The Great Super Treasure Hunt Experiment of 2014: A tip from a friend...

My mini-hot streak continues.  The last 3-4 weeks have helped my fill in some spots on my quest to find all 15 Super Treasure Hunts in the store, in the middle of the day.  Three weeks ago I came across the Super Twin Mill, last week the Chevy Nova Wagon, and this week the '69 Corvette.

The '69 Corvette was found yesterday.  In fact, I found two at the same store.  This wasn't as unique as my find last week at Alco in the middle of nowhere, but it wasn't a standard Walmart find either.

This came after a tip from a fellow collector.  A friend in Arizona, known on HWC as blackb13, posted on a forum I frequent that he had found the '69 Camaro Super at Dollar Tree.  That was a bit of a surprise, as Dollar Tree hasn't carried Hot Wheels for at least a couple of years.  But it appears they have changed their minds, as from what we have heard, all Dollar Trees are getting either Batch K or M in droves.

After Jason mentioned his find, I figured I would stop by the two Dollar Trees in the town I was visiting on business.  The first did have Hot Wheels, but it appeared they had been there for a few days.  The second Dollar Tree was bursting at the pegs.  Upon walking up I could see two Homers and a regular TH right up front.  It was definitely promising.

Peg after peg I went through, knocking my fair share on the ground (which I always put back, I promise), but only a few false hopes occurred when I thought I saw the Vette but it ended up being the mainline.  Ultimately I walked away leaving quite a few Homers and reg TH's.  Either someone just beat me to the pegs or the cases at that store were void of Supers.

That was Tuesday.  Wednesday I drove to another area for meetings, and had a few minutes to kill, so I decided to visit the one Dollar Tree in town.  I found the pegs were a lot like the previous Dollar Tree, bursting on every peg, with Homers all around.  So once again there was promise.

I was coming up empty after a lot of searching, and was starting to think that I just missed out when the third row from the bottom yielded a purple treat:

A few pics and it was in my hands.  I was more than happy to have the one Super, and was ready to leave when I decided to keep looking.  Sure enough, on the very last peg I checked, hanging right at the bottom:

Finding a second is nearly as fun as finding the first, but I rarely find two in the same store.  That was fun.

A lot of you have commented that I seem to find a lot of these.  Of course I have had my share of luck.  But it is not as crazy as you think.  That is why we are calling it an experiment to see if I can find them all without pallet-raiding overnight or door-warming every morning.  Most collectors that do that find Supers, find more than one.  I have happily found one here and one there, mostly by hitting rural stores, visiting certain Walmarts with toy managers that like to peg Hot Wheels randomly during the day, or randomly stopping by stores that are not on most collector's routes.

You might notice that I usually find Supers well after they have been released in dump bins at Walmart.  That seems to be the key.  Don't fret when the batches first hit, just be patient and see what comes later.  For example, the N case dump bins are hitting Walmarts around here, and of course when I found one the Supers were long gone.  I was happy to walk away with the Zamac Hakosuka Skyline and green Kenmeri.  Finding the Impala Super TH will come later.  If I am lucky.

Alright, the tally so far:

Chevrolet SS - Found at a rural Walmart at 11:30 am
Sand Blaster - Found at a nearby Walmart around 4:30 pm
Camaro Special Edition - Found at neighboring town Walmart around 3 pm
'71 Mustang Mach 1 - Found on a Saturday afternoon grocery run at Harmon's Market (I found two)
'07 Mustang - no luck
'55 Chevy Bel Air Gasser - no luck
'70 Chevelle SS - Found at two different Walmarts on the same day (one at 10 am, one at 5 pm)
Twin Mill - Found at a rural Walmart at about 3:45 pm
'64 Chevy Nova Wagon - Found at 5 pm at a rural Alco
'83 Silverado - Found at Target at 1 pm
'76 Greenwood Corvette - no luck
'69 Corvette - Found 2 at Dollar Tree around 11:30 am

With the Impala just hitting, I am only missing three.  Like I have said before, finding the Gasser and '07 Mustang seems highly unlikely, but I am holding out hope I can find the Greenwood. 

