Store clerks withholding limited editions?

[bcla]

My kid loves Disney/Pixar Cars diecast toys and is somewhat addicted to unpackaging videos on YouTube. This has extended to the "Chase" and sometimes "Super Chase" editions that are supposed to be a small proportion of the toys made available. I have never seen one in a store on the rack. The only way I've ever found one was in the secondary market either sold at a markup, as part of a lot, or even sold at a reasonable price. I suspect that a lot of store employees are holding them back and buying them before they go on store racks or at the very least grabbing them as soon as they're on the racks. I know Target fired some employees for doing this, although they were apparently rehired and instructed that it wasn't acceptable.

I remember this all the way back to the Star Wars: Episode I toys where apparently nobody could find a Darth Maul figure in stores.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I can only add that the Chase Cars die cast that are sold at the Disneystores (which are not Mattel branded) have particular release dates. So they might be held until that exact date, only. I am not sure if the cars sold in other stores also have that situation.

 

[bcla]

I can only add that the Chase Cars die cast that are sold at the Disneystores (which are not Mattel branded) have particular release dates. So they might be held until that exact date, only. I am not sure if the cars sold in other stores also have that situation.

Those are actually pretty easy to find and sold on the online Disney Store. I don't know exactly what makes them "Chasers" other than they might promise one (wide) release and that they won't make any more.

The Mattel ones are called "Chase" or "Super Chase" and they promise they're made in smaller numbers than the rest of the cars in the box. I think they say the Super Chase are maybe 1% of the models.

As far as I can tell, the ones sold on eBay or by Amazon sellers were plucked early by speculators or came from entire boxes bought from wholesalers. I think a lot of them are sold at a premium by independent toy stores where they price each one individually and not at a standard price like a major store.