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Respect the Classics: Octane Gain

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  • Respect the Classics: Octane Gain




    Several weeks ago I started a series about the Cars Piston Cup racers with an article on Mood Springs... In this article, we'll take a look at another one of the Piston Cup racers and his team - Billy Oilchanger - better known as Octane Gain... Billy Oilchanger has a dream to become a racing color commentator after he retires. He's watched all the greats, like Darrell Cartrip over the years, and even practices announcing by calling the races out loud to himself while he's in them. While he thinks it's great experience the other drivers find it distracting and a little creepy.

    One of the earliest boxed sets and at the time of release the most expensive boxed set was the Speedway of the South set... Limited to a run of 1000 pieces, the SOTS set went on sale in May 2008... To be eligible to purchase the SOTS set you had to join the Hot Wheels Red Line Collectors club... I joined in April 2008, and bought one set when they went on sale.



    One of these days I'll put the Cars in the display box and put it out on display... For various reasons, many collectors did not purchase the Speedway of the South set when it went on sale... Several of the Piston Cup racers had already been released and they didn't want to purchase Cars they already had... they wanted to purchase just the Cars they needed at the approximate $4.00 price of a single... Unfortunately, Mattel didn't cooperate with those hopes... most of the racers were released, but in various formats and with other Cars or accessories that you might or might not have wanted... In this article, we'll take a look at another one of the Piston Cup racers and the other members of his team - Octane Gain, #58.


    Supercharged Series



    After the Speedway of the South set, Octane Gain first appeared in the Supercharged Dincoo 400 set... I found this at Target and purchased it... I later found it on clearance at Target while on vacation in Fort Meyers, Florida but didn't have room to carry it on the plane with with me and at the time didn't realize I could go to a post office and mail a package to myself... Oh well.

    Here's the cardback:




    World of Cars Series


    There were a few releases of Octane Gain during the World of Cars series... One of the first was a Pit Row Race-off launcher... I bought one and opened it... eventually I found another at a Kmart store that used to be open in a town about 30 miles away and asked a co-worker to pick it up for me... she did and I still have it.


    Kmart 3: Octane Gain with rubber tires


    Octane Gain was one of the Kmart 3 Piston Cup racers... October 17, 2009 was the day of the event... By this time, Mattel had increased the size of the cases from 18 Cars to 24 Cars... most case selections were becoming filled with more and more pegwarmers... 19 of the 24 Cars in this case were rubber tire racers:

    3 each of Trunk Fresh, Octane Gain, N2O Cola, Rev N Go, and Revolting
    2 each of Leakless and Vinyl Toupee
    1 each of Brand New Mater, Chick Hicks, Lightning McQueen, Yellow Ramone, and Sheriff



    Here's the cardback:



    Launchers


    As mentioned earlier, Octane Gain was released as a Pit Row Race-off launcher... it was also released as a Lightyear Launcher; I don't think I ever bought an Octane Gain Lightyear Launcher... if anyone has a photo of a carded one that you'd like to share, please post it as a reply to this article.


    Pitty


    The first Octane Gain pitty, Dudley Spare, was released in the World of Cars series... he was later released as a single pitty in the Race O Rama series... this was the only release of a single Octane Gain pitty... but we did get more Octane Gain pittys... first in a team set, and then in a Team Crew set.


    Hauler and Semi
    Octane Gain was released as a hauler in January 2009... I don't think I have a photo of it... Octane Gain Semi was released in the Mega Size product line... it was the only semi I didn't buy... I liked the hauler due to the trailer... I didn't see a reason to buy the cab only... I saw an Octane Gain Semi at a Toys R US store on Saturday but still didn't buy it.

    If anyone would like to provide photos of the carded hauler and/or semi for me to add to this article, please post them in a reply... thank you.


