Recent Finds: December 2012 Store Purchases

[cac1959]

Bought a couple of Cars items from Target and 1 from a Kmart store today:



In addition to the David Hobbscapp which I didn't have, Brent Mustangburger and Max Schnell are one piece Cars which I didn't have.


I'm hoping the set will go to 50% off after Christmas and I can return purchase it for less money.

I also bought this at Target but anticipate returning it:


I liked Gask-Its and thought I'd add the picture to the Gask-Its article.

I bought this at one of 3 Kmart stores today... This is the first Galloping Gear Grinder I've purchased from a main retail store; I'd found others at Elder Beerman and Kohl's at $5.99 each.


And I got the Christmas present that was the main item on my agenda today.

[Scavenger]

Nice...I picked up Geargrinder off of another member, have yet to see him in the wild! As far as the sets go i hid a couple in target..lol hoping employees dont find them before the sale kicks in! Put them behind some toys that were not selling also in the automotive section, they are cars right?

[niftynigel]

cars are a flammin fiver in tescos mate

They do vary. Most of them in my area are still 4.47GBP, but I have noticed a few (still the minority) have raised their price to 4.99GBP. Sainsburys raised their prices to 4.99GBP (singles) and 8.99GBP (deluxe) a few weeks ago. I don't know about Morrisons and ASDA as neither of them appear to stock Cars in my area anymore!

Toymaster raised their prices from 4.49GBP to 4.89/4.99GBP (singles), 7.99GBP to 8.49GBP (lights and sounds), 8.49GBP to 8.99GBP (deluxe and doubles, sorry Finn/Submarine/Hydrofoil and Mater/Zen respectively)!

[yuffie]

the tesco expresses seem to charge just over a fiver

[niftynigel]

the tesco expresses seem to charge just over a fiver

Hmmm, that's interesting. There's a few Tesco Express / Metro dotted around. There's a new one opening as part of my local station redevelopment. Sainsburys Local appear to be hit and miss. The one in the town where I work is the best stocked Sainsburys I've been to. It puts my nearest out-of-town Sainsburys Hypermarket to shame!

All the recent restocks I have seen have been with the 997J case. Otis and Suki are becoming very common now. Even Alex Vandel is being left on the shelves! My theory is that Mattel UK have ordered far too many 997J cases, this has delayed the introduction of final case (997K/L or 998H or whatever). Usually there are 2,000 general cases, but I guess (and that's all it is, a guess) is that Mattel have ordered 5,000 of the 997J cases? With the final case being so good, I think that's the case they should've ordered lots of to keep the momentum going until the 2013 launch!

If they'd have just produced a few extra 997J, say 500 to 1,000 extra that means that the 'final 2012 case' would have been in stores about two or three weeks ago and they could've launched the 2013 ranges say on Boxing Day, when sales are on a traditional high! The 2013 range would've been launched with a bang. You start with high sales and it's likely that much of that would influence higher sales going forward! Any 2012 stuff could've gone into sales and it's win-win all round! Maybe I'm missing something, but how could it be anymore complicated than that? Oh Mattel UK, your marketing, distribution and sales beggars belief sometimes (most of the time)!!!!

[niftynigel]

I hope that Mattel (UK) don't mind me posting this information, but I had a lengthy chat with the Customer Services department this morning, just after I posted the 'why they continue to he unhelpful' (or similar) post!

There is to be only one more final Cars 2 case. They couldn't confirm the number, but it's likely that it's 997K, 997L or 998H. Most likely the former.

This is a provisional listing for the last case. Whatever is left over will go to consolidater outlets, Poundland etc.

1 - Race Team Mater (1)
2 - Finn McMissile (1)
3 - Lightning McQueen (Silver) (NEW) (3)
20 - Nigel Gearsley (Silver) (NEW) (2)
21 - Max Schnell (Silver) (NEW) (1)
23 - Miguel Camino (Silver) (NEW) (1)
24 - Lewis Hamilton (Silver) (NEW) (2)
36 - Rip Clutchgoneski (Chase) (NEW) (1)
37 - Bindo (1)
39 - Erik Laneley (1)
41 - Galloping Geargrinder (1)
43 - Otis (1)
44 - Suki (1)
46 - Nick Cartone (1)
47 - Fabrizio (Chase) (NEW) (1)
48 - Alexander Hugo (with Party Hat) (NEW) (2)
49 - Mary Esgocar (NEW) (2)
50 - Sir Harley Gassup (Chase) (NEW) (1)

This will be available to all retailers. Rip will not be in all cases. As this is only a provisional list, it's unclear what he will be replaced with! I'm hopeful that the Customer Services rep will confirm this information on Monday.

The case may well be in shops by then anyway. She did confirm that most of the cases had been shipped out to retailers this week.

The Cars 2013 range will be launched in mid-January at all retailers. There will be exclusive cases at launch. Launch partners will be Disney Stores, Hamleys, Argos, Toys R Us and others.

UPDATE:

The five 'other' silver racers will NOT be in this case. They will be made available separately to all retailers early in the new year in a 'separate assortment'. I get lots of information (some of it leaks) from Mattel. It's sometimes difficult to separate fact from fiction. I post advance information that I think has enough credence to be true, so it's extemely disappointing to have post corrections. I was told that there would be one final Cars 2 'wave' which I read into that there would be one final Cars 2 'case'. It would appear that the racers are the ordinary racers, given they had their numbers, I should have known better (the silver racers aren't numbered, doh!).

