If you followed me on Twitter today, you got a sense of just how frustrating and worthless going to Walmart at 5 A.M. proved to be. I went to a Walmart that caters more to tourists visiting Orlando, while one of my reporters went to a Walmart near the University of Central Florida. We both arrived about 4:30 A.M. and the stores were packed and chaotic. The store I visited had only one pallet with Mack Transporters. The toy department manager called me a few days ago and told me that he got Oversized Cars, but when I arrived he said he didn't get them. My reporter visiting the other store found two pallets, one with Mack Transporters and one with new singles such as Chief RPM, Tank Coat Pitty and Impound Boost (Chase). The toy department manager at that store called a few days ago to tell me that he got Oversized Cars, but when my reporter arrived he told her he couldn't find them. All I got was the Tank Coat Pitty and Chief RPM, as that was all my reporter was able to find. It was quite a disappointing waste of our time!
Earlier at midnight, I went to KB Toys and they had absolutely nothing! Once I left Walmart, I went to Toys R Us and again found absolutely nothing! Cars are one of the hottest toy lines in the world and where the hell is the supply?! Just a month until Christmas, and the busiest shopping day of the year is void of supply!! Whoever is to blame, Mattel or the store buyers, get your act together! You are losing millions by not meeting the high demand around the globe. You are not creating demand if the lack of supply is actually purposely calculated to "Keep People Hungry!" You are angering your customers.I finally went home and went to bed. I woke to find a voice mail from the toy department manager of the Walmart I went to. He told me he found four cases of the Oversized and told me to come back to get them if I wanted some. I ended up with Barney Stormin', Lightning Storm McQueen, and Al-Oft the Blimp. The infuriating thing was he put out a second pallet hours after I left with the large talking Mack Transporter, Launchers, and New Single Packs. The Single Packs were picked over and I got nothing else. He told me he saw that two more Cars pallets were coming in any day now. So, who knows what they'll be and when they'll come in.
I left Walmart about 1:30 P.M. and headed to my last useless stop, a different Toys R Us location. Again, nothing new at all! Five different stores and literally nothing to buy! I was told the same happened with a friend in the Austin, Texas area. Taking a look at the collecting community, I found that the same disappointment held true across the country. I don't know what brilliant managers made the poor decisions that led to thousands of collectors coming up empty today, but they should be fired. This running around to store, after store, after store, has gotten beyond OLD! People are getting fed up! There is far more to life, than chasing around Cars toys that aren't available.
If Walmart and Mattel want to do something for their image, they should make damn sure there is plenty of supply of the Haulers and the Newest Singles available SOON! People are over the fact that Sarge hasn't been re-released, that they can't find the Oversized Cars, and that they are Cases behind the latest releases! The supply has never met the demand since the line started in June of 2006! I won't even discuss MattyCollector! Au Revoir for tonight!!
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