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Mattel Disney Pixar Diecast CARS: Kmart CARS Day 2 – Nearly Everything You Need to Know

Unbelievably, the first CARS Day went well for 99% of CARS collectors. It wasn’t absolutely perfect but it was pretty close … Now, it’s time to do it again.

kmart-collector-event-poster
First, for newbies, what is it?

As noted above, on Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 11 AM your local time at PARTICIPATING Kmart’s – they will make available Mattel Disney Pixar Diecast CARS Mainline CASE K.

singles-ror-k

Yes, unlike the current store shopping scenario where no one really knows when the box will hit the shelves, on June 20, 2009 at 11 AM – they will open the boxes in front of you. AND CASE K is available nowhere else on June 20, 2009. It’s a Kmart Exclusive.

The event starts at 11 AM – you are free to get there when the door opens but the line matters very little as it’s the number of people who line up or arrive before 11 AM, and the number of people you bring and finally, the number (s) you draw.

You will each get to draw a number and then you go in the order of the number you selected. You will be allowed to buy 5 CARS. Then it will be the next person’s turn. After all the people who have drawn numbers have finished selecting their five CARS – any CARS remaining will be available for everyone/anyone.

Most stores allow kids who are old enough to physically reach & draw out of a hat/bucket qualifies if you have more kids than OctoMom, this is your small reward before your kids owe $2.3 million in student loans after college.   :-)

In some/many Kmart’s, the number of people there were fewer than the number of cases available so it was an easy collector’s day. I was at a store with 24 boxes and 30 people so it was a little more work for me personally.

Here is the official sheet sent to stores last year but the employee at a particular store is free to modify the rules … you can try waving these sheets around – let us know if you get tazed :-) :-(

There are amusing tidbits on page #1 … apparently if this event is executed correctly, “their store will sell more Pixar CARS than normal” … um really, you think? You mean, they don’t normally sell through 24 boxes in 90 minutes?

And corporate seems to think if this was not held in an accessible area, we would just give up? Who here would not climb up the roof and look under the black tarp on the roof to buy these CARS?

Some people said that they were told, first come, first serve so clearly that is WRONG. Page 1!

Also note for those who think only someone who is 18 years-old is entitled to draw a number … see the FIRST notation under Raffle Ticket Drawing.

Thanks “C” for the memo.

Now, for CARS Day 1, the limit of 5 per “draw” was acceptable to most as there were only 5 Piston Cup Racers available plus the CHASE Fred so it was close enough. For stores where there were way too many people for boxes, they might/could/will hold a second and third round until there are fewer boxes than people standing around. Or in some stores, it’s just a free for all.

You can read last year’s post and COMMENTS as the day progressed. More pics and comments here.

For this year, there are 9 different Piston Cup racers, 2 totally new CARS (Mini & Vitoline Pitty), at least one hugely popular new CAR hard to find (Todd), the first appearance of Mario Andretti in red rims* plus the relatively new Patti.

While not terribly exciting, Mario in is “Italian” CHASE packaging.

mario

I’m no expert linguist but is Mario & Andretti the only words Italian on this card? What’s Lamo-O in Italian? Though the red rims is a good fix.

And of course, one Lightning McQueen. Try and talk that up and the guy in front might choose that over Mini … or one of the Piston Cup racers … hey, it could happen or you could get punched but then you’d have a great Take5 story like last year!

First, you need to determine where your Kmart’s are located. Check our EDITGRID spreadsheet. If you normally go to that Kmart for their Hot Wheels DAYS, then you are pretty set that they will have the CARS Day II on 6.20.2009, but still double check by calling or visiting the store and if the poster of the first photo above above is hanging somewhere. I would imagine they are JUST getting the poster this week so don’t start really looking or calling until June 7th to the 10th but of course, feel free to call everyday and report in. :-)

This list is from 2008 so make sure you call in on the 10th or visit the store and ask. Some may be converted from Sears and NOT doing the event even though they are a Kmart now. Verify!

If you’re lucky, there are a few Kmart’s around for you to choose.

The rest is a roll of the dice. Some people reported walking in Kmart’s where they had plenty of CARS and few shoppers while others had a riot so it’s your call and best guess. You can split up the family, you can call up all the distant ones and put them on alert.

It’s like the old knight at the end of “Last Crusade,”  you’ll know soon enough if you have chosen wisely :-)

So, now the next question is – with 9-14 CARS that you definitely want to probably want (sorry, Lightning McQueen, you did not make this list). and only 5* to choose from, what do you choose?

* I think it’s safe to presume each draw will allow you to buy 5 CARS. That’s been the Hot Wheels rule forever and there’s no reason to change now even there might be more than 5 CARS you want, this allows every person with a number to get 5 CARS at least. Please, there’s no crying in CARS collecting.

How about a handy dandy chart?

release2(this is a JPEG file you can drag off and print).

For non Piston Cup CAR collectors, here’s your sure fire guarantee to getting a Todd & Patti – in fact, they might be pegwarmers for several minutes :-) depending on how many boxes the store gets. The store I was at last time got 30 boxes so the odds of seeing 30 Todd’s and 30 Patti’s in one store is pretty unlikely again EVER  :-) Plus, Vitoline Pitty & Mini … now since we do not know what Target is getting or when but generally when there’s a transition as the line is split between lenticular and “classics,” the “last” CARS of a series generally show up early in the next series since there is a minimum production run and they don’t want them sitting around … but that is unknown if Mini, Patti, Todd or Vitoline Pitty will be back soon.

Chase Mario is also hard to tell. Will red rim Mario be back in the next wave or is he retired since he is appearing as a chase CAR – though clearly rules are made to be broken – I would say it’s unlikely Mario with the proper rims is being retired but unknown.

Now, the Piston Cup racers is another story or two. First, if you’re simply collecting to open, 7 of the 9 have already been released though NOT with “rubber” tires so are you counting them as different/new or “repeats?” And of course, technically these are cheaper than the launchers so if you were meaning to buy a launcher version of the CAR, these can save you $5 dollars or so. And the remaining two will be released as Lightyear Launchers (versions) in the next 3 months – though NOT rubber tires so outside of the rubber tire addition, these are racers we have seen, will see soon on the shelves or will see in a few months – generally with a launcher device.

The decision is yours to make but just letting you know. As a high priest of the religion called, ‘Collect Them All,” I might be preaching to the converted.  :-)

Some pics to look at, thanks, “TH.”

clutch-aid

First appearance outside the MSOS set.

easy-idle

Ditto.

mood-springs1

Look for Wrecked Mood Springs in 2010 :-)

no-stall

He’s all over the place :-)

shifty

Suddenly not so hard to find …

tow-cap

Tow cap & rubber tires, there might a joke … or 673 in there somewhere.

Cardback.

cardback1

The cardback explains why early listings on eBay think it’s a Matty exclusive. It’s not. It’s merely an ad for MattyCollector.com – and ALL it promises is “Exclusive Toys, News and More!”

And that’s no lie.

It does NOT say anything about CARS at Matty. :-) or :-/

The only other order of business is that last time, Kmart offered the remainder boxes online at Kmart.com AFTER the first CARS Day – presuming they will do the same again but unless someone from Kmart.com wants to talk to us, we have no idea if it will be listed and when it will be available. Last year, the boxes were available for sale about a week later online and sold out in about 7-8 hours on a Saturday morning. AGAIN, I will update this if it’s listed anytime soon.

So, close off the 20th on your schedule and see ya at Kmart.

Good luck!

mag-ad1

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