Smyth's Toys Buys Every Toys R Us Store in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

And yet another TRU article that has nothing to actually do with Transformers. This obsession with TRUs demise is getting ridiculous. Its a toy store. Someone else will rise from their ashes to sell Transformers. Hello...Transformers anyone?

Actually this is good news for tf fans in those regions as it means that they can continue to have more choice in where to buy the toys.

Maybe this will lead to SMYTHS Exclusives

Rated X wrote:And yet another TRU article that has nothing to actually do with Transformers. This obsession with TRUs demise is getting ridiculous. Its a toy store. Someone else will rise from their ashes to sell Transformers. Hello...Transformers anyone?

Or maybe some people live in one of those countries, used to get their Transformers from Toys R Us and will be very interested to know about this. Toys R Us is/was a huge juggernaut among toy retailers; Transformers, surprisingly, are toys; it stands to reason that ongoing information about a shake-up as big as this (that does affect at least some Transformers fans, believe it or not) would be worth sharing.

I'd like it if a Smyths took over the building where the Cambridge Toys R Us was. It's been rumoured but not seen any confirmation of such so I'm hoping it becomes true.

Qwan wrote:

Rated X wrote:And yet another TRU article that has nothing to actually do with Transformers. This obsession with TRUs demise is getting ridiculous. Its a toy store. Someone else will rise from their ashes to sell Transformers. Hello...Transformers anyone?

Or maybe some people live in one of those countries, used to get their Transformers from Toys R Us and will be very interested to know about this. Toys R Us is/was a huge juggernaut among toy retailers; Transformers, surprisingly, are toys; it stands to reason that ongoing information about a shake-up as big as this (that does affect at least some Transformers fans, believe it or not) would be worth sharing.

Basically Smyths is buying up real estate. Those stores are not going to be a TRUs anymore. Theyre going to take those big stupid giraffe signs and toss them in the dumpster and replace them with Smyths signs. So in essence the site is front paging the grand opening of new locations of an existing toy chain. Hardly Transformers news. Its just a bizzare fetish the news guys seem to have with TRU. They wont let it go. We all poured out some liquor and told our childhood memories like a month ago. Its time to move on already. The news guys are beating this dead giraffe so hard, its blood is starting to bleed. Im sure Hasbro already has plans on what chain will carry the next exclusives, titan class figures, MP releases, etc. We just need to be patient.

Carnivius_Prime wrote:I'd like it if a Smyths took over the building where the Cambridge Toys R Us was. It's been rumoured but not seen any confirmation of such so I'm hoping it becomes true.

I thought they might in some locations, doubt it would happen to the now closed tru near me as we have a symths not too far away already.

Rated X@ as I said this news is important to those countries where it happened, you may be sick of the news about tru and what happens to some of its stores in other countries but you don't decide what news is, but you can just ignore it I mean looking at the right this is posted above four other tf related news pieces.

Rated X wrote:

Qwan wrote:

Rated X wrote:And yet another TRU article that has nothing to actually do with Transformers. This obsession with TRUs demise is getting ridiculous. Its a toy store. Someone else will rise from their ashes to sell Transformers. Hello...Transformers anyone?

Or maybe some people live in one of those countries, used to get their Transformers from Toys R Us and will be very interested to know about this. Toys R Us is/was a huge juggernaut among toy retailers; Transformers, surprisingly, are toys; it stands to reason that ongoing information about a shake-up as big as this (that does affect at least some Transformers fans, believe it or not) would be worth sharing.

Basically Smyths is buying up real estate. Those stores are not going to be a TRUs anymore. Theyre going to take those big stupid giraffe signs and toss them in the dumpster and replace them with Smyths signs. So in essence the site is front paging the grand opening of new locations of an existing toy chain. Hardly Transformers news. Its just a bizzare fetish the news guys seem to have with TRU. They wont let it go. We all poured out some liquor and told our childhood memories like a month ago. Its time to move on already. The news guys are beating this dead giraffe so hard, its blood is starting to bleed. Im sure Hasbro already has plans on what chain will carry the next exclusives, titan class figures, MP releases, etc. We just need to be patient.

