I got off to a good start by finding the Opala SS, Sandblaster, Camaro Special Edition, and '71 Mustang. I haven't been so lucky since, until yesterday.
I had a minute to spare in the morning on my way to a meeting, so I stopped off at a nearby Walmart just before 9am. The pegs were a bit disheveled, as someone had clearly been through them a little earlier. I went looking for anything interesting, and at first went right by this:
I went back after a minute thinking it might be the MC5 vari, and was more than surprised to see the Summit logo on the roof:
There were no regular Hunts, so my guess is this one was missed. I have to think that previous visitors had their mind on the H and J Supers, and the Chevelle is VERY easy to miss. If you aren't looking for it, there is a good chance you would pass it off as the standard version. You practically miss it with the two versions sitting right next to each other:
Nonetheless, I was very happy to take it with me.
Fast forward to the afternoon. I just finished an appointment around 4 pm, and decided I had a minute to hit a nearby Walmart, hoping to find the Zamac J cases. Once again, picked over pegs, but this was waiting on the top left-hand corner:
Who woulda thunk? My second Chevelle, only this time an afternoon find.
Not 15 seconds later another collector arrived, roughly looking through the pegs. I asked what he was looking for, and he said Hunts only, and told me they were impossible to find, and not to worry about looking. I might have played a little dumb, and asked him what to look for. He said Hot Wheels does 250 Supers a year, one for each model, and that I would never find one. I finally told him it was 15, one for each batch, but I didn't mention the one in my hand. He was nice enough and went on his merry way. Another collector arrived, gave the pegs a quick gander, and left just as quickly. Based on that frequency I witnessed in only a couple of minutes, I have to think this Chevelle went unnoticed by earlier visitors as well.
Plus, I don't think standard collectors know what to make of the bearded guy wearing a bow tie and orange-souled wingtips looking through the pegs. The looks are always a little amusing.
A lucky day to say the least, but I am still a bit behind in my quest to find all 15 on the pegs. I have to hope that, like this Chevelle batch, older batches will hit some stores and will find the '07 Mustang, Chevy Gasser, and Twin Mill. And maybe the J cases will arrive at a nearby Walmart one of these days and I can get lucky and find the Nova Wagon. Finding all 15 on the pegs in 2014 is starting to look a little bleak...
For now, I will just enjoy these two finds:
