"Chasing" My Tail - The Search for Lightning McQueen with Bumper Stickers

I spent a few days going into Wal-Mart and Toys r Us to look for Chase McQueen only to find what I expected, nothing. I can't confidently say I'll ever find one on the pegs of the stores. With only one Lightning McQueen with Bumper Stickers per case, it will be very difficult to find one.

I went into the Wal-Mart near Sea World, I went into the Wal-Mart near Universal Studios, I went into the Wal-Mart on the west side of Orlando, I went into the Wal-Mart in the south west of Orlando, I went into the Toys R Us on the west side of Orlando, and I went into the Toys R Us in downtown Orlando. All I found was very little of the oldest of releases. How much gas and time did I spend chasing the "Chase?" Eh, too much!! For now, I'm done!

I bought one on Ebay against my better judgement. There were quite a few listed and typically ranged in price between $14 to $20 plus shipping. I am a typical man when it comes to shopping...I like to go to the store, find what I want and buy it. When it becomes a chore, I become quite annoyed. Finding the Cars has been the crappiest part of collecting this incredible line of die-cast toys! I've told folks at Mattel that even finding the "Mainline" Cars has been a long-term problem that needs to be dealt with through better supply.

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Great Scientific Minds Working For You!

In my never-ending quest to bring you the finest content and features, I've employed two of the greatest scientific minds in the world to bring you some great new features! At the bottom of every article, you'll see a cornucopia of NEW choices! Just click and you can share Alternator Valley articles, Subscribe to this blog, or contact me. So, explore and enjoy! Oh, you may want to take cover when these two geniuses demonstrate their new invention!!

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Will Collectors Chase the Pixar Chase Cars

Disney Pixar and Mattel have just released Chase Lightning McQueen with Bumper Stickers. He's being released in R Cases along with the expected following mix...

• Cactus McQueen (2)
• Chase McQueen W/Bumper Stickers (20,000 Limited Production) (1)
• Chick Hicks (1)
• Chief No Stall (2)
• Dirt Track McQueen (1)
• Doc Hudson (1)
• Ferrari (1)
• Ham (1)
• Kathy Copter (1)
• Leroy Traffik (2)
• Lightning McQueen (1)
• My Name Is Not Chuck (1)
• Petrol Pulaski (Rpm Pitty) (1)
• Stacy (Leakless Pitty) (1)
• Tar McQueen (1)

You'll get a total of 18 Die-Cast toys. Other than Chase McQueen, the newest characters will be Chief No Stall, Kathy Copter, Leroy Traffik, Petrol Pulaski and Tar McQueen. Assuming you need these five, collect two of each character as many of us do, and have probably already tracked down two Tar McQueen's, then you would have a total of 7 Cars you need and want. That means you'd have duplicates of 11 Cars, or just under two-thirds of a case. What the heck will you do with the 11 duplicates? Give them to people as gifts? You can't get your money out of them.

Cars collectors are not Hot Wheels collectors. We are frustrated enough trying to just get the regular "Mainline" Cars characters. It usually takes about two to three months for me to track down the latest releases in Walmart or Target. I'm not happy about this fact, nor are most collectors I talk to who are trying to find the new releases. The greedy mental case Ebay sellers who hide in the aisles of Walmart at midnight and pounce on the stockers to grab up everything make collecting a pain in the ass! I know that I personally won't go on some unholy hunt for the Chase Cars. I am very unlikely to buy cases because I'm not going to get stuck with two-thirds of a case of toys I already have. I'm most likely to buy a chase on Ebay, even though that idea doesn't rest well with me. I'm speaking for a large number of people, and these facts don't make Cars collectors feel warm and fuzzy.

So, how will this bode for Mattel? Collectors will poke around at the stores and look at the pegs since the Lightning Chase was just released. They'll eventually get frustrated, and I think people will reluctantly buy cases. I also, believe that they'll prefer to buy one on Ebay. How much will they go for? Only time will tell. The initial two releases are nothing spectacular, so I don't see them going insanely high. The Chase McQueen and Chase Fred have bumper stickers on them and aren't dramatically different from the original releases. I also believe collectors will strive to get two of each Chase, but be satisfied with one due to the obvious difficulty in obtaining just one.

