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I think Richard’s argument is that by not tracking down the figures just because they’re not at your local stores, you’re not doing NECA any favors.

If you were to order them online or buy them at a comic shop, and a decent number of other collectors did too, NECA could go to Target or Wal-Mart and say, “Check out these sales numbers! And these were just at online retailers and specialty stores–imagine what that can translate to for you!”

I'm not trying to do NECA a favor – I'm trying to buy toys, and unless they're present for me to buy, I can't do that. I don't think that refusing to buy online will force more real stores to carry product: I'm approaching it from the other angle, that unless real stores are carrying it, I have other things to spend my money on. And yes, comicshops count as real stores: that's where I got my four NECA TMNT, after all.

But I think ultimately, I'm in the same camp as Josh Miller: I refuse to pay double the price for a figure just for the "convenience" of buying it online any more than I'd pay a scalper on eBay for the "convenience" of not having to go to the store myself. When online retailers stop marking up their figures more than KB Toys and actually offer some discounts or sales that will offset the shipping, then I'll buy online. In fact, now that I think of it, I just did, recently.

The online Spawn Store was having a warehouse sale, and the animated-style Phlebiac Brothers were one of the sale items. I got them, shipped, for about $15 – which is still more than the similar figures cost in stores, but not tremendously so. Of course, I was expecting the cost to be less, but the McStore price-gouges on the shipping. Still, the fact remains: if there hadn't been a counterbalance to the shipping charges, I never would have spent my money there.

EVEN if there was a price hike. WHERE are you going to buy dcuc wave 2 figures? There was a freeze of them for months. After 2 months, I saw DCUC wave 2 at Walmart.

its usually stockers who cherry pick the litter and hide the lines behind kiddie stuff. how many movie masters batmans are hiding behind the 5" line toys with their similar colored packaging? lots.

i love super articulated toys. that won't stop. but the method of buying them has changed because i am tired of buying everything. something new comes out like halo 3, and i over buy- even if it doesn't mix with my other lines. hellboy, DC, turtles, etc. where does it stop? when there is nothing of interest on the isles or the item online says 'out of stock.' then comes trading online with fellow collectors.

so for this addict, the hunt has turned into compulsion and slowly losses the big picture of toy enjoyment.

either way, online or b&m, its a dent in the wallet.

Also Online retailers tend to mark things up too much. Especially if they are savvy to collectors. You'll see say, the most desirable Joe figure from a wave going for twice as much as one that is less so. I realize that this can often be defeated by shopping around.

Also I hate paying for shipping. I try to make sure I'm going to stores when I have another reason to go or I'll hit several at once to help drop the gas factor. I always factor in shipping as "part of the price" as a result I buy little online, especially ebay. I won't pay $15 for a $7 figure. (say $10 online mark up + $5 shipping).

I adore walking into TRU or Wallys and not being sure what I'm going to find. I remember the first time I found a DCUC figure, someone had hidden it behind all kinds of other stuff and it was like I had struck gold.

However, with gas prices being what they are and products either being underdistributed or snatched up rather quickly, it can be frustrating to someone who likes walking into a traditional store. In Canada, we've had DCUC1 in Wal-Marts for many months. There's been nothing since then and all I see on boards are people in the States crying about how long it's taking to get Wave 3.

So I and other Canadians have waited a long time for retailers to put things on the shelves and it's not happening. So our choices are specialty comic and toy stores (which are dramatically marked up) or going online.

It's not as fun ordering something online and it does feel like I'm not supporting the industry in a way that's easily traceable, but in the end, each collector has to look out for themselves (and perhaps a few friends) and do what they have to get what they want.

I'm not going to be a martyr and wait forever for something that a few clicks will get me now.

however, looking at my track record, most of the figures i love posing on my shelf i got online, either from a store or through trades:

HALO 2 Master Chief, Elite and ODST (have to repair the first two, though)

ML green Goblin

HML silver surfer (not the good one, but the wal*mart exclusive, still worth it)

DCSH Mongul and Batman (both 1 and 3)

Fearsome Foes Spider-Man (currently MIA, however)

and the soon to be's:

DCSH8 Batman and Clayface

ML Spider-Woman

SMO Dock Ock.

I will say this though, of all of those, most have some form of defect or have taken shelf dives, and its a tad hard to undo a trade.

I think Richard's argument is that by not tracking down the figures just because they're not at your local stores, you're not doing NECA any favors.

If you were to order them online or buy them at a comic shop, and a decent number of other collectors did too, NECA could go to Target or Wal-Mart and say, "Check out these sales numbers! And these were just at online retailers and specialty stores–imagine what that can translate to for you!"

At Wizard World Philly, Randy Falk of NECA pointed out that if a company tries pure online sales, they lose business. NO matter how collector-aimed the line, putting real toys in real stores equals more money. The example he gave was the 300 figures: everybody went to see that movie, and when they saw a Leonidas action figure, they wanted to own it. However, that depended entirely on the casual customer seeing those toys in the store. You can advertise the hell out of a line. You could have put a flier in every dvd of 300 that Leonidas was available online, and the sales still wouldn't have been there. Unless you put the toys directly in front of a customer at a place where they can buy them, they won't go seek them out.

And he's not wrong. I'm a huge toy geek, and I'd love to get NECA's Castlevania figures, but since I haven't seen anyin sores, I don't own them. Yeah, I could go online and find them, but I'm not going to. And if someone who actively wants the toys is doing that, what's the chance of a more casual buyer, who's maybe never even heard of the line, going online to buy them?

So no, it may not matter whether we, as collectors, buy online or in a store. But it definitely matters if companies get shelf space in stores as well as online.