KC-Traderbear

I'm so excited.... went out to one of the stores around me to make sure they were doing a good job babysitting the endcap full of Smart Cycles until next week. (Still lots there.) Went to the scanner to enter in the Plasma car dpci to check if there was a long shot that they might have another one in their back room. NO go. So, I wandered back to the toy aisle to browse around a bit and way up high on the back shelf were TWO more Plasma cars. I couldn't grab them fast enough. I honestly almost couldn't believe my eyes. For the past 2 days my 6 and 8yos have been bugging me about getting their own little cars like the 3yo got for HER b-day. I figured there would be no chance at all finding anymore of those. I mean I only ever saw the one at ONE store. So, that is my deal of the day... also scored a MM fruit punch. YIPEE... (this was the Stanly store for the KC peeps out there.) This was the first time I entered a dpci like that to try and find something that might have perhaps been in the back. Goes to show it is not necessarily a reliable way to find something, that's for sure. If I knew how to post a picture from my digital camera, I would take a photo of the actual box that these cars come in. It might help people when they are looking. These boxes weren't stickered at all! (So, if anyone wants to step me through posting a pic from my camera, I can post it. I only know how to copy image addresses from the web and am not sure how to post off my own camera.) Anyway, they ARE out there.

###204 09 0250 Plasma Car I found it in the toy section. It comes in a rectangular box. You have to assemble it. The one I got is red... don't know if they came in other colors at Target or not.

Just want to mention something about this toy that I found on the clearance shelf for $13.xx... http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412Mov1eczL._SL500_AA280_.jpg It is the NEATEST thing. I would pay full price for this. (I think they around $60 or something.) We gave it to our 3yo for her b-day yesterday and she loves it. That is, when she can get our 6 & 8yo off of it! They love it too! Anyway, I love to hear when someone finds a good quality toy that kids love and this is a neat toy, so I thought I would share. The box says that it holds up to 220 pounds for ages 3-103! Actually, it is more fun for my 8yo to give rides to her little sisters since she can really get it going fast. They ride it around the house. I am happy to dig out the dpci if someone wants it. I only saw it at ONE Target store... kind of weird. Much more worth the money than those motorized ride on scooters that cost about the same or more money. Uses pure "kid energy" to keep it going. I know its a bit OT, but for the parents that watch this chat room, I just thought I would share an opinion about this. :) Amazon.com also has great reviews for it.

I have had success with this also... buy it and return late in the evening at a store that isn't that overshopped. Go immediately the next morning and rebuy (that is after you at least try customer service to get them to resell it to you at the lower price.) Sometimes it works well. But if the CS person (or another employee) wants the item, you are screwed.

I really hope so too. And I think that this year is so different from other years that really anything could happen. I'm just fearful that the items that got stickered at 50% this past Thursday will now stay at that price for a couple weeks. I would imagine they will take another pass at the toys that have been at 30 or 50% and did NOT get marked on Thursday, so there may be more activity this week. I just haven't seen Target change a sticker on an item one week and then go back and change that same sticker on the same item the very next week. But who knows!

Well I beg to differ. Most of the time the markdown teams mark a department and then it typically sits for a couple weeks before they go back in and mark again.

I am at such a loss as to what will happen next with these toy markdowns... Are markdown teams going back in next week to mark again? I really can't imagine that happening. Does anyone else think that will happen? I have this sinking feeling that it will be 2 more weeks before we see activity again. If that is the case, I will miss out. As I'm laying in the sun in Mexico, sipping on a cool drink I will be thinking.... THERE GO ALL MY SMART CYCLES FLYING OFF THE SHELF AT $25!!!! Although there are so many giant boxed "things" that they haven't really moved (S'mores, Biscut, Smart Cycle), and I can't imagine they wouldn't want to get all that outta there. I guess I will just have to try and hit stores this week that didn't do many markdowns this past Wed/Thurs, but I think all our stores did at least something in the toy aisle... at least around here. Arrgghhh, what to do, what to do...

