8/31/10 - Moment of Impact
Diorama
I decided to have a little fun with the
camera tonight. After receiving Johnny Lightning's Death Proof
Nova a week ago I decided to search for a Honda Civic similar to the one the
girls drove in the movie. Searching eBay I discovered that Johnny
Lightning also makes a Civic that's close enough to the movie car.
Using nail polish remover, I removed the white racing stripes on the Civic.
With a little trick photography and some Photoshop, I tried to recreate the
moment of impact from Death Proof. I think it turned out pretty
cool. Now if I can only find a little teeny tiny Rubber Duck hood
ornament.
8/30/10 - Hot Wheels News
Visiting the Hot Wheels Collectors Forum
I saw some interesting pics in the Sneak Peeks section. It looks like
the Batmobile from The Batman animated series is returning to the
lineup in the Track Stars line. This time it will have a black
and red color scheme. There are also pics of the Danicar
designed by Danica Patrick. Both will be hitting stores in mid
October. I don't have permission to repost the pics so click
HERE to see them.
8/29/10 - Brought to you
by the letter M
I found the latest wave from the Cars
Final Lap Collection at Target today. Coincidentally, all the
characters' names start with the letter M. Pictured above, from left,
are boom operator Matti, Matthew "True Blue" McCrew, Marty Brakeburst and
Marlon "Clutches" McKay (in non-blinky-eyes form.) I'm still searching
for the previous FLC wave that includes Bert, Arnie, Flo with Tray
and non-blinky Shovel McQueen.
I've decided to reorganize the
Cars Gallery. With literally
HUNDREDS of images, the page was getting too big and took too long to load.
I decided to break the gallery into sub-categories. Now when you visit
the Cars page you'll be given a list of options:
Desert Scene
- This page includes characters that were first introduced way back in 2006
when the line first hit stores.
Supercharged -
Although many of the main characters were re-released on Supercharged cards,
this page only includes characters that were new to the Cars line.
World of Cars
- Again, many characters were re-released on WOC packaging, but this page
only inlcudes characters that were new to the Cars line.
Race-O-Rama - This
page includes only new characters that were introduced to the Cars
line on ROR packaging.
Final Lap Collection
- This page only includes characters that were introduced to the Cars
line in this Target-Exclusive offering. Some of these characters were
also introduced in the "blinky-eyes" line, but I prefer the non-blinky eyes
characters.
Story
Tellers/Toons - This page includes characters from the Story Tellers
and Toons line that were introduced in books and animated shorts.
K-Mart Collectors
Event - This page includes characters that were only offered at K-Mart
Collectors events.
Launchers - This page
only includes race cars that appeared for the first time as a launcher.
Holiday Themes - This
page only includes holiday-themed packaging, including Halloween, Easter and
Christmas.
Mega Size - This
page only includes characters introduced on Oversized or Mega Size
packaging.
Chase Cars - This page
only includes characters that were offered on Chase packaging.
Miscellaneous -
This page includes multi-packs, boxed sets, playsets and certain exclusives.
Currently, I don't have pages dedicated to Haulers and
Blinky-Eyes, since I don't really collect those. I'll probably
eventually create a Haulers page, but for the most part, the Blinky-Eyes
cars have been offered in non-blinky versions. There are other online
resources that are FAR more thorough that include every character, every
variation and every packaging change. Please send me an
e-mail if you feel something
was left out that should be included.
8/29/10
- Chasing Cars
I found another Chase car at Toys R Us
on Saturday. This time it's Filmore with organic gas cans. This
gets me caught up on Chase cars for now. It looks like the next Chase
car will be Lightning McQueen with Paint Mask. (His wheels are covered and
taped.)
8/27/10 - Transformers
Battle Series 2
I popped into Toys R Us and found these
new Transformers 2-packs. These aren't die-cast metal.
They're plastic like the RPMs line although I guess Hasbro isn't calling
them RPMs anymore. They're now part of the Speed Stars line. I
found five of the six sets.