Vote in our latest poll and make your opinion known.

http://www.CarsDieCastToys.Blogspot.com

Disney Pixar Cars Spectator Fans

There's so much in store for Cars collectors! We are going to see the most incidental of characters released. You'll be surprised who we'll see in the future. I want to talk about the Spectator, or Fan Cars today. We've seen the most prominent fans in Mia and Tia so far. We'll start seeing the fans from the stands with their foam lightning bolts and more! Here are a few from the Blu-Ray Disc with their bios...

Timothy Twostroke

Timothy Twostroke appears to be one of those trash talkin', North Eastern fans full of passion. It is no wonder he loves the cocky Lightning McQueen.

Polly Puddlejumper

Polly the shy housewife has her secret crush on "The King" and seems to be quite the introvert. She shows her support by wearing her foam antennae Crown, and her color even matches "The King!"

Kit Revster

Kit appears to be one of those laid back SoCal types. He is into his surfing, but loves his Piston Cup racing just as much!

Wilmar Flattz

Wilmar appears to be one of those dweebs who lacks social skills. He fawns over Mia and Tia, and probably goes to the races just to be around them. Some might say he is "Scary."

As I've mentioned in prior articles, you'll eventually be able to assemble the entire Motor Speedway of the South with the Racers, the Trailers, the Pittys, the Officials and the Fans! Have you put aside a room for your collection?! :-)

Coming up next time...The Chase Cars controversy. How will collectors react?

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Meet The Man Behind The Cars Die-Cast Toys

While at Comic-Con I met Mattel Senior Manager of Product Design, Martin Arriola. From the moment I met Martin, I knew I met a live wire! He was incredibly enthusiastic about Lightning Storm McQueen, and was as proud as a kid who drew that masterpiece that hangs on a parent's refrigerator. We hit it off as we talked passionately about the Cars toys he and his team have designed. Martin has been with Mattel for 26 years, so you can imagine how much he has worked on over his career. Martin is on the left and Ben Butcher of Pixar is on the right.

Martin gave me the low down on all the upcoming releases. He mentioned how happy he was that John Lasseter approved of the Trailer designs and how they'd be die-cast. Martin told me he worked for two years to make them become a reality at a price point Mattel would finally approve. We as collectors owe him and his team our appreciation, because we'll soon be able to add these great characters to our collections!

We talked about the Chase Cars that will be released. There will be 20,000 of each Chase Car inserted in cases distributed throughout the country. We can expect to see One (1) New Chase release/month starting very soon. These are the Chase Cars we can expect as of today...Stickers McQueen, Stickers Fred, Denver Boots on Lightning, Wingo, Boost, Snot Rod and DJ. Piston Cup Trophy with Lightning, Chick and the King. And, the Wrecked King. I asked Martin if "Chase Cars" would ever be re-released as part of the "Mainline" series. I loved the answer he gave me. He said that John Lasseter coined a phrase called, "Lizzie's Law!" What Lizzie's Law says is important to collectors, "Once you go Chase, you can't go Mainline." So, once Chase Cars have been released, don't expect to see them a second time.

Martin told me about improving Barney Stormin' by making him die-cast instead of plastic. This lead into discussion about the "Oversized" line. I've told you about Elvis the RV, Al Oft the Blimp, Marco the Jet and Lightning Storm as an "Oversized" release. We talked about Mattel "Getting it Right," by creating the "Oversized" characters. This keeps things in proper scale and believe me, Martin made it clear to me that John Lasseter wanted this to be done. We can also expect to see the Security Vans at the Motor Speedway to be done as "Oversized." We can speculate that if Bessie, Lightning's Biggest Fan and even a die-cast version of the Banshee are released, that they will also be done as "Oversized" versions. Expect the long-awaited Frank the Combine to be part of the line once he's released! I firmly believe these will be some of the most highly prized Cars characters in the line.

