Disney Pixar Cars - Oversized Seen In Small Quantities

I called a Wal-Mart yesterday that I suspected may have gotten in some Oversized Cars and talked to the Toy Department manager Linda. She told me that she got in a couple of cases a week or two ago, and that they sold out in a day. One of my Kmart Collectors Day reporters was in a Wal-Mart today. I asked her to check the toy department while I was on the phone and she came across the Oversized Dinoco Helicopter. So, I was lucky to get that because of her. Nothing else was in site. They are showing up, but being snatched up faster than Mater can whip his tow hook onto Lightning! Searching for these toys is a pain in the #$$! How have your searches gone of late?

I also came to understand that Wal-Mart orders high quantities of Cars from Mattel. They then warehouse their inventory in a big dark cave distributing it in slow drips to the stores. This is why they are so far behind the Newest releases. I'm still seeing cases from months ago showing up in the Orlando stores. Maybe this explains why I see so much Batman stuff in their stores. Ya know, bats like caves! ;-)

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Disney Pixar Cars - Calling on Delaware & North Dakota

Just two states have yet to have be accounted for in our list of readers...Delaware and North Dakota! I'm putting out the call, the smoke signal, the Morse Code, the bouy, the shout out for a Cars fan from these two remaining states to be accounted for in our tracking! Do you know any Cars fans from these last two stragglers? If so, please zip them off an e-mail and ask them to checkout "Alternator Valley!" I'll see from their IP address where they hail from and update our list pronto!

Maybe Sweet Polly Purebred can sing, "Where, oh where has my unaccounted states gone?" It works for Underdog! Then a hero from Delaware and North Dakota can do a virtual swoop into Alternator Valley and save us from Incompletion! Simon Bar Sinister will be foiled again! But wait, what the hell does he have to do with this? Nothing! Yet, he could have made some whacked out super ray thingy that has blocked transmissions from these two elusive states! So, YES! He must be foiled again! Then, and only then, will we hear from Cars nuts from these two states and reach Completion!! Ta Dah!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Alternator Valley Trading Post Coming Soon!

I've had a number of readers ask if I'd start a Trading Area. I am willing to do so since the site has a diverse global readership, and can help people get more of what they want. It will strictly be a "Trading Post." No selling will be allowed. I will be awarding a special "Key to the Post" to traders I know are good people. Others can attain this designation through nomination and proof of being an honest and reliable trader. Details and Rules will posted once the "Alternator Valley Trading Post" is launched in the next week! If you have any thoughts or ideas to make the "Trading Post" more of what you want, feel free to post comments.

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Disney Pixar Cars 2009 Calender

It might be made of paper, two-dimensional, and only good for sixteen months, but the 2009 Cars Calender delivers! I figured many of you would be interested in it and like to get one for your house. My 2008 calender hangs in my office and adds colorful fun to my day! The 2009 calender picks up where 2008 ends with great stills from the film. Each month focuses on a specific character and gives you a bio on them. You learn a bit more about that character and things you may not know about them. I got mine at Walmart for the bargain price of just $4.97! I'm sure I'll be getting the Cars Calender for years to come!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Waiting for Oversized and Storytellers to Appear

I still have yet to see a single Oversized Car appear in Orlando. Just one Target had a shipment of Storytellers, and they were effectively gone in a day. I keep calling and visiting Walmart, Target and Toys R Us and nothing, nada, zilch!! Less than two months until Jolly Saint Nick visits, and there's been nothing for us hungry shoppers to spend our dough on! So, we wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Darth Mater Selling Price A Disappointment!

I talked to a good friend from Mattel this morning and was told that Darth Mater sold for a paltry $10,000! I am certainly shocked, amazed and disappointed! This was one of the most unique pieces I've ever seen. Where were the heavy hitters? Why didn't Lucas or Lasseter bid on it?

If you were fortunate enough to see Darth in person like I did, you'd have been amazed at the quality, workmanship, and creativity behind the one-of-a-kind collectible! Hell, if I had ten grand, I would have gladly paid it to get Darth Mater! I can tell you this much...Collectors want a small version of him. I've said that Mattel should absolutely make a version for MattyCollector.com within the next year! If they don't, they'll miss the boat. Collectors love this costumed version of Mater.

