Great Britain and Northern Ireland 2016 Finds - Part 1

[niftynigel]

From my understanding Trike was a no show in the U.K. And unless that particular assortment turns up somewhere like Home Bargains, B&M or the Range then I suspect there will be slim chance of finding him at retail. Don't give up hope completely though as in 2014 a number of the first wave of Cars 2 cases were appearing in Home Bargains and TRU. Cars like Prince Wheeliam and Becky Wheelin' were available again when before were very limited to Disney Stores and a handful of retailers.

We can only speculate why the super chase cases turned up in the UK last year. My guess (and that's all it is, a guess) is that the US is Mattel's biggest market and they need to keep to a timetable in order to get everything out. Given that the toy market is a bit volatile and the retailers' distribution can be inconsistent (it's not down to Mattel to distribute on behalf of major retailers like Walmart, TRU or Tesco), it shouldn't come as much surprise that the timetable (Mattel calls it programme) starts to slip. If the situation looks like getting out of hand, some 'unsold' cases are made available for sale in other countries. The UK has been a bit of a dumping ground for Mattel US (via Mattel Europe/UK) for years.

As the super chase cases were 'old' by the time they were offered (and accepted into the UK), they were probably at a significantly discounted price, hence the reason some bargain sellers got hold of them; not all those stores sold the cars so cheaply! The Entertainer sold (and continue to sell) 'old' US singles for £6.00 and double packs for £13 (although they are currently on sale for £9.75). It was telling that the double packs in The Entertainer were not selling at £13, when nearby TRU had the same double packs for £5 or less! All The Entertainer stores I've visited recently still have loads of double packs at a sale price of £9.75.

I'm not sure it's been reported, but TRU have the last 2015 deluxe case now. They are £12.99 each but they do price match ASDA (£10.97). Sainsburys and Toymaster have them for £13.

There's a new toy shop in Oxford Street, London (near Bond Street tube). It's called The Toy Shop!

They have cars (mostly damaged).

Singles are £7, Ice/Silver Racers £9, Carbon Racers £10 and Deluxe £14. Ouch! Over the road is Disney Store, significantly cheaper!

Hamleys have competition!

[boogity]

spotted a nice us carded clip strip in sainsburys tonight,
had the taxi, andrea, dexter, strip, etc, but at 6 quid gave them a miss
asda living has cars down to 1.50, unfortunately there was only 5 left and not great, problem is that asda itself has them all at 4 quid
tescos, only thing I spotted was a single ancient francesco! we.ll have to wait this toy re range! come onnnnnnnnnnn

ps congrats to the jackel on his big fight win on sat night, as i,ve said before... stand up for the ulsterman, think you,ll be seeing a lot of karl frampton in the states, roll on vegas and madison sq garden

[VANDANCE]

From my understanding Trike was a no show in the U.K. And unless that particular assortment turns up somewhere like Home Bargains, B&M or the Range then I suspect there will be slim chance of finding him at retail. Don't give up hope completely though as in 2014 a number of the first wave of Cars 2 cases were appearing in Home Bargains and TRU. Cars like Prince Wheeliam and Becky Wheelin' were available again when before were very limited to Disney Stores and a handful of retailers.

[CarsCollector02]

No sir, well not yet anyway. That will only happen if a chain buys in US cases. This time last year Smyths toy store made such a move and Francesco Superchase's were being found. Then a while later Wilko's bought a batch of US cases and Luigi & Guido Superchases were available at last to long suffering British and Irish public! The whole Superchase thing sucks really. I want the new and upcoming deluxe release of Bud, an RV. But he is only being made as a deluxe Superchase so that puts a limit on availability because he will only be found in the U.S and the knock on effect of this sends the secondary market prices sky high. Meanwhile in the same case there will be 2 Macks that no one needs!

Picked up super chase Francesco this year at Smyths, so some stragglers are still out there! Also, any sign of Trike Feldman over here?

[VANDANCE]

has anyone found any of the circus cars over here yet?

No sir, well not yet anyway. That will only happen if a chain buys in US cases. This time last year Smyths toy store made such a move and Francesco Superchase's were being found. Then a while later Wilko's bought a batch of US cases and Luigi & Guido Superchases were available at last to long suffering British and Irish public! The whole Superchase thing sucks really. I want the new and upcoming deluxe release of Bud, an RV. But he is only being made as a deluxe Superchase so that puts a limit on availability because he will only be found in the U.S and the knock on effect of this sends the secondary market prices sky high. Meanwhile in the same case there will be 2 Macks that no one needs!

