— July 3, 2008
Mattel just announced some big news for San Diego Comic Con. If you haven’t heard already, the Lightningstorm McQueen will be a San Diego exclusive, available only at the show. In addition, for those of you attending Comic Con, Mattel also announced a special Cars event for 12 PM PT on Thursday. It sounds awesome! Here’s the description.
Come for an unveiling unlike anything in this galaxy for the CARS line.
In addition to that, Mattel is debuting a Collector Website the Monday after Comic Con with potential for exclusives from Cars, as well as other lines.
Starting the Monday after Comic Con, because you demanded it, Mattel will be launching a brand new Collector Website with the latest news, updates, previews and – the big one – EXCLUSIVE action figures from your favorite Mattel toy lines like CARS, DCU and more!
But there’s more. Are you sitting down for this one? Mattel will be selling a limited number of this year’s SDCC exclusives through the new website after the convention!
Of course we’ll have more details including the URL name at San Diego Comic Con, but we wanted to make sure to give online toy fans the scoop first. Oh – and to kick off the new online store, we’ll be putting aside a very limited number of each of this year’s SDCC exclusives which will go on sale on the new collector web site at 8:00 am Eastern Standard Time on July 28th.
From all that, it sounds like the future is looking good for Cars collectors. I will be bringing you all the Cars news coming out of San Diego, so stay tuned for the coverage! Comic Con will take place on July 24th-27th at the San Diego Convention Center.
— June 23, 2008
Just a quick update for those of you out there who snagged the exclusive Motor Speedway of the South set. Mattel is mailing out numbered stickers to those who bought the set. Here is a quote from an administrator on Hotwheelscollectors.com.
As many of you know, the sales article for the Pixar Cars Speedway of the South set indicated that the sets would be individually numbered up to 1000. This was an error in the article, as the sets were never intended to be numbered.
However, to avoid any disappointment with our customers, we will be mailing numbered stickers to all who purchased the set, with instructions on where to apply the sticker.
Stickers will be mailed randomly - the same way they would have been had they already been applied to the sets. This is in accordance with the way all numbered RLC items are shipped. Time of order does not dictate what number a customer receives.
We apologize for the error in the article and thank you for your patience.
So, they didn’t intend for them to be numbered, but told us that they would be. And now to make up for their error, they are sending out numbered stickers. Score! Seriously, congrats to Mattel for fixing this. Has anybody gotten one of these yet?
— June 11, 2008
If it’s on eBay, then it’s out, and Cars case K is now on eBay. So you can wait for more to show up and the price to come down, or you can wait and hope you find them at a retail location near you. Either way, let the hunt begin!
The only new Cars in case K are Luke Pettlework (Dinoco Pitty) and Van. But if you missed Chuki, Lightning Ramone or Dudley Spare the first time around, now’s your chance to find more of those as well. Here are some pics of Luke and Van to hold you over until then.
Luke Pettlework
Van
Here is the line up for case K.
— June 1, 2008
Reports are out there that Wal-Mart has a new 4 sided Cars display out in the toy aisles. One side of the display has the new Cars Launchers, called Pit Row Race Off Launchers, with No Stall and Trunk Fresh as the only new Launchers. They are also starting to show up on eBay as well.
While this is the first time both of these have been released as Launchers, No Stall was released as part of the Dinoco 400 set, Movie Moments 2 pack and the Motor Speedway of the South set, while Trunk Fresh was only previously available in the Motor Speedway of the South set. So if you were not lucky enough to get one of the Motor Speedway of the South sets or didn’t want to drop that kind of cash, you will want to pick up these Launchers to get Trunk Fresh and No Stall, if you don’t already have it. Remember that the Launchers are more expensive at $7.94, but it may be worth it as both of these racers have only previously seen limited release.
One other side of the display has diecast Cars with the Cars that are currently scheduled for release as case M. So if you haven’t been lucky enough to find Stacy yet, this may be your chance. I’ve only checked one local Wal-Mart so far with no luck on finding the new display. Remember, the displays don’t last long and tend not to get replenished once they are empty, so be on the lookout. Has anyone else seen the new display yet? Let us know in the comments.
