The Clearance Sale Phenomenon: Star Wars The Black Series

Photo credit: Drin Carlos

It's been months since most Star Wars collectors in the Philippines are posting on facebook simultaneous price drop-offs of action figures of Star Wars The Black Series at Toy Kingdom and Toys R' Us. In the recently held clearance sale at Toy Kingdom Megamall, the 6" action figures dropped from P1500 (28.97 USD) to an affordable price of P300 (5.79 USD).

Photo credit: Wil Vill

When I first saw someone posted a wide selection of red and blue lines of the 6" TBS figures in flying red price tags, I told myself "I gotta be there!". I was there in the last day of the event and managed to get a couple of good figures!

We were like the Sunday scavengers because most of the rare ones were already taken by hoarders whom I think are the privileged ones. Got to talked to some staff and they said they come in groups with grocery strollers armed with credit cards.

I think we cannot blame them or any toy stores because it's the reason why they are having a clearance sale in the first place.

What is clearance sale? 

- A clearance sale is a discount sale of inventory either by retail or wholesale. It may be that a product is not selling well, or that the retailer is closing because of relocation, a fire, over-ordering, or especially because of bankruptcy. -Wikipedia

In simple term, the investors are just trying to get rid of them immediately to make room for other opportunities.

According to a fellow collector, the figures on sale are surplus from U.S. when TRU closed last year. Playkit Philippines, distributor of Hasbro toys also got some surplus from other Asian countries like Malaysia.

So what actually happens when there's a sale of Star Wars toys?

1. Announcements or second-hand news are mostly from social medias. The moment someone stumbles into a sale, he usually take photos for later sharing on facebook. Of course before he shares them, he already bought his favorite.

2. Collectors who read his post will hit Like button of type ff to be updated and get notifications of the latest comment.

3. They check their schedules on when is the earliest date they can visit the event. Husbands would even invite their wives/girlfriends if they want to go to the mall to make easier exits to the toy stores.

4. They check their wallets and the last time they bought an expensive toy. If the budget is not enough, some would think of selling their old figures to make up for the unexpected purchase... or like we always used to say in our minds and wives "Last na ito promise".

5. When on the scene of the sale, they rush to the shelves with the red/blue price tags.

Toy Kingdom uses red tags while Toys R' Us uses blue tags. 

Photo credit: Franz Echevarria

They make sure to move every box in search of hidden rare figures. If they found a pick, they won't let go of it while looking for other picks.

6. When they're done searching the store, they ask the staff if there are more to come for sale.

7. They took pictures of the event and plan on sharing on facebook.

Photo credit: Jeffrey Guevarra

8. They head to the cashier, pays the bill, heads home and hides for a while those unexpected purchases.

9. After some days he adds them to his collection in a corner where the wife would not notice.

10. He looks at his collection and see how proud he is with his newly acquired figures.

I hope some of you can relate to this. Actually this is so me talking.

It's like hearing good news of which you want to be a part of it. You took effort to be there but sometimes you don't get lucky. Don't lose hope because in the least toy stores unexpected is where you can find your zing!




I was looking for the Boushh and IG-88 for a long time on ebay and Amazon. It was an expensive option really. One day when I was doing my routine visits at Toy Kingdom SMFairview-the branch that has one of the least The Black Series figures, gave me hope.

I saw 3.75" TBS figures in red tags but no visible 6" figures. I asked the staff who was unloading new toy if there's more, he said "Yan lang sir (That's all sir)".

That didn't stop me because behind the 50% off sign that is covering a bunch of items are the 6" TBS figures! On the first row is Boushh, behind her is Commander Cody, and behind him is IG-88! All are mint in box.

I was in sudden excitement to pick them up to the point I was dropping the 3.75" figures with my elbow. What a simple joy from a simple guy who never thought he could grab one of those in the least places unexpected.

NOTE: Toy stores are currently offering price drop-offs of the 6" figures from P300, P500 and P700.

A friendly reminder: 

Having a brand new 6" Star Wars The Black Series was not easy in the past years that we were willing to pay extra cash just for the grab. Now with this sale outbreak we usually react on our buying impulse that we sometimes forget our current top priorities.

I would also like to acknowledge our fellow collectors who buys a bunch of figures not for himself but to make sure everybody gets them at the same sale price. He is like the protector, the anti-hoarder, robin hood, hero and so on.

Life is like a magnet as they say. The more you think and work for it, the closer it gets. I leave you with that quote and until the next blog post, happy toy hunting!