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Mattel Disney Pixar CARS: Motor Speedway of South - Second Coming?

“Steve AKA: Poppa” pointed in a recent comment that the HK couple seems to be taking pre-orders for another 28-ish Motor Speedway of the South set.

Most interesting.

Real, Fake, Counterfeiting or Something else?

As we noted in our Top 10 Rarest Post, this is an interesting new phenomenon in collecting.

Back in the old old days, pre-1975, no one really bothered to counterfeit toys. It would be like counterfeiting a grapefruit or counterfeiting a $1 dollar bill - why bother? The “fake” you create would take you tens or hundreds of hours for a miniscule return.

After the mid 1970’s when some older baby boomer toys from 20 years prior in MINT condition or a MINT box might start to fetch thousands - people would try and fix up older figures (GI Joe, Barbie) by pulling together a mint box with a fake outfit or even make new accessories because some particular Joe or Barbie was worth hundreds and later thousands but these were one shot deals - while there were small companies that might try and knockoff the latest Batman or Superman action figures by altering the logo slightly, etc … but it wasn’t cheap to make a mold, inject plastic and paint it so the knockoffs were easy to spot.

And without a WORLDWIDE market like eBay, while people who worked at the factory could collect prototypes that thrown away, or the first few off the assembly line that got rejected and tossed, without the eBay/online auction marketplace, you had to work pretty hard to sell anything and conversely, only a small rabid core of collectors could even keep track of what was out there. For instance, pre eBay, a company might release a special variant in US shipments that was 1 to 10 boxes … so maybe you could get lucky - you knew it was valuable but how much value? Unless you went to toy shows and swap meets and read all the fan mags sometimes literally stapled together, value is only determined when there is an on-going marketplace …because if you can’t readily find someone to sell it to … though conversely, that same action figure 1 to 10 boxes may have been 1 in each box in Europe so in the US, it might’ve sold for $25 but in Europe, maybe $2? Now, it’s totally different. The world is one big auction click away.

So - the shortcut to making toys is. Client approves design. You make a mold - you do some test ones to make sure mold is correct and client approves final, final including not just design but color and accessories, etc … now, of course, you don’t fire up a machine to make one - the natural course is once it’s fired up, you make a couple dozen or even hundreds and you shut off the machine. Some will just look like lumps of plastic or lumpy metal - after a few are churned out, they start to look right, you pick out a few to forward to the client. The rest get tossed back to recycle or the garbage and of course, some get plunked out of the garbage and onto the world auction markets. These are unpainted or whatever color is in the paint area, etc, etc …

So, back tracking a bit - as toys and eBay leveled world pricing, you had more customs. A toy line sometimes doesn’t get around to a crucial figure before they stop selling or it’s just fun to have (I have a Homer Simpson painted like Captain Kirk). While these could be an infringement, with “art,” there’s a fine line between a soup can and an Andy Warhol painting.

While corporate lawyers like to believe everything is a trademark violation or requires a DMCA takedown (well at least in the US), the truth is that a trademark violation is more narrowly defined, it’s only a trademark violation if it causes confusion … for instance, I can draw or photograph my own Mattel Disney Pixar CARS because there is no LEGALLY DEFINED confusion between a 3-dimensional diecast toy car and a 1-dimensional representation of it. But of course they usually count on the fact that their legal department is better funded than you are so most people are quick-twitch to pull down anything down.

So customs that you see people handpaint are generally ignored because a) small potatoes, b) quasi legal under doctrine of first sale for most items (you buy it, you can re-sell it - there are some exceptions) and c) as long as there’s no misrepresentation and clearly stated it’s a custom …

So, why do I bring this up?

Because the overseas auctions for the Mattel CARS are not quite counterfeit (not created in a different factory by reverse engineering the items), not prototypes or test rejects and not officially stolen.

Perhaps we need a new name for them - Unauthorized Factory Versions.

Creating a diecast car is not as easy as it looks. It takes a myriad of steps from making the metal base, painting (dipping or electrostat), drying, cleaning, applying tampo decals, painting, adding parts, riveting and finishing (drying, cleaning, etc ). Even if you owned the factory or ran the assembly line, would you be able to do all that? Now, once you get started, if you make 500, you might as well make 25,000.

So, this is definitely not someone picking up an extra shell of Lightning McQueen and applying some paint and stickers for his eyes … no, this requires real work.

Just as with the extra and different color of McQueen - it’s one thing to dip or electrostat (Ransburg) of a color Mattel ordered but it’s another to be able to switch out from the Chuki paint to doing a few dozen Lightning McQueen’s … is it someone who works at the factory?

If it was - I would say they are pretty brazen and they are obviously not just an assembly line schlub. They clearly need someone who can approve and order a few dozen or more employees to continue the assembly process. After all, the guy who rivets is probbaly not skilled enough to paint Dale Jr’s stripes …

So, in theory, the evidence points that the two sellers do NOT work at the Mattel factory but merely have access to a higher up who works there … and a higher up they don’t care if they get fired - because it would seem that by looking at this couple’s FLIKR site, you should be able to pretty much determine which factory is assembling the specific lines but Mattel might not care or maybe they are not willing to antagonize that factory. After all, they are literally cranking out millions of CARS, Hot Wheels & Matchboxes for Mattel - what’s 50 or 100 that tumbles out the front reception area?

And of course, now we cycle back to the new Factory Unauthorized Motor Speedway Sets … what does it mean?

You could argue many things:

MATTEL IS GOING TO RE-RELEASE THE SET?

Yea, I said it.

Unlikely but possible. Mattel made about $300,000 ($299 sets, 1,000 sold) in about 2.5 hours … they probably easily left another $500,000 on the table (presuming they could easily sell another 2,500 sets - though probably requiring a few extra days).

Of the 900ish sets out there (I’m presuming 50-100 were held back), how many are diehard collectors who would be so mad they would place a hex on Mattel and cast their Motor Speedway set out the window? A couple hundred? And maybe another couple hundred out of the 900 would be annoyed and vocal but would ultimately just shrug? What is the total CARS potential audience for this set? Whatever that number is, it’s much greater than 200-400 mad/annoyed current collectors versus making how many more people happy? (and by happy, I mostly mean putting $500k into Mattel’s coffers … you know, that kind of happy :-) )

The bad news is that it’s definitely not going to be $299 and it will be priced higher.

Sure, Mattel said that it might be some of sort of exclusive but then they think the 6th appearance/packaging version of the Al Oft the Blimp qualifies as “new.”

So, maybe there’s no track or there’s a sticker that now reads HOLIDAY VERSION.

I should point out that I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING. If I did, I would tell you. I paid $299 for mine - a high price but the other day in SF, I spent that on lunch & dinner … so, hey whatever. I didn’t buy it for investment so I don’t really care all that much - whether it goes to $2k or falls to $99, it’s all pretty much the same to me … okay, if it goes to $5k,  :-)

But why do I bring up the possibility of a second appearance?