[boogity]

has anyone found any of the circus cars over here yet?

[VANDANCE]

Nice finds, the Cars were waiting for you...! Brett is my favourite from your scores and hopefully you will find Paul O soon.

[CarsCollector02]

After a months or so break from Cars hunting, I got out with my Mum yesterday to Lakeside to have a root around. Mostly 2015 mop ups. Stopped at Hamely's, Disney, Smyths and Asda, but still got a good little haul!
Brett Warnewagen - Hamely's - £7
Carnival Cup McQueen - Disney Store - £8 (Fair amount of other Carnivals that I will try and get later)
Benny Brakedrum - Asda - £10.97
Trent Crow Tow - Asda - £10.97
Rescue Squad Trooper - Asda - £6
Heavy Metal McQueen - Asda - £6
Only need Paul Oikley to complete the Mike Fuse, Jay W. case, and need Ucchi, Larry and PCM Mack for the deluxe case! Also, no sign of neons ��
The only sign of 2016's in my area is Carnivals, but the regular singles should soon follow!

[boogity]

found this case n in smyths in galway during the week, got haiki and transforming mcq, in my excitement I must have missed otto

now for brake, chris!

[niftynigel]

The full contents of the case (presumed to be 963T) is as follows:

CHICK HICKS - 1
MATER - 2
RAOUL CaROULE - 1
SHU TODOROKI - 1
FILLMORE - 1
TRANSFORMING LIGHTNING McQUEEN - 2
HAIKI - 1
TOMBER - 1
FRANCESCO BERNOULLI -1
OTTO BONN (MAX SCHNELL'S CREW CHIEF) - 1
LIGHTNING McQUEEN (No. 95) - 3
CLAUDE CRUGGS (LEAK LESS No. 52) - 1
DAVEY APEX (RE-VOLTING No. 84) - 1
FABULOUS HUDSON HORNET - 1
LIGHTNING RAMONE - 2
WINGO - 1
BOOST - 1
SHERIFF - 1
VLADIMIR TRUNKOV - 1

This case has been found at ASDA and Sainsburys.

This case is confirmed as W1938-959N (either 2975EAA or 3213EAA).

The numbers and letters are jumping about all over the place!

[BirchTiger]

Cheers Chris. I noticed today that tesco had the ice racers down to £1.50 and deluxes down to £2.00, needless to say there were none left! I picked up transforming McQueen at sainsburys - I think he will look good in the cars daredevil app.


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[cac1959]

Awesome finds, rossibutton and BirchTiger,

That case has been hard to find in the US as well...

[niftynigel]

Think I forgot to mention that I picked up re-volting, haiki and otto bonn last week at asda for £4 each, sadly no transforming McQueen though unless he was there and I missed him...should have had a better look but was too excited to get to the checkout with otto and re-volt (I was with my 5 year old who was clutching them very tightly!).


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The full contents of the case (presumed to be 963T) is as follows:

CHICK HICKS - 1
MATER - 2
RAOUL CaROULE - 1
SHU TODOROKI - 1
FILLMORE - 1
TRANSFORMING LIGHTNING McQUEEN - 2
HAIKI - 1
TOMBER - 1
FRANCESCO BERNOULLI -1
OTTO BONN (MAX SCHNELL'S CREW CHIEF) - 1
LIGHTNING McQUEEN (No. 95) - 3
CLAUDE CRUGGS (LEAK LESS No. 52) - 1
DAVEY APEX (RE-VOLTING No. 84) - 1
FABULOUS HUDSON HORNET - 1
LIGHTNING RAMONE - 2
WINGO - 1
BOOST - 1
SHERIFF - 1
VLADIMIR TRUNKOV - 1

This case has been found at ASDA and Sainsburys.

[BirchTiger]

Think I forgot to mention that I picked up re-volting, haiki and otto bonn last week at asda for £4 each, sadly no transforming McQueen though unless he was there and I missed him...should have had a better look but was too excited to get to the checkout with otto and re-volt (I was with my 5 year old who was clutching them very tightly!).


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[boogity]

good find, this gives us hope

Found Otto Bonn, Haiki & Transforming McQueen at ASDA, £4 each