The $80 Transformers Hotwheels Optimus Prime Sold Out in Less than Half an Hour
Tuesday, May 21st, 2024 12:08PM CDT
Categories: Toy News, CollectablesPosted by: william-james88 Views: 72,817
Topic Options: View Discussion · Sign in or Join to reply
This is encouraging for Mattel as it means their effort and investment in the license was far from in vain. It reveals that there is a market out there for collector items like this and thus they may make more. If they do make more, then this Optimus Prime may rise in value as being the first in an ongoing collection. Of course time will tell if that is the case, but we wanted to let you know of this development in a collaboration that none of us imagined would happen.
News Search
Got Transformers News? Let us know here!
Most Popular Transformers News
Most Recent Transformers News
Posted by blackeyedprime on May 21st, 2024 @ 12:33pm CDT
Posted by Immortal Starscream on May 21st, 2024 @ 12:44pm CDT
I wasn't even going to buy this, because I don't see it being worth the $98 (after tax and shipping) But I had a bad day and was like SKREEW EEET. Then I got the error. and instead of taking it as a clear sign I don't need to waste the money, I took it as a HOW DARE YOU TELL ME I CAN'T HAS! and went through a good 20 minutes of hell until I saw the posts about deleting cookies/cache. It sold out right after I finally got through. I may have even got the last one.
Posted by o.supreme on May 21st, 2024 @ 1:06pm CDT
In about a 2 year span when I worked from home, I may have went to a local Target once a month at most (or less less frequently), to check out what they had as the doors opened. EVERY TIME I was there though, there was this same little old guy, in his late 60s, but he was fast...and would rush to the Hotwheels aisle. I'm thinking he was there probably every day. crazy....
Posted by william-james88 on May 21st, 2024 @ 2:36pm CDT
o.supreme wrote:I had no desire to get this. However, its probably something we have no way of ever knowing, but Id be curious to know overall of the units purchased; how many were Transformers fans, and how many were Hotwheels fans? I'm guessing for more of the latter. But as stated, we may never know. While toy cars are cool. I don't know if there is much crossover of these fandoms? I mean yes, I know adult TF collectors can be annoying (as I am one myself), but Hotwheels adult collectors are a whole other level of obsessed....
In about a 2 year span when I worked from home, I may have went to a local Target once a month at most (or less less frequently), to check out what they had as the doors opened. EVERY TIME I was there though, there was this same little old guy, in his late 60s, but he was fast...and would rush to the Hotwheels aisle. I'm thinking he was there probably every day. crazy....
All we know is that there were 27003 units available the moment it opened.
Posted by Fires_Of_Inferno on May 21st, 2024 @ 3:51pm CDT
F*kn' scalpers.
Posted by -Kanrabat- on May 21st, 2024 @ 4:22pm CDT
Posted by Overcracker on May 21st, 2024 @ 4:50pm CDT
o.supreme wrote:I had no desire to get this. However, it's probably something we have no way of ever knowing, but Id be curious to know overall of the units purchased; how many were Transformers fans, and how many were Hotwheels fans?
I'd be very curious to see that Venn diagram between Transformers Fans, Hot Wheels Fans and people that can drop 80 bucks on a 1:64 scale die-cast truck.
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on May 21st, 2024 @ 10:23pm CDT
Posted by Syclone on May 22nd, 2024 @ 10:02am CDT
1 for keeping in the package
1 for displaying out of the package
1 for reselling to cover the cost of everything?
Seems designed to create a secondary market. Which isn't entirely a bad thing but when you're up against bots, that individual who just wants a nice piece for their collection will always lose.
Posted by FrackingItUp on May 23rd, 2024 @ 1:37pm CDT
Bs, same with the Mattel creations He-man 8 ball.
S24 ultra 1Tb, and I have T mobile ... so pissed
Posted by Emerje on May 24th, 2024 @ 3:55pm CDT
Emerje
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on May 24th, 2024 @ 4:42pm CDT
Emerje wrote:Prime is now shipping! I'm not really sure why Mattel places the release date so far out (in this case it was late June) when they already have these in stock when the orders go up. I'm guessing it's really for international orders since those tend to go out later.
Emerje
Shipped the same time yesterday as Extendar, I got Extendar today, Prime isn't supposed to come until next Tuesday and I PAID for two-day shipping on it.
Posted by Emerje on May 24th, 2024 @ 5:09pm CDT
chuckdawg1999 wrote:Emerje wrote:Prime is now shipping! I'm not really sure why Mattel places the release date so far out (in this case it was late June) when they already have these in stock when the orders go up. I'm guessing it's really for international orders since those tend to go out later.
Emerje
Shipped the same time yesterday as Extendar(s), I got Extendar today, Prime isn't supposed to come until next Tuesday and I PAID for two-day shipping on it.
