Prime: First Edition Toys Beginning To Appear @ TJ Maxx

Here's Hoping my local One has Starscream and Cliffjumper.....the only two I never found

Holy sh*t! WHAT?

Of course, CO gets it (as does CA, right?). But over in IL????

Anywho, these would be great to get for repainting! Anyone else thinking this is early Xmas stock? Cause I say these appear everywhere (TJ/Marshalls) by Xmas... but still hoping they get something else, too!

If I can't have proper, voyager-sized Insecticons, I WILL hunt until I have 6 FE Starscreams to re-enact "Armada."

LOL I was at TJ Max in Rossford, Ohio right about the time this was posted and snagged BB, the only FE mold I was missing. YEAH!!!! They also had 1 more BB 1 Arcee and 1 Starscream.

Metrosuplex wrote:Anyone else thinking this is early Xmas stock? Cause I say these appear everywhere (TJ/Marshalls) by Xmas... but still hoping they get something else, too!

I'd say more like leftover stock from the previous season.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Metrosuplex wrote:Anyone else thinking this is early Xmas stock? Cause I say these appear everywhere (TJ/Marshalls) by Xmas... but still hoping they get something else, too!

I'd say more like leftover stock from the previous season.

Yea - weren't the First Edition figures showing up over 2 holiday seasons ago?

I wonder if we'll see any of the FE Voyagers.

hoping they do- I would definitely not mind an extra Optimus or Bulkhead

Fantastic. A second chance. I must get an Arcee to turn into Cybertron Ransack.

ILL-Star wrote:Fantastic. A second chance. I must get an Arcee to turn into Cybertron Ransack.

...You know what? That ain't a bad idea.

Notify me when it's done.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Metrosuplex wrote:Anyone else thinking this is early Xmas stock? Cause I say these appear everywhere (TJ/Marshalls) by Xmas... but still hoping they get something else, too!

I'd say more like leftover stock from the previous season.

Haha... no. You misunderstand: I am wondering if these FE are the TJ Marshaxx Xmas stock! Every Xmas, TJ Marshaxx gets a haul of some old TF product, right? Is THIS it, or can we expect something else (i.e. BH Prime)?

Metrosuplex wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Metrosuplex wrote:Anyone else thinking this is early Xmas stock? Cause I say these appear everywhere (TJ/Marshalls) by Xmas... but still hoping they get something else, too!

I'd say more like leftover stock from the previous season.

Haha... no. You misunderstand: I am wondering if these FE are the TJ Marshaxx Xmas stock! Every Xmas, TJ Marshaxx gets a haul of some old TF product, right? Is THIS it, or can we expect something else (i.e. BH Prime)?

Wait, wasn't Toys "R" Us the only ones that got the First Edition toys here in the States?

Mindmaster wrote:

Metrosuplex wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Metrosuplex wrote:Anyone else thinking this is early Xmas stock? Cause I say these appear everywhere (TJ/Marshalls) by Xmas... but still hoping they get something else, too!

I'd say more like leftover stock from the previous season.

Haha... no. You misunderstand: I am wondering if these FE are the TJ Marshaxx Xmas stock! Every Xmas, TJ Marshaxx gets a haul of some old TF product, right? Is THIS it, or can we expect something else (i.e. BH Prime)?

Wait, wasn't Toys "R" Us the only ones that got the First Edition toys here in the States?

I hope I'm not the reason you said that. As far as I know, yeah it was a TRU exclusive (shared by BBTS).

"TJ Marshaxx Xmas stock", NOT Xmas stock of any other store, from any other previous year. I am saying this is the NEW TJ MARSHAXX XMAS STOCK FOR 2013. And yes, these are not "new" from 2013, but from a previous release (as someone else stated). OR, these are just randomly showing up with no relation to the upcoming Xmas season AND we will see a different line show up for the 2013 TJ Marshaxx Xmas selection.

Mindmaster wrote:

Metrosuplex wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

Metrosuplex wrote:Anyone else thinking this is early Xmas stock? Cause I say these appear everywhere (TJ/Marshalls) by Xmas... but still hoping they get something else, too!

I'd say more like leftover stock from the previous season.

Haha... no. You misunderstand: I am wondering if these FE are the TJ Marshaxx Xmas stock! Every Xmas, TJ Marshaxx gets a haul of some old TF product, right? Is THIS it, or can we expect something else (i.e. BH Prime)?

