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Hi everyone. I'm really new at this & I was wondering how you find out when the new cars are going to be released (so that I'm not running to the store every week ). Also, I've been looking at some of the other posts, what does it mean when you say "re-stock is coming" Does that mean there will be new cars??
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Hello and welcome soozowl
You're confused - you're not alone...!!!
The only time we know that new cars are coming is when Mattel contact the retailers or announce that they're releasing new cars. Usually they announce what cars are to be expeced to be distributed within a year - these are usually on a collectors poster, usually available for free at a Toys R Us store. Other than that, if you contact Mattel yourself, they may tell you, they may not. It all depends really.
Usually the online retailers get to know what cars are coming next in the case selection so it's best to watch there - JMDL Toys on here have been really great at letting us know this type of information recently - thanks guys.
Cars are distributed in cases of 24 cars and each case is assigned a letter (e.g Case A may contain 10 x LMQ, 10 x Finn and 4 x Mater). Via the online retaillers we know what the case assortments are and their assigned letter (they distribute these sequentially, but sometimes miss letters), but as when they will hit the actual stores, who knows??? It was typically 3 to 4 weeks after we heard about the case assortments that we saw them in stores, but now this seems to be much longer. They only way that we know when they hit the sotres is when someone announces on the forums that they've seen them, either in the box or from the selection of cars on the pegs. There's usually a few new cars in each case (plus lots of repeats) so that's how we find out...
The term "re-stock" effectively means what it sounds like. Stores look at what's on their pegs and then re-evaluates what it wants to sell, orders more of it and then tidies up the displays. They usually do this for key times of the year (most notably Christmas).
As the case assortment for Cars 2 has been so poor I believe that most retailers are collecting up the many Maters, Finns, LMQs and Francescos and returning them to Mattel so they can make room for newer stuff....
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so, does restock & re-set mean the same thing? I contacted my Walmart today because over the weekend they had NO Cars stuff anywhere & the place where they used to be was filled with Matchbox cars. They told me they are in Reset mode & that they should be on the shelves in 5 days. From your experience, does this mean that there will be NEW stuff or the same old stuff just in a different part of the toy section?Comment
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"does this mean that there will be NEW stuff or the same old stuff just in a different part of the toy section?"
Exactly!
A reset only produces the possibility of new merchandise.
KMart collector's event's, the start of the Final Lap line at Target
and the start of the Cars 2 line were the only times in 6 years that
there's been a guaranty of new cares on a specific date. As far
as I can remember.Comment
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Good questions...
Restock means more merchandise arriving... sometimes online retailers and retail stores get in a shipment of product and later receive an additional shipment of the same product... or new merchandise.
Reset may mean different things... sometimes it means a store re-arranges inventory - for example, the local Richmond, Indiana Walmart just totally re-organized the Toys section... the also sent back some non-selling inventory (Finn/Tomber 2 packs, Finn singles, etc.) and put out newer inventory (case K Movie Moments, 2012 Singles case A with Mel Dorado)... Some stores just re-arrange existing merchandise... some will put out new merchandise... The local Meijer needs to do something - they are down to just Finn McMissile singles on the pegs... 80 of them.
Other than May 16, 2011 and the Kmart Cars Collector events, I can't remember going into stores "knowing" I was going to find new Cars... stores used to get maybe one new case of singles every 1 to 2 weeks... many stores in my area still have the same Cars2 items in stock that they put out for the May 16, 2011 debut of Cars2 merchandise.
And as MrBrownstone said, JMDL Toys has done a fantastic job letting us know about upcoming Cars releases.Comment
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That is great they will give you a heads up? Is there a specific thread on here that they announce them on - or do you just keep checking?
A few weeks ago we went into our local TRU & found all but 1 of the characters from the radiator springs pack. The one we are missing is Dexter Hoover. I was so happy to find the others since we did not have a King - boy my 3 yo was excited too! Any idea when the next set of radiator springs will be released? Also, we do have Flo's cafe & Ramone's color change garage, which is so cool - do you know if they are going to release any of the rest of the town? I'm sure they released them when the 1st movie was out, but I'm wondering if they'll re-release them too like the radiator springs collection?
For a beginner collector I am pretty impressed with what I have, although I'm sure it doesn't compare to what most have on this board. I have a 'stash' in our bedroom that we are keeping for things like Christmas, Birthdays, Potty Training prizes & good behavior prizes. My husband is getting upset because he thinks I'll never let our son open them - but I will - just not all at once.
I just recently started buying the wooden cars from TRU, but I fear that line is discontinued because I can't find anymore in the store, but I did find a few on TRU website, so now we have 18 of those - but again I missed all the ones from the 1st movie. ugh.
Sometimes I think I need a support group - LOL. Hello, my name is SOOZOWL, I am a cars diecast collecting addict. HAHA. It is seriously amazing how much a person can spend on all this stuff!Comment
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Hi soozowi,
Unfortunately resets or restocks in the UK does not mean new cars, when you talk to Mattel they talk about waves and waves are not timed to resets. Truthfully, no one knows when new waves are going to hit as it always comes down to the inventory left in the warehouse for distribution to a store. Sometimes it doesn't matter that Mattel have new stock as supermarkets might not be buying.
TRU, Amazon, Boots, Argos, Wilkinson, Sainsburys, Asda, Tesco, Toymaster & Morrison have different distribution center's around the UK that all have different stock and different inventories. They normally re-stock when there inventories are low, they do not re-stock to get new character models. That's unfortunately how it works in the toy industry.
The US, Australia, Greece and Belgium have had new stock in certain parts of their countries. Some parts of the US are the same as the UK and have not seen any new cars.
I realise this is not great reading to a collector but unfortunately times have changed with Mattel and the Disney Cars Characters 55:1 diecast series. It was very different in the last night skyline edition of cars 1. Even though we all felt it could be quicker it was actually the best its been for nearly 18 months.
I really hope you are able to find what you are looking for. These links will show you 99% of whats been found in the world starting from 2005-2012.
Cars 2 releases
Radiator Springs Classics
Good luck...
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Thanks for the info. According to the website you gave me I am missing 11 singles (not counting special finishes & tires), 5 Movie Moments, 5 Supersize & 5 Lights & Sounds. What exactly does it mean when it says Chase or Superchase? I've heard that may make it less collectable??? Anyway - not much of an issue for me since my kids will surely be playing with all of them out of the boxes.
Also, I've hear people talk about Long Ge alot - I don't even recall this character in the movie, what makes him so valuable/collectable?
My dream score would be the Delinquent Road Hazzards: Boost, Wingo, SnotRod & DJ. Anyone seen these lately or think they'll be re-released??Comment
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Chase are Rare, Super Chase are Mega Rare. Super Chase are new to 2012, they have never been released up until now.
Radiator Springs Ramone is what the UK are up to on Chase, you might be very lucky to find a Officer Murakarmi. But one has been spotted in Sainsburys and int versions are on ebay and amazon from online shops. US have seen all the Chase and Super Chase so far, some european countries have also seen Flash Super Chase.
Good luck with the bad boys... these are not even planned in the 2nd wave of the radiator springs classics. Sheriff is in the 2nd wave... They very well might re-appear in this range in the future though.
Long Ge possibly was in the Chinese version of Cars 2.Comment
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Yes, the Super Chases are cars that appeared in place of Jeff Gorvette in foreign releases of the film. So far Jan "Flash" Nielsen & Long Ge have been released. And are limited to " less than 4,000" pieces.Comment
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All u gotta do is research to see next releases.
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