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41 to 1 Ratio HW to MB
Topic Started: Sep 15 2016, 08:18 AM (471 Views)
911diecast
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Midsize
So we have been asked to document what we are finding (or not finding) in our stores. I am not blaming Mattel or the distribution as we see DT can get cases and stock them whenever they want, but WM and their bias against MB.

I went into one of my local WM's this morning and this is what was found on the pegs.

First picture is at least 572 HW's
Posted Image
Next one 240 HW's
Posted Image
And then another 108 HW's.
Posted Image
This was in addition to a Dump bin with 600+ Batman versus Superman in it.


Now on to the MB pegs.
Posted Image

Yup that's right 21 MB's on the pegs. A ratio of 41 to 1.

Again after talking to the toy manager, whom I have know for years, it seems that the upper management are the ones who determine when they are allowed to order MB. HW's are sent automatically and some of my local stores have 1,000's. One even had three dump bins at one time.

So after asking him to order some MB, as WM says they will order what the customer wants, he told me he has placed an order but management told him that they would order some for Christmas. The toy manager states he can never keep the pegs full of MB, but runs out of room for the HW's, even at a ratio of 41 to 1.

Again Mattel cannot control what WM orders.

So off to the three Dollar Trees in the next few days to see what they have in stock.
Edited by 911diecast, Sep 15 2016, 08:19 AM.
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b2young
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Sad firefighter
I've commented before about other chains, such as Fred Meyer department/grocery stores here in the PNW. Almost every Fred Meyer store has a toy aisle end cap filled with about 750 Hot Wheels, and somewhere nearby either one of those mid-aisle shippers with about 750 HW, or at least a small dump bin filled with a few hundred (sometimes both on the floor at the same time).

Our Walmarts generally don't have as many HW pegged (or even the space for them) as Fred Meyer stores. Walmarts do, however, fill no less than half an aisle with all the sub-series from HW....so there are about 20 linear aisle feet of nothing but HW at any Walmart at any given time. Long story short.....the ratio of HW to MB where I live is probably close to what you found, Keith.

Lately, as many of us are finding around the USA, Dollar Tree is becoming the best source for Matchbox; but as I mentioned yesterday in another thread, I have customarily found as many new Matchbox castings at Fred Meyer as I can expect at all local big box outlets combined. And, Fred Meyer is not really a steady source.....their Matchbox pegging is hit or miss, and more often than not, miss. Yet, last Sunday I found batch H pegged at a nearby Fred Meyer....and no other chain has brought that batch to town yet (other local Fred Meyer stores didn't have any evidence of that same batch).

As for Walmart's ordering and stocking, I can't imagine they would so prolifically order and re-order HW if they weren't selling them like hot cakes. I often walk into the nearest WM and see the pegged singles thinning out.....so somebody is definitely buying them day after day. What else could justify a store's ordering policy but sales? Sales is their entire business.

Still, you'd think when the Matchbox pegs were nearly empty they'd order more......but they don't. You can't sell what you don't stock. It makes no sense to me at all.
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Brian49
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Station Wagon
I have given up trying to figure out Wal-Mart and Matchbox, like every one else, my local stores sporadically stock the MBX. When they get a new shipment, it is thinned out with in a 3-5 days, down to three or so peg warmers. The three pegwarmers save the spot for the next MBX shipment in two to three months. When they do regular stocking (which is usually only for November and December, the new stock thins down in 3-5 days, is restocked and repeated, I don't know wy you would not want to try this year round?

As for Dollar Tree, around here they are as bad if not worst then Wal-Mart. Wave C is the newest models I have seen, some stores have models from 2015 or 2014.
Edited by Brian49, Sep 15 2016, 10:56 AM.
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toyotageek
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Don't know if this would have an effect on Hot Wheels, Matchbox, or anything that Mattel might make, but Hanjin Shipping is in bankruptcy and their ships aren't being allowed to unload... sometimes there are also outside influences that can affect our hobby. Not saying this has anything to do with anything, since Matchbox distribution is a long ongoing problem, but, you never know. :unsure:

http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/tag/hanjin-shipping/
Edited by toyotageek, Sep 15 2016, 11:10 AM.
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webestang64
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That is how all the stores I go to here in St. Louis are. Well, except you have 5-packs on the pegs, last 2 WM's I went to had all 5-packs for $2.50 and empty pegs.
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b2young
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hanjin is a Korean shipping line.....I suspect Mattel models made in China probably ship on Chinese ships? But surely some things we might have interest in are stuck on those Hanjin ships outside port of LA.....
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Random
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Station Wagon
94 cents for one. darn. Here the prices are at 1,95 euros to 2,90 euros for HW. MBX is 2,20 euros to 2,90 euros.
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Douglas
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SUV
Walmart.... I thought the only Matchbox they carried were the least appealing generic trucks, and Zamboni's anyways.