01 of 06 -
Sideswipe VS Wreckloose
02 of 06 -
Nightwatch Bumblebee VS Patrol Barricade
03 of 06 - Optimus Prime VS Bonecrusher
04 of 06 - Optimus Prime (Variant) VS Desert
Long Haul
05 of 06 - Jetfire VS Megatron
Not Found
06 of 06 - Enforcer Ironhide VS Mixmaster
8/26/10 - A White-Hot
Juggernaut at 200 Miles Per Hour!
I got a nice little birthday present
today (from myself.) I ordered Johnny Lightning's Death Proof
Nova online and it arrived in the mail today. I was so surprised when I
found out JL had released this as part of their main line and I'm excited to
be able to add this to my collection. This car has ranked on the
Wish List during the year so look for a new
poll soon to help decide what should replace it on the list.
8/24/10 - More Dream
Cruise Pics
The aroma of exhaust still hangs heavy
in the air as the 2010 Woodward Dream Cruise is now a memory. Rain on
Saturday didn't keep people from lining the streets to check out all the
awesome cars, including the amazing Hollywood cars that were out and about.
My friend Michael sent me a few images he snapped on Friday and Saturday.
I'm already looking forward to NEXT year!
8/21/10 - Cars Cubed
I walked into Toys R Us today and
was stunned to find a Cars Cube sitting in the aisle FULLY STOCKED,
untouched by human hands! Not one piece was missing from the cube so,
apparently, I was the first person to give it a careful once-over. To
my disappointment, there weren't many new things in the cube. I was
really hoping to find Bessie, which I haven't seen in stores yet, but she
was nowhere to be found. Instead, I did stumble on to four new Deluxe
characters from the Cars Toon line. Pictured above, from left
are Mater as The Tormentor, Lightning McQueen as Frightening McMean, Rasta
Carian and Dr. Feel Bad. These characters appear in the short
wrestling spoof Monster Truck Mater, which can be seen in its
entirety HERE.
8/20/10 - Let's Go Cruisin'!
If you love cars then there's no better
place to be than the Woodward Dream Cruise in Michigan! On Friday
evening, things officially got underway with a ribbon cutting ceremony in
Ferndale, Michigan, where it all began. Later that evening, the city
of Berkley hosted their annual Cruisefest event with a spectacular parade of
classic cars. The legendary George Barris was the parade's Grand
Marshal and he rode in the back of the Monkeemobile (above, right.)
The very same Monkeemobile that was housed in his North Hollywood shop for
40 years. The car now resides here in Michigan. Following the
Monkeemobile were The A-Team van, the Batmobile, General Lee, Ecto-1
and Herbie the Love Bug, among others. While I shot video my nephew
Grant quickly fired off the pictures you see above. I'll post the
video in a few days. It was a great event and, believe it or not, the
fun continues all day Saturday as cars drive along a 16 mile stretch of
Woodward Avenue. I plan on shooting more video on Saturday.
Maybe I'll see you somewhere along Woodward!
8/17/10 -
Does It Come in Red?
I found this stunning new Hot Wheels
release at WalMart today, a Ferrari 308 GTS. If Mattel decides to
follow this up with a red version then we collectors will have the ultimate
version of the Ferrari from the TV series Magnum P.I.
COME ON MATTEL!
8/19
UPDATE: Apparently, it DOES come in red. Danny
Finical sent me a pic of the car you see at left. Unfortunately, it
has a black interior, but a swap with the interior from the blue version
shouldn't be TOO difficult.
8/16/10 - Danica + Hot
Wheels = Fun!
I saw this commercial for the first time
during the NASCAR Nationwide race at MIS last weekend. Danica Patrick
revealed her new Hot Wheels-themed car a few days before the race. If
you haven't seen the commercial, it's now posted online for your enjoyment.
8/14/10 -
Death Proof Nova???
This was first brought to my attention in the
Forum a couple of days ago. I thought it was some sort of elaborate
custom, but several sources confirm it's the real deal. Apparently,
Johnny Lightning has included the Chevy Nova from Death Proof in its
Forever 64 series.
8/11/10 - Tron Legacy
Somehow I overlooked this when I was trying to
find out what exclusives were being offered at Comic Con. Disney was
offering an exclusive 1:50 scale die-cast version of Sam's Light Cycle from
the upcoming film Tron Legacy. Don't fret if you missed it.
Thanks to a heads-up from Eric, I found out that an entire line of 1:50
scale Tron Legacy vehicles will soon be coming to a store near you.
