Black Friday ads pour in

This post comes from Melinda Fulmer of MSN Money.

Some of the first major Black Friday ads are starting to hit the Web, including department stores Kohl's and Sears. As usual, the huge ads contain hundreds of specials -- 599 doorbusters at Sears alone -- between the hours of 4 a.m. and noon.

But which ones are great deals? Only a fraction of these make the cut, according to bargain shoppers and deal site operators posting the scanned ads.

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Sears -- as usual -- has one astoundingly cheap washer/dryer pair that only a handful of early-bird shoppers will get at each store. That's the Kenmore 4-cubic-foot washer/7.3-cubic-foo​t dryer pair for $599.98 (regularly $699 each.)

There are also some great deals to be had on televisions. (If you thought last year's flat-screen prices were good, this year's are even better.) Sears has the Zenith 42-inch 720p plasma HDTV for $399.99 (regularly $549.99,) as well as the Panasonic Viera 46-inch 720p plasma HDTV for $499.99 (regularly $699.99).

And if you still haven't hopped on the Blu-ray bandwagon, there's a nice Sony Blu-ray player for $99 (regularly $179.99) on Page 4 of the Sears ad scan (.pdf file) at BlackFriday.Gottadea​l.com.

Toys?

Still, shoppers trolling the ad online had just one question: Where are the toys?

They certainly aren't in Sears' ad this year.

But they can be found in abundance in the Kohl's ad (.pdf file), provided you get there during its early-bird hours of 3 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Most items are still discounted after the early-bird hours. However, the discounts aren't as rich.)

Its entire stock of toys (regularly $2.99 to $89.99) is marked half off during those hours.

There's also the color-screen The Sharper Image Literati ebook reader for $99 during early-bird hours (regularly $249.)

And you can find a good price on the Kitchen Aid Classic Plus stand mixer for $199 (regularly $249.99), plus another 10% off, with a $20 mail-in rebate.

A number of small kitchen appliances (regularly $29.99 to $49.99) are discounted to $12.99 after a $10 mail-in-rebate, including a Toastmaster four-slice toaster oven and a Bella 1.2-liter deep fryer, which would make nice gifts.

Still, the Kohl's ad is not that exciting, certainly not compelling enough to get many people up at 3 a.m. Indeed, you're probably better off staying home, as many of these early-bird specials are available online and can be paired with coupon codes (typically 15% to 20% off,) making them more worth your while.

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• Wal-Mart launches TV price war
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