Well.. Haven't been to work for a few days and when i returned, I saw this on the sales floor where the Tfs are all kept and I have to say, I am happy these measures are taken to counter scalpers..

uhh... try again please

Ok.. Done, sorry about that...

hahahaha nice!

that would be nice if the TRU's around here even bothered to restock anything.

hmmm i've never seen stuff like this before sorta nice to know thier in such high demand and yet its sorta sad to know whos buying them all up

It's good to see Toys R Us protecting the product they don't have.

Finlly, countermeasures!

"The scalpers the"?

*is also happy with much happiness to see such signage*

BULLBlot

Now toys are non refundable/exchangeable!!!

no thanks, Everyone that buys transformers isnt a lonely collector that lives with their mom... some of them are little kids that should have to live with a manufacturer defect or buyers remorse when the item is still misb

Powerglide TRU

My management said they would take back faulty items but not those that are MISB and are returned by scalpers because the've realized the value of the item has dropped somehow. I guess they could be a little more specific.

That is BS, to be honest. What if two people buy the same gift for a child, or if they buy something they already have, then what? SOL.

How do you tell a scalper from a shopper. and how do you violate your own policies for a couple brands... I dont remember them making xbox 360's or ps3 non refundable

Very very lame

it's not as hard as you might think

Would a person buying a gift return 20 08 BB's at a time?

Funny, I didn't see that stipulation in the TRU disclaimer.

The bottom line to me is this:

I was at TRU last night and they were putting out two boxes of deluxes, including 08 BB. I could have bought both of them and sold them on eBay for a profit, but I didn't. Because that's what assholes do.

QFT

But everyone already knew that

Thank. God.

My guess is either they'll either smell scalper on you or they won't, and will probably be willing to bend these rules if they don't. Admittedly, they could get the wrong "smell" from someone so a few scalpers may get away with it or a few caring parents may get screwed but I think the idea is just to dissuade people from trying to hoard in the first place.

And Pete, I'm pretty sure anyone could smell scalper, among a few other things, on the guy in that picture there.

I agree. Better late than never.

What's to stop them from coming back a few hours later for more of the same toys while adhering to the sign. And then again. Shift changes, and faces come and go, people aren't going to remember the same guy, especially if he's checked out by two different people.

Plus the return policy is . What if you get a defective figure and you want to exchange it for the same one if they have it in stock? Are you just SOL.

I'm sorry, but I might take my business to another store then.

My local TRU had a limit of one of each figure per person right away when they came out. Since trhe shelves have gotten dustier, they changed it to 2. But nothing about not returning figures.

I think its pretty clear that most of the "rare" Movie toys only are so because people are cornering the market. These aren't even "TF scalpers". With all the new fans we accrued with the feature film we also got a whole new market of scalper Afterburners who are just here for the ride. This isn't just the usual crowd of TF scalpers we normally Starscream about this is the "General Audience" set of scalpers on top of the collector scalper crowd. Our scalpers are mostly just trying to screw us over. These new sacks of sh-t are actually trying to f-ck kids over and send their parents to ebay. Toys R us wants to have a base of REAL customers who come in for a variety of items over and over again. Douches who show up at ten and take all the "good stuff" make the rest of the comunity feel like they can't rely on TRU to have what their kids want. If TRU wants to stop them, Good for TRU. If kids don't get this stuff they'll stop making it. Grabing an extra to keep in packege or even to sell is one thing. But all those buying 5 at a time? Multiple times? F-ck you.

Why the refusal of returning Transformers? I think limiting the number of toys purchased should be enough. All that TRU seems to really care about is selling the toys and making sure that they stay sold; rather than hurting scalpers.

Scalping is becoming more obvious now that TRU is implementing that policy. Still I don't think the non-returnable non-refundable part should apply. If you buy two, then you should be able to return two. They already have a policy that requires a receipt for returns. Maybe it's a way of discouraging the scalpers from shopping there. Thank you TRU, but please do away with the non-return polic. I don't want to not have to return a Transformer broken out of the box or one wih two left hands.

I think defects are the exception.

does someone need to ask the people working there to put up something like that, or do the people who work there just deciede to put it up

Heh, good thing my Wal-mart doesnt have scalpers

i saw like of each of the new voyagers(icy mega, prime, thundercracker and Repaint ratchet)

AND a dreadwing

=P

If i ever see a scalper, i will kick their ass

Well, this settles it.

TRU is completely off of my general TF shopping list, except in cases of exclusives.

1.) They never have anything in stock. (New stuff would be an absolute miracle)

2.) I only buy one of each figure, yet if I wanted to buy a single of the entire first wave of line (like the movie, and I did, not to mention Classics. That's where I got mine all in one trip.) now...I'm not allowed to do that. I'll be refused sale and the rest of the items I needed for my collection will go back to the shelves.

