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Mattel first released 1:55 diecast Cars from the movie Cars back in 2006... from time to time, they've changed cardback series... we've taken a look at various cardbacks in previous articles...
In the beginning, came the Desert Back series Cars... First there were 12 Cars known as Desert Back 12 (DB12)... next came the Desert Back 16 - the same 12 Cars plus 4 new ones... Many people had bought the first 12 and wanted more - I didn't start collecting until after the Desert Back Series.
Next came the Supercharged cardback Cars... Many more Cars... several different cases... more stores were carrying these because they were popular with customers... I bought almost all of those but usually just one of most which I opened without first taking pictures of the carded Car...
Up next came the World of Cars (WOC) cardback Cars... many more Cars... several different cases... in addition to new Cars, Mattel re-released several others that had previously been released on the new cardback... it was during this series that Mattel released their first Chase Cars... it was also during this series that I started buying cases of Cars... I was having trouble finding all the new releases in stores...case assortments were starting to leave a little to be desired... stores weren't getting in every new case because they weren't selling all their inventory... I also started trading with friends to pick up International versions of several of these Cars - I liked how the name looked in different languages... For example, Mater was also known as Hook or Martin - I thought that was cool.
Next came the Race O Rama (ROR) series of Cars... new Cars... several different cases... many re-released Cars on yet another cardback... the Chase Cars continued... I continued to buy cases because I didn't want to miss out on any new or Chase Cars... again not every store got in every case... it was difficult to find every new Car in stores...
After the ROR series Mattel split the product line into 2 distinct series... a new concept, Lenticular Cars with moving eyes were made available to all retailers because the classic or fixed eyed Cars became a Target exclusive known as the Final Lap series... Most collectors did not care for the lenticular Cars as well... I bought them because I had to find new Cars to satisfy my Cars-a-holicism... but I was starting to feel resentful that the only local new Cars I could find contained mostly Cars I already had with fixed eyes... I don't have a local Target store - I had to travel out of town to shop at Target or rely on friends to help me out.
The first several cases of Final Lap Cars contained 18 Cars... perhaps half of the 18 were new Cars - 2 or 3 of each new Car... the rest were re-released Cars on yet another new cardback... I bought new Cars for myself... but I was no longer buying them all... The Final Lap singles were $4.99 plus tax each - at least $1.00 more than the lenticular Cars... In this article, we'll take a look at the last 5 cases of new Cars released in the Final Lap series.
Case G
Final Lap case G came out towards the end of June 2010... This was the last Final Lap case with 18 Cars... It came with 4 each of Lightning McQueen with Shovel, Flo with Tray, Bert, and Artie as well as 1 each of Chick Hicks and Lightning McQueen... This case also was released in the UK - I received several from UK friends - I'll add photos.
Lightning McQueen with Shovel is the only Final Lap Car that I haven't opened - I'd opened a lenticular version... It's too long to fit in my Carney Plastics SA-100 display case - I currently have it in one of my CP-21/24 display cases.
Flo with Tray had been released in a Toys R US 5 pack with fixed eyes, and a lenticular 3 pack with Waitress Mia and Tia... Here's the Final Lap single:
Bert is a reporter with a camera - I like the silver Car:
Artie is an announcer... the body style is similar to that of Snot Rod:
I often felt that Mattel missed a great opportunity to market a boxed set with Lightning McQueen with Shovel and Bessie... A 3 pack consisting only of those 2 Cars would have been a huge seller... And there have been other 3 packs consisting of only 2 Cars, such as the Story Tellers Bubba and Brand New Mater.
Case H
Case H should probably have been named case M, as it consisted of 3 each of 4 new Cars that each started with the letter M... The 4 new Cars were Matti, Marty Brakeburst, Marlon Clutches McKay, and Matthew True Blue McCrew.
Matti is a reporter:
Matthew True Blue McCrew is The King's fan:
Marlon Clutches McKay is a security guard:
Marlon was re-released on 2013 case C; it's a variant compared to the Final Lap version.
