Alternator Valley will have 2 new Hosts temporarily

The original host of this blog is temporarily offline. I am turning over the blog to 2 of his friends who are going to continue his blog until he has recovered from a serious incident with his health.
Thank all of you for your continued support and best wishes for his healthy and speedy return to wellness.

Disney Pixar Cars - Target Goes on the Offensive

Target has seen the demand and decided to go on the offensive! The Haulers are HOT, and they are beating Walmart on price and meeting collector demand! You can find them this link...Target Cars Haulers Within a day, Target.com has listed three additional New Haulers, bringing the total to six New Releases they are Pre-Selling. Here are the latest...

Nitroade's Hauler is now ready to roll


Gil is a bit green around the mud flaps


Shiny Wax will brighten your day

Target is kicking Walmart's ass by pricing the Haulers at $12.99 plus shipping and handling. Target's aggressive marketing is beating Walmart by actually having them available on their website. Try this link to SAVE $5.00 on a $50 order or more Target $5 Discount. Walmart.com has been historically pathetic, never allowing you to buy the "Hot" Cars items on their site. Every time you try, all you get is, "This item is currently unavailable."

Target is also kicking Mattel's own MattyCollector.com upside the head, as they haven't had a single Cars release since the site was launched 9 months ago! Recently, they were supposed to finally release a 1:24th Scale Lightning McQueen on March 17th, yet delayed releasing it with no further info. The site has lost serious credibility with Cars collectors due to the sound of crickets being all they get.

Subscribe to Alternator Valley and be where all the action happens!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - Target.com Pre-Selling Haulers

The thing about collecting is that collectors scour the world for the best prices and supply. Today they found that Target.com is selling Disney Pixar's Cars Haulers old and NEW! I had a problem finding them on their site, so to make your life easier, I have them here at this link for you...Target Cars Haulers The URL was a mile long and I had to type every character, so I hope you appreciate the effort. It has also been brought to my attention that you can use the Target Discount Code TCMVS7RD to save $5.00. Here are the three New Haulers they are Pre-Selling...

RPM is on Pre-Sale at Target.com


No Stall is parked in a warehouse for 2 to 6 weeks


Trunk Fresh rounds out the trio of New Releases

Not a bad price at $12.99 plus shipping and handling. Target actually beats Walmart, which sells the Haulers for $13.77! Can you believe that?! Target not only beats Walmart by $0.78 cents, but actually has them available on their website. Walmart has always stunk when it comes to selling Cars items on Walmart.com. They are never available!

Subscribe to Alternator Valley and click your way to happiness!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - Cars 2, Where and Who?

I think that Cars 2 is going to be off the hook! Really, why? Well, it sounds exciting and even though we don't know where they'll race, we know it will be called, "The Global Race." I can only imagine where Lightning is going, or who'll he'll race against. Lightning could visit Japan, Italy, France, or Australia! Can you picture Lightning buzzing by the Tour De France as they ride down a Parisian hill? How about seeing him bolt by the runners during the Boston Marathon?

Who will Lightning race against? No idea, and I can only speculate...will he race a Ferrari? How cool would it be if he raced against a Delorean? That would be a great die cast toy!! Maybe, he'll race in Alaska. How funny would it be if he got into it with Jet powered Snowmobile on the Iditarod trail?!! Only time will tell as things are being kept tightly under a locked car cover!

Where do you think Lightning will race? What kind of characters will he race against? How will Lightning and Mater get to these races? Will they hitch a ride on a Hauler? Will they sail to England on the QE2? Will they fly to Germany on a C-17 Military Transport. Speculating can be fun, and certainly quite funny! I can say this much...There will be a ton of super cool die cast toys coming!!

Subscribe to Alternator Valley and see the Cars world!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - Haulers vs. Semis El Fin

This is my third and final installment of comparing the Haulers and Semis. Alternator Valley friend and reader Tim, has contributed some great photos once again! First, we'll compare the faces of the first three releases of Haulers and Semis...Mack, Chick Hicks and Gray.

Mack Hauler's eyes are open while his mouth is wide open
Mack Semi has eyes half open with a mouth in a half smile


Chick Hauler's Eyes are open while his mouth has a smirk
Chick Semi has the same eyes while his tongue is showing


Gray Semi has eyes straight ahead and a full smile
while Gray Hauler has eyes to side and a half smile


The Hauler on the left has the tight hookup for the trailer
The Semi lacks the same hookup and the trailer can slip apart


Both the Gray Hauler and Semi have sponsors on mud flaps


Octane Gain's box opens by a flap and keeps the box intact
Wally & Jerry's is opened via perforation & compromises it

A few final notes...Mack Semi is the only one with no hole to attach a trailer. All Semis appear to have sponsors on the mud flaps. As shown above Chick Hicks and Gray Semi have holes, but lack the white plastic piece to secure a trailer. I discussed the packaging and we'll have to see what future Semi releases hold in store for us. I've decided to continue to buy two of each Hauler and one of each Semi. How about you?

