The "Why Does BBTS Carry This?" Thread

cmoney

cmoney

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I'm constantly sending weird shit I find on BBTS to a buddy of mine and wondering aloud why they bother and if they can possibly be making money off some of this stuff. If something I post here ends up being something you're super-into, please just take my intent as light ribbing. I'm into a lot of nerd junk, but I'm not into ALL of it, so ignorance is always possible!

Today's entry: blindbox figures of licensed characters just ... eating ramen or something?

 
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I think the argument is just 'there's a market for almost anything.' I don't think too many people here are weebs, so maybe we don't get stuff like that. But I bet it sells pretty damn well to a certain market.

BBTS is a weird case to try to parse out, because they're HUGE, right? They sell Marvel Legends figures, but also thousand dollar statues of obviously under-age girls in their underwear and other gooner bait. I imagine the cross-over between those things is pretty small, but I also bet the statues sell, because they keep bringing in new ones.

But yeah, I would definitely agree that it can be an absolute trip to just dig through BBTS without any filters and see what pops up. If I didn't already know how popular Funko POPs are, I'd definitely question why they even sell them since it seems like 65% of their entire website is fucking POPs backstock.
 
My sister's kiddo is BIG into anime and manga and all that. One of their new favorite games, which is very anime-inspired, had a little pop-up shop in a local Korean collectibles store that they were super excited about, so I decided to be the cool uncle and go in and get a few things for them. To say that it's a whole other world I don't understand is an understatement. Now I know what my poor Mom was probably like when dealing with all my nerdy interests growing up. But if the sheer amount of weebs, awkward teens, and nerds on the spectrum were any indication, then there's a huge market for cutesy things eating ramen.
 
Damien said:
I think the argument is just 'there's a market for almost anything.' I don't think too many people here are weebs, so maybe we don't get stuff like that. But I bet it sells pretty damn well to a certain market.

BBTS is a weird case to try to parse out, because they're HUGE, right? They sell Marvel Legends figures, but also thousand dollar statues of obviously under-age girls in their underwear and other gooner bait. I imagine the cross-over between those things is pretty small, but I also bet the statues sell, because they keep bringing in new ones.

But yeah, I would definitely agree that it can be an absolute trip to just dig through BBTS without any filters and see what pops up. If I didn't already know how popular Funko POPs are, I'd definitely question why they even sell them since it seems like 65% of their entire website is fucking POPs backstock.
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Oh, it's almost certainly me not having my finger on the pulse. But they carry SO much stuff, and sometimes I look at it and think "you know, you don't have to sell EVERYTHING". It seems like they clearance out a lot of items. And I also wonder a lot about some of the imports that they sell for so much more than sites like 5K or Cool Toys Club, and that arrive so much later to them than they do from those overseas sellers. I guess some people are just more comfortable with the larger, branded retailer.
 
cmoney said:
Oh, it's almost certainly me not having my finger on the pulse. But they carry SO much stuff, and sometimes I look at it and think "you know, you don't have to sell EVERYTHING". It seems like they clearance out a lot of items.
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but where do you draw the line at “you don’t have to sell everything”

Like I don’t collect modern military figures, I understand why someone might want GI Joe because nostalgia is a powerful drug and brain chemicals are nice, but why on God’s green Earth is anyone buying Monster Force (which for having the word “monster” in the fucking name sure does seem to be mostly just guys walking around) or Valaverse?!

Don’t answer, I don’t actually care, just saying one man’s trash is another’s treasure, and while we might see bunch of Funko also rans on clearance and say “why would you even stock these to being with?!” Some guy out there might see the big “DC Sale” and “Marvel Sale” full of Legends and Multiverse figures that didn’t light the world on fire and think “why would you even sell these budget Target garbage toys just to clearance them out?! Surely that warehouse space would be better used on another $3k statue of a widdle girl who’s actually a three thousand elf bending over in a string bikini she most certainly doesn’t wear in the cartoon, I’ll put it in my foyer! As I assume we do…”
 
Here's the type of BBTS item I don't get, "Monopoly: The Today Show Edition". I always see items like this pop up in BBTS' clearance section when I'm scrolling for hidden gems. Is BBTS required to sell other Hasbro product outside the typical action figure category? Is it done to get favorable treatment from Hasbro? No offense to the Al Roker fans.

