from aw website
AUTO WORLD DEVELOPS NEW MARKETING PLAN FOR ELECTRIC SLOT RACERS
February 23, 2007 - South Bend, Indiana
Auto World, a division of Round 2, LLC, is a leading manufacturer of collectible electric slot racing cars and accessories. Today, Auto World announced a new marketing strategy for its limited production "White Thunder" collector chase cars. For those unfamiliar, every release of six Thunderjet 500 or X-Traction electric slot racers offers a very small production percentage of each car decorated in the signature White Thunder style. These very limited cars feature pearl white body paint, a white chassis, white rubber tires and even a white tray for the jewel case packaging. Until now, White Thunder vehicles were included randomly in standard case packs, meant to ultimately reach the lucky consumers who find them.
Auto World has seen an increasing practice of White Thunder cars being sold at exorbitant prices, while regular production cars are heavily discounted. President Tom Lowe states,
"In an effort to reduce scalping and level the playing field for collectors, Auto World has decided to market our chase cars directly to the consumer by way of our web site, www.autoworldslotcars.com. This will allow true collectors an equal chance to purchase our very limited special edition cars at a fair price. Further, Auto World will introduce other
chase-inspired elements to their
standard production cars to make them more fun and exciting to collect than ever before!"
To kick off the new marketing plan, the White Thunder cars are being renamed. Starting with Release 2, the cars will be dubbed
"iWheels Racers", but will retain their trademark pearl white bodies and other white components.
Only 150 iWheels cars will be produced for each body style; a mere 4.3% over and above the standard production run. While standard production cars are produced in both clam packs and jewel cases,
iWheels Racers are being packaged in jewel cases ONLY! For their inaugural Release 2 debut, (expected to ship in April, 2007) iWheels Racers will feature details tampo printed or sprayed in gold, to make them even more specialized in comparison to their regular production counterparts.
Following is a detailed explanation of how the Release 2 iWheels Racers program will work:
OPTION A
For the
FIRST 30 DAYS following Release 2, if collectors purchase all six
STANDARD Release 2 production cars at Auto World's online price of $14.95 each, they will be given the opportunity to buy a complete set of six corresponding iWheels Racers (one of each) at $24.95 per car and receive
free shipping on their order.
Maximum one set of iWheels Racers per customer, regardless of total number of standard production cars purchased. Clams and jewel cases cannot be mixed. Standard release cars with chase elements are included at random and are NOT guaranteed. iWheels Racers must be purchased at the same time as the qualifying set of standard production cars. To purchase X-Traction iWheels, standard production X-Traction racers must be purchased. For Thunderjet 500 iWheels Racers, standard production Thunderjets must be purchased.
OPTION B
AFTER 30 DAYS has elapsed, and
SUBJECT TO AVAILABLE REMAINING STOCK, collectors may also purchase iWheels Racers as follows: Order all six standard production cars at $14.95 each, and have the opportunity to buy up to five (1-5) single iWheels Racers at the price of $29.95 per car. One of each car only - no multiples of the same car will be allowed. iWheels Racers must be purchased at the same time as the qualifying set of standard production cars. Subject to remaining stock, collectors will still be able to buy complete sets of iWheels Racers through 'Option A' after 30 days has elapsed. Clams and jewel cases cannot be mixed. Standard release cars with chase elements are included at random and are NOT guaranteed.
FIRST LAP OPTION
As an alternate option to purchasing standard production cars, collectors may substitute the purchase of a set of six Release 2 X-Traction First Lap Racers in order to have the opportunity to buy a set of the iWheels Racers. Release 1 First Lap Racers are not eligible and do not qualify for this option. iWheels Racers must be purchased at the same time as the qualifying set of First Lap racers. Maximum one set of iWheels cars per customer, regardless of the number of First Lap sets purchased.
With Auto World's new marketing strategy, consumers will now have an even chance to collect and enjoy specialized collector products like the new iWheels Racers. Auto World's X-Traction First Lap Racers have proven to be another very successful program developed for collectors, with iWheels Racers sure to follow.