Wave one hit here about three months ago. It was tough, but I eventually found all five individuals and both two packs.

Since then...NOTHING. I found a Legions pack while out of town, but that has been it. Now we're on wave three, with four out soon, etc. etc. and Hasbro hasn't seen fit to correct distribution issues with the earlier waves yet.

Well, to heck with them. There are enough vintage Joes to keep me busy, and I don't have to waste time driving all over the place looking for them or pay 2x retail on EBay for them.

Everyone talks about what a rousing success the 25th line has been, and from the perspective that it sells out, they're right. But to me the line has been an enormous failure in that many collectors (and no doubt kids) have been left without the product.

Distribution problems have created an artificial sense of success with the line, IMO. I wonder how Hasbro is viewing it? Sure, they're selling out....but they're still not selling many units because there aren't many on the shelves to begin with.

Wave one hit here about three months ago. It was tough, but I eventually found all five individuals and both two packs.

Since then...NOTHING. I found a Legions pack while out of town, but that has been it. Now we're on wave three, with four out soon, etc. etc. and Hasbro hasn't seen fit to correct distribution issues with the earlier waves yet.

Well, to heck with them. There are enough vintage Joes to keep me busy, and I don't have to waste time driving all over the place looking for them or pay 2x retail on EBay for them.

Everyone talks about what a rousing success the 25th line has been, and from the perspective that it sells out, they're right. But to me the line has been an enormous failure in that many collectors (and no doubt kids) have been left without the product.

Distribution problems have created an artificial sense of success with the line, IMO. I wonder how Hasbro is viewing it? Sure, they're selling out....but they're still not selling many units because there aren't many on the shelves to begin with.

Great, more for me. :cool:

That sucks man. Don't give up thoguh - I'm betting we see a huge push of product just before the holidays.

I'm still holding out hope that Hasbro will fix this somehow, but I know how you feel. I pretty much gave up on Star Wars because I can't find any of the figures I want EVER.

Toy stores in Canada have gone WAY downhill since the '80s, especially with regards to GI Joe. This is something I've just had to live with, so I get my stuff online 99% of the time.

It sucks, I know.

I'm always confused by threads like this one.

I was in your same boat. I found the first five and the two 5-packs at retail after a weeks of searching.

I was happy.

Wave 2? I only ever saw one Serpentor at a Target.

Wave 3? I picked up a single Shipwreck at Wal-Mart.

Frustrating? Yes. Annoying? Of course. A waste of my time and gas? Obviously!

But, when Wave 2 hit, I just bought em' on e-bay. Paid more, but it was well worth not having to waste my time searching for the stuff.

Same for Wave 3. Bought it on e-bay.

I know it's not nearly as fun and exciting as finding the stuff at your local store. I know it can honk you off when you see other people's "hauls" and you still can't find a single thing!

But, I'll pay the extra 20 bucks (which you could spend eating out at a lunch or dinner or two) and get it all in one swoop. Least then, I know I have the stuff.

And, at this point-- and if you've been this patient so far-- you can pick up Wave 2 and 3 for almost retail on e-bay, with maybe 7 bucks shipping on the lot of them.

Pay a few extra bucks. Pick up the figures. Enjoy them.

It ain't Hasbro's fault. Hasbro only makes what retailers order and since retailers were hesitant because of the previous sales of Joe figures, of course they ordered limited 25th figures. Now it has caught retailers by surprise, with how much the figures are in demand and now retailers are playing catch up, along with Hasbro. Hasbro is cranking them out as fast as they can, look at the sloppy paint apps on the latest figures, plus they're trying to fill orders for thousands of stores, so it's gonna be a minute for the supply and demand to be equal.

I have hope, I went into walmart here in ND and was amazed that they had like 8 pegs full of wave 2. I was able to grab an extra cobra officer and the new crotch beachhead. I think the retailers are picking up and by the time wave 4 hits there will be plenty for everyone.

So far, I have only purchased 1 25th Gijoe on ebay loose for 5$. I like them enough that I'm looking to buy more. However even if I buy online, I can only get one of each and I don't do that anymore. I want to armybuild Stormshadows and Fireflys. Collecting GIjoe is a test in patience. HOPEfully we can all get all we want eventually.

Supply seems to have caught up with demand where I live. I haven't much difficulty picking up any of the figures. The only problem I had was that there wasn't enough product in the stores at first to do any massive troop-building! But, now with a healthy supply of Wave 3 cases hitting stores I'm up to my neck in Red Ninjas and Cobra Officers

And just because you missed getting a figure the first time around, don't feel like you'll never get him again unless you pony up big $ on E-Bay. Odds are he'll be released in a case of a future Wave.

and also, it's just a matter of time before HTS.COM gets a large stock of figures and they have some sort of crazy promo code discount

I know how everyone feels right now im still waiting on getting a serpentor figure from wave 2 walmart has been otta stock for a few weeks now but I got a call from a buddy last night and he said they just restocked looks like they had a few serpentors ill be hitting the store today:D

Why give up? If ya find em ya find em...ifn ot it's not the end of the world...or is it? I order cases from brianstoys or another e-tailer and that makes my life simpler. If I find them at wal-mart or somewhere I might pick them up to take em out of the package or for a buddy. Otherwise I use technology to my advantage.

Just my .02

Justin

http://gijoe.groups.vox.com/

I may loose focus if I can't find stuff, but eventually I run across something and it brings me right back into the fold, I never give it up. I did the eBay thing for wave 2 and feel the extra $15-$20 was well spent considering all I've seen from that wave was a single Lady Jaye. I bought Shipwreck and Zartan that way as well since those were the ones I absolutely had to have. Stalker and Firefly I can wait for and I think I want the TRU ninja pack more than the single carded one.

If you enjoy something, keep pursuing it. If it grinds me down not finding anything, I'll see what I can swing from eBay, if not I just wait. Since I collect multiple lines, something is always popping up to keep me busy till GI Joe shows up again, then I'm back loving Joe!

Don't give up. Your bound to walk into a store and find yourself staring at a bunch of figs!!!! Keep your eyes open and have patience!

Hi guys (and gals) I'm new to posting but have lurked for a LONG time. It's good to be here!
Keep the faith and hang in there. It's extremley frustrating to drive all over town only to find empty pegs or figs you already have. Keep trying though! Others suggested buying online which is good when your in a pinch, it's just a hard pill to swallow paying xtra when you know you should be paying less.
Happy hunting!

I went to Walmart today to find that they have restocked 25th joes the pegs are about full of wave 1s and 2s i picked up a serpentor, snake eyes and beachhead I traded my beachhead for a color changing zartan im strictly collecting 25th cobra but i made a exception for StormShawdow and Snakeyes. Dont give up on looking the 25th figures, looking is whats fun about it reminds me when i was a kid looking for that certain figure:D