At Walmart (at least one store)

[deuces wild]

Does the '32 Ford Sedan kit come with lots of goodies???....

[paul alflen]

Walmart in Novi, Mi still had  Coca- cola model kits from the Round 2 display. They were moved into the toy aisle instead of the end cap. Just waiting for the clearance  sale price now ! Still at regular price! Patience grasshopper !

[Oldmopars]

As I mentioned, I travel to a new place every week. I am finding more Walmarts that have new displays. My local one didn’t have them, now they do. I’m in Rapid City SD and this one has a full display, everything. They even have ones I have not seen at other stores. Still full price, but less than the LHS. 

[paul alflen]

Oldmopars, (Scott Solomon) thank you for that update! Maybe some stores are finally putting out the displays from last year, or the stores are in thinly populated areas where stock doesn't get turned over faster?

[stinkybritches]

My local Walmart finally had models on an endcap display over the weekend. At $30 a kit for the same stuff that Hobby Lobby has, I didn't buy anything. 

[BlackSheep214]

My local Walmart across town still has kits on the end caps. They’ve been there since Christmas 2021. And no, they’re not marked down.

[paul alflen]

All the leftover Round two Coca cola  kits at the Walmart in Novi, Mi are gone now!(no I didn't buy them all !)🤕 There were about 20 cars left on January26th,2022. That is good news for Round 2, No discounting or Ollies dumping anymore= More profit!

Edited February 8, 2022 by paul alflen
proper grammar

[Dave Van]

My son went by Walmart and they had a new model shipper. It was much the same as the last one BUT.....it had the Ford drag team kit for $25. He picked up 2 for me.   (borrowed pic)

Edited April 8, 2022 by Dave Van

[Casey]

44 minutes ago, Dave Van said:

My son went by Walmart and they had a new model shipper. It was much the same as the last one BUT.....it had the Ford drag team kit for $25.

 

On 2/8/2022 at 6:20 AM, paul alflen said:

That is good news for Round 2, No discounting or Ollies dumping anymore= More profit!

While great for Wal-Mart supporters/shoppers who want cheap goods, Round2 is really shooting themselves in the foot, and clearly has learned nothing from RC2's history dealing with Wal-Mart. I guarantee Round2 is making less profit per item selling to Wal-Mart than a distributor. Wal-Mart dictates the price, period.

My LHS has the Cal Drag Combo priced at $71 or so, which, considering it contains three (ok, maybe two-and-a-half) kits, is fairly priced IMHO. Now Round2 is dumping these at Wal-Mart's dock for less than $25?? I guess LHS owners are supposed to withdraw a bunch of cash, buy up all the local Wal-Mart stock and do the retail arbitrage thing on Amazon to turn a profit? 🤷‍♂️

We better not hear a single complaint about the price of new kits from any of you who bought these overly-discounted kits from Wal-Mart. Y'all saved money and are living better anyway, right? 

[Daddyfink]

All the Wal Marts around here have clearance out all their kits. I just picked up a Ford LNT Snow Plow for $15, and it was the last one on the shelf, just some monopoly willys panels left. 

1 hour ago, Casey said:

 

We better not hear a single complaint about the price of new kits from any of you who bought these overly-discounted kits from Wal-Mart. Y'all saved money and are living better anyway, right? 

I just saw the Wal Mart kits as an opportunity to pick up some cheap kits, while still paying full boat at my LHS for kits that are not WM bound, like the Nova kits and other R2 kits, and not getting dinged to hard. It is nice to get a deal once in a while, but I know it is not going to be the norm. 

So no complaints here! 

 

[ewetwo]

I live 5 miles from 2 Walmarts and they've never had any model kits.

 

[Dave Van]

I was, at one time, owner and/or employee at two different hobby shops. I still have a good friend in the hobby wholesale biz.  I understand the ire at R2 for dumping kits at Ollie's or WM for less that wholesale. I bought my Cal Drag Team at retail to support R2 even though I thought MSRP was a bit high. So when my son found them for $25 I had to buy. If you think WalMart has 5K stores in the USA, if half take the shipper with let's say 20 different kits four each. THAT is more than most wholesalers buy today, in a single shipping. Hard to turn down fast cash in todays market.  (FYI that is 200000 kits)

If models at WalMart is wrong......don't go, show your support LHS...it's that easy. 

