Elmo Tmx

[SHADOWFOX]

Anybody seen these?? These were selling at target and walmart for $40.00 and now all of the stores are sold out.. I did a search on ebay to see how much they are going for since this toy seems to be the hot item this season and I saw one guy sold it for $350.00 ..

If I only knew these were that hot of an item, I could have grabbed some yesterday when there was a bin full of them at Target.. Came back last night after watching in on the news and it was all gone, sold out.. It would have been a nice profit for more tools..

[crokett]

Hmm... maybe I will check Walmart and see if they have any.

[SHADOWFOX]

Going to two TARGET store for lunch and see if they have any.. Might be my meal ticket for a new drill press

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Do a "Buy" search in Ebay for TMX ELMO and you will find that they are regularly selling for $80-100. Sorry. Still at little profit to made on them but not as worth as the $350 margin !

[LCHIEN]

i find these to be self fulfilling prophesies.

Take one halfway cute toy.
Make an announcement on the TV news that they are sold out or will soon be sold out.

Profiteers will snap them up by the armloads today.

Tomorrow they are actually sold out...

Mothers and fathers will arrive to find the store shelves empty. and the stockers shaking their heads.

Mothers and fathers concerned that their child have the latest hot toy lest they grow up underpriveleged will pay 100 to 500% premium for one from a profiteer.

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Loring, you are absolutely correct. The funny thing is that there is a huge stock pile of these things somewhere that have not been released to retailers. Supply and demand functions in the toy industry are quite interesting. Well, maybe not that interesting since I slept through the class half the time, but I had a professor at Duke who was considered one of the top economist in toy industry (how does one choose that specialization?). Production is generally run early in the year in anticipation of sales in Nov and Dec. A lot of toys run have been completed by the time they are released. I think the Elmo/Cabbage Patch syndrome of delivering limited supply is intentionally done to create a buzz about the item. It’s on the news, in the papers. Most parents will not pay the huge premium, but when they do see the item on the shelf they snap it up. After all that is what every kid in America wants AND the parent feels incredibly smart for not having paid $350 for the toy.

[mac_daddy]

I'm WITH SHADOWFOX

Going to two TARGET store for lunch and see if they have any.. Might be my meal ticket for a new drill press

Heck, sensationalism never hurts the profiteer! I'm on the hunt as well to fund my garage conversion as well!

[DaveW]

oh come on people - how can you resist the charm of an elmo that rolls on the floor and stands up on his own?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCmAD-z7-mA

I don't want one in my house, but I'm just picturing grandma/grandpa buying one for the kids - I just hope they don't spend $350 on it!

[bmyers]

do you guys have small children?

i find these to be self fulfilling prophesies.

Take one halfway cute toy.
Make an announcement on the TV news that they are sold out or will soon be sold out.

Profiteers will snap them up by the armloads today.

Tomorrow they are actually sold out...

Mothers and fathers will arrive to find the store shelves empty. and the stockers shaking their heads.

Mothers and fathers concerned that their child have the latest hot toy lest they grow up underpriveleged will pay 100 to 500% premium for one from a profiteer.

But first, market the snot out of it to children just before SS comes on and after it comes on. This way the kids will bug their parents until their parents are ready to pay $350 for a $5 toy made in China by kids who can't watch SS because they ARE AT WORK MAKING ELMO TOYS!

[LCHIEN]

I find some interesting stuff for anthropologists.
One is, even in this modern day and era there is still a herd mentality part of our gene makeup that breaks through. "If everyone else is doing it, I'd better, too." overrides our common sense.

Second is the transition from the time when kids were an asset used to supplant the family income by making them work and contribute to the household. whereas today kids are a total expense driver and soak up countless resources while contributing nothing to the economic livlihood of the family.