I know it's a little off track, but with so many long standing major retailers filing bankruptcy in the past month or two, I will be surprised if places like Hobby Lobby even still exist in 5 years. We may be lucky to still have the various dollar stores and Wally. Everything else seems to be going online.

Though I understand your perspective based on the Retail Armageddon trend, I am confident that Hobby Lobby is an exception. If they were publicly traded I would consider investing. The owners are billionaires. There is a huge following for arts and crafts especially during the pandemic shutdown. Not everyone wants to order everything online. I would not be surprised if everything old is new again in say ten years if people begin missing human interaction, shopping in an actual 3-D environment, and actually experiencing the visceral feel of shopping. I buy online, but rather shop in person if I can. I see the amount of bricks and mortar constricting, but not to the point that all chains will shut down physical locations.

But back to Majorette, yeah, if you stop by Hobby Lobby, you might come across one or two items for your collection, Majorette collectors! The ones I saw were in window boxes, not the blisterpacks familiar to us from the ToysRUs Experiment.

That's pretty cool to hear. Hopefully the product selection will expand in the future to have other lines as well. Any idea of the price? I know they price with the 40% off coupon in mind so the prices are actually reasonable after the coupon is used.

I will say I do miss my cross-border trips to Hobby Lobby...I always managed to find a gem or two that I missed in stores here. Majorette gives me another reason to visit whenever it becomes the right time, especially since the regional retailer here doesn't carry the trailer sets (yet).

Hi Stampede. I was so focused on the Greenlight selection that the only thing that registered for certain was the silver G-Wagen Polizei model. I am pretty sure it was $7.99. I'll try to confirm that very soon.

I have become friendly with the guy who manages that section, so I will ask him if he knows more about products there. He is a gem because he is semi-retired and likes to keep the customers pleased. Of the Hobby Lobby stores near me, he is the only one who "goes nuts" ordering models, and I think he might take a special order if a collector is looking for something specific. Most HL stores get like four GL a week, but he packs the pegs!!!! And he discounts any pegwarmers to move them. He said he asked the regional manager if it was all right to do this, and was given the green light for Greenlight, so to speak. But the other stores seem to follow the HQs guidelines about stocking pegs and the selection is never nearly as good.

Yeah, living close to the border is fantastic, even if it is only different diecast availability. I know that Canada has unfortunately missed out on Auto World, at least at Walmart, though it has been a treat to be able to visit Walmart and ToysRUs for Greenlight models.

As far as distribution of Majorette goes, I know JADA is part of Dickie, so hopefully any store in Canada or the US that sells JADA will get Majorette in the door with them.

Thanks for the reply! Even without the coupon, $7.99 is a pretty reasonable price for a Majorette tow set given the going rate online. And that's awesome the manager has a collector mentality. Discounting the pegwarmers is such a smart decision that I wish more stores would do. After all, space on the shelf is money and there is no sense having a model on the pegs for an extended amount of time since it clogs up the distribution through the chain.

It's funny driving 30 minutes across the border and seeing a completely different diecast selection and availability. There have been times that my Walmarts have been barren for several months, yet a trip down south will take off half of my wanted list. That's probably the case with Hot Wheels right now - I haven't seen a new model for a good three or four months but I'm sure that the stores I usually visit on my trips are brimming with the models that I want. The distribution system works in funny ways, to say the least...

The Auto World slack has been slowly filled by some specialty dealers across Canada, which isn't bad. But the good thing is that I prefer seeing Greenlights on the pegs as opposed to Auto World's, simply because the former's subject matter interests me more than the latter.

LOL, I didn't want to say I like GL better for concern about getting someone incensed, but most definitely, I rather have Greenlight in the stores and just pick up an AW online.

and another LOL, I have had the opposite experience with the cross-border shopping. I'll be bored with the selection here, and will pop over to Canada and find the latest Matchbox or GL at a Walmart or ToysRUs in Canada. I remember I had fantastic luck finding the Moving Parts Matchbox models in Canada in the last couple of years. The only consistency I noticed between US and Canadian Walmarts is the lack of consistency between the locations in each country. One Walmart will have a terrible selection, but another neighborhood location will be fantastic. That goes for here too.

Well, this might make up for them ditching AW for Ertls I can buy a half-mile down the road from the mall at the John Deere dealer for less money. But seriously, being able to actually buy new, modern Majorettes at a local brick and mortar is exciting news. $8 for a two-pack is a pretty decent deal, given the recent MiJo exclusives have been $5-6 (sometimes even more if the dealer wants to stupidly overprice a particular model). And with the coupon, an even better deal. I am hoping by October, the COVID-19 numbers fall to the point I can head to the mall--due to the fact it's the only Hobby Lobby we have, and it is attached to the mall. GameStop recently closed, and the mall at best has a 45% occupancy rate.

With Dickie now owning Jada, I think SLOWLY, you'll be finding them in every store where Jada sells stuff. I'm guessing the Hero Patrol rebranded SOS Flashers sold exclusively through Target was a market test, and it went well.

