You have to figure out when they restock the shelves, I figured out the TRU I could walk to did so between 10:30-11am so I'd just hang in the doll section and one day walked out with Moxie Gavin and Monster Abby. The day I ordered my Operetta on line there were six of her and Nefertiri on the shelf of the Target I ended up at later that morning.
Hopefully the fad will phase out, remember how impossible it was to find those wind up hamsters? Guess what the discount stores can't get rid of. There was already an article asking if they could be a bit less skanky, now if only more people would agree...