Incredibles 2 in WalMart?
Posted by Huw,
Have you found the sets in your local branch? Do you have a picture showing them on the shelf? Or of your receipt?
If so, please send it to us so we can end a disagreement with LEGO about publishing the images here.
Thank you!
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48 comments on this article
How do you know the person that sent the images to you wasn't lying about their origin? No offence to that person, but they might have been stolen or something.
I also find it funny that Walmart are so protective of their Lego that they would lock them up in glass cases but have no qualms about selling unreleased sets.
Just2Good posted his reviews, claiming WalMart is already selling the sets.
^ Exactly.
Gee Lego. Get over it ay, they’re out- it’s over.
...Oi Lepin, Fire up the Machines let’s git some bootlegs cookin.
This is silly - it's all over the net, not just here, that they're available in WalMart! I don't see pics being taken down on other sites - I've checked several other well-known lego sites just now and there are pics of them everywhere. Not fair. If there's an issue, it should be with WalMart, not you.
My goodness! Maybe Lego Rep should just go to Walmart and see for themselves!
I would assist but I no longer shop at Walmart. They are being sold in Pittsfield, MA walmart. I have seen them on local tag sale sites through Facebook.
If one happens to have a picture with a receipt I’ll send it your way.
I don’t believe Lego reps ever even go in to stores like Walmart. I have been complaining about Walmart mixing Lego with off brands for years. The aisle says Lego...but it is mixed with 4-5 off brand building block products.
To be fair, it's probably Disney nagging Lego to nag the AFOL sites...
I often get the impression that TLG (and even Disney) still haven't understood how the Internet works.
;-)
Time to cut the strings.
Is it me or should Lego maybe spend more time figuring out why their profits are shrinking, and less time worrying about what photos (of soon-to-be-released sets) wind up on the internet and when? Gosh it all seems so petty.
The problem is that The Incredibles is a Disney franchise, that means legal problems.
Northern California here, nothing yet at the biggest 'Mart within errand driving range, nor Targets or TRU. East Coast almost always gets stuff first. Sorry to be of no help. Hopefully some Florida or Georgia members can take some snaps to combat LEGO's clueless & usually misdirected IP protection annoyance as those are the top hotbeds for broken embargos, at pretty much all retailers including LEGOLAND itself.
Throwing shade at LEGO, i love it
Maybe it's just the one Walmart store that has received stock ready ahead of the release and have put them out to drum up business. Even if they are not selling them yet, I'm sure news that the store in question has them in stock has people going in trying to buy them. More foot traffic = people seeing other things and buying stuff they hadn't intended to. Probably some over zealous manager trying to bust their stores sales figures. I guess Lego are concerned about cheaper knock-off sets from China making it to sale sites online before the real sets come out, fair enough on their part, but to take it out on you guys is a bit much. Pictures of the sets out in the wild are more likely to increase interest and I for one would rather pay for the real Lego then buy a knock off, they're not that much cheaper when you consider how much lower the brick quality is.
Florida reporting. Nothing in my area, and I checked three Wal-Marts. Funny, you mention that JANG about us getting stuff first. Here we grumble that you guys always get things first. I guess the grass always looks greener on the other side! I'm on my way to TRU this morning to see what the liquidation sale looks like. I will check to see if there are any Incredibles sets, but I doubt they are getting new stock now that the stores are closing.
^^ Doubt they are trying to boost store numbers. More likely that some employee was just stocking the shelves and has no idea they aren't supposed to be released yet. When I worked retail back when I was in school I would see employees put unreleased items out on the floor all the time. Basically if the manager doesn't specify that they have a specific street date, then there is a good chance it ends up on the floor.
Edit: The store I worked at only cared about video games and movies not being released early, other than electronics, everything we received from the distribution center went straight onto the sales floor, including Lego. Now that I think about it, I picked up some Lego Hobbit sets before release date when I worked there.
@Huw Once sets are released by retailers(images are floating around the internet). How is anyone supposed to know the "official release date" when images can be shared? Lego doesn't really announce release dates for their sets, other than the "New" section on the store calendars.
All I can see on the Canada Walmart site is LEGO Series Collectible Minifigure - Mr Incredible (71012) for $8.41 CA. $8.41, what the hell.
I checked out one of the Walmart near me and nothing. But for some reason just before Christmas they turned their Lego aisle into Lego 2 shelves. But there is another one i will try to make it to tomorrow they have the opposite a huge Lego aisle and if they are out they probably will be there
If Lego cares so much, maybe they shouldn't send sets to retailers two months before their release date.
So, is this just LEGO wanting us to do the foot work to get WalMart in trouble?
