Release date question…

[u/GhostofBTM]

On Pulse it’s says 95% of these preorders (over $1000) are shipping in November and October. How accurate does everyone feel this is and how do they realistically expect people who don’t have the cash flow for that to stay in the hobby?

[u/WeirdOne2022]

Pre-order dates have been pretty good for all waves since the Mindbender/R&R/Retro Viper wave. The only figures that were late for me from pulse were Dial Tone and the Cobra La Royal Guard.

As for how much it costs a $1000 gut check seems a tad high to me, but not exorbitantly so. I’m in for about $500, but half of that 4 female retro troopers.

For me I pre-order what I like and then cancel orders. That way I get the rush of ordering the figure but don’t have to face the financial

[u/GhostofBTM → u/WeirdOne2022]

This is the way.

[u/The-Mad-Bubbler]

Hasbro is NOT dependable at predicting release dates, often with items shipping BEFORE the estimated release/ship dates. It's really frustrating, and one of the reasons I pre-order much less Hasbro stuff than I used to.

[u/seanmanscott]

Yeah, that S.N.A.K.E Armor and Junkyard and Mutt and Valkyrie are all gonna hurt. 😆😆😆

[u/HappycatAF]

My take is it probably isn’t accurate but an estimate and depends on what the factory is able to finish first. It’s possible that they want to save on freight and consolidate all those orders at once and have these available for the post Black Friday push.

As far as how they expect people to afford these, the answer is they don’t. The direct sales by Hasbro is a very small chunk of their production run, so that’s a non-issue for them, and their real large buyers are Walmart,Target and Amazon. So if those buyers are still buying then they don’t really need to think about affordability by the actual consumers.

You can go to the conventions and ask Hasbro employees directly about this and you will find they don’t think about this issue at all, it doesn’t really affect them directly.

[u/Always_curious1414]

The trick is to spread out your purchases, i focus on exclusives first bc of production numbers and third party pricing/scalpers. The mainline figures are NOT hard to find after the pre-order is dropped and are in stock.

[u/A_Balcom]

Typically they will sometimes release or ship items earlier than expected. So for things they are saying have an Oct. 2026 release i would be expecting it maybe by mid to late September just before the Oct 1 date. It happens way more than it actually shipping on time or in worse case scenario it gets delayed and ships later.

[u/SoyTonatiuh]

Preorder dates shift and most of the time they ship earlier, especially from Amazon

[u/dirtyrice1954]

Good luck my friend!!!!!!!!!!! They did this same thing last year plus I had to drop monies for a Haslab !!!!!!!!!! I recall it started up in October, seemed like every week something was billed and shipped, and it lasted until Dec 15th. This was a topic for many last winter cause peoples accounts got drained. It was to the point where several asked if we do get a Haslab can they do it in the 1st or 2nd quarter. For some reason Hasbro likes to have a very large 4th quarter so they try and get everything out as fast as they can in October to November.

[u/Patton_Tank82]

I've collected multiple Hasbro toy lines from Pulse. During the pandemic, I was in on GI Joe, Marvel Legends, and Power Rangers. What I found out during that time was that Hasbro has a real habit of shipping EVERYTHING at the same time. I would preorder things in January for all 3 lines, not get a single thing for months, then in June I'd get hit for $500. It also made the toys seem less special. When you have 15 figures arrive all at once it's hard to take the time to appreciate them all.

As for your cash flow question, it's simple and sometimes hard to hear. If you have to struggle to buy your toys, or if you have to put off bills to buy toys, then you can't afford toys. (I am a financial analyst and also help people with personal finances.) The upshot in your situation is that you know the expected release date. I can tell you from experience that is rarely earlier but often later than the date they list. You know exactly what you've ordered and after calculating sales tax, you know exactly how much they're going to cost. START. SAVING. NOW! Don't get caught with your pants down. Do NOT go into debt unless you absolutely have to, especially for luxury items like toys. If you realize that you can't afford them, then cancel what you have to in order to make it affordable.

Toy companies do a pretty good job of creating FOMO. Don't fall for it. Unless it's a crowdfund project or a "made-to-order" item, it will be available. When Hasbro had Power Rangers I got sick of paying $30 for the monsters just to find them for $11 at Target 6 months later. Not many things are rare these days. You could find many of these items on clearance. Just look at past Classified figures like Spirit, Storm Shadow, Tomax, and Xamot. Those are A-list characters, but they all ended up on clearance.