I find the whole two-month period for pre-sale kind of odd (term of auction - buy set, pay now - get it in 2 months) … because if I had access to the factory where I could “order” dozens of people to:

“… making the metal base, painting (dipping or electrostat), drying, cleaning, applying tampo decals, painting, adding parts, riveting and finishing (drying, cleaning, etc ) …”

FOR 36 DIFFERENT CARS and re-create the base & display case AND the outside paper box EXACTLY as Mattel ordered it - why stop at 28? Why not 100? Or 200? That’s 28 x $1,000 or $28,000 in revenue!!! …You can do the math if you continue their putput number to 200 :-)

Why stop there? Once you start up the factory process like the paint dip, it’s hardly worth the time to mix & blend paint for 28-30 CARS and then switch to the next CAR, and so on and so on. Creating 200 doesn’t take that much more time …

And why two months from now - if you have access, why not now?

Because it’s costly to launch your own “export” business?

Okay, let’s say you had complete access to the factory - you could order people to assemble CARS at your will - you can start each speech with a bwahahaha evil laugh … so let’s say you decided to make 30 Motor Speedway sets … first, you would need to mix and blend 20-36 different base coats - even if all the colors are pre-programmed, you’d still need some skill to turn on the machine or bring in the guy who does that. Then you need to have enough metal to make some 90 versions of each of the three body types … plus borrow a few McQ, Chick Hicks and King (the oddball body types) - then assemble some 1,000+ SETS of tampo decals, eyes and prepare the proper paint for the areas of the body that need paint by hands. Obviously you need the regular employees who can slap on, coat and finish just the eyes portion properly - not to mention the rest of the CAR. You need a person who can rivet and then have all the CARS stamped properly. You need 30 acrylic bases and the sticker of the race track surface … see where I’m going? Even if you or I had total access to the factory with no chance of getting caught, I’d bet we’d spend an hour just gluing one set of eyes on properly … it’s hard work to build this mini “unauthorized” venture … so maybe, they’re just waiting the 2-months because Mattel is going to have the assembly line cranked up ANYWAY?

If Mattel is making another 2,000/3,000 sets in 4-5 weeks from now, what’s another 30? Or 50? If Mattel orders 2,000 sets, they are not just going to print up 2,000 Mood Springs tampo decals, they’ll print up 2,500 just to safe … so who’s going to notice if the factory workers spend another 30-minutes on the line making a total of 2,030 sets or 2,100 sets - they just know they’re supposed to keep applying these tampo decals to this blue car until the blue car stops arriving at his assembly station?

See where I’m going?

Again, I have ZERO PROOF of anything.

All I’m saying is a lot of things don’t add up - if you have full access to the factory, why wait two months? Why not strike while the $1,500 “iron” is hot? But to do it now requires you to act like a legit business - paying for supplies & wages? … But what makes 2-months better than now? Mattel paying for nearly everything? You just tag on a little payoff at the end?

I should also point out that if this becomes true, then would Mattel really brazenly release a second version of this virtually the same set - with race track base, with cover & the exact same artwork? (with some just other tony feature to indicate it’s not V.1? No hologram sticker?) Because this presumes this ‘unauthorized venture’ is unwilling to spend “real” money to re-produce anything separately but is just grabbing 5% extra/leftover from Mattel’s actual versions?

I DON’T HAVE PROOF OF ANYTHING!

For those in my boat - you bought the set because you liked it, have opened it - playing with it - etc … if Mattel is coming back with another version much like it but NOT exactly the same … will you be furious? Will you be mad? Will you be annoyed? Will you just shrug?

What if you bought this as an investment - what does a few extra thousand mean to you? Betrayl? Just Business?

Again, I have no idea if these guys are just launching some ‘unauthorized version’ because they could scrap up enough capital to fund making just 30 sets or is 30 a number they feel they can tag onto Mattel’s next run without too much notice?

All I can say is that CARS is never dull.

There’s always something going on or in some cases, something not going on.

In the words of Hunter S. Thompson, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”

This is a playtpus eating a land shark and singing.

Stay tuned … lots of more interesting posts coming … :-)

« Mattel Disney Pixar CARS: Target Halloween 2008 & Other Mini’sMattel Disney Pixar CARS: When You Wish Upon a Mack Star … »

97 Comments »

  1. Well, I am in your camp Met. Bought it for $300, opened it, play with it, display it in the boys’ playroom. I would be pretty annoyed if Mattel sold more. Less annoyed if it were to cost more and was not numbered (provided I get my sticker of course). Even less annoyed the more different the set looks (well, unless it looked cooler, in that case I would be more annoyed). Furious? Nah. If I had paid $1K on ebay, heck yeah!

    I pretty much counted on the fact that all the Cars in the set would get released eventually, though I did not envision a set.

    I still feel kind of annoyed about the blackmarket stuff too (i.e. the HK couple).

    I wonder how it will all turn out?

    [Reply]

    //Monica
    8 July 2008 at 11:48 pm

  2. It really is never dull in the World of Cars

    [Reply]

    //Collectormom
    8 July 2008 at 11:59 pm

  3. I am just amazed that if they do release another set that they needed to test the water with the pitiful numbers they released in the first place.
    Chances it will be an international sale?????????????

    Can’t see this being good for outside the US again.

    [Reply]

    //jackdaddy2008
    9 July 2008 at 1:53 am

  4. I wonder if it’s related to the Collectors Website Mattel is launching straight after Comic Con? Maybe, the cars will be one of their first ’specials’?

    [Reply]

    //Kieran, UK
    9 July 2008 at 2:58 am

  5. Well said Monica. I enjoy collecting the cars as much for myself as the 3 of 4 grandkids who really really like them. I enjoy having found this web site and for the efforts of Met & crew as he keeps us going forth on a never ending quest in the pursuit of happiness(cars). To Jackdaddy2008 for being vocal, and Bill for knowing what he knows and passing it along. For the volunteers doing us the SDCC buy. Terri for being my volunteer and a host of others which I haven’t mentioned who just keep us entertained and informed. Have today as vacation day, so I am going on a cars search in the city and maybe I’ll get lucky as there is WM,TGT,KM,TRU all within 45 miles and I have the time to search. To bring this back on topic, we really enjoy the Speedway of the South Set. We display it in the CARS play room, but have it open to enjoy and play with. I pick-up a glass display case from a garage sale and we now have a place for everything to be displayed and easy access for picking out who to play with. Of course Grandpa always gets Mater. Enjoy the day and good luck in your quest for Cars.

    (MET: Sounds like a nice display idea and the right way to see/play with CARS :-) )

    [Reply]

    //materlover
    9 July 2008 at 6:12 am

  6. Well, from the other side (shoulda, coulda, woulda) I would be happy if they did re-release it. I know it is an exclusive set but I missed the boat the first time around - yeah, I know…. my own fault. But I consider myself a pretty avid collector (one of each)and would love to have my own SOS set. I feel bad for the first 1000 if they ever do another set, but it’ll help my own collection (which I am opening and keeping for myself.) Sorry first 1000 - I want one too.

    [Reply]

    //Mr.T
    9 July 2008 at 7:38 am

  7. Kieran - that’s exactly what I think it is, and would seem to make the most sense.

    [Reply]

    //LTZ
    9 July 2008 at 8:01 am

  8. Whoa, what!? A collectors website? How did I miss this? Is my dream becoming a reality? Where do I find more info?

    Mr. T, that’s one of the reasons I would only be annoyed rather than angry. It would be nice if people who missed out got another chance without spending outrageous money on ebay. It really is a cool set.

