Disney Pixar Cars - Kmart Collectors Days Update

Well, I know I teased you a bit last week, but as the saying goes, "Good things come to those who wait!" I finally got the ok to discuss the Kmart Collectors Days! There will be two that will take place...One will be on June 20, 2009, and the other will be on October 17, 2009. There will be a number of "Exclusives" released with rubber tires and special event only packaging! I will discuss them shortly.

Here for the FIRST TIME, is the poster a few lucky people will win! Kmart will raffle the poster off as they did at last year's event! Click on the poster image, and it will enlarge so you can see all the details of the 2009 releases. Were you lucky enough to get one last year? My friend won one and gave it to me. It is a huge poster with the pictures of all of the 2009 "Mainline" releases.

The first event will take place on June 20, 2009! The following cars will be Kmart Collectors Day exclusives:

1. Bumper Save
   
2. Clutch Aid
   
3. Easy Idle
4. Lil Torquey Pistons
5. Mood Springs
   
6. No Stall
7. Retread
8. Shifty Drug
9. and Tow Cap
   

The second event will take place on October 17, 2009! The following cars will be Kmart Collectors Day exclusives:

1. Leak Less
   
2. N2O Cola
3. Octane Gain
4. Rev-N-Go
5. Re-Volting
6. Trunk Fresh
7. and Vinyl Toupee

A number of these cars have already been released. What will add to their desirability will be the fact that all of these cars will come with rubber tires, and exclusive packaging that will ONLY be available at the events.

Alternator Valley will once again Twitter LIVE from each event! We'll broadcast from the East Coast so all of you can follow us early. You'll benefit the most by being armed with our LIVE tips as you arrive at your local Kmarts! If you wish to be part of this Live Feed, I'd strongly suggest you get your account setup with Twitter ASAP. Don't wait until the morning of June 20th. You can "Follow" me by searching for my Twitter Id which is orlandogken. You'll click follow and then can read my updates Live. You may even want to do it now. You never know what I may be doing!!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Toys R Us, Comic-Con and Kmart Collectors Days UPDATE

Yesterday was certainly a "Teaser!" I'd like to have broken some major news for you about Toys R Us today, but couldn't just yet. The news I want to share was confirmed by my sources today. We are waiting to be sure we don't step on any corporate toes before sharing it with you. I can only tell you it appears to be big news!

The Comic-Con news I will have for you should be on track for the middle of next week, and you are going to love it! Just waiting on China. So, don't expect anything else until I post what should wow you then!

Finally, I'm waiting on an OK to share the news I have for you about the Kmart Collectors Days. This is cool news, but the least earth quaking of the three. Matter of fact, I hope to have it for you tomorrow. One person needs to simply give a thumbs up. You would think they'd know how much buzz we bloggers give them?!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Toys R Us, Comic-Con and Kmart Collectors Days

Today, I waited and waited for the green light to report some super cool things to you all, but unfortunately, I got stuck at a long red light. So, I'm simply going to tease you by saying that I will eventually tell you some potentially incredible news about Toys R Us! I'm waiting for some verification about the news. I may be able to discuss this story in the next few days.

I'll also tell you I should have some super stuff for you about Comic-Con! China is a bit behind on Mattel's Comic-Con exclusive. I expect to have some very nice things for you by the middle, to the end of next week.

Finally, I will have something for you about the Kmart Collectors Days! It is something good, but something you can't buy. What could it be?! You'll have to wonder and wait to find out!

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Disney Pixar Cars - The Stores To Find Cars

Walmart and Target have been major disappointments for the last couple months. Promises of pallets filled with Cars toys are more like dreams of sugarplums in some whacked out kid's head! They have let us down! No supply and nothing new!

Who are the New heros of Cars collectors?! That old dump of a store...Kmart! Right there with old glue horse Kmart is Toys R Us! Come on, you agree with me, you walk into a Kmart and it is like a morgue! You keep waiting to hear when they are going to file Chapter 11! Yet somehow, the old Blue Light Special keeps its doors open. Heck, Toys R Us isn't much better really! I don't know how they stay in business. BUT, in spite of the fact Kmarts always look like they are going Out of Business and Toys R Us hardly every has customers, they have come through strong in the last couple of weeks!