The key thing I came away with from my time talking with Martin, was that John Lasseter is developing the Cars Die-Cast Toys line as we the fans would! You have to understand how much of a fan of these toys John Lasseter is, once you realize that John is as passionate about these toys as you and I are as collectors, it becomes very clear why he cares so much about their detail and workmanship!

My time at Comic-Con was a lot more fun and interesting because I became friends with Martin! He is not only a Senior Manager of Product Design at Mattel, but he is also an artist who creates Original Paintings in Oil, Pastel and Watercolor. These are tough mediums to work in and can be truly beautiful when mastered. Here's one of my favorites Martin did called the "Pavilion, Balboa Island." It is an Oil on Panel, and makes me want to head there today. I urge you to learn more about Martin's art at this link...MartinArriola.com

By the way, remember this incredible Display Case?! Guess who designed it? Yup! Martin did. I told him how much collectors are dying for a truly fine Display Case that can hold a large number of our Cars. We talked about it at length, and I also discussed it with the Brand Manager in detail. If we are lucky, we may see one available on MattyCollector.com in the future!

I'm not only working to bring you the best info, but working passionately to convey what collectors want to the makers of these great toys! They are listening and want to see the Disney Pixar Cars line go strong for years to come!

Still more to talk about from Comic-Con! My next entry will focus on Fan Cars.

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Storytellers Series Smell Swell McQueen

I learned about a New series that will be released in the future called "Storytellers." They are existing characters that will be released on a sandwich-like card and tell stories about things prior to the first movie. They are technically called "Interstitials," which are short animation pieces that appear on television or online before and after programming or commercials.

Smell Swell is supposed to be Lightning McQueen's first sponsor before Rust-eze. It is a car deodorizer company. There will be others such as Doc, Ramone and Flo. There have been grumblings about adding these to the line since they weren't in the Original Movie. If they are introduced properly, I'll reserve judgement until I see how well they are done before I write them off. My impression is they'll do average unless the story-line is very strong. I don't recall what their price will be. Once I find out, I'll let you know.

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Pixar Cars Sarge May Salute Us On Veterans Day

People have long been awaiting the return of Sarge in his new "Fatigues!" The New Sarge sans the lead paint that prompted a recall last year, should appear around Veterans Day (November 11, 2008). He should be saluting with his wiper blade and be accompanied by an American Flag! It is only proper that this great American Jeep should make his return during our important holiday honoring ALL veterans. If you'd like to be more informed about Veterans Day, visit this link and read about it more...History of Veterans Day

Much more to come from Comic-Con! My next entry will be about Smell Swell and Lightning before he made it big.

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Disney Pixar Cars Trucks - The Convoy

As I've mentioned, there are a load of Cars Trucks coming out in the future and they are going to be incredible. In fact, I've been told the plan is to eventually release EVERY single truck that hauls a racer. As was told to me, now that they've got the main mold, they can easily produce each truck.

John Lasseter wanted the "Trailers" to be big enough to carry their respective Racer. He also wanted the Trucks to be Die-Cast and of the highest quality! The ultimate thing he wants to make possible, is for any collector to be able to build the entire Motor Speedway of the South with all the Racers, Fans, Officials, Trailers and Pittys! That has certainly been what I've hoped for and envisioned.

I've also learned that exclusive groupings will be released. One of the first we should see, will be Chick Hicks, his Trailer and his Pitty. This is expected to be a Walmart exclusive.

Mattel and Disney were adamant that the trucks be produced at a reasonable price point for collectors. From what I've previewed, I can tell you that the quality and detail is well worth the $13.00 price they are expected to retail for when released!

Much more to come from Comic-Con! My next entry will be about Sarge and his expected return!

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Disney Pixar Cars Mack the Walmart Truck

First, there was a poster. Now, there will be a die-cast truck. Pixar Cars Mack will soon wear the colors of Walmart! He looks quite sharp, doesn't he? When can you get him you ask. At this point, I can't say. I can tell you he'll be a Walmart exclusive. ;-)

As Always, when I hear any info, I'll let you know the latest! Don't forget to Subscribe to Alternator Valley for the hottest News.

More on the New Disney Pixar Cars Trucks in my next entry. Still a load of News from Comic-Con to come!

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