We shall see...

The Great Super Treasure Hunt Experiment of 2014: 4 for 4* (thanks to a beet salad)...

Time to update my 2014 Super Treasure Hunt Experiment.

To refresh your memory, I am trying to see how many of the 15 Super TH's of 2014 I can find on the pegs.  And by pegs, I mean on the pegs, in a sidekick, in a dump bin, or a Kmart Kdays case.  Basically in store and not on a pallet.  And without doorwarming or overnight raiding.  

Can I walk into a store in the middle of the day and leave with a Super TH?

Well, I am 4 for 4*.  

And yes, that is an asterisk.  Why, because I am technically 4 for 6.  With the Gasser earlier this month, 6 Super TH's have been released in 2014.  I have now found the first four, in order.  That makes 4 for the first 4, with the '07 Mustang and '55 Gasser still to find.  And who knows if I will.

Here is how my latest find went down, as described on HWC:

4. 1971 Mustang Mach 1

Sunday means roasted beet salad, so we were off to our favorite grocery store to prepare.

We bypass several other stores to get to this one, but their produce and meats are second to none, they try to stay as local as they can, and their prepared foods are fantastic. But I have never gone there for Hot Wheels. From what I have seen they stock about a half-case of Hot Wheels in a small toy section once a year around Christmas.

So I was a bit shocked to see a four-sided peg tree in the seasonal aisle full of Matchbox and Hot Wheels. I decided to check, and quickly came across a Speedbox Regular TH. I left it, but wondered if that was a sign that these may not have been raided. There were some models that had fallen to the ground, but that could have been a kid's doing.

Sure enough, about halfway through one of the sides, something caught my eye:

Let me look closer:

The '71 Mustang Super.  My fourth Super for 2014.

So of course I would keep looking. And there, at the bottom of the next side, hanging above some models that had fallen to the ground:

A little closer:

A second Mustang Super. My first multiple Super find of 2014, and at 5pm on a Saturday to boot. Harmon's may not stock again for another year, but how cool was it that my favorite grocery store gave me a little surprise?

After three Walmart finds in 2014, it is nice to find something in an upscale grocery store.

So add the Mach 1 to these three:

1. Chevy Opala SS:

Found in October at a rural Walmart in a sidekick at about 11:30 am. This town has a crazy collector scene, as told to me by the Kmart toy manager, who said she dreads Kmart Days because of the large number of collectors, and how they behave. This was the first time I have encountered a Super in this town, and I think it was because the sidekick was placed in an odd place in the toy section. It was on an endcap, but was placed way too high. The bottom row of the sidekick was at my eye-level, and I am six-feet-tall. I was able to reach up to the second row from the top, and pulled the Opala (photo taken in my car afterwards):

2. Sandblaster:

Found in November at a Walmart close to my house. I have had success at this store before (3 previous Supers, plus the Fast & Furious Mustang), mainly because the toy manager stocks the Hot Wheels at different times during the day. His night staff is instructed to keep the Hot Wheels off the floor overnight, and he stocks them the next day. I found the Sandblaster on some endcap pegs at about 5 pm. I saw the manager soon after and he told me he had pegged one case about 3 hours before, so that is as long as it hung:

How I found it:

Moved to the front of the pegs:

3. 2013 Hot Wheels Chevy Camaro Special Edition:

Found mid-December at a Walmart in a suburb about 30 minutes from my house, at about 3 pm. This Walmart sits right in the middle of typical urban sprawl, which means a lot of young families, and a very busy store and toy section. Especially during the holidays, the staff is constantly roaming the toy section cleaning up and keeping the pegs full. There was a dump bin around the corner overflowing with several batches, but it appeared well-picked-over. It is clear, based on the look of the pegs, that someone had recently filled some gaps with all or part of a case, and the Camaro was right out in front:

How I found it:

And placed next to the Fangster Regular TH I left behind:

What do you think, can I go 15 for 15?

We would love to see your mid-day luck.  Please be sure to share with us on Facebook, Twitter, or on Instagram (hashtag #lamleyfinds).