Our bizarre fetishes are our own business, thank you very much

I visit toysrus germany regualry but online and in stores i can never find any reference what is gonna happen to the stores in germany. And this news gives us atleast some inform whaft is gonna happen to t

Because there is not allot of stores for transformers in germany

Rated X wrote:And yet another TRU article that has nothing to actually do with Transformers. This obsession with TRUs demise is getting ridiculous. Its a toy store. Someone else will rise from their ashes to sell Transformers. Hello...Transformers anyone?

Was it frightening when the bad man stormed your home, put a gun to your head, and forced you to click on this thread?

For people living in countries that already have Smyth's Toys, how does their stock of Transformers compare to Toys'R'Us? Cause the Toys'R'Us closest to me here in Switzerland always had an absolutely terrible selection of Transformers, usually only stocking the kiddie lines of movie toys. Therefore I don't really care about them disappearing. But with Smyth's taking them over, buying Transformers in stores might actually become a viable option now

xMXUx wrote:For people living in countries that already have Smyth's Toys, how does their stock of Transformers compare to Toys'R'Us? Cause the Toys'R'Us closest to me here in Switzerland always had an absolutely terrible selection of Transformers, usually only stocking the kiddie lines of movie toys. Therefore I don't really care about them disappearing. But with Smyth's taking them over, buying Transformers in stores might actually become a viable option now

Smyths are fantastic in the UK. Since combiner wars, they have consistently been the first store to mass release every new generations toyline and have it well stocked constantly. Everything I've been looking for a single trip to smyths has always been rewarding. Combiner wars, titans return, Kreo blind bags, RID figures, etc. I've talked at length about how bad TRU UK have been for transformers (holding on to dead stock on pegs for over 10 years) so I'll not go into how bad they are when held side by side with Smyths. Their staff are polite, the stores are vibrant, everyone seems to have their finger on the pulse of what the hot toys currently are. And most importantly they don't have a killer TRU mark-up. Their prices always seem spot on to what most people are 'willing to pay' for the various size classes.

Honestly, walking into a Smyths feels exactly what walking into Toys R Us felt like in the 80's & early 90's. My only criticism of them is that they are too far away from me, and you can't order from their website. (yet, presuming if they're picking up toys r us's staff they may be expanding their online presence in coming days too.)

I'm praying quite hard that they make the same decision with buying up TRU UK and turning my local TRU ghosttown into a smyths which is actually within a sensible distance for public transport.

Ironhidensh wrote:

Rated X wrote:And yet another TRU article that has nothing to actually do with Transformers. This obsession with TRUs demise is getting ridiculous. Its a toy store. Someone else will rise from their ashes to sell Transformers. Hello...Transformers anyone?

Was it frightening when the bad man stormed your home, put a gun to your head, and forced you to click on this thread?

"Bad touch" is better than "no touch".

Ironhidensh wrote:

Rated X wrote:And yet another TRU article that has nothing to actually do with Transformers. This obsession with TRUs demise is getting ridiculous. Its a toy store. Someone else will rise from their ashes to sell Transformers. Hello...Transformers anyone?

Was it frightening when the bad man stormed your home, put a gun to your head, and forced you to click on this thread?

Its ironic how such a traditionally educated group gobbles up all this fake news.

TRU is not Disneyworld, Universal Studios, or any other type of "attraction". Its not a shrine to Transformers, Star Wars, or any other brand of toys. Its a store. A store that made crappy decisions that led to its demise. They failed in the US because capitalism takes no prisoners. As other countries around the world discover their own versions of Walmart and Amazon, their TRUs will collapse as well. While it may force some toy collectors to expand their horizon, that doesnt make it Transformers related. Time to let TRU go and move on buddy.

