Mattel Disney Pixar Diecast CARS: The Case Packs & Case Packing
DJ for $15? Or 21€ on eBay Germany? (or about $27 USD).
Lizzie for $7 to $10? Or last autumn – $20-$25?
Plus other sporadic bursts where the price of the CAR jumps from retail to $10 on eBay which really means @$15 when you include shipping?
One of the fundamental and continuing “logistics” based problem with this line … and ultimately, money that Mattel leaves on the table.
And that’s the issue – people want to buy direct at retail or from Mattel’s authorized resellers … but failing that, they have to turn to other sources which is all fine for the continued interest in the line but the bottom line is it hurts Mattel’s bottom line.
I suppose if you’re going to have a problem – that’s the one to have where demand still outplays supply especially in these uncertain economic times.
But instead of continuing down this bumpy path, there are other MORE PROFITABLE solutions.
CASE PACKING
The short term solution to packing each case with 5-8 Lightning McQueen’s is that it’s easy and don’t require strategic planning. (yes, there are EIGHT Lightning McQueen’s in CASE H!)
You don’t really have to understand the line or this product line, you just presume that the lead character must be like Batman, as long as the case is 75% Batman, you can always defend your choices … but of course, this line is not Batman nor Speed Racer.
The result is that there is a stock imbalance which a) causes un-natural price increases in the secondary market. On the consumer end, for newbies, it makes people frustrated that the characters other than McQueen seem impossible to complete.
But the bigger problem is you create an inventory problem at retail.
You create BOTH the perception and to the computerized inventory control that this line is NOT selling all that well. To the computer, all the mainline UPC’s (at WM & Target) are lumped under one SKU so whether it’s 100 LM’s or 100 Dale Jr’s, to them, it’s just a number on a spreadsheet … so if there are 100 CARS in that store? It gets a STOP ORDERING tag until inventory get driven down … it does not take a rocket scientist to know that 100 versions of LM will sell much slower than 3 of 35 DIFFERENT CARS …
So, saving a little at the front end by producing more McQueen’s really costs Mattel money at the other end by LOWERING further sales next month AND adds risk to the line being downgraded as ‘slow sellers.’ Why are there cases that retailers skip? BECAUSE there is already inventory on the shelf – end result – LESS OVERALL ORDERING.
In June or early summer, Mattel will switch from a SINGLES CASE being 18 CARS to 24 CARS … but if all that means, is 4 more McQueen’s in each box, that serves no purpose.
Sure, each CAR costs slightly differently and I could see where Mater might cost a bit more to produce but RPM, Sally, or Fred, Nitroade? They can’t cost more to produce than Tongue McQueen or Bling Bling McQueen … and the result is you get more even sales AND the pegs look nicer …or need to save a few pennies, do another Pitty. Much smaller piece of metal, some pieces of plastic and all are happy … in fact, people even want the thin Pitty’s also so even less metal!
And increasing the CASE count from 18 to 24 should mean MORE NEW CARS in each case … in the new case of 24 CARS in a case, there should be 3 new of each new release or 9 in EVERY case of 24. This will decrease the changes of an eBayer just sweeping in and buying up every new CAR … as is the case now when only 1 or 2 of every new release is included.
Example – Chuck Manifold is selling for up to $15 with shipping … why? Not enough on the shelves. It serves no real purpose to Mattel. Once you have the mold made and you start cranking on that CAR, why not make 80,000 or 100,000 of them at once instead of 60,000?
Pssstt, here is a secret – you have released about 150 CARS at retail … How many of them have sold out at retail and cannot be found during the first month of release?
ALL.
Yea, that’s right. EVERY CAR since 2006.
So, it’s not exactly a out-on-a-limb bet when every NEW CAR is a sellout within the first month … pretty good track record. Kind of like matching Usain Bolt in the 100 against a 7-year old kid in a Care Bear Halloween costume … you cannot lose, it’s that simple.
I believe that would fall under ‘good track record.’
AND really, while the sculpt and detailing on Chuck Manifold is great (as usual), what other toy line can sell a Chrysler K-Car for $15? Only this line … Never mind when Todd, the Pizza Planet Truck comes out?
Basically, Mattel could sell an extra 20,000+ singles with a new case within hours of it hitting the shelf … you saw that with the Kmart CARS Day … how many CARS did Mattel & Kmart sell in essentially 24-hours? 14 new CARS in the Kmart CASE 9998 … (@20,000 cases x 14 new CARS). That’s 2.8 MILLION CARS or about $980,000 RETAIL? In about 24 hours? okay, a few CARS hung around for a couple more weeks but $950,000 in one 24-hour period for CARS … what more proof is needed that CARS collectors want the new CARS and that people are still starting and completing a collection? Hello?
