Post by Branjita on Feb 29, 2024 9:34:07 GMT -6
In case that Reddit ever goes away, here's a summary of the replies:
After final markdown and still unsellable, one of two things were done depending on the product.
1- We would box items up and would be sent to the regional distribution center. They would consolidate all returns on a single truck and ship it back to the company that makes the product for a refund. Overall the process is rare compared to how many items are in the stores. (One of the people replying said "I guarantee you the Dragon Ball stuff you're inquiring about was not a part of that nor were they destroyed at store level. We always had low inventory of Dragon Ball stuff so the lack of supply makes them rare to find today.")
2- Items would be destroyed (garbage bin) at the store level.
And just to loop this all together, my reply to them was (with some extras added in):
After final markdown and still unsellable, one of two things were done depending on the product.
1- We would box items up and would be sent to the regional distribution center. They would consolidate all returns on a single truck and ship it back to the company that makes the product for a refund. Overall the process is rare compared to how many items are in the stores. (One of the people replying said "I guarantee you the Dragon Ball stuff you're inquiring about was not a part of that nor were they destroyed at store level. We always had low inventory of Dragon Ball stuff so the lack of supply makes them rare to find today.")
2- Items would be destroyed (garbage bin) at the store level.
And just to loop this all together, my reply to them was (with some extras added in):
That's interesting!
My memory isn't as clear as it used to be, so I found the posts I made on a forum in 2014 to refresh myself (referring to DBF), and I cross-referenced some release dates.
In 2004, Target and Walmart stopped selling Jakks Pacific Dragon Ball Z figures, making Toys R Us and KB Toys possibly the last two large retailers of them. Target was the main place I bought DBZ figures (during that time period), and the final wave I was able to buy there was Series 15, which notably included Cyborg Frieza. After that, at least where I live in Texas, Target no longer sold DBZ figures, so that must have been the Spring 2004. I didn't go to Walmart as often, so I can't speak with as much confidence about them disappearing for good, but the last wave of figures I found there was a wave that was released in October 2003, and I noted on a forum post (on DBF) from 2014 that I bought them on clearance and basically bought every figure my local Walmart had. I don't know how to cross-reference this, but I believe at the time that DBZ was no longer being reran on Cartoon Network at that time, so sales of figures were probably pretty low, and that's probably why Walmart and Target stopped carrying them.
In the posts (on DBF), I claimed that the second to last time I ever visited TRU, there were plenty of the Dragon Ball Trilogy figures (Tien, Kid Goku, Nova Shenron (technically Eis Shenron)) and Ultimate Figure Series 2 inch figures (sold in Japan as Soul of Hyper Figuration) on the pegs and there was a clearance bin with a lot of Dragon Ball GT figures in it, particularly Pan. Based on cross-referencing the release year of the Trilogy Series 1 figures (2005) and the DBGT figures I remember seeing (2004), I must have been in the store in 2005.
At this point, I'm unsure if I saw the extremely common Pan figure from Series 1 (released January 2004) or the incredibly expensive Pan with Robot Suit from Series 3 (released December 2004) in the clearance bin. I didn't specify in my 2014 posts which one it was, but I also didn't pay close attention to the DBGT figures, because I didn't like them. They were taller than 5 inch scale, most had ugly faces, and I only bought General Rilldo. I only recall there were a lot of Pans in the bin, and if it was the one that came with the Robot Suit, then them being destroyed/thrown away would account for why that particular figure has been so rare and expensive for the last 15+ years.
I was a college student at the time, broke, busy, and I did not live near TRU, so I went incredibly infrequently and spent money on my collection even less frequently back then. So I only have two anecdotes about DBZ figures at TRU in the final years of Jakks having the license for DBZ. One I already mentioned, and the other was recalling the Bojack Unbound figures on the pegs at TRU, and that was likely the very last time I went (while Jakks had the license).
My memory isn't as clear as it used to be, so I found the posts I made on a forum in 2014 to refresh myself (referring to DBF), and I cross-referenced some release dates.
In 2004, Target and Walmart stopped selling Jakks Pacific Dragon Ball Z figures, making Toys R Us and KB Toys possibly the last two large retailers of them. Target was the main place I bought DBZ figures (during that time period), and the final wave I was able to buy there was Series 15, which notably included Cyborg Frieza. After that, at least where I live in Texas, Target no longer sold DBZ figures, so that must have been the Spring 2004. I didn't go to Walmart as often, so I can't speak with as much confidence about them disappearing for good, but the last wave of figures I found there was a wave that was released in October 2003, and I noted on a forum post (on DBF) from 2014 that I bought them on clearance and basically bought every figure my local Walmart had. I don't know how to cross-reference this, but I believe at the time that DBZ was no longer being reran on Cartoon Network at that time, so sales of figures were probably pretty low, and that's probably why Walmart and Target stopped carrying them.
In the posts (on DBF), I claimed that the second to last time I ever visited TRU, there were plenty of the Dragon Ball Trilogy figures (Tien, Kid Goku, Nova Shenron (technically Eis Shenron)) and Ultimate Figure Series 2 inch figures (sold in Japan as Soul of Hyper Figuration) on the pegs and there was a clearance bin with a lot of Dragon Ball GT figures in it, particularly Pan. Based on cross-referencing the release year of the Trilogy Series 1 figures (2005) and the DBGT figures I remember seeing (2004), I must have been in the store in 2005.
At this point, I'm unsure if I saw the extremely common Pan figure from Series 1 (released January 2004) or the incredibly expensive Pan with Robot Suit from Series 3 (released December 2004) in the clearance bin. I didn't specify in my 2014 posts which one it was, but I also didn't pay close attention to the DBGT figures, because I didn't like them. They were taller than 5 inch scale, most had ugly faces, and I only bought General Rilldo. I only recall there were a lot of Pans in the bin, and if it was the one that came with the Robot Suit, then them being destroyed/thrown away would account for why that particular figure has been so rare and expensive for the last 15+ years.
I was a college student at the time, broke, busy, and I did not live near TRU, so I went incredibly infrequently and spent money on my collection even less frequently back then. So I only have two anecdotes about DBZ figures at TRU in the final years of Jakks having the license for DBZ. One I already mentioned, and the other was recalling the Bojack Unbound figures on the pegs at TRU, and that was likely the very last time I went (while Jakks had the license).