Rated X wrote:While it may force some toy collectors to expand their horizon, that doesnt make it Transformers related.

What you are describing is pretty much the closest you could get to a definition of Transformers-related news, without it actually being solely about Transformers. Not to mention you skipped over every response telling you why they find these articles useful, as Transformers collectors, so you could go for the throat on the facetious post instead. Come on now.

I'm confused as to why all the arguing. Toys R Us was one of the primary stores that sold Transformers toys. Smyths also sells Transformers toys. My nearest Toys R Us was one of the few places I could walk in and see Transformers toys on the shelves and pegs and now it is gone. I'd very much like to know if Smyths would take over that building so that there would still be a toy store situated there that sells Transformers toys and Smyths tends to be better at stocking Transformers toys than the Toys R Us was at stocking Transformers toys so I'm really hoping that it'll happen and I'll again have a nice big place to go visit and potentially purchase Transformers toys. So I don't an issue about discussing stores that sell or sold Transformers toys on a forum devoted to Transformers toys. Stop arguing and go play with or admire your Transformers toys. That's why we all come here?

Carnivius_Prime wrote:I'm confused as to why all the arguing. Toys R Us was one of the primary stores that sold Transformers toys. Smyths also sells Transformers toys. My nearest Toys R Us was one of the few places I could walk in and see Transformers toys on the shelves and pegs and now it is gone. I'd very much like to know if Smyths would take over that building so that there would still be a toy store situated there that sells Transformers toys and Smyths tends to be better at stocking Transformers toys than the Toys R Us was at stocking Transformers toys so I'm really hoping that it'll happen and I'll again have a nice big place to go visit and potentially purchase Transformers toys. So I don't an issue about discussing stores that sell or sold Transformers toys on a forum devoted to Transformers toys. Stop arguing and go play with or admire your Transformers toys. That's why we all come here?

The arguing is more about one poster not liking how the news staff is doing things relating to the death of toys r us, so he's venting here. As far as everyone else is concerned, symths taking over those tru is good news and like you I would like the same to happen here.

Carnivius_Prime wrote:I'm confused as to why all the arguing. Toys R Us was one of the primary stores that sold Transformers toys. Smyths also sells Transformers toys. My nearest Toys R Us was one of the few places I could walk in and see Transformers toys on the shelves and pegs and now it is gone. I'd very much like to know if Smyths would take over that building so that there would still be a toy store situated there that sells Transformers toys and Smyths tends to be better at stocking Transformers toys than the Toys R Us was at stocking Transformers toys so I'm really hoping that it'll happen and I'll again have a nice big place to go visit and potentially purchase Transformers toys. So I don't an issue about discussing stores that sell or sold Transformers toys on a forum devoted to Transformers toys. Stop arguing and go play with or admire your Transformers toys. That's why we all come here?

The arguing is more about one poster not liking how the news staff is doing things relating to the death of toys r us, so he's venting here. As far as everyone else is concerned, symths taking over those tru is good news and like you I would like the same to happen here.

ZeroWolf wrote:The arguing is more about one poster not liking how the news staff is doing things relating to the death of toys r us, so he's venting here. As far as everyone else is concerned, symths taking over those tru is good news and like you I would like the same to happen here.

Yeah that's what i couldn't understand. Info about big well known toy stores is totally relevant here.

Qwan wrote:

Rated X wrote:While it may force some toy collectors to expand their horizon, that doesnt make it Transformers related.

What you are describing is pretty much the closest you could get to a definition of Transformers-related news, without it actually being solely about Transformers. Not to mention you skipped over every response telling you why they find these articles useful, as Transformers collectors, so you could go for the throat on the facetious post instead. Come on now.

Finding an article "useful" doesnt make it Transformers related. These news guys have enshrined TRU like it is the holy mecca of all things Transformers. Sheesh its a freaking store...and an overpriced, out of touch with reality store at that. Im not venting as another poster suggested. All the love this failure of a corporation is getting just makes me wanna puke. The TRU saga is becoming like Donald Trumps twitter account. Every stupid post he makes becomes instant "news".