Update - 6/4/08: I rechecked a Wal-Mart today and they had the pallet. They must have just put it out because it was almost full. They had plenty of Stacys. Also, Yeti and Al Oft are on WOC cards for the first time.
— May 31, 2008
Okay, it’s time again for reader Q & A people. I’ve actually been getting this question a lot, so here goes. Reader Cyndy writes in and asks,
I have found new “WOC” cars in “short” packages. These packages are the WOC, with the CARS in them, and they don’t have a # on the package along with their name. They are a short package, with the top right or right side, cut out with the front of the car. Everything else on this package is like the regular WOC packages. Have you seen or heard anything about these packages of Cars? My husband and I are looking all over and have only found them at 1 store where we live.
The answer to your question is, yes I have heard of them, but no I have not seen them at retail yet. What I do know about them, is that they are already released Cars on new cards. So there is nothing new about them, other than they are in new packaging. I knew that mainly completists will be interested in these, so I didn’t feel the need to report on them. But people are asking about them, so let’s dig a little deeper, shall we?
So what do I do when I want to find out something about Cars? I go to eBay, of course. On eBay right now, there are 28 listings for Cars on short cards. Going down the list we see 14 Cars in all.
- Ramone (Purple)
- Dale Jr.
- Brand New Mater
- Dinoco McQueen
- Bling Bling McQueen
- Dinoco Helicopter
- The King
- Chick Hicks
- Tongue McQueen
- Lightning McQueen
- Radiator Springs McQueen
- Doc Hudson
- Mater
- Lightning Ramone
Reader Dave also found them, and here is what he said.
I was at a Sears Essentials store yesterday, and back in the toy aisle they had Cars toys on short cards, just like Hotwheels cars. I don’t think I’ve seen them mentioned here, and even though they are just a card variation I thought that some of your readers who are completist might be interested in knowing about them. They had the following Cars on short cards;
Lightning McQueen
Dinoco McQueen
Radiator Springs McQueen
Mater
New Mater
Chick Hicks
Lizzie
Dinoco Helicopter
Sheriff
Doc Hudson
Looking at Dave’s list, there are 2 more Cars not currently found on eBay, Lizzie and Sheriff. So that makes 16 in all that we know are out there.
According to Two a Day, these are officially called “Lane Mates,” and there are at least 2 assortments planned. If you want to know more about them, check out Two a Day’s post here, or check them out on eBay here. And of course, keep sending in those questions!
— May 30, 2008
It’s been awhile since I’ve had a post about Cars Movie Moments. And while it seems they are very scarce at retail right now, retailers still have Movie Moments cases listed as being for sale. So rest assured, they are still coming.
However, the news is not all good. Going through these listings there are only 4 2 packs with any new Cars in them. They are Tumble Weed Lightning McQueen & Doc Hudson, Fillmore & Whitewall Lightning McQueen, Mario Andretti & Patti and Race Damage King & Lightning McQueen.
We have seen Tumble Weed Mcqueen, Patti and Race Damage King along with the corrected red rims version of Mario Andretti at Toy Fair 2008, and I assume that is the same version of Andretti we will be getting here.
Here is the most current list of Movie Moments by case.
