You may have noticed the lack of posts around here lately. That’s partly due to the lack of new Cars showing up after the first of the year. The other part of it is due to my lack of enthusiasm for the direction that Mattel is taking the Cars line.
To be fair, Cars diecast have been going strong since 2006. Mattel has produced some great toys, not to mention every major Cars character and most of the minor ones! But 3 years is a long time, and the line is obviously losing steam. To try and combat this, Mattel is doing 2 things, lenticular Cars (Look My Eyes Change) and Cars Toon Cars.
Lenticular Cars are just a way to sell the same Cars Mattel has been selling for the past 3 years all over again. I have not bought a single lenticular Car, minus the chases of course. I liked the Cars Toon shorts, and I understand that many are excited for the diecast. But Rescue Squad Mater was not my favorite short, and that’s mostly all we have gotten so far. I have only bought a few of these so far, and I can’t bring myself to spend more money on Cars that were not in the movie but only had a few seconds of screen time in a 3 minute short.
So, it’s not looking good for me and Cars in 2010. Not to mention, the price continues to go up, while Mattel’s distribution on Cars is a terrible mess, at least in the Knoxville area. More on that in a minute. But what about Final Lap Cars, you say? Really? A retail exclusive can save the line? I don’t think so. I hate retail exclusives. And going back to distribution, the distribution of Final Lap Cars has been terrible in my area.
So, in the end, I think distribution is hurting Cars the most, and it may kill the line ultimately. I won’t go into it too much, but distribution has always been a problem for Cars. Mattel’s methods are to package a few new Cars in with lots of old ones. This always results in lots of pegwarmers. This has not changed. But with Lenticular Cars the problem is amplified, due to the fact that none are new, minus the chase Car.
Even the Cars Toons Cars are an example of Mattel’s poor thinking with distribution. The first series was Rescue Squad Mater. The second wave should have been Mater the Greater. What did Mattel do? Put out a few Mater the Greater Cars with cases of Rescue Squad Mater. I don’t see how this helps anyone, including Mattel. And it’s not going to change.
In the end, does it really matter? If you’ve been paying attention, you know that 2011 is the year of Cars 2. So in all probability, at the end of this year, Mattel will be gearing up for the next movie line. You may have also noticed that the Cars Toons are helping move the line in that direction. So this all may be the natural progression of things. But I’m not so sure. If Mattel turns off hard core collectors, it may be very hard to win them back.
On a more positive note, the New York Comic Con and Toy Fair are coming up this month. Mattel will likely have a heavy Cars presence at NYCC this year, just like last year. So we will be able to see what they have planned. We just might not be able to get to buy all those Cars. Also, we will be seeing another 2010 guide similar to the 2009 one. Some lines still have promise, like the Mega Size and Haulers. But sadly they are still plagued with the same distribution problems.
In the end, great toy lines come and go. Collectors are always sad to say goodbye to the lines they love. Is the end for Cars around the corner? Or will Mattel make it to Cars 2 and have another hit on their hands?
Not many new cars here in Ohio either.
I think I have found one car in the year 2010 so far.
I also have noticed the lack of new cars in my area ( Minnesota) Target doesnt carry the story tellers and sure dont have any new Final Lap cars. As for Wal-Mart its a joke. My son started collecting the cars when they first came out and it was a fun hobby but now we can’t afford to keep buying every new toy that comes out in the movie. I thought maybe we just live in a bad part of the states but i guess its everyone these days
Thank you for the insightful and thoughtful comments. I too have been disappointed with the Matel Cars direction-distribution- reissuing the same crap -lenticular cars- really? I hope they do something meaningful with Cars 2, because right now I can’t say that my family and I are hooked.
I don’t think non-lenticular Cars are coming back to the main line, until the Cars 2 line comes out. Mattel may go back to the regular Cars for Cars 2, but then again, they may not.
