Mattel Launches Collectors Site July 28, 2008

Mattel's New collectors site, MattyCollector.com goes Live at 11:00am P.S.T. on July 28, 2008! I don't know what to tell you folks! I interviewed one of the people who deals with MattyCollector.com and he told me 8:00am E.S.T. I went to him yesterday before leaving Comic-Con and he then tells me it is Noon E.S.T. Now, I go to the site and it states 11:00am P.S.T.

Matty has grown-up and is now your source for News updates, Collectibles and Vintage Toy Galleries! Membership is something we all like...FREE! Visit the link above and register to be part of a New age of Mattel collecting.

On July 28, 2008 you'll be able to purchase the four Comic-Con Exclusives...

1. Disney/Pixar's Cars Lightning Storm McQueen















2. DC Universe Classics Lobo



















3. DC Universe Justice League Giganta



















4. Masters of the Universe Classics King Grayskull



















Something I've been a strong advocate for will be implemented on MattyCollector.com, Purchase Limits. Members will be able to purchase a maximum of 2 of each item. This will be great for collectors, and help keep dealers from buying up massive quantities.

After this initial release, expect New items in October. There will be NO New Cars items UNTIL February of 2009. The four main lines that will be featured on MattyCollector.com will be...

1. Disney Pixar's Cars
   
2. Masters of the Universe Classics
   
3. Justice League Unlimited
   
4. and DC Universe

News Updates will be posted by Matty every 2 weeks after the initial launch.

Some other things you may like to know are...

• Items will not necessarily be "Limited Editions."
  
• Items released on MattyCollector.com will not appear in stores.
  
• Say you miss an item that had a run of 1000, Mattel may run another 1000 with a slight variation in packaging to give you a chance to get the item, but help hold collector value of the original with the variant.
• There may be a Membership for ongoing releases such as Masters of the Universe due to a monthly release.

Digest all this great News and take a look at MattyCollector.com on July 28, 2008!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Comic-Con El Dia Dos!

San Diego is warm, inviting and all abuzz with Comic-Con! The morning news had extensive coverage today. The local coverage spoke a lot about fearing the convention would be moved to L.A. or Vegas due to it getting so big. I believe I heard the head man of Comic-Con say they had a contract through 2010 to stay in San Diego. I've also heard talk about a move in the crowds. Time will tell.

I can tell you that most of the people working on the event, don't know what's going on and how to direct you. The organization has been average at best. The food vendors are pathetic for such a large and well-known convention. All I've seen is pretzels, cookies and crappy overpriced sandwiches for $8.00! I'm dumbfounded by a lack of more and high quality food! It is the worst part of what I've encountered.

Ok, let's get on with some cool stuff! Today I spent the morning at the Mattel booth. I interviewed Martin Arriola, Senior Manager of Product Design, who heads up Mattel's design team for Disney/Pixar's Cars die cast toy line! I'm going to write an entry all about Martin and his great insight later. I also spoke to Ryan Mansour who is the Brand Manager of the Cars line. I talked about things, you the fan, are hungry for...A great Display Case, Miniature Scenery to complement your play sets, and setting limits on their new MattyCollector.com site which debuts on Monday, July 28, 2008! I'll discuss more about MattyCollector.com later as well!

I'll tell you what is exciting about the future of the Cars line for us as collectors...John Lasseter! Martin told me that John has been developing this line like the fan of great toys he is! John wants to create EACH AND EVERY character in scale and quality! This way we as collectors can recreate Radiator Springs to Pit Row in die cast toys and play sets! That's been my hope as a collector! I've been envisioning the day I will setup the entire town and the race track as my first venture into a "Railroad" set type display! Something I've been inspired by Walt Disney's passion of Trains and model Railroads to do!

There's a lot to come, and I guarantee, that you'll be beyond excited!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Comic-Con Day One on Day Two

A Short entry to report my lack of a report yesterday. I hadn't slept in 24 hours, my plane was delayed from Orlando to L.A. by 2 hours. That delay in turn made miss my connecting flight to San Diego. The second chance to catch a connecting flight was missed by 1 minute. Finally, I caught a flight and my 6-1/2 hour journey to San Diego turned out to be a 10 hour journey! I had just enough time to check in to my hotel, get a super delicious In and Out burger and get to the Comic-con around 3:10pm. I was stunned at how many people were there and the event didn't open until 6pm! It took an hour and a half to get my Press Credentials, the useless "Elite" staff hired to direct and manage the crowd was useless and didn't know anything. The crowd didn't know anything.

Finally, I got aggressive and called my PR contact for Mattel so I didn't have to stand in a line with thousands of other people. Yippee! That was the first thing to go well for the day! I ended up being fifth in line to buy "Lightning Storm McQueen!" Since, I can't figure out how to put a caption under the picture, it depicts, "The calm before the Lightning Storm!" I got 20 cases and, just messing with you, I got a number of cases and got that important mission over with! While making my purchase, I met my counterpart who writes and publishes Take5aDay! He will remain anonymous because that's how he chooses to publish, and we became fast friends.

The lines and crowd were insane as to be expected and I was utterly exhausted by the end of the night. Oh, I was also one of those people you laugh at because they fall. On the way back to my car, I was in a crowd (go figure), waiting for the light to change and stepped into a small hole and took a nice spill on the sidewalk. I jumped up and acted ok, but was banged up pretty good. What a day! Went back to the hotel and couldn't do a thing but take out my contacts and go to sleep. So, that was Day One on Day Two!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com