The Super Hero Squad Recall

I first read about "the recall scenario" in a discussion about Hulk Wave 1 products hitting stores before the street date. I thought of posting about it, but when I saw a few forum posts last night claiming there had been a recall I figured I just had to post information (interestingly enough, rather than just locking down the recall thread or explaining how there's not actually a recall, the thread asking about the potential recall was totally deleted from the forum.)

In short:

There is no recall.

The Hulk toys are not supposed to be shelved and sold yet. Some stores (only Walmarts according to the forum posts, but other stores like Meijers have apparently been seen allocating the shelf space) put the new 2-packs on the shelves. So far, everyone that has tried purchasing the figures has reported the same result: "Sale Not Allowed."

To get around this, some individuals are using peg-warmers like the Angel/Colossus 2-pack to scan the price at the self-check-out registers and then just using multiple swipes to make their purchases. Others are trying the squeaky-wheel technique (complaining up the chain of command until the purchase is allowed.) but the problem is that the Sale Not Allowed defense is a great counter-argument. We CAN'T sell it. We're not allowed.

I haven't seen the boxes myself, but some posts on trader forums indicate that the boxes clearly mark a 5/1 street date, but even if the boxes don't say that, we can see that Hasbro's Toy Shop doesn't have the wave being shipped until 5/14 (and from past experience with the Iron Man 4-packs, and the current Spider-Woman wave of 2-packs, their shipping date tends to be a few weeks after official release.) It's also telling that the figures are still listed for sale on Hasbro's website, where they could easily take the listings down in the event of a recall. And the fact that only Hulk Wave 1 toys that are not actually available for sale yet are the only Super Hero Squad toys affected by the recall, leaving the earlier Super Hero Squad waves and even the current wave, un-affected should also send a message.

The biggest indication that there's not a recall (of a toy that has not been released yet): It's not listed on any of the recall sites. Recalls.gov, US Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Hasbro's own recall site are going to be the first places you'll see a recall announced.

In sum: No recall, just over-eager stockboys and merchandisers.