Rated X wrote:

Qwan wrote:

Rated X wrote:While it may force some toy collectors to expand their horizon, that doesnt make it Transformers related.

What you are describing is pretty much the closest you could get to a definition of Transformers-related news, without it actually being solely about Transformers. Not to mention you skipped over every response telling you why they find these articles useful, as Transformers collectors, so you could go for the throat on the facetious post instead. Come on now.

Finding an article "useful" doesnt make it Transformers related. These news guys have enshrined TRU like it is the holy mecca of all things Transformers. Sheesh its a freaking store...and an overpriced, out of touch with reality store at that. Im not venting as another poster suggested. All the love this failure of a corporation is getting just makes me wanna puke. The TRU saga is becoming like Donald Trumps twitter account. Every stupid post he makes becomes instant "news".

ENOUGH

There will be no more thread derailing. And you have been told what to do if you had an issue but have chosen to ignore that. Just wait until Burn wakes up.

Apparently the Asia arm of the company is much wanted as several 1 billion dollar bids have been put forward for it, meanwhile all UK trus will be gone by the 30th of April, guess they were too far gone to save.

Rated X wrote:

Qwan wrote:

Rated X wrote:While it may force some toy collectors to expand their horizon, that doesnt make it Transformers related.

What you are describing is pretty much the closest you could get to a definition of Transformers-related news, without it actually being solely about Transformers. Not to mention you skipped over every response telling you why they find these articles useful, as Transformers collectors, so you could go for the throat on the facetious post instead. Come on now.

Finding an article "useful" doesnt make it Transformers related. These news guys have enshrined TRU like it is the holy mecca of all things Transformers. Sheesh its a freaking store...and an overpriced, out of touch with reality store at that. Im not venting as another poster suggested. All the love this failure of a corporation is getting just makes me wanna puke. The TRU saga is becoming like Donald Trumps twitter account. Every stupid post he makes becomes instant "news".

You were doing so well RX. No one has forced you to click the news link. You did that all on your own. And what did you contribute? Criticism of staff.

Have a week off.

Rated X wrote:And yet another TRU article that has nothing to actually do with Transformers. This obsession with TRUs demise is getting ridiculous. Its a toy store. Someone else will rise from their ashes to sell Transformers. Hello...Transformers anyone?

We aren't all Americans you know, some of us have very limited places to buy Transformers. In Canada we have Walmart and TRU. If TRU goes, we're screwed.

So yeah, some of us want to read these articles.

TRU has been going for 60 years. Beyond it being a big part in our current collecting, it was a big part of many people's childhoods. People care. Many of the people who visit our site (surprise surprise) also want to know about Toy industry news in general.
I suppose we shouldn't be posting about Hasbro's financial earnings, either, then, because it's not exclusively about TFs. Good to know.

Lets move on from the "is it news or not?" discussion please ...

Burn wrote:Lets move on from the "is it news or not?" discussion please ...

Yes. Apologies.

Can we please get a Smyth's in The Netherlands? While we are at it how about a Target and a Walmart?

It seems like there is more and more good news for Toysrus and collectors worldwide. European divisions are being purchased by a beloved family toy store chain, the Asian division is getting Billion dollar offers, Grotusque is finally being found in US stores and now Toysrus Canada finally has a buyer.

There was to be an auction this month and the 19 $B holdings firm, Fairfax Financial, had made the inaugural bid of $300M, ensuring that the Canadian division would not be sold for less. As it turns out, no other bid was accepted so Fairfax Financial has become the owner. For those unaware, Fairfax is a Toronto based firm founded by Prem Watsa, who is often referred to as Canada's Warren Buffet. He is also the current CEO. Like Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, many of their holdings are value based but they seem to be more concentrated on insurance, aquiring insurance companies based around the globe (the head office in Toronto only houses 30 of its 8,200 employees). They have a habit of buying companies on the verge of bankruptcy at a good but fair price, which is something they previously did with Blackberry and Carillion Canada (an infrastucture service company).