Yes, that was an unbelievable move getting rid of AW. But like Target, they like to switch things up often to keep things interesting and us on our toes. I also do some hobbying building scratch models, and I will find a product I like and consistently buy at Hobby Lobby, and then they pull it for something else... :-(

My guess is that your Hobby Lobby will thrive, and even if the Mall closes, it will move elsewhere to an abandoned mid-size box store. The store only came on my RADAR when I began collecting diecast again and learned they sold AW, M2, and Greenlight. Then it came to the point where I knew many of the clerks and would stop to have a conversation with them if they weren't busy. We had four stores in our area, and it's only a mid-size population city (Buffalo, NY). They did move one store to another city (it closed, but all the stock went to a new one in Pennsylvania), but still, to have three thriving Hobby Lobby stores that have full parking lots and busy stores communicates to me that they are doing something very right business-wise.

Hi Stampede, I had a chance to go to two Hobby Lobby stores today, and neither the one where I found the Majorette a couple of days ago nor the other that I haven't been to in a while had ANY Majorettes! I wanted to verify the price and see if I could retain some better details, but it apparently was sold. That being said.....I DID see two Majorette models, the Bulli VW Panel Van and the original Beetle with opening "Frunk" as they are now called / luggage compartment BUT in JADA packaging! Again, my mind was focused on Greenlight, so I barely registered the name of the actual product series, but the theme and name relates to surfing.

Selling Majorette as "JADA" might be a marketing tactic Dickie has up its sleeve to appeal to the people in the US market who don't remember Majorette as fondly as I do. I don't think Majorette needs to do that at all in Canada because it has always been a strong seller in your country as you know, with a sizeable (I think) and faithful following. When Majorette became virtually extinct from the US when the discount department store Ames closed in 1999, I relied on Sobey's, Metro, Sears, Zellers, and a small Toronto toy store chain to supply my Majorette needs offline. I can tell you the location of every one of those stores from Niagara Falls to Toronto! People are so familiar with that region, but I was like a sales rep going from store to store, except I was doing the purchasing, not selling!

Thanks for following up! While it is unfortunate that you weren't able to confirm the price, the good news is that the set was sold, meaning that there is interest out there. I do find it interesting about the Majorette models in JADA packaging, so if it is possible for you to get a photo of a model that would be great. I think others here would greatly appreciate that as well!

You're probably right about Majorette having a brand recognition in Canada that might not exist in the USA. Aside from the current models found at the regional retailer in Western Canada, there was a period where Walmart stocked them as well. So you would think that the retaining the original name would be the smart move, but I'd imagine it would be cheaper to just send the JADA-marked models up north rather than printing out a new card.

Yes, I was thinking that it was a GOOD thing that the G-Wagen was sold in just the two days. The G-Wagen was branded as "Majorette" unlike the two VWs that were separate and in with other JADA. The manager of this department needs to become a VP of Hobbies at Hobby Lobby because this store has fantastic selection with packed pegs. Yes, certainly I will get pics!

My take on the Jada / Majorette branding is that we Americans taken as a whole like things that are "'muricun", but Canada, especially with Quebec, has stronger direct ties to the old world / Europe. Myself, I always embraced the "quirky Frenchness" of Majorette just as I embraced the "quirky Japaneseness" of Tomica, etc. but based on the overwhelming popularity of Hot Wheels here, it seems to me that is where the most intense interest of American diecast buyers / collectors lies.

As I write this, I come back to edit this because I just remembered, I think correctly, that Schuco is part of Dickie unless that has changed? That suggests that Schuco 1/64 may make an appearance at Hobby Lobby!

PS.... I stumbled on this while looking for Majorette today....these are the "Jada" Majorette VW models apparently called "Slug Bug":
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2020-JADA-M...wAAOSwlSdfIoc1

The Slug Bug series is also sold at Target and retail for $2.99 each. I was surprised to see only one or two of them at Hobby Lobby yesterday. I was able to find the Majorette Trailer box set with Mercedes G Wagon in silver/blue Police livery with Police boat on trailer at a local Hobby Lobby. The set retails for $7.99 each. Additionally, I found a Trailer set with a light blue VW bug (opening front boot) towing an Eriba Puck camper trailer (opening door) in matching light blue and white. Also $7.99 and very sharp looking. These are great sets for the money. Both sets had stickers on them indicating they were imported by Jada Toys.

I saw a VW bug/teardrop trailer 2-pack labeled Majorette at HL yesterday. Nice set, but out of my 'collection's theme'. There were two of the sets, but no other Majo or any of the Jada models in stock.

Going back today to pick up another Green Light police pickup ("Dive Rescue" team on F-350 Lariat). All three of the police pickups in stock were Lariats in the "Dually Drivers" series...NYPD (the one I bought); Florida Highway Patrol, and the generic 'Dive Rescue' truck with "POLICE" on the doors. The only other HP model in stock was the Jeep...3 of them in the same old SFPD livery or similar (all black). There was a Fire Dept pickup with a HazMat trailer, too...but I think I already have it somewhere in a tub. Time to go dig thru a couple of tubs in the garage, methinks.