My Extendar shipped yesterday and is arriving tomorrow. Prime hasn't shown up on FedEx yet, but will probably be Sunday or Monday.
Emerje
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on May 25th, 2024 @ 1:44pm CDT
Posted by -Kanrabat- on May 25th, 2024 @ 2:10pm CDT
chuckdawg1999 wrote:I got Prime today. It's really nice!
Waiting for the video review.
I wonder if the fists partsform, or does it pull a "missing link" at the mini scale?
Posted by Emerje on May 26th, 2024 @ 6:54am CDT
-Kanrabat- wrote:chuckdawg1999 wrote:I got Prime today. It's really nice!
Waiting for the video review.
I wonder if the fists partsform, or does it pull a "missing link" at the mini scale?
Looks like proper chest storage rather than rattling around inside like the original.
Seems mine has been pushed back to Tuesday thanks to the holiday Monday.
Emerje
Posted by -Kanrabat- on May 26th, 2024 @ 7:17am CDT
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on May 26th, 2024 @ 2:48pm CDT
Posted by Fires_Of_Inferno on May 26th, 2024 @ 7:39pm CDT
EDIT: Mind you, I say this while also thinking $50 for Missing Link Bumblebee and Cliffjumper is fine, so I dunno.
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on May 26th, 2024 @ 7:42pm CDT
Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:I 100% don't understand this. Like I actually can't wrap my head around it. If you're into it then great, clearly I'm not the target audience for this. I mean, it's shiny, it looks nice. The video review was nicely presented. It's the product it's self for that price that I don't get. Maybe I'm just old.
I really think the price has to do with the exclusive parts and deco. Honestly, the fact that I got one and some crazed Hot Wheels guy didn't, makes me feel good.
Posted by Fires_Of_Inferno on May 26th, 2024 @ 7:43pm CDT
chuckdawg1999 wrote:Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:I 100% don't understand this. Like I actually can't wrap my head around it. If you're into it then great, clearly I'm not the target audience for this. I mean, it's shiny, it looks nice. The video review was nicely presented. It's the product it's self for that price that I don't get. Maybe I'm just old.
I really think the price has to do with the exclusive parts and deco. Honestly, the fact that I got one and some crazed Hot Wheels guy didn't, makes me feel good.
Hot Wheels collectors do go hard. At least you also managed to get him at base price and not have to rely on the scalpers.
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on May 26th, 2024 @ 7:55pm CDT
Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:chuckdawg1999 wrote:Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:I 100% don't understand this. Like I actually can't wrap my head around it. If you're into it then great, clearly I'm not the target audience for this. I mean, it's shiny, it looks nice. The video review was nicely presented. It's the product it's self for that price that I don't get. Maybe I'm just old.
I really think the price has to do with the exclusive parts and deco. Honestly, the fact that I got one and some crazed Hot Wheels guy didn't, makes me feel good.
Hot Wheels collectors do go hard. At least you also managed to get him at base price and not have to rely on the scalpers.
True, but I think once the hype dies down the prices might become more reasonable, or not.
Posted by Fires_Of_Inferno on May 27th, 2024 @ 2:25am CDT
Posted by Emerje on May 27th, 2024 @ 11:10am CDT
chuckdawg1999 wrote:Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:I 100% don't understand this. Like I actually can't wrap my head around it. If you're into it then great, clearly I'm not the target audience for this. I mean, it's shiny, it looks nice. The video review was nicely presented. It's the product it's self for that price that I don't get. Maybe I'm just old.
I really think the price has to do with the exclusive parts and deco. Honestly, the fact that I got one and some crazed Hot Wheels guy didn't, makes me feel good.
Or just being exclusive period. Selling 27K+ of these in half an hour at $80 a pop means they could have sold many more at a lower price at retail. But for all we know this may be a 1 of 1 situation and even if they reduced the amount of diecast and paint they probably paid out the nose to license it from Hasbro as a transforming figure, as opposed to the regular retail priced non-transforming Prime and Bee we're getting.
Emerje
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on May 27th, 2024 @ 3:20pm CDT
Fires_Of_Inferno wrote:I know what the first thing I'm doing is if I get this prime.
Um, my friend, I'm sorry. They clearly say on the box it's not meant to be used on a track. While it rolls nicely, it is very top-heavy and while secure, there's no doubt that the arms could open up zipping around in a loop or something.
Posted by HoraceBrock on May 29th, 2024 @ 2:14am CDT
Posted by Dead Metal on June 3rd, 2024 @ 2:14am CDT
It does look fantastic though.
I kinda love the skateboards.
Posted by william-james88 on June 10th, 2024 @ 2:51pm CDT
That means that in each case he's in, he will be on par in rarity with the standard Treasure Hunt cars. And looking at it from an entire year's output, he will be 2 out of 1080. That makes the Hotwheels Bumblebee car the rarest standard car from the 2024 set, which is not a Treasure Hunt car.