Marty Brakeburst is a fan of the Piston Cup series... Marty has been recently re-released in a Target exclusive 4 pack:
These were relatively minor characters that people didn't really care about... The case was also released in the UK - in fact, this case was released in the UK before it was released in the US... And I only saw this case at a few Target stores... This was the first case consisting of only 12 Cars... it was released in August 2010.
Here's a picture showing the UK and US versions - the UK versions have the price tag over the UPC and and insert in the bottom of the blister.
Case I
We had to wait 3 months for Final Lap Case I... it came out in mid November, 2010... it was hard for a lot of us to get excited about this case... there were 2 each of Artie, Jamie, Johnny, Jay Limo, Marlon, and Nick Stickers... all had already been released as Final Lap singles... there were no changes to the cardback or to the Cars.
Case J
2 weeks after the release of Case I, Case J came out with 2 each of 6 new Cars: Marilyn, Jonathan Wrenchworths, Timothy Timezone Truecoat, Milo, Valerie Veate, and Duff Wrecks ... can you imagine how we'd react if that would happen in 2013?
I had reconstructive elbow surgery in mid November 2010 and was not able to drive... on the way home from southern Indiana we stopped at an Indy Target store - they had a few singles on the pegs and when I scanned it said they had more in the back... I asked for help... I asked the team member if he could bring out Cars from the back even though there was a sign on the pegs that said they would not bring out collectibles... my arm was in a cast like device from the fingers to just under the right shoulder... he didn't know what to do... but a manager on duty came by and I asked her... she saw my arm and said just this one time... they brought out a full case and I bought them all to get my 2 sets.
Marilyn:
Marilyn has recently been re-released as part of the Toys R US Radiator Springs Classic series.
Jonathan:
Jonathan was just re-released in 2013 singles case F.
Valerie:
Milo is a green sedan... not very exciting to look at:
Timothy:
Timothy is a great looking retro Car...
Duff Wrecks:
Duff Wrecks is a plain white pickup truck... but was one of the most eagerly awaited Cars... no paint stripping or repainting necessary to turn him into a custom Apple crew chief... just print decals... In addition to custom Apple crew chiefs, others have made great customs as well... Conrad (cvc1968) made a couple great customs for me - I'll add photos later.
Case K
The last Final Lap case was case K... it came out in mid-January 2011... case K consisted of 3 each of Hooman, Derek Decal Dobbs, Coriander Widetrack, and Swift Alternator... While some parts of the country never received this case, it was very prevalent in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky...
Derek Decals Dobbs:
Derek is another great looking throwback back.
Coriander Widetrack:
Coriander likes planes... My granddaughter likes her because she's pink... Coriander was recently re-released in the Target exclusive 7 pack with Kit Revster.
Swift Alternator is a green van...
Hooman is another camera Car:
In Conclusion
Between the higher price of $4.99 per single, and case distribution including minor characters, the Final Lap Cars weren't as popular as Mattel and Target had hoped... Target reduced the number of cases that they ordered - cases G and H also were sold in the UK at the same time or before they were released at Target in the US... People like finding Cars in stores, but they like to have success when it comes to going on a Cars hunt... the $4.99 price point also was a little more expensive than many people like to pay... Later cases only contained 12 Cars and only contained the new Cars.
There were several additional Cars that were supposed to be released as Final Lap singles... however, with the switch to Cars2, we've not seen all of them... Some were released in a Target 9 pack in November 2010... Kit Revster was released in a Target 7 pack not too long ago... some we are still waiting on... Hopefully with the release of Planes this summer we won't have to worry about stores carrying Planes merchandise instead of Cars merchandise.
I will add photos of loose Final Lap Cars in the future.
Some information on case content taken from:
http://carsthetoys.yuku.com/topic/51...1#.UXa8AEq_JU0
As always, I appreciate your comments... thanks for reading.
Chris
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