Yes, actually I think I might have just gotten really lucky. They were bringing out carts and flatbeds from the back at about 1:30 and the last flatbed had one Spike box on it. There were also a bunch of Star Wars boxes that people took... maybe 4. They were giant, but I don't know what they were... some kind of spaceship it appeared. I have all girls so I don't know much about the boy toys, but I do know about Spike! My nephews know all about him.

Yes, I got him yesterday for 75% off ($32.48) Here is the dpci ####204033058 Spike the Dinosaur I also find this format tedious, but I'm happy to go look something up on my receipt if someone wants to ask specifically. Doing this during the toy sale though is really kind of futile (IMO). Nothing is going to stay on the shelf very long at 75% off. I think we were all witness to that in some way or another yesterday. Occasionally we will get lucky and find something that isn't stickered or is a return and get lucky, but during this sale it's pretty much just find and grab. Maybe I'm missing the point to how exactly people are using this dpci list format - with the ###. Do you go into the store and just start entering numbers into the aisle scanners to see if it's available? Or do you call the store??? I guess I don't use it, so maybe I'm just outta the loop on how it's used.

No it's not. They didn't really have as much as other stores to begin with. I was there yesterday afternoon and everything was picked through. Unless you are looking for stuff that's 50% off, I wouldn't go out in this yucky weather just for that store.

That's interesting cuz if one scanned that way, then the whole works should scan at that price! I will not buy anymore Little People... I will not buy anymore Little People... I will not by anymore Little People. Oh, those sets are so cute, but my husband is convinced that those little people are breeding downstairs. I just look at him and laugh... sheepishly of course!

Did they really? At 75% off???? They must have put more back out. I was there briefly this morning just before 10, but what a freakin' zoo. Man, that store had the most shoppers of all. I did not stay long. I'm just too tired. I am officially done for today

I was at the Olathe ST around 1:30 and they were hauling more toys out from the back. I got Spike the Dinosaur for $32.xx. I will be a rock star to my nephews for that find!! I also got the pink V-Tech digital camera for $14.98, down from $59.99. I got what I was looking for, but a great deal of what I am after is still at the most 50% off. Not good enough! Still holding out hope for the Smart Cycle. THere are so many left out there. Considering Amazon was selling it before Christmas for under $50 shipped, the $49.99 price tag that Target has on it really isn't that big of a deal. I would like that Smart Cycle, the Barbie Hot Tub Bus, the Digital Arts and Crafts Studio and the Little Pony Amusement Park for 75% off... DO YOU HEAR ME TARGET??? Biggest finds were: Spike, Plasma Car, V-Tech Camera, Disney doll set. Don't know if it's just me, but it seemed like the stuff that was really cheap was all the baby/infant toys. Much of the toys for the 1st-3rd grade+ group were only 50% off. (I s'pose the moms who were trying to find the baby stuff thought the opposite.) I wonder if putting the "global bazaar" type stuff at 30% off gives them the room they need to hold on to the toys for a bit longer. Usually all that home furnishings stuff doesn't start clearance for at least a couple more weeks. (Of course, on my trips out, it didn't look like anyone was shopping that area at all.)

I stopped by there around noon and they were just getting started. I picked up a couple things, but didn't really see anything that I was dying to wait around for.

I would check today anyway. I would not at all trust what he is saying. That's just me though. I think they sometimes will tell you it's going to be later for a lot of reasons, but just like he said, "Corporate decides when it goes." There hasn't been a Target in KC that has dropped its toys that far behind the others in all the years that I've been shopping this sale. This definitely COULD be the year... I'm certainly not trying to say that I KNOW anything for a fact either, but I would feel bad for you if it does go today and you miss it.

Do you recall seeing any Smart Cycles at Lees Summit?

My husband tells me that I must have been seriously deprived of toys as a kid, and I'm trying to compensate with my own kids. Well, if my mom had been the serious bargain shopper that I am, then maybe I wouldn't be doing this crazy toy shopping... ...that's it, it's my mother's fault!! LOL

I know exactly how you feel. I remember when I was first shopping this toy craziness, I would actually have trouble sleeping the night before wondering which dang store I should start with and whether I would "get all the stuff" I wanted. LOL... NUTS!!! I am not as worked up over it anymore and really only have specific things that I am after now. But, I used to get a flippin stomach ache just thinking/obsessing about it! I am just hoping that the S'mores ponies that are everywhere around here do not pass my gaze at 75% off. They are so cute. We got my daughter Butterscotch when that went on sale and now it just sits in the toy room with a carrot hanging around it's neck. Poor thing doesn't see much action at all. I keep thinking I should buy S'mores to keep it company.

