Production Codes of Mattel Cars

[cac1959]

Here's a thread containing production dates of the various promo Cars...

Faux Wheel Drive:

1168
1278
1308

Sidewall Shine:
1418


N2O Cola:
2128


Gask-Its:
0589
0619

Blu-ray McQueen:
2427



These are the dates of the ones that I have that are opened... I have more of the N2O Cola and Sidewall Shine promo Cars but they are in sealed baggies in the TRU display cases with solid black bottoms.

If you have any promo Cars with other dates, please post in this thread and I'll update the list.

Many thanks.

[cac1959]

Here's a thread containing production dates of the various promo Cars...

Faux Wheel Drive:

1168
1278
1308

Sidewall Shine:
1418


N2O Cola:
2128


Gask-Its (French Promo):
0589
0619

Blu-ray McQueen:
2427

Vinyl Toupee (UK promo): thank you, Darren:

2357 EA


Other than Vinyl Toupee, which is not mine, these are the dates of the ones that I have that are opened... I have more of the N2O Cola and Sidewall Shine promo Cars but they are in sealed baggies in the TRU display cases with solid black bottoms.

If you have any promo Cars with other dates, please post in this thread and I'll update the list.

Many thanks.

[Rippers]

I have three two with the same date still in the taped wrapper 2287EA and a earlier one loose 1807EA

[Rippers]

Both of my N20 colas are 1978EA
Faux same as the list 1168EA 1308EA and 1278EA
My blu ray is 2427EA
Sidewall shine 1378EA 1558EA and 1588EA which has no other print on the bottom and the date is smaller the the other two

[cac1959]

Production Codes of Mattel Cars

We've had a couple of people ask about production codes on the bottom of Mattel's Cars... Sometimes those of us who have been collecting for awhile forget that those of you who have just recently started collecting may not know what they mean... Anyway, here's a few examples that will show how to interpret them.... I'll add pictures later.

Cars are marked with a code on the bottom of the Car.... there are 4 numbers, then 2 or 3 letters... and some Cars have an M.I. as well.

Of the 4 digits, the first 3 refer to the day and the last one refers to the year... In the following photo of my Vinyl Toupee Promo Car,



the production code is 2357 EA... The 2357 means the Car was produced on the 235th day of the year 2007... If I did the math right, that means the day was August 24, 2007... the EA is the abbreviation for the factory that produced the Car.

In the following photo, you'll see 3 different Vinyl Toupee Cars...



The codes are as follows:

Kmart 3 rubber tire racer - 2029 EAB - produced the 202nd day of 2009 at the EAB factory; July 22, 2009
Lightyear Launcher - 2090 EAA - produced the 209th day of 2010 at the EAA factory; July 29, 2010
UK Promo Car - 2357 EA - produced the 235th day of 2007 at the EA factory; August 24, 2007.

The original 36 Cars produced in the Speedway of the South set have certain codes... I'll be taking photos of mine eventually (the codes are posted on carsthetoys.com)... A less than honest seller might try to tell you that they are selling a Vinyl Toupee from the Speedway of the South set... but if the production code is 2090 EAA you know that it was made in 2010 and not 2007... Even if the Car from 2010 comes to you in the official Promo baggie, it's not the Promo Car.

In my opinion, the Vinyl Toupee from the UK Promo is a nicer looking Car than the Lightyear Launcher; but to most people, you won't notice a significant difference... and if you bought them for a child or grandchild to play with, then it's perfectly OK.

Here's the promo Car on the left and the Kmart rubber tire racer on the right:


What does it mean if a Car has no production code stamped on the bottom of the Car? - it means the Car is more than likely one that was produced at the factory but either rejected (could have quality issues) or given to or taken by someone at the factory... sometimes these are unauthorized productions at the factory... sometimes these are prototypes - early releases of Cars... There are also a few counterfeit Cars that have been made.

Cars diecasts have been made in Thailand and in China; China has been the exclusive manufacturer for quite a while now.

So when carscrazy posted about their Vinyl Toupee having a code of 3010EAA M.I, it means it was produced during the Lightyear Launcher production and not from the Speedway of the South set or the UK Promo.

There may have been a few early Cars produced in 2006 - for example, a code of 2346... I'm not sure what's going to happen when we get to 2016 and 2017, when Cars, if still produced, will be in their 10th year of production... Will it be like the Y2K problem from 1999? Who knows...

If you have any questions about production codes, feel free to post in this thread... I'll add more later... Thank you.

Chris

[carscrazy]

This is a fantastic thread for people like me who are just learning about all the variations of released cars eg promo,launchers etc.

Thankyou for taking the time to write this up, great info to know

[musicnywu1]

when i get the promo from germany/italy, i will post dates chirs.

[wintermelon]

The Silver Promo McQueen for Europe

0792 EAA - Car Based
0862 EAA - Card

[weebo]

can someone explain the numbers to me, do they mean some are rarer than others or something?

[djjd21]

The first 3 numbers represent the day in which they were made,the last number represents the year.

So if the number reads 1308EA,it was made on the 130 th day of 2008.

Sometimes the numbers can confirm if the car is authentic or not,like the speedway of the south set cars or the promo cars which were only made on certain dates.

[weebo]

cool thank you

[iopl3887]

What is the code for Final Lap Dexter??? I think I got one in my 2014 package cause the eyes / mouth / bed of the truck are plastic.

[ksammut]

Mine says: 2649 EAB.

[Scavenger]

What is the code for Final Lap Dexter??? I think I got one in my 2014 package cause the eyes / mouth / bed of the truck are plastic.

I have dissected a few Dexters from the 2013 series and they all have plastic eyes/mouth/bed as well...pretty sure they all do

[djjd21]

I have dissected a few Dexters from the 2013 series and they all have plastic eyes/mouth/bed as well...pretty sure they all do

If I'm not mistaken there is a difference between the final lap dexter and the current version,something tells me the smile is different,but I'm not 100% sure