Sick of Japan Historics yet?
My Instagram and Facebook feeds are inundated with Japan Historics 2, and for good reason. The set is amazing, and everyone wants it. And it’s too good to be sick of it, frankly.
But lost in the JH2 frenzy is the fact that the previous Hot Wheels Car Culture mix, Cars & Donuts, seems to have vanished. A few Targets got it, and maybe a few Walmarts, but many of you have mentioned you haven’t seen C&D anywhere.
The same goes for me. While I have had luck finding JH2, I haven’t seen Cars & Donuts in any of my Targets or Walmarts. Of course that could change, but I do wonder if that ship has sailed, especially with the 2018 price change.
So now the question becomes where they will show up, if at all. Of course they will appear somewhere, and right now that somewhere – outside of hobby dealers – is Walgreens.
I found these models yesterday, and have seen other C&D at other Walgreens. It may be difficult to buy a whole set at just one Walgreens, but visiting a few stores may allow it.
I am sure they will show elsewhere as well, but for now, they are a bit overlooked, but hopefully not forgotten.
Also Toys R Us, that’s where I found a few sets right before Christmas.
Color me shocked.
This has pretty much been the case for Modern Classics as well here in MI.
Our stores have crap-tons of Trucks and Euro Style **STILL** hanging on pegs, and the stockists don’t feel compelled to put any other merchandise out if that hasn’t moved in a year’s time…
I have zero faith we’ll ever see JH2 make it to local shelves.
I found 3 sets, posted 2 on evil-bay and kept one for myself.
I found 2 jh2 cars at my walmart the scalpers beat me there
Oh an not one c&d car my Walmart didnt even carry the exclusive sets like the Lamborghini set or bmw not even the hotwheels camo set now they hardly have any m2 cars my store sucks
Ha, as soon as I saw the headline I was going to mention I just found a C&D 240Z at Walgreens on Monday. I picked it up because the same store also had an Entertainment R34 Skyline – the first I’ve found.
I managed to find a complete set of the C&D in December except for the Bugeye, which I am still hoping to find as it’s the only Car Culture car I’m missing at the moment.
This is hopeful news. I was searching for that R34 Skyline and saw it once a long while back and the 5.99 price kind of threw me off so I skipped out and now I’ve been jonesin’ for it! Still having a hard time with that price though.
I saw a few C&D, but I’m trying to keep my eye out for the Subaru. That is the only other one I need. Walgreens, here I come!
I was wondering the same. Don’t think C&D had hit Australia at all but we got JH2. I guess it’s hard when there’s still Air Cooled and Race Day clogging the pegs. Fingers crossed it shows up and this is just one of those “gotta be patient” moments.
I agree with your comments and managed to source two of the C&D models that I was looking for from NZ…
I saw them in shoprite supermarket
I have yet to see a single C&D or JH2 in the Boston area, among the 10 or so Walmart, Target, or TRU that I frequent.
my kroger has 7 cases of cars & donuts but cant find a jh2 anywhere
The are off the pegs because the new Car Cultures have a higher price point. As a result they were clearanced at Walmart, Target and other big box. I picked up one at $3 and one at $1.47. I expect to see these show up at “clearance” stores like Ollies, Big Lots and the like about 6 months from now with the stock not taken by the box guys..
Found my first “On Peg” JH2 today at a Target, they had two pegs full of them. C&D was very spotty and I never got an entire set. Happely I got the C&D models I really wanted
Modern Classics and Cars and donuts haven’t been seen here, in Canada. Apparently Japan Historics is on the way… I’ve heard that they don’t have the same UPC code, so probably could see all sets on the pegs at the same time!?
Saw cars and donuts at target while in the states in December.
Up here in Canada, one walmart has no car culture, and the other has had 10 Redliner Corvettes pegwarming for the past few months
I was lucky enough to find two sets of Cars and Donuts at my Walmart over a month ago. I picked up one set and left the other for someone else. The next day, the other set was gone and ever since, no Car Culture whatsoever. I talked to one of the managers today and asked about the Hot Wheels since they’ve been wiped from Christmas and haven’t bothered putting anything else out. He said we’re about to do a reset of the whole department in a week or so and said that you should start seeing new inventory as a result. So of course, I’ll be checking constantly.
On a side note, our Target came through in a big way and I actually found a whole set of the JH2 last week. So pumped I managed to find them! I never thought I would ever see the day! I really thought I would have to order these online if I really wanted them badly! Finally something good from Target! If only they can be like that all the time!
C & D also showing up at Kroger.
We have Fred Meyer out here in the Northwest. That is where I first found Modern Classics, so I’ll be on the lookout. Thanks for the tip!
I ‘ll tell u where they went, out the door. All of them faster than they were put out. I found them at Wal-Mart and target and they were gone in minutes, no peg warmers. I also found them at toys r us marked down trying to clear out the old peg warmers from the last sets and was very happy to buy up a box worth, from that mistake. I don’t think it’s going to be found at retail I think it was a total sell through. The cars were fantastic across the board not one dud. Walgreens may be your only choice, but I would go soon they don’t have things for long.
I managed to find the 240Z, M1 and P1, all separately, and every one was hanging alone. Shame, because the Alfa and Subaru are the ones I really want. I don’t have too much hope of finding them. No JH2 whatsoever as of yet. All my local stores seem to be much worse than usual lately at putting out new product.
