Pixar CARS 2 Tidbit Update & McQueen in the UK

Of course, we just found out McQueen has a cousin in Japan …

Now it turns out McQueen is literally carrying the same DNA as another rabble rouser …

Yep, McQueen is built upon a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am …

As Jerry Reed sang in “Eastbound & Down” …

East bound and down, loaded up and truckin’,
we’re gonna do what they say can’t be done.
We’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there.
I’m east bound, just watch ol’ “Bandit” run.

Ol’ Smokey’s got them ears on and he’s hot on your trail.
He aint gonna rest ’til you’re in jail.
So you got to dodge ‘im and you got to duck ‘im …

So, now, you have no reason – should be easy to find a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am …

Then buy the Eddie Paul books (link to older post) and you’re SET!

So, if you’re in the UK, check out the London Motor Show where McQueen, Sally & Mater will be dropping by.

AND some CARS 2 movie news via MTV News. John Lassetter says the script & story of CARS 2 is,”… still in early development.”

He says that is he is writing a part for Paul Newman (recent announcement that he has lung cancer).

Presumably the interview took place a few days before the passing of George Carlin.

So, for those who asked what is happening with the characters of Doc & Fillmore, that remains to be seen, generally, they will record the line readings about a year or more before the film is completed – with them going back and adding new lines when the script changes, of course … but with the film still 4 years away, presumably they won’t start recording the lines with actors until 2010?

Disney Pixar CARS: McQueen’s “Japanese Cousin” Wins GT Round 3

(Shhh, nobody tell Al Oft and those Lightyear Guys)

Lightning McQueen #95 wins the 3rd Round of Super GT300 Series in Japan (click on the 300GT Tab) at the Fuji Speedway (all in Japanese, BTW).

Official Circuit Website page for the #95 Team with driver info.*

Cool – actual working headlights, I like it.

Here’s some quick video clips of the Team winning the third round – of course, with different class cars all going at the same time, it’s not exactly like a photo finish but right at the very end of the clip, you can see Japanese #95 in action.

(VIDEO requires FLASH and again, all in Japanese).

And of course, you’ll want the official magazine & program guide … if you’re going to read a magazine in a language you don’t understand, that front photo is the kind you want to bridge the language gap. For some reason, the Super GT Circuit is now my favorite race circuit of all time … and I feel warm all over. 🙂

Lightning McQueen #95 Japan is run by APR Racing – their website has tons of cool photos. Click on the TABS above to go to each race and the photo gallery is on the right.

I told you this was an adult-only post – we can see brain!

* Yea, this McQueen has actual people inside … that’s just crazy.

(There’s also a mobile phone game (all in Japanese) but sadly, McQueen #95 is not available as a car choice).

San Diego Comic Con: 5-Day Ticket SOLD OUT

Okay, no one panic 😯

There are plenty of 1-day tickets still available, the only ticket to sell out are the 5-day tickets which also allows you in Wednesday night for PREVIEW NIGHT (which runs 3 hours).

Yes, that allows you to buy and jump the gun a little earlier than most but don’t panic.

(SD Comic Con doesn’t count Wednesday Preview Night as a “day” so they call the 5-day ticket a4-day ticket).

For CARS, the show runs a total of 38 hours and there are 5,000 sets of LS McQueen (Mattel will have to average 131 units sold every hour on the hour to sell out … and I predict they will but they’re not going to sell out in the 3 hours of Preview Night so no one panic. Most important, no needless eBay clicking – at least not yet.

Our preview post of Lightning Storm McQueen is here along with a list being managed by some nice friends of 2ADay who are making arrangements to buy and ship it to you.

We hope to get an update on how many come in a case so you can plan if you need a cart, a sherpa or a donkey.

Eventually, we will get around to doing a post on all the exclusives at the SD show but so far, we also have some mighty nice Mighty Muggs to show you – scroll down to the bottom.

If you live in the San Diego area and are on a tighter budget, you can also consider volunteering three hours of your time and you get in that day for free.

There is only online registration so plan ahead if you think you might want to go … and now, of course, you have to decide on a specific day of days. Good luck! See ya there!

Mattel Disney Pixar CARS: Piston Cup Racer Checklist & The Next 6 Coming This Fall

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED AT THE SITE WE ARE MOVING TO – TAKE FIVE A DAY.COM. Just click on the above logo to be taken to the latest update on the two new Piston Cup Racers coming as launchers. Enjoy. Thanks!

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Of course, if you bought the Motor Speedway of the South set, you now have 36 Piston Cup Racers … not counting duplicates.