Disney Stores are provisionally going to be launching the 2013 series on Saturday 19 January 2013. I suppose this depends on whether they have cleared all remaining Cars 2 stock by then? Their final case was delayed going into shops just before Christmas as most shops still had healthy stocks of the silver racers and the remnants of the Prince Wheeliam case! I don't know for sure, but as Disney Store is the main 2013 launch partner, they will probably be launching a couple of weeks before everyone else. Mattel UK did previously tout the 'beginning of February' as the launch of the Cars 2013 range. Argos is the other launch partner. Their Spring catalogue usually gets launched after their sale has ended, so early February would appear to be fine for them.

TRU will not be a launch partner. I guess they will concentrate on their exclusives?

I may have misheard, but I was pretty sure I was told that some (if not most of the final case above) had been shipped out to retailers the week before last. I'm sure as soon as someone spots any new cars they'll report it anyway!? As usual, if you spot a new case, please try and report it's contents, ideally with a photo!

[yuffie]

in the bath ds today and the cars section had been moved to the back and halved in size - there were a few silver racers plus the usual suspects

of course, as it is due to shut in january it probably isn't representative of the stores generally

the toymaster shop appeared to have put the rest of their 998G case out - i picked up a kabuto and there was also an erik laneley that i left - so it will be interesting if they see the new case soon

[niftynigel]

Toymaster (and their franchises) order through one central buying team. My local group, which comprises of five shops tell the central buying team what they want and then the Toymaster team order on their behalf. Mattel then delivers direct to each shop. Toymaster had the 998G case for about a month before Tesco got any. That may have been because Tesco had ordered loads of 997J cases. In their order they also got 996U at the beginning and 998G at the end. Retailers that are still putting out 997J cases are doing so from their own warehouse stock. I can't imagine that there are any more 997J cases in Mattel's warehouse. It first appeared over two months ago. The preceeding 996U was only around for four to six weeks, not ten like the 997J and sales were lower then.

If the *new* case doesn't start appearing from warehouse stock just after Christmas, it'll not happen until the new year as Mattel distribution shuts down for about two weeks from last Thursday to Tuesday 3 January. Customer Services may still be there though?

My local Toymaster franchise group haven't got any more cases on order. They said they would wait until after Christmas to appraise the situation. All the shops had some stocks today, so they may well just order a case for each shop, for delivery W/B Monday 7 January 2013. It'll be interesting what case turns up!

The 998G has sold well anyway. Great contents. That said, I'm sure they want to stock the 2013 range as soon as possible, so they won't want too much Cars 2 legacy stock (in addition to the unsaleable Mater/Zen combo and the ubiquitous Hydrofoil/Submarine Finns)!

[cac1959]

Used the Meijer ad from the Sunday paper:


at the small town Walmart 20 miles north of me to purchase this:


I didn't even make a dent on what was on the pegs...

14 Cars for $14.98 with tax... and I stocked up on a few groceries as it looks like we're going to get hit with a significant winter storm in less than 24 hours.

[Scavenger]

Didn't buy but just saw the new 6 pack at target! No sale goi g on otherwise I would have picked it up!

[cac1959]

Didn't buy but just saw the new 6 pack at target! No sale goi g on otherwise I would have picked it up!

You saw the new 7 pack with Kit Revster, Scavenger? I'll pay $30 plus tax for it - one of my friends needs Fiber Fuel... Polly and Coriander are rare and I can probably sell them loose.

[Fillmore1234]

K-Mart. This was the best score I have ever had at K-mart. Ever. It's the first time I've found GGG and Cartney, and all at one store! And I got it for the $2.99 sale, even though it is over! (I showed the pic I took of the sale tag to the cashier so she gave me the discount price.





Walmart. It was such a mess that it was hard to look through. But I did have fun arranging, only because of the huge half-price-on-almost-everything sale going on.




I bought these.


Bergners. I was bummed that someone beat me to the Queen, but happy I found Funny Car Mater!



I was too late and missed the 2 Geargrinders at Sears today.

This as been one of the best Cars shopping days ever!

[Scavenger]

You saw the new 7 pack with Kit Revster, Scavenger? I'll pay $30 plus tax for it - one of my friends needs Fiber Fuel... Polly and Coriander are rare and I can probably sell them loose.

Yeah thats the one! And it was $30. Ill go back tomorrow, if still there I will grab it!

Fillmore awesome day man!!!

[cac1959]

Wow - great finds and purchases, Fillmore1234! I think that's one of the best Cars days I've seen anyone have... thanks for the photos.

I didn't even get to start my car today... the snow is done, but we're now under a level 3 travel warning - emergency travel only... hopefully the wind dies down and they can plow the roads and my landlord can plow the driveway.

Great find on the 7 pack, Scavenger!

[DeceptiCog72283]

went to my local walmart...didnt buy anything, but I thought I'd post up some slightly clearer pictures of the international carddback





(they only had Francesco left).

I'm not sure if this differs from the US Cardbacks? Do they usually show more of the cars from the series?