Both of my local Walmarts have had their diecast sections pretty much cleared out completely, I assume in preparation for the reset that Connor mentioned above. Like him, I’ll be checking those obsessively in the coming week or so. I’d really like to get my hands on some new stuff…
I’m glad I bought these online, haven’t seen them locally at all. I wouldn’t mind having a few M1s because those wheels would look killer on the old Matchbox 3rd gen Firebird race car.
I found all of the C&D except the Z, which I got from Wheel Collectors, surprisingly they hung around in SoCal for awhile- Still seeing a couple here and there- I bought the JH2 online because I know I won’t find them in the wild… my case had 4 520s, which was nice, but no C210- gotta find somebody to swap with, lol. The Laurel is so sick!!
510 oops
IMO the problem is over production and mass flooding of the market place. I’m not sure what the case sizes are for these series but there seems to be to much to soon. If you think about no sooner one series comes another is already coming. I have always said why in the world would a retailer keep ordering more stock if what they have is not selling. Also in past years Target would usually mark down stock sitting but this year that seems to not be the case. I haven’t seen either of these series. However there are plenty of Star Wars and the candy series sitting. I was surprised to see the candy series considering there were still so many Star Wars sitting. The fact that some are finding them at Walgreen’s for me only confirmation the fact that stores like Target and Walmart are either holding back stock or just not ordering new stock. My advice to Mattel would be slow down or start offering mark downs on stock that is not selling. The fact that Target has not done it yet this year tells me it is dictated by Mattel. In the end it clogs the pegs and most likely slows new orders.
If I’m not mistaken, the case pack on Car Culture is 10.
Maybe it’s a distribution issue? Stores in your area are ordering too many or corporate is sending them too many? Where I’m at, stores don’t order or don’t order enough. I’ll sometimes see them at Fred Meyer and they’ll be gone in a week or two and then just empty pegs until the next wave. Target always seems to be a month or two late getting them in and never has full pegs. They sell pretty well. I mean Air Cooled may have hung around for a couple of months and Modern Classics for a month, but then it’s empty pegs the rest of the time. Walmart is a dog out here. I think the last Car Culture I found there was Trucks. They have pegs for the line, it’s just that they have been empty for ages.
I suppose I can’t complain too much. Though I never found Japan Historics 1, I did see most of Euro, all of Trucks and with some searching all Air Cooled, all Race Day, all Modern Classics, and last weekend all of Japan Historics 2. Just need those Cars & Donuts!
I found the Subaru and McLaren at AutoZone. Still looking for the others.
AutoZone?? Jesus Christ, the last thing I need is ANOTHER store to check. Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, Walgreens, CVS, numerous grocery stores, and now AutoZone. This is getting exhausting.
Many of the above responses confirm my decision to purchase the cars/sets I really want online and skip the drama and frustration of constantly frequenting stores with empty pegs or peg-warmer cars. I usually can get a whole set online for nearly the same price as I would had I found them in the store including shipping costs. i will usually try to buy multiple cars from the seller if I don’t buy the whole set to spread out the shipping costs.
Normally, this would make sense, but unless you PRE-order what you want, you end up paying an arm and a leg. I just perused some listings for JH2 online, and you really can’t get a set of 5 for less than $45-50, sometimes even more than that. JH2 might not be the best example because of the hype surrounding it, but still. In most cases, buying in-store when you can find them is still the least expensive way to go.
Actually our Walgreens over here are completely void of any Hot Wheels premiums and no one seems to know if they will order them. I however was able to find them at Walmart minus the 2 JDMs. I was only interested in the Subaru and the Alfa so only bought the Alfa. However I got the Subaru as a gift last Christmas so that made my day.
I saw a few sets at Walmart a month ago. All Subarus were missing. I just saw a few sets at Kroger the other day. All Subarus were missing. Same crap with this hobby. No sight of JH2 yet, but I don’t plan on buying.
Yeah, this wave never seems to have shown up at any major retailers here. At least not that I’ve seen. Which is a shame because I am far more excited for this set than for Japan Historics 2. I think others are right that they got lost in the shuffle of the recent price hike/SKU change. They either never made it to stores or the stores that got them quickly clearanced them out to make room for the new pricepoint SKU (JH2). What a shame!
I’m going to have to scour all the local Walgreens if I want these.
You will not see them in the mass market stores any more due to the fact that tey are the last release of the DJF77 item number which has been replaced with the FPY86 Item for 2018. So there is no space for DJF77 in the Plan-o-Gram sets at Mass.
Mattel still has some stock and we are bringing in cases as we run low. Sets and cases are available for pre-order now for our next shipment.
Have fun and God Bless
Fred
http://www.1StopDiecast.com
#1StopDiecast
To update: I found a complete case at my local Target tonight and every single one has a bad blister. One of the BMWs was so bad it was dangling from the card. I got the Bugeye but it might as well be open.
I’d be interested to know if this is widespread or if the one may have been damaged in shipping.
I found 3 cases worth last weekend at Fred Meyer. No Subies or 240Zs and only one M1, just a whole lot of McLarens and Alfas. They were all in near mint condition with the exception of a bent corner on the BMW. All bubbles were intact.
I only wanted the Impreza, I ordered mine on eBay. Just don’t see the premium lines here on general sale.