Where do you buy your toys?

[Andy]

I'm curious if anyone still relies on there local retailer or do you shop exclusively online or maybe a bit of both.

I usually try to avoid paying for shipping unless it's a pre-order for an entire wave or whatever. But then there's times where I see something in the wild or in the flesh and it makes me want it more than I originally thought.

I still buy from Walmart or Target or Meijer physical stores. I know they have online offers but that's about a joke sometimes because of shipping or availability.

I do shop BBTS and super7 of course but that's still minimal. I get lucky on eBay or Mercari once in a while but also not most reliable.

Toywiz had been great to me and I recently found out about ActionfigureHQ and Dorkside toys but am still looking for a good reliable pre-sale toys site that I can save on my troubles.

So where do you fine folks get your toys and is there anything you would suggest to another collector?

[Mechanizor]

I haven't shopped for toys in physical stores in a long long time mostly because I don't own a car where I live, and it's also not cheap to spend a lot of money on trains and public transportation just to hunt for toys, even though I miss the experience!
I live down town, and I have a couple of Targets around that can be reached on foot within 30m-60m walk, and one LEGO store near by around 20m walk, and since my main toy hunting is mostly LEGO, I do most of the shopping online with free deliveries, it's just a lot more convenient that way especially when you get them on sale or with promos via Amazon, LEGO.com and Walmart, and occasionally Target.com, eBay and bricklink.

As for MOTU Origins and Mega Construx, now it's mostly Amazon, Walmart.com, BBTS and occasionally EE . Sideshow and Tweeterhead for the statues... Of course 95% of my MOTUC collection was through MattyCollector, and the rest were from eBay, Super7 and EE for the Snake Mountain.

Honestly if I knew Toy friends/Geeks to hang around with where I live, probably physical store toy hunting would've been a lot cooler, but currently I don't know anyone even though I don't shy about telling people that I'm a LEGO geek since I was a toddler. Also, if I had the space or a proper house, probably Transformers, die cast, and Japanese Robots would've been in my collection as well...

Sometimes when I reflect on my situation in life, I keep asking myself why I'm doing this?!.. I have other hobbies/skills that I can enjoy in life without the hassle of collecting toys!

[Andy]

If I lived near you Mech we'd totally go out toy hunting together. Afterwards we'd play some retro games and go pew pew with our toys. Thanks for replying my friend!

[Mechanizor]

LOL, oh man that just sounds so awesome!
The idea behind the toys, music and art is mostly joy, and the appreciation of the skills and talents behind it, and sharing it with friends is what makes life go around. :-)
At least we're here behind our keyboards talking about it.

[Andy]

Most of my friends don't really collect toys or comics or even non sport cards. A few of mine are magic card players which I am not but we can all seem to get into gaming whether new age or vintage.

My friends thought I went pretty much nutz when I kept going on and on about the red bricks from origins.

[Croc-O-Bite!]

For Origins I rely on Walmart since they cost $14.99 CAD there. I use a website called stocktrack to check Walmart’s current inventory.
I missed out on Man-At-Arms, Evil-Lyn, and Beast Man from wave one, so I was forced to use an online store to preorder them. They cost $21.99 each and are still on back order. Mattel treats anyone not Walmart or Toys R Us like absolute shit up here in Canada, so there’s a good chance my order never gets filled and refunded. The online store I like to buy from has said that after the order Origins orders he placed back when the Walmart exclusivity ended, are either finally fulfilled or canceled, he’s never doing business with Mattel again. No new Origins have been listed for preorder, and other Canadian online stores haven’t put any new Origins up for preorder either. Hell, most never put up any Mattel products up at all.
I’m pretty much done with Marvel Legends, but the few do still get I tend to rely on Amazon.ca because of the free shipping. Or I’ll grab them at Walmart and cancel my Amazon preorder. Sometimes I’ll buy from EBGames.ca, but they don’t have free shipping unless you’re buying $45 worth. It’s also tough to buy a whole wave from them because they tend to list the wave and say one figure will be randomly selected, which is total bull shit.
Classified is tough. There’s no product on the shelves, and the characters I want the most are the Cobra Island Target exclusives. TRU supposedly carries them in Canada, but if you think the horror stories of poor distribution at Target are bad, then just imagine TRU in Canada receiving 1/100th the amount of Cobra Island figures that Target got.

[Andy]

I get some of my comics from atomic Empire. I forgot that they also get he-man merchandise. I'm not sure what the international shipping rates are but they do a subscription service to help bulk up and save.

https://www.atomicempire.com/Item/Li...niverse&cat=-1

https://www.atomicempire.com/Main/He...gInternational

[Black Zodac]

Walmart, Toys-r-us Canada. Sometimes Ebay.

[Andy]

Thanks for replying guys. I feel bad for you having to go through extra hoops just by living in Canada. I tip my drink to you fellas. I hope it starts getting easier or at least less frustrating!

[RoboSteveo]

I live in Canada too, and I haven't had too many issue getting MOTU Origins figures at Walmart. I just bought the vintage He-Man and Skeletor Origins figures from EB Games. The only challenge is getting Target exclusives, as we don't have Target stores in Canada anymore. I hate buying anything on Ebay, but like Black Zodac, sometimes that's the only way to get those exclusives.

[Mechanizor]

For you Canadians, is the international shipping from the US affordable and convenient enough if you buy from BBTS or EE, especially if you use the Pile of Loot method, or would the eBay markups end up being cheaper in comparison, just wondering?!

[Dark Angel]

I still look at toys in physical stores, but it seems I most often buy online - only because nothing ever seems to be in stock in physical stories.