For those unaware, Treasure Hunt cars are those which are at most 1 per case and will not repeat in a following case (so at most 1 out of 1080 if you buy every case of 72 cars in a given year).
With both Transformers fans and Hotwheels fans interested in this collectible, Bumblebee could become quite the hot commodity. Especially since this would be the very first release in a growing collection of Hotwheels Transformers cars. So, for those wondering which other cars are in the same waves as Bumblebee, we have videos of the cases below.
Posted by TulioDude on June 10th, 2024 @ 4:30pm CDT
I'm more hyped for this than the hotwheels version of g1 toy Optimus.
Day 1623 of waiting for Transformers Armada Masterpiece news.
Posted by o.supreme on June 10th, 2024 @ 4:44pm CDT
Posted by Till-all-R1 on June 10th, 2024 @ 5:28pm CDT
I suspect that if the employees don't snatch it ups first the early bird HW collectors will be there first thing.
Posted by william-james88 on June 10th, 2024 @ 5:38pm CDT
Till-all-R1 wrote:Yeah, I'll keep an eye out and if I spot it I'll buy it, but I'm not a big collector of HW in general so if I can't find it oh well. It's a neat niche item to have but not worth any hassle.
I suspect that if the employees don't snatch it ups first the early bird HW collectors will be there first thing.
My local dollar store gets stuff half a year late but the employees dont care. So today I actually found a treasure hunt item. Will probably see this bumblebee at the beginning of next year
Posted by Emerje on June 11th, 2024 @ 1:54pm CDT
william-james88 wrote:Till-all-R1 wrote:Yeah, I'll keep an eye out and if I spot it I'll buy it, but I'm not a big collector of HW in general so if I can't find it oh well. It's a neat niche item to have but not worth any hassle.
I suspect that if the employees don't snatch it ups first the early bird HW collectors will be there first thing.
My local dollar store gets stuff half a year late but the employees dont care. So today I actually found a treasure hunt item. Will probably see this bumblebee at the beginning of next year
I was reading an article recently about things you didn't know about Dollar Tree and one of the things they said was that it isn't uncommon for them hand over a HW case to whoever shows up first as long as they put the cars they don't want on the pegs for them in return. What an unexpected dichotomy, usually you hear about HW buyers being a nuisance.
Emerje
Posted by chuckdawg1999 on June 11th, 2024 @ 6:00pm CDT
Emerje wrote:I'm really hoping that the only reason it's rare is to get people talking (like we are) and they plan on doing many other releases later on, maybe even in a multipack with those other cars that were listed but haven't been revealed yet.william-james88 wrote:Till-all-R1 wrote:Yeah, I'll keep an eye out and if I spot it I'll buy it, but I'm not a big collector of HW in general so if I can't find it oh well. It's a neat niche item to have but not worth any hassle.
I suspect that if the employees don't snatch it ups first the early bird HW collectors will be there first thing.
My local dollar store gets stuff half a year late but the employees dont care. So today I actually found a treasure hunt item. Will probably see this bumblebee at the beginning of next year
I was reading an article recently about things you didn't know about Dollar Tree and one of the things they said was that it isn't uncommon for them hand over a HW case to whoever shows up first as long as they put the cars they don't want on the pegs for them in return. What an unexpected dichotomy, usually you hear about HW buyers being a nuisance.
Emerje
Every collector after about six months has at least one HW collector story.
Posted by Dino-Snarl on June 11th, 2024 @ 8:56pm CDT
Posted by Till-all-R1 on June 12th, 2024 @ 10:07am CDT
Emerje wrote:I was reading an article recently about things you didn't know about Dollar Tree and one of the things they said was that it isn't uncommon for them hand over a HW case to whoever shows up first as long as they put the cars they don't want on the pegs for them in return. What an unexpected dichotomy, usually you hear about HW buyers being a nuisance.
Emerje
Interesting, when I worked retail this was not something that would be allowed by the bigger chains. Sure a customer could look through a box of product If they so choose to, but not put product away on the shelf. That is your job as an employee.
Posted by william-james88 on June 12th, 2024 @ 10:23am CDT
Till-all-R1 wrote:Emerje wrote:I was reading an article recently about things you didn't know about Dollar Tree and one of the things they said was that it isn't uncommon for them hand over a HW case to whoever shows up first as long as they put the cars they don't want on the pegs for them in return. What an unexpected dichotomy, usually you hear about HW buyers being a nuisance.
Emerje
Interesting, when I worked retail this was not something that would be allowed by the bigger chains. Sure a customer could look through a box of product If they so choose to, but not put product away on the shelf. That is your job as an employee.
It's cause Dollar Tree has next to no enforced policy for stuff like that. They don't even have enough workers to man the store, so anyone showing up and volunteering to put stuff away is given an ok from the staff there.