Weekly Halloween~ The Haunted Toys R Us

There's several certain things you'll experience depending on your generation. Several of us all know that copy of Frampton Comes Alive every bodies parents had. If you're a Transformers fan of a certain age, you're well acquainted with cardboard boxes full of one dollar Flip Changers at old BotCons. If you're into the paranormal... you've heard about the haunted Toys R Us. It's one of those ghost stories that just stays around, but not without reason. It's a pretty good story and there's something charming about a ghost in a toy store. Creepily so, sure, but there's just something neat about it. In another time it would have been a children's movie.

The TRU Witch Project

 

Halloween is scary. It's fun, silly, whimsical... but scary at it's core. I think that's what makes this old Toys R Us commercial really stand out. After all the stuff you'd expect, there's the fun little bit with the kids in their costumes (DUDE M.A.S.K!) going out to trick or treat with good old dad while mom stays home to hand out candy. What mom's really handing out is nightmares as *poof* she's a scary witch and she's coming right at you!

This Christmas, buy your kid a laser

When Toys "R" Us went out of business, everyone was sad for Geoffrey. When the first one opened back up recently, folks were happy for Geoffrey. Nobody however, gave a crap about the TRU Robot. Here in this 1986 he shows dear old Dad who was about to steal his kids allowance to buy meth some way cool Laser Tag guns by Worlds of Wonder! Wonder whatever happened to that robot? Oh well, hey parents, shop at Toys "R" Us for your Christmas presents! It costs 50% more than Walmart!

Series-ously conflicting

So, I keep going back and forth in my mind if I want to indeed get all of the Studio Series or not. I'm at the verge of doing it. Just full out doing it. Just roll my sleeves up and do it. Be like Mike and just do it. Turn up the music and do it. Insert the descriptor and do it. The thing holding me back is that it's the numbering system making me want to do it and 09 is an exclusive to a store that's going out of business and the ones near me are baby ain't no lie, bye bye bye.

Basically the improbability of getting Thundercracker is the major holding back factor at this moment. A more minor factor is that Japanese promotional Optimus Rifle. I'd want to get that too.

Sure, it's not that big of a deal, but if I'm going to complete something, I'm going to actually do it. Just do it. Just... I already just did this joke.

I got a big Zord

Earlier today I went out with money from birthday cards and had some fun. One thing I did was swing by my local Toys R Us to see it one last time before it's gone for good and bought the Lion Fire Megazord on liquidation for quite a steal. Kinda stoked about this as I've wanted it for a while and it was around the price of a regular Megazord rather than the 100$ it had been going for. I'm going to have to wait until this weekend to check it out though as I ate some lunch and took a nap when I got home, upon opening it I discovered it requires assembly. That's a 20inch play set and probably an hour or so of time.

KB Toys, rise from your grave

Here's another know it all putting their two cents in

In a feel good moment in a time where most are a little bummed  that Toys R Us is going out of business, news hit yesterday that plans to resurrect the Kay Bee brand name are underway. As usual on the internet this news was met with great applause and the usual amount of predictable naysaying (good thing this ain't a drinking game or I'd have died of alcohol poisoning over a decade ago). While it does feel good to see an old well loved name return, and the news brings such good karma points as taking resumes from Toys R Us employees, one does have to look at the facts when considering the possibilities of this venture being successful.

Point blank, Toys R Us is closing business because of high prices. No matter how much know it alls like to point out internet-based shopping, the bottom line of the size of the crowds at your local Walmart on a Saturday or Christmas season obviously points to retail still being well and good. In fact as internet based shopping is becoming more and more a force in how we buy things, most successful retail stores have integrated internet shopping into their business model with the success depending on how the chains utilize their strategies.

Going back to Walmart, while success and ultimate satisfaction will depend on each stores staff, they've been doing some good work utilizing internet based shopping with their retail experience. I'm a big fan of their grocery ordering system. Either on their site or app, my wife and I complile a shopping list of what we plan to buy each week. When we're done, we reserve a time for pickup when we finalize our purchase. Any item we select that is ok for a substitution is usually substituted for a greater priced or larger portion version of what we've picked and any item we won't take a substitute for is not charged to us. We are notified of these details from an email that we get around an hour before our pick up time. With the apps use of location services, the employees know when we pull up usually and meet us shortly after depending on the amount of people waiting in the designated area. Each purchase includes a online survey form for that purchase that we do every week and literally see the difference by the next week. They have a similar service for online store pick up with a lounge area equipped with lockers that your purchase is waiting for you in (they're locked and only you have access to unlock yours).

