Mattel Disney Pixar CARS 2 Diecasts: What a Strange, Crashy TRIP It’s Been 2011-2012
Collecting diecast CARS is like being a city-state in Central Asia. You know disaster is coming, you can only try and guess what direction it’s coming from this time …
2006: Birth of a Glorious City-State.
2007: The Empire is More than 4 Yurts and 11 Goats.
2008-2009: The Golden Age – a Varietal Bounty Unmatched. It’s a GOAT (Greatest of All Time).
2010: Oh Crap, It’s the Huns & the Mongols.
2011: Oh Crap, It’s the Finn Plague.
Later in 2011: Unholy Crap! It’s the Oversized Finn Plague. Throw Out Your Dead.
2012: The Dark Ages.
2012: What’s That Yonder and Glory – Ultimate Visitors from Sweden & China …
Later That Month in 2012: Oh Crap, It’s the Carthaginians and they looked p*****.
So, what happened and what is happening with CARS singles?
Well, let’s go back to May, 2012. The shipments for the pre-launch of CARS 2. In hindsight, clearly Disney or Mattel through Disney’s harrumphing became convinced Finn McMissile would become the great and most beloved animated character since … Mater … which of course makes no real sense on a lot of levels. It didn’t take a genius to figure in 2006 that Lightning and Mater would become beloved characters – what kid doesn’t like a shiny red race car and what kid of any age doesn’t like a wacky sidekick who does and say funny things? That he is a tow truck is even better. But Finn? Yes, Michael Caine is a great actor and he did a fine voice acting job as Finn but Finn is an older character, not very wacky and does not do many hilarious things so likeable, yes but a new beloved character that would sweep the nation – weird to think so … but that apparently was the plan – as Finn was placed 5 to every singles case plus appearing in nearly every box set plus his appearance in every oversized shipment. So of course, retailers had a Finn clot on the shelf. Yes, there were also a lot of Lightning McQueen’s and to a lesser extent Mater & Francesco but because retailers only see the master SKU, to them it’s 200,000 or whatever number of CARS Character Diecasts on the pegs – not that 25 of 30 releases are virtual sellouts and it’s only because that several hundred thousands of the four shipped that a few hundred thousand remain.
Because of this, ALL of 2012 was thrown out of whack.
There were originally going to be 13 cases.
Then there was going to 19 cases.
8 have definitely shipped.
4 are most likely to ship (F, Q and WM: N & P).
So we might end the year with 12 CASES including two WM only.
The plan to essentially ship a case a month went out the window when retailers never placed a Spring reset order so diecasts were delayed up to 3 months. The original plan was 13 cases so 13 CHASE CARS were planned and part of the original plan was to sell @15,000 cases per case code. (Now that there are 24 CARS per case versus the previous 18 per case). But when sales dipped as low as 3,000 to 4,000, they had to double or triple up CHASE CARS packed per case to 3 a case … Now, add in the Ultimate Chase which was supposed to be 1 in 3, 1 in 5? (chance of getting an Ultimate Chase) plan also went out the window when they were only selling 3,000-4,00 cases so everyone got one and they packed out the remaining regular CHASE CARS of 11,000 (?) to a “twin” case to reach 15,000 in sales BUT retailers were still refusing to order. While there were reports of some orders and a few supermarket appearances, the vast majority of the @7,000 Walmart’s, Targets and TRU’s placed ZERO orders. So, while the G & H cases with Ultimate Chases were selling to resellers – with maybe a 1,000 left of each from @4,000 – who was buying the remaining @11,000 cases? Virtually no one. That’s why they gave up on option B also. While they could sell out most of the Ultimate Cases, they were winding up with tens of thousand of the “twin” cases with virtually no sales – perhaps because the retailers did not want another 760,000 Lightning McQueen’s … if you bought 33,000 of the remaining 3 “twin” cases …
So, what is happening? My guess is they are reconfiguring and repacking the remaining 4 cases (H/V, J/Y, L/M & K) to an order, an endcap, a sidekick or a pallet drop for the @4,000 WM stores … if it’s 4 cases per store, that’s @384,000 CARS to WM … if it’s closer to a pallet drop, then it might be as much as 785,000 CARS leaving Mattel with @700,000 CARS to sell to a consolidator. This deal of 7-9 exclusive/limited CARS may explain WM’s change of heart to reset & carry CARS. So, the good news is if it’s a giant pallet drop, there might be up 8 of each CHASE CAR choice.
I have seen a preliminary list of CARS singles for 2013* and none of these 7-9 CARS from CASES H/V, J/Y, L/M & K are listed EXCEPT Eric Lanely.
Galloping Geargrinder, Nick Cartone & May Esgocar.
Alexander Hugo With hat, Fabrizio, Sir Harley Gassup & Eric Lanely.
Not sure if Celine & Acer with Torch are counted in the “WM 9” so it might be the “WM 7.”
* Obviously most are/were considered CHASE so the plan was for them not to get a re-release anyway AND the 2013 list was started prior to this last cancellation so it may not mean much of anything but for what it’s worth now.
So, it looks like it’s the last month of Porto Corsa cards … I think we are already to move on … and reset the reset.