Subscribe to Alternator Valley and never be in the pits!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - Haulers vs. Semis Part Deux

It is always appreciated when readers contribute to the community! Tim has once again sent me a great pic, and pointed out the finite differences between the Haulers and Semis. Boy, those tricky Mattel Marketing monkeys are always scheming. Take a look and you'll see subtle differences between the two.

Gray Semi has eyes straight ahead and a full smile
while Gray Hauler has eyes to side and a half smile

In addition to the eyes and smile, here's what Tim says about the hookup, "Here's the difference: the holes in the Semis don't have the little extra insert that makes it a tight fit between the trailer pin and the "5th wheel" on the truck. So, if you were going to actually play with them, the two could separate."

I think that kind of sucks! So, you can't even hook up the darn thing if you like the Semi's facial expression better than the one the Hauler has! Hey Mattel, fix this!! So, does this make you more or less likely to get both the Semis and the Haulers? I'll probably just get one Semi and continue getting two of the Haulers.

When you see the chance to contribute to the collecting discussion, feel free to send me your pics and info.

Subscribe to Alternator Valley and be part of our world!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - Matty Plays One, Two, Three, Red Light

Breaking news, well, not really. MattyCollector.com was supposed to release Lightning McQueen in 1:24th Scale tomorrow. I've been told that it won't happen. The release has been delayed until further notice. That's all I can tell you at this point. Not like you're surprised.

It reminds me of the game we played as kids...
One, Two, Three, Red Light! In this case,
as we get close to tagging Matty,
we end up in a big car pileup!

First, the Cars Cast got caught in Matty's Red Light


Then, a few hundred collectors were caught in a pile up


Finally, Old Man Johnson's pigs ended up in
a big ole pig pile while chasing down Matty

I wouldn't expect the April 15, 2009 release of Lightning McQueen in 1:55th Scale either. I will let you know when I hear anything new.

Subscribe to Alternator Valley and get your motor going each day!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - 2009 Comic-Con Mattel Exclusive Update

Mater and the Twins will be Revealed on April 11, 2009!

This is an update to tell you a few things about Mattel's 2009 Comic-Con Exclusive. I've seen it, and you are going to LOVE it! I won't be able to show you the complete images until April 11th, so mark that date on your calender. The set of Mater as a Fire Engine and Mia and Tia as Dalmations is going to come in a light-up diorama package. It will sell for $30 and as of today, the edition size is still undetermined, and the purchase limit has yet to be set. I reported back on January 18th that I heard the Edition Size was going to be 5000 for Comic-Con, and that 5000 would be available on MattyCollector.com. I've heard the purchase limit will be 1 to 4 sets per person.

As a collector and marketing expert, I'm going to give my input about these two numbers. First, the Edition size of 10,000 is far too high in my opinion. I would set it at 3000 for Comic-Con attendees and 2000 for MattyCollector.com. Here's my reasoning...The secondary market is what feeds all areas of collecting. If I purchase 10 sets, keep two for my collection and want to sell the other eight, then I want to make a decent profit when I sell them. If 10,000 exist, I'll have far too much competition on Ebay, and be lucky to make a $10 profit on each set. I won't want to waste my time, and certainly won't want to invest $300 ($30 times 10 sets) to buy ten sets. What does this transate to? Mattel will not sell out their supply!

Second, putting a limit of 1 to 4 sets per person at Comic-Con is a mistake. Do I think people should be able to buy any number? No! But, the idea of 1 to 4 is too low. Comic-Con attendees are the serious, most hard core collectors, and secondary market sellers out there. I'd set the limit to 10 Cases. The sets are going to be big. They may be packed to just two per case. Possibly four to a case. Let attendees buy a higher quantity for these reasons...They will buy more on the front end and have them presold to secondary collectors, they will buy more for friends, they will buy more for themselves. Allowing them to only purchase 1 to 4 is stupid! Doing what I suggest will certainly help to ensure Mattel will sell out at Comic-Con.

Finally, shipping these sets to buyers will run about $15 and make them more difficult to sell. They are big and will weigh a bit. So, keep the edition size low and let people buy more of them. I bought 6 Cases of Lightning Storm McQueens last year. I had to ship them home via UPS which added $3 in additional cost/unit to my total cost. Again, people like myself and others feed the secondary market and help keep the collecting going strong. Don't over produce and don't hamper the secondary market makers.

Alternator Valley will Preview Mattel's Comic-Con Exclusive April 11, 2009! Subscribe and don't miss a thing!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars - Lightning McQueen Beach Fun for Kids

For those of you who have kids, I received a notice about a fun New thing at DisneyShopping.com. Now, you and your kids can order customized swimwear with Lightning McQueen on them! You can order board shorts, hats, and T-Shirts! Very cool if you ask me.

I also found a Lightning McQueen Beach Towel you can personalize with up to 12 characters for an additional $7.95! Right now, the beach towels are 2 for $20.00, or one for $14.95. All these items are currently available on DisneyShopping.com.

They didn't have such cool stuff when I was a kid! With Zazzle and all this customizable clothing, who knows what will be available in the future!

Subscribe to Alternator Valley to learn about the latest Merchandise!

http://CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com