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In early 2011, in anticipation of Cars2, Mattel put the brakes on the distribution of Cars from Cars and the Cars Toon product lines... Pegs at stores were cleared and not much product was on the shelves... no new stock was being shipped to stores.
Fast forward to early 2012... stores weren't ordering new singles because they were loaded with Finn McMissile, Lightning McQueen with Racing Wheels, Francesco Bernoulli, and Race Team Mater... stores weren't ordering new Deluxe Cars because they were loaded with Submarine Finn McMissile and to a lesser extent Hyrdrofoil Finn McMissile... The same thing with Movie Moments - most stores I went to were full of nothing but Finn/Tomber and Race Team Mater/Zen Master Pitty... Almost everything on the pegs was from the original Cars2 product shipments from May 16, 2011 (US) and June 2011 (UK and International markets)... collectors had lost their enthusiasm for the product line, and Cars was in trouble.
And then in May 2012... a brand new product line that most of us didn't even know was coming... Cars Take Flight... Whether it was to test the market before the 2013 release of the new movie Planes, or whether it was a case of Mattel needing to produce and sell a product that retail stores would order (stores had quit buying Cars2 singles, movie moments, oversized, launchers, etc... due to the horrid case assortments and over saturation of the retail market), Cars Take Flight items turned up on eBay and in stores before we even knew they were coming... Many times we have an idea of what's going to be coming in the way of Cars by checking out eBay listings of Hong Kong and Chinese sellers... these turned up before I even saw them loose on eBay... And it's turned out that Mattel has flooded the Take Flight market by shipping too many of the first case (where have we seen this before?) but I've been able to find most of them by checking stores or ordering them from JMDL Toys... The Take Flight Deluxe releases thus far have been from the 2 Mater's Tall Tales Moon Mater and Air Mater.
In this article, we'll take a look at the currently released Mattel 1:55 Take Flight Deluxe product.
Case A
The first thing I noticed about the case was that the case box said the Take Flight Cars were made in Thailand as opposed to China... they seemed to be well made... Case A consisted of 2 each of Autonaut Mater and Autonaut Lightning McQueen, and 1 each of Rescue Squad Chopper and Stu Bop the Jet - the Chopper and Stu Bop had been previously released, but Stu Bop was not released in the US... Here are pictures:
Autonaut Mater (from case D - note the Only at Walmart sticker):
Autonaut Lightning McQueen:
Stu Bop:
Rescue Squad Chopper:
The Rescue Squad Chopper was slightly different from the first release - the cone (nose) of the chopper was a different color... the only ones from the first case I've opened so far were McQueen and Mater - the chopper in the following photo is from the original Cars Toon release:
Many resellers got this case weeks after the first stores did... I've gone into Toys R US stores and seen 10 cases of Take Flight Case A on the pegs... it didn't look good for future cases... but strange things happened... different stores got different cases... and online retailers were able to get certain cases as well... JMDL Toys sent me a list of the cases and their anticipated release dates... and like has happened with other lines, cases were released out of sequence and distribution was crazy... I would go to 3 different Walmart stores and find 3 different cases - store 1 had case D, while store 2 had case F and store 3 had case B... strange indeed.
I need to look at individual items, as some were made in China... Thank you, wintermelon.
Case D
Case D was the second Take Flight case to arrive in stores and at retailers such as JMDL Toys... case D consisted of 2 each of NASCA Truck, Falcon Hawk 1, and Autonaut McQueen.
NASCA Truck:
Falcon Hawk 1:
I first found the NASCA Truck at a Toys R US store near Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio... with tape over what turned out to be an Only at Walmart label... I ordered the new items from JMDL Toys... It was announced that Walmart had canceled their exclusive contract for the Take Flight series... but then they turned up at Walmart and other stores... JMDL Toys donated a case for a contest that we held in September 2012 - thank you, JMDL Toys.
I've always liked the Cars box trucks... Dustin Mellows, Miles, and now NASCA Truck have been among my favorites.
Case F
I believe that case F was released shortly after case D... I found it for the first time at a Walmart store in the town where my wife's parents live... This case featured 2 each of Aviator Mater, Stu Bop, and Autonaut Lightning McQueen... I bought the only new item - Aviator Mater.
I like Aviator Mater...
But it looked like Aviator Mater was the only one from this case selling... the other 4 (2 each of 2) were repeats from case A... and everyone who wanted them had them... was the Take Flight product line already in trouble?