I feel the amount he sold for could almost be deemed insulting. It had to be a shock to the Children Affected by Aids Foundation as well. They were really counting on these bids to help the organization financially. Well, as the saying goes, "Wait until next year!"

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Disney Pixar Cars - N2O Cola Update

As I wrote in my last entry about the N2O Cola promotion, Mattel has updated their site and you can now find these pics of the Car on display. The interesting thing is that the acrylic case has the Cars logo on the front, as opposed to Sidewall Shine where the logo is on the back of the case. I don't know if this was done on purpose, or is a simple mistake. I guess we'll find out when we get the Car. If you don't like it that way, just simply turn the top around and it will then be on the back. Again, visit this link to complete your order for your N2O Cola Car! N2O Cola Promotion

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Disney Pixar Cars - Expect More Kmart Cars Collectors Events

I talked to one of my contacts at Mattel, and was told Kmart did incredible numbers on October 18th's Collectors Day. From what I was told, I'd expect to see more Cars Collectors Events at Kmart in the future. Kmart has long done Hot Wheels Collectors Events with Mattel. They tend to have one every three to four months. As a matter of fact, they are having another Hot Wheels Collectors Event on November 8, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. That is less than two months since the last one they just did on September 20th. So, maybe we'll see another Cars Collectors Event at Kmart in February or March. Would you like to be able to get four or five New Cars released in one fell swoop again? Heck! I say yessirree!

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San Diego Comic-Con 2009 Countdown

News is slow on the Cars front, so I was thinking about the next thing that has me jazzed, and it is going back to Comic-Con in 2009! It will be the 40th Anniversary of the leading comics and popular arts convention! Mattel is going to have some wonderful stuff for you Cars collectors! I have a few friends who will hopefully attend for the first time, and I'm looking forward to them being there with me. Any excuse to visit Cali is a good one for me! You'll notice I put a Countdown Clock on the site. It is set to countdown to Preview Night on July 22, 2009! It is just under 40 weeks until the 40th convention! I'll certainly keep you all abreast of Comic-Con news, especially concerning Disney Pixar's Cars. Are you going to attend? Don't think about. DO IT! Registration is open at this link Comic-Con 2009!

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Disney Pixar Cars - N2O Cola Promotion Revs UP!

Gentle Collectors, start your engines and get ready to race off to Toys R Us! The race "Officially" starts on October 26, 2008 and runs from 10/26/08 - 12/31/08! Just like the recent Sidewall Shine promotion, you simply purchase 5 single pack Cars character vehicles and send in the required items to get an N2O Cola Car! There's now a list of the 97 different UPC Codes of the Cars you can buy to fulfill the purchase requirement. Click on the picture to see the full size image so you can read the UPC Codes. The same web site used for the Sidewall Shine promotion is where you'll visit to complete your order. Click here N2O Cola Promotion to fill out your order. The picture has yet to be changed out, but will likely show N2O Cola in a display case by October 26th.

Did you get the chance to get Sidewall Shine? I'm certainly going to buy a few more stocking stuffers so I can get a few N2O's! The Cars and the display are superb! If you have yet to get one, you are missing out! A lot of people are gonna get Cars for Christmas and like it! I can also guarantee you that I have all 97 Cars that correspond to the UPC Codes! Do you? That's a lotta Cars, and there's a lotsa more coming! Mama Mia!

Imagine if these suckers were a scale of 1:10, instead of the 1:55th scale? You'd literally have to build a room onto your house! Add in the haulers, the city props and all the characters. It would be cool though!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Kmart Collectors Day Round-Up Report

I had expectations about the Kmart Collectors Day and they all held fairly true. Admittedly, I had no idea how many people would turn out. I figured that the numbers would be similar to Hot Wheels events, and they were. The turn out at three stores myself and my two reporters were at, came in at a count of seven, ten, and ten.

The three stores all managed things differently. The store I was at, allowed people to open cases on a First Come, First Served basis. The other two stores chose people to open cases by pulling their number out of a hat raffle style. The stores setup things differently as well. The store I attended setup a table at the front entrance of the store. The store Reporter One was at, setup near the courtesy desk, while the store Reporter Two was at, setup the table in the back of the store.