    [Reply]

    //Monica
    9 July 2008 at 10:09 am

  9. They are saying that it is from asian collectors and that they have pooled and collected them to on sell. The 2 months is to gather stock.

    Alot of the demand (price) has been generated from OS collectors as well as US collectors and car fans, as “cars” are now a culture and craze more so then a hotwheels car……it goes more than just putting eyes on a car.

    For me, what they are doing re RR’s, LSMQ’s and so on is bootleg versions. And with royalties slipping out of ford, gmc as well as mattel pockets something sometime will give and the bubble will burst.

    Cars will not go away but a time will come when they do, and for me….their cars will hold as high a place in my collection as raaman1, shopluckey and luism4187 custom works.

    what is the real problem is the on sale of their cars as authentic and authorised. my understanding of RR’s is 2 versions 1/50 (red lights and bonnet clips) and 1/150 white lights, silver bonnet clips and “cars team 09″, it is the other version were people see authentic and pay money. someone just paid $us500 for one. THAT’S WRONG, and that buyer has been educated.

    This is a great forum and great that it is with open discussion of what is happening. I have read and watched and don’t defend them but they do only supply to the market that wants them…..it’s what happens after that
    that can be challenged.

    and let’s also challenge mattel to give the OS collectors a chance, they’re the ones that create the demand for this to fester-happen by release to a small market in a very big world with big shipping costs.
    QLDr

    [Reply]

    //QLDr
    9 July 2008 at 11:25 am

  10. If Mattel are to re-release the set, my money too would be on it being available from the new collectors site and open to international buyers. There are surely a lot of international collectors who, like myself, were rathered ticked off that this set was unavailable to us.

    Not sure I’ll be able to afford it though.

    [Reply]

    //MarkUK
    9 July 2008 at 11:30 am

  11. 2 Points of note
    1:A simple explanaition about the HK sets is that they were simply produced at the same time the first 1000 were made..If mattel ordered 1000 sets the factory would obviously have produced a number of extra stock to cover for lost in transit, damaged in transit, faulty or irregular finishes.So it is plausable these sets have been sitting at the factory until the dust settles.Are they real ,most likely,are they approved. probably not..who cares if it means i can actually get one delivered for under $1000(albeit by $1)..Provding they can supply!!!!!!…..
    2:The Speedway sets have been marketed by Mattel and by HWRLC as “exclusive”…Limited to 1000…and other binding comments giving the origional purchasers a sense of security that what they were purchasing was indeed a very special item.(set)
    A reissue would not only be moraly wrong to those “origional purchasers”(and no im not one of them)but it would probably lead to a class action for those who purchased the set under what would then be false premises and very misleading marketing.And from what i here about the laws governing such things in America im sure any money grab by mattel would simply not be worth the trouble.Not forgetting that the origional people (most of them)were diehard Cars fanatics.
    Im confident that Mattel will move on from these sets and come up with a creative way of selling mini Speedway sets world wide ,similar to the Dinoco 400 sets but maybe a little larger and push us closer to the $99rrp….As with other comments written in this forum my comments are purely speculative and have no basis to them fact or fiction…Just food for thought.

    (MET: Absolutely, if I actually had a 100% answer, I would say so - but it’ still interesting to speculate … though if you go back and read the legalese, while there might not be much ‘moral’ wiggle room, I believe they left themselves some room to maneuver :-) )

    [Reply]

    //QLDa
    9 July 2008 at 12:27 pm

  12. So really, if Mattel did release another run of SOS sets, what would be the repercussions if the 1000 originals got together to file a case??? - hypothetically speaking of course….

    So they don’t release it under Speedway of the South - maybe they release it as The Piston Cup Racers - make minor alterations to the box and Viola!! More green to the machine.

    (MET: Yea, I would think it would have to be quite different - higher cost but less value but in circling back to the first complaints about the no number - if Mattel had written somewhere - sure to retain its high value! - then there would be legal recourse but right now, all Mattel is promising is that THIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY SET has a production run of <1,000 - nothing more. Sure, there are certain things IMPLIED but implied is difficult to quantity ... Mattel never said, 1,000 only and we will destroy the molds! So, yea, another name, a sticker ...).

    [Reply]

    //Mr. T
    9 July 2008 at 12:43 pm

  13. Monica wrote…”Mr. T, that’s one of the reasons I would only be annoyed rather than angry. It would be nice if people who missed out got another chance without spending outrageous money on ebay. It really is a cool set.”

    Exactly!! I’m not out to make money on this set like some of those who bought 4 and 5 sets - I would want one purely for the love of these crazy little things.

    [Reply]

    //Mr. T
    9 July 2008 at 12:45 pm

  14. O.K. heres my take on this and it is just theory………..
    Two months is enough time to run the production line once a day eg. first day for example apple car, cast, srayed, decalled, cleaned polished.
    I used to work in a factory producing machines that made batteries (lead acid type ,car, motorbike) during the course of a month orders would come in for certain machines, so we would give the first customer a date of two months, the second one 7 weeks, third 6 weeks in doing this we would make 10 of the same machines by ordering 10 of each part the assemble them all in the last week or two it was cheaper and quicker to build them side by side technicians would build quicker this way, so back to the sos set, if they spent just a couple of hours each night after standard production setting up for one specific thing, within two months they would have many sets made, now they could as you say produce a lot more than they are selling BUT if they then sat on the rest and sold them in 4 months time they would make a killing again !! Its just like diamonds if you dont flood the market their value stays high !! Anyway this is just a THEORY !!

    (MET: No, I think you’re on target … while I’ve never visited the CARS factory, I imagine that’s how they would piece such a set together …).

    [Reply]

    //Adrian
    9 July 2008 at 4:41 pm

  15. I just went to check this out and it seems the seller has ended the auction early. The items are no longer for sale. I wonder what that means?

    [Reply]

    //micky
    9 July 2008 at 4:42 pm

  16. This is nauseating.

    [Reply]

    //jackdaddy2008
    9 July 2008 at 4:49 pm

  17. you,re right Jackdaddy its getting tedious, like the comments from Met they may well be bringing a new S.o.S. set out it might be ones that were held back it may be midnight factory runs but if people keep drip selling they will stay pie in the sky prices and i just WILL NOT bow down to mortgage prices for them !!!!

    [Reply]

    //Adrian
    9 July 2008 at 5:04 pm

  18. Well said - Either release them or don’t!!

    [Reply]

    //Mr.T
    9 July 2008 at 6:04 pm

  19. The seller in Hong Kong did not end the auction early. When I first noticed it, the seller was offering 28 units. The amount was reduced to eight units since yesterday. Why? However, I did notice two are now offered out of the Philippines at $2,000. I mentioned to MET that I build military models and my son collects Hasbro Marvel Legend figures. New inventory/castings are always available months before a US distributor takes possession of new inventory. It appears there is leakage in the supply chain for some toys. With the military models, it appears Asian wholesale houses/retailers are quicker to order the new products. If I’m going to make a wager, I’m betting the SOS set will become available for the Christmas season. I think Mattel was pretty smart to test the waters of demand with the HWC offering. With people willing to blow $1,000 for the set, I suspect Mattel can market 10,000 sets (limited edition) with no sweat at $300!