[Casey]

1 minute ago, Dave Van said:

If models at WalMart is wrong......don't go, show your support LHS...it's that easy. 

Yes, it is that easy, but we both know it's not that simple. Had W-M retailed the Cal Drag Combo at $45-$50, it still would undercut LHSs, but $25?? Maybe that just shows how profitable model kits are, if Round2 can afford to sell them to W-M for less than $25 and still turn a profit.

I understand the appeal of getting a good deal, but when a kit is retailing at a mass merchandiser for almost 1/3 of the cost at the LHS, that should give everyone great pause and cause them to ask why the price is so much lower there.

[keyser]

One thing it does is get cheapskates in door of WM. Not that many are. 
Grocery stores often sell Turkey at loss on holidays so you buy everything else there. I’d guess kits are often impulse or present buys, and WM makes so much $ they don’t care. Don’t even lose any shelf space, easy to stock. 

[Daddyfink]

1 minute ago, keyser said:

One thing it does is get cheapskates in door of WM. Not that many are. 
Grocery stores often sell Turkey at loss on holidays so you buy everything else there. I’d guess kits are often impulse or present buys, and WM makes so much $ they don’t care. Don’t even lose any shelf space, easy to stock. 

Cheapskates? What is wrong with getting a deal? Really? Finding models at Walmart is a rare thing these days, as opposed to a LHS that is there, hopefully, year round. So this is not a year long deal for model buyers. 

I am sure Round 2 made their money, and Walmart probably did as well. Most clearance leftovers are mostly kits that we don't want. Snap kits, cartoon kits or something you already have bunch of in the stash. I bought some extra Vega kits there after I had already bought some from my LHS, and now I picked up some discounted ones for the upcoming Model Expos Raffle

Trust me, I pay full boat for a kit I want, but I am not walking away from a deal. If that makes me a cheapskate, then so be it! 

CHEAPSKATES OF THE WORLD UNITE!!  

[keyser]

No problem with deals, just the people that scream with every new kit post apoplectic at prices. You don’t see that on SciFi or airplane boards much. 
We both pay full boat at times. Cost of getting want/need filled. 
I think the triple kit for $25 is a screwup, actually. We all know these will be seen at shows soon for full boat or close. 
As long as R2 makes money off them, great. Depreciated tooling products paying for new and revised stuff. 
Probably should have couched my cheapskates comment, but subtlety isn’t a strong suit. 🤷🏻Who knew?
 

Edited April 8, 2022 by keyser
Obvs

[BlackSheep214]

2 hours ago, keyser said:

One thing it does is get cheapskates in door of WM. Not that many are. 
Grocery stores often sell Turkey at loss on holidays so you buy everything else there. I’d guess kits are often impulse or present buys, and WM makes so much $ they don’t care. Don’t even lose any shelf space, easy to stock. 

So... finding a great deal on model kit makes one a cheapskake? ROFL!!! Go right on ahead paying full price on model kits. I'll take any model kit a lesser price  than your LHS or online store. Let me know how that works out for ya paying full price while the rest of us are getting a great price at Walmart.

 

It's funny, I went to Walmart for my weekly grocery shopping and wondered if they had new stock. None yet at my local Walmart.

[Dave Van]

48 minutes ago, BlackSheep214 said:

So... finding a great deal on model kit makes one a cheapskake? ROFL!!! Go right on ahead paying full price on model kits. I'll take any model kit a lesser price  than your LHS or online store. Let me know how that works out for ya paying full price while the rest of us are getting a great price at Walmart.

 

It's funny, I went to Walmart for my weekly grocery shopping and wondered if they had new stock. None yet at my local Walmart.

I'm not a fan of Walmart......my Google reviews say so!!!!!!  But I live in the most rural place east of the Mississippi and drive an hour to get to major stores.  With the cost of EVERYTHING today......I need to be a cheapskates' to survive. 

[TECHMAN]

1 hour ago, Dave Van said:

I'm not a fan of Walmart......my Google reviews say so!!!!!!  But I live in the most rural place east of the Mississippi and drive an hour to get to major stores.  With the cost of EVERYTHING today......I need to be a cheapskates' to survive. 