The store I was at got six cases of "Mainline" Cars, and three cases of "Minis!" The first six people got to open a case each and choose five Cars. Then, the last two went through all six cases and picked their first five choices. We then came back a second time to pick five more, and then it was a free for all the third time around. The one poster was grabbed by a guy who just took it, and no one cared about the Minis. At the store where I had Reporter One, he was the second person there, but that store went the raffle way and he was picked last to choose. The difference at his store was that most of the people just showed up and got involved because there was a table setup. This actually helped him because they didn't know what to look for when picking their Cars. He also won the poster as they raffled it off and he was chosen. Reporter Two was annoyed by the way the manager ran things. She told me she didn't know what the hell she was doing! Some people tried to cheat by taking more than one raffle ticket. Others tried to manipulate the manager into letting them open more than one case. Reporter Two had been briefed on the rules by me and put a stop to a lot of the nonsense.

Both Reporters were disgusted by the way a number of the adults conducted themselves. They felt they were very immature and selfish. They both indicated they wouldn't want to do it again. The crowd at the store I was at, had a number of dirty, bummy looking people. Beyond people's behavior and hygiene, the thing to come away with is that you can do well in spite of the size of the crowd. In my case, I had the fewest people, but the setup drew more last minute people and the majority knew what to look for. So, you could say that made for a more competitive situation. Reporter One was at an advantage because he knew what to look for, while the other last minute stragglers didn't. And, even though he was drawn last to pick, he still got all the best Cars due to his preparation! Finally, Reporter Two had to deal with taking control of a more devious group and a manager who didn't have a clue. She made things stay fair and knew what to do to get what she wanted.

The one difficult Car to get was Edwin Kranks. There was only one in every other case. So, the day yielded a total of Seven New Cars released...Sputter Stop, View Zeen, Shiny Wax, Transberry Juice, Spare Mint, Edwin Kranks and Small Fred. It was very exciting to add this many Cars to my collection in one fell swoop! I hope you all did as well as I did!

Finally, I hope those of you who followed us on Twitter got some insight, and it helped you do better as you got to your Kmart later in the morning.

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Disney Pixar Cars - I'll Be Twittering Live At The Kmart Cars Event On 10/18/08

Great minds do think alike! My friend who publishes Take5aday has been playing with Twitter and wants to "Tweat" Live as we're at the Kmart Cars Event this Saturday, October 18th. I've been messing with it for a few weeks and attempted to embed a widget on Alternator Valley, but encountered some bugs. That doesn't mean we can't use it for Live feeds from the Kmart event.

If you have yet to hear about Twitter, it is what is called a "Micro-Blogging" site. Basically, you setup a Free account and can type 140 character "What are you doings" directly from the site, or text message updates from your cell phone to your profile. I thought it was stupid as hell! Twitter even says it seems stupid in their video intro. Why would I care what a friend is doing at any time, especially if it is mundane!

BUT, in the case of being at a LIVE event, such as the Kmart thing this weekend, it can be very useful indeed!

What my friend at Take5aday and I intend to do is to give our readers Live updates by the minute about the crowd, the number of cases the store we're in received, how the event is being conducted, what we got, and more! This will help you adjust your strategy and be better prepared to get what you want. I'll be starting the day since I'm on the East Coast in Florida. If you wish to be part of this Live Feed, I'd strongly suggest you get your account setup with Twitter ASAP. Don't wait until Saturday morning. You can "Follow" me by searching for my Twitter Id which is orlandogken. You'll click follow and then can read my updates Live. Good Luck on Saturday!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Upcoming Items of Interest

Waiting, waiting, waiting! Not much news of late. We're all just waiting for all the New Cars releases to show up in stores...The New Race O Rama card backs with Impound McQueen, Spin Out McQueen and Ron Hover. We're waiting for the New Oversized releases including Al-Oft, Mack, Barney Stormin', Lightning Storm McQueen and Marco the Jet. We're waiting for the release of the New Race Car Haulers such as Mack, Chick Hicks and the Wal-Mart truck. So, as we wait, I thought I'd add a bit to your "To Do List!"

