What a difference a year makes

[cac1959]

One year ago, we were anxiously awaiting the release of the first round of Cars from the Cars2 movie... in the US, toys were not supposed to be put on sale until May 16, but Family Dollar stores had cases A or B of the Cars2 singles out on the pegs/shelves early - at $5.00 plus tax each... I must have driven 300 miles going to the 20 closest Family Dollar stores buying lots and lots of Cars and also had gotten one full case of singles, Deluxe, and launchers from a friend who was a Mattel reseller...

On April 1, 2011, I'd taken the day off work to go to the Cincinnati area (Florence, Kentucky actually) to attend the State Farm Cars2 Agents on a Mission world tour...

Here I am in front of Lightning McQueen:


Finn McMissile:


Mater:


I also took several photos... Mack was a real Mack truck:


I thought the life size McQueen was cool:


And I hadn't seen anything quite like Finn McMissile:


No one year later, I've seen very few new Cars in stores since before Christmas... I bought Jeff Gorvette and Carla Veloso launchers in Texas at Kohl's while on vacation... I bought a few items at Target and Kmart on vacation taking advantage of sale prices... and this past Friday, April 13, I bought 10 singles at Target from the 2012 C case, including 2 Chase Radiator Springs Ramone... I've been more excited about some Cars 1 items I found on eBay (Faux Wheel Drive UK Promo) or in Toys R US (No Stall Hauler) or Walmart (Mood Springs Hauler) or the Shopluckey custom Red Ransburg McQueen that came on Wednesday than any Cars 2 merchandise... I spend more time searching for Cars merchandise on eBay than Cars2 merchandise.

I've grown to hate the basic Finn McMissile single and the Deluxe Submarine Finn McMissile... I wouldn't mind seeing some of the first wave of Cars2 diecasts if I saw newer products in stores... Some of the Mattel resellers I have ordered cases from during the past 3 to 4 years haven't gotten in new products from Mattel (more than just Cars) for months... This has been more than just an after Christmas 6 week lull... this has been a drought lasting almost 5 months.

I've heard from one of my sources that Cars production has shifted to a new factory - that's one of the main reasons for lack of product... he and I also agree that Mattel case assortments and distribution has contributed to some large retailers reducing or canceling orders of various Cars items... My enthusiasm for Cars2 has severely diminished... while I'm sure it will increase once I receive trades coming from several UK friends and see new Cars in stores, it's just not quite the same... It's not just that my grandchildren have outgrown Cars... I mentioned on Friday that Toys R US have increased the price of Cars singles to $4.99 - if they bring out new Cars from the first Cars movie and Cars Toons I'll grumble but I'll still buy some of the new items... I just won't be buying nearly as many of each as I was buying in the past... I don't see myself getting totally out of collecting.

I did enjoy seeing Route 66 while on vacation:


I'd love to travel more of the mother road... I was a little over 300 miles from the Midpoint Cafe (the inspiration for Flo's V8 Cafe from Cars)... next time I visit my son I may very well take that journey...

I know I'm not the only one with a reduced enthusiasm for Cars right now... I used to take an all day drip to Dayton or Indianapolis or Cincinnati once every 4 to 6 weeks... and I'd stop at 10 to 12 stores while passing through Indy on the way to my wife's parents... It's been 5 months since my last all day trip... and the last 3 times I've been to or passed through Indy I've stopped at maybe 2 or 3 stores total... I'd like to hear where you stand on collecting... and what it's going to take for you to rekindle your Cars enthusiasm.

[cac1959]

As for me, to rekindle my Cars enthusiasm:

Finding new Cars2 items in stores that I really want, such as Funny Car Mater and The Queen... Rip... I'm not sure how I feel about the Ultimate Chase Cars.

Finding new Cars Toon items in stores...

Finding new Cars items in stores... I'm looking forward to racers as singles that were not released as plastic tire singles... Fabulous Hudson Hornet, Lizzie, Sally... Cars that were not released... New haulers, Pittys, and crew chiefs... Tach O Mint with Plastic Tires...

And most importantly... having Cars friends becoming more enthusiastic about Cars once again.

[MrBrownstone]

I know exactly where you're coming from Chris. I used to hunt much more regularly, but I find my self much less inclined to do so over the past 4 or so months. At least weekly I'd check out all the local stores (some more than weekly) but now it's only a few I'll check and that's only because I'm going there for another purpose. The thought of rumaging through a box of Finn & Mater lost it's appeal a long time ago!

I suppose that my son getting older (two and a half now) is another factor -getting him out of the plastic house section at TRU is a nightmare, and he's not so happy to sit in the car then a trolley as I check out the supermarkets as he used to be - well that and I don't think it's fair on him (although it's ultimately him that will get the products - well used to as there's nothing out there)

I'll still collect the line (unless it gets too expensive) but I'm not sure what it will take to get me hunting like I once did - I knwo a pre-requisit will be the chance of actually finding cars. I remember back to 2 years ago when it was pretty much weekly where I'd find a new car (as I was a late collector of Cars) but new cars were released at worst every month.