3.) It's completely unfair. (I have money, you have product to sell. I'm buying one of each, leaving the rest of the entire friggin' case for others to buy, yet you refuse my business? Fine. Powerglide you then, you piece of Blot ass bastard motherPowerglideer.)

4.) No returns. (Let's face it, even with certain circumstances being allowed, it's still going to be a hassle and a pain in the ass to return an item. Whether or not it's defective, an extra of something you already have that was given to you by mistake, or you just plain don't want it. (which is still allowed...this is America.) Or you miscalculated (you'll all say it doesn't happen this way, but it does. You'll just never own up to it, out of embarrassment) and you can't afford to keep it (though you have to be smarter than that when giving a reason to return it.) but you're up Blot creek without a paddle now. Ridiculous.)

I'll give TRU one more shot (provided they actually get anything in stock for once....) and when I get to the register, if I'm refused sale of anything beyond two figures....well then...I'll tell them to take it all back, go to Hell, and that they've permanently lost me as a customer.

Powerglide them.

We made them! We keep their doors open! Of course the store is aimed at kids, but in all honesty, who do you see there more often than not? Adult collectors. On average, I'll see maybe ten kids in the entire store (on a busy day) but it's close to thirty adults doing their shopping. Again I say....WE keep their doors open, made them what they are, and pay their Powerglidein' checks!

Oh, there's a part of me that just wants them to tell me no, so I can snap like a twig and go off like a crazy person, screaming and yelling at the top of my lungs. (It's fun, and gets the pressure out.)

I've spent $1,000.00s of dollars there, in fact they were the first place I went to during my searches, because I was almost sure they'd have what I was looking for.

Energon:
Singles of all of wave 2/3/4 minus Shockblast and Bulkhead (Found those online and in Wal-Mart, respectively.) in a single trip to TRU one morning. Well over $200.00 My cart was packed, but I got one of everything I needed and there were plenty more on the shelves for everyone else. Not to mention, the cashier smiled her ass off when she saw the sale she was about to make.

Classics:
Singles of all of wave 1, the entire line in one trip, not one missing. Came to around $100.00 with taxes
Again, plenty left on the shelves, and again, happy to have made the sale.

I can't even imagine what I spent on Cybertron, the rest of Energon, Armada, Beast Wars/Machines, etc.

And this is how they thank people like you and me?

No. Powerglide THEM! HARD!

I think you're overreacting a little. I think this policy is the work of a single manager and not a chain-wide decision.

i think it should be a sign that says, limit 2 of the same figure,so you could still get alot of but you just cant have more than 2 of the same figure

cause dont scalpers go for one specific figure and buy everyone a store has

Well, they always seem like they have nothing in stock because scalpers always strip them bear before anyone else even gets a first look and this is from personal experience.

Well a two or three hour wait allows other shoppers into the store -so by the time the Scalper comes back, he may or may not find what he wants.
Also, for the scalpers, this is a buisness and it now takes them twice as long to make the same profit. So once again it becomes less profitable for them to continue.

But yeah, TRU has had very strange stocking procedures for a long time - i thought thsi was going to change a bit when the Target guy started running the show. But other than moving all the shelves to an angle - i dont see a lot of change.

Exactly. One of the places I shop at occasionally is a consignment store specifically catering to toy scalpers. "What madness is this" you ask? "You hate scalpers, yet you frequent one of their outlets?" True, but I actually go there to find Japanese toys (gashapon & vinyl, mostly) that just aren't carried in California. I also use it as a gague to see what's exactly out now that I haven't seen on the shelves of Target, etc. I've only ever bought ONE domestically available toy there, and that was a Titanium Series Battlestar Galactica 3" ship when they first came out. When I found them in abundance at Targets weeks later, I learned my lesson.

ANYWAY, the point of this is that last week I saw a Hot Wheels dealer stocking his case & he was adding no less than TWENTY Camaro Concept Bumblebees, at $30 apiece. This week, I was sad to see they'd all been sold, some pretty depserate people out there I guess, and now his case had several Final Battle Jazz figures. So yeah, there's a whole new camp of douchebags out there adding to everyone's frustration. And some people can cry "FREE MARKET" all they want, it doesn't change the fact that people are buying these toys with the specific intent of doubling or tripling their money by selling it to the fans who actually hold a job.

As for the TRU sign, why the hell are people mad at TRU for it? Who d'you think prompted that policy? And have any of you ever bought a toy from a scalper? Shut the hell up then, you helped create the situation in the first place. Yeah it sucks that you can't buy one each of 8 different figures, but that's the kind of position stores have to take now to try & help people who want the toys get them. If the stores only cared about the money made, they'd never blink twice at a guy walking up to a register with 7 carts full of the same figure.