Movie Moments Assortment G
Bob Cutlass & Darrell Cartrip
Leakless #64 & No Stall #123
Luigi and Michael Schumacher
Mia & Tia (red)
Ramone (Purple) & Flo
Red & Stanley
Sally & Crusin McQueen (2)
Tex Dinoco & Dinoco Lightning McQueen
Tow Cap #4 & Gasprin #70
Tumble Weed Lightning McQueen & Doc Hudson (2)
Movie Moments Assortment H
Boost & Snot Rod
Dinoco Mia & Tia (2)
Fillmore & Whitewall Lightning McQueen (2)
Fillmore & Sarge
Leakless #64 & No Stall #123
Mike & Sully
Mr. & Mrs. The King
Sally & Crusin McQueen
Tex Dinoco & Dinoco Lightning McQueen
Tow Cap #4 & Gasprin #70
Movie Moments Assortment J
Bob Cutlass & Darrell Cartrip
Fillmore & Sarge
Fillmore & Whitewall Lightning McQueen
Lightning McQueen & Kori Turbowitz (2)
Luigi and Michael Schumacher
Mia & Tia
PT Flea & Flick
Ramone (Purple) & Flo
Rusty Rust-eze & Dusty Rust-eze
Sally & Crusin McQueen
Tumble Weed Lightning McQueen & Doc Hudson
Movie Moments Assortment K
Bob Cutlass & Darrell Cartrip
Buzz & Woody
Dinoco Mia & Tia
Fillmore & Whitewall Lightning McQueen
Leakless #64 & No Stall #123
Lightning McQueen & Kori Turbowitz
Luigi & Guido & Tractor
Luigi and Michael Schumacher
Mr. & Mrs. The King
Tex Dinoco & Dinoco Lightning McQueen
Tow Cap #4 & Gasprin #70
Tumble Weed Lightning McQueen & Doc Hudson
Movie Moments Assortment L
Dinoco Mia & Tia (2)
Fillmore & Whitewall Lightning McQueen
Luigi & Guido (Ferrari Fans)
Luigi and Michael Schumacher
Mario Andretti & Patti (2)
Ramone (Purple) & Flo
Sally & Lightning McQueen
Tex Dinoco & Dinoco Lightning McQueen
Tow Cap #4 & Gasprin #70
Tumble Weed Lightning McQueen & Doc Hudson
Movie Moments Assortment M
Boost & Snot Rod
Fillmore & Whitewall Lightning McQueen
Lightning McQueen & Kori Turbowitz
Luigi and Michael Schumacher
Mario Andretti & Patti
Race Damage King & Lightning McQueen
Rusty Rust-eze & Dusty Rust-eze
Sally & Lightning McQueen
Tex Dinoco & Dinoco Lightning McQueen
Tow Cap #4 & Gasprin #70
Tumble Weed Lightning McQueen & Doc Hudson (2)
Movie Moments Assortment N
Bob Cutlass & Darrell Cartrip
Bruiser Bukowski & Chick Hicks (2)
Fillmore & Whitewall Lightning McQueen
Leakless #64 & No Stall #123
Luigi and Michael Schumacher
Mario Andretti & Patti
Mike & Sully
Mr. & Mrs. The King
Red With Stanley
Tex Dinoco & Dinoco Lightning McQueen
Tow Cap #4 & Gasprin #70
Movie Moments Assortment P
Bob Cutlass & Darrell Cartrip
Bruiser Bukowski & Chick Hicks
Fillmore & Whitewall Lightning McQueen
Leakless #64 & No Stall #123
Lightning McQueen & Kori Turbowitz
Luigi and Michael Schumacher
Mario Andretti & Patti
Race Damage King & Lightning McQueen (2)
Sally & Lightning McQueen
Tex Dinoco & Dinoco Lightning McQueen
Tumble Weed Lightning McQueen & Doc Hudson
Movie Moments Assortment Q
Bob Cutlass & Darrell Cartrip
Bruiser Bukowski & Chick Hicks
Dinoco Mia & Tia
Fillmore & Whitewall Lightning McQueen
Leakless #64 & No Stall #123
Lightning McQueen & Kori Turbowitz
Mario Andretti & Patti
Race Damage King & Lightning McQueen
Rusty Rust-eze & Dusty Rust-eze
Sally & Lightning McQueen
Tow Cap #4 & Gasprin #70
Tumble Weed McQueen & Doc Hudson
— May 28, 2008
Last month, Mattel told us about the Lightningstorm McQueen San Diego Comic Con exclusive. This month, Mattel has given us a few more details about this exclusive, including price and edition size. The price is $15, and that includes the black base, clear plastic stand and clear plastic cover (shown at left). The edition size for the exclusive Lightningstorm McQueen has been set at 5,000.
I’m not super happy that Mattel is giving us a convention exclusive for the Cars line to go along with all the other convention exclusives, although I’m not that surprised. However, $15 is great price for everything that is included. And 5,000 isn’t that limited for a convention exclusive. The problem is that scalpers go to these shows to buy up the exclusives, artificially limiting supply and then driving up the prices online. Time will tell though how hard these will be to come by and how expensive they will be once they reach the secondary market.