The Fairfax name itself is a portemanteu for "fair, friendly acquisitions" and this is evident in its bid for Toysrus Canada which was higher (and thus more fair) than what toy mogul Isaac Larian had previously bid. In the end, this is great news for fans who liked how things were so far in Canada. Toysrus being bought by a holdings firm (which is only seeking diversification in its portfolio) simply means that they see value in the company and thus everything points to business as usual as far as Canadian stores are concerned.

So hopefully that means Canadian fans can still expect to see shelves like this once in a while.

You rubbing it in will again about what tru is like for Canadian tf fans? only time I saw shelves like that at the tru near me was when the first movie came out and animated launched. Still this is good news to those in Canada

I thought if the Canadian branch got bought it would also save 200 US stores?

Nickster563 wrote:I thought if the Canadian branch got bought it would also save 200 US stores?

IIRC, Toys R Us was originally trying to package 200 US stores in with the Canadian branch for purchase, but that didn't end up happening.

Nickster563 wrote:I thought if the Canadian branch got bought it would also save 200 US stores?

That was a deal TRU wanted to make but it didnt pan out. They recently wrote that ALL US stores will be closing forever (which I found quite dramatic). It was easier, legally and fiscally, to just sell the canadian equity to a holding firm, which is exactly what happened. I think Fairfaz got an incredible deal here, congrats on them using value investment techniques to be able to have enough available assets to do the purchase!

ZeroWolf wrote:You rubbing it in will again about what tru is like for Canadian tf fans? only time I saw shelves like that at the tru near me was when the first movie came out and animated launched. Still this is good news to those in Canada

Haha, not this time. And apparently the UK is not too shabby either with me hearing about how great Smyths Toys is.

But anyways, what I was trying to say, and maybe it didnt come out right, was that there was more at stake with TRU Canada. Most collectors here gave up on TRU US a looong time ago. It was no longer competitive (but it still had a good price match policy so I feel a guy like me could have still profited from visiting that store but whatever). So this news was sad but didnt surprise anyone really.

TRU Canada though (and TRU Hong Kong, among other international places) was a very different story. Unlike the US, this was the main place for anything toy related. More than Walmart. We have no Walgreens or targets or kmarts or those other regional superstores in the US that also order directly from hasbro. So TRU is a really big deal here and it totally takes advantage of its position as a market leader with amazing stock, like what I showed above. So, just to say, way more at stake. And with bids not geting aproved people worried. The states was long gone and had not seen the shelves stocked that well for a decade (at least) but with TRU Canada, it was still happening. And now, it can still happen, pfiew!

william-james88 wrote:

Nickster563 wrote:I thought if the Canadian branch got bought it would also save 200 US stores?

That was a deal TRU wanted to make but it didnt pan out. They recently wrote that ALL US stores will be closing forever (which I found quite dramatic). It was easier, legally and fiscally, to just sell the canadian equity to a holding firm, which is exactly what happened. I think Fairfaz got an incredible deal here, congrats on them using value investment techniques to be able to have enough available assets to do the purchase!

ZeroWolf wrote:You rubbing it in will again about what tru is like for Canadian tf fans? only time I saw shelves like that at the tru near me was when the first movie came out and animated launched. Still this is good news to those in Canada

Haha, not this time. And apparently the UK is not too shabby either with me hearing about how great Smyths Toys is.

But anyways, what I was trying to say, and maybe it didnt come out right, was that there was more at stake with TRU Canada. Most collectors here gave up on TRU US a looong time ago. It was no longer competitive (but it still had a good price match policy so I feel a guy like me could have still profited from visiting that store but whatever). So this news was sad but didnt surprise anyone really.

