In 2017 Hasbro released a sub-line of figures for its Robots in Disguise 2015 line called Combiner Force. The idea was a focus on the Combiner gimmick with some characters combining as pairs while others performed more traditional combinations made up of four characters. One of these figures is "Ultra Bee", who was the combination of Bumblebee, Grimlock, Sideswipe and Strongarm. These figures came and went quite some time ago, which is why my discovery today confounded me. Upon visiting the Walmart store in Linden, NJ I came across this:
Yep, that's right, Ultra Bees still in box! The boxes were pristine, looking case fresh. While the Grimlock on the one in the left appears to be missing a piece, it's actually lodged up against Strongarm. There were actually three of these sets but a parent scooped one up to purchase for her child. An employee was kind enough to scan one and the price came up as $29.99 which was the regular retail price of the item when it was released.
But wait, there's more. Upon visiting another nearby Walmart in Woodbridge, NJ I found four more of these! Also seemingly case fresh.
So what's the story here? I'm not quite sure. This is the first I've seen of these figures turning up at Walmart again. My guess would be someone at the local distribution center found cases of these and they're just distributing them to stores to get rid of them. However, if more of these turn up around the United States then that blows that theory out of the water. Time will tell...