Archive for
April, 2008
— April 30, 2008
I was checking one of the online Cars retailers websites today for the listings of upcoming Cars and noticed something interesting. While most of the listings were removed when Mattel changed their case assortments earlier this year, case assortments M and K are still listed with updated information and release dates.
These assortments are different from the ones on the upcoming Cars checklist, and it looks to me like they are new. And since they are both listed as being released in May, they may be accurate. Anyway, here they are.
HWM1054-K PROJECTED SHIP DATE - May 24, 2008
HWM1054-M PROJECTED SHIP DATE - May 10, 2008
This is information will also be added to the upcoming Cars checklist. Here are the assortment listings as Mattel originally released them to retailers.
HWM1054-K
HWM1054-M
— April 29, 2008
Occasionally, you may find Cars being sold at some off-the-beaten path retail stores. Walgreens is one of those places. Walgreens has a store near where I work, and while I don’t go in there often, I do check for Cars when I happen to be in there. They carry the new World of Cars series, but they are usually common ones. I haven’t seen any hard to find Cars or newer Cars. Plus, they only have one peg with Cars on it, and it only fits about 3 or 4 at a time.
So, I was surprised the other day to find Not Chuck sitting there on the pegs at Walgreens. It’s not the same as finding Chuki or Lightning Ramone, but it showed me that I need to keep checking because they can get new ones in.
Where are you finding diecast Cars that you didn’t expect? Let us know in the comments. Thanks.
— April 28, 2008
Has anyone else gotten the feeling that the Cars diecast line is slowing down? I certainly feel that way every time I go into a retail store lately looking for new diecast Cars. Retail stores in my area are certainly not putting any new Cars out. Every store I enter has the same ones week after week. This includes Wal-Marts, Targets and Toys R Us. To me, this is a sign that the line may be slowing down.
Although, while I am not seeing any new Cars, it seems they are geting out there as there are a ton on eBay right now. Check out the eBay listings for Chuki and Lightning Ramone, the 2 most recent Cars to be released. There are 252 listings for Chuki and 132 listings for Lightning Ramone, right now.
Another indication the line may be slowing down, is the fact that Mattel is not putting out Cars as quickly as they were at the beginning of the year. Mattel also revised their case assortments shelving many Cars that were slated to be released this year. In my post from Toy Fair, I told you about Mattel’s plans for the year. Out of 123 Cars that will be available this year, only 18 of them are new, in the single card line. In addition, there are 12 new Movie Moments 2 packs, 6 3 packs and 3 launcher sets. Those however have been mostly comprised of reissues in the past. That to me was a major indication from Mattel that the line was slowing down. At the same time, we keep seeing many pictures of Cars that are planning to be released.
With all the mixed signals from Mattel, what is the collector supposed to think? I think the only thing that collectors can hope for is more information from Mattel, which unfortunately probably won’t happen until San Diego Comic Con later this summer.
Is anyone else seeing the same thing or are you seeing the opposite? Feel free to let everyone know in the comments. Thanks.
— April 27, 2008
I recently discovered a user on Flickr, called GeoJames, that has in the past uploaded pictures of new, unreleased diecast Cars. Today GeoJames uploaded several more pictures of unreleased Cars. Some of these Cars were seen at Toy Fair this year, and some haven’t been revealed yet. Here is a list of the Cars pictures that GeoJames uploaded today.
- No Stall Pitty
- Nitroade Pitty
- Shiny Wax Pitty
- Stacy (Leak Less Pitty)
- Petrol Pulaski (RPM Pitty)
- Wrecked King
- Van
- Patty
- Tumbleweed McQueen
Tumbleweed, King, Van, Patty, RPM Pitty and Stacy were all seen at Toy Fair, but now we have Van and Stacy carded. I haven’t seen a No Stall Pitty, Nitroade Pitty or a Shiny Wax Pitty yet, so I assume they are new. Here are the pictures of the new Cars.
No Stall Pitty
Nitroade Pitty
Shiny Wax Pitty
Stacy
Van
You can see all the photos at GeoJames’ photostream on Flickr here. I have contacted GeoJames in the past with no response, so I have no idea of the identity of this user or why they have access to unreleased Cars. I assume they are located somewhere in China where the Cars are produced. Maybe GeoJames is an employee or a retailer. Anyway, thanks for the awesome photos dude!
— April 22, 2008
There was interesting news for Cars collectors from the New York Comic Con this weekend. Mattel was on hand showing off their Cars line for the fans. They didn’t show anything new, however, except for the Lightningstorm McQueen. The only info we have on this now is a sign that read, “On Sale, premiering at San Diego Comic Con.”
I assume this means that Lightningstorm McQueen will be a San Diego Comic Con exclusive with details to be announced at a later time. To be honest, this caught me quite off guard. I am excited we are getting it, but I don’t like the fact it is an exclusive. I, for one, am not able to go to the San Diego Comic Con. Will collectors that are not able to go, like me, still be able to get one without having to resort to eBay and pay outrageous prices? Hopefully, Mattel will take this into account, and let us know soon what their plans are for this exclusive.
For more info and a gallery full of pics, check out figures.com!
Update - 4/27/08: Now that NYCC is over, a little more info is coming out about Mattel’s Cars display. According to info sent in a by a reader at Two a Day, Mattel’s panorama display had several new Cars. The only ones they showed that were not at this year’s Toy Fair were Richard Clayton Kensington and the Piston Cup Racers which were last seen at last year’s San Diego Comic Con. Obviously, the Piston Cup Racers are coming soon, but what does this mean for Richard Clayton Kensington? Will we finally see him at retail?
Also, Mattel released a press image for the Lightning Storm McQueen, which I have linked to below. It is confirmed that this is a San Diego Comic Con exclusive, but we don’t yet know exactly what that means. It could mean that this version has something that differentiates it as an exclusive, and there will still be a retail version of Lightningstorm McQueen. Also by this pic, you can tell that the finish on the exclusive is metallic or chrome. It could be that this is a feature that only the exclusive will have, and the retail version will have the regular Dinoco McQueen paint job. Click on the thumbnail below to view the larger image.
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