    Team Set


    Octane Gain was released as a hauler... I don't think I have a photo of it... it was also released as a Team set with hauler/racer/pitty... My friend musicnywu1 found this team set in a Target on the west coast... It featured the same hauler and racer that we already had... and one new pitty... a wide pitty with no gun... I had him buy it for me and ship it to me loose... just so I could add 1 new Car... I gave the racer and hauler from the set to my grandson... while I had created super sets of some of the other teams (to be featured in upcoming articles), I wasn't going to do it anymore, because Mattel wasn't going to release them all... Earlier this year I did find out about a case of Team sets from my friend cvc1968; Conrad and I split a case - we each got an Octane Gain team set as well as one we really wanted (HTB and Dinoco).

    Had more of these Team sets been released with both a new hauler and a new pitty, they would have sold better... at one time I'd hoped to get a set of 36 (35 from Mattel and Apple as a custom)...

    As it turns out, Mattel released the following team sets:
    Rusteze, HTB, Dinoco, Leakless, Octane Gain, Nitroade, and Bumper Save.


    Team Crew set


    A Target exclusive Octane Gain Team Crew set was released... this featured a new style crew chief and 2 new pittys... Distribution was very much hit and miss... I was afraid I wasn't going to find it at Target and got an International version from friends in Canada... Eventually they turned up in Target stores...

    I'd hoped that Mattel would release all 35; Mattel only released HTB, Dinoco, Leakless, Octane Gain, Nitroade, and Bumper Save.


    Speedway 4 pack

    There was another release of Octane Gain at retail... it came in a Target exclusive Speedway 4 pack that came with Lightning McQueen, Leakless, and Shifty Drug... as you can see in the above photo, I replaced Lightning McQueen and Leakless with Clutch Aid and Lil Torquey Pistons... I purchased this 4 pack so I could work on a Poor Man's Speedway of the South set - 9 boxes each with 4 racers.


    Radiator Springs Classic Wave 2


    Octane Gain has been released again in wave 2 of the Toys R US exclusive Radiator Springs Classic series... I received one from bobbyjack a couple weeks ago, and just saw it in a store on Saturday.


    In Conclusion - Team Octane Gain

    Here are photos of loose Cars in my Team Octane Gain collection:


    Note the custom made Pit Crew box for crew chief... (thank you, GotFrank, for sending me a CD containing the pit box files)

    Crew Chief - SUV body style:


    Pittys:


    The wide pitty with the gun was in the Team Crew set... the wide pitty without the gun was in the Team set... note that they did change from narrow to wide tires between the single and the team crew set.

    Hauler/Racer/Pitty:




    Launcher with Racer:


    My complete loose set:



    That wraps up this installment of Respect the Classics... As always, thank you for reading... I appreciate your comments.
    Last edited by cac1959; 11-24-2012, 02:42 PM. Reason: date correction


    I am cac1959... I am a Cars-a-holic... and a proud supporter of Nathan's Playroom

  • #2
    yes! My favourite team. Well...favourite because I like that he is the only crew chief that has an SUV body style.

    I would love to get a complete set like the one in the picture
    http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/s...n/DSC_0135.jpg

    maybe minus the launcher. And I only want 1 racer, a rubber tire one lol.

    Transformers for Trade
    Feedback: pixarcarsdiecast.com; cybertron.ca; tfw2005.com; ebay.ca

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    • #3
      Thanks for the great article cac! I just recently completed the Octane Gain and Nitroade Teams. (except for the exclusive pitty in the Hauler/Racer/Pitty sets) I'm even pretty sure I have Octane Gain's launcher.

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      • #4
        Tell your wife to give up her half of the basement so you can display these better!!

        I am a proud supporter of Nathan's Playroom

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        • #5
          Put them in the living room!!!

          Great article cac1959. I do liek the Octain Gain hauler.....

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          • #6
            Another great article. Kmart day 3 happened right before I started collecting. Many of those race cars warmed the pegs in my local Kmart for months. Octane Gain was one of the first rubber tire race cars I bought. To this day, I'm pretty sure the only version we have is the rubber tire version.

            signature courtesy of BomBom77
            http://www.pixarcarsdiecast.com/foru...ars-for-trades

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