Subject:
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LEGO Clearance in Dallas and my journey back to Raleigh,NC (part 1)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.shopping
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Date:
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Sun, 30 Jan 2000 03:33:26 GMT
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Viewed:
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1719 times
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I wrote this on the plane home yesterday, just getting caught up and back
online this evening.
--
This week I had to go to Dallas for a series of meetings. Since bad weather
was forcasted for Raleigh (NC) on Monday evening I headed out earlier than I
normally would have and took the opportunity to do a little LEGO shopping.
What was forcasted as a light dusting with a chance of freezing rain turned
out to be the worst storm in Raleigh in almost 75 years - in excess of 20
inches of snow. Those of you who live in places where it snows frequently
are probably thinking - "20 inches, no big deal, clean it up and get on with
life".
Well - in Raleigh it is a big deal. Such a big deal in fact that I can't
get home. The Raleigh/Durham airport is still closed. I have had no less
than six flights (I'd actually have to count them up) cancelled. I have
given up on getting back to Raleigh and am currently flying to Charlotte and
driving the rest of the way. From Charlotte to Raleigh should be about a 2
and a half hour trip - I am hoping to make it in four. When I returned my
rental car, the rental car bus back to the terminal broke down. This
morning my flight to Charlotte was even delayed! I am starting to feel like
Steve Martin and John Candy in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles". This is
the first time in almost eight years of traveling on business that I have
had to check the train schedule as part of my efforts to get home!
Enough about my travel woes and getting back on topic. Since I was in
Dallas early on Monday I decided to see if I could find any LEGO deals.
Pickings at the Raleigh area Target stores were pretty slim and I suspect
the same would be true in Dallas but I had to check any way. After all, I
had visions of finding a 4561 set on clearance for $32.44.
There is a Target near the DFW Airport (#1) that I have passed before and
one right near our Dallas office (I-635 and the Dallas Toll Road) (#2). I
checked Target's web site and it looked like there was one more in the
general vicinity where I was staying (Stillman Road - #3).
#1 had nothing. At #2 I found a 6467 Power Pit Stop for $2.44. At first
glance #3 looked like it would yield nothing then in the corner, near the
sporting goods I spied three 4561 sets. Could it be, would I be lucky
enough to get not one, but three 4561 sets on clearance for $32.44 (price
reported on LUGNET)? A quick scan of the sets yielded "Clearance" (normally
a good sign). There was a guy working in the toy department and I asked him
how much they were. He provided me no value saying they were new stock and
just hadn't been priced yet. So I carried them up to the checkout counter
where they again scanned clearance and the cashier was prompted to enter a
price. I told her I thought they were $32.44 each. She started to enter
the price and then asked another woman for assistance. The other woman did
some keyboard magic and came up with $77.90. Doh! What a let down. Still
on the first round of clearance. I decided to put them back where I found
them. Since it was Monday night and clearance prices typically change on
Wednesday, I figured there was a chance they might drop. Whether I had the
time to get back to Target on Wednesday was unknown.
So I headed towards my hotel and decided to stop at the Wal-Mart (near
I-635 and the Dallas Toll Road) to see if they had anything. My labors were
rewarded, I found a bunch of stuff. It wasn't so much the sets I found on
clearance as some of the prices I found. It is really hard to pass up LEGO
sets for $0.50 or $1.00 (although I did pass on every one of 40 5918 sets
priced at $1.00).
I ended up with the following:
6033 - http://www.lugnet.com/pause/search/?query=6033 (x5) @ $2.00
6431 - http://www.lugnet.com/pause/search/?query=6431-1 (x5) @ $0.50
6445 - http://www.lugnet.com/pause/search/?query=6445-1 (x2) @ $3.00
6567 - http://www.lugnet.com/pause/search/?query=6567 (x5) @ $1.00
6572 - http://www.lugnet.com/pause/search/?query=6572 (x5) @ $1.00
5938 - http://www.lugnet.com/pause/search/?query=5938 (x2) @ $3.00
5978 - http://www.lugnet.com/pause/search/?query=5978 (x2) @ $9.00
Wal-Mart Value Pack @ $14.00
Not a bad haul, it made the agony of the 4561 sets not being on final
clearance a little easier to deal with.
On Wednesday morning I had some time before my meeting started so I risked
Dallas traffic to head back to Target to see if the price dropped. I didn't
have any problem getting there and there were a few other people around
waiting for the store to open.
Now I start to think - are these people like me? Do they know about the
train sets? When the doors open, the three other people head right for the
toy department. Uh-oh, I am going to get shut out! So I get to the toy
department and the other three people are looking at Hot Wheels! This is
new to me, is there something special going on in the Hot Wheels world?
The train sets are still there! All right! Grab one and scan it. Still
shows up as clearance. Hmm ... there is a woman pricing some stuff, she
scans it, does some keypad entry, $77.90. No price reduction on this set
today. Now do I buy one at $77.90? I decide not to, I leave all three
where I originally found them. For all I know they are still there so
someone in Dallas should be able to get these eventually.
So I head to airport with my haul wondering when I would be able to get back
home. I also need to do something with the two large Wal-Mart bags of LEGO
I had. Not the easiest thing to stuff in the overhead bin. A nice lady at
American Airlines found me a couple of boxes and since I was stuck in Dallas
on Thursday night, I decided to do a little LEGO sorting. I have found lots
of stuff on my travels but this was the first time I sat down and opened
sets. I ended up sorting out the two 5978 sets and a couple of smaller sets
that had opened boxes. Everything else got boxed up and checked as baggage.
Mike - mike_walsh@mindspring.com
http://members.tripod.com/mike_walsh
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