon again.

Sorry - but that is truly quality family time!

[ProtoFury]

Bogusoid, just reading through you posts, these are my thoughts--

1) Find someone willing to ship you some Wave 9 or 10 for market price + shipping. Shouldnt be a big deal, plenty of us on the site have access to many, many sets.

2) Not having the Granites and Quasatches is most likely not going to put you at a competitive disadvantage. They'r not really A+ units, and even if they were, just because you don't have any doesn't mean you're not competitive. I haven't had a Q9 until less than two months ago, and I've been playing since 2004--I was never at a competitive disadvantage because I didn't have him. Look at their stats in the Books, that has everything you need to no about them.

3) If someone makes a campaign that specifically requires the Guardians or Quasatches, then so what? If you want to play it that bad but don't have the figures, look up the cards in the Books and use proxies. Again, not a huge deal.

I can understand not being able to have access to certain figures--I need plenty of stuff from Waves 3-6 that I didn't grab when it was out--but it's really not world-ending. If you need them that bad, and don't want to proxy them, find someone and have them ship it to you. The sets aren't currently being produced, but they're not out of print, and they're still plenty to get. Check your FLGS, Wal-Marts are unreliable. But it's nothing to freak out about.

[Bogusoid]

I did over-react a little, I didn't even believe that I would be at a competitive disadvantage (like I get to compete anyway). What I should have said is that I just hate not having the same options as more fortunate players. My point stands that the supply is grossly under what it should be. I like a variety, and with no other collector's in my area I have to collect everything myself.

Proxies are no fun because I may as well not be playing then - sure, if it's a campaign and just one little detail it really is no big deal. I don't want to play an army heavily reliant on figures I must proxy, though - nor do I want them to be a major aesthetic to a campaign I create (not saying anyone else can't create their own that use them), but there's no fun in using a unit in a minis game if I don't posses a figure that looks remotely like the figure it's supposed to be.

If I can at least get one set of Obsidian Guards, I can proxy them for the Granites, and likewise my Dzu-teh for Saquatches. I'd still prefer to have access to the real thing. I've already checked with my one local game store, they can't order any more of either wave. Plus, they have so little faith in being able to sell the game that they only ordered a single D&D set.

[Therrian]

I did over-react a little, I didn't even believe that I would be at a competitive disadvantage (like I get to compete anyway). What I should have said is that I just hate not having the same options as more fortunate players. My point stands that the supply is grossly under what it should be. I like a variety, and with no other collector's in my area I have to collect everything myself.

Proxies are no fun because I may as well not be playing then - sure, if it's a campaign and just one little detail it really is no big deal. I don't want to play an army heavily reliant on figures I must proxy, though - nor do I want them to be a major aesthetic to a campaign I create (not saying anyone else can't create their own that use them), but there's no fun in using a unit in a minis game if I don't posses a figure that looks remotely like the figure it's supposed to be.

If I can at least get one set of Obsidian Guards, I can proxy them for the Granites, and likewise my Dzu-teh for Saquatches. I'd still prefer to have access to the real thing. I've already checked with my one local game store, they can't order any more of either wave. Plus, they have so little faith in being able to sell the game that they only ordered a single D&D set.

Bugo...listen to what folks are telling you. Go to the Trade thread and let people know that you are looking to pick up Wave 9 and 10 stuff if they have it available. There are currently a TON of people offering up Wave 9 figs and a bunch others who have access to marked down packs. Wave 10 will be a little harder, but with some leg-work you can probably make it happen. So put your efforts forth in finding the figs rather then complaining about it...you will be surprised what you can accomplish :)

[Wytefang]

I don't think Bogusoid needs to feel bad, at all, for being disgruntled with the availability of the game. We all have a right, as costumers, to be frustrated or share disappointment with a company if it's not meeting our needs. In fact, I'd think that WotC would learn just as much from valid complaints (politely worded, of course) as they would from cheerful compliments that ignore any issues.