I don’t think that anyone will be able to figure out why Mattel markets their toy lines the way that they do. There’s not any rhyme or reason to it. I think the moving eyes thing was just another gimic to resell the same cars and I have no interest in them whatsoever. The mini’s and the toon Cars are also a waste of time and resources. I loved the K-Mart Daze events and I hope that they will eventually do at least one more event and release the remainder of the racers that they haven’t done yet like Tach-o-mint, Gask-it’s and the Apple car. They also could’ve created a few more playsets of Radiator Springs like Doc Hudson’s Ornament Valley Mechanical Clinic, Sarge’s Surplus Hut, Sally’s Cozy Cone Motel or Fillmore’s Organic Fuel Depot. What about the Town Hall and Fire Station or Mater’s Towing and Salvage Yard with the Municipal Impound? Mattel has really missed the boat when it comes to being creative and giving collectors what we want. They ONLY thing that they got going for them with this toy line right now is the new Haulers and the Final Lap cars but I’ll never understand why they gave the exclusive rights of the Final Lap line to Target. If you think Mattel has a distribution problem, so does Target. They take forever getting toys in stock and when they do, they never get enough to meet the demand. I love collecting Cars and I look forward the second installment of the movie and, hopefully, we will all get what we’ve been patiently waiting for.
I do not think that Mattel ended with the cars when they get so brings. Definitely waiting for the second part and I will see the other beautiful models, and perhaps even us in the Czech Republic are increasingly available. My English is not much, so sorry for her.
Try being an out-in-the-cold Canadian Cars fan… you could probably multiply your despair by 100….
Please don’t lose heart – your hard work on this site has been like a warm place in a snowstorm for me!! You’ve given me many good heads-ups on new stuff, and also good links to other cars products like books, etc.
I agree wholeheartedly that Mattel’s marketing SUCKS! I have lost count of how many pleading conversations I have had with local retailers like ToysRUs to GET SOME NEW STOCK!!! I’m sure there are some peg warmers at our local ToysRUs that are older than my kids!!!! Endless racks of Dinoco McQueens and dirt track McQueens stretching on into infinity….. but I am always told it is out of their hands and they have no control over what they get… ie Mattel SUCKS!
The only way I have kept up is by shopping on ebay and going over the border into the States. US prices are better than ours, but ebay prices tend to be on the high side, and once you include shipping, it can get crazy. I could make it a full time job just surfing for the best ebay price/shipping combinations!
Lately, it seems like Mattel is getting desperate to keep the line alive – especially with the cheap cheezy new colour change stuff. I’m also not a fan of lenticular eyes – seems like a money grab, to repackage a toy with a very minor change as something new.
The Toons stuff has breathed a bit of new life into collecting for me and my 2 boys – as soon as we saw the videos (which this site helped me to find!!) we were hooked. We’ve just ebay purchased the Lightning Dragon with the 2010 collector book, and there seems to be tons of new stuff in the works, to keep us busy until Cars 2 shows up – then the floodgates will open again I’m sure, and I will need a second job to pay for collecting Cars!!
So, to sum up my rambling, yes Mattel sucks and seems to be driving cars into the ground, but I think Toons and Cars 2 will get things back on track, and finally, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
One of my biggest gripes is the increase in cost. The cars just continue to go up and up. I almost feel offended sometimes about how much they’ve become. Also with there release of basically the same cars, just in different packaging, it almost insults me that they would expect people to buy those. I’ve had so much fun collecting them through the years that it’s dissappointing now to be where things are now. There was always a bit of excitement at looking for new cars but that seldom ever happens anymore. It’s been fun but I’m close to being done. Unless it’s something I just really like, I pass on it. It would also seem that the growing increase in price of toys is not just Cars. Look at most action figures these days. Little action figures i used to collect with Star Wars, today they’re $8 or $9 and they appear to be more cheaply made. Take Avatar for example. Great movie. Really wanted to see some great toys from that but most of that stuff is overpriced and it looks cheap. Alright that’s enough griping for one day. Great job iwth the site. I really enjoy it.
Can you believe the Cars line has lasted this long? I believe it’s the most successful toy series Disney’s ever been involved with.
I’ve long since given up on a getting a “complete” collection and now just collect different versions of my favorite characters (Sheriff, Doc, King) which is much more budget-friendly! If I happen to luck into a particularly cool-looking background character (Dustin Mellows, Todd) I’ll purchase them, but I leave the actual locating them to serendipity now.
Along with the release of Cars 2, we can look forward to the 2012 opening of Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure, which is going to be massive, with 3 major rides (Radiator Springs Racers is the most expensive theme park ride ever built) and a lot of Cars-themed shops in its near-life-size recreation of Radiator Springs!
Thanks for keeping this terrific site running. I hope you can keep it going through 2012 and beyond, even if goes a while between updates until Cars 2. Great work!
