Pops are alive and well at target

[Classier]

Positive words such as "well" should never be associated with Target when concerning Pops!

This post was made in 2011. Now, I don't know if you were collecting then, but all pops were rarities, even the commons. And it was a big deal for Target to be carrying any, especially ones with chases. To understand the thread's name, you have to have context.

[Cephus]

The problem with Target, and Walmart and Walgreens and all of the rest, is that Pops are such a tiny part of their business model that they don't care. Pop sales mean effectively nothing to them, Pops don't sell like, say, Barbie, which is why the Barbie aisle is always well stocked and the Pops languish. There's just no money in it for them. Target, for 75% of the year, barely has any Pops, at least around here. You might find 4-5 Pops in a half-filled display over in electronics, which is where all the Pops have migrated. Not toys, electronics. Meaning no one sees them unless they're specifically looking for them. Then, right around September, Target starts clearing their back room for Christmas, meaning all of those boxes of Pops that have just sat in the back all year that they didn't care about come out and you might be able to find some commons, but all of the exclusives are gone, all of the chases are gone, all picked through by employees for scalpers. So for a couple of weeks, you have full displays, but nothing that you didn't already find somewhere else. And right after Christmas, it goes back to 4-5 Pops and all of the boxes they get just sit in the back, cherry picked by employees.

I'm sure the same happens at other non-specialty big box stores. They don't care about Pops because Pops don't sell and that leads them to not put them on the shelves or get any more. It's a vicious cycle.

[GoldenYellowPup]

Honestly with all the regulations and guidelines Target team members have to follow, I don't think it'd be worth it risking or losing your job over a vinyl figure. Sure maybe there's a couple of employees that do it and somehow don't get caught but I'm pretty sure the majority don't give two bits about Pops. Hell in my Target, the four in Electronics were genuinely shocked at how many people came just to 'browse the Funko section'. They weren't prepared at all because it wasn't a high priority item.

[Cephus]

Honestly with all the regulations and guidelines Target team members have to follow, I don't think it'd be worth it risking or losing your job over a vinyl figure. Sure maybe there's a couple of employees that do it and somehow don't get caught but I'm pretty sure the majority don't give two bits about Pops. Hell in my Target, the four in Electronics were genuinely shocked at how many people came just to 'browse the Funko section'. They weren't prepared at all because it wasn't a high priority item.

They're not risking a thing. If a customer asks if they have something in the back, they can go back and get it for them. And if they're in charge of stocking and know that someone is going to "ask", nothing says they have to stock that figure. There's a local scalper that runs out of the local toy and comic show that has deals with employees in every store for miles, at least he did for regular action figures. I used to watch him work. He'd go into the store, watch for a particular employee and that employee would go in the back, bring out a bunch of action figures and he'd leave. It was all of the chase and exclusive figures that never made it to the shelves. I complained once but the store manager told me that nothing wrong was going on. Meanwhile, this guy was just checking out as usual and I'm sure he was kicking back some cash to the employee off the clock and out of the store.