Haulers.

Don’t take them for granted.

If you want them – buy them. Do not wait for another day because they may not be around for long.

They are as rare as gems created by earth crushing forces and fires of a thousand white hot suns …

To us, they sparkle like the gems that they are but to others, they are just pebbly rocks … and by they, I mean certain retailers.

So, while they might be willing to carry some haulers – Mack, Chick Hicks, the King and  certainly Dale. Jr Hauler if he’s ever made, the rest – whatev.

They’ll take some that are the mix but they are NOT going to go out of their way to carry every hauler – that is why Mattel has to offer them as a Direct Import … Mattel can’t count on their fickle intentions so by offering it as a Direct Import, those who are interested have to pay upfront and so production is firm.

Target has the Team Haulers …

McQueen’s Team.

Petty’s Team and …

The Chick Hicks team …

All three very nice and as Target does not to order a lot of anything … these should continue to sell. Of course, right now, they can’t really stay on the shelves but eventually demand will slow but these are great showcases for the CARS lineup and even if they don’t fly off the shelf, they serve as great walking advertisements for the line.

The next question is whether Target/Mattel will add to the series and I imagine that they will will. The pace probably won’t be very fast but the most likely additions will be ones like Octane Gain, Leak Less who are coming as single haulers and of course, both the racers and Pitty’s are also out but who knows, there might be a surprise or two … after all, it’s a bit odd that the Easy Idle Pitty only came one to a case and the Easy Idle launcher disappeared … so who knows, there might be a surprise or two … 🙂 … and since it’s Target, surprise! I can’t imagine the Team Haulers not lasting through the holidays of 2009 … beyond that, of course is too far away to gauge. But of course, if they continue to sell at a steady pace, no reason not to continue, they serve as a great showcase for CARS and it looks great on the shelf. They only come four to a case so I imagine that we’ll always see Mack, Chick & the King as 2 of EVERY 3 cases – with just one new set every few months (packed two to a case)?

And so, in carrying the Team haulers (with its higher margins), they are probably not as committed to the single hauler line … it’s less visually interesting to them and out of context, it’s just a hauler … it’s an ‘accessory’ to the mainline to them …

Walmart?

The new odd kid on the block. They seem to have given up on toys? It’s hard to guess what they are doing? The haulers don’t really fit into their audience with the average WM shopping spree at around $30 per visit … so a $14 hauler means they are either cutting back on another purchase or it just doesn’t appeal to their average shopper … of course, how many hundreds more would WE have spent if they only had the CARS things we wanted on the shelf? My feeling is that they are just not that committed to them – anything in the line under $10 – they seem willing to make a commitment to but they seem to drawing some arbitrary line at $10 … that’s not to say they aren’t going to carry any haulers, I just think they aren’t fully committed to them so they are not willing to go through the hassles of paying and arranging for freight – even though they clearly do EVERYDAY and could do it as easily as they arrange to move a fleet of jumbo jet cargo planes as they could to move a few hundred pallets of haulers. Instead, they are probably making Mattel put together CASES just for them – maybe their case of 6 only contains Mack & their hauler and maybe down the line, they will add a few others but they don’t really care so for now and in the near future, they will only carry Mack, their hauler & Chick & King?

TRU

They haven’t started/finished their reset yet – so we don’t know until late January or early February what they are doing. Now, I can’t imagine they are not ‘direct importing’ any of the haulers, it sounds right up their alley but maybe they are – and Mattel will rebate the freight to them? It would seem strange they are not making a commitment to them but even if they decide to join in the direct import, they will no doubt be receiving them by ship.

CHILDRENS TOY CLOSET.com

As far as I know, they are committing to the line and will not only direct import and air freighting every available case.

I imagine other larger distributors and re-sellers are finally joining in on the ‘direct importing’ but keep in mind, most companies would prefer to pay for ‘shipping” by er, ship which is about 10-15% of the cost of air … and that can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 weeks longer depending on when the ship docks and ship customs takes much longer than air customs plus the transport time from the shore to the city of the reseller/distributor which of course, with air freight- they tend to land at the nearest airport 🙂

WHY DIRECT IMPORT?

Again, it has some advantages for Mattel. You have to pay upfront and Mattel knows exactly how many to manufacturer … normally, they have to take a guess, pay for production, pay for shipping and hoperesellers buy – since it’s in the US warehouse, you can buy order a few everyday to (re)sell and get it by truck or plane from Texas or Cali … versus a direct import order which has a minimum you have to commit to and pay for ahead of time …

BOTTOM LINE – FOR YOU?

That means we have no real guarantee of anything in the stores beyond that we can say that Mack, Chick Hicks & the King are definitely at Target, and will probably be at WM and TRU in the next few weeks.

Will Target get more Team Haulers and will WM/TRU get Haulers stock? Probably.

Will Target get more Team Haulers and will WM/TRU get Haulers stock beyond Mack, Chick Hicks & The King? Maybe.

Maybe not. Probably.

When?

??

Could be on a regular basis – once it leaves HK/Asia – should be here in 3-5 weeks and on the shelves in 5-7 weeks from when it leaves the factory?

IF THEY ORDER IT.

We know that CTC is intending to order every next case and will air freight it in so after it leaves the factory, it shouldn’t take more than a week to load, unload, clear customs and deliver from the airport … will other companies do so? Or will they only pay for ‘shipping’ by um, ship? So, they will be anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks behind CTC …

How quickly do you want it?

And will TRU direct import?

Or will Target, Wm & TRU wait out Mattel and hope that by NEXT Christmas, Mattel will make these available in their domestic warehouse? So, in October or November, you’ll see more of the on the shelves? Will Mattel supply a 6-month old Hauler (such as Octane Gain) or only what’s available in CASE T? (or whatever the November Hauler CASE is?)

Well, it all depends on you.

If you’re not worried and are willing to wait weeks to months – your patience might be rewarded and you can just go and buy them on the store shelves?

Or will you be miffed you missed out and what’s left?

Outside of Mack, Chick & the King, what is production going to be on these? Unless, the big three retailers join up, I would say production is going to average about 5,000 units on each one? How many will be available 4 months later? 6 months later? While many do share the same parts aside from the tampo decals and color, production is still a chore … and while I have no doubt that Mack, Chick & the King will always be available but a more “random” one like Fiber Fuel or Re-volting?

So, I’m not saying you should or shouldn’t buy the haulers BUT don’t be cavalier about them if you want more than a handful of them. They might disappear into the shadows – leaving you just a twinkling of their rear tail lights in the cold, dark fog of night … and you might weep like a little baby by the side of the road and NO ONE WANTS TO SEE THAT 😉

So, all I’m saying is you don’t have to buy them but don’t presume they will be like SNICKERS bars that you can just randomly pick up one up 24/7 forever …

So, good luck with whatever you decide.