From: dacox@KCKPS.K12.KS.US (David Cox)
Subject: Re: Hot Wheels
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 10:00:56 -0500
This is a request to all you Mars Maniacs out there to see how lucky you were
at finding the Hot Wheels action pac's of Sojorner.
I also would like to know if there are any plastic models that you could
construct.
I am a teacher and want to follow up on the Live from Mars project from last
year
with my new students this school year.
I am not a collector I just want a model for students to look at. I may even
try to
build my own.
Can anyone help>
>
>Dear Mars Educators--
>
>It sounds to me like Lori Darter's student was VERY lucky
>that he found the Mars spacecraft in his Toys R Us store.
>
>I did some research this morning (i.e., I *want* these toys).
>
>Here is what I learned:
>
>There are 2 Mars toy sets and they are just now hitting the market---
>
>(a) Action Pac containing several spacecraft (MGS, MPF): no. 16145
>
>(b) 24-carat gold-plated Sojourner rover: no. 17897
>
>They are being sold as Hot Wheels models, according to the Matell
>Consumer Information Office. (I didn't see them on the
>HotWheels web page, yet -- http://www.hotwheels.com/).
>
>Both items sell for around $5 to $6 (but I bet they will rapidly become
>collectors items, selling for much more than that-- you would do well
>to keep them inside their original packaging).
>
>I called Toys-R-Us here in the Phoenix, Arizona area. They told me
>that their stores on the east coast usually get stuff in earlier than
>the west coast-- so these toys probably aren't in the stores int
>the west, yet.
>
>I asked Toys-R-Us if they could keep an eye out and set these items
>aside for me, and they said no. They get random shipments of stuff
>almost every day. With luck, one of the shipments sometime in the next
>few days will contain some of these Mars toys. I was told that I'd have
>to phone every morning to see if they came in. Worse, the particular
>store that I called said that they have about 10 hard-core Hot Wheels
>collectors that come in to the store every morning when it opens, to
>pick through all the new stuff.
>
>This is like trying to get a Tickle-Me-Elmo or something! It's nuts!
>
>Matell told me that they are not allowed to sell these products
>directly (i.e., I wanted to just call and order them with a credit card).
>They are bound by contract with the various stores that carry their
>product--- these include Toys R Us, Kay Bee Toys, K-mart, Wallmart, and I
>think Target.
>
>Grrrrrr.
>
>In addition to the Mars spacecraft, I found an article on the Web that
>said Matell is going to do a Cassini (saturn) spacecraft, and I think it
>also said they would do the Stardust spacecraft (of which Challenger Center
>is involved in their K-12 outreach).
>
>If anyone finds a huge stash of these somewhere- I'd love to buy them.
>
>Ken Edgett
>Arizona State University
>
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~ """""" dcox@sound.net ~
~ <o><o> dacox@kckps.k12.ks.us ~
~ > Argentine Middle School ~
~ {--} Science Teacher (8th) ~
~ ~~ Kansas City, Kansas 66101 ~
~ ~
~ "One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its ~
~ original dimensions." Oliver Wendell Holmes ~
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