the Matchbox line has continually released quite a few interesting models. These are some of the most recent that have caught my eye.
Mattel has let their designers run free on the latest release of cars in the basic line. I have had plenty of items to catch my eye and buy. I look forward to some newer castings from the JDM realm to hopefully pop up. But the DTM steez is a nice change of pace from the consistent barrage of muscle car whoopie.
There has been quite a LARGE drought of Disney CARS 2 merchandise in the form of diecast releases in my area. But thankfully with the Christmas season the stores had to stock something new, and some exclusives from Target and K Mart have FINALLY shown up.
The newest singles showing up in the area are Carlo Maserati, Lewis Hamilton with Plastic Tires, and Mel Dorado.
The last 2 Collect and Connect Puzzles in a series have surfaced. Nothing too special in my opinion. The Lightning McQueen is the same as the released version of the race game, but this one has silver writing on the tires. And The Francesco has silver paint replacing his normal white coloring.
The K Mart EXCLUSIVE Racer & Crew Chief 2 packs have FINALLY hit my area and I was able to get the complete set of 4 (so far released).
The McQueen Alive, a run on its’ own remote control car , which was “EXCLUSIVE” the www.Mattycollector.com, showed up at Kmarts and were quickly discounted from their $70 price tag. I picked a few up for friends and myself.
I found a lonely Pinion Tanaka Oversized sumo wrestler as well. I have kind of been anticipating this guy to go with his twin kingpin. I really love the extreme detail to make this car into a inanimate sumo wrestler.
I found a few random launchers new to me.
Target trickled in their newest 4 pack exclusive Denise Beam.
The Disney Store has been really busy dropping a very interesting group of Disney CARS 2 diecast sets. From 3 car sets to their massive 20 piece offerings. In my opinion they are giving Mattel a very nice run for their money in releasing very interesting unreleased characters like Hightower ( the British Guard), Rip Clutchgowski (the yet to be released Racer from Mattel), and the various Racer Crew Chiefs all but two have not been released from the Power Mogul of CARS diecast Mattel.
A good friend Myles Kovacs from DUB MAGAZINE laced me with a kick ass box of Dub Garage new releases. I had posted about these a few months agon after I received a little taste of what was to come for the 4th quarter. These rides are bad ass!. I spent alot of my time in TOYS R US messing with the product after it freshly hit the shelves and a little time after that I got 3 huge boxes on my doorstep. I will have to say the D-JAYZ are my favorite due to them having two “turntable” disks on the roofs of the car that you can “scratch” the music they produce. AWESOME product for sure! I also dif the FRESH casting lines from these new models. I am not even close to being and american car fan, but the Ford Fiesta Edge, and Explorer are looking really nice. Look forward to the DIECAST versions hitting shelves SPRING 2012. I personally can’t wait!
LIGHTS ON
The Disney Store had an exclusive Lightning Mcqueen and Mia & Tia Displayable boxset. This high dollar collectible was not a VERY SOUGHT AFTER SET DUE TO THE HIGH PRICE POINT, SCALE, AND CHARACTERS. I picked one up since I DO like the 1:18 scale models and the preview piece looked really good to me so I slapped my preorder in for it. The Base is covered with a very heavy duty acrylic top. Lightning McQueen sits on a spinning base and is shined on by two spot lights in the front of the spinning McQueen. The paint for me is spot on and flawless. However i have heard several other had saw a good amount with bad paint, broken parts, and damaged cases.