The action figures aren’t selling out constantly despite what may be happening at TRU in Manhattan. Places like TRU Times Sq. and other TRUs in heavy tourist traps have more foot traffic so it would make sense that the 2 or 3 boxes they stock seem to go fast. But know that this is not the case elsewhere. Retailers like Target and Fred Myer put out one box of figures and about a week later there’s still 1 or 2 figures left dangling from the pegs. Not sure why you seem to think there’s a mad dash to gobble these up like there once was. Those days are over. Also, scalpers are not buying these like they were back in the day. These toys just don’t appeal to the vast majority of collectors that Hasbro burned from 2012 to 2015 but the distribution nightmare and the action figures today are just very poor quality with no articulation and bad paint jobs and just not interesting and frankly, no one really cares (like we all once did). But more power to you, if you enjoy it, that’s all that matters! Cheers.

LOL, I love it! 🙂 Alternately, could it maybe be a grease gun?

Well said Jsiron. I don’t think it is so much “collectors” that are beating down Hasbro’s door to get simple 5-POA figures (though some of us do find them enjoyable) as it is the market at large dictating this format as the 3.75″ action figure category as a whole falls in popularity and costs and therefore retails continue to rise. No matter how much we may wish for it, Hasbro is not a collectors club. It is a company who’s purpose is to sell goods that turn a profit. If super-articulated 3.75″ was still the juggernaut it once was and made a larger profit for them, then that is what we would see in the marketplace.

You’re entitled to feel however you feel, but your staunch defiance isn’t going to stop Hasbro — not does it verify that collectors writ large detest this format. Since force friday, these simpler figures have been selling as well as the 6″ line. Both formats are touted by many to be of no interest to collectors… yet here they are, selling out constantly.

My TRU in Manhattan has sold out of the basic figures in the span of two days after restocking (at most; I check daily as I work in midtown), so there’s clearly strong interest in the line. Of course, one could blame scalpers, but that begs the question: to whom are they scalping, if not collectors? Parents won’t pay the higher price scalpers ask — not for toys, especially not this far from the Christmas holiday.

If the SA line was as popular and successful as collectors swear, well, it wouldn’t be relegated to a single chain of stores, and its future wouldn’t be in question. The Joes line had this same problem: sold like crazy at first upon its SA resurrection, but sales dwindled within a few years. The only reason SW figures in that same style lasted as long is because the brand has more appeal across demographics.

Hasbro isn’t stopping the line because they don’t care and have some kind of silly profit-deathwish. If the money were really there for them, they’d keep it up. For now it’s not, so the SA figures are taking a break.

Not trying to be rude or argumentative, but it’s really as cut-and-dry as that.