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Respect the Classics: The Walmart 8

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  • Respect the Classics: The Walmart 8



    Back in October 2007, Walmart released some Walmart exclusive Cars on an unlabeled Supercharged cardback... I had not yet started to collect Cars... All of the Walmart 8 Cars have the same cardback... I believe the first pallet featured cases with 4 of the 8... I did not buy any of these until long after the pallet was gone and just a few of these remained on pegs... As would often prove to be the case since then, not every store received this pallet or the ones that followed... Let's take a look at the Cars that made up the Walmart 8.

    Barney Stormin



    This was the first and last release of Barney Stormin as a single; he would later be released as a Mega Size Car at double the price... Barney was a patriotic looking propeller based airplane... simple to look at, but fun to play with.

    Here's a picture of an opened Barney Stormin:




    Al Oft the Lightyear Blimp




    Not much to look at, and not a lot of fun to play with, Al Oft was a take-off on the Goodyear Blimp that often provides aerial coverage at sporting events... Al Oft was originally released as a Walmart 8 single and later released as a Mega Size single - the Mega Size single is considerably larger in addition to being more expensive.

    Here is a picture of Al Oft as both Mega Size single and the WM8 single.



    Note the New snipe on the Walmart 8 cardback - the New snipe was used to identify a Car as being in its first release for the WM8 releases and of the World of Cars series.

    I don't believe that Al Oft had any speaking lines in the movie; however, in at least one of the children's books he did talk. A picture showing Al Oft and Bruiser Bukowski appears in the next section of the article.


    Bruiser Bukowski (Chick Hicks pitty)



    Bruiser Bukowski, a Chick Hicks pitty, was one of the first released pittys... it's a pity that more of the pittys were not released (groan)... Note that there is no New snipe on the cardback - that means this came from either the second or third case of the Walmart 8 singles.

    Bruiser was also released in a Movie Moments (2 pack) with Chick Hicks and in the Team HTB Team Crew set (crew chief and 3 pittys) and the Team HTB set with hauler/racer/pitty and in a 3 pack with Mater and another Chick Hicks pitty... Bruiser was released with both brown eyes and blue eyes... My good UK friend Rippers found International Movie Moments sets with both blue eyed Bruiser and Brown eyed Bruiser for me.

    Here's a photo showing Bruiser and Al Oft as they sit in a Carney Plastics SA-100 display case:



    Note that Al Oft is way too small in size compared to Bruiser.


    Cactus McQueen




    One of the funniest parts of the movie happened when Lightning McQueen tried to make a turn on the dirt track outside of Radiator Springs and failed... he went over the edge and landed in several cactus plants... Ouch! Mater towed him up... and later in the movie Lightning McQueen realized that he could indeed learn from Doc Hudson, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet.

    The Walmart 8 version of Cactus McQueen was the first release of Cactus McQueen as a single... he was later released on both World of Cars and Race O Rama cardback...

    Here's a photo that shows Kori Turbowitz, Cactus McQueen, and the Piston Cup Pace Car in the display case:




    Ghostlight Ramone



    Ghostlight Ramone was one of my favorite Ramones... it may have something to do with blue being my favorite color... Not really part of the movie, Ghostlight Ramone was featured in the short "Mater and the Ghostlight" that appeared as a preview on the Cars DVD... in fact, Mater and the Ghostlight set the stage for the Mater's Tall Tales series cartoons and Toon Cars that came out after that.

    Ghostlight Ramone was later released on World of Cars and Race O Rama cardbacks... I also have it as an International cardback single.

    A picture of the Piston Cup Pace Car and Ghostlight Ramone from within the display case appears a little later in the article.



    Kori Turbowitz




    Kori Turbowitz was one of the Cars that was a member of the press... in my opinion, Kori was one of the hardest of the Walmart 8 to find... Kori's first release was in the Walmart 8 series... She was supposed to be released as a single in a later cardback series but never was... Kori was also released as a Movie Moments with Lightning McQueen... I traded for an international Movie Moments with Kori shortly before it came out in the US.

    Kori was also released as the Nurse Kori Toon from the Rescue Squad Mater short - that release has been one of the biggest pegwarmers... But the Walmart 8 Kori was always in short supply and at a premium price.

    See a picture showing Kori Turbowitz, Cactus McQueen, and the Piston Cup Pace Car in the Cactus McQueen section of the article.


    Piston Cup Pace Car




    The Walmart 8 Piston Cup Pace Car was the first release of the pace Car, which later came to be known as Charlie Checker... what turned out to be special about this version was the fact that it had red tail lights instead of the yellow tail lights found in other releases.



    Charlie Checker was later released on both World of Cars (included in the Kmart 2 case) and Race O Rama cardback, as well as in an exclusive Toys R Us 5 pack; Charlie Checker was also released in the lenticular series... all of those had yellow tail lights.

    WM8 Piston Cup Pace Car and Ghostlight Ramone:


    WOC Charlie Checker with yellow tail lights:


    TJ




    "I've got dirt in my rims!"

    TJ didn't have many lines in Cars, but he certainly had a classic... the Walmart 8 version of TJ was the first release... woefully too small but with great attention to detail... other than the fact that some of them were released with the wrong spelling of Tuf Guy (Tuf Gue) on the license plate... or with an upside down license plate... or... the joys of Mattel quality control or lack thereof...

    TJ was later released as a Deluxe Size Car as a single which was almost too big... and also released as a Deluxe Size Car in the ToysRUs exclusive Sarge's Boot Camp (along with Sarge and 3 new SUVs):

    Here is a photo showing Deluxe TJ, Walmart 8 TJ, and TJ from the TRU Sarge's Boot Camp:



    Note the difference in facial expression as well as the color of the lights (red versus yellow).


    In conclusion


    The Walmart 8 Cars are considered collector's items today... they were in fairly short supply to begin with, and many have been opened... Current eBay prices (as of July 22, 2011) range from $65 to $99 plus shipping for a complete set of 8, and not too many sellers have them available for sale.

    As Fillmore says, "Respect the classics"... and I have a great appreciation for the Walmart 8 singles... Hopefully you do as well.
    Last edited by cac1959; 07-24-2011, 07:21 PM.


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

  • #2
    I got a Kori in a trade a few months back and opened her. She is one of my daughter's favorites along with Chuki. She keeps stealing them out of my son's display of the reporter cars. Looking for a Deluxe Al Oft for our collection. The Walmart 8 one is bit small.

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

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    • #3
      I had a chance to get a set of these 2 months ago in a trade: I had no clue these were collectable (I have so much to learn)
      It pains me to knwo that I passed on these...

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      • #4
        Great info once again cac1959

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        • #5
          Chris,

          I looked through all of my photos this evening and do not have any of them when I hit the big scores!! I remember buying a total of 25 sets of each of the four (from two different Wal-Marts) when they came out and sold them all to members of carsthetoys.com as I had just joined and wanted to set a name for myself. I think I accomplished my goal

          I am a proud supporter of Nathan's Playroom

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          • #6
            I got a complete set just the other week for less than £20, $31 to be precise. Really happy with them as I had none so got the whole set in one go. They are the centre of my collection now. Now sitting comfortably with my 400+ collection of cars right from the first series.

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            • #7
              Great score at a pretty good price, MarknotaMack... Thanks for looking for the photos, GOMATERGO...

              I'll have to see if I have complete sets both with the New snipe and without... if not, I have a friend who may have sets and can send me a picture.


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

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              • #8
                I am so glad we are openers. Getting all these different packages would drive me crazy. It's hard enough just to find one of each!

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

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