June '08
News Archive

6/30/08 - New Cars

With the cost of gas, I've pretty much given up driving from store to store looking for new Cars.  Instead, I went through my sponsor Movie Car Mania to get the latest releases.  Arriving in the mail today were Dinoco Pitty Luke Pettlework and Van (above.)  I also got the Race Officials Gift Pack featuring Al Oft, Race Official Tom and Tow (right.)  Click on the links on the right and save yourself some gas.  The new pics have been added to the Cars gallery.

6/28/08 - Win ... or die trying.

Just seeing the new trailer for Death Race makes it my favorite movie of the year and it's still MONTHS away from hitting theaters.  Cam Currie sent me a link to view the trailer, which is being shown before Angelina Jolie's Wanted.  I'm already fired up.  This movie stars two of my favorite actors:  Jason  Statham and Ian McShane (Deadwood).  Death Race comes to theaters August 22nd.  Click HERE to view the trailer.  WARNING:  The trailer shows quite a bit of the movie.

6/22/08 - Where will it end?

Looking at recent auctions on eBay for the Cars Motor Speedway of the South set, I was SHOCKED to see  these sets have been regularly selling for WELL over $1000 in June.  One auction, that ended on June 16, had a winning bid of $1305.22.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but these are toys, right?  In this economy, who has that kind of money to spend on a set of die-cast cars?  Amazing.

6/20/08 - "You built a time machine ... out of a Delorean?"

Anyone who grew up in the Detroit area, and is anywhere near my age, was introduced to the horror movie classics by Sir Graves Ghastly.  On any given Saturday afternoon in the 70's I could watch Dracula, Frankenstein, or the Creature from the Black Lagoon with entertaining intermissions by Sir Graves and his cast of characters.  When I was a little older, and allowed to stay up late, it was The Ghoul who provided the entertainment between reels of cheesy horror.  Then, for whatever reason, the horror movie host vanished from the TV landscape.  Decades passed without anyone stepping up to fill the void ... UNTIL NOW!

Premiering fairly recently on MyTV20 in the Detroit area, Nightmare SINema's Wolfman Mac picks up where Sir Graves Ghastly and The Ghoul left off.  Forgettable public domain horror and sci-fi films are made bearable by Wolfman Mac and friends every Saturday at midnight.  The skits are funny and even the commercials are entertaining. 

On Thursday evening, I had the pleasure of visiting the soundstage where Nightmare SINema tapes every week.  The producers had made arrangements to have a Delorean on the set for some skits spoofing Back to the Future.  The car belongs to Adam Kollin and was a wonder to behold up close.  Adam's son Benjamin drove the Delorean to the soundstage and he told me that despite being an awesome car visually, it's not exactly easy to drive.  Despite hearing Ben list its flaws... I STILL WANT ONE!  Check out the pics from the set of Nightmare SINema below.  Barring any technical difficulties, the Delorean episode should air on Saturday, June 28 at midnight.  Visit Nightmare SINema for more information.

6/17/08 - The Bat-Rumors are TRUE!

Mattel has confirmed the rumors that Batgirl's Batcycle will be available at the San Diego Comic-Con in a limited-edition 3-pack:

You’ve heard all the batty rumors…now here’s the CON-firmation. San Diego Comic-Con, that is! Yvonne Craig fans will be happy to hear that the Batgirl™ Cycle will be the highlight of the 1966 Batman™ TV Series 1:50 3-pack that will be offered in the Hot Wheels® booth this year. Tooled up specifically for this set, the Batgirl™ Cycle is extremely detailed, as you can see in this e-sheet -- right down to the lace and fringe! The 3-pack is rounded out with the Batmobile™ and Batcycle™, and comes in a Batcave™-themed diorama package.
 

Visit www.hotwheelscollectors.com for more pics and info.

