What retailers stock the 1/87 Hot Wheels??

[jim68cuda]

I've checked Toys R Us stores, Target, and Wal-Mart. Other than the earliest releases, including the 67 Mustang, I haven't found Any of the 1/87 scale Hot Wheels. Does anyone know Mattel's marketing plan for the 1/87 scale cars? I assume they were intended to be sold in stores, but i sure haven't found any near me, and I've looked in stores in two states.

[DavidJohnson]

I've checked Toys R Us in 3 states (MN, Il, IN) and of the cars I want have found the Challenger and 64 Ford only. I make it a point to not drive more than a couple miles out of my way for the almost certain disappointment.

T-R-U stores vary greatly in size and savy. The one near me got 67 Mustangs in March and had the same 9 specimens on the shelf from March to Nov when they removed the space on their shelf, obviously concluding the 1/87 hot wheels do not sell.

I passed through Rockford Il at Thanksgiving and again a week ago and they had restocked! The Challanger, Galaxy, and Superbird were there on Dec 17.

If there is a marketing plan my teenagers would quickly label it as a FAIL. Mattell, Toys R Us, and the customers all are losers in this plan. The only winners are eBay sellers getting $20+ for batmobiles. I have lost interest in the search when there are other models that are available and waiting to be aquired.

[hovehicle]

If you're in the Chicago area, the answer is nobody. Toys 'R Us is supposed to carry them, but they don't. Mattel doesn't seem to care, nor do I. I wish Johnny Lightning or M2Machines would get in the game. Greenlight is another with big potential. Is anybody listening?

Vito L.

[Wayne87th]

Vito I resonate so much with your question. I have no idea why Mattel does not distribute the 1/87 pieces to more stores. I know they did not sell in the quantities that WalMart wanted, but surely there are others besides Toys R Us?.
The other thing I don't understand is why produce so many of the unwanted pieces and so few of the wanted ones?. 4 Mustangs per pack of Wave II, but only one each of the Galaxie, Superbird, Challenger and Batmobile.
The sad fact that we have found again and again is that the bigger companies shoot for their own group. For instance Mattel aims to broaden their HotWheels collector's base (though all at my local club have NO interest in anything but the 1/64 cars) not the 1/87 collectors. Weird thinking to me.
Wayne

[RAOlson]

Out in the west (WA, AZ) a local grocery-retail store, Fred Meyer (www.fredmeyer.com), had them on the shelves, but of course all the 'good ones' are gone leaving the Honda Civic, 67 Mustang, Ferraris and a few other new cars. Of the few stores I visited, they had atleast 2-3 boxes out.
TRU had only one box, picked through and has sat that way since June!

[stanhas87]

Dec 26, 2009 3:07:15 GMT 1 hovehicle said:

If you're in the Chicago area, the answer is nobody. Toys 'R Us is supposed to carry them, but they don't. Mattel doesn't seem to care, nor do I. I wish Johnny Lightning or M2Machines would get in the game. Greenlight is another with big potential. Is anybody listening?

Vito L.

Dear Vito:

Hm., no. it seems that since the Wal Mart 'ex[eriment ' with HO backfired (mostly because the retailer wanted to sell the HO pieces at unreasonable prices), no one else is really considering HO in their shelfs. Alas, Mattel did HO because the Motormax pieces were so sucessful, but since Wal Mart wanted Motormax to sell the pieces at very low prices, the latter got out of the game - they are not even doing 1/64 vehicles for the time being. And, as I questioned the people who were buying the HO Mattels, they were getting them because they were Hot Wheels (and the Ferraris were the most picked up items).

I would love to see RC2/Johnny Lightning (the 1973 Chevrolet Wagon and 1964 Vista Cruiser), Greenlight (2004 Mercury Marauder), M2 (their Cadillac 62 is World Class Model - Period) and Matchbox to offer HO vehicles, but I do not think will happen in the time being, one of the reasons being the Economic Climate which made Target and Wal Mart to assume that $5.00 models will not sell - but Toys R Us are proving they wrong. Shelby Collectables just released a classic Aston Martin in 1/64 - and Hot Wheels did the DB4 - which again, I would love to see them in HO. Welly may do the Corolla and Camry, perhaps?

So, this is the way it is.

nick K

[Markus]

I was in my Hollydays in LV, SF and LA. I was in every
Toys r us and Wallmart Superstore that i have found.

All was i got was the Superbird, a Galaxy and in every Store
a lot of Mustangs. All around 4 Dollar.

There are more chances to get a Hot Wheel in Switzerland!
But only for a horrible high price as up to 7-14 bucks for a
normal and up to 35.-- for a Batmobile!?!

My interesting in Hot Wheels ist actually near zero.

[jim68cuda]

Sounds like any 1/87 scale Hot Wheels released after the 67 Mustangs are just not available anywhere on the east coast and hardly anywhere else either.

[jim68cuda]

I've heard from 1/64 scale Hot Wheels collectors that for what ever reason, Hot Wheels usually arrive on the east coast long after the rest of the country. With that in mind I returned to my local Toys R Us in northern Virginia today in search of 1/87 scale Hot Wheels. I actually had some luck. Along with some of the early releases like the 67 Mustang thats been on the shelf forever, there were also a few of the newer ones. I found one 69 Mustang (and passed on it as too cartoonish looking), and I found one Superbird, one 64 Ford, and two 55 Chevy panel trucks (black and orange). Except for the 69 Mustang, I bought all four of the new arrivals. There may have been others that were new as well, but none that were of interest. I guess I'll be making the rounds of some other Toys R Us stores in the area for the Challengers, and more Superbirds, as well as the 62 Chevy and 67 GTO that I heard were in this series as well.

[hovehicle]

One thing I noticed about Mattel is that they were at Nurenberg in 2009, I believe, but not this year. Last year they had 20 vehicles that were already out or were coming. This year, I heard nothing, so are they exiting HO just like every other diecast manufacturer has except Model Power and CMW?

jim68cuda, good luck trying to find the '62 Chevy and '67 GTO as I doubt we'll ever see it.

Vito L.