I've worked at a TRU, and you can TELL a scalper when they come in.. They usually come in regularly and buy in bulk, and when it comes to returns if a 10 year old comes up to the counter and ask is they got two of the same fuigure and can trade it in, USUALLY the manager will let them do it, cause the kid isnt picky if its NOT a TF.

I wish they'd do this in my area...at every store and every chain.

And yeah, I think a few of you are over reacting and reading a bit too much into the no returns bit. You can definately tell a scalper from a collector or child. Even the most retaracon reatil chain store employee can see that scalpers buy single figs in bulk and kids, collectors buy one or a few.

You say that I and others overreact about this situation, but what are you going to do if this sign (and the rules behind it) does create the worst case scenario? Will you be patting TRU on the back then? When they have what you want, but it's now unattainable because they won't let you have more than two figures at a time? Some of you will say "Them's the breaks, gotta deal." but deep down inside, you'll be just as pissed as the rest of us. Gotta save face though.

And what about their "Buy 2, get the Third Half Off/Free" deals that pop up once or twice a year? If this actually does take place nationwide...then we're screwed out of the deals too.

I'll admit, I'm overreacting, some, but if this does work like they plan...we'll be the ones who suffer. The scalpers will still get what they want, they always do. Even with these bullBlot rules in place, all they have to do is hand someone a $50.00 and be on their way.

Dude... calm down.

but how many of those adults were buying for children? I buy my toys at TRU, but the majority of the time I spend in the store is shopping for siblings and nieces/ nephews.
and the kids made that store. don't fool your self. between the game consoles, and the various "big ticket" holiday items like power rangers and tickle me Elmo in the mid nineties, and the cabbage patch kids in the eighties, snot nosed little kids built that chain. either the kids them selves, or parents/ family buying for said kid.
by limiting how many figures a person can buy, they will (hopefully) keep more product on the shelf. nothing will piss of a customer more than seeing an empty shelf that should hold the items they want to purchase. It's not like when a collector goes hunting (as I often do), and misses one of the shortpacked figures, but there are still figures from that case assortment on the shelves. this is full blown zero merchandise on the shelves. because people buy 6 '08 bumblebee's for the sole purpose of doubling, or even tripling the price on the internet.
have you even tried to find a Nintendo Wii at physical retailer like walmart? good luck. Target has limited them to one per customer, per day. my girlfriend, who works at a local target, has been verbally assaulted by various losers who openly admitted to only wanting the systems so they could up the price and put them on ebay.
scalping is killing this hobby. and if it means I have to wait a little longer to fill out my collection, then so be it.
you don't need to buy an entire wave at a time. thats what BBTS is for.

Um, 032, I'm pretty sure that this policy only means you can't buy more than two of The SAME CHARACTER. TRU's return policy always sucks. But you can buy all the TFs you want provided they aren't 3 of the same one.

I am happy to see this sign. And I'm sure it's meant to simply discourage scalpers as a "we know what you're up to" announcment than an unflinching rule. Sort of like those police spedometers on wheels you see on the side of the road. I'm sure if Soccer Mom comes in to return a dublicate gift her son recieved and made a big enough stink, she'd be able to do so.

I keep hearing these horror stories about scalpers empting the shelves and I know I've seen them on e-bay, and. . . I hate the Blot out of them, but is that always the reason why the shelves are empty. Every time I went to a store and saw an empty shelf I cursed the scalpers to bloody hell. Then I went to Walmart and saw an empty TF section. The price tags were there, some sort of store invoice was there, but the toys were not. I asked an employee, who seemed to know a little something about TF and he said the shelf hasn't been filled yet and blamed it on lazy people and slow stocking and shipping.

Anyway, Death to the scalpers.

I wonder if I "smell" like a scalper when I walk into a store. 32yo black man, TF T-Shirt, and Decepticon tattoo. Might buy two of each. One to display and transform and one to keep in the box.

I found a Wii at a local retailer. I bought one, in cash, from Gamestop. They had a shipment of six come in, I bought it, and went home happy. Granted, the bigger retailers tend to have quite a problem with keeping them in stock, let alone getting them initially, however, one of my two local Wal-Marts has three in stock right now. They've been there since Thursday and haven't moved.