If you’re collecting them only as they are released, you should have 13 of the Piston Cup Racers:

Lightning McQueen
Chick Hicks
Dale Jr.
Gasprin
The King
Leak Less
Nitrorade
No Stall
RPM
Octane Gain
Tow Cap
Trunk Fresh
Vinyl Toupee

With of course, Trunk Fresh hitting the shelves (aka: the cube, aka: Action Alley Display pallet drop) bringing us to 13 available outside the set.

With the already quasi-announced Gift 3-packs of Shiny Wax & Spare Mint (with a Pit Crew & a Crew Chief) …, that would be 14 & 15.

Add one, Re-Volting included in the forthcoming Race & Chase Gift Pack – we’re at 16.

Now, we have three more scheduled for Fall: Sputter Stop, Transberry Juice, & View Zeen.

It doesn’t appear they will be a Movie Moments pack and it seems unlikely they will appear as singles – my feeling is they will be part of a box set, Dinoco 400 Part II? Like last year’s 7 Piston Cup Racers, we’ll get 4 repeats and these 3 as the new? Now sure but I’m throwing it out there … and/or will they be designed like the Race & Chase Gift Pack above so if we buy all 20 Gift Packs along with the Motor Speedway track, we can build a giant track?

So, at the end of Fall, 2008 – we should be at @19 Piston Cup Racers available outside the Motor Speedway set which brings up an interesting point, if you’re collecting down the line, do you care if a Launcher release is substituted in for what came with the Motor Speedway set. Well, if you do, you might want to keep track of the production numbers assigned to the Motor Speedway CARS – they are different from the regular releases … of course, it’s impossible to keep track of each version – for instance, my opened, original April 2006 McQ has no production code under the CAR but the latest launcher does and presumably that number is different than the WOC version and the SC version … suffice to say, I think it’s easier to keep track of the MSOS set & any deviation from this (yes, numbering for Tow Cap & Gaspirin from the Movie Moments IS DIFFERENT than than the numbering for the MSOS set – even though you would’ve thought they’d be the same based on the presumption they’d be in production at about the same time).

Here’s a chart of the MSOS racers that are available outside the set with all the possible versions it may have come from. The 4 digit number is the production code under each Piston Cup racer from the MSOS set.

The racers with a black border means it’s coming soon in that format.

For Sputter Stop, Transberry Juice, & View Zeen, it’s still a guess as to what format they might be available in.

* Of course, at this point, Dale Jr’s ‘aggro’ face is only available as a MSOS Piston Cup Racer … when Mattel switches from the WOC motif, will Dale Jr. be changing to v2.0?

** Vinyl Toupee was available in the UK as a bagged version as part of a promo.

ALL PHOTOS courtesy of Robert & www.SpeedwayoftheSouth.com and used with his permission. Be sure to check out Robert’s site for full-sized photos of all the racers. Thanks!

And happy collecting!

(Oh yeah, we should hear about the holiday season releases at SD Comic Con so we may not be done and no, no word on the Apple CAR …).

Disney Pixar CARS: Peterson Museum CARS Exhibit Photos

When in LA, you can also check out the Pixar CARS Exhibit at the Petersen Auto Museum … “remclsydney” was kind enough to send us pics of his recent visit to LA and the exhibit …

Too bad, you can’t pick up one of these in the gift shop. Though the airline might just charge you more than $15 to carry this on your flight home 🙂

I think there are a couple “extra” stickers on McQueen!

Just make sure you visit Disneyland and the museum on different days … don’t want to confuse the kids 🙂

Original Press Release & Post.

Follow-up Post with Directions & Other Places of Interest.

And of course, if you just want to Photoshop eyes on your CAR or build your own McQueen – check out this post. I expect pictures of your Chevy Malibu changed into McQueen! ;- )

Thanks again, “remclsydney.”

Disney Pixar CARS: Disney California Adventures CARS Parade

Thanks “CollectorMom/Monica” for the great pics of the new Pixar parade.

Thanks – now back to Mickey funnel cakes!

Mattel Disney Pixar CARS: Mini Adventures – Packaging Variant or Just Confusion

You can debate whether Mattel simply doesn’t know what they’re doing or they are purposefully trying to sell you an extra card …

On the back of the RADIATOR SPRINGS FIRE DEPARTMENT card for Ramone & Flo, it lists them as themed “Race Rods.”

Other Cards that show them correctly.

The ACTUAL cars match the photo, that little dot/blur on their back quarter panel area? The Radiator Springs Fire Department logo so these are the Fire Department Ramone & Flo … even if their OWN card is confused by what theme they belong to.