Assuming this new Kay Bee will do as they say and work better than prior toy stores such as Toys R Us or even the original incarnation of Kay Bee, one can assume web site/physical location integration will be utilized. Another hope will be for better pricing. Kay Bee formerly specialized in close out toys at low prices with newer toys costing more than a Walmart (sound familiar). As the retail landscape has changed since Kay Bee shut down, I can only imagine what the new version would be. Indoor shopping malls are still a thing, but in my area, have really reduced since the 90's. Big box style open air shopping centers cover the landscape here with many smaller stores in the smaller shops in between Target and Petsmart.

I can easily see a toy store the size of an Old Navy or a Five Below in one of these shopping centers doing well. I can imagine a similar sized store with a healthy mix of normal retail toys and  higher priced boutique collector items with those neato low cost items like novetly slimes in the mix doing well even outside the Christmas season. Working in a well executed web site integration and you might just well have a hit.

Sure people order like crazy from Amazon, but even Amazon is working on physical locations. If you look at all the reports of delivery items being stolen off porches last Christmas (I even got a po box in retaliation), you can see an example of why a person would be interested in a good store pick up experience. Or no matter how much a rando will tell you that Amazon is how they buy anything, not much longer you'll hear about how they spent all Saturday shopping in a shopping center.

It's TRU, it's damn TRU

Sorry Geoffrey

It's been all over the toy collecting world for months now, and today has finally been announced. Toys R Us is closing down. I expected this to happen eventually as TRU was sold off years ago and the buzz of that company slowly killing it was all around. I think we've all seen the writing on the wall for some time now. Tons of online competition, stores like Walmart and Target beating them in prices and selection, general unhappiness with the stores in general, just odd after odd getting stacked.

Myself, the last straw was the Fortress Maximus fiasco from summer 2016. Sure, they came through in the end, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. I had slowly began not visiting as much as result, still not completely turned away, but burned enough to not fully re-embrace them. Before that I was still a faithful customer, but still smart enough to only take advantage of sales and rewards points. Their regular prices were getting absurd, and it was a big factor in shopping elsewhere.

What's bad is the people who are losing their jobs to no fault of their own. Store employees and various distribution and district based jobs are just going away. I hate that for them. It's not their fault the situation happened or the various conditions occurred. They just wanted to support themselves and their families, and for that, I'm truly sorry. I've been laid off before due to the mistakes of companies poorly run and it really took a toll on me. That sucks and it's not fair. I feel sorry for the folks who are going to hurt due to no fault of their own and wish them all the luck in the world.

Wishing in one hand...

I get really jealous of Transformers events in other countries.

Disappointment Maximus

This could be us right now, but Toys R Us fumbled 

Like many others I was really looking forward to the new Titans Return Fortress Maximus. Several places had him for pre order and I placed mine at the one place I knew I could depend on. Good old Toys R Us, that monument from bikes to planes, to video games. I had rewards points waiting to cash in on this pretty big purchase to save money.

In fact the rewards program is one of the things that keeps me coming back. TRU has lots of sales and when combined with rewards points, you can really get some good deals.

So I placed my order with a really good discount and waited for shipping day to arrive. Star date: July 20th 2016. Which I thought was an odd date as other stores were already shipping, but hey, I got a good price. So, I can wait a few extra days.

The morning of the 20th came and I was excited. I actually had a not so great night at work and was looking forward to that shipping email when I got home. Sure enough in my inbox was a email form Toys R Us.

Imagine my disappointment when the order was delayed.

I was annoyed but just reassured myself it would come soon enough. A week later another email from TRU. Still delayed and if they couldn't fullfil the order within a month they'd give me a refund. Uh...

So, I called the customer service line. You see, not only had other stores gotten stock shipped, but the figure was showing up in Toys R Us stores. So why is there a problem shipping mine?

The representative told me that stores were stocked before pre orders were filled and they ran out of stock. They also couldn't use the ones in stores for pre orders and those who did would have to wait.

So in other words, customers who paid in advance got screwed.

Part of me feels robbed.

So here I am still waiting as I used my rewards points (the term is starting to feel ironic) to get a great price. Other have publicly told of canceling their pre orders and buying it either at TRU retail or from somewhere else. Because you know, getting screwed makes you want to take your business elsewhere. Personally I'm conflicted as my I got a great price, but also got a pinecone stuck up my behind for my rewards.

