Toys to Retirement Weekly Wrap-Up #15
LEGO? AI and action figures? Amazon chaos? Just another week as a toy seller.
Hello friends,
Another week, another Amazon speed bump. Hope everyone is doing alright with the recent API changes that are negatively impacting users across the board. Whether you use inventoryLab, Scanpower, or any other third party listing software — I’m sure it’s been a headache this week. Unfortunately all we can do is continue to give feedback to Amazon through social media, seller forums, and other appropriate channels while we wait for them to make improvements such as speeding up the listing creation time.
For those that are fed up with Amazon this week, now is a great time to focus on taxes, death piles, post-Christmas return garage sales, and/or sending product to Walmart.
There’s no shortage of things to be doing so when we have tedious weeks like this one, sometimes you just have to put Amazon on pause and look elsewhere.
Speaking of looking elsewhere, check this out:
My First 2025 Retiring LEGO Overview!
I’ve been getting bombarded with questions since January 1 about my thoughts on the LEGO retirement list this year, so look no further. This is a very high level overview where I loosely browse the themes, call out some potentially stand out sets, and talk strategy for the year. There is a 44 minute video with lots of detail, or simple cliff notes are also provided:
New AI & Action figure trend…
A new trend is popping up more frequently on social media in the action figure world - using artificial intelligence to give movement to your figures. For those who don’t know, many adult collectors use their figures for photography (that’s a big reason why accuracy, scale, detail, etc. matters to serious collectors).
Well, as AI continues to evolve at a rapid pace, action figure fans have found a way to blend the two niches.
Here is an example compilation video:
Yes, those were all originally still photos of action figures. As I browse social media, I am seeing more and more of these types of videos pop up. Imagine when this sort of technology is readily available on everyone’s phones!
I can only hope that this trend continues and we see fans more eager than ever to get creative and start buying more action figures from people like you and I.
Final chance for Q&A submissions…
One final reminder that next week I’ll be doing my second edition of the subscriber Q&A. I’ll be picking the best questions and answering them in detail to hopefully bring some value to your business. Please message me on Substack, Instagram, or Twitter so I don’t miss it before the end of the weekend!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man release
This coming week, January 29 to be precise, will mark the first Marvel project released this year - Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. This will be an animated series on Disney+, more so targeted at kids, and I would be surprised if we don’t get an action figure wave out of it. Several character designs have already been revealed, and if this show is an X-Men ‘97 level hit then expect some very nice action figure flips. Someone with kids should take one for the team, watch this show, and report back on how it is. I have way too many things to watch on my list right now that this is pretty low on the totem pole so… help me out will ya?
Tip of the Week #12
When I started selling on Walmart a few months ago, I really started getting annoyed about the listing process being a lot of “stop and go” while waiting for listings to get added to my inventory. I implemented a personal rule that anything I order, I now must add the item to my catalog at the time of ordering, and not wait until it’s time to prep.
That rule has proven largely beneficial for my workflow and I will continue to do it until their process has been optimized.
I bet you can kinda see where I’m going with this.
With Amazon’s API changes, adding items to your inventory through a third party software actually takes longer than Walmart now.
That’s how insane this whole ordeal is. Walmart, widely considered the most annoying platform to list on, is actually faster than Amazon now.
So here’s the tip. Implement that same rule for Amazon as well.
Anything you order via wholesale or online arbitrage, add it to your inventory in Seller Central at the time of buying, rather than waiting for it to arrive.
It will save you SO much time. And add it to Walmart while you’re at it (if you sell there).
If you’re mostly retail arbitrage, it seems like there will be quite a struggle for the time being, but hopefully Amazon hears the feedback and speeds things up soon.
Simple tip, but it will save you tons of time as we adjust to this new normal.
2025 and Beyond Box Office Update
Discussing Film has a great article on some upcoming box office release dates that have shifted, you can check it out in detail here.
I think the most exciting news in the article is that it seems the rumors about the final part of the Spider-verse trilogy being delayed until 2027 have been shut down. Originally the rumor was that the entire film had been scrapped and they were starting from scratch, but that appears to be untrue and there may be a world where it releases sooner.
Aside from that, we have an official release date for Sonic 4 — March 19, 2027. Yes, that is relevant to know, even a couple years out. Have you seen the performance of Sonic merch lately?
As we inch closer to summer, part of me is starting to feel that there is a new wave of excitement in the air for Marvel. I think Disney knows they need to correct their last few years of duds, and I expect the upcoming Captain America and Thunderbolts films to close on that dreadful chapter for good. If the Fantastic Four movie is a hit, I think Marvel will kick it back into hyperdrive for fans and we will see another great run from Marvel.
Alright friends, wrapping it up here. I’ll be spending the next week making space in my garage and storage unit for another 6,000 unit incoming shipment of toys — it never seems to end. A good problem I suppose. Catch ya next week!