Toys R Us has been a consistent supply of New releases! I've found Impound Boost, Chief RPM, and Tank Coat Pitty! I've yet to find the next case with Impound Snot Rod, but I have a strong feeling they will have them very soon as well! So, kudos to Toys R Us for meeting collector demand over the last few weeks! It certainly made it easier to buy five Cars for the N2O promotion!

Today I had a feeling I should go into Kmart and voila! There were the two Over Sized Characters I've been searching weeks for...Mack and Marco! And, they had two of each, which is what I always buy! Not only did I find Mack and Marco, but I also found another Impound Boost! So, guess where I'll be going in search of Cars die cast toys? Well, it's safe to say I won't be going to Walmart until they get their act together!

Hope this gives you some help in your search for the elusive toys! You know, I paid $8.79 for each Over Sized and could care less. They had the darn things I wanted and I was happy to pay Kmarts price! Wouldn't you?

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - Selling Cars On Ebay Is A Waste Of Time

I want to address the selling of Cars die cast toys on Ebay. From the start, people have been hoarding Cars and foolishly selling them for very little profit. I'm going to show you how people selling Cars on Ebay have little to no business smarts!

I got an extra Edwin Kranks at the Kmart Collectors Day back in October. Let me show you how much of a waste of time it was for me to sell it on Ebay! The first time I listed it, I had a starting price of $9.99 with a Buy It Now price of $12.99. It did not sell. The second time I listed it, my starting price was $2.00 with a Buy It Now price of $9.99. This time someone paid the Buy It Now price of $9.99 with $2.95 Shipping and Handling.

Here's how my costs broke down and what I made...The first time I listed it, I paid an Insertion fee of $0.35, a Buy It Now fee of $0.10, for a total of $0.45 cents. The second time I listed it, I paid an Insertion fee of $0.35, a Buy It Now fee of $0.10, a Scheduled fee of $0.10, and a Final Value fee of $0.87 cents. Now, the Insertion fee of $0.35 was refunded because it sold the second time I listed it. My total Ebay fees were $1.45 and constituted a 16% piece to Ebay. The person paid by Paypal and those fees were $0.68 cents, and totalled a 5% piece to Paypal. The cost of shipping was $1.86, and the large bubble envelope cost me $0.50. The cost of the Edwin Kranks Car was $3.72. Total Fees came to $8.21. My gross amount was $12.94 and I netted $4.73 after expenses.

Now, this might seem ok on the surface, but let's look at other unrealized expenses. First, the time I spent going to Kmart and the cost of gas...I spent about two hours dealing with the event. Who knows how much gas I used. The store was about five miles from my house. Now, add to this my time spent listing Edwin for sale, the preparing of the picture, relisting it, packing it and ultimately mailing it. I'd estimate another one and a half hours. Total time spent to make a lousy $4.73...three and a half hours! That means I made $1.35/hour! That is absolutely stupid from a common sense business approach!!

The dumb thing I've heard for years from people selling like this is "I do it for fun!" When I spell it out for you, I ask you, "What is your life worth to you?!" All those hours spent to make so little. I'd really rather have spent those three and a half hours with friends, learning something, or even volunteering my time to enrich another's life. Remember, we have a finite time here. Do you want to spend it so foolishly? These points alone are enough to convince people with a brain to stop doing such fruitless selling. Additionally, think how this hoarding and greed has created shortages of supply. We've all seen those pictures people post that intimate bragging when they show a photo of two dozen of one Chase Car!

The only positive, is that you can often get the Cars you want for a good price. The majority of the Cars toys have never sold for much more than twice their cost. I looked at how many nuts bought the Mac Transporter and opened it to sell Bumper Save. Within a day, the dummies flooded the market with over eighty auctions selling the same darn car! Too many ding dongs have no clue as to what they are doing.