TRU Canada though (and TRU Hong Kong, among other international places) was a very different story. Unlike the US, this was the main place for anything toy related. More than Walmart. We have no Walgreens or targets or kmarts or those other regional superstores in the US that also order directly from hasbro. So TRU is a really big deal here and it totally takes advantage of its position as a market leader with amazing stock, like what I showed above. So, just to say, way more at stake. And with bids not geting aproved people worried. The states was long gone and had not seen the shelves stocked that well for a decade (at least) but with TRU Canada, it was still happening. And now, it can still happen, pfiew!

I agree, this is amazing news for us in the Great White North

So, that Save Toys"R"Us GoFundMe? I just got emails announcing that the money is being refunded. (One for the actual donation, one for the keep-GoFundMe-operating contribution.)

Guess the dude wasn't going to run off with the money after all.

For those on the "why is Seibertron.com posting so much news about Toys R Us", it's because Toys R Us is not just "another random retail chain going out of business". This is seriously hurting Hasbro and other toy companies right now, which directly affects the health of the very brand we are all here to celebrate.

Without further ado, here's bad news that hits home for the Transformers brand.

Toys 'R' Us liquidation kills Hasbro sales
http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/23/investing/hasbro-earnings-toys-r-us-mattel/index.html

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Thank you for that incredibly insightful post Z3ROhour, was there something you wanted to add about TRU or are you just happy for the attention?

Yes, it's back again folks. The Toys R Us saga continues, this time in Australia as the company's branch in that country enters voluntary administration. Last we heard, Australian Toys R Us stores would be continuing as normal despite the US branch shutting down, and up until now they've been chugging along, but it seems that's about to change.

According to the Financial Review, TRU Australia had been looking for a buyer, but the last bidder has recently withdrawn their offer and directors have chosen to enter voluntary administration by the firm McGrathNicol. This is how the Financial Review describes the Australian branch's dire financial straits:

[...] the Australian business has racked up losses of more than $100 million over the last seven years and could not continue as a stand alone entity.

Toys 'R' Us Australia lost $7.6 million in 2017 on sales of $276.4 million and had net liabilities of $6 million, according to its latest accounts.

For those Australian collectors wondering how this will affect purchasing from Toys R Us in the coming times, here's the rundown on what he have so far.

- Both Toys R Us and Babies R Us should continue operating while McGrathNicol "urgently explores options for a sale".
- Refunds will no longer be offered on sold items
- Gift cards and vouchers will be honoured, as long as customers spend an additional equivalent amount (i.e. to redeem a $50 gift card, a customer would need to purchase $100 worth of product).
- Online orders will be delivered, provided the order has been fully paid for and the stock is available.

This is definitely sad news to hear, but we still want to hear your thoughts on it. How do you think this might affect the collecting climate in the future? Let us know on the Energon Pub Forums, and keep an eye on Seibertron.com for updates on this or any other Transformers-related news.

How sad to see a giants last few breaths. So the question I now wonder is, what was done differently with the likes of the Canadian branch that allowed it to weather the same storm that took everything else. I would have thought that all the different branches would have faced the same problems.

Wow never saw toysrus located inside mall smallest ToysRus i saw I’m surprised there was no good news for that part of country of toysrus to many drop outs wander what’s making them do so

I live in America unfortunately & I only have 1 Walmart close by. And that store is the biggest joke that never restocks Transformers. So I know what it's like, makes you want to quit & say to hell with it. No stores around & online is nothing but a ridiculously over priced scalper hell.

I still can't find 1 freakin Cyber Battalion Shockwave. It's friggin ridiculous!

dragons wrote:Wow never saw toysrus located inside mall smallest ToysRus i saw I’m surprised there was no good news for that part of country of toysrus to many drop outs wander what’s making them do so

I've actually been to this particular Toys R Us! (I chose it for the picture as kind of a tribute to "my" TRU.) Surprisingly, it's just as big inside as any other Toys R Us stores I've been to, despite being technically inside a mall. Honestly, I'll be sad to see it go, if the whole branch does end up closing down fully...

Domino effect...

