Why don't toys have specific release dates? Movies, music,

Because toys are a bigger pain in the ass to manufacture, pack, and ship than the latest tripe by "Adele" and are shipped to tens of thousands of retailers with no idea how they'll sell or how quickly, so why bother trying to meet some street date only the adult collector market, which toy companies loathe, cares about

That would be nice. However I doubt it'd work in the long run. Places order on a need more basis. If things worked like that and came in at a specific date, I'm sure we'd have either too many peg warmers or some people would just not order any stock due to too much stuff that the time.

Because fuck you, that's why.

Seriously. Online retailers that market to collectors have their shipments and releases more rigidly managed, but your local stores couldn't give a shit about that demographic. They manage their toy departments for kids.

Toy collectors, even in today's supposedly NerdsRKewlest culture, don't (and shouldn't) get any special attention like guaranteed retail release days. Not to mention, if there were such a thing, it would only make it easier for scalpers to schedule and you'd be in an even worse position.

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I just wish some retailers (especially fucking Toys'R'Us) offered a pre-ordering service for some toylines like Legends or NECA.

I got tired of "the thrill of the hunt" after failing to find a specific Legends for months at various stores, and even in another god damn state (on vacation).

It's not worth the time and effort anymore.

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>>5392092
A lot of comic stores will allow you to preorder NECA figures, since Diamond distributes them.

You're shit out of luck with mass market stuff like from Hasbro though, since distribution is handled differently and that's why their stuff is so heavily scalped by comic shops. Most of Hasbro's stuff pretty much goes directly to giant retailer distribution centers like WalMarts' or Targets, fresh off the boat.

>>5392034
They have specific release dates.

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I cant find the pic anywhere, but i remember when Playmates posted release dates for the TMNT 2012 toys. They were on schedule too. it was pretty cool

>>5392034
jap stuff does

>>5392092

TRU does allow you to preorder...online.

Also, the actual stores get like one or two cases of the collector shit (NECA stuff, MLs, Star Wars black series stuff) at a time. You know how many people you'd STILL be competing with? You still likely wouldn't get your shit for weeks, or months.

Also, NECA has a shipping calendar on their site for a reason. Use it.

That's when the shit is shipping out to retailers, and you can expect it to be in stores about 1-2 weeks (sometimes a little longer) after the shipping date.

So, you might not necessarily know the exact date they'll be in the stores, but you know approximately when to start looking at least.

>>5392034
I would settle for simply being told the truth in a solicitation. It's ridiculous that delays stretch out a year and even then you sometimes get an "oops, we're gonna short you anyway even though we had an extra fucking year and promised we'd fill all orders."

>>5392443
Nice mainframe screen.

Because most western toy companies of note are American, and the US is a huge nation, to say nothing of Europe and other territories these companies may cover. Most of these toy shipments in the US arrive in California, then have to be distributed across the country. It simply isn't feasible to have them all delivered so quickly across the country, especially considering a lot of stores only restock as needed(when the older product has mostly sold out). at best you get things like Force friday, where a set release date is held until all places have been sent their shipments and items can't be sold at an earlier date,which is something I doubt most people here would be for.

Meanwhile, Japan is a smaller country, and thus much easier to organize one set release date.

>>5392568
>ignoramus who has no idea of how distribution works
Almost all retailers will get their shipments weeks/months ahead of time. Some retailers stick their toys out as soon as they get their stock, others hold off. IT also depends if there's a holding period.
Some specific stores never get stock or are slow to get it, because the line sold like shit in their stores.

With collector lines, retailers usually get them the week it's supposed to be released and stores put them out when they get their stock or wait until the actual release date.

It takes quite a bit of planning to get this all working smoothly, but it's so routine that it involves almost no thought now.

We no longer live in the dark ages, where travel time took a day or even days inbetween cities.
Sucks for people who aren't within immediate reach of distribution centers, but they're barely people anyway.

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>>5394432
forgot my pic

i should note that not being within range of a center means that shipments aren't routine, because stores outside of range are low volume stores. Thus, if a line sells out fast, they have to wait until the next truck comes, which can be a week, instead of bi/tri-weekly.

Same shit applies to UPS/Fed-Ex delivered lines, but collector stores usually get 1-3 weekly shipments anyway.

I work at a fucking retailer. Trucks come every night and we get bitched at if there's anything on the truck that we didn't put out if there's space for a full case. People saying we get things weeks or months ahead of time are full of shit.

>expecting stores to hold back stock to enforce street dates

Street dates for physical merch is dumb. It's dumb for copies of video games and it would be dumb for toys.

>game companies fine stores for selling games early

really? They object to making money as fast as possible? Just one of many reasons I gladly pirate games.

>>5392568
>Most of these toy shipments in the US arrive in California, then have to be distributed across the country. It simply isn't feasible to have them all delivered so quickly across the country

Well game companies manage to do that quite well.

>>5394546
Movies are the same way. Those big displays of DVDs that go out when Avengers or Jurassic World come out? Yeah those are in the back room for like 3 days beforehand.

>>5394546
street dates are so no store has a heads up over another. They want all stores to have their stock ready and put on shelves at the same time.

Again, that guy doesn't know shit about distribution in the US and you don't understand why stores are prevented from selling merch early.
Companies who produce merch have no problems with getting a product to stores 90% of the time. When there is a problem, it's either because of China or dock strikes.

I'm not going to count game/movie studios fucking something up and those fuck ups usually get a public announcement month/s beforehand with a new street date.
Also, with video games, online portions sometimes aren't available until the street date and patches too. Too much stuff is done at the last minute nowadays.

>>5394560
That's because in a lot of cases, it works like this:
>>5394574

>>5394704
That's fine with me as long as I know when I can go to the store and be guaranteed that they have it in stock that day (that is unless it sells out quick)