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28 August 2012
21 Comments
Just my two cents. I have chronicled else where the newest part of collecting-counting Finns. Most Targets have tons (30-72 my record) Finns on the pegs. Race Team Mater and LMQ are also common. WM seems to have an overload of Petrov Trunkov.
I did a local survey yesterday of 4 Toys R Us stores by visiting each store. Westheimer, Webster, Pasadena and Baytown Texas. I drove around 200 miles.
Each store had a glut of Mcqueens. In fact it was about the only diecast single on the pegs, except for a couple of Finns per store, and every store was glutted with Sub Finns.
The new problem is not Finn singles — its Mcqueens either RT or HHPC Mcqueens.
The stores got rid of Finn – probably sold for cents on the dollar from what I heard.
The RS Springs classics are either sold out or not being delivered from the distribution center in the Dallas area, and none in the center according to 2 store managers.
And the problem is with Hot Wheels too, A huge glut of Hot Wheels at TRU,
end caps, pegs, cubes, and not selling despite the current buy 20 and get aa free Dairy Delivery.
The problem is big at retail.
I recently visited the Toys R Us in Joliet, IL that is right across from a TRU Distribution Center, and while I had not seen that many singles in a very long time, it appeared to be 90% McQueen. I was in too much of a hurry to count them, but it was easily 100 to 120 of them.
Same issue at all the TRUs near me as well. 90% McQueens in Gaithersburg, Frederick, Hagerstown, MD, and Winchester, VA. 80% Finn McMissiles still hang on the Walmart and Target pegs in Hagerstown, MD, and Charlestown and Martinsburg, WV.
Would Finn sell on Chase or Super Chase Card?
Well I’m just happy that something, anything is being done with the terrible case assortments. Had they not cancelled the upcoming cases this line would been dark for a long time. Now let’s hope they do better with the assortments for the new cases.
This is all very confusing. All I need are Cars on the pegs, Mattel doesn’t get that.
“… leaving Mattel with @700,000 CARS to sell to a consolidator.”
Yikes, hope they learn a lesson!
Oddly, our stores are chock-full of McQueens instead of Finns.
Why cant when situations occur like now with the shelves full of three or four of the same car ( ruining scheduling and planned releases not to mention the bottom line £s-dollars) Reps sales guys or even the store staff be told to remove all the peg fillers and either the reps come and remove them or stores send them back….Then after a quick re-think get new cases of the cars we want and will buy by the bucketload out too the stores? Did Reps not do this back in the golden days or is that all too easy? or difficult somehow, Might not be possible in some countries but surely the US have the Mattel Reps to do someting along these lines. I Know it would mean a load of returns but it would kickstart the whole thing again and keep things ticking along, and as for the returned cars even the scrap value of the metal would bring in some cash for Mattel. It seems that it just wouldnt be worth their while.
This is a great idea! Send a merchandiser to each store with a plan-o-gram and a pre-printed shipping label. The workers could see to it that each store has a reasonable number of Finns, McQueens and other common characters, then box up the surplus, slap the label on the box and leave it at the store for pick-up. This would leave room for new shipments without fooling the stores’ inventory systems into thinking the diecast line just isn’t selling, period.
Back at the warehouse, the surplus cars could be sent to a discounter/odd lots store chain, or if there’s space, Mattel could store them six years so the kids who lose or beat up their originals get nostalgic and want to buy them again, much like people are buying the diecasts from the first movie all over again.
Or…some “outside the box” ideas. Mattel could hold the surplus Finns until the diecast shelves are fully restocked nationwide, then do a cross-country tour of automotive events starting next spring. Bring along the life-size McMissile model and a Mack truckload of Finn diecasts and give them out to kids, along with a freebie poster showing the new diecasts that are now available, maybe even a cents-off coupon for their next diecast purchase. Or go all out and commission a mini-comic featuring a new Finn adventure (bonus points if it relates to the diecasts by having him use his hydrofoil and submarine transformations) and give that away with each Finn. Everybody loves mini comics!
ROLLERWINGS!
Another great idea from yourself…..so if we can work out solutions why can’t a huge company like Mattel (which pays people to work these prob out) see how easy it is to sort it?
Its so frustrating for collectors.
It’s getting to the point where I just take 15-20 Finns and McQueens and hide them behind the playsets that aren’t selling in hopes to at least get E or maybe even H.
Although have there been reports of H yet?
I didn’t know I had any previous good ideas, but thanks! On the off-chance anyone from Mattel is reading this and likes this idea, go for it! (The low, low compensation of one each Finn hydrofoil and submarine mode would be cool, since I might be the only fan who didn’t buy either one yet.)
But yes, when gas costs what it does it makes it hard to check the stores frequently only to find their inventory hasn’t changed significantly in the last six months. :/
I keep waiting for a 90% off sale before I buy those two Deluxe Finn’s.
If I started collecting cars in 2010, does that make me a Hun or a Mongol?
It makes you a Mocker. (Beatles joke)
By the way John, are you a Mod or a Rocker?
Bring on the Star Wars crossover cars!
I wonder why Mattel canceled all of these cases?
Ironic that Mattel jumped the shark with McMissile, since he’s the same color as one and is named for a shark’s body part (fin).
Which was a more successful single, Finn McMissile or Speed Racer?