Of course I would imagine that any advice given to him would be appreciated, particularly if it helps him find some of the difficult stuff he's seeking. :)

I feel ya, Bogusoid and I whole-heartedly agree with you about the lameness of this lack of availability of product. It seems difficult to make a profit when you don't put out enough product to sell in order to meet consumer demand. :(

[Therrian]

I don't think Bogusoid needs to feel bad, at all, for being disgruntled with the availability of the game. We all have a right, as costumers, to be frustrated or share disappointment with a company if it's not meeting our needs. In fact, I'd think that WotC would learn just as much from valid complaints (politely worded, of course) as they would from cheerful compliments that ignore any issues.

Of course I would imagine that any advice given to him would be appreciated, particularly if it helps him find some of the difficult stuff he's seeking. :)

I feel ya, Bogusoid and I whole-heartedly agree with you about the lameness of this lack of availability of product. It seems difficult to make a profit when you don't put out enough product to sell in order to meet consumer demand. :(

Is there really a lack of availability though? Or just a glut of stuff in certain places rather then it being spread out? I see lots of people posting about Wave 9 being in Walmarts all over the place...getting reduced because it's not selling. Also, we are starting to hear some reports that Wave 10 has been seen in a few Walmarts...so it's possible that the apparent (significant...we know there was a shortage, but it might not be as bad as we once thought) shortage of that wave could be due to a bunch of it sitting in Walmart warehouses waiting to be put out on shelves.

I agree with you that they should put out enough to meet demands, but it's also possible that a poor Walmart distro plan is more to blame then WOTC. It sounds like certain outlets gobbled up a lot of merch in places that didn't need that much and this left the others out in the cold. If Walmart offered Scape transfers on their site to store that would probably help solve the issue significantly.

Having worked in management at a large retail store, it's not that uncommon to buy up a crap-ton of merch and then have it sitting in warehouses for months on end before you get around to putting it out on the shelves. It's also pretty common for some idiot working in Toronto to order way more stock for a store out in Vancouver based on nothing more then a sales number he thinks he understands, causing that Vancouver store to end up with way more stock then they could need...and with no way of getting said stock to the store in Calgary that could easily sell it....purely hypothetical of course...:evil:

[Wytefang]

Fair points, Therrian.

Still, it would behoove WotC, then, to ensure that gaming stores (FLGS) get good supplies of the game too - which we haven't really seen happening with Waves 9 & 10. Though I will say that when each Wave is first released, most FLGS did have pretty good stock of both, from what I saw. I think what made Wave 10 hard to find was that it was released very close to the Holiday shopping period.

But that leaves out the just-as-glaring issue of reprints. How is a new player EVER going to easily find and purchase a Flagbearer? A lava set? A tundra set? Wave 2,3,4,6, and soon enough, Wave 7? :(

You can paint hexes to get crappier mock-ups of Lava and Snow, I suppose but finding the Dzu-Teh and Obsidian Golems, along with the FBs or any of the Waves I've listed will be very tough. And most gamers that I've met do not have the time nor inclination to create mock-ups of either terrain nor units - nor should they have to.

If you put out a game that by its nature relies on intertwined powers between units and/or terrain that builds up with new types, you really need to decide AHEAD OF TIME to keep that stuff in stock, if at all possible. If I was a brand new player and loved HeroScape (which most people do once they play or try it) but then realized that I'll most likely never be able to afford or easily purchase any of the sets listed above, I'd probably just not bother OR at best, I'd probably just purchase one Master Set and treat it like a standalone game with no expansions, which really makes the game far less appealing. :(

No, they need to get reprints out and soon, even if not in terribly large numbers. Fans feel punished when WotC releases too many of a particular reprint (such as Wave 1) and then decides not to do reprints in the future because of the overstock. I mean, I would hope that the powers that be who look at the sales numbers realize that it'll probably take a few tries to get the production ratios just right. I would hope they don't just give up due to Wave 1 overstock.