    [Reply]

    //Steve AKA: Poppa
    9 July 2008 at 6:16 pm

  20. Hi all, it’s my understanding that the factory has two manufactoring lines. The main one were things are mass produced, date stamped, packaged and then shipped.
    There is also another line were they do their samples. Obviously this would be a much smaller run of production, which would enable cars to be produced, quality checked, improved, approved then sent on for mass production. But these are not date stamped, as they are samples, not for release.

    These sets are marketed as date stamped, thus meaning coming from the mass manufacture line…..this still doesn’t answer questions but i believe this is what happened prior to this ebay listing.

    [Reply]

    //QLDr
    9 July 2008 at 9:35 pm

  21. The HK sellers offered the sets on Ebay Canada, US, and elsewhere.
    On the US listing it now still shows 4 avail but the auction also says Seller ended early as item is no longer avail. The listing shows that were 7 sold. When you check the buys 5 were sold to Australia to 2 buyers. So what happened to the 28 originally offered?

    It would be interesting to know if the cars in these bootleg sets are stamped on the bottom, with the same production code numbers as the original SOS cars. Met has posted that the SOS cars have unique codes that are different than the regular production cars of the ones that were released prior. Buyer beware, if you are paying $1000 to 1500 for the SOS set, if you want the original.

    Any way the ad for the Hong Kong seller said: 1 of a 1000, same wording as the RLC offering. Maybe only 972 sets were sold on line through RLC? And these 28 were held back? What makes this theory less plausible is the 2 month wait (preorder) for the HK sellers.

    Another note: Some of the damaged sets received, that RLC members called Mattel about were told by Mattel, to send the set back for a refund of their money as there were _no_ replacement sets available. Again that argues to me there were truly only 1000 production sets available for sale on RLC. Although presumably some were held back for employee/Mattel purchases.

    I will not fuel the out the back door market, no matter how much I would like a RR. Provenance in collecting is important. The original sets are worth more than any bootleg set, QC, is important. Mine are pristine, beautifully made little cars. Now where are the stickers?

    (MET: The auctions may have ended early since there is a price gap of selling at $999 and the average going price of @$1,300 so I’m not surprised if some ebay sellers offered to buy several offline … that’s what makes their explanation of ’rounding up 28′ sets to sell odd also … where exactly are they rounding them up from? Collectors they sold to? Even if your English is poor or you don’t want to bother re-selling, why sell something back to them so they can make a profit at $999 fixed? Wouldn’t you say - okay, we’ll start it at $999 and see where it goes? Not to mention, why you would agree to re-sell your set back to them and why over 2 month? … Doesn’t it seem more likely they are either manufacturing 30 extra sets either by their own ‘venture’ or piggybacking on Mattel’s? … Again, I have no idea what the real answer is but Occam’s Razor, right?)

    [Reply]

    //BMW
    10 July 2008 at 8:38 am

  22. Yes, where are those flippin stickers anyway! It can’t take that long to have 1,000 simple holographic stickers printed, can it? Tick, tick, tick, tick…

    (MET: Top Ten Reasons Why We Haven’t Seen the Stickers Yet:

    10) The first batch came back as Roman numerals (What’s ‘CDLVI’ supposed to be again?)

    09) They’ve gone missing from the factory … hey, is that a HK auction for 1,000 holographic stickers?

    08) Oh, holographic, not pornographic - come on people, spell check!

    07) Mattel is waiting for your photograph to make it really personal.

    06) Oops, we forgot to specify the size. They came back the same size as the box - 4 feet by 2 feet.

    05) Oh, you want us to mail them to you also? Sheesh!

    04) We’re distributing by inserting them randomly in packs of Green Ramone, Buzz & Woody and Boost.

    03) Hey, when we started, first class mail was only $.41 … now, we have to wait for next year’s budget to get the increase in postage … hope the cost of mailing doesn’t go up again … more paperwork.

    02) The glue had too much lead - recalled, sorry.

    01) Please visit us you-be-hymotized-Mattel-dot-com … you don’t not want a sticker, you don’t want a sticker, you want a nap, then you want to go to your nearest 3 stores and buy every CAR … especially the Speed Racer ones … you don’t want a sticker, they are stinky, you want a nice Speed Racer car … yes, you do …)

    [Reply]

    //Monica
    10 July 2008 at 4:17 pm

  23. Monica L.M.A.O. !! It really does seem odd you guys havent had this so called 1-1000 stickers AND the fact that the sets didnt have them on when they were sent ?? If storm lighning has them on AND even the oooo of 4763 or whatever they are (the out the back door ones) have stickers on and theoretically they are not the real thing it seems really odd now what would be funny is if the 28 from the HK sellers had them on !!!! 1 of 28, 2 of 28, 3 of 28……………..

    (MET: You get one of these from the HK seller :-) )

    [Reply]

    //Adrian
    10 July 2008 at 5:24 pm

  24. I think it our duty to club together and buy em for Mattel as they seem to be so hard up they cant distribute 1000 sticky labels LOL !!!

    [Reply]

    //Adrian
    10 July 2008 at 6:13 pm

  25. Monica,
    I rarely laugh like you made me laugh! That was good! Number 6 was great but number 2 was hysterical.

    Met, I hear you, Occam’s Razor. Just wonder if Mattel turns the collective corporate head at these, sorry can’t call the sets UFV, only bootleg set makes sense to me.
    As a reminder the wording Mattel used was:

    The Cars Speedway of the South has a production quantity of _no_ more _than _1,000 sets so they’re extremely limited! Sets are individually numbered and priced at $299.99 + $12.95 S&P (shipping & processing) each.

    (MET: While bootleg is certainly correct, the implied term with that is the quality might be iffy … and in this case, it’s like they are making an album/CD from the glass master … I’m not advocating the production of these, just trying to note that they are not your usual purse snatchers).

    [Reply]

    //BMW
    10 July 2008 at 7:56 pm

  26. Since it was brilliant, I’d like to take credit, but the numbered list was alllllll Met.

    [Reply]

    //Monica
    10 July 2008 at 9:25 pm

  27. Hey Met, I like your top ten! I watch Jay Leno instead! You’re right about the Speed Racer cars (#1). In my local Walmart there is an entire end cap of that c&%p, which had been the hangout for Cars. All the Cars were displaced with the Speed Racers. After three weeks the Speed Racers sales freed up only five pegs for Cars again. Even the Hot Wheels section has been void of product. I really do not know who runs the sales department for Mattel. Now the shelves are being stocked with Batman and the Clones War (Star Wars) is scheduled to take over in August for the movie and television release. Soon the new packaging for Star Wars will be appearing. Several of the retailers are having special hours and promotions for the Star Wars lines. I do not expect a strong return to Cars, the Movie until the fall. Although, there has been a steady inventory of Cars product in the Pierce County, Washington (State) area.