ZeroWolf wrote:So the question I now wonder is, what was done differently with the likes of the Canadian branch that allowed it to weather the same storm that took everything else.

Basically, different laws and internal inventory management.

Had the American division been able to leverage the Canadian, to load it up with unsustainable debt loads for short term profits it likely would have, but different regulations stopped that from happening. This ment the Canadian division ran itself as a leaner operation. The more the US side struggled, the more the Canadian side looked to protect itself.

Stores would operate with lower stock levels than American ones, depending on weekly restocks instead of fully stocked back rooms, as well as other means to keep operational costs lower. All in all, moves that kept it in the black and financially stronger. The financial protection the Canadian division entered last year was just protective, to ensure suppliers shorted by the American division couldn't place undue pressure, (demands for payment of US orders/short shipping Canadian stock for leverage) that would undermine the ability to operate independently.

ZeroWolf wrote:How sad to see a giants last few breaths. So the question I now wonder is, what was done differently with the likes of the Canadian branch that allowed it to weather the same storm that took everything else. I would have thought that all the different branches would have faced the same problems.

Not quite sure how it is in Australia, but in Canada, Toys R' Us doesn't really have much in the way of competition. Walmart has only a small toy section, Real Canadian Superstore doesn't have much in the way of a toy section anymore. Other places you'd find toys are drug stores or comic/collectable stores. So Toys R' Us is still pretty busy. When I went down there last Thursday the poor cashier was run ragged with how busy it had been that day!

I don't think it's so much something they actively did, as much as it is the retail environment that they're part of that contributes to them sticking around up here. Of course, I could be way off.

It was explained earlier what the Canadian side. It's managed better, it runs a better operation and there's no competition for them here in Canada.

We have TRU and Walmart, that's it and Walmart is horrible for stock.

What's disappointing is that while TRU AU has plenty of competition in terms of toys (Target, K-Mart, Big W, Myer and on a smaller scale, Toyworld), from a Transformers perspective K-Mart and Target have recently raised their prices to match TRU AU, which means they were all mostly on par.

TRU also has the better distribution with all stores Australia wide receiving their stock at the same time, while the others slowly trickle out around the country.

Plus there's the Takara Tomy stuff ...

Burn wrote:What's disappointing is that while TRU AU has plenty of competition in terms of toys (Target, K-Mart, Big W, Myer and on a smaller scale, Toyworld), from a Transformers perspective K-Mart and Target have recently raised their prices to match TRU AU, which means they were all mostly on par.

TRU also has the better distribution with all stores Australia wide receiving their stock at the same time, while the others slowly trickle out around the country.

Plus there's the Takara Tomy stuff ...

Pretty much this. Toys R Us AU, through absolutely no effort of their own, has somehow managed to end up on par with other retailers price-wise since the start of PotP (in the worst possible way, mind you). And since their management of actual stock is a bit better overall, they're kind of the most reliable option for new Transformers right now, unless you want to gamble on figures coming to a local branch of the lower-priced but less reliable Big W.

My nearby TRU doesn't have any Takara stuff, but I have seen it around in other ones. Ranging from Unite Warriors Superion to MP Road Rage and Star Saber, TRU AU can be a really good place to get Transformers! ...Or I guess, will have been a really good place to get Transformers.

Before I went to the airport my trip to the Gold Coast on Friday, I ducked into Big W to see what they had (hoping for Wave 2) ... nothing new.

Once I got back and left the airport I headed to TRU in the hope they had Wave 2, but at the very least, knowing they'd be the place to help me get POTP Rodimus Prime, and I knew they had 20% off that weekend.

And as expected, they helped me secure Rodimus Prime (with 20% off), no wave 2 but that's not surprising as they've been located more often at K-Mart.

As someone who lives in a regional area and can often wait four weeks or more before figures reach me (after being spotted in metropolitan areas), I could always rely on TRU to have stock, sure, they were always more expensive, but at least they could be relied upon and they had more sales than the major departments stores.