From: wecooks@ix.netcom.com
Subject: Re: Hot Wheels
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 14:58:51 -0500 (CDT)
Dear Ed et al, I have a couple of students who work at Target and Walmart.
I'll ask them if they can keep an eye out for them. I'll just have them buy
a bunch if they show up and I'll let you know. No promises, of course,
'cause they are no better than Toys 'R Us at having a dependable inventory,
but they did get us the only talking Darth Vader piggy bank in Denver, so
it's worth a try! janet
>
> 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
>>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> ~ """""" 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 ~
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>