::: crossing fingers ::::

[Yodaking]

a poor Walmart distro plan is more to blame then WOTC

This sums it up IMO. Wave 9 didn't hit the shelves of the Walmarts near me until right around the week of Christmas. From it's release date last Summer until that week every time they restocked it was just more wave 8 again and again. Many other scapers at other locations reported finding Wave 9 on Walmart shelves by the end of the Summer. Walmart does not really care enough about Heroscape sales to waste time understanding and responding to their customer base. That is the price of doing buisness with the megastores. I've found if you want something specific, just order online.

[Wytefang]

Well at this point I don't think anywhere near as many Heroscapers that once used Walmart to acquire HeroScape who still do so. They're extremely inconsistent and from what I've seen here in Minnesota, don't have ANY HS unless it's small, small random stuff here and there and ONLY in Super Walmarts.

This makes sense though, WotC has established that they want it to be mainly sold and looked for in FLGS. For the most part, if a store carries HS, they'll have new releases in decent numbers AT LEAST at first, if not later on.

[WOOKIE]

a poor Walmart distro plan is more to blame then WOTC

This sums it up IMO. Wave 9 didn't hit the shelves of the Walmarts near me until right around the week of Christmas. From it's release date last Summer until that week every time they restocked it was just more wave 8 again and again. Many other scapers at other locations reported finding Wave 9 on Walmart shelves by the end of the Summer. Walmart does not really care enough about Heroscape sales to waste time understanding and responding to their customer base. That is the price of doing buisness with the megastores. I've found if you want something specific, just order online.
Same time frame here. Agreed. Agreed.

[Therrian]

Well at this point I don't think anywhere near as many Heroscapers that once used Walmart to acquire HeroScape who still do so. They're extremely inconsistent and from what I've seen here in Minnesota, don't have ANY HS unless it's small, small random stuff here and there and ONLY in Super Walmarts.

This makes sense though, WotC has established that they want it to be mainly sold and looked for in FLGS. For the most part, if a store carries HS, they'll have new releases in decent numbers AT LEAST at first, if not later on.

Therein lies the rub.

We have been told fairly frankly by the powers that be that the game needs to sell well at Walmart to be successful. Puts us between a rock and a hard place really.

If we buy the stuff online, then it doesn't sell as well at Walmart...but at least it is there on the shelves when the newbies come into the game.

If we buy the stuff at Walmart, we may have to wait months to get the newest release...and then after we empty them out, the shelves are empty and the potential new players don't see the stuff in stock and don't get involved.

The solution is a tough nut to crack for sure.

[BurnyFlame]

My Walmart in Florida has an excellent HeroScape Selection, but that might be because I went out of my way to explain the game and become friends with the Toy Department Manager.

Anyway, I have 8 Sets (meaning 32 packs) of Wave 9 available, and I can trade them with anyone who needs them.

[Wytefang]

Well at this point I don't think anywhere near as many Heroscapers that once used Walmart to acquire HeroScape who still do so. They're extremely inconsistent and from what I've seen here in Minnesota, don't have ANY HS unless it's small, small random stuff here and there and ONLY in Super Walmarts.

This makes sense though, WotC has established that they want it to be mainly sold and looked for in FLGS. For the most part, if a store carries HS, they'll have new releases in decent numbers AT LEAST at first, if not later on.

Therein lies the rub.

We have been told fairly frankly by the powers that be that the game needs to sell well at Walmart to be successful. Puts us between a rock and a hard place really.

If we buy the stuff online, then it doesn't sell as well at Walmart...but at least it is there on the shelves when the newbies come into the game.

If we buy the stuff at Walmart, we may have to wait months to get the newest release...and then after we empty them out, the shelves are empty and the potential new players don't see the stuff in stock and don't get involved.

The solution is a tough nut to crack for sure.

Agreed. It's a tough spot for consumers but it shouldn't be THAT difficult for WotC to sort out. Still, in fairness to them, we just don't know everything that they're dealing with, either.

[Therrian]

My Walmart in Florida has an excellent HeroScape Selection, but that might be because I went out of my way to explain the game and become friends with the Toy Department Manager.

Anyway, I have 8 Sets (meaning 32 packs) of Wave 9 available, and I can trade them with anyone who needs them.