    [Reply]

    //Steve AKA: Poppa
    10 July 2008 at 11:34 pm

  28. Update for the U.K.

    I have just got the new UK promotion collecters car from mattel #54 Faux Wheel Drive comes in clear bag with the name of car on it!

    (MET: If anyone is interested in a swap for something from the US, drop us a line, thanks).

    [Reply]

    //Snappyjoker
    11 July 2008 at 7:33 am

  29. Oops, saw Monica’s name and assumed her as the author.
    Thanks for the clarification Monica.
    Now see the bold insert of Met’s top 10.
    Met, that was brilliant.
    Keep it up.

    [Reply]

    //BMW
    11 July 2008 at 2:03 pm

  30. Faux Wheel Drive
    I am very intersted in this car if your promotion in the UK is on would you be willing to sell one?

    [Reply]

    //Gary
    11 July 2008 at 2:48 pm

  31. I saw the four pack with Re-Volting, Chick King, and McQueen today at Target. They had them for $14.99.

    (MET: No exclusive sticker? I don’t think it’s an exclusive but just checking … I think you’re the first to spot them in the wild).

    [Reply]

    //EM
    12 July 2008 at 9:30 am

  32. Great Heather, maybe we can do a trade? I’ll get you Indy, I have been looking for a perfect one for you. So far the paint on all the bands on their hats are kind of fuzzy in one area.

    I am not too picky. As long as there aren’t huge dents or rips in the boxes and there aren’t any huge paint flaws.

    [Reply]

    //Monica
    12 July 2008 at 9:56 am

  33. Oops, that was supposed to go on the Mugg post.

    [Reply]

    //Monica
    12 July 2008 at 11:10 am

  34. EM-

    where do you live, did they have a lot of the re-volting sets???

    [Reply]

    //lou
    12 July 2008 at 12:40 pm

  35. Colorado and they had four this morning. I was not sure if these are widely available as yet.

    [Reply]

    //EM
    12 July 2008 at 2:10 pm

  36. Met, I did not notice the sticker–I don’t know if it was there or not.

    [Reply]

    //EM
    12 July 2008 at 2:11 pm

  37. Snappyjoker (or anyone who knows)…

    What is the UK Faux Wheel Drive #54 promotion?

    Thx.

    [Reply]

    //EM
    12 July 2008 at 2:53 pm

  38. Ok MET, I have been away traveling for the past week, and appear to have missed quite a bit… First question.. Are we officially at takefiveaday.com now, or will there remain postings over at twoaday?

    Second point with respect to SOS sets…. I would like to say that I do have a relatively strong background with legal knowledge so to speak :), and if Mattel does have a second coming of the SOS set, the class action suit that would be brough would cost them millions!!! The damages sustained to the class would be the loss of the projected value of the set in the future. All that would need to be shown would be their initial add stating quite clearly that this was a one time release, and that only 1000 sets would be produced, and then the EBAY pricing, which everyone here already is fully aware of. The argument would be that given the small amount of complete sets available, and the fact that the set has gone up from $300 - $1,400 in two months, that one could realistically anticipate that the value of the set would be well over $10,000 in the next ten years or so. Now these are all arguments for the court of course, but it would be a PR and pocket book nightmare for MATTEL.

    Of course their are many ways MATTEL can get around this, even packaging 1/2 sets for sale in SOS A and SOS B, but they will not be able to sell an entire set without paying the piper. In addition, with a forum such as this with advanced notice of “new” stuff, even if they thought that jack-daddy would lead the charge to buy 10,000 in the UK, the members of the class, which we know would be a figure less than a 1,000 could go to court in CA, and request a preliminary injunction to stop MATTEL from distributing.

    Now all we need is our stickers…..

    (MET: I have zero legal background so my question would be - wouldn’t a lawyer want to know if the class in class action is a large enough number? Okay, let’s say a full 50% are “aggrieved,” would 500 be enough - or if the real number is 150? (I’m just throwing the number out there) - would there be enough of a case where Mattel would offer a settlement of $50 or $100 free merchandise in the (new) collector’s club? All I’m saying is that while ethically, you’re absolutely right but that financially, Mattel’s incentive to release something 90% like the MSoS set might be too much and they will take the road less/more often traveled … the one paved with shiny gold nuggets that look like Piston Cup Racers … that’s all I’m trying to point out …

    And yes, we’ll pretty much only be posting to TAKE FIVE now … and as noted, TAKE FIVE isn’t really ready yet but the longer I kept posting to 2ADAY, the more posts & comments we needed to back up & transfer so might as well go ahead especially as you can see - plenty of CARS news).

    [Reply]

    //Matt
    12 July 2008 at 10:25 pm

  39. In this case, the class of affected individuals is growing. Once some of the pure sellers of the SOS have sold it to “new” buyers, these new buyers would become members of the class. So here, while we know that a person could buy 5 separate memberships to purchase 5 different sets, given the price flux of this set on ebay, most of those 5 set sellers have made their money and moved on, thus potentially creating a larger class. Now the rules vary from state to state on the number you need for a class, but usually that number is far below even 100. It would be essential in something such as this where the members are now from all over the world.

    I 100% agree with you that Mattel probably has a numbers guy going through a cost benefit analysis of re-releasing this set, but I truly think it would be a nightmare. When the whole sticker issue arose, the message board on the RLC went nuts not only with people who bought the set, but by those other members who were complaining how this was status quo for Mattel, and how fed up they were. And even now, no stickers. The PR could cost Mattel more than just those of us who bought the set, but could hit the core of Mattel’s base.. the hot wheels collectors.

    Lastly, the fact that we could potentially get an injunction stopping the distribution of the set until the issue were sorted out in court… in let’s say 2-3 years would almost in and of itself kill the line.

    Class-actions are very specialized, and I know just the basics. But the basic breach of contract principles would be very evident…

    [Reply]

    //Matt
    12 July 2008 at 11:02 pm

  40. Not being an attorney, I do not see how a class action suit would grow from the initial 1,000 buyers to a greater number based on a set changing hands. I have been tracking the eBay sales of the SOS set. When the sales finally settle I’ll add them up and see what percentage of sets have changed hands. Obviously, not all sets have been resold on eBay. I have found e-commerce resellers other than on eBay. If somebody turned a quick profit reselling his/her $375 investment for $600, he/she out of the picture. Sour grapes! If a speculator feels these sets are going to be worth $10,000 EVER, please start buying those offerings at $1,500-$2,000. By simple math projected a case would be worth $10-15,000,000+. I’m sure one can find an attorney willing to make a quick buck gaining a settlement from Mattel based on inflated fees and costs, while the plaintiff gets a case of Purple Ramones. Some litigators are notorious for filing a law suit on anything. They get rich and you get those vouchers that are worth nothing. This reminds me of the guy who sued General Motors awhile back because he bought as an investment one of the supposedly last advertised Cadillac convertibles. Several years later GM reintroduced the convertible. He got nowhere. There are collectible toys that are unique or extremely limited to several units that don’t even come close to $10,000 and that includes Disney cross collectibles from the 1930’s. Somehow this entire speculation of the future value of the SOS set is beginning to sound like the sub prime mortgage fiasco and the run up in crude oil prices by speculators in the futures market.

