NECA TMNT Target Exclusive Muckman & Joe Eyeball Figures Revealed

8 hours ago, mako said:

Hey, I don't wanna sound like a bad fortune cookie, but as I said, a little faith, a little optimism, a little perserverance does the trick. I've yet to miss one of these sets, and I can't even say THAT about Marvel Legends.

I mean yeah, I agree if you really put the work in, you can hunt down almost everything, if it's out there, I subscribe, there have only been a few things in my collecting days I just couldn't get a hold of at retail, and yes Legends have been some of them, also surprisingly some Spawns kicked my butt back when, also still having trouble with these damn Joes and Rangers but I'm holding hope!

21 minutes ago, Lord_Scareglow said:

congrats on the hustle paying off !

Hey, I don't wanna sound like a bad fortune cookie, but as I said, a little faith, a little optimism, a little perserverance does the trick. I've yet to miss one of these sets, and I can't even say THAT about Marvel Legends.

20 minutes ago, mako said:

Brick-n-Mortar . . . Next Nearest Target . . . Casey AND Metalhead . . .

I GOT "EM!!!

congrats on the hustle paying off !

Brick-n-Mortar . . . Next Nearest Target . . . Casey AND Metalhead . . .

I GOT "EM!!!

5 hours ago, mako said:

Thought I'd hit pay-dirt last night when I hit my local Target on a hunt for War Machine. No joy in Mudville where Rhodey was concerned, the toy isles were actually more empty than I'd ever seen them before. Out of desperation I hit the Neca section, and there it was! Out of the corner of my eye I caught the telltale yellow and green packaging of the Animated Ninja Turtles sets. Grabbing it up as fast as I can, I get my first full look at . . . the Series 2 Leonardo and Donatello set.

Not only is that the ONE set they have, it's the first set I'd seen in this store in months. I have no idea how it got there or where it came from, I just know one thing . . .

. . . the "Toy Powers That Be" have a real mean sense of humor.

Wonderful man... Glad one of us finally got some items from this hard to find collection...

Thought I'd hit pay-dirt last night when I hit my local Target on a hunt for War Machine. No joy in Mudville where Rhodey was concerned, the toy isles were actually more empty than I'd ever seen them before. Out of desperation I hit the Neca section, and there it was! Out of the corner of my eye I caught the telltale yellow and green packaging of the Animated Ninja Turtles sets. Grabbing it up as fast as I can, I get my first full look at . . . the Series 2 Leonardo and Donatello set.

Not only is that the ONE set they have, it's the first set I'd seen in this store in months. I have no idea how it got there or where it came from, I just know one thing . . .

. . . the "Toy Powers That Be" have a real mean sense of humor.

Holy Crap, It's Spreading!!!

There are five Targets in my area. As of Target's own website last night, all listed the Animated Turtles set as "Out of Stock." As of this morning, two, the ones nearest me natch, had changed the status to "Not for Sale at Location." As of just a few minutes ago, all but one had changed to that same status. I don't know if Neca just decided to skip the state of Arkansas, or what, but somebody better get their signals straight.

I definitely think most of the blame falls on Walmart/Target. NECA does not want this. That said they bare some of the responsibility for choosing to focus on trying to win over these giant retailers that no longer offer the same benefits they used to and thus end up doing more harm than good for the health of thesetoy lines due to their exclusives and poor distribution and inventory awareness. .

Unlike Hasbro, I think Neca is legitimately trying to fix the problem. Remember, they didn't make the bots or the ball-washers who use them. All they did was make an incredibly cool toy line and try to get it in as many fans hands as possible. Given they're not a top-tier company, and the licensing restrictions they're forced to work within, you gotta give 'em points for at least trying.

4 hours ago, mako said:

Sorry to hear about your Mom, I lost my Dad at the end of May, and just recently found out my only Uncle suffered a heart-attack and is in ICU where they're not allowing visitors due to Covid-19.

Believe me, I'm the one a-hole on the planet who doesn't have to be told times are looking rough. That's when you gotta dig deep and find that strength to go on, that optimism. Things WILL get better. You say the Turtle figuresprobably won't turn up again. I say I've managed to find every other Animated Turtles release . . . EVENTUALLY.I'll find these.

I kinda like my way better, don't you?

Thanksand sorry about your Dad. Hopefully your uncle is able to turn it around. Fingers crossed for you. I actually had plans to bring my Dad out to stay with me in L.A. for a couple of months so he wouldnt be at home alone being depressed about my Mombut Covid came along and changed those plans so we decided it would be better if he stayed in Missouri where its safer (for now).

Im all for positive thinking butjust being realistic Im having a hard time seeing me find any 2020 store exclusives in store Instead of onlineactuallyhappen this year. For wave 1 and 2luckily I was able to pick up all the Comic Con sets each year at SDCCthus I never needed the original 8 figures in Wave 1, BUT I was still checking the NECA section 4 or 5 times a week when hunting for other items and I only ever saw 1 of those original four 2-packs once (and it was gone five minutes later when I walked by again). Over a year of going to multiple Targets (In multiple states) almost daily and I still never ever saw the other 3 sets fromthat first wave. Then a year later they do wave 2 and for those I saw the recolored repacks of the 4 turtles exactly once. I never ever saw the Foot soldier pack, the Shredder/Krang pack or The Rocksteady/Bebop pack (the only one I actually needed) despite checking almost daily for over 6 months. Now we have wave 3, 4, 5, etc comingand just based on what I experienced with wave 1 and 2 there is really no reason to expect better results.

So even going to Target almost daily for a year and a half,finding all these Turtle figures in physical stores never happened for me. Now add to that the fact that the world has currently changed in ways that make the odds a thousand times worse. Goneare the days of daily toy runs. Businesses, schools, conventions, etc.are being shut down because in order to combat and slow down the spread of this pandemic its important that we try to minimize even our mostincidental interactions in order to limit the spread. Here in L.A. were on the verge of going back into our second full shutdown. In a city of our density keeping our interactions contained as much as possible is vital to our populationshealth and our eventualeconomic recovery. That means no non essential store runs. So if I going to the stores daily didnt work before its really hard to believe Im going to find any of these things on the one or two trips I might make every month or two. And me going to physical stores more than that simply to hunt for toys would not only be a hassle given the current lines but It would arguably be irresponsible. Thus for now even for stuff more common place, if I dont see it available online Ill probably never see it just because of the times we live in at the moment.

And while I have no wish to preach to others what they should do if were going to get through this quickly and try to get things back to normal sooner versus later its probably important that most of us (particularly in densely populated areas)reduce these non essential store trips as part of our pool of community efforts to overcome this world situation. And to those ends Im finding the way these stores and these manufacturers are handling these store exclusives and lack of online availability particularly frustrating on a whole new level. While so many industries, businesses, and people are having to sacrifice for the health of the community by trying to stay in quarantine as much as possiblethese giant retailers that are making huge profits in these times are saying sorry, you want to maintain your collection youre only hope is to make non-essential store trip after store trip after store trip and just hope maybe you might find it. If were going to get through this Walmart, Target, Hasbro, NECA, etc needs tofix this for availability online. They shouldnt be encouraging unnecessary in person store trips. Thats only going to contribute to the global problem.