Will addressing this make the selling stop? Of course not! It will ONLY enlighten those with a brain. I don't care what you want to sell, it needs to be profitable and worth your time. Heck, if you really want to waste your time to track Cars down and sell them to me for three or four bucks over retail, go right ahead! You save me tons of time that I can use to sleep, watch movies, workout, and do productive things. Maybe you selling Cars on Ebay is not a waste of my time? Hmmm! ;-) I am Over and OUT!!

http://www.CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - Expect More Kmart Cars Collectors Events

I talked to one of my contacts at Mattel, and was told Kmart did incredible numbers on October 18th's Collectors Day. From what I was told, I'd expect to see more Cars Collectors Events at Kmart in the future. Kmart has long done Hot Wheels Collectors Events with Mattel. They tend to have one every three to four months. As a matter of fact, they are having another Hot Wheels Collectors Event on November 8, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. That is less than two months since the last one they just did on September 20th. So, maybe we'll see another Cars Collectors Event at Kmart in February or March. Would you like to be able to get four or five New Cars released in one fell swoop again? Heck! I say yessirree!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Kmart Collectors Day Round-Up Report

I had expectations about the Kmart Collectors Day and they all held fairly true. Admittedly, I had no idea how many people would turn out. I figured that the numbers would be similar to Hot Wheels events, and they were. The turn out at three stores myself and my two reporters were at, came in at a count of seven, ten, and ten.

The three stores all managed things differently. The store I was at, allowed people to open cases on a First Come, First Served basis. The other two stores chose people to open cases by pulling their number out of a hat raffle style. The stores setup things differently as well. The store I attended setup a table at the front entrance of the store. The store Reporter One was at, setup near the courtesy desk, while the store Reporter Two was at, setup the table in the back of the store.

The store I was at got six cases of "Mainline" Cars, and three cases of "Minis!" The first six people got to open a case each and choose five Cars. Then, the last two went through all six cases and picked their first five choices. We then came back a second time to pick five more, and then it was a free for all the third time around. The one poster was grabbed by a guy who just took it, and no one cared about the Minis. At the store where I had Reporter One, he was the second person there, but that store went the raffle way and he was picked last to choose. The difference at his store was that most of the people just showed up and got involved because there was a table setup. This actually helped him because they didn't know what to look for when picking their Cars. He also won the poster as they raffled it off and he was chosen. Reporter Two was annoyed by the way the manager ran things. She told me she didn't know what the hell she was doing! Some people tried to cheat by taking more than one raffle ticket. Others tried to manipulate the manager into letting them open more than one case. Reporter Two had been briefed on the rules by me and put a stop to a lot of the nonsense.

Both Reporters were disgusted by the way a number of the adults conducted themselves. They felt they were very immature and selfish. They both indicated they wouldn't want to do it again. The crowd at the store I was at, had a number of dirty, bummy looking people. Beyond people's behavior and hygiene, the thing to come away with is that you can do well in spite of the size of the crowd. In my case, I had the fewest people, but the setup drew more last minute people and the majority knew what to look for. So, you could say that made for a more competitive situation. Reporter One was at an advantage because he knew what to look for, while the other last minute stragglers didn't. And, even though he was drawn last to pick, he still got all the best Cars due to his preparation! Finally, Reporter Two had to deal with taking control of a more devious group and a manager who didn't have a clue. She made things stay fair and knew what to do to get what she wanted.

The one difficult Car to get was Edwin Kranks. There was only one in every other case. So, the day yielded a total of Seven New Cars released...Sputter Stop, View Zeen, Shiny Wax, Transberry Juice, Spare Mint, Edwin Kranks and Small Fred. It was very exciting to add this many Cars to my collection in one fell swoop! I hope you all did as well as I did!

Finally, I hope those of you who followed us on Twitter got some insight, and it helped you do better as you got to your Kmart later in the morning.

http://www.CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - I'll Be Twittering Live At The Kmart Cars Event On 10/18/08

Great minds do think alike! My friend who publishes Take5aday has been playing with Twitter and wants to "Tweat" Live as we're at the Kmart Cars Event this Saturday, October 18th. I've been messing with it for a few weeks and attempted to embed a widget on Alternator Valley, but encountered some bugs. That doesn't mean we can't use it for Live feeds from the Kmart event.

If you have yet to hear about Twitter, it is what is called a "Micro-Blogging" site. Basically, you setup a Free account and can type 140 character "What are you doings" directly from the site, or text message updates from your cell phone to your profile. I thought it was stupid as hell! Twitter even says it seems stupid in their video intro. Why would I care what a friend is doing at any time, especially if it is mundane!