Case B
Cases B and E were released at almost the same time... some stores got case B... others (not as many) got case E... I've seen case B at Target, Kmart, and Walmart stores... it contained 2 each of Lightning McQueen Hawk and Aviator Mater and 2 Autonaut Lightning McQueen... Here are photos of the new(er) items:
Lightning McQueen Hawk:
As Aviator Mater is pictured right above, I won't show the picture again here.
Had case B been released before case F, I think several of us would have split the case with a friend... we'd have each gotten 1 each of 2 new items (Aviator Mater and Lightning McQueen Hawk) and 1 repeat (Autonaut Lightning McQueen)... as it turned out, online retailers did not get as much of their shipments from Mattel as they expected nor did they get them in a timely manner... way to stand by your dealers who supported you when the big stores did not, Mattel... (yes, that was sarcasm).
Case E
I think case E has been my favorite case so far... it consisted of 2 Lightning McQueen Hawk, 2 Autonaut Mater (without the New snipe), and 1 each of 2 new planes: Propwash Junction Biplane and Falcon Hawk Black... Here are photos:
Propwash Junction Biplane:
Falcon Hawk Black:
I first saw case E at a Walmart store in New Castle, Indiana... I bought the 4 new items - it was the first time I saw Lightning McQueen Hawk... it was a month before I saw it again... at the local Meijer store... I never expected to find it at the local Meijer store - not when they have had almost 2 full cases of case A on the pegs for months.... I've helped a couple friends out with Propwash Junction Biplane and Falcon Hawk Black...
I've not opened any of the planes yet... they take space to display on shelves... I've thought about hanging them from the ceiling - I've seen friends do that, including GOMATERGO... but I haven't gotten around to it.
Case C
Case C has just been released... JMDL Toys has gotten a few and will have more arriving soon... a friend of mine from northern Indiana found it a Walmart store on Thursday (November 8):
Burnt Autonaut Lightning McQueen (x1) and Mater Hawk (x2) are the new releases in the case... the other items are Lightning McQueen Hawk (x1), Autonaut Lightning McQueen (x1), and Rescue Chopper (x1)... had there been 2 each of Burnt Autonaut Lightning McQueen and Mater Hawk, I think many of us would have ordered cases to split with a friend.
Moon Mater Playset with DVD
Roger that... I got one of these in a trade... I wasn't sure how soon it would turn up in stores... or how widely available it would be... the answers turned out to be about 2 weeks and almost everywhere... I enjoy the DVD of the Air Mater and Moon Mater Tall Tales... and my grandchildren enjoy playing with Roger the Space Shuttle... it also came with a plastic Autonaut Mater... it would be great to see a diecast Roger... but that would be a pretty large and expensive diecast.
Toys R US Exclusive Air Mater Collector 2 pack
The most recently released item in the Take Flight product line is the Toys R US exclusive Air Mater Collector 2 pack featuring Lightning McQueen Hawk and Mater Hawk with metallic paint... these are sharp looking diecasts... I like metallic paint Cars, and these are no exception... These were released in Canada and the UK on almost the same day, and within a week, started to appear in the US... like many boxed sets, the plastic portion of the box is often flawed, but usually the Cars inside are in great condition... I'll open up this up one of these days, and take photos... if your Toys R US doesn't have this set yet, they should have it fairly soon.
In Conclusion
Earlier I mentioned that the Take Flight product line could be in trouble... online retailers ordered cases and then had Mattel cancel the orders because they were going to be Walmart exclusive... but then Walmart backed out... and other stores and online retailers got in Take Flight cases with Only at Walmart stickers on them... And in some areas, overstock stores such as Big Lots got cases B, E, or F before the main stores did... Distribution and case assortments have once again turned out to leave a lot to be desired... seems that happens frequently with Mattel.
The only case that has been announced that has not yet shipped is case C... Take Flight case C is supposed to contain Mater Hawk (non-metallic paint, x2) and Burnt Lightning McQueen (x1) as new items, and 1 Rescue Chopper, 1 Autonaut Lightning McQueen, and 1 Lightning McQueen Hawk as repeats... unless the assortment changes, it's a hard case to split with a friend, but if you haven't found McQueen Hawk, it's a good case to help you catch up with the Cars that you need.
Disney Store has released a few Take Flight items, including a 3 pack that has an Impala - that's the Impala that's stuck on the moon, which is why Mater and Roger head to the moon... that would be a great Car to add to my collection... we'll see how soon (or if) Mattel will release it.
So is the Cars Take Flight product line a classic? Or is it just a passing fad? Time will tell.
Thanks for reading... as always, I appreciate your comments.
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