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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Disney Pixar Cars - Race Car Haulers

We know they are coming! We know they are die cast! We know they'll be made for every racer! Now, we know what they look like in their packaging! These are some cool toys! It took two years for Mattel's design team members to get the ok to produce the haulers at a price point they could justify!

The First three we see here are Lightning, Chick Hicks and The King's haulers! They all open so you can put your 1:55th scale racer in to be hauled to the Los Angeles Speedway! God! I'm going to have to use the guest room to hold all my Cars stuff soon.

http://www.CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - Night Vision Lightning McQueen & Collector Guide

It was mentioned at Comic-Con, and here's what it will look like packaged. Night Vision Lightning McQueen with a 2009 Collector Guide! They should be out in the next month or so. Don't you wish we could see what the pages of the Collector Guide have in them?

http://www.CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com