2007:
The Year in Review

January

After an enormously successful 2006, Mattel continued to offer product from the hit Pixar film Cars.  The 2-packs pictured above were among the first to hit stores in 2007. 

The Batmobile from the animated series The Batman, which was originally offered by Hot Wheels in Mystery packaging, began to appear in various 2-packs.  The Batmobile pictured at right was found in the Batman Blaster playset.  Oddly, the Batmobile pictured at left (also known as the RD-10 Batmobile) was seen on the back of the package for the Batman Transporter, which hit stores in January.  A year later and it has yet to show up in stores to my knowledge.

Also in January, the first images of Hot Wheels' 1966 Batmobile began to surface.  Fans were eager with anticipation after the official announcement in 2006 that Mattel had secured the rights to George Barris' creation.  The first eBay auction for one of these beauties ended at a whopping $101.64. 

RC2 released the disappointing news that the company would discontinue its Racing Champions, Joy Ride, Ertl and AMT lines.  This announcement dealt a serious blow to collectors of 1:18 scale entertainment cars.  The last entertainment-related car to be released was Sheriff Rosco's '74 Dodge Monaco (above.)  The company did announce plans to include The General Lee as part of its 1:18 scale Authentics line, but it has yet to hit stores as 2007 comes to an end. 

Although plans for Hollywood on Wheels and James Bond vehicles were canceled in 2006, Johnny Lightning went ahead with its first release of cars from The Dukes of Hazzard.  The cars seemed to be very popular with collectors and were difficult to find in stores.  Two more series would be released by the end of 2007 and they, too, would be hard to find, forcing collectors to turn to online vendors. 

February

In February, I spotted the latest wave of Star Wars vehicles from Hasbro's Titanium line.  It's hard to imagine that these were once only available at Wal*Mart as exclusives.  I was excited to find the Colonial Viper from the classic Battlestar Galactica TV series.  Little did I know that almost a year would go by before I would be able to add a vintage Cylon Raider to my collection. 

Also in February I received a gift from a frequent contributor to my forum and website, Joe Nest.  The Batman Begins 5-pack (left) was fairly difficult to find in my area, at least for awhile.  Eventually, they became quite common.  Later in the year, the Bat-Cycle was replaced by a Gotham City Police Car (below.) 

I'll always remember February 2007 for one of my personal greatest moments as a die-cast car collector.  Not only did I finally hold in my hand for the first time Hot Wheels' 1966 Batmobile, but this one came from George Barris himself, signed in bold red and sporting Barris' official crest.  It had been several decades since the '66 Batmobile had been made in die-cast form and somehow Mattel overcame the legal wrangling to make it happen in 2007.  It was particularly sweet, because at this point, I had yet to find the Batmobile in stores.  This autographed piece instantly became the crown jewel in my collection. 

Toy Fair '07 took place in February.  Among the highlights was Mattel's display of upcoming releases from Cars, including Yeti, Cruisin' Ramone and Dinoco Chick Hicks.

After releasing die-cast cars from Scarface and The Godfather, Jada announced the release of vehicles from the HBO hit series The Sopranos.  The boxed set would include a Hummer H2 and a Cadillac Escalade.  Of course, The Sopranos would end its historic run on HBO later in 2007. 

March

One of the biggest announcements of the year came in March, when Malibu International announced plans to launch a series of cars under the brand Reel Rides as a Wal*Mart exclusive.  Within weeks of the announcement, I found the five cars that made up the first release (above.)  The cars were available in three scales:  1:24, 1:64 and 1:87.  Unfortunately, the 1:64 scale cars were a little big, and collectors let Malibu know about it.  Later in the year, Malibu announced that their next wave would be more accurate in scale. 

Just in time for Easter, I completed my set of Cars Easter eggs, available only at Target. Mattel would continue the trend of holiday-themed packaging when Halloween and Christmas rolled around.

April

In April, I found my FIRST '66 Batmobile hanging on the pegs at a Target store.  More than TWO MONTHS after they started appearing in stores. 

