What's in those stores....UK

[yuffie]

must admit i'm not surprised - having resisted buying US cases in the hope that the 2013 cars would start appearing over here i think i'll give up now as it will defeat the object if the complete range is not available in the UK

[boogity]

yep, might have to rejig my buying strategy

[niftynigel]

I'm one of those people who likes to support local businesses as much as is possible. As the 2013 range is likely to be the swansong of Cars, I was intent on collecting the lot (standard singles, deluxe and movie moments) over the course of the year.

To put it mildly, I'm devastated. I like to plan ahead, but not knowing what is coming out has thrown it all into confusion. It's so nice collecting a whole set of something, but we've had so many 'unfinished' sets in the UK, you begin to wonder as a UK 'card' collector, why you bother! We had Race O Rama cut short and now Cars 2, Radiator Springs Classic, Cars 2 silver racers etc. I'm sure that many long term collectors have other stories to add.

If we knew all the NEW cars were being released, that would at least be something, but there are no guarantees that'll happen now. Europe may also be in the same boat, as there were four cars released in the US A case, that haven't as yet got a repeat release in the US beyond case G. As Europe case P is the same as US case B, then those four cars may not make it to Europe, let alone the UK.

If it's bad enough for us old ones to 'get over it' think about the disappointment and heartbreak for the kids who love to 'Collect Them All' as Mattel puts it.

How difficult is to release about 80 cars, ten Movie Moments and ten deluxe over a year? That said, Mattel failed to release 'only' 25 new cars in the UK last year, so we shouldn't be surprised they can't get 80 or so out!

I'm sure our kids could do a better job of planning and distribution than Mattel.

[Junior]

I'm one of those people who likes to support local businesses as much as is possible. As the 2013 range is likely to be the swansong of Cars, I was intent on collecting the lot (standard singles, deluxe and movie moments) over the course of the year.

To put it mildly, I'm devastated. I like to plan ahead, but not knowing what is coming out has thrown it all into confusion. It's so nice collecting a whole set of something, but we've had so many 'unfinished' sets in the UK, you begin to wonder as a UK 'card' collector, why you bother! We had Race O Rama cut short and now Cars 2, Radiator Springs Classic, Cars 2 silver racers etc. I'm sure that many long term collectors have other stories to add.

If we knew all the NEW cars were being released, that would at least be something, but there are no guarantees that'll happen now. Europe may also be in the same boat, as there were four cars released in the US A case, that haven't as yet got a repeat release in the US beyond case G. As Europe case P is the same as US case B, then those four cars may not make it to Europe, let alone the UK.

If it's bad enough for us old ones to 'get over it' think about the disappointment and heartbreak for the kids who love to 'Collect Them All' as Mattel puts it.

How difficult is to release about 80 cars, ten Movie Moments and ten deluxe over a year? That said, Mattel failed to release 'only' 25 new cars in the UK last year, so we shouldn't be surprised they can't get 80 or so out!

I'm sure our kids could do a better job of planning and distribution than Mattel.

I dont know much about the politics of it all but if mattel uk had a website where you could just go on and buy the cars direct from them (and they just made them all available), all collectors would be able to complete their collections and Mattel would rake in a fortune. simple really!

[niftynigel]

Mattel UK's website hasn't been updated for TWO years! OK, not quite two years, May 2011, nearly two years!

http://www.carstoys.co.uk/#/home

[yuffie]

as ever you've summed it up perfectly nigel

i liked the whole numbering system of the 2013 line as it seemed to make keeping track of the set quite straightforward so i was going to try to get the lot and keep them carded (previously i've opened everything apart from the super chases)

so it seemed to me that if mattel realeased one they would have to release everything over here but obviously that was somewhat naive

as i previously posted i decided not to buy US cases and am not going to change my mind about that now

in truth lego had already taken over as my main spend on toys - in particular the expensive modular buildings - so it might be a blessing in disguise that there won't be any cars to buy

[niftynigel]

I'm pleased to report that our Taco Truck Mater and Taia Decotura were delivered today. I ordered them from Amazon (third party seller) at £8.95 each.

