Jazwares partner Jeremey Padawer continued to update collectors on the availability of the first wave of AEW Unrivaled action figures at Walmart stores.
After Jazwares, Walmart and AEW advertised an August 3 launch date to have the figures on store shelves, collectors across the country largely came up empty. Several days later, in-store findings were few and far between.
In a Twitter post Thursday afternoon, Padawer wrote that “overnight stores reporting sales of figures increased 3X.”
So progress was being made.
Nevertheless, some collectors were still upset over the figures not being readily available. In response to a disgruntled collector, Padawer wrote that “no specific dates” will be given in the future. Instead, Jazwares will offer broader release windows, such as “mid-August” or “late August.”
Many collectors have noted that the information that they’re receiving from Walmart employees is all over the map. Padawer wrote that it’s difficult to know on a store-by-store basis.
“The bigger picture is that we see the inventory, and that the store sets are obviously going up based on sales,” he wrote. “I’m hopeful that the 8/5 markings we’ve all seen are reflective of a significant set tonight.”
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves — given that wave one is not yet widely available on store shelves — but Padawer is already gauging interest in various ancillary items to go with AEW figures.
Padawer’s poll was inspired by a bit of fan art coming off of an angle on Wednesday night’s AEW Dynamite show on TNT.
If you think Padawer is joking though, he may not be. Padawer recently appeared on the Business of the Business podcast with Masked Republic president and COO Kevin Kleinrock. During the hour-long interview, he revealed that Jazwares plans to add 2-packs, “probably” a retro series, authentic belts, die-cast offerings and much more.
Additionally, Padawer said collectors should expect a new wave of figures every two months, so six waves of figures annually. AEW Unrivaled Series 2 — featuring MJF, Jon Moxley, Pentagon, Rey Fenix, Dustin Rhodes and Hangman Page — is slated for an October ship date from Ringside Collectibles.
Wrestling Figure News 
I’ve been monitoring a few inventory sites daily. You can enter your zip code and it will pull up every Wal Mart in a 50 mile radius and show if the AEW figures are in stock. It says either 6+, 3 to 5, or limited availability. I found a store 40 miles away last thursday that just stocked them that day so I was able to pick up the whole set minus Brandi whonis very limited in the first runs. My local Wal Mart pit them out late this afternoon and I was able to grab another set.
Anyways, I’ve kept a watch on about 20 stores over the last week and almost all have had them at some point but they aren’t lasting long at all. Most are lasting less than a day
LikeLike