That same month, Mattel was getting creative with existing castings and more weird and unusual "Batmobiles" started to show up at toy stores in 2-packs.

After a bit of a lull, some of the Cars shown at Toy Fair began to show up in stores.  Dinoco Chick Hicks, Ferrari F430 and "Hydraulic" Ramone were among the first new Cars to appear.  And Fabulous Hudson Hornet was re-released with red rims.  At times, trying to track down the new offerings got very frustrating, but all was forgotten when I'd finally find something new on the pegs.

This came as a bit of a surprise when I got an e-mail telling me that Big Lots stores were offering exclusive die-cast vehicles based on Flash Gordon comic strips.  When I finally got around to stopping in at a Big Lots I happen to be passing, I didn't find Flash Gordon, but I did find three vehicles from Buck Rogers comic strips (below.)  I've since completed the entire collection. 

May

More new Cars continued to show up in May, including RPM 64, Tex Dinoco and Bling Bling McQueen.

It was revealed in May that Johnny Lightning would re-release six cars in its Speed Racer line, perhaps in anticipation of 2008 live-action movie, starring Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer.

June

In June, it was revealed by Johnny Lightning that the General Lee slated to be included in the third release of The Dukes of Hazzard cars would have its distinctive push bar up front.  As an added bonus, the car would also have an interior roll cage. 

Are you keeping count?  It was reported in June that there were even more new Cars to look for.  Tongue McQueen (one of my personal favorites), Bug Mouth McQueen (ugh), and Cruisin' Ramone started showing up in stores. 

Yet another Hot Wheels Batmobile surfaced in June.  The odd-looking car pictured above right was included in Arkham Asylum Escape playset.  At this point, I started losing interest in trying to collect all the weird variations. 

How can anyone look back at 2007 without a mention of Harry Potter.  The final book in the series was a smash and the fifth movie grossed almost $300 million dollars.  Corgi hopped on the bandwagon by announcing three die-cast vehicles in 2007:  Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia in 1:43 scale (above), the Knight Bus in 1:76 scale and  the Hogwarts Express in 1:100 scale.

Hasbro's Titanium line continued to show its diversity with the release of three motorcycles from Ghost Rider:  Johnny Blaze's Stunt Cycle, Grace, and Ghost Rider on his Flame Cycle. 

Also, within weeks of the July 4th premiere of Transformers, Hasbro released a Target-exclusive Titanium boxed set that included Optimus Prime in three different forms.  Strangely, even though the line would continue to offer more characters in robot form, no more die-cast vehicles would be produced. 

July

In July, Reel Rides announced its next wave of releases:  Back to the Future, Knight Rider, Blues Brothers, Casino, & The Italian Job.  Although originally slated to hit stores in the fall of 2007, we have yet to even see photos at the close of 2007. 

The 1966 Batmobile was more readily available as the year went on, even showing up in this boxed set of Hot Wheels cars.  Still, despite hitting all the major stores on a regular basis, I've only seen a single-carded Batmobile hanging on the pegs, maybe, eight times all year, proving this car's popularity with collectors.

In July it was announced that two versions of the '66 Batmobile would be available at the '07 San Diego Comic Con.  A 1:18 scale version, covered in "Bat Fuzz" would be available for $300 (above left.)  A highly detailed version in 1:64 scale would also be available at Comic Con.  Hot Wheels also offered the 1:64 version, along with Tom Daniel's Sand Crab (above right,) through its Hot Wheels Collectors Club at the end of July.  They were snapped up quickly.

Also at Comic Con, more Cars characters were revealed, including every Piston Cup racer shown on screen.  Later in the year, it was announced that the race set would be a Hot Wheels Collectors Club exclusive. 

August

In August, pictures were revealed of Johnny Lightning's 4th release of vehicles from its popular Star Trek line.  The vehicles would hit stores later in the year and included:  USS Enterprise 1701-A, USS Enterprise D (Battle Damage), USS Defiant, USS Voyager, USS Majestic, and Borg Cube with Sphere.