I could cancel my order, but hey... what about those points I earned? That's store credit. That's money, my money that I earned for being a loyal customer, that got taken and wouldn't be returned. Like I said, I feel robbed.

So I remember asking the customer service representative if I could get my order changed to store pickup in the case that I saw one at a local store. I was told it could be done easily if the occasion occurred. I decide to check the site to see if the figure if available for store pickup at any of the locations near me.

Theoretically I could run over to one first thing in the morning and problem solved. Ok, problem solved with bruised feelings and kinda not wanting to bother with the chain anymore. I mean, competition is literally at my fingertips. I could literally buy something from another store while in the bathroom.

Technology.

So I look at the page for Max and what do I see?

What's that?

Am I seeing things? I just saw a friend tweet his disappointment that his most recent call to customer service gave no new info on shipping dates. But right here on the order page, in plain easy to read and decipher wording.

Don't see any fine print 

So now I'm confused. Do I remain patient and brush it off? Do I go ahead with my plans to store pickup? I'm laying next to my wife in bed, writing this on my Samsung Galaxy tablet bought at Toys R Us (I clearly said I was a loyal customer). Her Samsung Galaxy tablet is on her nightstand, I bought that also at Toys R Us (think they'd want to loose a loyal customer?). In the next room over is my computer/toy room. It's stacked to the ceiling with Rubbermaid totes and boxes filled with Transformers. There's thousands of dollars paid out to Toys R Us sitting in that room.

From childhood to adulthood. Gifts to self purchase. I'm 38 and have literally been shopping there my entire life. When I was a kid, it was like Disneyland to me. I remember my last visit to the store I had been going to since I was a child. The same one that was my first. It was closed due to a newer location opening and I was there at the last day of it's operations to say goodbye to an old friend.

In the bathroom, on the back of the door was one of those clear plastic things used to hold paperwork. I assume it was for checklists at one time. I never once saw anything in it, except for a small piece of plastic. You know those plastic frames, the ones accessories are on in the toy boxes? It was the corner and side of one of those. I had seen that little plastic piece in that plastic thing since I was a child. I made a point to look at it one more time before leaving the store. I contemplated taking it. I had never touched it or anything before. Just saw it every time I had to use the bathroom in that store.

I thought about taking it as a reminder of that very special place that was going away.

Then common sense about handling an unwashed piece of plastic that had been in a public restroom for at least 20 years kicked in. At that point it was probably more fecal matter than plastic. So I took a picture.

That's how loyal I've been to Toys R Us. I took a keepsake of a piece of garbage in the bathroom. I've been a loyal customer for a very long time. There's been several times that I was the only person in the store aside from employees. So imagine how much something would have to burn me to consider never buying from them again.

That's this situation. I live in a world where I can order anything from anywhere in the blink of an eye. My only reason to continue my shopping there is personal satisfaction. So, when that's taken away in a manner that not a single person I've talked to can make sense of. In a situation that every person I've talked to about it has said, 'that's not right'. Why would I ever want to go back?

So, I've decided to call the customer service line in the morning. Perhaps the site was right and I'll get Fort Max here soon. Maybe they'll attempt to make it up to me with some sort of peace offering like a coupon or something as a matter of apology. Like when the cashier at McDonald's throws in an apple pie when I've had to wait a little longer than I should. Maybe I can do a store pickup and get taken care of in a manner that calms me down over the entire ordeal.

Or maybe, I'll cancel my pre order and take my business elsewhere.

Please don't force my hand Geoffrey.

*UPDATED THE NEXT MORNING* Spoke with the representative, the shipping date is a hard date and if there are any problems I can use the rewards points until they expire if I cancel. So, if it doesn't ship on the 22, I'm going to just get it in store. I was happy with my phone call and the representative was pleasant. So, I'm happy. My main beef was a mishandled situation and the fact that I would get screwed over the rewards program. It doesn't look that way now, so I'll just hope everything goes well from here out. This isn't the first time I've been unhappy with TRU, but each time I've came out ok. So, in one week, we'll see.

I still don't understand why they didn't fulfill orders first.

*UPDATED A WEEK LATER*

He shipped when they said he would and got here in two days. In fact the only reason I'm posting this the next morning is because he got here right before I left for work.

Thanks Geoffrey, I knew you could do it.