Keep Track of Discontinued Figures

[Concavenator]

Is there any way in which someone can keep track of which figures get retired by X company in Y year? I would find this information valuable.

I have quite a bit of stuff to catch up on, and while I may have my own priorities, knowing a particular figure from my wishlist is getting retired would make me pull the trigger.

[Gwangi]

I'm in the same boat as you. I don't buy everything right when they're released. I've missed out on a few figures because they were retired without my knowledge.

[stargatedalek]

I've requested a few times that we make a master thread for retirements each year but sadly it has yet to catch on. Doesn't help most companies aren't super transparent about retirements.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

Normally, online stores post retirements either through the forums or on their website but for some reason I haven't seen that much recently. It's nice to know what's getting retired so I can pick it up if I haven't already. It can be frustrating sometimes since some figures can sell out quickly after retirement.

[Concavenator]

Doesn't help most companies aren't super transparent about retirements.

I don't really understand why companies aren't just totally transparent about this matter. It only seems natural to me, to show off both what's new and what will no longer be available.

I was going to say that, for me, knowing what will no longer be in stock from a particular company is, at least, equally as important, if not more, than knowing about the new stuff they will be offering. But actually, no. It is more important to me, but clearly, we don't really have the means to get this information in a consistent manner.

Sure, I like seeing new releases and all, and if some nice model of a species I find interesting is released I will add it to my wishlist, but... at the end of the day, I'm a collector. And as a collector, I collect... but at my own, usually extremely slow, pace. I have so much stuff to catch up on and it only gets increasing, that at this point, pretty much what would actually push me to get a figure from say Safari, CollectA... and such, is getting to know about its retirement.

As a practical example, I have been putting off getting the Safari Diabloceratops ever since it was released 10 (!!) years ago, and the Qianzhousaurus 3 years ago. Had I not known they will be discontinued, I would still be putting them off. But now, being aware of their retirements, I plan to get them ASAP. We're lucky to have S @Shane here, but otherwise, if Safari hadn't properly announced their retirements, these would be 2 figures less they get to sell, as little money as they would make from me buying.

[Gwangi]

Doesn't help most companies aren't super transparent about retirements.

I don't really understand why companies aren't just totally transparent about this matter. It only seems natural to me, to show off both what's new and what will no longer be available.

I was going to say that, for me, knowing what will no longer be in stock from a particular company is, at least, equally as important, if not more, than knowing about the new stuff they will be offering. But actually, no. It is more important to me, but clearly, we don't really have the means to get this information in a consistent manner.

Sure, I like seeing new releases and all, and if some nice model of a species I find interesting is released I will add it to my wishlist, but... at the end of the day, I'm a collector. And as a collector, I collect... but at my own, usually extremely slow, pace. I have so much stuff to catch up on and it only gets increasing, that at this point, pretty much what would actually push me to get a figure from say Safari, CollectA... and such, is getting to know about its retirement.

As a practical example, I have been putting off getting the Safari Diabloceratops ever since it was released 10 (!!) years ago, and the Qianzhousaurus 3 years ago. Had I not known they will be discontinued, I would still be putting them off. But now, being aware of their retirements, I plan to get them ASAP. We're lucky to have S @Shane here, but otherwise, if Safari hadn't properly announced their retirements, these would be 2 figures less they get to sell, as little money as they would make from me buying.

My collecting strategy is the same as yours and I completely agree. Knowing what is going to be retired is more important to me than knowing what's going to be released. The Shringasaurus is one figure I've been putting off and would keep putting off if not for the info Shane gave us. Because I know it's being retired I bought one yesterday. Would not have done that without Shane's info and would have possibly missed out on it entirely.

[DragonRider02]

I remember Everything Dinosaur used to make blog posts about what's being retired for CollectA every year, but than they stopped, and I haven't been able to find any information on what's being retired for each year ever since. The only glimpse is checking MiniZoo's 'retired CollectA' section, but it also appears to not have been updated in a long time.
Maybe we should ask Everything Dinosaur if they could bring those posts back?