Wait, wasn't Toys "R" Us the only ones that got the First Edition toys here in the States?

Exactly, like the GDO series they were Toys 'R Us exclusives. But liquidator stores buy up old stock for cheap, from any main chain.

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Exactly, like the GDO series they were Toys 'R Us exclusives. But liquidator stores buy up old stock for cheap, from any main chain.

Point of order - I'm fairly certain the discounters like T.J Maxx buy product directly from the manufacturers. Liquidators are something different.

That's pretty cool. I got all of the FE figures I wanted, but this is good news for those who don't.

With TRU, Walmart, and now here, that makes three brick-and-mortar sightings.

megatronus wrote::shock:

If I can't have proper, voyager-sized Insecticons, I WILL hunt until I have 6 FE Starscreams to re-enact "Armada."

It is pretty cool to own six FE Starscreams.

I'm shocked that TJMaxx and Marshalls sells toys let alone Transformers. I stopped at a Marshalls today and saw Tomy Takara stuff (non-TF). I guess I have to hit more of them.

@Metrosuplex - I'm in IL too. West Burbs. I'll let you know if I find anything and where if you are up this way. I hit the Marshalls in Woodridge today but struck out.

I bet everyone who spent $60 on these guys feels pretty stupid now. Ill be up near one friday think ill stop in & see if i can find an arcee.

Also in Colorado, Westminister, Tj Maxx had two Starscreams and one Arcee.

I'd love to go for another Starscream, since I'm keeping my first one from Christmas 2012 MISB. But, it'll be a while, as my main focus for the next few months is Generations: Thrilling 30.

Megatron Wolf wrote:I bet everyone who spent $60 on these guys feels pretty stupid now. Ill be up near one friday think ill stop in & see if i can find an arcee.

I spent about that much on my Voyager Optimus, but I do not regret it because I refused to go after that horrid 2012 rerelease. Paying $60 was the only way I could guarantee that I get the vastly superior 2011 version.

I hope to find a vehicon or 2. Would not mind having all the first edition toys. He is the only one i never got.

Doubledealer93 wrote:I hope to find a vehicon or 2. Would not mind having all the first edition toys. He is the only one i never got.

BB was the last mold I needed I was so happy I never broke down and paid internet prices for him. For once patience didn't bite me in the pants.

Sabrblade wrote:

Megatron Wolf wrote:I bet everyone who spent $60 on these guys feels pretty stupid now. Ill be up near one friday think ill stop in & see if i can find an arcee.

I spent about that much on my Voyager Optimus, but I do not regret it because I refused to go after that horrid 2012 rerelease. Paying $60 was the only way I could guarantee that I get the vastly superior 2011 version.

I sold my 2011 version for $60 just so I could makes some bucks and pick up the cheaper 2012 version. The brown sides don't bother me none, as I display him in robot mode only. Who knows, maybe you bought mine.

megatronus wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Megatron Wolf wrote:I bet everyone who spent $60 on these guys feels pretty stupid now. Ill be up near one friday think ill stop in & see if i can find an arcee.

I spent about that much on my Voyager Optimus, but I do not regret it because I refused to go after that horrid 2012 rerelease. Paying $60 was the only way I could guarantee that I get the vastly superior 2011 version.

I sold my 2011 version for $60 just so I could makes some bucks and pick up the cheaper 2012 version. The brown sides don't bother me none, as I display him in robot mode only. Who knows, maybe you bought mine.

Well, mine was Canadian.

Sabrblade wrote:

megatronus wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Megatron Wolf wrote:I bet everyone who spent $60 on these guys feels pretty stupid now. Ill be up near one friday think ill stop in & see if i can find an arcee.

I spent about that much on my Voyager Optimus, but I do not regret it because I refused to go after that horrid 2012 rerelease. Paying $60 was the only way I could guarantee that I get the vastly superior 2011 version.

I sold my 2011 version for $60 just so I could makes some bucks and pick up the cheaper 2012 version. The brown sides don't bother me none, as I display him in robot mode only. Who knows, maybe you bought mine.

Well, mine was Canadian.

Hmmm...

Yeah, I made sure to buy a Canadian one since Canada only ever got the 2011 versions, with no rereleases there in 2012. The way I could tell was by the trilingual packaging, whereas the US packaging only had English.

Sabrblade wrote:Yeah, I made sure to buy a Canadian one since Canada only ever got the 2011 versions, with no rereleases there in 2012. The way I could tell was by the trilingual packaging, whereas the US packaging only had English.

