Is The New Brick and Mortar Paradigm “One and Done”?

Where does this story begin? Perhaps it starts with the Triple Force Friday Rise of Skywalker wave. It seemed like most brick and mortar locations got that TFF wave, which included all new sculpts from the most recent media as well as a 2 per case re-release (well, technically debut) of the new Luke X-Wing figure. With some degree of straggling on that Luke figure, they all sold, and were never heard from again.

Instead, the world of brick and mortar quickly turned to the second "TROS" wave which included only one figure from that source, the Sith Trooper, as well as two straight-up repacks and one repaint. It sold through, and in my observation, was replenished at most Walmart locations. I was actually worried this largely repack/repaint wave would become a mini "2018 launch wave." It didn't. The Jawa struggled a little, but it all eventually sold. This would become the only time since TFF '19 that I personally observed a wave getting replenished and brick and mortar.

Post-holiday resets, shrinking toy aisle foot prints, and all that jazz followed as we awaited the hugely anticipated Mandalorian wave. Then in late February (when the world still seemed sane), it arrived at brick and mortar. These figures sold through at a blistering pace. I even watched on BrickSeek as one store sold through a case in real time on the drive to that store (and promptly turned around). Surely this would be the case that got retail cash registers churning again. And then...nothing. Again in my observation, not a single store replenished the Mandalorian wave. Eventually, the Fan Channel Photo Real wave took up residence on the pegs instead (supposedly by accident).

Then we waited again for the Power Droid wave to hit, which it finally did last month. It didn't sell through quite as quickly as the Mandalorian wave, but in my area, it did sell through about two weeks ago. I check BrickSeek and PopFindr daily, and I'm greeted with either the red fonted "out of stock" or an inventory count of 0, respectively. Back during TVC's initial run, if you cleared out a store of product, the distribution pipeline would have restocked product to you in a few days.

It certainly feels like most stores are getting one case of an assortment and then moving on. I'm not saying this is a good or bad thing. Perhaps it's the best hedge against a return of Wave-one-pocalypse, but it seems like overkill. The reason why this is hitting home a little harder for me is that the Power Droid is a very sentimental release to me. I'm old enough to remember when those 20-back figures came out in the vintage Kenner line, and it was probably the one thing that set the Star Wars toy hooks into me more than anything else. The line wouldn't be limited to main characters and soldiers. If Snaggletooth and the Power Droid could rate a figure, seemingly any character could.

For sentimentality reasons, I very much wanted to purchase one in-store to relive what was one of the most magical toy moments of my early childhood. Due to the one-per-case nature of the Power Droid, and this potential "one and done" pattern, I may have missed that opportunity. I know, I know, I can already imagine reading the "Just get it online" responses, or that I am literally the scum of the Earth for placing importance on an aspect of the hobby you don't personally care about. I should probably be hung up by my thumbs and left to rot. Anyone who doesn't enjoy the hobby in exactly the same way you do is terrible. I get it. It's the internet. Everyone should be as awesome and well adjusted as you.

Sorry, some of us old farts still place a little importance on the brick and mortar experience. It doesn't take an army of Johns Hopkins trained psychologists to tell you that we're all trying to relive aspects of our childhood with this hobby, and for some of us, walking into a store and finding the latest figure is one of the strongest emotional connections to that past. The Vintage Collection has been a de facto online-only product since around mid-2011 (at least if you wanted to ensure you got everything), so this is nothing new. We all know that the brick and mortar glory days are never coming back. It would honestly be irresponsible for retailers to do so outside of the holiday season in the modern economy, but I personally didn't foresee long stretches of empty pegs becoming the norm.

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