BUT, in the case of being at a LIVE event, such as the Kmart thing this weekend, it can be very useful indeed!

What my friend at Take5aday and I intend to do is to give our readers Live updates by the minute about the crowd, the number of cases the store we're in received, how the event is being conducted, what we got, and more! This will help you adjust your strategy and be better prepared to get what you want. I'll be starting the day since I'm on the East Coast in Florida. If you wish to be part of this Live Feed, I'd strongly suggest you get your account setup with Twitter ASAP. Don't wait until Saturday morning. You can "Follow" me by searching for my Twitter Id which is orlandogken. You'll click follow and then can read my updates Live. Good Luck on Saturday!

http://www.CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - Upcoming Items of Interest

Waiting, waiting, waiting! Not much news of late. We're all just waiting for all the New Cars releases to show up in stores...The New Race O Rama card backs with Impound McQueen, Spin Out McQueen and Ron Hover. We're waiting for the New Oversized releases including Al-Oft, Mack, Barney Stormin', Lightning Storm McQueen and Marco the Jet. We're waiting for the release of the New Race Car Haulers such as Mack, Chick Hicks and the Wal-Mart truck. So, as we wait, I thought I'd add a bit to your "To Do List!"

1. This weekend on October 18, 2008, you have the K-Mart Cars Event at 11:00 a.m. at most Kmart stores in the country. The list is too long for me to post. Call your store on the 17th and ask the know nothing managers about the event then, then they might finally know something. HA!
   
2. Darth Mater will be auctioned off at this year's Children Affected by Aids Foundation's Dream Halloween event on October 25, 2008!
3. October 26, 2008 is the start of the next Toys R Us buy 5 get 1 Free promotion for a Cars N2O Cola Car in a display case. The typical store personnel are like Schultz from Hogan's Heros saying, "I see NOTHING! I know NOTHING!"
   
4. The world premier of Disney Pixar's "Cars Toons," the New animated short series directed by John Lasseter and starring Mater, will be presented on the Disney Channel, Toon Disney, and ABC Family beginning on Monday, October 27, 2008!

So, We have a few Cars things to keep us occupied for the next couple of weeks. I've been surely driving the Toys R Us and Wal-Mart stores crazy with my calls looking for the New Oversized releases. At least it keeps me out of trouble, right?! Yeah, right!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars Short Card Backs - News or Not

I was in a Kmart about a week ago and saw New short card backs. It was the first time I had seen such an item. I recall reading something a number of months back, but have not seen or heard anything about them since. So, if this is News to you, then you'll eventually see them showing up in stores. If you've heard about these new short card backs, then this is old news to you and you are super cool!

The question now is, do you want short card backs as a collector? They take up less space, but don't cost you less. They cost Mattel and Disney less in packaging costs since the card back is about half as tall. How about those of you who've purchased Card Protectors as I have that are made for the tall card backs. Does this upset you? Is this the future for the entire "Mainline?" I'll have to ask my contacts at Mattel and let you know.

http://www.CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars Kmart Collectors Day 10/18/08

Mattel will be partnering with Kmart on October 18, 2008 for a Disney Pixar Cars "Collectors Day!" Similar to the Hot Wheels events they've done with Kmart, collectors can go to Kmart with the expectation of seeing Brand NEW releases, raffles and fun!

Here are the Cars die cast toys we can expect to see...

Edwin Kranks will be the first of what I've coined,
the "Old Route 66 Days" characters released.

Fred will be released in his New, smaller scale size.
I don't believe he will be the Fred with Bumper Stickers Chase version.
But, you never know!

Get ready to see "Shiny Wax," a.k.a. Darren Leadfoot, Car #82!

You'll also meet "Sputter Stop," a.k.a. Murray Clutchburn, Car #92!

"Transberry Juice," a.k.a. Lee Revkins, Car #63 will be stopping by!

You'll clearly see "View Zeen," a.k.a. Ryan Shields, Car #39 on the 18th!

"Spare O Mint," a.k.a Ernie Gearson, Car #93 will freshen up your day!

You know I'll be there! I'll report how things went and let you know any other details leading up to the big day!

http://www.CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com