1. This weekend on October 18, 2008, you have the K-Mart Cars Event at 11:00 a.m. at most Kmart stores in the country. The list is too long for me to post. Call your store on the 17th and ask the know nothing managers about the event then, then they might finally know something. HA!
   
2. Darth Mater will be auctioned off at this year's Children Affected by Aids Foundation's Dream Halloween event on October 25, 2008!
3. October 26, 2008 is the start of the next Toys R Us buy 5 get 1 Free promotion for a Cars N2O Cola Car in a display case. The typical store personnel are like Schultz from Hogan's Heros saying, "I see NOTHING! I know NOTHING!"
   
4. The world premier of Disney Pixar's "Cars Toons," the New animated short series directed by John Lasseter and starring Mater, will be presented on the Disney Channel, Toon Disney, and ABC Family beginning on Monday, October 27, 2008!

So, We have a few Cars things to keep us occupied for the next couple of weeks. I've been surely driving the Toys R Us and Wal-Mart stores crazy with my calls looking for the New Oversized releases. At least it keeps me out of trouble, right?! Yeah, right!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Case A Showing UP In Orlando

I had an intuitive feeling, off a tip, that today was going to be the day I'd finally find Case A in Orlando! I called the Toys R Us nearest my house, and sho' nuff! I was told Race O Rama Cars were hanging on the pegs in full force! I ran over and it was a beautiful morning as I found my first Chase hanging on a peg! There was Impound McQueen, Spin Out McQueen and Ron Hover all waiting to jump in my basket! As the saying goes, "Timing is Everything!" Have you had a day when your timing was just right?

So, those of you in Orlando can finally expect to see that Toys R Us has finally started getting in New stock! Take to the streets and rejoice! Scream hallelujah and raise your arms to the heavens! Sing a happy song of joy! Now, you can buy the newest toys!!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Card Back Change O Rama

Marketing ploy or just a fresh look? Since Cars die cast toys came out in early June of 2006, we've seen five major changes to the single Car card backs. The Original Design was the simple "Desert" background. Nothing ornate or busy, just a plain design that focused on the character. The name plate was not numbered, color coded or anything but simple red.

A number of months later we started seeing the New "Super Charged" backer with a bit more flash and pizazz! This backer had spotlights shooting toward the night sky with Radiator Springs businesses brilliantly lit with Neon signs behind the character on the card. This time the nameplate was changed to blue, and was still relatively simple being devoid of any numbering.

The third design was called "The World of Cars" version. Here the town of Radiator Springs was in the background in a daylight view. You can see Ramone's in the right corner and Luigi's in the left corner as we look up the main street. The nameplate became a sort of plum color with screws and numbering. I never gave a cared about the silly numbering, but other collectors have tried to keep a checklist based on it.

Sometime later Mattel came out with a short card back that has apparently only been sold at Kmarts. It stayed with "The World of Cars" design, but was about as half as tall. The only other subtle change was that the short cards don't have any numbering on the nameplate.

Finally, we come to the latest design they decided to come up with. The "Race O Rama" design came out in the last week. It has a bit more color and flare. The background is the racetrack with the Dinoco sponsor tent and fans. The nameplate was changed to a colored raffle ticket design, with a numbering that I can't say is the same or different. They are also packed with a little foldout flyer that shows the different ticket colors and icons to collecting. This is certainly a colorful backer and ties in with the New WorldOfCars.com website that will officially launch in 2009.

Other Variations include a Shield with NEW on it, and a Shield with CHASE on it. The people who are crazy completists buy every version with every design. I just can't personally justify owning the same toy five, six, seven times! So, why does Mattel do this? To make you feel you need to buy them all? To freshen up the line? To make you nuts?! I haven't asked them. The way I've approached collecting the Cars "Mainline" is to just buy the Newest release as soon as I can find it. I get whatever card back it is on, and that is the end of my search for that character. I move on to the next "New" release. We'll see how long they stay with the Race O Rama design before they change the card back again.

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Disney Pixar Cars - Case A Coming Unglued

I have not been a big proponent of buying cases due to ending up with 14 to 16 Cars I already have. I just got an A Case with three of the Newest releases in it...The Chase Impound McQueen, Ron Hover and Spin Out McQueen. When I opened it, about half of the pieces were coming apart. The bubble was not properly glued to the backer card. Luck would have it that the few I bought the case for, the Chase Impound McQueen and Ron Hover packages were falling apart. So, I paid $70 for a case full of Cars I don't need, and the few I really want are defective! Therefore, I am dissapointed.