6/17/08 - The Dukes of Hazzard - Release 5
Longtime visitor and contributor Bruce sent me the above photo which shows all the vehicles to be included in release 5 of Johnny Lightning's The Dukes of Hazzard series.  Pictured above are:  General Lee Monster Truck, Cooter's Tow Truck (the first Cooter drove on the series), the Ghost of General Lee (I wonder if it glows in the dark), Carnival of Thrills Ford Torino, dirty General Lee and Rosco's Camo Patrol Car.  Expect these to hit stores in July.  Thanks for the photo Bruce. 

6/15/08 - Indiana Jones Packaging Pics
My thanks go out to Eric Primeau of Quebec, Canada who sent me these packaging pics he found online of Hasbro's Indiana Jones Titanium series.  Eight vehicles represent Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Last Crusade and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  These should be hitting stores in July.

6/12/08 - Found: Stacy
None of the Wal*Mart stores in my area seem to be getting the "Cars Cubes" I've been reading about in the forums.   Apparently, these cubes contain new Cars stuff, including Stacy (Leak Less Pitty) and some new Pit Row launchers.  I haven't seen these cubes, but I DID find Stacy hanging on the pegs of my local Wal*Mart.

6/8/08 - So What's Bat-Next?
Okay, so Mattel's first wave of 1:50 scale Bat-Vehicles is in stores and seems to be a hit with collectors.  So what's next?  Future releases will include the Bat Boat, Superfriends Batmobile, and 1989 Movie Batmobile.  There's a rumor floating around that Batgirl's motorcycle may be a Comic Con exclusive, but that's yet to be verified.  And of course, fans are demanding the Batcopter from the '66 Batman movie, but there's no word on that one yet. 

Just for fun, I contacted the creator of the great website www.batmobilehistory.com to get his opinion on what he'd like to see in future waves.  Click HERE to see his Batmobile: Most Wanted List.

6/7/08 - Holy Scrutiny, Batman!
Today, while bouncing around to different Toys R Us stores, I picked up a few duplicates of Mattel's 1:50 Bat-Vehicles, to open and scrutinize.  Examining them closely, I may have to rank these among the best die-cast replicas I've ever seen.  First of all, check out the Batcycle.  I never thought I'd see this in die-cast form, due to its complexity, yet Mattel delivered.  Not only is it beautifully detailed and accurate, but Robin's go-cart can actually be removed from the sidecar.  This is an incredible piece of work.  The '66 Batmobile isn't too shabby either, with a lot of detail.  It even has a mini Bat-Phone in the interior.  It does, however, have some minor flaws.  The Bat-Logo on the doors seems a little too big.  And the rocket launchers on the rear of the car look a little too short.  Other than that, I'm very excited to add these pieces to my collection.

6/7/08 - New Speed Racer Product from Jada Toys
I got the latest e-newsletter from Jada Toys which featured additions to Jada's 1:55 scale Speed Racer line.  Pictured above are Indy F1 versions of the Mach 5 and Shooting Star.  Also, the GRX and Black Tiger will be joining the four cars previously released by Jada.  Click HERE for more pics and info.

6/5/08 - Batman:  Mission Accomplished
Thanks to my sponsor Movie Car Mania, I've managed to complete the first series of Mattel's 1:50 scale Batman vehicles.  The '66 TV Batmobile and The Dark Knight Batmobile arrived in the mail today, to join the other three I found previously (below.)  Chris Noble sent me an e-mail telling me he found this series at KB Toys, so if you're still searching for these, try your local KB Toys. 

6/5/08 - Cars Sneak Peek
Visiting the Cars the Toys Forum, I stumbled onto a link to a pretty amazing website.  sz_hotdog has posted images on his flickr page of yet-to-be-released packaged samples of Mattel's Cars die-cast characters.  Apparently, he is from the Hong Kong area and has access to production samples.  Not only that, but he is also a pretty talented customizer as many of the photos show very detailed custom work.  Click HERE to check out some of his work, as well as upcoming Cars releases, including Leroy Traffik, pictured below.  Some, like Stacy, pictured above, are already hitting stores.