    [Reply]

    //Steve AKA: Poppa
    13 July 2008 at 12:58 am

  41. I participated in the “class action” suit for the antibiotic Augmentin. I think I got $12.

    [Reply]

    //Lorri
    13 July 2008 at 9:34 am

  42. Okay, maybe I can put an end to this class action case speculation, I’ll try to keep it simple and brief. I am a lawyer and I represent several fortune 500 companies and conduct contract negotiations as well as case settlement negotiations on their behalf, so I know first hand how they generally tend to approach these issues and what issues are really issues. I think MET has actually hit the nail on the head, or at least came very close, in all of his comments addressing this issue. First, at the outset there probably is no real basis for a law suit here. But let’s say we get past that point and some lawyer decides he thinks there is a case - then we get to the issue of “who is the class.” As MET pointed out the class at this point is small, and as far as class action suits go it is TINY and therefore most litigators wouldn’t touch this with a ten foot pole. Also, Matt raised the point of second-hand buyers, they could not be a part of any suit against Mattel because they do not have what is called “privity” with Mattel. Privity exists between two parties when there is some sort of legal contractual obligation that is established between them. Since this is not a products liability case (where the legal relationship between a manufacturer and consumer can extend beyond the first purchaser in some cases), privity only exists between Mattel and the original owners of the SoS set. So the number of class members continues to shrink. Finally, let’s say some off-his-rocker lawyer decides to take the case, as MET points out and as other’s have guesse, the case would end up getting settled for pennies on the dollar and the lawyer(s) would get the lion’s share of the settlement.
    I’m not saying that this would be a fair outcome, I’m just trying to inject a dose of reality.
    Hope that helps.

    [Reply]

    //DaddyO
    13 July 2008 at 11:37 am

  43. Our Hong Kong friends that had initially listed 28 SOS sets and then closed off the sale at seven sets, has now listed eight Apple Cars @ $99.99. Checking their offerings, the other cars in the SOS set are not listed. More leakage in the production line or the other sets will be broken up for resale?

    (MET: Well, I guess we can work out the math - there are about 7 common and not worth anything, there are about 5 harder to find but not deathly difficult (Vinyl Toupee, No Stall, etc …) - worth maybe $10-$15 each for the lazy?

    And while there are another 10 coming in the next few months, nothing is a guarantee - these worth $20-$25 in hand now leaving the remaining 12+Dale J. worth $45-50? And the Apple CAR worth $99?

    But if they can’t get their hands on the track or the box anymore … or a new box?)

    [Reply]

    //Steve AKA:Poppa
    13 July 2008 at 11:45 pm

  44. MET, Gary, EM & Nascarnbroncosfans

    Last year there was a promotion for a collecters car from mattel, you had to buy 6 CARS that had the paper codes on.
    Then you go to http://www.carstoys.co.uk/ put the 6 codes on to get Vinyl Toupee

    They did run out of the cars so I was told they will send me out the new car when they get it!
    so this is the new UK promotion collecters car from mattel #54 Faux Wheel Drive.

    As far as I know the promotion as not started & that it is limited to one per household, told by mattel!

    I want to get more but not if I have to buy six CARS again, I have all the cars out so far.

    [Reply]

    //Snappyjoker
    14 July 2008 at 10:59 am

  45. As i was reading these posts i got to wondering how will they post out the 1—1000 stickers/certificates ??? does anyone know what number they will get ?? If people biught off e-bay, is the seller going to forward the sticker to the buyer ??/ Now lets say for aguments sake i had an sos set (never going to happen i was denied the chance because i live in ENGLAND!! ) and i got the number 0001 of 1000 would this then become the MOST desirable set in the world ?? I will only presume Nascarbroncosfans who is graciously getting me my storm lightning is not going to give me the 0001 of 5000 if by some chance he got there first but say he managed to get no.s 0100 of 5000 are they then worth slightly less/more or equal to say 500 of 5000 then there is the question the other way round what about no. 1000 of 1000 and 5000 of 5000 ??? food for thought and i would love to know everyones take on this (now throwing open to the forum…….. THROW ) Oh and just one last note, Dear Mattel we here in England would like to be graced with the boundless fruits of America that is Cars !! We have children with the same wants but no we are (in the immortal words of Wayne from Waynes world) DENIED !! Please bring out a nice set of 1000 Speedway Of The South set U.K. VERSION !!! LOL.
    Adrian

    [Reply]

    //Adrian
    14 July 2008 at 4:45 pm

  46. There was some talk of this a while back when the stickers were first announced. Apparently, Mattel says they will mail them out randomly just as they would have had they been attached to the sets.

    I think nos. 1, 1000 and the numbers of the significant cars such as 95, 43, 86 will be worth the most and maybe all of the MSOS cars numbers’ will be worth more than the rest. I am hoping for a cool number, but will probably get like 523 or something.

    If someone bought a set on ebay, they will be at the mercy of the seller. Some sellers may be cool and send it along to the buyer. Some sets were specifically sold as including the sticker (whenever it arrives). Other sellers will maximize their profits by selling the sticker separately.

    If I am not mistaken, it was some dude in the UK who got the first MSOS, before they even went on sale through the RL Club. So it appears that SOME in the UK receive preferential Mattel treatment. Royalty maybe?

    [Reply]

    //Monica
    14 July 2008 at 9:35 pm

  47. Met: The Hong Kong friends sold the first eight Apple Cars real quick, and, have listed another three for $99.99 with free shipping. That’s eleven so far with ten still unaccounted for of the twenty-eight.

    [Reply]

    //Steve AKA:Poppa
    15 July 2008 at 12:22 am

  48. Hi Monica, the only way like you said it MUST be royalty or famous because you had to have a U.S. e-mail address and i can,t quite afford the beachouse in Malibu YET !!! The wife was just e-mailing Broncosfan, thinking “VAN” was on general release in the U.S. i asked if he could pop one in with L.S.M.Q to post bud sadly not, i said to him the only exciting thing the wife and i found after looking in FIVE touy shops was a “TOW” its the first one i have ever seen on a shelf !! We had to buy from U.S. to ensure my son had one for his birthday !! I,ve said it before this country is a joke unless you are Maddonna or the Queen !!
    Adrian

    [Reply]

    //Adrian
    15 July 2008 at 1:26 am

  49. Monica, ive sussed who it was, it was Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear, now i dont know if you have seen this programme in the U.S. but he dubbed the voice of lighnings manager for the british version over here, he is the foremost car journalist along with james may and my old friend Richard Hammond (our kids used to play together at nursery school)i am sure that if you put in Clarkson in “cars” film on youtube.com it will do the bit where they chat about tickets etc. in Mac. He would be the most likely choice as that was plobably his payment for the dub over LOL !!

    [Reply]

    //Adrian
    15 July 2008 at 3:28 am

  50. Sorry plobably is not a word used enough i think lol !!!! what i meant was PROBABLY

    [Reply]

    //Adrian
    15 July 2008 at 3:30 am

  51. A little off the current topic but of interest to those who have the original set

    The stickers for the box were expected to go out this week, according to Hot Wheels site. Anyone get it yet?