So, each new case of 24 coming should have 9 NEW CARS, plus 3 CARS that were “new” in the previous case and 12 returning CARS … since we have about 90 CARS in the singles line, that means in about 8 cases, every character will be back … or since there are about 17 cases a year, the townies & “classics” CARS will all show up at least once and maybe twice a year though certainly some CARS available as a three-pack or Movie Moment do not need to make two appearances … like Bug Mouth McQueen … like everyone’s Uncle Phil, once a year is good 🙂 …
DISTRIBUTION
Would it really kill Mattel to plan out a release schedule that is an actual timetable? Sure there are @17 cases a year but we can go 5 weeks sometimes and other times, two in two weeks … Would it really be death in production & the warehouse if the mainline singles came every three weeks (with more bunched towards the end and really the last shipment going out around 12/15 for the holidays), would that really be that hard to implement? And in between the weeks with non-mainline singles would be shipments of all the other lines? Megasize, haulers, 3-packs, mater Tall Tales, etc … so there are always new CARS stock arriving every (example) Thursday? Is that asking too much?
SUMMARY
This seems to be the winning scenario for everyone and really, it’s not radical of a solution. It might seemingly cost Mattel a little more upfront in production costs but when the mainline sells out faster at retail, there will be more re-orders and or more orders (instead of retailers now skipping 3 cases because of too many McQueen’s on the shelf) going forward, retailers will be happier with more stock turnover and of course, there’s the matter of making Mattel Disney Pixar CARS collectors a little happier … am I wrong here? 🙂
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metroxing
2 March 2009
Advertising, collecting, diecast, Film, Marketing, Mattel Disney Pixar CARS, Retail, Toys, TV
45 Comments
Hello All
just wanted to say I am so frustrated with WM and Zellers here in Canada.
There has not been a new single since Chuki.The only megasize haulers I’ve ever seen is Mack.No 3 packs at all no Shiny Wax,Sparemint or Chick Hicks with Mia Tia.I have been forced to surrender to Ebay where I am charged shipping rates as if I lived across the world and not just 1 hour
north of the US Border.Then I see it actually costs less then 3.00 to ship
and there charging me 6-8 per car and 1.75 per extra car,what a total rip ooff.My only option now is driving to Buffalo and visiting all the WM/Targets/KM I can find.I have found all the 3 packs and the haulers bwith great effort (all at Target)but can never find any single packs ever.Its like LM and Ramone were the only singles ever released.
(MET: Definitely post in our trading forum. I’m sure there are readers who can help you – maybe even work out a in-person trade when you get to Buffalo).
Frustrated,
Shoot me an email. I live in Niagara Falls so I’m sure I can help you out. Service@PitStopToyShop.com
not to take anything from jake but you need to find a good seller that COMBINES shipping better.
plenty of them here on tfad
Hey Kevin,
No problem, but it doesn’t get any better than “Free Local Pickup”.
Is it just me, or did I miss something? That Pizza Planet Truck is AMAZING?!! Is that a picture of a custom or a prototype? I want it! I want it! I want it!! 😉 I’ve been waiting for a Pizza Planet truck since Toy Story #1!!
Just my 2 cents (I’ll expect change later)
Steve AKA: Poppa, I disagree with your statement that WM is not a toy store. WM is the WORLDS largest toy seller. Regardless of what else they sell or the name on the front of the building, Wal-Mart IS a toy store.
HolyGeekboy, Mattel has NO competition? I think you must have been making a joke here because it’s one of the funniest comments on this post.
BMW, Mattel order our cases? What are you talking about? Mattel has very little, and that is a really small “little” to do with what you and I see on the shelf at your local retail store. About the ONLY thing anyone can blame Mattel for is box contents and numbers manufactured. Yes, someone at Mattel decides which cars get packed into the boxes and another suit tells the plants in China how many of each car to produce, but that’s about it. It seems that most people on here are bitching about what they are NOT seeing at their local retailers and then blaming Mattel. Imagine this scenario. Mattel suit wondering why he/she is getting hate mail, bomb threats, petitions all about no cars on the consumers local retail shelf, so suit calls plant in china and the plant tells him/her, “well, tell the retailers to order some, we have boxes of them sitting here”. Or, what if Mattel told the plants to make more, the plants made more and boxed them up and even sent them to distribution points and that’s where they’re sitting. I don’t think anyone here knows the whole story from start to finish. All we see is that our retail shelves are bare. That to me is the fault of the RETAILER, not Mattel. If the shelves at WM or Tgt are bare, then blame them. The toys are out there waiting to be sent to the retailers. Look at Australia, they have Elvis. Which means that Elvis has been made and is boxed and ready to go. But, where is he? And this applies to EVERY car made. The suits at the retailers headquarters decide what gets on the shelves, not Mattel. So sure, you can blame Mattel for packaging 13 LM in a box of 18 cars, but don’t blame them for empty pegs. Send the petitions and hate mail to the retailers headquarters becuase they control what you see on the shelves, NOT Mattel.
