The Great Super Treasure Hunt Experiment of 2014: My first gas station find, and mid-afternoon at Target...

The great experiment continues.  My attempt to find all 15 Super Treasure Hunts in stores during the middle of the day on random visits to stores hasn't gone completely as desired, but the occasional find has made it pretty fun.

The count to date:

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 - no luck

'64 Chevy Nova Wagon - no luck

'83 Silverado - we will get to that

'76 Greenwood Corvette - not out in my area yet

6 out of 10 ain't bad, especially considering all were found in the middle of the day.

And we have an update.  I have had a surprising couple of days while traveling for business, and it started with a first.  My first gas station find.  

I spent Tuesday evening driving south from Salt Lake City to St. George, Utah, and I inevitably had to stop for gas.  That meant hitting the Flying J in Beaver, Utah.  While pumping gas, I went into the convenience store for a bottle of water.  While wandering, I saw two small bins with a total of about 50 Hot Wheels, and I of course had a look.

The first thing I noticed, they were crazy expensive for the US - $2.99.  I told myself while starting to look that I would only purchase one if it were a cool error or a Super.  I saw a few models I liked, but left.  Then I saw a Mazda RX-7 Treasure Hunt.  It is a Hunt I would normally pick up, but $2.99 was a deterrent.  That is until I saw one of the last cars in the second bin:

Yep, that is the '07 Mustang Super from 2013.  The fourth time I have found that model.  Glad it is one I really like.  

I said this was my first gas station find.  It is also the oldest Super I have ever found.  It was released almost a year ago.  Certainly it hasn't sat in that bin that long, but it is interesting to wonder how long it has been there.  Considering the $2.99 price, maybe awhile.  

I bit the bullet and went with these:

So that was fun enough, finding an old Super in such an odd location.  But it did nothing to help my quest in 2014.  But I made some progress yesterday.

The theme for my finds this week has been water.  I went into the Flying J for a bottle on Tuesday, leaving with a Super, and the same happened at Target in St. George on Wednesday afternoon.  Of course any visit to Target means a visit to the pegs, and while those pegs weren't full, there were some interesting models.

First, I saw the Porsche 993 in white, meaning the K case was there.  Then the black Hakosuka Skyline.  Then the Ford Fiesta Treasure Hunt.  Our friends at DiecastTVChannel were looking for one, so I could send them this one as part of a trade.  Regular Hunts get left all the time, but there is always the chance it could mean this was a pegged case that hadn't been looked at yet.   Midway down, behind a couple of cars, there is was:

It seems I find Supers well after they were released, after collectors have moved onto the next one, so this we surely unexpected.  I was happy to take it home.

Not a bad two-day haul:

Think I can keep the streak alive?

The Great Super Treasure Hunt Experiment of 2014: Two stores, two Supers...

The experiment to see if I can find all 15 2014 Supers by only visiting stores during normal daytime hours hasn't been going so well.

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:

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).