They delivered them in a single box with plenty of packaging to protect them in the post! Well done Amazon!

With the disappointing news over the Cars 2 standard singles being cut short in the UK, it's nice to report that it's possible to complete the set of Deluxe on a UK/European cardback.

[cac1959]

Mattel UK's website hasn't been updated for TWO years! OK, not quite two years, May 2011, nearly two years!

http://www.carstoys.co.uk/#/home

I remember how excited I was (and so were others) when Cars2 Cars were getting ready to be released... I bought Finn, Holley, and Jeff from China 4 months before the scheduled US release... and then an online reseller got in singles, two packs, and launchers 2 to 3 months before the official release date and I bought one case of each... and then Family Dollar put them out a month before the release... and I bought more of the singles at $5.00 each and traded for ones I hadn't seen.

The US Mattel site hasn't been updated either.

Thanks for the trip back in time, niftynigel...

[carslover]

thats a great price for taco & taia
i paid over $50 each on e-bay

[niftynigel]

Getting Taco Truck Mater and Taia Decotura was a great feeling, even more so at that price (and then being delivered in good condition). The latter is not something we can take for granted in the UK. Sometimes finding mint cards in stores is also a challenge; very few stores put cars on pegs, but just stuff cars on shelves.

I had a good hunt around in London and the West Midlands (Birmingham and Wolverhampton areas) over the weekend. I found nothing of any major interest. Disney Store Oxford Street have reduced their singles display to one stand. All they had was Francesco Bernoulli (cut card, straight card and Kmart 8 silver) plus one or two others. I guess there were about 400 Francescos! Just about all the contents of Case 996V (Prince Wheeliam and Bindo) had gone save for a couple of Grems and Carlas. That's not a lot too shout about!

Disney Store are still saying that Rip Clutchgoneski is coming, so it may well be true that like the latter part of 2012, they will be getting exclusive cases? Lets hope so. If they do, that could mean that the UK will be getting two cases simultaneously when the new 2013 singles hit the streets. If the UK gets cases 997P and 997Q in the latter part of March, that's at least 22 new cars, which although is months after everyone else, isn't a bad start! It's an initial outlay of £132 GBP ($200 USD) at current prices, although Disney Stores maybe slightly cheaper at say £5.50 GBP a car?

Anyway, that's still probably about six weeks away! Saturday 30 March? (Original programmed date for the second UK case to be launched).

Cars 2013 launch dates:

US - November 2012
Australia - ?
Canada - ?
Europe - January 2013
UK - March/April 2013 (Silver racers February 2013)

[niftynigel]

Cars 2013 standard singles launch in the UK

I have to confess I was taken by surprise when other collectors started to report that case W1938-997R had started to appear (at Smyths Toy Superstores) last week. The latest information a few of us were given by Mattel UK was that the first Cars 2013 cases weren't supposed to be shipped to retailers until the end of March, so that meant that they wouldn't reach shops until early April.

I don't know if Mattel UK deliberately lied or they honestly didn't know what was coming and decided to play safe or err on the side of caution?

They say that a week is a long time in politics, but it's equally long in the World of Cars!

Just a week ago, we were down in the dumps and now there are at least two new case assortments on the loose in the UK.

Case W1938-997R (3402EAA) was the first off the starting line, being found in Smyths Toy Superstores on Tuesday 26 February.

Case W1938-997Q (3402EAA) followed one week later, being found in a Toymaster franchise store on Tuesday 5 March. This was followed by Sainsburys on Wednesday 6 March.