Heh, so it sounds like the Walmart in Florida is part of the overall distro problem ;)

[Bogusoid]

Therrian, I was trying to find someone as I was complaining - I figured it went without saying. Anyway, I have someone now who is being very kind and agreeable - all I need now is a way to score Warriors of Feldspar down the road.

Regardless, I hate that I should have to pay shipping on something that ought to be readily available, especially with so little competition in this town! I mean, that could be why they think it doesn't sell, but someone is buying what I don't buy. They always sell out... except for Marvelscape, I think the sets on the shelves currently have been there since 2007. Why do all my Wal-Marts just toss this aside while others, like at least two mentioned here, line the stuff up from shelf end to shelf end?

[ProtoFury]

Frankly, it's because Wallie World is good at one thing--quantity. If you've ever talked to a Wal-Mart employee before, you probably know that quality (or knowledge for that matter) isn't their primary concern. That creates the problem of them having such a lack of knowledge ofthe HeroScape product that they simply don't understand how the game is meant to sell. Ten bucks says that at least half of the time, someone looks at HeroScape boosters and thinks "Well, kids will buy pokemon card boosters on their own, this game must work like that too!" Which then causes the availability problems for us.

Plus, it's not an even spread of product between all Wal-Marts, as many have said, and you have to take them on a case-by-case basis. If a manager of one store understands (and hopefully enjoys!) Scape, chances are good that they'll have a large and well thought-out collection of available Scape. A manager at the Wal-Mart in the nexttown over might not give a hoot about Scape, and decide not to carry it at all. It's really a hit-and-miss game with good ol' Wallie.

[jschild]

Plus, it's not an even spread of product between all Wal-Marts, as many have said, and you have to take them on a case-by-case basis. If a manager of one store understands (and hopefully enjoys!) Scape, chances are good that they'll have a large and well thought-out collection of available Scape. A manager at the Wal-Mart in the nexttown over might not give a hoot about Scape, and decide not to carry it at all. It's really a hit-and-miss game with good ol' Wallie.


As a former department manager - it has nothing to do with if I "like" a product. One thing and only one thing matters - did it sell. If it did, I'd keep it. If it didn't, I'd try to get rid of it because it's dead space. Walmart's that don't have Scape probably didn't sell it very well over the long term.

[Ivellius]

Well, it may be out of print, but one local Walmart (and one up in Sevierville, TN [I was on a trip up there a few weeks ago]) have a ton of it. I'm talking maybe 100 (yeah, seriously) boosters of Wave 9 in one store in my area. There's plenty out there--Walmart just has a messed-up distribution plan.

I believe you're going to see a similar thing with Wave 10, which is starting to hit Walmart shelves now. Hopefully some other players will get a chance to pick up the new stuff when Walmart gets it out there. I, for one, acquired my first pack of Warriors of Feldspar just a week ago from my Walmart.

[jschild]

I'm looking forward to the Warriors of Feldspar as well. Got everything else from Wave 10 already.

[Bogusoid]

Like I said, the Heroscape stuff sold... but I guess it didn't sell fast enough :( If it's true that Wave 10 is only just now getting out to Wal-Marts, I might have a little hope for picking up Warriors of Feldspar.

They recently re-arranged the merchandise in the toy department where I found the meager vein of Wave 9. Next to the Marvelscape boxes, they have a nice, empty space labeled "Heroscape Exp - $10.88". They did not stock anything there the day they moved everything around, however. Then I called back the next evening, after they would have finished stocking new items, and the employee said the spot was still empty.

Is this a fluke or will they maybe put some Wave 10 here soon? I had them scan every Wave 9 barcode and they said they won't be getting the items in stock again, but I haven't tried with Wave 10 yet - I have Champions of Renown, so it's worth a shot next time I'm out there.

[jschild]

They most likely will not get more Wave 9, but the UPC code is different. Did they scan the barcode on the shelf? That would let you know if its Wave 9 or not. I know my shelf spot for the MS isn't the Marvel set as the UPC code is different.