As I was reading this post, the strangest Thumo Thummmp THud noise kept happening, and I thought it was just my heart, as it often is when reading about Cars, but NO it was my head smashing against the brick wall cxalled Mattel…man I have a headache!!
http://books.google.com/books?id=uVTuTiPnQHQC&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0
The Real Toy Story: Inside the Ruthless Battle for America’s Youngest Consumers
By Eric Clark
Published by Simon and Schuster, 2007
ISBN 0743247655, 9780743247658
259 pages
Retail level: Can’t figure out what we have, cause we don’t know, have to look to see. What! Get a case and put it out. We got the case, but don’t know what is in it, til we open it.
Mattel: Order our cases, trust us to put the right assortment in it. It will sell. Shortpack? Uh, everyone does it. That is the world of Toys.
We want to keep them coming back for more, see it increases your store traffic, and they will buy other things. Trust us, we know what we are doing.
MET FOR PRESIDENT……. of mattel
Great ideas. Sometimes it makes you wonder if Mattel want to make money! If you think USA is bad, you should try the UK. I check in my local Sainsburys most days for new cars, and there has not been any new singles since November last year (Chuki!!). However today I go in there and there in front of me is ROR Chick Hicks & Bruiser Bukowski Movie Moment, which I am not sure is even out in USA yet? The only other new cars I have got since pre Xmas are Gray and Chick Hicks Haulers in Tesco. It seems to be very hit & miss, and all the singles since Chuki have yet to appear (Will they ever?.
My 3 year old is desperate for every car, and I don’t want to go down the ebay route as you pay over the odds. We are off to Disneyland Paris in April so maybe we can pick up more cars there.
While the International market will never be up to date with the US (understandingly so), I have nominate Canada as worst. We have yet to see a single ROR single!!! Last case out was K and it was December 24 (4.5 months after the previous case). Also, our TRUs just recently put out a bunch of WOC F-cases. Top that!
I have not seen ROR singles in Australia.
Yeah, but you have Elvis…Canada loses!
you mean wins?!?!?!
So Dude-Met-Dude…
Does Matty know how to read? Cause I think this kinda stuff is what he needs to hear about. Tell him and his friends to wake up and smell the fuel-fire.
Oh that’s right! You can’t send them any fan mail because their web-site is a joke-site!!!
DUH!?!?!
why does everyone bash Mattel when the heads at Mattel clearly earn more money than we all do? Of course they make mistakes, but with great posts like these from guys like Met, Mattel will easily fix those mistakes, because the company is probably run by fairly capable and competent human beings. However, I just don’t find it necessary for certain people to say negative things about a toy company that clearly provides them with the best toys line they’ve ever seen.
We should trust Mattel because they make more money than we do?
And because they make great toys, we shouldn’t comment on the poor retail distribution system?
Here’s another take: Mattel doesn’t care about how well or how poorly they distribute toys, because they have almost no competition.
Have you been reading or listening to the news concerning the bonus money paid to highly compensated executives at Merrill Lynch, et al. Those companies are dipping into my pockets to the tune of trillions of dollars with stock purchases, loans, bailout monies, etc. Just because somebody makes more money than the grunt on the front lines, does not automatically confer intelligence. At a bare minimum the executives at Mattel are complacent and afraid of making a decision. Better to be safe than sorry! Mattel profits in the last quarter were down 50%. Read the articles at Yahoo Finance and other sites are there is no mention of the Cars line, which suggests Mattel’s other lines are being pushed. This is the 50th anniversary of Barbie. There are movies coming out again, and, older toy products are being pushed. I really do not expect Mattel to really push the Cars line considering the total amount of shelf space Cars takes up in the average big box store. Still, if there is market potential in the property, then Mattel needs to tap into it. If Mattel falls short, maybe Hasbro or another manufacturer will pick up the license. Remember, we collectors are a small segment of a small market.
