Can you do it?
Last week, as we completed the Worst Regular TH poll, and as we saw the reaction from all collectors to the new Fangster Treasure Hunt, we got to thinking.
Shouldn't we leave them?
We are more convinced than ever that Mattel's hope with the regular Treasure Hunts is that collectors leave them behind. Some things to consider about Regulars:
- Generally there is one Reg TH in every case, including Kday cases, making them fairly common, but still considered limited.
- Unlike Super TH's, there is an explanation on the card telling the lucky owner that the flame symbol signifies this is a limited edition special model and they are lucky to have found it.
- With a few exceptions (Mazda RX-7, Dodge Challenger Drift), the choices of castings and colors/designs of the Regular TH's are very kid-focused.
And some things to consider about Supers:
- There is only one Super in every few cases, making them much more rare than other basic models.
- A Super is almost always a collector-oriented model (Mustangs, Camaros, Mopar, JDM, exotics).
- There is no way a non-collector would know what they have if they happened to be lucky enough to pick one up.
- Since last year, Supers are enhanced versions of standard mainline releases, which allows anyone who likes the casting to still get a basic version.
What do these points tell us?
Mainly one thing. Regular TH's are there to create new collectors. A kid picks up a Regular, opens it, sees what he has, gets a little excited, and now wants to find another one. That kid goes online to learn about these chase cars, hits the Hot Wheels website, learns about the hobby, and if Mattel plays their cards right, is now transitioning from the kid who plays with a few cars to a kid who collects a lot of them.
So the point? Mattel wants us collectors to see the Fangster TH and LEAVE IT. You might pick one up if you are a completist, but that would be it. Now it is there for the next kid who passes by.
Of course there are exceptions. I will admit to picking up more than one RX-7, for obvious JDM reasons, and the same goes for muscle car and other collector-types with several Regulars. But if 2013 and what we have seen so far in 2014 are any indications, the Regulars will continue to get more kid-friendly and collector-unfriendly. And that is a good thing!
So as a collector-aimed website, we say leave them! Nothing is more amusing and disappointing than watching a collector complain about how he hates a specific Regular TH, and then proceed to pick up every one he sees afterwards.
Of course, our admonition to leave the Regulars is not ground-breaking. It looks like it is happening. In just the last week, we have seen these all left in well picked-over pegs and bins:
And we left them too.
So as we move into the holiday shopping season, and as the Hot Wheels cases flow from truck to pallet to peg on a daily basis, grab all the Supers you find. We surely will.
But leave the Regulars. If you do anything with the Regulars you come across, put them right on the front of the pegs. You will tell the next collector who wanders by that they have been left deliberately, and it increases the likelihood of a kid picking it up.
Let's make this fun. If you leave a Regular, snap a picture of its place on the pegs, and email it to us (lamleygroup@gmail.com), post it on our Facebook page, or post it on Instagram under the hashtag #lamleyleavebehinds, and tell us what city it was left in. We will post all of these pics on our Facebook and Instagram pages for all to see. Should be fun.
The day of the peg-warming Treasure Hunt is here, and that is a great thing...