    [Reply]

    //BMW
    15 July 2008 at 7:50 am

  52. I checked out the four-packs again today at the lcoal Target. Now I have totally blanked on what they are even called, but as they were pictured previously, they have McQueen, Chick, King, and Re-volting in two rows of two in a box resembling a banked race track curve so that the back row is elevated and angled. There is not a Target exclusive sticker of any kind (on these, anyway). For completionists that are are interested in positioning, there are two versions. The cars are in the same position relative to each other, but may be facing left or right. If left, the front row, left ro right is McQueen, King. Back row: Chick and Re-volting. If facing right, front row L-R is Re-volting and Chick and the back is King and McQueen. I like the display better than the Dinoco 400 sets, but could really do without the King, McQueen, and Chick.

    [Reply]

    //EM
    15 July 2008 at 9:02 am

  53. Very funny Adrian, you’re probably right. No Jeremy Piven in the UK version? You were robbed! I thought he rocked it and that was even before I watched the first four seasons of Entourage on DVD!

    [Reply]

    //Monica
    15 July 2008 at 10:24 am

  54. I was lucky enough to obtain a SOS well after the release through RL Club, I got mine through toywiz when they were reasonably priced. My 2 boys and myself just love them, they are out of the box and on display and the boys rearrange them. In the movie Cars, Lightning states 1 winner and 42 losers, that is 43 cars and the SOS only has 36, who were the other 7 cars and who are they, anyone know.

    But I get so jealous seeing and hearing that you have access to the new releases, while in Australia we wait approx an extra 6-8 months. My husband bought me a whole lot a new releases from USA for christmas present and I think it was about May this year I saw some of them in the store.

    I started buying them for my 2 year old son and then decided that were pretty good and started a collection of my own. They are still in the boxes as most are the singles (have no where to display at this stage - no room). Husband has taken up most of the room as he is an avide archer and that takes up a lot of room.

    Hope we get the stickers soon, Toywiz has confirmed that they will forward on when they have been received.

    [Reply]

    //Rachel
    21 July 2008 at 8:38 am

  55. Well Rachel, you have hit upon the great mystery of Cars. Apparently 43 is the number of cars in every NASCAR race (I am not a NASCAR fan, so that’s second hand knowledge on my part). The remaining 7 cars are nowhere to be found, anywhere, not even in the movie. The blu-ray version has no listing for them in the characters listings and people have gone through the race scene on the dvd frame by frame and have not found them. I think the consensus is that Pixar never thought people would go through and actually look for 43 cars, much less be collecting little Mattel versions of them.

    [Reply]

    //Monica
    21 July 2008 at 10:26 am

  56. I just called the HWC customer service line and was told that they’re waiting for the envelopes and should be sending out the SOS stickers in the next few weeks.

    [Reply]

    //collecormom
    21 July 2008 at 12:38 pm

  57. Yeah I called Toywiz early this morning and was told that they should be receiving them soon and will forward onto people that purchased from them. Can’t believe I am getting so excited over a sticker, oh well it will pass I am sure.

    [Reply]

    //Rachel
    21 July 2008 at 2:46 pm

  58. Wow, I can’t wait to see what kind of super special envelopes the stickers arrive in! They must be special order since otherwsie, that would just be the lamest excuse ever.

    (MET: First class all the way. 5 Malaysian Princess have gone into the woods to find the finest century-old teak trees, they have chopped it down by hand - then (for equal time), 5 naked sweaty Princes have milled it into pulp to hand make envelopes. Special couriers have hollowed out a canoe and hand-made an 800-horsepower motor (believe, you me, that’s not easy to make out of teak) to ferry it across the Pacific. It should arrive any day now … provided the tides hold out. Then it’s handed over to the USPS … after that …).

    [Reply]

    //Monica
    21 July 2008 at 2:58 pm

  59. Hey Met, can you come to my house every night to tell my kids bedtime stories? You have great creativity!

    [Reply]

    //collectormom
    21 July 2008 at 3:22 pm

  60. I’ll only forgive Mattel for the SOS number oversight if… the five naked sweaty Princes hand deliver my numbered sticker to me personally. ;)

    [Reply]

    //Heather from Maine
    21 July 2008 at 3:32 pm

  61. Now come on people i dont want to burst the bubble but no princes or princess,s are involved …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Moulder and Sculley will be hand delivering because…. wait for it………….. ” THEY ARE OUT THER SOMEWHERE” !!!!!!!!! LOL

    (MET: Delivered by the Fluke Man? :-) )

    [Reply]

    //Adrian
    21 July 2008 at 6:20 pm

  62. I have a question that is sort of off the subject. I ordered two SOS sets so I could sell one to pay for the other. I sold a set on eBay to someone in Belgium in the first week or so after receiving it. Well for some reason it got stuck in customs in Belgium for over a month. In the mean time, the buyer got upset and wanted a refund because they figured it got lost. Me being the accommodating person that I am, gave them their money back. I knew I was going to be losing money because I only put down $300 for insurance but I just decided to suck it up and be over it. I had placed an inquiry with the post office but they said they would get back to me in writing and so far they hadn’t. Well, I go on vacation and come home yesterday. I decided to track the package just to see if anything had changed. Sure enough, it’s been delivered a few days ago. I have emailed the buyer and haven’t heard back. Now not only do I not get the money for insurance but I’m probably out everything (which was only enough to make the first set free anyway). Do I have any options???? Am I a total idiot???? Any advice from anyone??? Please no criticism, I already feel stupid.

    [Reply]

    //carsmama
    22 July 2008 at 11:35 am

  63. Carsmama

    I’m so sorry to hear about your situation. Please don’t beat yourself up about it. You are obviously a very honest person and you tried to do the right thing by giving the money back to the person in Belgium. You are not the only eBay seller this has happened to and unfortunately you won’t be the last. I have lost money (as a buyer) on eBay and it’s such a terrible feeling when you are scammed by someone.

    The only thing I can recommended is going thru eBay customer support to get the money back. You do have to wait a certain amount of time before you are able to file a claim. Look up how to file a claim on eBay first. I assume the person paid thru PayPal so you should be protected under the buyer/seller protection program. Unfortunately, PayPal does not 100% guarantee that they will be able to get your money back. Especially if the buyer/seller is from another country. In my case, they were not able to recover the funds from the seller’s account.

    Hopefully you will hear from the buyer soon and they will repay you. Chin up and good luck!!!

    [Reply]

    //Heather from Maine
    22 July 2008 at 12:35 pm

  64. carsmama, if you have evidence thru tracking that the item was received that will help your case. Paypal will want any and all evidence that something was sent by you and received by the buyer. Don’t give up! If they tell you there is nothing they can do keep trying; the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I think eBay will tell you that you need to go thru Paypal but you should contact eBay and let them know what’s going on. I think they can contact the buyer on your behalf or at least put their account on hold until this is resolved. Try to put in a non-payment claim against the buyer. Hopefully the buyer is just on vacation and hasn’t read your emails yet. Keep us posted!

