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July '07 News
Archive
7/30/07 - The Simpsons
Movie: My Review
I debated whether or not I wanted to
post my review of The Simpsons Movie here on my site, wondering how
car-related it was. But then I thought about the motorcycle stunts,
the cross-country road trip, and of course Homer's crumpled pink car and I
thought, "Why not?" The Simpsons Movie is hands-down my
favorite movie of the year so far. Which is saying a lot, because I
went in with high expectations and was NOT disappointed. If the movie
was an episode on TV, I would rank it among my top ten favorite episodes.
To be honest, I haven't laughed out loud at an episode of The Simpsons
over the past several years. I feel the end is near. But the
movie reminded me of what I loved about the first ten seasons. The
jokes were fast and furious and laugh-out-loud funny. It was great to
hear everyone in the theater laughing right along with me. The movie
started out with a bang, and never had a dull moment until the fade-to-black
after the credits rolled (and be sure to sit through the credits.) The
thing I remember most about the movie, which I keep laughing about, are the
things they would NEVER have gotten away with on TV. I won't ruin it
for those of you haven't seen the movie, but there were things that made me
laugh out of pure shock. In conclusion, I've been waiting for this
movie to come out for years, and when it was finally announced, I wondered
how it could ever live up to my expectations. Well, to say that it
EXCEEDED my expectations, and I walked out of that theater THOROUGHLY
entertained, is the biggest compliment I can pay to the filmmakers. I
can't wait to see it again, and I'm already thinking about the DVD release,
which should be chock-full of deleted scenes and great commentary from the
usual gang who entertain us throughout the boxed sets.
7/29/07 - Start Saving Up
Your Pennies
It was revealed at Comic Con that
practically every Cars car on your wishlist will be hitting stores
eventually. Looking at pictures posted on Figures.com, some of the
cars on display included Ghostlight (blue) Ramone, VW Bug, Dinoco Helicopter
(die-cast), Darrel Cartrip, more than twenty different race cars, and, oh
heck, just about every secondary character you can imagine. I did
notice a sign that read: "Wal*Mart Exclusives" which means some of these
will be even more difficult to find than the other difficult-to-find cars.
Click
HERE to see the jaw-dropping pics.
7/26/07 - Dale:
The Movie
Spencer184 posted this nugget in the
forum. Motorsports Authentics offers a 12-car set of 1:64 scale cars
featured in the documentary Dale. The set is offered on the
QVC website for less than $60.
7/24/07 - Holy Sand Crab,
Batman!
I received the following e-mail today
from
www.hotwheelcollectors.com:
"One of the classic designs by creative genius Tom Daniel,
the Sand Crab™ is back! The original fun-time vacation
vehicle has been retooled for this HWC™ Series Six Neo-Classics™
release -- AND it earns you two Rewards Points! Then crawl over and pick up
the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con commemorative 1966
TV Series Batmobile™! Or get both with the
"clutch kit" option! These beauties will be offered at HWC™
beginning at 9:00 AM PT on Tuesday, July 31, 2007. Dig
that!"
7/22/07 - Monkeemobile in
Action!
Have you ever wanted to see the
Monkeemobile in action? Well, there's a really cool clip on YouTube
from the second season episode Monkees Race Again. I grew up
watching The Monkees in syndication and I don't recall ever seeing
this. Davy drives the Monkeemobile against a Shelby Cobra Daytona
Coupe. Click on the image above to view the clip.
 
7/19/07 - Bumblebee Man
I stopped into Target on the way home
from work. Didn't find much, but I did notice some new Titanium
Transformers figures based on the movie. I picked up Bumblebee,
since he was my favorite character in the movie. I hope they come out
with him in Camaro mode. Up until now, I had only seen Titanium
figures based on the animated characters, with the exception of the
Target-Exclusive Optimus Prime 3-Pack, which, by the way, is currently on
clearance if you're still looking for yours.
  
7/19/07 - Zoiks Scoob!!!
I wonder if my apartment complex is
HAUNTED!!! I came home from work tonight to find THIS parked in the
lot. Fortunately, the ghost turned out to be the landlord, Old Man
Peabody. And he would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for
those meddling kids and that dog!!!
7/18/07 - Get Flocked!
My buddy Tim sent me an e-mail with a
link to an update from Toy News International regarding the '66 Batmobile
exclusives available at this year's San Diego Comic Con. In addition to the
1:64 scale Batmobile, fans will get their first crack at a 1:18 scale
Batmobile from Hot Wheels. This car, limited to 450 pieces, will be
"flocked" and can be yours for a mere $300. Click
HERE for more information.
7/17/07 - Scored a Cruisin'
Ramone
Stopping for milk at K-Mart on my way
home from work, I popped into the toy aisles (as usual.) Hidden among
the five or so Cars on the pegs was one lone Cruisin' Ramone. Check
off one more on my want list. I still need Tongue McQueen, Bug McQueen
and Yeti.
7/11/07 - Collectors'
Collections
Odilon Rodrigues of Marlboro, MA owns over 700
die-cast cars from TV and movies. He sent me a pic of a portion of his
collection and it's quite impressive. Odilon joins two dozen other
collectors in the Collectors' Collections
section of this website. To have your collection featured, send me an
e-mail and attach a few
clear, well-lit pics.
UPDATE:
More pics have been added.
  