Indeed. I definitely got my first FE Optimus via eBay (when the prices weren't awful...). I'm pretty sure it was Canadian.

megatronus wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Exactly, like the GDO series they were Toys 'R Us exclusives. But liquidator stores buy up old stock for cheap, from any main chain.

Point of order - I'm fairly certain the discounters like T.J Maxx buy product directly from the manufacturers. Liquidators are something different.

That's not quite accurate. TJX company ads (for Ross, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx) say they buy from manufacturers OR stores that bought too much of something. And that is also explicitly stated in their annual report filed each year with the SEC. See page 4 of the latest below, which states, "Our expansive vendor universe is in excess of 16,000, consists primarily of manufacturers along with retailers and others, and provides us substantial and diversified access to merchandise." (emphasis added).

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/109198/000119312513138497/d472940d10k.htm

I regularly see stuff that would normally be carried at Kohl's (their house brands and other brands they carry) end up at a TJX store, leading me to believe they probably buy Kohl's leftovers every season.

amtm wrote:

megatronus wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:Exactly, like the GDO series they were Toys 'R Us exclusives. But liquidator stores buy up old stock for cheap, from any main chain.

Point of order - I'm fairly certain the discounters like T.J Maxx buy product directly from the manufacturers. Liquidators are something different.

That's not quite accurate. TJX company ads (for Ross, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx) say they buy from manufacturers OR stores that bought too much of something. And that is also explicitly stated in their annual report filed each year with the SEC. See page 4 of the latest below, which states, "Our expansive vendor universe is in excess of 16,000, consists primarily of manufacturers along with retailers and others, and provides us substantial and diversified access to merchandise." (emphasis added).

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/109198/000119312513138497/d472940d10k.htm

I regularly see stuff that would normally be carried at Kohl's (their house brands and other brands they carry) end up at a TJX store, leading me to believe they probably buy Kohl's leftovers every season.

Thanks for the detailed info!

Clothes are somewhat different, though, being their bread and butter. I'm still under the impression that the transformers stock TJX receives comes from Hasbro directly - this is coming from my experience dealing with the TJX kids buyers. But, I will admit that's not 100% confirmed on my end, and I could be wrong.

Wow. Reading that back to myself, I can see why my girlfriend complains about my nitpicking.

I was at a Toys R Us in IL yesterday and saw a the Generations (Japan) version of Cliffjumper and Swerve. I already had Swerve and have CJ in his cybertron mode (aka repaint of Bee) so I didn't pick him up but he looks the same as the FP mode IMO.

Man there are a lot of abbreviations in there. Reminds me of "Good Morning Vietnam" - "If the VP is such a VIP, shouldn't we keep the PC on the QT because if it leaks to the VC he could end up MIA and then we'd all be put on KP"


I digress...

I might have to pick up one of those Bumblebees if I can find that custom class add on kit with the bucket head. What was that from, TFcon ?

Rated X wrote:I might have to pick up one of those Bumblebees if I can find that custom class add on kit with the bucket head. What was that from, TFcon ?

I just need another Bumblebee so I can give the yellow friend I already have 2 guns. I mean, what were they thinking giving him only 1 gun?

Regarding where TJMaxx gets their Transformers: there have many cases in recent years of late waves of figures showing up at TJMaxx and Marshall's without ever having been released at "normal" retail. Clearly this was not leftover stock the other stores couldn't sell; these were figures that were ONLY showing up at the discount stores.

megatronus wrote:Thanks for the detailed info!

Clothes are somewhat different, though, being their bread and butter. I'm still under the impression that the transformers stock TJX receives comes from Hasbro directly - this is coming from my experience dealing with the TJX kids buyers. But, I will admit that's not 100% confirmed on my end, and I could be wrong.

Wow. Reading that back to myself, I can see why my girlfriend complains about my nitpicking.

No big deal. Anyway there's no way to be sure about any specific product--businesses will never give you a straight answer if you ask them questions like that directly, citing "confidentiality" of their vendors/customers and "competitive secrets" and other B.S. like that.

But I'd bet that even with toys it's a mix--some direct from Hasbro, some from other stores. In the past couple of weeks I've been seeing TF Prime and DOTM Deluxes show up in spades at Five Below--considering how long it's been since DOTM, I'd suspect some of that is from retailers (especially Toys R Us, which always orders too much of everything fans never wanted), not Hasbro, but there's no way to tell for sure on any specific item.