The Checklist of what’s out is here.

Mattel Loses $47 MM: First Quarter 2008

Until major competitor, Hasbro – whose sales were up 14% in Q1, 2008 – Mattel posted a loss of $46.6 million … before you go blaming it on shortage of CARS, the problem is the Fisher Price division … sales in that division were down 13% percent

“Fisher-Price, Mattel’s education and preschool toy company, accounted for the brunt of the disappointment, with sales slipping 13% from the prior year to $341.3 million. The Fisher-Price Friends unit, which includes items like Elmo, Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street, reported a 49% decline as this year’s toys failed to attract as much attention as they did a year ago.

John Taylor, an analyst at Portland-based Arcadia Investment Corp., linked the drop to the current lack of an exciting Elmo toy and softening demand for Dora. “The magnitude was bigger-than-expected,” he said, but he added that Elmo Live, a new dancing toy to be introduced later this year, “has a chance to be another high point.”

Via the WSJ

We noted that costs were going up in this post but perhaps there’s another increase coming …

“Mattel added that it expects manufacturing costs to continue to rise in China as the yuan continues to gain on the dollar and as inflation in China nears the highest level in more than a decade. The toymaker said it may raise prices this year in the “mid-to-high single-digit range” to combat these forces.”

There was no specific mention of the Disney Pixar CARS …

The official press release on the earnings report is here.

An audio podcast of the conference call will be available tomorrow here.

Disney Pixar CARS: Beware the Sarge eBay Auctions

Since Sarge disappeared from the store shelves last summer, most eBay sellers have been content to sell the Desert Art 12 & 16-CARS back ones at a nice markup ($15-$25 dollars).

However, with the recent Mini & other releases, some less than ethical people are trying to take advantage of the situation by pawning off other Sarge’s as “the one.” (the 1:55 series one … sort of like the Frank the Combine situation by selling off 1-part from a $15 board game for $20-$30 dollars.

This is the Sarge from the MINI ADVENTURES series (aka: Mini’s):

So look carefully – note the expression, color, color of canopy and the overall detailing on the METAL diecast versus the all plastic mini. It is also incorrect to call all-plastic diecast so if you see any eBay auctions trying to pawn off the Mini’s without explaining that this loose Sarge is a Mini should either be reported to eBay or if the seller gets enough people hounds them, they might get wht people don’t appreciate being mislead … It is tempting as they are starting the opening auction price or setting a BUY-IT-NOW price under $10 dollars … but a Mini Sarge is not a 1:55 Sarge. Now, if you are okay with a Mini Sarge or want a loose Mini, of course, buy away but just be careful you are getting what you want (more Mini Sarge’s are being shipped as we speak so why pay three times as much for 1/2 of a Mini 2-pack for under $5?)

The regular Sarge is a hair over 2″ in length and the Mini Sarge is a hair over 1″ in length.

Of course, now with the Disney Store releases, there might be others they are trying to pawn off so here are some of the others (no Sarge pics as I’m not collecting any of them but you get the idea).

The two above are the ONLY Sarge’s from Mattel.

All these others are from the Disney store.

THE FIGURINES

They’ve been around since the beginning of the movie release – not sure if they were every re-stocked or they’re still selling what’s left over from 2006. For a diecast collector like them, they just look lumpy and to me, what’s the point of a car (any car) that is not metal and rolls with precision?

THE NEW 4″ LINE

Appearing last week, I finally went and took a look – and my review is me’h. They are somewhere in between a 1:32 and 1:43 scale so that’s a huge strike – you have to pick a scale that already exists – but what’s worse – it varies within the line itself – the King is like 1:50 scale and McQueen is 1:43 so shabby continuity within the line is just bad plus, the sculpts aren’t even as nice as the Mattel 1:55 line. The SOLE REASON to make a larger scale is to add more detailing (okay, there’s the profit thing) so why would you pay extra for something larger that is not as nice as a smaller scale. They might’ve based the sculpts on the figurine line above – notice that McQueen, Sarge & the King’s proportions are just slightly off – you recognize them but clearly not like the first time you saw the Mattel 1:55 CARS and thought – wow, must have … with the figurines and the new 4″ line – me’h. They are $5.50 each. Not horrible – just non-enticing. I think most people will look at them and go – me’h. Fans of Ramone might like the Purple Ramone, that seems the best of the lot and Sarge doesn’t look bad from the photos – none left in the Disney Store I went to though so be warned of massive eBay misleading auctions.