Looks like LEGO has forced just2good to unlist his YouTube reviews of the sets as well.
Gotta start wondering if we need pool together and crowdfund so that the likes of Jang and Just2good, who purchased these sets legitimately, can hire legal representation. I don't see how LEGO has any legal right to do any of this, they're merely using threats to shut people down because they know they can't fight them.
Dang, I haven't been able to find the sets in either Walmart or Target. Something fishy is going on here
I worked at TRU for about a decade in the 90's. It's totally common to get stock before a new big movie comes out so the shelves will be packed full of merch on opening day.
When Phantom Menace happened we had about 4 HUGE pallets of sealed boxes in the back room for well over a month. The cases had "DO NOT SELL UNTIL.." dates printed in giant red letters along with our handwritten "touch these & you're fired" notes plastered all over them. Lucasfilm's fine was something like $1,000 a pop for ANYTHING sold before release day (meaning even something like one tiny $2 item) so we took that VERY seriously. And that was long before social media.
If these were on shelves before release day it could've been a random case got mixed in with other stock and/or an employee didn't know or wasn't paying attention. So it does happen, but I'd bet as soon as management realized what was going on that stock got pulled immediately and a notice went out company wide.
Disney needs to stop being so damn scared about having pictures of Incredibles 2 product out there.
If Wal-Mart put stock out early by mistake, ok, sure, hit Wal-Mart with penalties for that. But now that its out there, stop trying to put the genie back in the bottle...
Who is at fault here? Is LEGO being too protective of their products? Is Disney/Pixar being too protective of their property? Is Wal-Mart breaking LEGO’s rules?
I'm getting really sick of Lego (or whoever might be pushing them) throwing a hissy fit whenever sets show up early. They sent stuff to retailers and apparently didn't make clear enough when it is to be put on shelves. If you can't control your product releases, that's your own bloody problem, take a good hard look at yourself and the people you're working with, and leave consumers out of the deal. Otherwise, it's a good way to make yourself look pretty bad in their eyes.
^^ No insider knowledge other than previous retail experience, but I'd bet Disney is primarily behind it. Walmart is probably getting smacked with a fine for early sales. Lego has a good partnership with Disney, so what they're doing with take downs is likely a courtesy request from Disney or such. If we were talking about Mr. Incredible Potato Head then Hasbro would be doing it.
Just a guess, but I'd bet Lego would have them on the shelves right now if they could.
I found 2 sets on eBay that were supposedly purchased at Legoland. So it isnt just Walmart.
While LEGO cares about street dates, Disney is the one that really cares and let's be honest, Disney has made LEGO it's bit.... nevermind.
^^^ When I was last threatened for independently reviewing Star Wars sets I had bought locally off store shelves in California and from eBay sellers who bought them off store shelves in Georgia & Florida, it was the services firm MarkMonitor acting on behalf of LEGO in a brand/IP protection role. The specific wording of their threat suggested that they were in turn enforcing the rules of the IP "partner," which would mean Disney. So, it's a contractor, working for & paid by LEGO, enforcing the LEGO-Disney contract, all under the LEGO name.
^^ More confirmation that, like I said before, LEGOLAND is often one of the first retailers to break embargo dates & sell products to consumers that then LEGO (in name) will swiftly seek to threaten & punish. THAT is some *poop* that is 1000% unacceptable for LEGO (proper) to continually repeat & enforce after YEARS now of examples. If they're not going to maintain contractual complicity at retail operations that bear _their_ _own_ _name_, they have zero ethical basis to attack fans & consumers for buying from those and other retailers.
I said they were being found at Walmart and Target because I saw these articles - I myself got them from eBay. Hopefully we get to the bottom of this.
It sucks that I had to remove my two reviews. I hope some people can find them in store again. :/
In the future I’ll be more transparent and say whether I got something from feeBay and such. I don’t usually say where I get sets, but rather I say where new sets are found (as this is a question in the comments a billion times).
The way I see it: the retailers (Merlin Entertainment (Legoland), Walmart, etc.), the IP partners’ (Disney, WB, etc.) legal departments, and the contractors that shoot off enforcement emails are all just automated, intertwined yet disconnected cogs within the mega-sized corporate machinery. Once things get to this size, knee-jerk cease-and-desist is inevitable. I like to imagine that if it were solely a TLG IP, established reviewers and sites would have a more familiar and cordial relationship, and frivolous takedown-or-be-menaced messages wouldn’t be par for the course.
@theJang @jsut2good if you know the sets aren't supposed to be released yet and then stumble upon them well ahead of time, how about just refrain from publishing a review of them before release date knowing otherwise you could wind up with a C&E?