    [Reply]

    //collectormom
    22 July 2008 at 1:18 pm

  65. Carsmama, what bank account is your paypal account attached to? You can call your bank and see what they can do for you too. I had a problem with a seller; paid but never received the item. paypal told me there was nothing they could do b/c the seller provided a tracking # (a fake tracking #; paypal never verified the package delivery with the # to see it was a made up #. They just took the sellers word). I called my bank and they gave me a provisionary refund meaning they gave me my money back first and then let paypal and eBay prove the item was delivered to me. Since it never was I got my money back. There are things you can do to get your money back you just have to be diligent about it. Also the whole process may take several weeks or months so be patient. Good luck!

    [Reply]

    //collectormom
    22 July 2008 at 1:28 pm

  66. I just heard from the buyer and it sounds like they are willing to work something out with me. They said they were shocked that the package finally arrived. They had never been in this situation before so they were just trying to figure out the best way to resolve it. Can’t I just send them an invoice via Paypal?
    I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everyone gets what they want. Thank you collectormom & Heather from Maine for your kind and wise words. Those are great suggestions. I’m hoping I won’t need to use most of them and the buyer will just pay me for the item received. I’ll keep you posted as to what the final solution is.

    [Reply]

    //carsmama
    22 July 2008 at 1:31 pm

  67. Carsmama

    That’s great that you at least heard from them.

    Yes, you can send them an invoice and request money thru PayPal.

    I suggest you let them know you are sending an invoice for the item and kindly request that they pay within 48 hours.

    Hope everything works out.

    [Reply]

    //Heather from Maine
    22 July 2008 at 1:46 pm

  68. Hey Carsmama,

    I feel your pain! I work for a major Power Seller on eBay and handle PayPal issues like yours every day. Luckily for you, the buyer has been honest enough to let you know that they received the package. Here are some tips if you (or anyone else for that matter) ever encounter this situation again:

    1 - When you receive a payment of $250.00 or more via PayPal from ANY buyer - always, always, always (I cannot stress this enough) send the package with a signature requirement upon delivery. PayPal will site that their Seller Protection Policy does not cover you if the buyer reports the package as not received and the payment was $250.00 or higher.

    2 - Once you have shipped a package, never voluntarily provide a refund unless the delivery service (USPS, UPS, DHL, FedEx) has acknowledged that the package is lost and has sent you paperwork to file a claim.

    3 - Kindly remind customers that international transit times vary greatly, and can be extended depending on the current conditions of their local Customs Office. Most international buyers think that when Priority Mail International states 6-10 days that they should have it in 4-5 days. And that 6-10 days does not include any delays due to inclement weather or Customs delays, or packages held for duty charges, anything else. It a best case scenario. I tell international customers that it is common for international shipments to take as long as 6 weeks to arrive and kindly ask them to be patient (This is a true statement, it has happened to my company many times).

    4 - If a buyer files a PayPal dispute, your money has been frozen by PayPal, which means you no longer have it. But remember, at this point it is only a Dispute. You or the buyer can escalate the dispute to a Claim at any time within 20 days of the Dispute being filed. During this period, PayPal allows you to communicate with the buyer to try to solve the problem amongst yourselves.

    5 - If the buyer escalates the Dispute to a Claim, PayPal allows 10 days for the seller to respond with either a) Proof of Shipment including tracking information b) provide the buyer a refund (not recommended, because PayPal will refund them in 10 days anyway), or c) Provide proof that you have already refunded the buyer. And as long as you are tracking all of your packages, you should be alright. Where you run into trouble is when your current situation comes up. The buyer states that they haven’t received the item and your tracking information shows that the package has not yet been delivered. The best thing you can do is keep checking the tracking information daily and as soon as it shows as delivered, provide that information to PayPal. If you get to the 10th day and there still has not been any delivery, enter the tracking # and pray that it gets delivered before PayPal refunds the buyer. Which brings me to tip 6.

    6 - Unless the tracking information shows delivery of the package, wait as long as possible to respond to a PayPal Claim. Remember that you have 10 days to respond, and PayPal will send you reminders to make sure you don’t forget.

    7 - If a buyer ever successfully wins a PayPal dispute against you and PayPal sends them a refund for an order you know you shipped, the next step is to mark the payment as Unpaid and then file an Unpaid Item Dispute within eBay. eBay gives you 45 days from the sale date to file an Unpaid Item Dispute. If the buyer refuses to resend the funds or does not reply within 7 days you can file an Unpaid Item Strike against their account. 2 Unpaid strikes in 90 days freezes their eBay account. It may not get you your money back, but it is a slight bit of retribution for that buyer put you through.

    I know a lot of this may seem as if it is in stark contrast to the general concept of customer service, but remember that everyone who sells is in it to make money, not lose it. You can be firm and fair at the same time.

    If anyone has any questions please feel free to contact me at slicepie@roadrunner.com and I will gladly offer any help or suggestions I can.

    [Reply]

    //Slicepie
    22 July 2008 at 6:07 pm

  69. One important thing I forgot:

    8 - Adjust your PayPal settings to require all payments to contain a phone number. Many packages sent internationally are held for duty fees regardless of whether you mark it as a gift or not. And many international Customs offices will not even attempt to contact the recipient if there is no phone number on the customs forms.

    Now, in all fairness:

    If you are the buyer and you have not received your package:

    1 - Ask the seller to send you the tracking information. I generally wait two full weeks before contacting the seller. Some shipments take longer than others and many sellers do not have the convenience of a daily pickup and can only get out to mail their orders once or twice a week. Remember, you also get 45 days form the sale date to file an Item Not Received dispute within eBay.

    2 - If the buyer does not respond or if they tell you there is no tracking for your order (they’ll usually ask you to wait a little longer), give it a few more days before filing any disputes.

    3 - If the package has still not arrives, go ahead a file Item Not Received Disputes within both eBay and PayPal. eBay gives you 45 days and PayPal gives you 60 days (It used to be 30 but they have increased it). That should get the sellers attention. There is no time-out on the eBay dispute but the PayPal dispute will time-out after 20 days unless you either close the Dispute, or escalate it to a Claim.

    4 - If you used a credit card to make your PayPal payment, you can file a Charge Back to force PayPal to resolve the issue. If you used your bank account as the funding source for your payment, you can do just as Collectormom stated and initiate what is called a Bank Reversal of funds. Either of those should get you your money back. But… keep reading.

    5 - If all else fails and you can’t get you money back and you never receive your product, you can contact the Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC), contact the seller’s local law enforcement agency, and if they are a company, file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The IFCC is a division of the FBI and I believe that you can file a complaint with the BBB even if the company is not registered with them.

    6 - Then go to http://www.ebayersthatsuck.com and tell everyone your horrific story and why not to buy from that seller.

    [Reply]

    //Slicepie
    22 July 2008 at 6:32 pm

  70. Slicepie,
    You’re one smart cookie; thanks for the schooling :)

    [Reply]

    //collectormom
    22 July 2008 at 8:08 pm

  71. Wow - That was awesome!! Who would have thought…….. A+ for that lesson!

    [Reply]

    //Mr. T
    22 July 2008 at 8:34 pm

  72. I went to Target today and finally picked up one of the Race and Chase boxes I have been seeing the last week or two–the one with Re-V