I would go to Stanly in the morning... matter of fact, I think that is where I'm starting. All my kiddos (including my 3yo) are in school, so praise the lord I can get around a bit faster. The other good store to start at would be Oak Park. They are always very prompt about getting to markdowns in the morning, but the guy that does most of them at that store is a real PITA about marking things for people. He just stops and leaves the aisle like a pouty little boy. I stopped at OP Super on BV Parkway tonight and there were a few things marked down to 75%, but as I said in a different post, more was just marked down to 50%.

I agree. I've had my eye on that stupid Little Pony Amusement Park since Christmas, but it's been 30% off FOREVER. I finally just "misplaced it" last night cause "I knew" today was going to be the markdown day and it was late in the evening. When I got to that store later this evening, they were all gone, so I figured, "oh goodie," and went to retrieve mine! It did get marked down today, but only to 1/2. I thought , "oh H#LL, I'm just taking it" I can't stand waiting for it to go to 75% any longer!!!! So, they got me on that one, but I will still keep my eye out in case I find it cheaper.

I ran over to Mission after someone posted about that store and there was still quite a bit left at 4ish... I saw some things that I passed on (I'm very proud of myself)... that puppet theatre is way up high on the back shelf for $17.xx if anyone is interested in that (someone on hear was talking about it). The Polly Pocket Shop the Mall thingy is $12.xx. I also passed on lots of cute Little People sets.

I found this cute plasma car ... regular $55 or $56 or something... got it for $13.xx http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41cBfhT37kL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

Things are definitely being done a bit differently at some of the KC stores this year. I got out a bit this afternoon, and stores that I knew hadn't marked anything down this morning were in fact down to 75% off, but only here and there... not everything like previous years. There are a couple stores who didn't appear to have done markdowns since yesterday, but some stores did mark things to 50%, some things to 75%. The odd thing is that if they are doing this a little at a time like someone mentioned, that is not characteristic of this sale at all. I mean in the past it's one day and bam, it's over. So, if those stores who did mark things to 50% today go back tomorrow or Friday and mark them to 75%, that is just plain weird and this will be the first year that something like this has happened... at least that I'm aware of! Now, if they wait a week before doing any more marks, that is at least a little more in line, but to have a markdown team working on a department doing a little each day is a much different approach. It's probably a really much more fair way to doing it, that's for sure... gives lots of shoppers a chance without people going to nuts all at once.

Grrrrrr. Unless they were all ticketed wrong yesterday... the stickers yesterday said $69.99. I didn't haul one over to actually scan it though. I haven't gotten out today yet. It's too cold to drag my 3yo out. I don't really know what is happening around here. I am soooo trying to get over this sale! I have a basement so full of toys from previous years. My husband said we could give our kids a toy every day of their lives until they graduate and there would still be toys left over. (But, my littlest turns 3 on Friday and I really want that Smart Cycle!!)

Just a tip for those who make the calls to check prices...Make sure when you call the store to give dpci numbers (for a price check) that you ask for Guest Services. Many times, the first person to answer the phone is the operator and she/he is not equipped to look up the numbers, so will most likely ask you what the product is. That is when you will be transferred to that specific department. Doesn't mean that someone back in toys won't get you an accurate price, but I feel more comfortable getting it straight from the system in customer service. That way I know that I'm getting the right price and not relaying on "the aisle guy" to find it or get the correct price. I just called 4 stores and got the info on the Smart Cycle without any problem. The only PROBLEM was that it appears they are only taking them down to 1/2 price!!!! Yesterday they were $69.99 (30% off) at many stores. Today, the price I'm getting is $49.99. There are soooo many of them around here at the stores I frequent, that is probably why. Oh well, I always said that Target could make a lot more $$$$ if they didn't miss that 50% off step on the way down.