Mattel Disney Pixar Diecast CARS: Target Sale …
Target has marked down the Pitty Crew & Chief set which means we are unlikely to see more in 2010 as Target is working to clear the shelves …
Now clearance – $13.98.
(so no price match or price adjustment)
And just a few left …
Er, hurry … stroll really fast … pace yourself?
Also, some people report finding Final Lap CARS at Big Lots? You? Send pics!
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11 December 2010
28 Comments
I haven’t seen another posting concerning the TRU advertisement in Sunday’s newspaper (12/12). The Mater Saves Christmas Gift Pack is on sale for $14.99. The Color Changes are 2/$9.99. The Color Changes Ramone’s Play Set is $17.49.
I was thinking these sets are worth $12-13, so I broke down and bought the Octane Gain set at this price (already have the others from a previous sale). Now waiting for Heavy Metal Mater 4-pack to come down below $20. I’m not holding my breath, though.
When I see these pit crew sets and haulers on sale…the same basic sculpt with decorative changes representing different race sponsors…I wonder how much of this category sells to the everyday toy buyer. I understand and appreciate their value to collectors (it’s in my blood too!), but as someone who looks past these sets to find the new Bessie or Elvis RV, or unique Final Lap like a new rusty sedan, I wonder why so many of them have been produced. Do they sell to anyone but collectors?
Can anyone get me a few of the pit crew sets for the marked down price?
Uk. Derekirvine@btinternet.com
Today I went to Target… Clearance on Crew Pit sets… was $19.99 now clearance $19.99 (Do I save something in here???) Lots of 9-pack at $29.99… no new Final lap. Lots of New Christmas set.
Then TRUs… no deal but suddenly lots of CHUY… I bought one for my son to play with. Lots of First Christmas set with Santa and lots of singles too. Way too many wood set. Or they just put them on the shelves, but looks like no one have been removed from his initial location.
Finally BIG LOTS… was a “BIG LOT” of deception to see an army of SVEN and Richard Kensington… really Arnorld (SVEN) was everywhere… also several Mater with oil CHASE… and no Final lap.
All these stores have something in common tough…. lots of GIL, SEMI, Rescue Squad TOONs and LOTS and LOTS of lenticulars…
Conclusion; My hunting was not good today… However I have received a confirmation from Disney Store my package is now shipped (free). In couple days I will own the 14.2 lbs of TOON set 1:43 scale of diecast. Was in special at $99.95. At least I will get some satisfaction this month… 🙂
Target in northglenn/thornton CO off of washington had over 40 of the crew sets all 4 out so far marked down to 13.98. Lots of final laps but not the most recent.
It was cool to see cars, real cars in a real store LOL. Our walmart has nothing. Of course I didn’t need any of those but did find a few lenticulars I needed.
Cool, too bad I already have them
I was in two Targets in Puyallup, WA Thursday and the shelves looked exactly like that. Each had the latest Final Laps. If Final Laps are appearing at Big Lots next to stacks of haulers, then Mattel and Target misjudged the toy marketplace. Collectors are a small segment of the market. Kids stuck in the shopping cart pushed by mom are the mass market. Given the price difference between lenticulars and Final Laps, most are going to buy the lenticulars. Especially considering Final Laps are (were) only available at one retailer.
The biggest issue with Target is the lunkheads supposedly in charge of selling toys. Their coding throws ALL of a toy line or subsection into that one DPI code. When there are stacks of Cars boxes filling the shelf and hanging on the pegs, the computer is reading there is NO reason to replenish inventory, let alone refresh inventory. This is not limited to Cars. My adult son collects Marvel Universe action figures. I’ve had a heck of a time trying to fill in missing figures because Target (et al) have not refreshed the inventory. This has resulted in the local stores missing several series of the figures.
I talked to the manager at the Target at the South Hill Mall (Puyallup, WA). He caught me in the aisles and asked as he whizzed by, if I was finding everything. I told him, NO. We had a conversation that lasted fifteen minutes about their lack of understanding of toy selling. His recommendation was to buy what I need on eBay!!!! No figure.
It does not surprise me about the excess inventory hitting the shelves and being dumped at Big Lots. If you “DO NOT STOCK IT, THEY WILL NOT SELL.”
The answer is simple — buy out an entire DPCI from your Target, and then return everything to another Target. With a little patience, works like a charm everytime!
Mattel needs to have collector representation on the Cars product line… I might buy another Leakless set @ $13.98 for my display case… Realistically, I’d price these at $15.99, which is $4.00 per Car… At $20 a set, $5 per Car, these are not an impulse buy.
I remember seeing the 5 new ones (Octane Gain, Nitroade, Bumper Save, Easy Idle, and N2O Cola) on the Target website on April 13, 2010)… At that time, Octane Gain had shown up in a few stores in California and possibly Texas… Bumper Save was available for about 15 minutes on the Target website on June 5, 2010 – until 44 sets sold out… Bumper Save is just know appearing in a few stores in a few states (California, Texas, Kansas)… Octane Gain is just now appearing in Indiana and Ohio. I received international versions of Octane Gain and Nitroade from friends in Canada who bought them at Zellers – they were close to $30 each shipped but at least I had them.