7/11/07 - Cool Custom
Jonas Sevilla of Diamond Bar, CA e-mailed me with pics of
his awesome 1:24 scale custom of Stuntman Mike's Nova from Death Proof.
The detail is amazing, even down to the Rubber Ducky hood ornament.
Nice work Jonas! If you're interested in this custom, send me an
e-mail and I'll put you in
touch with Jonas.
 
7/11/07 - Today's Finds
Stopping into Target on my way into
work today, I stumbled onto a few new finds. First, I found a Hot
Wheels 10-Pack that includes the '66 Batmobile. Actually, I found
three of them, but the paint job on two of them was pretty bad. Then,
turning around, I found a few new Cars to add to my collection.
Pictured below are Tex Dinoco, RPM 64 and Bling Bling McQueen. Now I
just need Tongue McQueen, Bug Mouth McQueen, Cruisin' Ramone (and Yeti has
sprung up on eBay) to be all caught up.
  
7/8/07 - Sponsor News
Rodney at Movie Car Mania sent me an
e-mail alerting me to some new arrivals. Visit his site (click on the
link in the top right column) if you still haven't found a Hot Wheels 1966
Batmobile. Picture at right is MiniChamps' 1:43 scale Aston Martin
2-Pack from Casino Royale. I may be picking that up myself.
Also, Movie Car Mania has received Johnny Lightning's new Speed
Racer assortment (below.)
 
7/6/07 - Flight of the
Bumblebee
Okay, so I wasn't a huge fan of
Transformers, but I did think Bumblebee was pretty awesome. My
friend Tim sent me a link to one of the coolest toys I've seen in a long
time. Although it's not die-cast, this animatronic Bumblebee actually
transforms from robot to car with the push of a button. It also
features lights, sounds, 9 songs and 17 phrases. It's a little pricey
at almost $80, but it ships in September. Click
HERE for more information.
7/4/07 - Transformers:
My Review
I saw Transformers today and I
went in really, really wanting to like this movie. I mean, Steven
Spielberg's name is attached, so how bad could it be? Well, it was
pretty bad.
Actually, it started
out pretty good. I found myself enjoying the relationship that
developed between Bumblebee (the yellow Camaro) and Sam (Shia LaBeouf.)
What guy can't relate to a good boy-girl-car story? Things got pretty
exciting during an awesome car chase sequence between Bumblebee and
Barricade (an evil Saleen-modified Ford Mustang police car.) Soon
afterwards, Bumblebee's fellow Autobots arrive and that's when ... well,
when things started going downhill. The movie degenerated into a
silly, confusing mess of bad dialogue, unnecessary characters, explosions,
shaky camerawork and a nonsense storyline involving a pair of glasses and a
giant cube that turned into little cube. During the span of two hours
(or so) I went from enjoying the movie, to confusion, to hating the movie.
They had me, then they lost me. Not enough time was devoted to developing
the character of Optimus Prime, so it was difficult to care about the
character. The movie did have some good qualities, however. Shia
LaBeouf was likable and believable in the lead role. The effects were,
of course, absolutely amazing. And Bumblebee was a pretty darn cool
movie car. But any good movie starts with a good script, and that's
what this movie was lacking. Great effects and action sequences can't
make up for a confusing and meandering storyline. Too bad. I SO
wanted to like this film.
7/1/07 - Reel Rides - Good
News and Bad News
Well, the good news is Reel Rides
revealed the list of cars to expect in the next wave, due in the fall.
The bad news is, with the exception of Casino, they are all cars that
have been tackled before. It will be tough to improve on Charawheels'
version of the Back to the Future Delorean and KITT from Knight
Rider, and Johnny Lightning has already released top notch versions of
the Bluesmobile and the Mini Coopers from The Italian Job. I
wish Reel Rides would venture into unexplored territory. Here's what
Reel Rides said in their latest e-mail newsletter:
Based on the great response
we've received, we are excited to inform you that the cars will be sold in
more U.S. Wal-Mart stores this Fall! You will find the 1:87 and 1:64 scale
in roughly 3 times as many stores and the 1:24 scale in nearly double the
number of stores. We'll send you the new store list when it's ready.
We know you're all excited to
find out what's in the next release. We have a slight change in timing with
the cars expected to be on-shelf in early Fall. The cars come from the
following action-packed movies:
- Back to the Future
- Knight Rider
- Blues Brothers
- Casino
- Italian Job
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