Incidentally, I am not able to go. So if there are any kind souls out there planning on attending San Diego Comic Con who are benevolent and would like to pick up a Lightningstorm McQueen for yours truly, I would be extremely appreciative and forever grateful to you. Hey, it never hurts to ask.
— May 27, 2008
I mentioned on Friday that I received my Motor Speedway of the South set in the mail before going away for the weekend. Now that I am back, I had a chance to unpack my set and put it together. I took lots of photos and notes, and I thought I would put together a mini review for everyone. Here are my impressions. Click on the thumbnails to view the larger images.
First, you can see the box is huge. This box came inside an outer shipping box and fit pretty snugly inside.
The display case is the most impressive part of the set. It is huge as well. It is made of very sturdy cardboard and plastic.
The Cars are shipped separately inside a smaller cardboard box.
On opening this box, you can see the Cars are wrapped individually in small plastic bags and stored inside 2 plastic trays. This insures the Cars arrive undamaged.
There are several cardboard inserts to make sure the case holds its shape and isn’t crushed in shipping.
The top of the case is removable. You can see that the bottom part of the base sits on a thick piece of clear plastic. This ensures its sturdiness. There are also holes for stands that the Cars fit onto.
This is a shot showing how the stands fit onto the base to hold the Cars. There are no instructions on how to put it together, but I think I managed to figure it out. I put them on long ways to make sure the Cars are held on the base properly.
From this shot, you can see how the pegs on the stands fit inside the wheel wells to hold up the Cars on the base.
The Dale Jr. in this set is different from the regular release Dale. The body style is different and Dale has a more determined look on his face where the original is smiling. As far as I know this is the only one of the 12 already released Cars that is different from the original version.
Here it is. I wasn’t sure how to arrange them on the base, so I put the Cars in the same order as the original press shots from the Hot Wheels Collectors site. Yeah, I’m unoriginal like that.
And here it is again with the top on!
One interesting thing is that Chick Hicks didn’t fit on the regular pegs like all the other Cars did. Luckily, Mattel included 2 longer pegs so that Chick can be displayed along with the rest of them. Another interesting thing is that the box is labeled ages 14 and up. This set is clearly geared toward collectors. So if you bought it for your child, you will need to put it together or at least take all the Cars out of the packaging and put the little plastic stands away before they can play with it.
All in all, the experience of putting this set all together was great. However, I found it very frustrating that there were no instructions included, though it was easy enough to figure out. Still, this is definitely the best Cars set ever made! The display case is the best part, and probably the main reason why the set is so expensive. The box is huge and very sturdy. And although it was expensive, I’m glad I now have it in my collection.
— May 23, 2008
This is just a real quick update to let you know that some collectors are already getting the Motor Speedway of the South set. In fact, mine just arrived. Good thing I didn’t pay for 2 day shipping! No unboxing pics yet, as I am heading out the door to go on vacation. Happy Memorial Day everyone!
— May 21, 2008
Well, Race Day has come and gone, and if you paid attention, then you already know what happened. Mattel released the Cars Motor Speedway of the South today to members of the Red Line Club at HotWheelCollectors.com, and the set sold out in 2 and 1/2 hours.
If you do the math, Mattel sold 1,000 sets at $300 a piece, making them $300,000 in 150 minutes or $2,000 a minute. That’s some serious cash. Not to mention, they started showing up on eBay as soon as they went on sale online. Right now, there are 7 on eBay with most listed at about $500, although there is one for $999.99. 7 have been sold so far, with most selling for around $500 each. So if you are still looking for this set, this is your only option at this point.
But, I want to hear from you the readers. Some people passed on it, and I don’t blame them. It was a difficult decision, but in the end I couldn’t resist. Those of you that participated, how was it? For me, I was ready at 12 PM ET, got in and got my set with no problems. Congrats to everyone else who got one! Two a Day live blogged the event, and I had fun watching it and reading all the comments. Let us know about your experience and what you think of the set in the comments below. From what I have heard, this should start shipping in the next few days.
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