Happy Hunting!
that’s not what i meant. i just think we need to put more trust in the company that’s clearly creating the best collecting line we’ve ever seen. it just seems like we’re all acting like teenagers undergoing puberty and thus can’t be grateful to our parents
if Mattel could easily fix these issues then they would have by now. they are not new and mattel have been told by numerous parties regards the problems Petitions, facebook, direct emails all been tired for some time now and no result. They have had long enough to fix the problems up.
No use providing the best toy lines if people can’t buy them. We are not teenagers and mattel are not our parents.
We are consumers and mattel are the seller only they don’t provide enough goods for us to buy. As for the comment “the company is probably run by fairly capable and competent human beings” – you keep telling yourself that, I went past that point a long time ago
Two issues here. First, the retailers do not give a @#$%! Second, Mattel is Swell does not give a @#$%! With the big box stores, the manager has no input in stocking. I’ve known my local TRU manager for decades. He cannot order additional stock or get rid of dead stock. He tries. Nothing happens. Additionally, if an eBayer or Compulsive Cars Collector wants to buy the entire inventory, the manager must accommodate the buyer. Collectible toys have become a big pain in the butt for the managers. My daughter worked at TRU during high school. When the doors opened, hoards old farts ran through the store gathering up anything and everything that they could sell at their own stores, kiosks, swap meet, etc. If it did not sell, hey, bring it back for a full refund. TRU put a stop to returns of Hot Wheels. So, put the merchandise out there for opening and watch it disappear. When it was gone, no more problems. Corporate was happy, but, try to order more? Wait for the truck. Repeat! Repeat! The same with Targets. You better learn which Targets have night crews, and, which stock during the day. I know which to avoid. All this means, moms that have to get the kids to school and/or get to work at 8-9 AM can never be there at opening to be trampled by greedy old farts. Now, I’m 60+ and avoid opening bells because I do not want to be associated with “THEM.” Since I’m retired, Target (locations to remain proprietary information) has been good to me, as well as certain Wal*Marts. I’ve never had to buy on the secondary market and do pass on at my cost to my friends and family interested in any toy line.
Second, Mattel is NOT swell! How many McQ’s can a kid absorb, especially when he knows there are other character cars available? McQ has surpassed the dreaded Ramones!!! Solution, Take a look at Hasbro and the Star Wars line. Same problem existed for the retailer years ago. There are little kids and moms and dads wanting Luke, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Storm Trooper, the main guys. The collector base wanted the obscure background figures from the Creature Cantina, that may have grunted once in the movie. Hasbro offered a basic case to the retailer with the main characters, and, a secondary case with the obscure characters. Everybody was happy. As long as the line sold, the retailer kept stocking.
Now the the lunkheads at Wal*Mart having zero knowledge of squat, cannot figure out what sells and do not care. If the manager cared, then the manager would order more stock. But, remember Wal*Mart is not a toy store. Wal*Mart has to sell birdseed and toilet paper along with Speed Racer. The associates are not compensated beyond minimum wage. I’ve never met a Wal*Mart associate that knows anything about any toy, not just Cars.
My acquaintances in the toy retail business have told me that Wal*mart has cut back on toy inventory, as I could not figure that out by myself. The bottom line has to look goods and stocking inventory other than on the shelves messes up the bottom line. it increases ending inventory and consumes cash!
If Matty Collector ever gets going, it could make a million. Just go to the Hasbro retail site. As long as Hasbro sells at retail price, Hasbro will be selling to collectors. A wholesaler or retailer will not be making any profits by buying at retail. Mattel can easily refuse returns on Cars cases or repacks. So eBayers would be stuck with the inventory.
I really do not expect Mattel to accommodate the collector. Just be patient and the Cars will come.
Happy Hunting! 🙂
I’d just like to point out that not all the cars in the above photo are McQueens, can you spot the odd one out?
Remember this discussion….Ferrari 3rd row down, second to last accross. Good eye though.
Good Cop — Mattel has dozens and dozens lines of products it has to manage, so imagine putting this logic to all of those cases of toys. That is a very hard task to accomplish!
Bad Cop — Mattel are you listening to us? We sick and tired of pegwarmers! Release the new product quicker and with more volume!
I think everything mentioned here makes sense and would make everyone’s life easier. The Wal-mart near me has empty pegs and literally hasn’t gotten new singles since Jan. It is VERY frustrating. However, the Wal-mart my Mom shops at told her they get Cars shipments every Thursday and it seems to be true. They have gotten so many cases of haulers and I have yet to see a hauler past the first 3 in PA. Luckily, my Mom shops for us!
