My mini-hot streak continues. The last 3-4 weeks have helped my fill in some spots on my quest to find all 15 Super Treasure Hunts in the store, in the middle of the day. Three weeks ago I came across the Super Twin Mill, last week the Chevy Nova Wagon, and this week the ’69 Corvette.
The ’69 Corvette was found yesterday. In fact, I found two at the same store. This wasn’t as unique as my find last week at Alco in the middle of nowhere, but it wasn’t a standard Walmart find either.
This came after a tip from a fellow collector. A friend in Arizona, known on HWC as blackb13, posted on a forum I frequent that he had found the ’69 Camaro Super at Dollar Tree. That was a bit of a surprise, as Dollar Tree hasn’t carried Hot Wheels for at least a couple of years. But it appears they have changed their minds, as from what we have heard, all Dollar Trees are getting either Batch K or M in droves.
After Jason mentioned his find, I figured I would stop by the two Dollar Trees in the town I was visiting on business. The first did have Hot Wheels, but it appeared they had been there for a few days. The second Dollar Tree was bursting at the pegs. Upon walking up I could see two Homers and a regular TH right up front. It was definitely promising.
Peg after peg I went through, knocking my fair share on the ground (which I always put back, I promise), but only a few false hopes occurred when I thought I saw the Vette but it ended up being the mainline. Ultimately I walked away leaving quite a few Homers and reg TH’s. Either someone just beat me to the pegs or the cases at that store were void of Supers.
That was Tuesday. Wednesday I drove to another area for meetings, and had a few minutes to kill, so I decided to visit the one Dollar Tree in town. I found the pegs were a lot like the previous Dollar Tree, bursting on every peg, with Homers all around. So once again there was promise.
I was coming up empty after a lot of searching, and was starting to think that I just missed out when the third row from the bottom yielded a purple treat:
A few pics and it was in my hands. I was more than happy to have the one Super, and was ready to leave when I decided to keep looking. Sure enough, on the very last peg I checked, hanging right at the bottom:
Finding a second is nearly as fun as finding the first, but I rarely find two in the same store. That was fun.
A lot of you have commented that I seem to find a lot of these. Of course I have had my share of luck. But it is not as crazy as you think. That is why we are calling it an experiment to see if I can find them all without pallet-raiding overnight or door-warming every morning. Most collectors that do that find Supers, find more than one. I have happily found one here and one there, mostly by hitting rural stores, visiting certain Walmarts with toy managers that like to peg Hot Wheels randomly during the day, or randomly stopping by stores that are not on most collector’s routes.
You might notice that I usually find Supers well after they have been released in dump bins at Walmart. That seems to be the key. Don’t fret when the batches first hit, just be patient and see what comes later. For example, the N case dump bins are hitting Walmarts around here, and of course when I found one the Supers were long gone. I was happy to walk away with the Zamac Hakosuka Skyline and green Kenmeri. Finding the Impala Super TH will come later. If I am lucky.
Alright, the tally so far:
Chevrolet SS – Found at a rural Walmart at 11:30 am
Sand Blaster – Found at a nearby Walmart around 4:30 pm
Camaro Special Edition – Found at neighboring town Walmart around 3 pm
’71 Mustang Mach 1 – Found on a Saturday afternoon grocery run at Harmon’s Market (I found two)
’07 Mustang – no luck
’55 Chevy Bel Air Gasser – no luck
’70 Chevelle SS – Found at two different Walmarts on the same day (one at 10 am, one at 5 pm)
Twin Mill – Found at a rural Walmart at about 3:45 pm
’64 Chevy Nova Wagon – Found at 5 pm at a rural Alco
’83 Silverado – Found at Target at 1 pm
’76 Greenwood Corvette – no luck
’69 Corvette – Found 2 at Dollar Tree around 11:30 am
in your experiment you should calculate the gas spent multiplied by personal time invested (wasted) and see if it's cheaper than ebay
Great idea.
Gas wasted: zero. I travel for a living, and if you have followed the experiment, I stop by stores only when one is on my way, and only if I have a minute to visit. The whole point is to see if I can walk into a store on a random visit and find one hanging.
Time wasted: probably a few minutes each week, to walk to the toy section if that store, look at the pegs, and walk out. It is only when I have time.
Like I have said, a job traveling in rural areas allows for a few finds with very little effort. That is why it is an experiment this year, when my job allows it. I and when my duties change, so will this.
You and I are probably in agreement that nightly rounds to Walmart are big wastes if time and money, no matter how many Supers you find. That is why it is fun documenting the random find.
I really do like what your doing here. I must admit to some pallet raiding and driving all over the place but I have found several in the middle of day. Sure I agree its probably cheaper just to buy off eBay but their is something more fun to me in actually finding them in the store. I never know what I may find and its always a reward. And what do I do with my extras? Some I keep if Ireally like the model but I always use them to trade for what I don't have. I'm not a fan of selling cars. I'd rather sit on them and hold for a trade
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