Also, if I'm paying with cash in hand, and I'm spending over $100.00....there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to buy an entire wave of the figures if I want 'em. Especially if there's more sitting on the shelves for others to buy as well. If we followed your logic and went to BBTS all the time and ordered everything through them, we'd never be able to afford this hobby anymore. Half of our collecting money would go down the drain on shipping fees, credit card bills, and their store markups. (Which are excessive on some figures...) If you want to spend more than you need to online, then go right ahead, be my guest. I like the idea of getting what I wanted, and saving money. Not to mention, I had a chance to get out of the house and get some fresh air. Oh sure, we could all sit on our asses and order what we want from BBTS, but when they run out...who do we run to then?



You may be correct on the same character thing, but it doesn't clearly say that. It very well could mean that you can only buy two (two period) TFs at a time (and would actually make more sense, given the fact they're cracking down on collectors/traders (as they put it). If that is the case (and it's possible) what would you say then?

Until we have all the details, we won't know for sure, but I already said I overreacted. I was wrong in doing so, but I'd hate to be right. This is one time I'd love to be wrong. Believe me.



You quoted the wrong post to be telling me to calm down. The first one (like Majin Tahu selected) is the one you should've quoted. I can see you telling me to calm down for that one, but not the second. There was no rage or ill temperament in the second.

And so, for that glaring oversight:

I went to buy 2 lots of 2 figures in a store over here once (one set for me & one for someone here - sold at exact cost before you get your knicker) & the cashier said it wouldn't go through the till & she had to call the manager. I've bought several different figures for myself before & after that incident in the same store, it just wouldn't let me buy duplicates that one time. I told the manager they were for a mate in Scotland who couldn't get hold of them & he was fine with it, he just put the system in place to stop people "scalping" stuff. Great system IMO.

As for returns? Your consumer rights will always override any store policy put in place. Stores HAVE TO accept returns due to faulty goods. Store do NOT have to accept returns because you've changed your mind; that's at the managers discretion. Again, I see this as perfectly reasonable.

You people love to whine, don't you?

Some of you people are just pieces of work. You Starscream about scalpers and hoarders and when a store FINALLY takes action against it you Starscream about that!!!

LISTEN: THe policy is twofold. 1: It keeps people from buying "mass" (READ: the most popular, hard to find, etc) amounts of figs, throwing it on ebay and if/when it doesn't sell trying to take it back. Having worked at TRU when I was stationed in St Louis one of the mopst frustrating things was have the hot fig be sucked up by Cooters (my affectionate term for Hot Wheels collectors) only to be returned weeks/months later because it's not "hot" anymore and then rots on the TRU shelf. 2: It stops people (who sadly are sometimes collectors as well) who feel the need to buy more that 2 of one fig to pose, trade, display, bronze, give to their live in gf who "wants" one as well or whatever. I personnaly find that more frustrating than scalpers. Who the %$#$ needs 4 of the same fig? I feel 2 is more than enough for anyone. My practice has always been to at the most buy 2.
The TF movie has shown parents and casual fans of the movie that collectors like us already knew. There are people who live/profit on making toys that should be readily on shelves a pain to find. I applaud this move. I feel any "honest" collector would as well. Since I buy no more than 2 of the same fig (which the sign implies despite some peoples attempts to read into ALOT more than they should) I'll walk in and out of TRU again and again with hopefully figs scalpers and hoarders usually sucked dry. It also means that parents will hopefully not have to deal with the above two circle jerks cherry picking stuff as much and have a better chance of finding things. I'm now suspect of any "collector" who has a prob with this statement becuse if your "just" collecting that mandate will have NO effect on you. If you do have a problem that really says ALOT about what you really do when it come to toys (and how you make back your gas money or "time spent hunting for fig X B.S.)

I don't buy full waves all at one time so what you're saying here means nothing. And what's with you?! Sometimes you can be a pretty cool dood. Other times.....well not so much. You don't need to act like a chump and get all offensive to get your point across.

Now, you really are taking it a bit too far. Buy 2 get 1 free is a promotion. Promotions break regular rules. The whole free thing???....yeah, that doesn't happen normally. Well, it does but it's called stealing.

Nice.

The only thing I don't agree with is the way the return policy reads, because parents could take that for what it says, but I'm pretty sure they will honor it if you're only returning one of a said item, even if it is MIP.

Autobot032, I do think you are overreacting a little - I'm sure you can still buy one (or even two) of each different figure, which doesn't affect your buying of an entire wave at once. You're taking things MUCH too literally here.

Its entirely possible that in less than a month: The isles will be fillled to over flowing with TFs (and no new waves are due out this year right?)
and then that sign will go away.
And this whole discussion will be even sillier than it is now.

I think we need to keep in mind the real enemy hear:
those people who buy toys, then put old crap or broken toys in the packages, then return them.
I saw a GI joe sigma 6 figure at walmart (in the clearance aisle) with a gneric 12 inch military toy in the package, and it was covered in clear packing tape.

these are the real offenders.