Though the one good thing with the release of this oddball Sarge, perhaps that means regular 1:55 Sarge is now safe to return – all lead free and all.

These also come in a look-alike twin-pack version (in terms of size) but apparently not the same as the twin packs CARS have sound and other features?

THE PULL-BACK 6″ LINE

The Disney store also has a larger 6″ line that has a pullback feature. They are $12.50 or 2 for $20. Again, not horrible but you think a giant 1:43ish scale would produce some killer detailing or better sculpts? Nope … and from what I could touch and the weight, all plastic. Again, none are horrible but even compared to the small 1:55 scale – a collective me’h. Sculpting is a subtle thing – just look at the MINI Fillmore – it’s much tinier at around 1″ long – yet it they managed to pack personality into it – the MINI’s for the most part are so gosh darn cute, who could resist? This thing is just a lump of plastic that vaguely resembles Fillmore – not enticing, cool or interesting enough. It’s just blah.

There is another line from Japan – but since most prices for those start at $15+, it’s unlikely anyone ill try to pass those off as Mattel 1:55 ones.

So, if you’re trying to pick up a Sarge on eBay, make sure you get a photo or the packaging and it does NOT HURT TO ASK if you do NOT see the words 1:55 or Mattel.

Good luck!

Mattel Disney Pixar CARS: Motor Speedway of the South Sneak Peek

Yes, we are are edging closer to an actual release date for the Motor Speedway of the South set with REAL evidence of the set. The “Sneak Peek” photos are up at the Hot Wheels Collectors Club (in the Red Line Club Sneak Peek section). Only PC users can see the photos so they are provided here before you sign up – info on how to join are in our post link at the end.

NO PRICE.

NO ACTUAL RELEASE DATE YET.

As we only in the ‘sneak peek’ phase of the sale.

For those unfamiliar with the normal process for the Red Line Club. During the year, Mattel sells 10-15 exclusive cars (or sets) to Red Line Club members. Often, they will put up ‘sneak peek’ photos (not always) but then about 11-12 days out will announce when the item will be available for purchase and start a countdown counter.

As of right now, there is an exclusive ’67 Ford Mustang with a countdown counter that ticks to zero on April 29th so what does that tell us about when the Motor Speedway of the South will go on sale?

We can do an additional process of elimination. Since there is a Hot Wheels car on sale to members on the 29th of April, and there is almost always 10 days from the announcement of “what’s new & exclusive” to the day of the actual sale process – the earliest the set will go on sale is probably May 13, 2008.

Mattel almost always lists the start time on a Tuesday and the 13th is a Tuesday.

So on May 3rd or May 4th, the official announcement, the price and the countdown clock should go up … IF the on-sale date is the 13th.

The subsequent Tuesdays are May 20th and May 28th.

It would highly unlikely to stretch into June as the “sneak peeks” rarely if ever go up more than 2-3 weeks out before the official price & release date announcement. (They also mention ‘time to go racing in May.’)

And it’s not likely to be the 6th, the first Tuesday in May since that sort of crowds/clouds the preview & selling period of the current car (the 2008 RLC™ sELECTIONs™ ’67 Ford Mustang) – every once in a while though, the cars offered will overlap, not likely but possible.

And no, we don’t know if there are any exclusives AND of course, they will not announce if the CARS will be available in another configuration or when.

The only real mini-surprise is that they are not on cards but that makes sense, it makes for a nicer display and it saves Mattel money – since some of the Piston Cup racers barely make it on screen and Mattel can apparently only use ‘official’ artwork rendered by Pixar (for instance, their Rollin’ Bowlin’ Mater card featured regular Mater), there would be a lot more work on their part to come up with card art for all 36 racers.

Any other questions – presumably, they’ve been answered in our recent & older posts so good luck everyone!

(the link shows photos & names of each CAR but the sneak peek from Mattel also included some more officially shots of the Piston Cup racers)

All Photos © Mattel Inc, Mattel RLC Club & Disney/Pixar.

By the way, for international customers – in an older post of ours, we have some suggestions on getting a US pre-paid credit card (scroll down to middle of post). Now, I have NOT tested this out for the Mattel Red Line Club purchases so I am not saying it’s 100% guaranteed but it’s a suggestion you can test out or try if you’re interested in trying to avoid eBay. Good luck

ALSO NOTE: To sign up for the Red Line Club, you must FIRST be a member of the Hot Wheels Club (which is free) so sign up in the HWC first – then click on SHOP and add a Red Line Club membership to your cart.

Un-boxing UPDATE POST here.