There are pics over at
Entertainment Earth.
8/10/10
- Metal Detected!
Just when I was about to give up hope that
Hasbro would release these here in the US, I walk into Toys R Us and BAM,
there they are. The Transformers Metal Heroes line has FINALLY
landed on American soil. Pictured above, from left, are Optimus Prime,
Bumblebee, Barricade, Ironhide, Soundwave and Jetfire, all made of die-cast
metal. I also found Bumblebee from the NEST Global Alliance Series
(whatever that is.) The packaging promises "More Vehicles on the Way!"
8/10/10 - Domo arigato.
Get to your nearest Toys R Us! What were
empty pegs just a few days ago are now overflowing with toy goodness.
Not only did I find the latest Cars Toon releases from the animated
short Tokyo Mater (above), but they were on sale to boot! The
Cars Toon line is on sale two for $6.99. Not too shabby.
8/8/10
- Chasing Cars
I heard reports that recent Cars
releases have been showing up at stores like K-Mart, Big Lots and Kohl's.
I went into Kohl's today looking for Mega Size Bessie. I didn't find
her, but I did find Chase Rust-Eze McQueen. That was a nice surprise.
8/7/10 - Now You See It...
Now You Don't.
While out and about on this Saturday afternoon,
I popped into a comic shop about a mile away from my new place. I
stumbled onto two awesome finds. I was stunned to see, or NOT see,
Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet from Comic Con. This has to be one of the
silliest things I've ever spent money on since I started collecting.
There's nothing in the package! NOTHING! The outline of a jet
that you see in the image above is actually a recessed clear plastic tray.
There's a plastic ring to securely fasten the ... um ... invisible jet in
place. Apparently, this whole thing started out as an April Fool's
joke earlier this year. Mattel decided to go ahead with the concept
and sell an empty package. BRILLIANT! The above images have been
added to the Cartoons/Comics Gallery.
My
other find is the Penguin Batmobile from Mattel's 1:50 scale line of
Bat-Vehicles. This version is based on an episode from the 1966 TV
series in which Burgess Meredith's Penguin steals the Batmobile. I
have NEVER seen this at any of the major retailers I visit on a regular
basis. I was pretty surprised to find this hanging on a peg at the
comic book shop. With this purchase I believe I'm caught up on the
1:50 scale line for now and I'm looking forward to the upcoming releases
announced by Mattel.
8/7/10
- He Ain't the Sharpest Knife...
I finally found the final character to complete
the Hot Wheels Toy Story 3 line of vehicles. I'm not sure why
Turbo Chunk was so hard to find, but today while at K-Mart I saw a full case
of Toy Story 3 cars and pulled Chunk out of the case. It looks
like Toy Story 3 will earn the title of biggest movie of 2010 with a
domestic gross of almost $400 million. Click
HERE to see all the Toy Story die-cast cars to-date.
8/2/10 - Home of the
Brave... and the Bold!
Well, I haven't found this in stores yet, but I
couldn't wait, so I went the eBay route. What we have here is the
beautiful Batmobile from the Cartoon Network animated series The Brave
and The Bold. This ranks right up there with my favorite
Batmobiles from Mattel. It really is a thing of beauty. I love
the Bat-Face grill and the single fin in the rear. It's the first new
Batmobile in the Hot Wheels main line in a long, long time. Mattel has
done a lot of great things since they obtained the Batman license
right around the same time I started this website in 2003! Gosh, I
actually miss hunting down all the different styles and color variations of
years past. Click HERE to
take a stroll down Memory Lane.
8/2/10 - Faster...and More
Furiouser?
Just as I was sitting here lamenting the lack
of car-centric movies this year I stumbled onto this trailer for the movie
Faster, starring Dwayne Johnson. I hadn't heard anything about
this movie. From the trailer, I couldn't tell if Dwayne "Driver"
Johnson was a good guy or a bad guy. But I checked IMDB for the
synopsis:
"An ex-con sets out to avenge his brother's death
after they were double-crossed during a heist years ago. During his
campaign, however, he's tracked by a veteran cop and an egocentric hit man."
Faster will be in theaters in November. Click
HERE
to visit the movie's official website.