Kidding aside, well not really kidding regarding the WM nearest to me, but new batches of MBX with nice models seem to disappear quick from most stores around these parts, especially the most desired castings, I do see a lot of HWs around stores, but it often seems to be restocked with the same batches of those over and over again.
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Badge109
Compact
That is INSANE! The disparity between two brands from Mattel is staggering.
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
toyotageek
Sep 15 2016, 11:08 AM
Don't know if this would have an effect on Hot Wheels, Matchbox, or anything that Mattel might make, but Hanjin Shipping is in bankruptcy and their ships aren't being allowed to unload... sometimes there are also outside influences that can affect our hobby. Not saying this has anything to do with anything, since Matchbox distribution is a long ongoing problem, but, you never know. :unsure:

http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/tag/hanjin-shipping/
While it might affect some current shipments, sadly this has been an ongoing issued for a number of years in regards to the distribution of Matchbox toys.

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b2young
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Sad firefighter
Badge109
Sep 15 2016, 07:12 PM
That is INSANE! The disparity between two brands from Mattel is staggering.
I have a difficult time believing that the thousands of HW in stock at any given time at many big box stores turn over frequently, yet at least monthly there are new 'dump bins' or shippers filled to overflowing with more (note I didn't say "new") product, at almost any chain except Dollar Tree. (I often notice there are no HW at a DT that has just pegged 'new' Matchbox.....then the next time in that store, there are 'new' HW.)

The frequency of restocking, and quantity of HW at these stores, should point to there being someone buying HW or flicking through the pegs every single time we are in 'that' store. Most of the time, I'm the only person browsing the diecast aisle when I'm in a store. I just have a hard time being convinced the HW sell like crazy compared to Matchbox.....yet the cycle continues....always MORE and MORE HW showing up, even if they're repeating the same models over and over, while the Matchbox pegs look sad and forlorn and bare.

All I can make of it is that it must be true.....the stores reorder HW regularly because HW sell like hotcakes (perhaps the shoppers are invisible?)....and the stores like that.

I can still walk into a couple of Walmarts locally and find the Dodge Ram 1500 Police in the National Parks livery....and aside from my obvious prejudice for the theme, I am surprised it's not a bigger seller, especially in a state where land management is a prominent hot-button issue and forest/brush fires are a bothersome neighbor 6 months out of the year.
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pjedsel
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Muscle Car
While on our recent trip to Wisconsin I stopped at a couple of big box stores in central Minnesota (St. Cloud). Neither had any Matchbox singles but the bigger surprise was the lack of Hot Wheels on the pegs. :o One of the stores was a Wal Mart - this is about the third different Wally I have been in over the years that did not seem to have an over abundance of Hot Wheels. On the other hand stopped at a farm and ranch store here in Grand Forks today and they had the current MB Superlift and Super duty fire engines on the pegs at $1.29 apiece. :)
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b2young
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Sad firefighter
pjedsel
Sep 16 2016, 09:06 PM
While on our recent trip to Wisconsin I stopped at a couple of big box stores in central Minnesota (St. Cloud). Neither had any Matchbox singles but the bigger surprise was the lack of Hot Wheels on the pegs. :o One of the stores was a Wal Mart - this is about the third different Wally I have been in over the years that did not seem to have an over abundance of Hot Wheels. On the other hand stopped at a farm and ranch store here in Grand Forks today and they had the current MB Superlift and Super duty fire engines on the pegs at $1.29 apiece. :)
That wouldn't be a D&B Supply store, would it?

I occasionally need things only they have in stock, and usually go through the toy dept on my way to whatever else I'm looking for. Rarely see small-scale diecast. There's a Tractor Supply Corp store in Emmett, about 25 miles from here, but I never stopped in there when in that town.

My nearest Walmart added a new "end cap" on a free-standing regular square shelf/display for HW just off the end of the toy aisles, doubling the HW singles pegs in that store, but no evidence it was 'new' HW stock as far as I could tell. Probably just emptied a bin-of-death/dump bin onto some pegs to make room for other toys in the temporary aisle shippers nearby.
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pjedsel
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b2young
Sep 17 2016, 11:08 AM
pjedsel
Sep 16 2016, 09:06 PM
While on our recent trip to Wisconsin I stopped at a couple of big box stores in central Minnesota (St. Cloud). Neither had any Matchbox singles but the bigger surprise was the lack of Hot Wheels on the pegs. :o One of the stores was a Wal Mart - this is about the third different Wally I have been in over the years that did not seem to have an over abundance of Hot Wheels. On the other hand stopped at a farm and ranch store here in Grand Forks today and they had the current MB Superlift and Super duty fire engines on the pegs at $1.29 apiece. :)
That wouldn't be a D&B Supply store, would it?

I occasionally need things only they have in stock, and usually go through the toy dept on my way to whatever else I'm looking for. Rarely see small-scale diecast. There's a Tractor Supply Corp store in Emmett, about 25 miles from here, but I never stopped in there when in that town.

My nearest Walmart added a new "end cap" on a free-standing regular square shelf/display for HW just off the end of the toy aisles, doubling the HW singles pegs in that store, but no evidence it was 'new' HW stock as far as I could tell. Probably just emptied a bin-of-death/dump bin onto some pegs to make room for other toys in the temporary aisle shippers nearby.
:wave: This one is a North Dakota based chain called Home of Economy.
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