Oh yeah--here's another fun fact. In my research on TJX--from some articles or something I read a while back--I found that they even have stuff (usually lower-grade versions of brand names) made specifically for them by manufacturers. So even the idea that all they do is buy overstock and whatnot is false. They have a clever marketing scheme, but you really gotta pay attention--labels there always claim you're saving money (just like at any department store) but often they're based on MSRP, not actual retail prices you'll find at other stores. So I've seen stuff selling just as high as or higher than at a regular store.

It was just a matter of time! I wish I got a hold of FE Prime, will go looking! Can tell you FE Bulkhead and FE Cliffjumper are two of my favorite toys ever. (RiD Vehicon pretty awesome too!)

Awesome, too bad I already grabbed all of these at their toys r us run.

rdrunr89 wrote:I'm shocked that TJMaxx and Marshalls sells toys let alone Transformers. I stopped at a Marshalls today and saw Tomy Takara stuff (non-TF). I guess I have to hit more of them.

@Metrosuplex - I'm in IL too. West Burbs. I'll let you know if I find anything and where if you are up this way. I hit the Marshalls in Woodridge today but struck out.

I hit a bunch of Marshalls/TJ's in North Suburbs and nothing. I say it's not worth our time right now, as CO and CA get things EONS before us. I'm surprised even OH has gotten them. How does the Chicagoland area get the shaft, when we're one of the largest urban centers in the country????

burningpage wrote:Also in Colorado, Westminister, Tj Maxx had two Starscreams and one Arcee.

I love that store. They had some great stock. Just too bad I'm not up there any more!

rdrunr89 wrote:I was at a Toys R Us in IL yesterday and saw a the Generations (Japan) version of Cliffjumper and Swerve.

Hate to be so anal about this, but I think those are CHINESE versions. Big difference. When you say "Japan", I naturally think of Hasbro's Japanese counterpart, TakaraTomy. So if these were "Japanese", they wouldn't fly the Hasbro banner.

rdrunr89 wrote:Man there are a lot of abbreviations in there. Reminds me of "Good Morning Vietnam" - "If the VP is such a VIP, shouldn't we keep the PC on the QT because if it leaks to the VC he could end up MIA and then we'd all be put on KP"

That sounds brilliant. We need one for this site.

GuyIncognito wrote:Regarding where TJMaxx gets their Transformers: there have many cases in recent years of late waves of figures showing up at TJMaxx and Marshall's without ever having been released at "normal" retail. Clearly this was not leftover stock the other stores couldn't sell; these were figures that were ONLY showing up at the discount stores.

Or, maybe retailers like Target bought too much inventory, and never bothered shipping that inventory from its central warehouse to other stores, as the stores had trouble selling earlier waves. I see it like that, but who knows? So if a Wal-mart bought 1000 Wave 3 figures, why bother shipping them out if the Wave 1-2 aren't selling? Maybe they send them straight to a discounter, and let them take care of the moving costs.

amtm wrote:But I'd bet that even with toys it's a mix--some direct from Hasbro, some from other stores. In the past couple of weeks I've been seeing TF Prime and DOTM Deluxes show up in spades at Five Below--considering how long it's been since DOTM, I'd suspect some of that is from retailers (especially Toys R Us, which always orders too much of everything fans never wanted), not Hasbro, but there's no way to tell for sure on any specific item.

There's ONE way to really tell where it came from: "Exclusive to Toys R Us!" stickers. Point of interest: I've seen those in TJ/Marshalls. Not specifically on TF products (I forget which action figures), but it stands to reason that a certain amount of inventory is therefore from TRU.

amtm wrote:Oh yeah--here's another fun fact. In my research on TJX--from some articles or something I read a while back--I found that they even have stuff (usually lower-grade versions of brand names) made specifically for them by manufacturers. So even the idea that all they do is buy overstock and whatnot is false. They have a clever marketing scheme, but you really gotta pay attention--labels there always claim you're saving money (just like at any department store) but often they're based on MSRP, not actual retail prices you'll find at other stores. So I've seen stuff selling just as high as or higher than at a regular store.

I do get the feeling some of the TF toys at those places are lower quality, too! I bought a legion Wheeljack from a 5Below, and the legs just pop off - very cheap feeling compared to other legions I've bought elsewhere. So I'm always wondering, and staring at the paint jobs. I'm pretty sure the discounters get the sloppy copies, as the paint jobs seem slightly inferior to regular releases.