Clearance Day

About a week ago, I went to Target to pick something up for Mrs. BigKat. While I was there, I took a walk through the toy section and saw a ton of stuff on clearance. So I did some shopping. Here are some of the good things that I got on Clearance Day:

 

1) Marvel Heroscape: $6. Original price $25. A little while ago, I had bought this at Target for My Friend Who Lies (MFWL) (it was part of his  birthday present). But I had bought it for a lot more than $6. I bought one and then returned it for my original purchase price. I also bought an extra one for LilKat1's upcoming birthday, since he's been bugging me to get him his own Heroscape set. Savings: $38

2) Hot Wheels Sizzlers: LilKat2 bought this for me (with the help of Mrs. BigKat's credit card). It's a figure 8 track with a Hot Wheels 'Sizzler' car. This is a toy that came out way back in the early 70's. It's a Hot Wheel with a rechargeable battery in it. You plug it in, charge it up, and then it zips around the track. It's a fun toy, but it only comes with one car. I went to buy some more cars for it, but they were about $10 each. Too much. But when I went on Clearance Day, the cars were only $2.50 each. So I grabbed 4 of them. I also saw the track itself for $7. I knew Mrs. BigKat probably paid a lot more for it, so I picked it up. She can return it and save herself some money. Savings: $52

3) Crossbows and Catapults: When I was little, one of my favorite games was Crossbows and Catapults. You basically got these little rubberband powered 'weapons' that would fling little plastic discs across your kitchen  floor (or any other non-bumpy flat surface). You and your friend would build little castles out of these big fake Lego blocks and take turns trying to knock the other guy's structure down. It was great fun. Well, they re-released the game recently, and I really wanted to get it. But I realized that I shouldn't buy it because 1) it was expensive ($35 for the base set, $10-$20 for the expansion sets) and 2) I would never play it (no one to play with and even if there was, I have many other games I would probably rather play). Well, on Clearance Day, they had the expansions for $2.50 each. So I grabbed a bunch of them. I got the Knight Trebuchet, the Orc Mortar, the Twin Crossbow, and the Gatling Gun. I think I also gotten the Triple Catapult and Battering Ram. I got a bunch for myself as well as some as a nice gift for MFWL (who also liked this game as a boy). So I may not have the game. But I have all of the fun toys and will be able to Trebuchet 2 blue discs into Mrs. BigKat's mashed potatoes at dinner if I so desired. Price paid for 5 sets: $12.50. Savings: $37.50

4) Kapla blocks: I saw 2 sets of these, and I couldn't believe it. If you don't know what these are, they're sets of small wooden planks that you can use to build things. They're built really well. All of the blocks are exactly the same size. I mean EXACTLY the same size. And the edges are all at a precise 90 degrees. What this means is that you can build very tall structures with them and they are incredibly stable. So they're basically kind of like Lincoln Logs, but without the limitation of where you have to join them. You can build all kinds of great things with them. Unfortunately, they're quite expensive, roughly 40 to 50 cents per block. I had never thought of buying these for my kids before, just because of the price. So when I saw a set of 40 green planks for $6, I was amazed! There was also a set of 100 plain planks for $11. I snagged both of them. If there were any more of them, I would've gotten those as well. Savings: $51.

5) Mad Scientist Egg Drop Kit: This is a kit that provides you with some basic components that you use to create a structure that will keep an egg safe when you drop it. It comes with drinking straws and connectors, materials to make a parachute, and and egg holder contraption. The original price was $10, way too much. On Clearance Day, it was only $2.50. Much better. I got one for myself, but then I thought that my boys might like to try it out as well. So I picked up another set. Then I thought about it some more and thought that it might be a fun thing for my Sunday School kids. I ended up buying a total of 12 of them. I tell ya, it's easy to go overboard on Clearance Day. Savings: $90.

6) I also got some stuff for LilKat1's birthday. There were some little toy skateboard items that I was considering getting him for Christmas, but decided not to because of the price. But on Clearance Day, they were all 75% off. When his birthday comes, he'll have more little skateboard toys than he'll know what to do with. Price paid: $10. Savings: $30.

That's the bulk of what I bought that day. I think I ended up paying $90 for roughly $360 worth of toys. And you know what the funny thing is? You know that thing that Mrs. BigKat wanted me to get in the first place? Turns out that she didn't need it, so I didn't buy it. Instead, I just came home with a big pile of toys.