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WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY HAVE LITTLE GODZILLAS EATING RAMEN

This changes a lot for me.

As someone who buys a lot of Japanese wrestling merch ("I don't think too many people here are weebs," says Damien. Faith is nice) and some Godzilla, anime, and JRPG stuff, I can tell you there are merch avenues for Japanese properties that I see commonly just don't really exist in the U.S. so much. Like, acrylic standee figures. They have those for everything, in multiple heights. I have like half the Stardom roster at this point. I have one of those for Anri, the city pop singer, from a tour of hers last year. Totally normal thing but we just don't really make them for whatever reason.

I love that BBTS carries 1/12 diorama and playset stuff, I try to keep up with that section for displays. Incidentally, I buy some Vala weapons packs and the occasional mook basically the same way, because I'm always in need of action movie mooks and guns. The company serves a functional purpose for me in the same way as the companies that make 1/12 props, you know? They're the Mini Materials of military figures.
 
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mrboshek said:
Here's the type of BBTS item I don't get, "Monopoly: The Today Show Edition". I always see items like this pop up in BBTS' clearance section when I'm scrolling for hidden gems. Is BBTS required to sell other Hasbro product outside the typical action figure category? Is it done to get favorable treatment from Hasbro? No offense to the Al Roker fans.

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I've actually wondered this for a number of things too: are they just ordering some of this stuff to stay on good terms with suppliers or something?

But it also goes to non-toys too: why carry graphic novels and the like? Nearly every store online will and does sell them for less than cover price, from Amazon to InStockTrades. Just seems unnecessary, but in theory, if they were losing money on them, they wouldn't sell them. I suppose.
 
cmoney said:
I've actually wondered this for a number of things too: are they just ordering some of this stuff to stay on good terms with suppliers or something?

But it also goes to non-toys too: why carry graphic novels and the like? Nearly every store online will and does sell them for less than cover price, from Amazon to InStockTrades. Just seems unnecessary, but in theory, if they were losing money on them, they wouldn't sell them. I suppose.
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The power of impulse purchases combined with Pile of Loot shipping, maybe? I've bought the occasional TPB from them, although usually on sale.

But I also don't shop at Amazon, so that impacts my buying more than I probably realize.
 
mrboshek said:
Here's the type of BBTS item I don't get, "Monopoly: The Today Show Edition". I always see items like this pop up in BBTS' clearance section when I'm scrolling for hidden gems. Is BBTS required to sell other Hasbro product outside the typical action figure category? Is it done to get favorable treatment from Hasbro? No offense to the Al Roker fans.

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This is fucking hilarious btw
 
There are board game collectors - would not surprise me that they have a few hundred folks who want their limited edition games shipped to them in mint condition which they will never find in stores.

They are also pretty good about obscure Japanese products. My transforming sushi warriors and cats as 1:12 scale weapons speaks to this.
 
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Id rather buy comics off bbts then Amazon. Many reasons, not least of which is Amazon comics usually come damaged. I hate having to replace every fuckin thing I buy from them cause its ripped or torn or bent. F that. I only use Amazon to keep track of release dates and as a list of ones I still wanna get. I won't actually buy them from there anymore. So I usually do the comic shop that's like 20 min away from my house, and have gotten a couple from bbts recently, and they were in bags already to help keep them nice. I can't say that for all their comics, but the ones I got were pristine.

Thats just my comic experience though.

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Oh, I exclusively buy my comics off DCBS or IST, I don't use Amazon either. But I'd never pay cover price for them anymore.
 
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