On distribution: living in Europe means you don’t know what to expect far more less than in the US. Prices are at least twice at high as in the US. Retail exclusives have never been released in Europe (which means basically any of the Piston Cup racers).
Does it affect my enthusiasm ? No, the law of commercialism says any toy will be available (for a reasonable price). So, you just need to be patient.
On the various lines : It’s the same as switching channels if you don’t like what’s on TV. Just stick to the main line / final lap and maybe haulers. And neglect the minis, lenticularors, toons, chases and all other stuff. It keeps collecting them easier and more satisfying.
NY Comic Con is actually in October this year…October 8-10 at the Javits Center.
You’re right. I’m not sure why I thought that. I thought I read it somewhere but obviously I was wrong. I also read on their forums that Mattel is not doing NYCC in October.
I have to agree with Krakit – I live in a more rural area with access to Cars sources in a limited number of stores – and I would say my success for The Boy has been pretty good. But when we visit him in highly populated Ft. Lauderdale area, I seldom find anything although I could spend days and days going to different sources. I did introduce him to the Toons cars at Christmas – but his abiding love is the race cars and the Haulers. I have loved the K-Mart events for race cars and hope someone will share the dates of the Spring/Summer one -I am beginning to be “picky” in what I buy – higher prices – and we are not “serious” collectors who need to have it all. But I am eager to see Dragon McQueen come out with the 2010 cars collectors booklet just to see the choices. Glad the Blog is acrive again; thank you for any info you share – interesting to see what others think and buy.
Does anyone know if the 2010 collectors guide will have lenticulars in it and if it will be as popular as the 2009 collectors guide?
I recently purchased the 2010 collector guide, and it does show lenticular cars… they are not shown in a separate section, but as replacements of the older versions where applicable. I would hazard a guess that 90% of the cars shown are the lenticular versions – I would hope that doesn’t mean that the entire line is going to become lenticular – I really do not like them that much.
The complete Toons line is also laid out, and it is quite extensive, especially with new Tokyo Mater characters. There are also “coming soon” hints at new haulers and characters from Cars that we haven’t seen before.
As far as popularity, I can only assume it will be a popular item, especially as it shows lots of new stuff to drool over!
The entire line is lenticular except for the Cars Toons and the Final Lap, not counting the Mega Size and the Haulers. Even the Chase Cars will be. The launchers are still non lenticular but that could change as well.
Do you think the WHOLE line will turn lenticular, stay the way it is, or do you think the line will go non lenticular like it used to be?
(I know it is a hard question and Mattell is unpradictable but im just asking what you think)
Nice well thought out post.
I have no idea how good or bad the distribution
is of Cars products here in Atlanta, but I do
know that it’s hard to find the most wanted
vehicles in the line since there are so many
fans or eBay flippers hunting them down.
I’ve found stores outside of Atlanta in more
rural areas tend to have a better selection
since the demand is lower.
I think there is less “ebay flipping” on Cars than there use to be. Many of the Cars on ebay sell for less than they do in the stores.
Mattel’s distribution problems pretty much extend to all their toy lines, what they are doing with Cars they have done with Hotwheels for decades. They repaint Hotwheels constantly, there can be more than 20 different versions of the same car, they just applied the same strategy to Cars.
The Car line I hate the most is the mini-adventures line, talk about space wasting peg warmers. I do like the Cars Toon line, I think the shorts are excellent and a good way to move things to the eventual release of Cars 2.
I disagree. My opinion is that scalping has increased because of the chase Cars. I mean, they have a big label that says, “Chase!” on them. I have noticed that lately they are not as easy to find as they were for a while.
The Final Lap Cars have also contributed to scalping due to their exclusive nature.
You are right on the fact that Mattel does this on all their lines. When Mattel resurrected Masters of the Universe several years ago (not the current Classics line), the line soon ended due to poor distribution and terrible case packs.
Another example of poor distribution, there is a glut of Chase Cars here in Northern Illinois. Chase Chick Hicks, Ferrari, the impound cars are some of the biggest peg-warmers here.
I wouldn’t say that’s poor distribution. I’d say that is lack of demand. But, I guess that’s pretty much the same thing.
We can NEVER find chase cars here in Southwest Michigan! Maybe I should shop on the other side of the lake lol