A Trip To The Wasteland

Collectors in the USA like to complain about distribution, maybe not always realizing that while things are far from optimal, they still have it a lot better than many other people in the world… Click through for some musings from the wasteland!

First of all, here is the full photo, the entirety of the Star Wars shelf….

Please honor one minute of silence (and click if you want a bigger picture)

To provide some context here. This is the entirety of the Star Wars toy section at Germany’s largest department store chain. The stores are found in the best locations, downtown, local district centers etc. If you go shopping in the city and you need toys, this is where you go.

And this is the sad, sad Star Wars shelf. They carry some ancient TLJ 5 POA figures (there were 3 Roses, 3 Huxes, 3 Reys, 1 Luke, 1 Paige, 1 DJ, 1 Poe) and they are only 14.99 euros ($17). Then there are some ancient Forces of Destiny dolls, 25 euros each ($28), which is already the discount price. And other than that you find assorted junk, oddities, some lightsabers, a few plush toys, backpacks. But zero things any collector would probably want. Worst of all… Star Wars has to share the shelf with some leftover Marvel and Jurassic World toys.

I go to this store every few weeks or so… and each time I go there it’s the same view, I think hardly anything moves, if at all.

And as you see, there is no TVC at all, no TBS at all. TRU may have them, I don’t know, probably, but I never go to TRU anymore, it would take me an hour or so to get there, why even bother.

And this is why you need to buy everything online here. Retail is a joke. They might as well trash the entire Star Wars section.

Maybe this is what Hasbro wants to do here in Europe, withdraw from retail and focus on etailers. If NOT, well, then Hasbro needs to get their act together and convince retailers to carry items the target demographic, adult collectors, actually want to buy. Of course, prices need to be competitive. I cannot blame the department store chain for not bothering anymore, they only see that the stuff they have doesn’t sell, why order more or different things. Hasbro has some convincing to do, if they still care about retail here.

But maybe it’s too late for that. I think many collectors in Europe have been trained to buy everything online. Still, it’s sad to see a Star Wars toy section like the one in the picture above. It’s bad for the brand image, bad for Hasbro. So maybe it’s time to pull out of retail for good, unless Hasbro gets their act together here.

Next time you see a sad Walmart shelf think of the shelf I photographed. Maybe you will feel less sad then, knowing you’re not alone!

Fell free to share your photos of sad Star Wars toy shelves in the comments. Share your pain! The doctor is in!

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