@darkstonegrey
This will sound horribly cynical, but it's one word: monetisation.
LEGO should maybe investigate their own staff more too, as there are always people on Facebook groups etc. selling new figures from future released sets (Han Solo sets for example) long before they are supposed to hit the streets and charging £20 per figure, who get them from LEGO employee friends and are making a huge profit on employees freebies which I assume they don't want out in the wild before release dates.
@yodalego- Really? Huge profits, employee freebies, Lepinish shadows... What an intriguing underworld all for the brick ay.
I’ll be locking up my bricks tonight.
@namekuji - Yep, friends at lego passing on figures from sets not yet released and selling hundreds at up to £20 a figure..not sure about the Lepinish shadows though...
keep them safe!!
Common problem at one WalMart at least in Quebec City. I found Last Jedi lego sets on the shelves over a month before release, with the tags stating "Confidential" instead of the Lego set name...
@darkstonegrey Because the threats (they're not yet C&Ds) are baseless, illegal and should not be made in the first place. If challenged in court, they would crumble, that's a fact. By US law we are very clearly protected against these actions as we are consumers who have made legitimate, public, legal (for us) retail purchases. We can do anything we like with products we legally purchase. We can light them on fire. We can resell them. We can film them. We can use them in art installations. We are not in the wrong. We are being subject to plain old evil corporate bullying and *that* is what is wrong.
Tired of LEGO / Disney doing this type of strong-arm nonsense...happened on my Twitter before. Rather than receive a nice email, which I’d likely honor, I received a nasty notice from their IP attorney in RI, that my Twitter was to be shuttered from one single pic of a set that I bought in Asia. Long before they were released in USA / Europe (typically, the case). This was the first time I had done it. No thanks for the countless free promo I give both, sometimes undeserving brands, across my networks. Not like they ever give me anything for free... Had my attorney send them an equally polite letter, I reposted and dared them to take down. Nothing happened... While this site has everything to lose, I didn’t, so I fought fire with fire.
Same happened to me @ronvining.
They even went after me on my little Flickr page. I only have like 170 followers and the pics I found were ALL over the net, on youtube, etc. for months and months.
For like one picture.
I shot back to them that instead of going after a small fry like me, you should be ONE-concentrating on your own internal people who are leaking the images. They don't generate from outside the community but from within your own company, and TWO-you have Chinese companies ripping you off: your designs, your instructions, your actual graphics/art/packaging and they're still out there selling and making profit on stolen material for years and years.
They replied with an actual apology. Not a huge one, but a sorry nonetheless and didn't take down my Flickr page. They explained roughly that they're trying to protect their brand. I get it but go after the big boys first who are actually making money ripping you off.
@ronvining @legoDad42..
Just out of curiosity (and not disagreeing with anything you said..) Regarding the situations you two dealt with, were the pictures of regular Lego IP or were they licensed themes?
It seems like the underlying thing here might be Lego needing to defend other companies IP to maintain contracts(?)
@theJANG: great replies from you here. Thanks! You are my number one reviewer on Youtube. And you are wise by experience. Keep on the good work and I look forward to your next harbour update!
A 56 year old AFOL.
@kinto - it was licensed IP, Star Wars aka Disney. Agree with you, it might not be LEGO... that’s why I said, “LEGO / Disney” in my post. Disney’s notorious for being ‘nasty’ when it comes to their IP protection. I had started a Theme Park Website a long time ago, late 90’s, they attempted to clamp down on the use of images I had taken with my own camera. I posted more... we went a few rounds before they relented. I’m a branding / marketing person, I’m fully aware of fair use and copyright. Good story @legodad42... happy you fought back as well. I understand both sides of these arguments... primialry, LEGO says they fear that leaked images will give LEPIN and others a heads-up to make clones before the street date. While true. Living in Asia, I’m aware of the fact that most ‘fakes’ are coming from the factor next door to the legit one...or sometimes even the same factory, after hours. So... the source of leaks and fakes are often your own employees, partners, suppliers or vendors. I want brands, especially those I support, to do well... so, I - as most here also do, our part to promote them. Sometimes brand guardians get too protective... it’s a give and take. But keep the lawyers out of ‘family’ matters only using them for the real offenders, IMO.
one way is stop early release is move the release date of the sets back. i know Disney is trying to keep the movie under wraps as long as they can but 1 month before a movie is not a good way. with Star Wars, wasn't it 3 months before the movie (and any plot points, that wasn't in the trailer) was release after the film came out (in this case, January).
Target in my area has the Incredbles sets for sale now.