On
one of JTA's toy runs at Walmart yesterday, we bumped into a Hasbro representative
and got the skinny on that developing "broken street date" story (namely at
Toys R Us). Click
through for more.
While looking to see if
our local Walmart would too break the August 6th street date, we had the rare
opportunity to speak with a Hasbro representative about the events that transpired
starting in June with the deluge of new 2010 product hitting the pegs so early.
The representative explained to us that the August 6th date is indeed an official
hard street date and that all retailers were expected to NOT put out product
before then. But somehow at the corporate Toys R Us office,
that communication did not make it onto their "hold" product lists, even despite
the boxes noting the August 6th street date as clear as day. And it still remains unclear why some stores refused to put out the product while others ignored it. This actually
confirms our earlier conversation with a Toys R Us manager (found here).
Apparently Toys R Us stores
only refer to the plan-o-gram that comes from corporate, hence the confusion
regarding the street date. Nothing written in their communications prohibited
them selling the product before August 6th. Damage control is rapidly
in effect as Hasbro has e-mailed all necessary parties to immediately remove
any sign of new 2010 product from the shelves. It may be your last chance to
snag the new stuff until August 6th. It is unknown if there will be a penalty
(or punishment) for this breach so that remains to be seen. Ah, Hasbro, give
Toys R Us a break. They are the only "strictly" toy focused retailer
left and they should get some preferential treatment once in a while. It will
be curious to see if/how Toys R Us stores follow through with Hasbro's orders!
But we expect product will disappear for the time being.