At first, I thought you were gonna say you moved next door!!!!  Same thing here...   NO hobby shop, closest at Somerset (42 miles east) to Hobby Lobby,  48 miles to Burnside to a LHS (that is open about half the time I get over there), 65 miles north for another HL,  68 miles west to HL or Hobbytown....  With gas right at $4 a gallon, and 16 miles per gallon, I was HAPPY to see our local Wally-World bring in some kits.   Sometimes location & circumstances alter our attitudes...

DJ

[Daddyfink]

3 hours ago, keyser said:

No problem with deals, just the people that scream with every new kit post apoplectic at prices. You don’t see that on SciFi or airplane boards much. 
We both pay full boat at times. Cost of getting want/need filled. 
I think the triple kit for $25 is a screwup, actually. We all know these will be seen at shows soon for full boat or close. 
As long as R2 makes money off them, great. Depreciated tooling products paying for new and revised stuff. 
Probably should have couched my cheapskates comment, but subtlety isn’t a strong suit. 🤷🏻Who knew?
 

Easy there, we don't get that APROPLECTIC about prices. It is just very disappointing when a kit maker, R2, re boxes and old tool, say the ECTO 1, with a super low parts count and some hokey decals and charges as much as a Tamiya kit. 

Is this the CHEAPSKATE part you are implying? Most of the tooling being used by R2 has been paid for a few times over, and now it is mostly repair cost they have to recoup. Molding  a few new parts, and deleting a bunch of other ones, is not a reason to really mark something up. I don't blame the LHS, I blame R2 for trying pass it off as business as usual. And now, I am not blind, I know the cost of things is going up in our hobby, but this was before the mess really kicked in. 

As for prices at WM, they call the shots, and in this case, we are fine with their pricing. You want to pay full boat, go for it! No one is telling you not to, but don't dump on others for finding a deal. 

 

[Dave Van]

10 minutes ago, TECHMAN said:

At first, I thought you were gonna say you moved next door!!!!  Same thing here...   NO hobby shop, closest at Somerset (42 miles east) to Hobby Lobby,  48 miles to Burnside to a LHS (that is open about half the time I get over there), 65 miles north for another HL,  68 miles west to HL or Hobbytown....  With gas right at $4 a gallon, and 16 miles per gallon, I was HAPPY to see our local Wally-World bring in some kits.   Sometimes location & circumstances alter our attitudes...

DJ

I know the area. Family in the area and I do Somerset car show a few times. But we have no highways or interstates, 1000 sq mile county with THREE traffic lights, 2 of them not needed but we don't want to go down to ONE!!!! LOL US Govmt dark zone with no Cell service or WiFi allowed......come to think of it.......all this is why I moved here!!!! 😄

[keyser]

Tooling gets refinanced every time company trades hands. So not paid for really. Cars get sold and refi-ed all their lives. As do houses. 

Nevermind, not worth clarifying/argument. Like Dave I hate Walmart.
I understand times for many are ugly. Pay what you can for what you want. It doesn’t make sense to drive many miles for chance to get something. With gas, insurance, and most importantly time, it isn’t worth it to me. I’d used to drive to wherever, find nothing, drive home. My time is limited, so I don’t waste it. 
Most my stuff will never be finished, and I don’t even have any grails anymore. So moot for me anyway. 🤷🏻

[Smoke Wagon]

IMO nothing there is worth subjecting oneself to the people of Walmart.

[Rodent]

3 minutes ago, Smoke Wagon said:

IMO nothing there is worth subjecting oneself to the people of Walmart.

Have to say that when you are short on time and need something for dinner, beer, socks, shampoo, deodorant, potting soil, a USB thumb drive, and a 5qt jug of motor oil it's pretty handy and they generally have the best price around for all of the named items. They are around $10 cheaper for the motor oil than the auto parts places. I can generally ignore the people.

[Smoke Wagon]

Whatever floats your boat I suppose. When Walmart came to my town, a Supercenter was plopped down over a marsh, necessitating the need for another marsh to be constructed a ways to the south. Many small businesses that couldn’t compete with Walmart’s prices had to shutter, and our downtown became rundown and neglected as a result. Their low prices come at more than just a monetary cost. And that’s a price I don’t want to pay.