Today I thought I would write about Hot Wheels cars. I haven't written a post about them in a long while. So around Christmas time last year, I was shopping in Ollie's Bargain Outlet, when I happened to come across some Hot Wheels IZOD IndyCar Series 1:64 scale cars. It bought 1 of each of the 4 different cars I could find since they were $1.99 each. Anyway it struck me that why on Earth would Mattel pick up the IndyCar license. Mattel already discontinued the Hot Wheels NASCAR diecast line in 2006. That begs the question, so why bother picking up a license that isn't nearly as popular as NASCAR?
For instance every major big box store I have been in has never stocked the Hot Wheels IZOD IndyCar Series cars. These stores include Walmart, Target, Kmart, Toys "R" Us, pretty much any of them. However I have seen them in one major closeout store, Big Lots. Ollie's is a regional chain so I wouldn't count them as a major player, but they are expanding to new areas constantly.
Did I mention that IndyCar isn't doing as well as NASCAR? That's pretty much a fact. I read in AutoWeek that IndyCar has a hard time maintaining a good fanbase. People just aren't attracted to it, whereas the NASCAR Fans are very loyal. Mattel picking up the IndyCar license was a huge mistake. Not only do these cases of cars end up in closeout stores, major retailers would rather carry the Spin Master NASCAR diecast instead. Well one thing is for sure I have more Hot Wheels IndyCar cars than Spin Master NASCAR cars. The ratio is 4:1.
So Mattel needs to dump the IndyCar license to get back the NASCAR license. At least the NASCAR diecast never ended up in closeout stores.
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