[Yodaking]

Plus, it's not an even spread of product between all Wal-Marts, as many have said, and you have to take them on a case-by-case basis. If a manager of one store understands (and hopefully enjoys!) Scape, chances are good that they'll have a large and well thought-out collection of available Scape. A manager at the Wal-Mart in the nexttown over might not give a hoot about Scape, and decide not to carry it at all. It's really a hit-and-miss game with good ol' Wallie.


As a former department manager - it has nothing to do with if I "like" a product. One thing and only one thing matters - did it sell. If it did, I'd keep it. If it didn't, I'd try to get rid of it because it's dead space. Walmart's that don't have Scape probably didn't sell it very well over the long term.

Not understanding the market is what leads to the product not selling in some locations though. If a small town Walmart has 3-5 regular scape buyers plus a few passing through town/casual buyers they could sell scape regularly. They don't though because once the regulars all of one wave they want, the Walmart just keeps restocking the same wave. This causes scape sales to dry up. The regulars notice that scape is not being restocked very quickly and when it does get restocked it is still more of the same, so they purchase the new stuff elsewhere. Then when that Walmart finally gets around to stocking the new stuff, it does not sell either. The department manager decides to stop stocking scape due to low sales and tells HQ they can't sell scape. But they can sell scape, they just can't sell 15-20 cases of the same exact wave. If that same Walmart would have received only 7-10 cases on the one wave, then stocked a new wave they would have sold scape just fine. Since Heroscape is not a blind purchase, a store has to offer a variety to it's customers. With blind purchases, they can get away with just selling the same stuff over and over to the same consumers.

[jschild]

Plus, it's not an even spread of product between all Wal-Marts, as many have said, and you have to take them on a case-by-case basis. If a manager of one store understands (and hopefully enjoys!) Scape, chances are good that they'll have a large and well thought-out collection of available Scape. A manager at the Wal-Mart in the nexttown over might not give a hoot about Scape, and decide not to carry it at all. It's really a hit-and-miss game with good ol' Wallie.


As a former department manager - it has nothing to do with if I "like" a product. One thing and only one thing matters - did it sell. If it did, I'd keep it. If it didn't, I'd try to get rid of it because it's dead space. Walmart's that don't have Scape probably didn't sell it very well over the long term.

Not understanding the market is what leads to the product not selling in some locations though. If a small town Walmart has 3-5 regular scape buyers plus a few passing through town/casual buyers they could sell scape regularly. They don't though because once the regulars all of one wave they want, the Walmart just keeps restocking the same wave. This causes scape sales to dry up. The regulars notice that scape is not being restocked very quickly and when it does get restocked it is still more of the same, so they purchase the new stuff elsewhere. Then when that Walmart finally gets around to stocking the new stuff, it does not sell either. The department manager decides to stop stocking scape due to low sales and tells HQ they can't sell scape. But they can sell scape, they just can't sell 15-20 cases of the same exact wave. If that same Walmart would have received only 7-10 cases on the one wave, then stocked a new wave they would have sold scape just fine. Since Heroscape is not a blind purchase, a store has to offer a variety to it's customers. With blind purchases, they can get away with just selling the same stuff over and over to the same consumers.

It has nothing to do with not understanding the product. Big box stores like Wal-mart have to keep that shelf filled with merchandise. An empty shelf is less than useless. The waves are far enough apart that Walmart has essentially 2 choices - order low initial amounts, and if they sell out, hope they can get more (this is not a sure thing as they may only print a limited amount of a certain wave and only get 1 or 2 restocks tops). Or order high and hope that it sells out by the time the next wave comes out.

Wal-mart automatically (unless interfered with by the dept manager) restocks sold merchandise. So if 4 packs sell, another case will be ordered. Of course, this can lead to a shelf full of hero packs due to only the commons selling. If 4 commons sell, you get a new case, with yet another hero pack.

They should have 2 sets of commons and 1 hero pack per case, at least from a shipping perspective. That would lead to less of an issue with hero overstock.

I honestly have no idea with the massive overstock going on with Wave 9 though. Huge initial orders like that are rare unless they plan to push the product hard (through Endcap sales) but they cannot do anything until they get MS3 in.