There are many cars from the Cars 2 film that I'd love to have (and Cars for that matter) - I just hope the drought ends soon.

All I can say is that I'm glad I collected Cars before my son knew what they were so that I've got stuff to give him as part of his reward scheme - if I only started when he was interested in it I'd be running out about now!!!

I'm just glad that I've met a good network of Cars friends who've helped me out so that when he requests a car (I find it helps if he chooses what he gets next) I've got it. I am scared though as he saw a picture of Van and Mini and named them - and I don't have Mini - and my only Van is the one with the actual sticker!!!

[carscrazy]

It would appear that a few of us are lacking motivation regarding cars at the moment.

Rarely do we drive around purposely looking for cars like we used to. This is because petrol is so expensive now and the thought of driving miles searching only to find the usual suspects, Just isnt worth the dissapointment anymore.

We have been concentrating more on completing our cars 1 collection as there seems to be more of these turning up on ebay at the moment.

Hopefully the lack of cars 2 items in the shops will improve at some point, Although im concerned stores may start to loose faith in stocking cars due to difficulties in clearing the usual suspects, hence tesco selling theres off a £1.00 each! also our local morrisons did stock them on two occassions but havent had them for months now, is this because they couldnt shift them or cant get them ?

We are off shopping this afternoon and i know the tesco store is due a delivery of cars today so hopefully they will have a new case.. will report findings later.

[cac1959]

carscrazy - Very good comment about the price of petrol (gas) and long drives resulting in finding only the usual suspects... Those are reasons I haven't been making trips in search of Cars... I don't like the higher gas prices but if I knew I'd find new Cars I'd make the out of town trips.

MrB - don't open your Chase Van with the actual sticker...

[sodabear]

My disgust and disillusionment with Cars 2 has been well documented. I definitely agree with just about everything that was said before me. I cannot believe how badly Mattel has bungled this new era of Cars- everything about the line seems worse than it was during the golden years: case assortments, distribution, multipacks with one new car, and lastly (but not leastly) the quality of the cars themselves. What were once beautiful little sculptures of art are now just cool-looking plastic toys, with slipping attention to detail (how many FSHBWL license plates will we end up with?). I think it was September that I made my first post that was almost identical to this one. It's been a long, frustrating year in Cars collecting.

[carscrazy]

Well we went shopping today and to our huge supprise....they had nothing new! Lol Was expecting the same old to be honest.

I agree with the above regarding quality, Very poor compared to the originals.

Also hate the way they have released the double packs..ive got two spare maters because of wanting sal and zen master.

[madbob]

And it feels like Mattel are really just scratching the surface of what they could of been producing over the last year. Poor distribution and case mix plus also more involvement with other Cars toys that have not worked and go into the sale bin. I keep thinking it wont be long until the drought is over... but I have been saying this now for 8-9 months! I am not sure how many more months I can take of this, I have not gone on a 70-80 mile hunt for over 1 year now. I do not get excited about going to a store to see whats been delivered! as I know the answer, there is nothing new out there coming through. Shu T, Miguel C, Mel D & Carlos M are 4 months old (But would be new to TRU, Argos & Tesco) Chase radiator springs seems nearly 2 months old now (and would be new to TRU, Argos & Tesco) and the security officer and Don C is nearly 1 month old as well (but would be new to TRU, Argos, Sainsburys, Smyths, Asda & Tesco) both have only been seen in a handful of places. Acer with helmet has been spotted just on Amazon and crew chiefs 2 Packs never arrived to the UK, all are months old and I am fed up of waiting. Mattel are now trying to recover themselves from bad decision making by having to manually re-work cases! THIS IS RUBBISH... We have loved these cars for many years and spent thousands of £/$ enjoying something that was very special.

I only look for cars if I go somewhere for other reasons, I feel the chase and enthusiasm will never return.

[bobbyjack]

I haven't had anything to post because the last new car I found was RS Chase Ramone. My son still plays with the Battleship and Oil Rig playsets, but haven't added anything new in months.

[Bumper Save]

For every new car I have gotten in the 5 months, I'd have to say that 1 in 5 was from the store. It used to be that 4 of 5 were from the store, what has happened....

One year ago we were excited beyond belief, now we are disappointed to the same degree.

[cac1959]

To add a little bit more...

One year ago Family Dollar stores had put Cars2 singles out early... just in case we weren't going to be able to find enough of them in stores on May 16, I went to every Family Dollar within a 75 mile radius, buying the singles at $5.00 plus tax each...

My wife is working late tonight - last year and the 2 previous years I would have been deciding where I wanted to go on an after work Cars run... tonight I'm not going to look for Cars anywhere.

The latest news is that we can expect new Cars on May 12... fingers crossed but I'm not holding my breath.

[MrBrownstone]

New cars. What are they?

[cac1959]

Thanks to the post from MarknotaMack, we now know that #28 is Vladimir Trunkov and #30 is Victor Hugo... The eBay seller is in Singapore... $49 each starting bid... I won't be bidding on them.