To open or not to open

[Grumblemf]

So as a newbie to Cars collecting, I have a quick question for you. I lean far more towards the characters in the first film while my daughter leans to the second. I was lucky enough to purchase some of the older ones in the last few days and am in a dilemma. I have always opened them and allowed my daughter to play with the Cars and have never really thought to keep them in the packaging. I was just wondering with ones I bought, listed below, are there any that you would advise to not open and keep them in packaging? Thanks for any insight.

Cars:
Mater

The World of Cars:
#07 Bug Mouth Lightning McQueen
#66 Tar Lightning McQueen

The World of Cars Race O Rama:
#1 Lightning McQueen
#88 Tumbleweed Lightning McQueen

Cars Supercharged:
Dirt Track McQueen
Radiator Springs McQueen

Cars with Color Changing Eyes:
#38 Gilmore
#123 Lightning McQueen w/Shovel
#127 Lightning McQueen w/Cone

Cars Toon:
#1 Burnt Lightning McQueen

Cars II:
#3 Lightning McQueen

[Junior]

Hi, grumblemf, nice to meet you. I guess everyone will have a different outlook here. I know some will have better monetary value if left sealed (from my limited experience on ebay etc. i wiuld say lightning with cone would be more valuale that way). From a personal point of view i cant really see the point of noy opening them, they are after all toys so i let my wee boy play with all of them and the enjoyment he gets from them is worth much more to me.

[bobbyjack]

Open them! Set them free. When your daughter outgrows them or you don't want to play with them anymore, you can get a display case for them and enjoy looking at them. There are only a select few that I haven't opened yet. Only because I have opened versions of the same cars that my kids play with.

[cac1959]

Greetings, Grumblemf... welcome to PCD... of the Cars you've listed above, I don't see any that stand out as being ones that would be rare enough to justify as keeping carded for an investment... while many of them have not been found in stores for years, they were among the more common ones that tended to stay on the pegs after the new Cars sold... I remember trading for an international 2 pack with Tumbleweed McQueen that cost me about $24 shipped because it wasn't in the US... 2 months later, it was a pegwarmer.

As the Supercharged cardback is the oldest, Dirt Track McQueen would be one I'd give to a child (or in my case, a grandchild) last.

They are harder to enjoy in the packaging.

[Grumblemf]

Thanks to all three of you for your answers. Yes it's the first time I had wandered from a 'let her play with them' attitude but equally the first time I'd got my hands on a number of the older ones all at the same time. I have had a couple of regrets about other collectables in the past, so I thought I'd try and avoid later bouts of kicking myself. Thanks again!

[MrBrownstone]

Release the cars...!!!

As mentioned above, there are only a few I'd consider keeping carded (and I have a few), but the second my son asks for them they'll be opened (providing he "earns" them...)

[TopherDawg]

I would keep them carded for now. With the release of the new 2013 white cards I think a lot of these will come out again and you can buy them at retail and open the white card backs. Lightning has his own subset and Cactus McQueen is out already.