MET, you are the man. Right on point. I wish I could say something you wrote here was OFF, but you just cannot do it.
Mattel is KILLING the CASH COW the have created by slow-milking . . .
Queensryche . . . “Is there anybody listening . . . “
Preachin’ to the choir.
Where do you find the time? Great post.
Sweet post Met!! And it could not be more true. Sometimes Mattel’s logic can be so off. I believe they should hire some people in marketing that actually collect these great toys so that we don’t get bogged down with all these LM’s and properly case a ratio that would sell outright and leave pegs bare so more CARS can ordered right away. Pretty soon the kids will get sick of seeing LM and want something new (if not tired already). I mean the bottom line for Mattel is to make money, right? I would say that the pegs where I live are totally bare, with the exception of a few LM’s, but they are still not getting anything in. I collect SW too and Hasbro has been getting a little better at the ratio of new to old in the cases. Hopefully it was because of the backlash from the collectors and fans. Keep up the good work and keep on collecting.
That picture is every collectors worst nightmare..
..but spare a thought for us in the UK if you have pictured one of our storea like Tesco’s or Asda’s it would have been a 8th of the stock and would have been 60% Ramones and 40% LMQ’s. Some stores (two I searched today) still have had Supercharged Ramones!
Still yet to find a WOC Hamm and Lizzie.. I dream about finding a Leeroy Traffic, Van or Luke Pettlewood.
Its crazy to think I have to pay a 50% mininmum premium on retail prices if I buy off ebay
yeh!! you tell em! you think its bad try the uk, it would be funny if it was’nt so crazy!!!
& Australia. WE have sweet FA new mainlines with Chuki still being in love. Fair dinkum what kind of window licker is in charge of Mattels distribution? The brothers from Dumb & Dumber?
It makes no sense we get the haulers but no mainline and we get megasize but case d first. Not only can’t these imbeciles can’t spell, they can’t count otheriwise they know the profits that are thrwoing away (& it’s not like they couldn’t use them just quietly) and they have no idea of world geography.
I have heard there will be a documentary on the Mattel Distribution system shown on Pay TV soon. Look for it on the Comedy Channel
This post could not be more true. I have no clue whatsoever to the logic behind Mattel’s case contents, but they are killing the line. And despite a disastrous 2008 for Canada’s distribution, MM ROR case B will have 2 Tex & Dinoco MQs, as if we needed more?
Does anyone know how many Take5 members have “dropped out” and lost interest? I’m sure the number would be shocking.
And another thing…I think the case contents should be more around the lines of 50% new, 25% fairly new, and 25% “old”.
“…to the logic behind Mattel’s case contents…” Logic? Mattel? Case contents? None of those go together, especially “logic”….
Great post met, it’s just a shame these high paid people employed my Mattel to come up with these solutions, don’t actually come up with them!
it takes a member of the public to see the blatantly obvious, yet if we tell them they just fob us off with some phoney reply.
I am still waiting for direct web ordering. How much money could Mattel make by charging $4 plus shipping for each car on a web storefront?
C’mon, it’s 2009. E-business on the web as we know it has been around for 15 years. Get with the program!
exactly, hasbro does it, why doesn’t mattel?
Be careful what you wish for — that $4.00 would really be more like $6.99 + a premium shipping fee.
Yeah great post it is scary when you put logic into the equation lets just hope that someone out there is listening. I think we have all been pleading this case for too long.
Awesome post Met. You are right on target. I do have one question though. Aren’t the mainline Cars seperated out by individual UPC at WM? They are seperate on the receipt. Are you saying that they have different controls for inventory and checkout? That is really silly. I know Tgt uses the same code or number, whatever 087070921 is, to group all the mainlines together but I didn’t know WM did as well for inventory but not for the register scanners. No wonder the “world of cars” retail is so screwed up.
(MET: Yes, WM counts them as all in one but separates out on register as individuals but inventory just sees one. Target is all one – inventory and individual sales. TRU counts them separate and inventories as separate).
They may come up as individual UPC numbers on the receipt, but if you ever ask an employee to search for an item using the SKU/UPC # it seems that all items will be lumped together. Try searching for a Jerry hauler for example and they will try to tell you they have 26 on order when in fact they probably have 26 haulers (Mack, Chick Hicks, Dinoco, etc total) on order.
You are right on, Met!
nice post