In August, one of the biggest toy stories of the year, if not the decade, broke when it was announced that Mattel was recalling toys made in China due to excessive amounts of lead found in the paint.  One of the toys named specifically was Sarge from the Cars line.  Not only was Sarge pulled from stores, but panicky store employees pulled every Cars character from the pegs.  It took several weeks for new product to find its way back into stores. 

This biggest news item of the year in the world of 1:18 scale die-cast came in the form of an announcement that Auto Art (known for its detail and quality) would be releasing Mad Max's V8 Interceptor.  Originally slated to hit stores in November, it looks like it's been delayed until 2008. 

New Cars product began to trickle out after the Sarge recall, including Toys R Us exclusive Movie Doubles, and fan-favorites Mario Andretti, Darrell Cartrip, Bob Cutlass and Dale, Jr.  Flo's V8 Cafe' was also re-released as a Toys R Us exclusive.

September

What was a trickle became a white water rapids as new Cars hit stores in September.  Movie Moments included Mia & Tia and Mr. & Mrs. The King.  Target was offering Cars in Halloween-themed packaging.  And Wal*Mart was offering their first of two exclusive waves, which included Ghostlight Ramone, Cactus McQueen, TJ and Al Oft the Lightyear Blimp.  The second wave, released a few months later, included Barney Stormin', Piston Cup Pace Car, Kori Turbowicz, and Bruiser Bukowski. 

October

In October, collectors started to find the Target-Exclusive Dinoco 400 boxed set.  Despite including a whopping eight cars, only three of the cars were new releases:  Vinyl Toupee, Octain Gain and No Stall. 

Johnny Lightning's Speed Racer cars finally started to appear in stores in October.  This was actually the fourth time some of these cars have been offered by JL.  The release included:  The Mach 5 (left,) Racer X Shooting Star, GRX, Captain Terror, Assassin, and Snake Oiler. 

Several months after the release of the hit film Transformers, there still were no official die-cast cars in stores.  Jada Toys knows a good thing when they see one and helped fill the void by releasing cars that RESEMBLE the cars seen on the screen.  Pictured above is a 1:18 scale die-cast '06 Camaro Concept Car, which is the car Bumblebee is based on in the film.  Jada would release this car in various scales, including 1:64, throughout the rest of the year. 

November

Buzz was generated in November when it was announced that with the purchase of the newly-released Blu-Ray edition of Cars, collectors could send away for a limited edition Blu-Ray McQueen.  I purchased the DVD, despite not having a Blu-Ray player, and my car arrived in December.

More and more new Cars product continued to arrive in stores.  Found in November were Dinoco Helicopter, Fred, Pit Crew Hudson Hornet, Pit Crew Filmore, and Rusty & Dusty Rust-Eze. 

The holiday-themed packaging trend continued with the discovery of Green Ramone, Radiator Springs McQueen and Mater in snow globe/ornament packaging at Target. 

Ever since the announcement that NBC would revive Knight Rider on television, rumors ran rampant as to which model of car would get a chance to portray KITT.  In November it was revealed that a Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang would get the honors. 

December

As the year's end drew near, more new Cars product arrived in stores.  Just in time for Christmas, Cars 3-packs were found across the country. 

Then, within days of purchasing the second release of Johnny Lightning's The Dukes of Hazzard cars (above,) I received a set of cars from the THIRD release, courtesy of RC2:

The third release includes what I feel is the ultimate version of The General Lee released to-date.  Johnny Lightning finally satisfied collectors' demands and gave us the front push bar and interior roll cage, placing this version of The General at #3 of the greatest die-cast cars of all-time.  A dirty version of this car was made available as an internet exclusive (right.)

The year wrapped up with the last few Cars characters to hit stores in 2007, including Race Official Tom and Pit Crew Guido.  Dinoco Mia & Tia began to show up on eBay at the end of December as well.