The exact contents are:

W1938-997Q

FRANCESCO BERNOULLI (World Grand Prix) (3)
MAX SCHNELL (World Grand Prix) (2)
TUBBS PACER (Lemons) (2)
YOU THE BOMB MATER (Palace Chaos) (2)
NITROADE (Piston Cup) (3)
MARLON 'CLUTCHES' McKAY (Piston Cup) (2)
CHARLIE CHECKER (Piston Cup) (2)
LIGHTNING McQUEEN (with Cone) (Lightning McQueens) (3)
BRAND NEW MATER (Retro Radiator Springs) (1)
LIGHTNING RAMONE (Retro Radiator Springs) (2)
SALLY (Retro Radiator Springs) (2)

W1938-997R

LIGHTNING McQUEEN (with Racing Wheels) (World Grand Prix) (1)
DJ (with Flames) (Tuners) (2)
WINGO (with Flames) (Tuners) (2)
MIGUEL CAMINO (World Grand Prix) (1)
LEWIS HAMILTON (World Grand Prix) (1)
ERIK LANELEY (World Grand Prix) (1)
SHU TODOROKI (World Grand Prix) (1)
KRATE RAINSON-WASH (Airport Adventure) (1)
RACE TEAM MATER (Maters) (1)
FILLMORE (Wheel Well Motel) (2)
SARGE (Wheel Well Motel) (2)
BODY SHOP RAMONE (Wheel Well Motel) (2)
SECURITY GUARD FINN McMISSILE (Airport Adventure) (1)
CHICK HICKS (Piston Cup) (2)
DEXTER HOOVER (Checkered Flag) (Piston Cup) (1)
DUSTY RUST-EZE (Rust-Eze Racing) (1)
RACE TEAM LUIGI & GUIDO (Festival Italiano) (1)


Disney Stores have talked for a long time about having Rip Clutchgoneski in their first case. He was in European case W1938-997P, so it wouldn't be too much of a surprise if that case turned up at Disney Stores soon. Stocks of standard Cars 2 singles have nearly exhausted at all the stores I have visited, so here's hoping that case is next off the starting block real soon.

Case contents are:

W1938-997P

FRANCESCO BERNOULLI (World Grand Prix) (2)
MIGUEL CAMINO (World Grand Prix) (1)
RIP CLUTCHGONESKI (World Grand Prix) (1)
ERIK LANELEY (World Grand Prix) (1)
KABUTO (Tuners) (1)
RACE TEAM MATER (Maters) (1)
HOLLEY SHIFTWELL (with Screen) (Palace Chaos) (2)
SARGE (Wheel Well Motel) (1)
RACE TEAM LUIGI & GUIDO (Festival Italiano) (1)
GREM (With Weapon) (Airport Adventure) (2)
THE KING (Piston Cup) (2)
VICTOR H. (Lemons) (1)
PETEY PACER (Lemons) (2)
RUSTY RUST-EZE (Rust-Eze Racing) (1)
CACTUS LIGHTNING McQUEEN (Lightning McQueens) (3)
LIGHTNING RAMONE (Retro Radiator Springs) (2)


Price check and availability:

Smyths Toy Superstores (36 + 22 ROI) ~ £5.49 (Case 997R)

Toymaster (250 Franchisees) ~ £5.25 (Case 997Q)

Sainsburys, Supermarkets (572), Total (1,012) ~ £4.99 (Case 997Q)

Tesco Extra (230), Superstores (471), Total (2,971) ~ £5.00 (Case 997R)

Other major stores to get them?

Disney Stores (52) ~ TBC

Argos (740) ~ TBC

ASDA, Superstores (26), Total (555)

Morrisons (499)

Wilkinsons (364)

Hamleys (7)

Toys R Us (70)

[yuffie]

the cars i got this morning in sainsburys were still priced at £4.99

[niftynigel]

Thanks,
Nigel

[niftynigel]

Case 997R has now been found in Tesco Extra and Superstores.

Summary post (above) now updated to reflect this.

[Junior]

I had a productive little stint in Glasgow today, Smyths toys - i found Krate Rainson-Wash, Erik Laneley and Bindo (they had others but my budget was limited today. Sadly i had already been there when i popped into TK Maxx as they had Funny Car Mater at £4.99 (sadly i had to leave it) nothng new at Disney store/Toys r us, - didnt have time for Hamleys as was going to the football (Rangers lost 2-1 to Annan - glad i had my new cars to console me on the way home)