Store exclusives are not good for most collectors… without competition, prices are often inflated and the items may not sell, which further restricts the supply… and further restricts the demand…
Had these been available for sale as advertised at Target.com, these would have sold many sets… many of us would have bought multiple sets and helped international friends unable to purchase them. And we’d be ready for the next set of 5 team crew sets.
This particular product line has been poorly managed by both Mattel and Target… hopefully it hasn’t been killed off.
If they can sell Luigi & Guido together for $3.99 or less, wouldn’t this set make more sense at $9.98?
Crew Chief = $3.99
2 Pitty’s = $3.99
1 Pitty = $2.00
final laps are out in OR got all 5 this morning
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but there a 6 new ones so you did not get All of them.
oh snap
Between Mattel’s idea of mixing quantities in cases of 6 pieces of 2 Dinoco, 2 Hicks and 2 Leak Less and overshipping the initial wave to leave stuff on the shelf for months at a time. This is a great lesson in trying to understand the customer and deciding how to tool up for these (oh wait they are all recasts so the cost is waaayyyy low on these).
Mattel’s labor issue in China/Malaysia must be worse than I thought.
Now I am hearing that some of last years Storytellers Line is showing up at random targets…..Nice distribution Mattel or just a warehouse find at Target?
I checked our target yesterday and no sale on pit crews. Checked through the price checker and still showing at $19.99. The clerk knew nothing about them being marked down. The only thing that was marked down was the 9 pk….
Target at 30% off, next 50% off (already in some areas) then look to see these at 75% off. Its the Target clearance pattern. Sometimes as high as 90% off if not sold out at previous price points.
If they go to 90% off, these should sell out. Maybe making room for a new DPCI for next year? Easy Idle Crew Chief has been seen on ebay.
$13.98 still isn’t good enough for me.
Even after seeing a few Octane Gain sets…this still feels like the equivalent of the boyfriend who hurt you and is calling you up to apologize: too little, too late.
When you are dealing with an offshore manufacturer, your lead times are extremely long. Also, you get a significant discount for larger quantities. What this means is that Mattel must place orders for merchandise many monthis in advance without really knowing the quantities that will sell. As a result, there are always extreme shortages and overruns. Somehow people who deal with offshore manufacturers feel that they can make money working like this. There are some very successful domestic manufacturers who can react very quickly to the local markets. Sure, their fixed costs are going to be a lot more but they generally can meet the demand and end up selling more at full price without having to take huge losses on unsold merchandise. My two cents worth…
HEY MATTEL:
FYI IT’S YOU THAT IS KILLING THIS LINE. WE WILL BUY MORE CREW CHIEF SETS AND HAULERS, ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS CHANGE THE COLOR AND DECALS AND WE WILL BUY, BUY, BUY. NOT A GOOD STRATEGY TO MAKE 500,000 LEAKLESS. HOW ABOUT N20, EASY IDLE, MOOD SPRINGS, VITOLINE, SHIFTY DRUG, ETC ETC ETC. DON’T BLAME THIS ON POOR SALES . . . THIS IS JUST POOR RESEARCH, PLANNING, MANUFACTURING RUNS, DISTRIBUTION ETC ETC ETC. PATHETIC.
Down to $9.98 in at least one store here. And can’t you just do a return repurchase in order to “price match”?
My mother-in-law picked up Octane Gain AND Nitroade pitty crew sets for me from Zellers in Canada for only $13.39 each. (The exchange rate is about even right now.) I checked Big Lots yesterday and they had a ton of regular and oversize still in the boxes but no Final Laps.
Think it’s safe to say at this point that sets marked even 20.00 or 30.00 are just too much in this economy for toy cars. Mattel had better rethink their strategy for cars prices in the US going forward.
Starting off Cars 2 cars at 5.99 or higher could spell doom for the line. They had better hook new collectors and old ones on the fence about collecting again with some reasonably priced cars or only the most devetoted ones who can still afford it or new collectors with extra cash will be collecting. That would stagnate the line and kill it.
Totally agree Jack. Price hikes could kill the line.
I am Wondering what is going to happen to this crew chief line. After a year of having the Easy Idle and N2O cola set listed on their website, Target has taken them off. I thought by now we would see the Nitroade set here in the states as well. I am so happy that I was able to get some from Canada for our collection and help some other board members as well but where are the rest that were made?
The sets being Labeled NCF doesn’t bode well for getting the newer ones at Target.
Hopefully other retailers will start to carry these or is the line totally dead for now? I cant imagine Mattel is going to end the line completely but who knows.
It seems we may never get all the haulers and crew chiefs we thought we would. It would stink if we don’t get any more.
Wow … this is NOT good … I LOVE the pitty/chief sets!! It would be nice if they did not KILL this set with poor case assortments early. There are 6 to 9 Leakless sets at almost every Target in my area. They FINALLY got the Team Octane Sets in the last two weeks. Never have seen Bumper Save.
What’s this about Final Lap Cars at Big Lots???? Are you a stock holder in BIG LOTS or what?? 😆 You are going to cause a wave of hungry shoppers to the nearest Big Lots …. wait … I have one less than a mile from my house ….. be right back … WHOOOOOOSH 😉
My big lots in Nor Cal had final laps too. The remix case.
OMG. Is that a Trunk Fresh Pitty? I think I need that one!!!!