I'm writing this because I want to find out if any of you have encountered this issue? I'm trying to ascertain if this is a production issue, or just my bad luck. I have never seen this before. As a collector, I want my die cast Cars to stay Mint On Card. I know many of you collect in this manner. You usually buy two of each release...One to keep MOC and one to open and display, play with etc. Let me know what you are finding.

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Disney Pixar Cars - Will Darth Mater Rule The Universe

Only a few weeks until Darth Mater will be auctioned off at this year's Children Affected by Aids Foundation's Dream Halloween event on October 25, 2008. Learn more about this fine organization! Visit this link Children Affected by Aids Foundation so you can bid on Darth Mater. The big question is will Darth Mater break the record for dollars raised?! I say Yea!

I checked and the record Auction Price was $30,000 for the Cindy Crawford doll a few years ago. The Whoopi Goldberg doll that sold for an Auction Price of $20,000 garnered more by having another check of $20,000 added by the Mattel CEO so he could have lunch with Whoopi. So, technically that item brought in $40,000. There is strong speculation that interested parties from Skywalker Ranch, and a person from some studio in Emeryville, California may bid high on ole Darth! What could he go for? I'd say a healthy range of $60k to $100k could be possible, and would certainly help the organization!

I was told at Comic-Con that a die cast version of Darth Mater for Halloween 2008 would be a strong possibility. Indications are it won't happen this year. We'll see what 2009 brings. It would be foolish for Mattel not to release Darth Mater as at least a MattyCollector.com exclusive. There it could be jazzed up with a light-up light saber, or a sound chip and be a collector's piece!

How will Jamie Lee show up dressed this year? Will Darth Mater break Records? Take part in my latest poll at the top left of the page and we'll find out if you're right in a few weeks!

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Disney Pixar Cars - Mattel's Distribution is Confusing

After two years of collecting, I still don't get Mattel's method of distribution. New Cars come out and it seems like they are scattered all over. For instance, a quick look on Ebay searching for the New Oversized die cast toys, and I see the states of Colorado, Kentucky, New York, Texas, Missouri and Ohio with people selling them. I also found that people in the UK and Australia are selling them. It makes no sense how Mattel distributes these darn toys! It seems to take months for me to find the newest releases here in Orlando. Anyone have any idea about this?


As the ship is chugging along from China, does it chuck a load to the Aussies, then head over to England for some tea? What the heck happens once the ship reaches the United States?! Are they doing random air drops from Barney? Have you seen the Oversized Pixar Cars in your state yet?

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Alternator Valley's 1st Anniversary & Giveaway!

Wow! I've been writing about Disney Pixar Cars for nearly a solid year! Have you been with me since the start? I launched Alternator Valley with my Scoop of the Rangsberg Blu Ray McQueen promotion on November 6, 2007. If you want to check out my first blog entry, just copy/paste the highlighted words in blue and put them in the search box above.

I'm thinking about doing a giveaway of a Lightning Storm Lightning McQueen to celebrate. Would you like one of these? What do you suggest I do to determine who would get it? I'm open to all sorts of suggestions. Maybe people would have to dress up like one of the various McQueens and send me a picture! It would be funny to see a person dressed as "Tumbleweed Mcqueen," or as "Cactus McQueen!"

I'll wait to see what suggestions you give me, and then announce a contest if we come up with something good.

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Alternator Valley Readers from Around the World!

It is incredible to see where Alternator Valley readers come from! I've looked at my tracking stats for months, and am happy and amazed to see the global reach Disney Pixar Cars has! I thought I'd list the many countries from around the world you come from on the blog. The list was compiled from just the last week of visits, and amounted to 32 different countries from the United Kingdom to Japan!



I then compiled a list for the United States, and again, in just the last week, I had visitors from 34 States! I'll keep adding to the list until I have all 50 States, Puerto Rico and Guam! I can't wait to see how many different countries I'll eventually list!

I hope you continue to enjoy this blog and thanks for visiting!

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